The putrid stench of blood tickled their noses as the Otherworlder and Cockarista looked around the familiar place. Lying limp on the ground just a few meters away with a puddle of blood under his chest was the thin and scrawny guard Cockarista had donuted a while back. The Otherworlder still remembered the god-forsaken scream the guard gave out as he saw the giant cockroach. It even made the shout of being murdered pale in comparison.

Shaking his head, the Otherworlder turned to his side and walked toward the cell he had spent the last few days in. The sound of gagged sobbings became clearer as he got closer and closer to the cell.

At last, he placed his hands on the cell and crouched down. Sitting right there with her hair muddled in a mess and tears streaming down her eyes was the brunette knight. The gag covering her mouth held back her wails as her eyes landed on the Otherworlder.

The Otherworlder held back a scoff as he realized how their positions were changed.

It was a truly vicious plan. Hiding her right where the Otherworlder had left, he wouldn’t have even thought of coming back to this place. Truly, the princess was not someone he could be careful enough with.

“Unn! Unn!”

“Yeah, it seems our places are reversed indeed.”

The knight furrowed her brows and shook her head. “UN! UN!”

“Don’t worry, you kept your word. I am out thanks to you,” the Otherworlder said, his eyes curving softly.

“UNN! UNN!!!” Her voice was louder and more urgent than ever as the knight rocked her head.

“DIE!!”

A loud scream came from behind him!

The Otherworlder lept on the ground and rolled to his left. A swish of air passed by right where he was. He quickly turned over his back and sat up alert. Standing there was an armored guard with a long sword in his hands.

‘FUCK!’ the Otherworlder screamed in his mind, though he didn’t show any reactions out open.

Cockarista, who had seemed to have realized what was going on, came towards the cell and saw the guard with the sword swung down.

‘Lad, it is amazing that you can still keep a straight face.’

With a sigh, the Otherworlder put more weight on his feet as the guard had turned toward him again. The guard brandished his sword and charged toward the Otherworlder.

Still on the ground, the Otherworlder raised his hand to his sides and intercepted the oncoming swing with a bunch of his wires. Without missing a beat, the Otherworlder kicked the knees of the guard and tripped him over.

He launched his wires ahead and wrapped them around his head as the Otherworlder fluidly jumped back to his feet, gagging the guard in a headcase of sharp wires.

“UN!!”

This time, the Otherworlder clearly understood what the knight was trying to say as he turned around and looked around himself.

-Thwack!

A sound rang out.

The Otherworlder and the knight girl turned to see Cockarista casually punch the second hidden guard’s head to a complete one-eighty degree.

The Otherworlder whistled as he tightened his grip around the guard’s head. Just as his wires were about to pierce through the guard’s skin, he stopped and let loose of the wires.

Over the last few days, he had already made it seem as if the Cockroach and he were in cahoots, but there was nothing much that could lead to the princess suspect he could use telepathy. A smirk appeared on his face as the Otherworlder pulled back his wires and covered the guard’s mouth with his palms.

He reached into the guard’s pockets and took the keys to the prison cell the girl had been locked in. Cockarista came up to the two and took the keys from him. He then opened the door to the cell and untied the disheveled knight.

“There’s no point in killing this man yet,” the Otherworlder said in a whisper while Cockarista and the girl came out of the prison cell. His voice was just barely loud enough to be picked up by the princess’ receptors, he guessed.

-Crack!

Along with the Otherworlder’s words, the muffled sound of something breaking reverberated into the place, and the guard in his arms went limp.

“Stay hidden,” he said, looking at no one in particular. He was bound by a restriction strange to even him. He had to say just enough words to get his point across, while also making it seem like he was hiding his plans from the princess. The Otherworlder dragged the dead guard in his hands away from the prison while Cockarista and

“As long as you’re quiet, you’ll be fine.”

He then cautiously pushed open the door of the secret passageway and laid the dead guard inside without making a sound.

During the same time, Cockarista picked up the second corpse and walked away with it without making a sound. The brunette knight looked around in confusion as the two were up to their own devices.

“We’ll run with the bait,” the Otherworlder finally said as he closed the door of the secret entrance. Cockarista too, returned empty-handed towards them.

Nodding at each other, the two partners took the knight girl along as they set out again.

The moment he had completely acknowledged the princess as a true genius, the Otherworlder knew to not mess directly with her. After all, he was just a normal person. A little smart, sure, but what could someone like that do against a true prodigy? Nothing.

He knew there was no outwitting her.

So, he chose the next best thing. He would use her genius against herself and completely divide the little manpower she could utilize. He said he would take one guard as bait. In that case, what would she think?

Would she, who can only hear the Otherworlder’s words, truly believe he has taken a guard as bait, or was it all a ploy? Would she believe the girl they were after was with him or alone in the secret passage? Even when she found the dead guard in the passageway, there was still one more that she could never find. Will she send her men on the Otherworlder’s tail, or Will she send them on a wild goose chase after the girl she didn’t know the whereabouts of?

No matter what she did, she could only hear would never reach the ‘correct’ answer.

From now on, whatever steps she took, the Otherworlder would be the one swaying her around.

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

“The death-row criminal has escaped!!”

“What are you doing? Run a full search now!”

“You bastards, don’t make noise or Lord Matthias will kill you. The people above are sleeping! Search quietly.”

“Look around those corners!!”

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

It was coming along well.

No, it was perfect.

Amelia smiled as the last bit of bait she had prepared had set in motion. A wild bear had been angered, and it wasn’t about to rest until it caught its prey.

No matter how the Otherworlder swayed, she was the one setting the steps.

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

A beautiful dance had begun in the prisons of the palace.