— Aah!

A heart-rending scream echoed through the forest.

Death came for Jeremy at the moment when he least expected it. The saber-toothed tigers, who had clearly not tasted meat for a long time, regarded the pale youth as a delicacy. The deadly growl grew louder.

Jeremy shuddered, realizing that he had nowhere to run.

Even if they were in an open field where there is no snow or other obstacles, how can the speed of a human be compared to the speed of a wild predator? It would be like resisting nature itself. In other words, the guy was doomed from the very beginning.

«Why not… Why is it always me?!»

In the end, his death will become even more pitiful than it should have been initially. Wild animals will tear him apart outside the castle, and no one will even be able to find his corpse. From the seventh son of the baron and the «famous» shame of the Seibel family, not a shred of memory will remain.

Well, now the guy has only confirmed his brand of a loser who is not capable of anything. In the end, even his escape turned out to be a complete failure.

This miserable life started pathetically and will end just as pathetically… Isn't that funny?

Purely for the sake of symbolism, Jeremy decided to fight to the end. At least, instead of immediately giving up and accepting his death, he would do something… Then his demise won't be so shameful.

Jeremy took out a knife and began to swing it, knowing in advance that it was useless.

— Get out! Let's get out of here! Jeremy shouted at the top of his voice as tears welled up in his eyes.

The tigers, as expected, didn't pay any attention to the piece of metal in his hand. Moreover, it seemed that the predators were more interested in each other. When they began to move forward, they suddenly realized that there was not enough «food» for everyone.

There were six tigers, and Jeremy was only one. And he wasn't very well-fed.

There was a growl from the pack. The hungry beasts growled and bared their teeth at each other. After that, a «flash» occurred with lightning speed. One struck the other with his paw, and the next moment they all pounced on each other and turned into one solid spot.

— R-r-r-r-r!

Jeremy, who didn't understand what was going on at first, was stunned.

The white tigers fought a bloody battle for the «right» to snatch the first piece from Jeremy. No one wanted to give in to the other. As a result, animal blood was already spilled on the white snow.

The guy was speechless, because he had never thought before that he would ever find himself in such «demand»… But the extreme situation sobered him up, and he soon came to his senses.

Unable to think of anything better, the baron's son climbed the tree under which he was standing. The tree was old, but still strong. Jeremy, who had almost never climbed trees before, managed to climb it with his hands and feet.

«With such abilities, it was better for me to be reborn into a squirrel…»

Soon, having reached the top of the tree, Jeremy clung securely to one of the large branches and waited. However, he did not know what exactly he was waiting for.

That these predators would just forget about him and leave…?

At least continuing to hang from a tree was a hundred times better than being torn to pieces…

Jeremy had been sitting in the tree for so long that it was already getting dark. All his limbs were numb from the cold, and he was very exhausted. Feeling like he was about to fall out of the tree from exhaustion, Jeremy looked down warily.

The sounds of fighting had not subsided for several hours. It seemed to Jeremy that it would never end. When wild animals engage in combat, they continue to fight to the very end. Oh, if only the «winner» would also be guarding him under this tree…

But, to his great surprise, there was no one downstairs.

There was blood on the snow and several torn animal bodies. That's all. But where did the others go? Did they really leave? Or maybe they hid and guarded him in the thicket?

Jeremy was stunned, unable to believe that such an incredible situation had actually happened to him. The beasts have really disappeared!

Just in case, the guy decided to make sure of this. He threw down a few branches, but there was no noise or movement. It looks like the gods really don't want him to die today!

With an incredible sense of relief, Jeremy carefully climbed down. Even though it was going to be night soon, he was going to continue on his way anyway. The baron's heir wasn't going to stay in this damned forest for even a moment!

Why didn't Oscar warn him that there were such dangerous predators in this place?!

Sighing heavily, the guy intended to continue his journey through the forest.

«Why the hell are you still alive?»

«.....»

Suddenly, hearing human speech in the middle of the forest, Jeremy almost gave his soul to God. He immediately turned around and found himself standing behind him…

«I've come to collect your remains to show them to Her Highness.» So why are you still standing here?!

