Birds were singing around us, their melodious voices filled the air with peace, and the nearby trees provided relief from the sweltering heat with their cool shade. Although we had not traveled far from the cave, we were hungry and needed something to eat urgently. Fortunately, I had brought with me some provisions from the Witch's lineage - a mixture of dried fruit and nuts - which helped us to quell our hunger and regain our composure.

We traveled in silence for a while until a question came to my mind.

"How is your wound?" I asked, pointing to it.

"I'm better now, thank you," he replied.

"After all, we are a team, we have to help each other," I said smiling.

After hearing these words, the prince seemed to feel strange, as if a sense of pessimism and uneasiness had washed over him. He turned his head away and said, "I suppose I am one of you now, but there's something I want to tell you."

Before he could continue, I suddenly grabbed him by the hand and dragged him towards the bushes among the trees. I signaled him with my hand to be quiet as I heard footsteps approaching us. We didn't know who was coming, but we had to be careful because we were wanted.

Soon the footsteps came near us. We were right to hide because it was the king's soldiers themselves. It was difficult for them to see us through the bushes, but we had to be quiet and wait for them to pass. It would be very dangerous to attack or neutralize them because we did not know how many soldiers were around.

As the soldiers passed close to us, we involuntarily overheard a few snippets of their conversation.

"This way," one said. "I'm sure I heard footsteps."

"Come on, mate," another replied. "There's nobody here."

"You never know," the first soldier said. "They could come out of anywhere. They're said to be quite dangerous."

"I hear the White Death is working with them," another soldier chimed in.

"I've also heard that the youngest boy among them is their leader and fights like a killing machine," another added.

"Then let's hope we don't run into them," one soldier said.

"You're right about that," another agreed. "There's no movement in the area. Let's go back and inform headquarters."

When the soldiers moved away from the area, we waited for a short while to make sure it was safe. Then we cautiously emerged from the bushes. The prince shook off the leaves that had clung to his clothes and said, "I can't imagine what the town is like now that the soldiers have come this far."

"Yes," I agreed. "I'm sure the town is full of soldiers."

"Then we may have to find another way," the prince said.

"We can't," I replied. "All the short routes to my village pass behind the town. If we go through the forest, we'll be lost until evening. And if we stay until evening, it won't be long before the creatures attack us."

For a moment, we were at a loss, wondering what to do and how to get through the town. Then the prince had an idea.

"We can get through the town," he said. "But we may have to change disguises."

The prince's idea was the only one we had, even though it didn't make much sense at first. Besides, I didn't think the prince was up to the task. The clothes he was wearing and the fact that he was walking around with a criminal didn't show that he was a prince at all. But we had to go with this idea.

Before we left, I wanted to ask the prince something that had been on my mind.

"You were going to tell me something before we went into the bushes," I said. "What was it?"

The prince smiled and answered my question in a beautiful voice.

"I just wanted to say that I'm happy to have met you," he said sincerely. As he spoke, I could see the sparkles in his eyes. Although these few words were not long, they were very meaningful to me because they represented the success of the people I saw as my family.

Instead of using the main entrance to avoid being seen, we made our way through the alleys and side streets, constantly looking around. As we expected, the area was full of soldiers. The number of soldiers increased as we moved forward, making it difficult to proceed. The soldiers on the rooftops and those constantly asking for identification on each side of the main road made our task even more challenging.

Continuing on our path through the side streets, we secretly searched for a clothing shop or a similar place that could provide us with disguises. On the last side street we entered, we were fortunate to find a clothing shop just to our left. We quickly entered the shop just as soldiers entered the alley. We were almost caught but managed to escape at the last moment.

It was unlikely that the soldiers would enter the shop before the owner realized that we were wanted people, but we had to be cautious. The prince was not in the advertisements, but we could assume that he was also wanted based on rumors. So we quickly completed our shopping and left the shop. The prince paid for the clothes with gold coins from his pocket and even left a few extra coins for the shopkeeper, who was now completely focused on counting his newfound wealth.

Now our task was relatively easy. We just had to make our way through the woods without anyone noticing us and we would be out of town. But the heels I was wearing were really killing me. I was wearing a lady's dress and had a fan in my hand and a hat on my head that matched my dress. Similarly, the prince wore a hat to cover his long hair, but it was quite tight.

We made our way toward the woods together. Soon we were near the southern exit of the town.