Ayla could not let her quarry escape. She stood on tiptoe and tugged at the waist of her dress. She ran out of the hall not wanting to lose track of the prince.

"Heh, Ayla! Where are you going!" Popoh's shout fell on deaf ears.

Ayla arrived outside the hall, right in front of the door. The two guards who were standing upright like sturdy pillars, didn't seem to move an inch.

Ayla swiveled her head around, looking down the hall. However, she lost track of the third prince.

"Did you see where that man went?" Ayla ventured to ask the two guards standing tall on either side of the door.

"You mean, Prince Deniz?" One of the guards asked back sarcastically.

"You're just a slave!" the guard exclaimed with one eyebrow raised.

"Just answer my question!" Ayla was no less fierce at the guard's words.

"Let her dream of chasing Prince Deniz," mocked one of the guards on the left side.

There was no point in asking the two guards. Ayla picked up her dress again at the waist. She ran back towards the right side of the hallway.

She remembered that it was the hallway that brought her in from the direction of the palace garden. Ayla ignored all the people shouting for her.

Right now her only focus was the ruby miracle stone. She was sure that the stone on the sword handle was the stone she was looking for.

Ayla was already at the front gate. The two guards standing guard there crossed their spearheads.

"Where are you going?" asked one of the guards in a cold tone.

"Prince ...." Ayla's words stopped there. She looked at the prince who was about five meters away from her.

"You're just a female resident of the harem! What business do you have looking for the prince?" one of the guards exclaimed.

"Of course I have important business with the prince," Ayla whined. "He left something of his behind, I must go after him to return it."

The two guards looked at each other. Digesting the words of the innocent girl in the salem dress. Meanwhile, Ayla glanced at them. There was a sly grin carved on the tip of her thin lips.

"You may leave!" The guard loudly allowed Ayla to leave and put the two crossed spears away.

"Thank you, I'll tell the prince that you did a great job," Ayla said with a sweet smile. Lying to guards was one of her specialties in thievery.

Ayla's breath caught, she had almost lost track of the prince. She was sure that the dashing black-clad figure had passed by the garden.

The slender woman with the ideal body began to go too deep into the palace garden. She stopped right in the middle of the large, shady trees.

"Where is that guy?" Ayla leaned her back against a large tree.

He raised his face and looked up. He could barely see anything in the sky. It was as if neither the stars nor the moon could penetrate the shady trees there.

"Am I lost?" Ayla began to panic. She turned her body around. Her gaze wandered around.

Owls hooted. She moved back when she heard something rustling in the bushes. Her slender yellow-skinned legs were exposed. She lifted the hem of her dress high.

Ayla suddenly shivered, her skin crawling. She had never been like this before. Back in the modern world, the Elena inhabiting Ayla's body had never been this scared in the forest.

"Calm yourself." Ayla tried to comfort herself. Even though fear was running through all her nerves. "Where is that cold prince?"

A flash of black shadow flashed above her head. A figure that seemed to jump from one tree to another. Of course it added a frightening aura to Ayla.

Not thinking for long, Ayla immediately turned her body around to leave the place.

BBRUUKK!

"Aarrgghh!" Ayla forgot that the hem of her long dress was blocking her way. As a result, she fell to the ground covered in green grass.

While grimacing in pain, Ayla started to get back up. The rustling sound started again.

Elena still couldn't use her strength to the fullest. The body of this slave girl named Ayla was quite weak.

Elena suspected that during her life, this one slave had been deliberately given food or drinks containing nerve weakeners or the like.

Ayla was almost dislocated several times. Elena was sure that there was something wrong with the nerves in her legs. Perhaps during her lifetime, the young woman named Ayla had received a lot of physical abuse.

The insect-like legs walked without direction. Ayla was getting deeper into the forest behind the palace. Of course, she did not know about it. She was just trying to get out of there.

The woman with a rose pin in her beautiful wavy hair was getting more and more frantic. Her adrenaline was pumping, making her heart beat so fast.

"Ayla, why are you so stupid!" she cursed to herself.

