“And he will say: “My sister Karina helped me! My savior! I couldn't have done it without her!” Nikto said. “Karina, just don't cry, okay?”

“I won’t cry, you can scoff as much as you want!”

“And they will live happily, there, in the forest hut. Quiet and secluded. Well, and you, you will live happily in the palace, be a queen. You're crazy?”

“Say what you want! Only she is a quiet and modest daughter of a forester, and she is twenty-five years old, and every day she sits at the portal and waits and believes. And I believe! And you! You know it!”

“No,” Nikto shook his head, “I don't know it. The Upper world is not in my power.”

“If my brother managed to escape then, he would be free,” Karina said.

“But he failed.”

“At least he managed to save his Rosa. Poor, poor brother of mine. I will help him!”

“Arel, what will you say?” Nikto tugged slightly on the chain, fastened with one side to the ring in the prince’s nose, the other end was wrapped around Nikto’s wrist.

“She will forget about her brother as soon as she drives into the Red Royal Palace,” Arel said, “then it would be safer to leave him to my idiot Vil Luven. He will really take care of the cripple.”

“Do you hear?” Nikto tried to turn his head to Karina.

“You say as if I hadn’t taken you out of prison!” She said indignantly, and she really wanted to pull his hair with force.

“Wow! Yes! It was a real feat!”

“Are you kidding? I won’t comb your hair again then!”

“Yes, come on really, get finished, I'm tired of it. And it's time to go.”

Valentine, who timidly entered the room, froze on the threshold, the lower part of his face was covered with an iron strip of the muzzle, but the frightened eyes spoke for themselves.

“Is everything ready?” Lis asked sharply, he finished the wine from the glass in a couple of sips and got up from the table.

“I… yes… there…” Valentine began to stutter, trembling.

“What the fuck is it?!” Lis swore.

“A sir has come to you… he said that his name was V… Vitor… Kors!”

“WHAT?!”

Karina jumped up:

“Father?!”

“Damn it,” Lis shouted in annoyance, “he came when we need to leave! We didn't have enough time!”

He jabbed his finger towards Nikto:

“I said that we would not be in time!” Lis began to swear.

“Calm down!” Nikto payed back in his own coin. “We will have time for everything!”

“We didn’t make it in time because of your pranks and that,” Lis nodded contemptuously at Arel.

“Close your mouth!” Nikto swore too hard.

Their conversation in a raised voice sounded something like this:

“Damn, we're going to fuck it all up because of you! Instead of shoving your dick in the ass of this goner…”

“Lis, shut up your fucking mouth…”

And at that moment Vitor Kors entered the room.

“Good evening,” he said. And they fell silent, staring blankly at him.

“I realized that I couldn't wait for your servant to take me into the house and introduce me officially. I don’t want to offend anyone, but he looked somewhat mentally retarded, so I had the courage to go in myself, as it’s cold outside. And I thought that not observing official decency in your hospitable home would not be perceived as a violation of etiquette or disrespect.”

“Wh …wh… What?” Lis barely uttered, starting to stutter the same way as Valentine. And Karina rushed to her father.

“Father!” She hugged him. “I am insanely glad for your arrival!”

In response, he also hugged her tightly, and then pushed her aside, looking at her:

“I'm glad you're alive,” he said quietly.

“Everything is fine with me!” She assured him fervently, realizing that he was looking at her short hair that barely reached her shoulders.