That afternoon the forest on the hill was still too cold. Actually, yesterday's rain was enough of a sign that winter was coming. Before the tree branches were wet and filled with snow, a teenage girl enthusiastically collected tree trunks around the forest. Birds chirping to each other accompany the girl's busy life. She wore simple overalls of the only nicest clothes she had. With a thick robe given by one of her grandfather's friends, she walked through the forest while singing softly.

The forest ground was slightly slippery with piles of fallen autumn leaves from last night's rain. The girl was already quite careful. She bent down, picking up thick, dry branches covered with mountains of dry, wet leaves. The wood is a little weathered, she needs time to dry it later. But when she turned around to take another step forward, between two large trees, accidentally, she seemed to step on something.

Something that feels soft and hard at the same time. 

Cautiously, the girl turned her head and looked down at her feet. 

The girl gasped and fell backward. The twigs she had gathered in her hands scattered to the ground while her eyes caught the figure of a little girl lying unconscious on the ground. It was almost covered in dry leaves and she was unconscious. The girl immediately got up and ran over to the figure and examined it.

The face of the lying girl was slightly pale. When the girl turned her crooked body, she was seen wearing neat and nice clothes. The clothes are of silk and the robes are of animal skins. The girl wasn't sure exactly what kind of clothes the little unconscious girl was wearing but one thing she could confirm—they were the clothes that nobles usually wore.

The girl touched her cheek.

"Very cold. But she's still alive,” she muttered after feeling a soft breath from under her nose.

If the girl had taken her to a small hut on the edge of the mountain, she would have been fine. But how to carry her while still carrying tree branches? 

Maybe she could come back for the branches. Most importantly, save people first. Even though she was more confused, she still tried to support the helpless girl onto her shoulders.

   Something fell from the girl's body. She looked down and found a knife with an icy blade lying on the ground. The knife looked beautiful when the sunlight fell on the ice dagger. And without realizing it, she had already picked it up without questioning why.

   Before the air got colder, the girl hurriedly returned to her hut which was not far from that place.

**

   Lan Qi's body felt like it was being pricked by thousands of thorns. When her eyelids opened, she felt something tugging at the muscles in her head. Makes it difficult to wake up and sleep. 

   "Be careful," a foreign voice. Female voice. Lan Qi woke up—almost gasping at the sound. Her eyes were still blinking, gathering the consciousness of her dream. What happened? Where is she?

   As Lan Qi's vision cleared, she saw a young woman in a bluish-white robe standing beside her. Lan Qi was asleep in a small room with a high ceiling that was covered with only a pile of dry straw on top of a flat bamboo. 

   After a few seconds of recognizing her surroundings, Lan Qi tried to sit up—on the bed he was currently occupying.

   The young woman handed her a bowl of warm liquid. Lan Qi didn't have the energy to think or ask the question if this was poison. All she felt now was her head hurting and her body weak. As well as the remaining dryness that left an imprint on her throat. 

   “Drink. It's a fever reducer. It should make you feel better."

   Lan Qi complied. With a limp, she took the bowl and looked inside it. The scent is warm, like a mix of ginger and jasmine flowers and honey. Even though she was always forbidden to drink and eat from outside the palace, Lan Qi was still aware of what happened last night.

   She should have been taken by the robbers, right? When the battle between the marauder and the blue bowman dashed all hope of survival, Lan Qi thought she was being held captive somewhere by now. But in fact…

   Lan Qi coughed heavily. Then the young woman helped Lan Qi hold the bowl and chose spoonful after spoonful of the medicine. Gently and carefully, Lan Qi swallowed the medicine. Feeling the warm liquid and the smell of honey mixed with ginger filled her rumbling stomach.

   For several minutes, Lan Qi did not say anything but lamented her mind going blank. 

   "I've checked all over your body, there are no injuries whatsoever. Luckily I saw you. I don't know how long you've been out there, but when I found you in the forest, you were lying unconscious and your whole body was cold and frozen. It's a good thing it rained last night, the wolves and bears didn't come out earlier just to eat you.”

   Sometimes Lan Qi thought, wouldn't it be better for the beasts to eat it? Now, she didn't know if she could survive before returning to the palace. There were no bodyguards or maids, not even—

   Instantly, Lan Qi's chest felt tight. When she swallowed the last mouthful of medicine, she cried. Her breath hitched and she felt all the pain in her body, which stabbed like icy thorns in the tree trunks, hurt more than being alone at this rate. For fifteen years she lived in the palace, rarely going out into nature unless she saw her father hunting. But now—why did the world seem to be turning in another direction? Why did Lan Qi have to be alone like this?

   The female anxiously approached and held Lan Qi's hand as she was sobbing. Since living in the palace, she was used to not crying out loud. In the palace, not all expressions are allowed to be seen. Almost all people see the Emperor and Queen as the most majestic figures in their lives. And if that figure faded just because Lan Qi was not used to it, then the people could easily look down on the Palace.

   “Beautiful girl, why are you crying? Is something sick?"

   In the palace, she was always called Princess Lan Qi. Or Her Highness Lan Qi. No one had ever called her this gentle. On one hand, Lan Qi was amazed but on the other hand, she knew that the call made it even more obvious that she was far away from the palace.

   In the middle of sobbing, Lan Qi struggled to speak. “I—'m lost. My father and mother… were kidnapped by robbers. Even my father—” Lan Qi's voice was still a little hoarse. When she remembered the great Emperor, with his dashing clothes standing in the center of the stage, someone shot a bow at the Emperor's head. Then in a second, he fell. Falling to the floor. It wasn't until fresh blood flowed from his head that everyone screamed.

   The screams still resounded in Lan Qi's head. She even had to cover her head to stop the shadow.

   "Robber? Hey… little girl, calm down. You're safe here. Do not be afraid. My little hut is at the border of the mountain. No one has ever passed here except me. Those robbers…shouldn't find you anymore.”

   Lan Qi wanted to calm down when she heard that but she couldn't. She couldn't even breathe properly as the sobs overtook her. The body trembles with fear and worry. What if she can't come home anymore? What if the robbers are still looking for her? They know the unpaved roads in the woods. They know the trees. They could even find Lan Qi and the blue bowman in the middle of the night.

   With fire.

   At a glance, Lan Qi remembered the blue bowman. She looked up, staring with tear-stained eyes at the young woman in front of her.

   “Did you… see anyone else around me when you found me?”

   The young woman frowned slightly. “No… I'm not sure there was anyone else but… I found this falling off your body.” The girl handed over a knife sheath that was on the table. Lan Qi was silent for a moment when she received it. She did not remember ever bringing a sarong like this from the palace.

   She opened the scabbard, then a knife with a bluish ice dagger was behind the scabbard. Lan Qi remained motionless for a few moments. Her mind immediately recalled the blue bowman. She pondered for a while as she held the ice knife.

   The blue bowman…

   She doesn't know if he survived but…

   Lan Qi lamented over the blade that glistened in the sun. The knife that brought the blue bowman to save her twice.

   “Is someone trying to kill you with this?” asked the girl carefully. Lan Qi immediately shook her head. While wiping away her tears, she closed the sheath again, then hugged it.

   "No. It belongs to someone,” Lan Qi said quietly. "Someone who saved me."

***