Ayla walked forward again. If she didn't find a way out, she would have to spend the night in the forest within the palace grounds.

"I can't take it anymore." Ayla crouched down, her legs feeling weak and trembling. The legs she used to walk so far were not hers, but those of a weak woman.

"Back when you were alive, was there nothing you could do for physical exercise?" Elena in Ayla's embodiment cursed.

Ayla returned her gaze to the surroundings. She faintly heard the soft sound of a conversation. Half shuddering, she started to stand up. Her curiosity overcame her fear.

She began to walk slowly, sneaking around just to find the source of the sound. A few meters later, Ayla saw a speck of orange light.

She knitted her eyebrows together, looking confused by the scene in front of her. Ayla ventured a small run to find the source of the light.

"I think I can ask them for help," Ayla muttered in between her steps.

Moments later, he was behind a tree. The leaves blocked his view. She lifted a thin branch that blocked her face.

"That figure!" she squealed as she rounded her small, round eyes and sparkled beautifully.

She saw the back of a man with a towering body. He was dressed all in black with long, dark hair tied back.

Ayla searched around for something to shake off the branches blocking her path. Before she knew it, she had lost the prince.

"Where's the prince?" Ayla looked around, but there was neither the prince nor the black-robed figure she was talking to.

At the same time, Ayla gasped. A dagger was pressed against her neck. The sturdy hand holding the dagger smelled sweet.

"You're an intruder?" A distinctive baritone voice that made Ayla's ears react. The figure's warm breath made Ayla falter.

"Mom-no," Ayla replied while struggling. Her skill in grabbing weapons made the figure gasp slightly.

But unfortunately, Ayla was still not fast enough. The figure twisted her hand gently. She was unable to grab the dagger. Her body staggered backwards.

Just as she was about to fall, the figure supported her slender back. Her brown irises crossed with the figure's caramel irises. Ayla did not blink, it was already difficult to swallow her saliva.

"Where is that woman!" Popoh paced outside the hall. Several women from the lower-class harem were with her.

Both Popoh and Patra had worried looks on their faces. They couldn't just leave the hall. If they did, then a dungeon sentence awaited.

Patra wrung her hands. She occasionally bit her lower lip. It had been a few minutes, but Ayla had not returned.

"Popoh, is it possible that Ayla got lost?" Patra ventured to ask. After all, for Patra Ayla was the only friend who could make her feel less lonely in the harem.

"What a fool she is!" Popoh snorted in annoyance. "We can't report her missing now. You see, the princes are at a banquet with the nobles. Why take care of a low-caste slave!"

Patra was getting more and more frantic, not realizing that her eyes were dewy again. To Patra, Ayla was more than a friend. The two of them were like brothers.

They were brought from a distant land.

Ayla was forcibly taken from the eastern country called Mur, a very beautiful country with land like a green emerald stone, while Patra was taken from the western country called Atlanta, a country that was no less beautiful even though it was surrounded by snow mountains.

"Ayla, where are you, don't ever leave me alone again." Patra muttered under her breath as she held the tightness in her chest, she was so afraid of losing Ayla for the second time.

While the privileged harem residents were serving the princes and nobles in the hall, the low-caste harem was still waiting for their turn to serve the nobles.

However, if Popoh had brought out the harems, it meant they were no longer needed. The low-class harems had to leave the event.

"You'd better go back to the harems," Popoh invited.

"But, what about Ayla?" Patra asked in a worried tone.

"We'll look for her tomorrow!" Popoh was already furious at having to wait for Ayla's return.

He also seemed to think that the slave girl would easily return to the main palace. Moreover, there was still a forest behind the palace.

Popoh hoped that Ayla would be fine, if she was unlucky, then wild animals would tear her apart.

Popoh began to step out of the hall. The five young women of the harem were forced to follow her into the harem.

Despite her apprehension, Patra was forced to follow Popoh. She would rather wait in the harem while praying that Ayla was okay out there.

***

"You!" The handsome man with caramel eyes removed his hand from Ayla's back.

