Chapter 7: Looking for an Escape Part 1

“Good morning, Milady! Are you excited for the party tonight?”

Once again, I was greeted by Sally’s usual greeting and cheese omelet, but today, I didn’t mind. I had just spent the last dozen loops reading peacefully in my room. That precious reading time had done wonders for my sanity, and while the prince always arrived to try and ruin it, messing with him had quickly become my new favorite hobby.

Since he always arrived at nine, I had plenty of time to prepare and ensure that Sally was never struck by that dumb brute again. In one loop, I repeatedly insisted that I was not, nor had I ever been, the prince’s fiancée, to the point where even he started to doubt himself. Meanwhile, in another loop, I ensured I was getting changed for the party just as the prince arrived and broke down the door. This led to several glorious minutes of Sally lecturing the highly embarrassed prince, who refused to make eye contact with me. Finally, in this most recent loop, I had simply gone to bed early and refused to get up when the prince arrived. Maybe hiding under the covers was a bit childish, but he certainly looked silly yelling at a girl in bed, though he had still killed me.

Regardless, I was now well rested and ready to search for a way out of this loop. Of course, there were the options I already listed. Namely, proving my innocence and humiliating the prince so badly that I triggered a revolution. However, despite my previous enthusiasm, I had little faith that the latter would succeed. Additionally, both plans would require me to face the crowded party again, which I was absolutely dreading, so for the time being, I was focused on searching for alternative solutions.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, was simply to run away. While I was enrolled at the academy, I had already passed all my classes, and attending the graduation party was not mandatory. While it was a final opportunity for students to socialize and make important connections, many did not bother to attend for one reason or another. I certainly would’ve skipped it if I could have, but as the crown prince’s fiancée, I was duty-bound to at least make an appearance, though I had planned to flee before the first dance. Does that make me a bad partner? Sure, but my fiancé tried to freaking kill me, so he got better than he deserved.

Anyway, while I was duty-bound to attend, that duty was not legally binding. I could leave. I just needed a carriage, and though my family’s carriage wasn’t set to arrive for a few more days, the school had plenty on hand to transport students back and forth to the capital for day trips or in case of emergencies. I, of course, had no idea this service existed, thanks to a mix of privilege and a complete and total fear of the outside world, but thankfully, Sally did. While she was opposed to me skipping the party, she did not object once I ordered her to fetch the carriage posthaste. In fact, she ended up returning within ten minutes to announce that the carriage was ready.

I stared at her in disbelief, and continued to do so, even as I boarded the carriage and quickly rode away from the academy. It had all been too easy. The carriage was less than ideal, I suspected as Sally’s way of punishing me for ditching the party, but I didn’t complain. I would’ve ridden a porcupine to get away from that idiot prince. Alas, my ride ended up being far shorter than I expected.

“Oh, dear,” Sally said as she squinted into the distance. “I can’t be certain, but that seems to be the prince’s horse.”

“What?” I squeaked as I followed her gaze and spotted someone in the distance charging toward the carriage from the back of a pure white horse.

“Is he perhaps upset that you departed without telling him? I warned you that such actions were ill-advised. Should I instruct the coach driver to pull over before you further anger him?”

I paled at Sally’s words, as my brain desperately tried to find a way to outrun the prince, but time was not on my side. While I had expected him to run me off the road or somehow force the carriage to stop, he was instead screaming his usual rant at me despite being almost a hundred feet away. Then, without waiting for a response, not that I could give one from so far away, he called forth divine magic into his hands and fired it at me. Well, he fired it at the carriage I was in, and while I had hoped that it would provide me some level of protection, the spell instead passed harmlessly through both it and Sally before striking me.