"Princess~"
"Shouldn't we go back? With the planar shifts, it's dangerous outside. Who knows what kind of monsters we might encounter in the next underground cavern. You are of noble birth and cannot afford even the slightest mishap."
The old man, his hair streaked with white, had a face etched with deep worry.
Before him—
A girl in a blue and white princess dress, skipping and bouncing as if she were a dancing butterfly, seemed not to hear the old man's plea. She ran around aimlessly.
"Princess, wait for your old servant~!"
"You can't even keep up with me, so why did you even come out?" The girl stopped after running a few meters, a hint of helplessness in her eyes. "You're so old, why not just enjoy your retirement in the palace?"
"This old servant must take care of you."
"No need!"
The girl pouted and said.
"By human reckoning, I'm already an adult. Besides, I'm going to find Chen Yu, and he'll take care of me too. You don't need to worry about me!"
Unexpectedly, the old man straightened his back at her words.
"Precisely because of that, this old servant should take all the more care of you."
"Ah?"
"Princess, you are still naive. You must know that humans are the most cunning creatures in this world." The old man lowered his voice and whispered with a solemn expression. "You've never left our underwater royal palace for so long. This old servant must ensure your safety at all times."
"I can handle it!"
The girl sighed with a helpless look.
"Grandpa Turtle, you really, really don't need to worry about me. I'm very smart~" The girl gave a thumbs-up, placed it on her fair neck, and flashed a playfully cute smile.
"No!"
Seeing the old man's expression still serious, the girl secretly sighed. She raised her wrist and tapped on the chat page of her survival wristband.
"Second Sister, did you tell that old man I came out?"
"?"
"How did he know I would come out from the West Palace, and even that I was disguised as a maid? You must have tipped him off, right?"
"?"
"After all the effort I put into our good relationship, hurry up and get rid of him. He's really affecting my performance here."
While sending messages, the girl kept glancing at the old man with a sweet smile, then she began to tap furiously on the screen with her small hands.
"Ilina, I'm angry!!!"
"Little sister, you have such a good relationship with your second sister. When will you ever act spoiled with me, your sister?"
"..."
Instantly, the girl became like a startled cat.
Her eyes widened.
Her whole body stiffened involuntarily.
Without a moment's thought, she exited the chat window, even took off her wristband, found a stone by the roadside, and smashed it to pieces.
Oh no!
Was that her eldest sister who just messaged her?
After a brief moment of shock, the girl tilted her head and looked at the old man behind her.
"Princess~ you must be careful of humans. Cunning is their nature. They..." The old man was still rambling, educating the girl about the dangers of humans.
Then, he saw the girl suddenly show a surprised expression.
"Wow, a shooting star!"
The old man subconsciously turned his head and looked for a long time.
"Where's the shooting star?" he muttered. After turning back, he was about to ask where the shooting star was, but unexpectedly, the girl in front of him had already disappeared.
Immediately, terror flashed in the old man's eyes.
"Princess!!!"
The old man, his temples white, looked around frantically. Just then, his wristband beeped.
"Why has Illya's signal disappeared?"
"Eldest Princess, Third Princess... she ran off." The old man, his fingers trembling with anxiety, gently tapped on the wristband's projection. "The Third Princess's signal has disappeared. It's possible she just destroyed her wristband."
"What?"
"The Third Princess just told me about a shooting star. I only looked away for a moment, and she..."
"Then what are you waiting for? Go find her!"
The Mermaid Royal Palace.
A woman sitting on a pure leather sofa, wearing elegant white crystal high heels, exuded an air of nobility. She slammed her right hand onto the crystal coffee table in front of her.
The woman sitting opposite her blinked.
"Sister, what's wrong?"
"That little devil of ours, she ditched the Dragon Turtle and ran off by herself!" The woman on the sofa frowned, but the woman opposite her seemed relaxed. "Let her run. She has the scroll, and I gave her three hundred thousand gold coins. That's enough for her to play outside for a while."
"Ilina, you're spoiling her a bit too much."
"Little sister has never left the palace before, so let her have some fun. Didn't we sneak out when we were little? Didn't our father sneak out when he was young? And our mother too? Isn't this part of our family tradition?"
"Then when you ran away, did you destroy your wristband and the tracking device?"
"Huh?"
In an instant, Ilina shot up.
"Little sister she..."
"The Dragon Turtle told me personally that she destroyed her wristband. Now I can't see her location information. This little devil is much crazier than both of us!"
"This Illya!"
Ilina bit her lip, her face filled with anxiety, and she shouted towards the outside.
"Someone, the little princess is lost!!!!"
Whoosh!
She bolted.
Illya truly showcased her long-legged advantage, moving with lightning speed.
Hmph~~
The girl, holding up her skirt as she ran, tilted her delicate little chin.
Hateful!
He kept saying he would take care of me.
Turns out—
He was an informant planted by my eldest sister.
"How unlucky. I snuck out and Big Sister found out. I wonder how much of a scolding I'll get when I go back." The girl muttered with a pout. After a moment, a smile reappeared on her face. "Hey, why should I go back? Anyway, when I came out this time, I brought my little savings..."
The girl, lost in her own thoughts, slowly stopped.
She glanced at her wrist.
Then she subconsciously looked back, gazing into the distance, as if she could still see the direction where she had smashed her wristband through countless underground caverns.
"It seems my gold stash was in the wristband~" the girl murmured, her previously cheerful face freezing instantly, replaced by a look of sorrow.
What should I do?
Didn't she just cut off her own retreat?
"What do I do now?"
The girl murmured softly.
No money.
And no teleportation scroll from the palace.
She...
"Grandpa should be able to find me, right?"
The girl pursed her lips, looking at the overgrown wilderness around her.
She had been running at full speed just now.
In the blink of an eye, she had forgotten how many cavern spaces she had traversed. It was probably very difficult for that old man to find her again.
"Am I finished?"
The girl in the wilderness couldn't help but purse her pink lips.
"My wristband is destroyed, and I can't find my detector anymore. How am I supposed to find Chen Yu?" The girl muttered, grabbing her hair. "Ugh, this is so annoying!"
Then, the girl raised her hand and twisted her nose.
"I'll have to rely on myself, Illya, to make my own way."
With pursed lips, the girl tilted her fair, smooth chin. Her proud demeanor was like that of a noble swan.
Even though she had destroyed her wristband, she showed no signs of panic.
She stretched lazily.
Then she glanced at the weeds beside her, a faint smile appearing in her eyes.
—
Author's Notes:
Good evening, have you eaten?