Oscar Carter, the secretary of the Northern Duchess, looked extremely annoyed.

Jeremy was stunned.

— M-Mr. Carter…? What are you doing here? Jeremy found it difficult to move his tongue after being out in the cold for so long, but he still managed to squeeze out a phrase.

— That's it… Oscar smiled grimly, «And why are scum like you always so tenacious?»

Jeremy paused, unable to believe what he was hearing. This contemptuous tone was radically different from his previous one. Now the friendly expression on the secretary's face was more like a malicious grin.

«Well, it can't be helped. Then I'll kill you myself.»

Oscar took a step towards him. Jeremy, on the other hand, stepped back.

The young man's heart began to pound as soon as he saw that the secretary was holding a knife in his hand. Did he really want to kill him?!

— Why are you doing this?! I thought… I thought you wanted to help me!

— You idiot, — the man said irritably, — Who in the world needed me to help you?

Jeremy's tongue was slurring with excitement.

«I would never allow Her Highness to tie her life to a lowly worm like you.»

Jeremy shuddered.

— So you are…

— Did you finally get it? Oscar chuckled. Such a dumbass does not deserve the honor of holding a high position. You belong in the gutter.

— …

«Fortunately, you're lucky that I'm going to send you there almost painlessly.»

Jeremy was paralyzed with horror when he realized the hopelessness of the situation. In front of him there was only the forest, snow and a deranged man with a knife. The situation was clearly not to be envied.

However… He had already managed to escape death in the jaws of the tigers. So, we will be able to escape from this maniac. Besides, the guy was very angry right now.

Of course, it was his own fault that he was so naive and trusted the first person he met. But this bastard was no better!

He actually provoked Jeremy to escape, only to end him so cruelly in the woods. Oscar wanted this guy to look like a «traitor» in Selina's eyes. And he himself is a hero who tried to prevent the treacherous groom from escaping, but in the end found only his remains…

Realizing the whole situation, Jeremy was discouraged that Oscar had really done such a mean thing to him. And at the same time — no remorse!

Jeremy has endured injustice for too long. Everyone in this world wiped their feet on him! And even now… Some servant easily deceived him by openly mocking him. And this time he couldn't stand it.

Anger and resentment so overwhelmed the baron's son that they clouded his mind. Without hesitating for a second, the guy tightened his grip on his own knife and screamed desperately:

— Come on, attack, you bastard!

He rushed at the secretary with the intention of avenging his wrongs. «I've put up with this mess for too long!»

Oscar was somewhat surprised by this turn of events, but did not lose his head. With a retaliatory challenge, he attacked his mistress's fiance. Like saber-toothed tigers a few hours earlier, in the same place, but only now they were fighting for their lives.

By nature, Jeremy was quite a kind-hearted person. He never would have thought that he would ever fight so desperately. But now he suddenly didn't care about all these rules of morality accepted in society.

Oscar knocked him to the ground and tried to plunge his dagger into his neck. Jeremy grabbed his arm, which turned out to be a difficult task. Surprisingly, this bespectacled man turned out to be quite strong. Jeremy ground his teeth.

«Her Highness has always been by my side! Since childhood! I won't let you ruin this! I should have been her husband, not you!»

The baron's son exhaled angrily.

«As if I asked for it!»

— These are your affairs, so deal with them yourself! Why did you have to drag me into this…?!

«Don't pretend it's none of your business!» If your ugly mug hadn't appeared at the selection, none of this would have happened!

— *Kha* I was forced! Jeremy choked when they started strangling him.

— I don't care how it happened! «You must die!» he shouted.

It looks like this guy's motivation turned out to be stronger than he expected. Jeremy felt that he could not cope with him, and was about to go to the next world.

But suddenly… A bright flash of light flashed right in front of him. In the next instant, Oscar's exhausted body collapsed on top of him.

Due to lack of oxygen, Jeremy was on the verge of losing consciousness. After freeing himself from his grip, he coughed violently.

At that moment, it didn't even bother him that Selina de Loon was standing next to him. Even at such a moment, her expression remained unreadable. But for some reason, it calmed Jeremy down on the contrary.

— T-thank you… It was the only word he managed to utter before he lost consciousness.