A thumping sound accompanied by a small hiss split the silence of the forest.

"Aauuggh, why did you remove your hand." Ayla rubbed her butt where it collided with the ground.

"Go away!" Prince Deniz, with his cold gaze while putting the dagger back into its sheath.

"I'm lost, Tu... I mean, Prince." Ayla dared to stare at the cold face with a pitiable look.

Though in her heart, she harbored a sense of awe as she gazed at the beautiful face with a firm jaw and a gaze as sharp as a hawk before her.

'Handsome, handsome, handsome. Why can't they see the prince's good looks. His face may be cold, but the aura of his good looks is mesmerizing' Ayla thought to herself as she lingered and satisfied herself staring at that face.

"What do you want!" That cold gaze again jolted all of Ayla's nerves.

"Mir... Hhmm I mean, just want to go home because I got lost." Ayla corrected her words. She almost mentioned the ruby mirah stone. Her brown eyes occasionally glanced at the sword hanging from the third prince's left waist.

"There's nothing harem girls want more than to chase after princes and nobles!" said Prince Deniz in a cold tone. "You're wrong! There are many other princes and crown princes, you can woo them!"

'What does the prince mean' Ayla's mind wandered. There must be something wrong with that dashing and beautiful prince.

"You're wrong, Prince. I am completely lost. I know you are the kindest prince in all this land." Ayla ventured to touch Prince Deniz's arm.

The man gasped, staring at Ayla's hand as he frowned deeply. Perhaps in his mind, this woman who was near him was very impolite.

"Take my hand away from my arm!" Prince Deniz's order had a cold tone. Ayla quickly moved her tiny hand away from the sturdy arm.

Prince Deniz, without saying anything, walked away quickly. Ayla, who didn't understand, followed and tried to keep up with the prince.

"Prince, wait!" Ayla felt her leg ache again. She grimaced, apparently the slave Elena's legs were really weak. She couldn't even walk a short distance.

Prince Deniz continued to walk away from the forest behind the palace. Ayla cursed inwardly, why was that gallant man so cold. Had he never wanted a woman in his life.

"Prince ...." Ayla ventured to call out to the man softly. "Are we still long."

"I never intended to escort you," Prince Deniz replied dryly. "I'm going back to my palace."

"So, you want to take me to your palace?" Ayla quickened her pace, now right beside the prince.

"Sorry, I've never been interested in taking a slave to my palace!" Prince Deniz's words were quite scathing. Ayla stuck out her tongue for the prince. Mocking. As a sign of her anger.

"Then, why are you walking home now. I only asked to be escorted to the harem. That's all, nothing more." Ayla seemed to urge the prince.

"I never said I would escort you!" The prince's words remained the same, scathing and cynical. "And don't ask so many questions!"

"Is it unbecoming of a slave like me to even ask questions of a prince like you? How can he rule a kingdom and provide prosperity for his people, if you are reluctant to honor a slave?" Ayla's words made Prince Deniz flinch, he stopped his steps. Feeling disturbed by Ayla's words.

"Oouuwwgg!" Ayla rubbed the tip of her nose. Because of the prince's sudden stop, she was unable to control her pace.

"You're a slave, but your mouth is so spicy!" Prince Deniz's words were cold. Ayla gasped as she found herself standing right in front of the prince. Standing tall, Ayla was only as tall as the man's chest, she even had to look up to gaze at the dashing figure before her.

"A slave or a prince, it's just a title. Just different family status. However, both slaves and nobles are still human beings who have the same status in the eyes of God," Ayla replied equally harshly.

Prince Deniz grunted in annoyance, as he seemed to have been overwhelmed by the beautiful and intelligent slave's chatter.

He did not deny that the beautiful slave was able to make feelings stir in certain very sensitive parts of him. For this reason, he tried to refrain from looking at Ayla for long.

Prince Deniz shook his head, he turned his body around again. Without saying anything, Ayla could only follow where the man went.

A few moments later.

"I can finally see the light!" Ayla was excited and walked ahead of Prince Deniz. She was in front of him now. "But where is the harem?"