“Do you think she is still sitting and waiting for him at the portal?”

“For some reason I believe in it. And besides, it's so easy to check.”

“No!” Nikto answered. “When I leave, do what you want with your crazy brother. But only if I can leave. Look for Rosa. I won't care anymore.”

“Can he open a portal to the Upper World without your help?”

“He can, and he opened it. Only he won't, I'm sure. After all that he did to himself. Why does she need a cripple, Karina? Your fantasies will kill me!”

“Me and the doctors, we will cure him!”

“Nonsense!”

“Is it impossible to restore the ligaments? Well? Answer the truth.”

“Maybe. Would you get the tattoos off him too?”

“Yes!”

Nikto laughed:

“How long will you have to mess around! And the scar?”

“We'll come up with something! And in the Upper World, doctors work miracles!”

“She’s just the forester’s daughter.”

“Yes, she is. But I'll become a queen! Do you think I won’t write out the best red, and white, if necessary, doctors for my beloved brother?”

“And he will become as good as new and then open the portal, and Rosa will be sitting there and waiting, huh?” Nikto finished for Karina.

“Yes,” said Karina, “she is waiting for him. I believe it! And my brother, so handsome, healthy, without tattoos and scars, and sighted. He will embrace her, they will hold each other, and he will say, “I promised I wouldn’t leave you and would come back!” And she will cry with happiness. And she will say, “Could you? The demon is no longer in you?” And she will run her fingers over the barely visible scar on his face.”

“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.

“Sit down, Vitor Kors,” said Nikto at last. “Yes, you're right, everything is simple with us.” Because of the mask, the expression of his face was not visible.

They sat down at the table, silently and with some tension, looking at each other. The pause dragged on.

“Hm,” Kors cleared his throat, “I see you are packed, there are saddled horses in the yard, were you going somewhere? Am I in the way?”

“Did you come alone?” Lis answered impatiently with a question.

“Yes.” And seeing the obvious disappointment and annoyance in the eyes of the Fox, Kors smiled with a token smile and added: “I left my people in the town near the fair.”

“And you were not afraid to come here like this? Alone?” Lis grimaced.

“I have told you,” Kors stressed the last word, “I left a regiment of my soldiers in the town.”

“How many?! A regiment?!” Lis shook his head, as if driving away the obsession. He could not hide his emotions.

“Three battalions of three hundred men each, not counting the servicemen.”

“Where did you get so many warriors?” Lis was stunned.

And Kors laughed:

“Well… I'm pretty rich, Lis. Lis? Is that what I should call you? We never communicated closely, unfortunately, the military department for some reason believed that you were in their competence.”

“Indeed, unfortunately,” Lis smiled his trademark grin, he looked pleased and no longer so dumbfounded. “But no matter what is being done, everything is for the best! But now, I'm sure we'll make wonderful friends.”

Kors raised an eyebrow.

“I thought so too. And so I came alone, as if I were visiting friends.” He turned his gaze to Nikto and Arel.

“Make yourself at home!” Nikto said.

And Karina looked at him gratefully.

“Valentine,” Nikto ordered, “bring food and wine for our guest.”

Kors relaxed a little.

“Let's forget the old times!”

“Yes of course!”

Nikto raised a glass:

“Let's drink to the meeting!”

“For the meeting!” Kors agreed, and they drank wine. Everyone, except for Arel, who still didn’t know how to eat and drink, without removing the mask, but lifting only its lower part. Kors noticed this: “You don't take off your masks? I would like to chat with you, Nikto, seeing your face.”

“I beg your pardon,” Nikto said, and it was clear that this was not for real, “but, unfortunately, I can't take it off now, since we were going on the road, and I glue it along the edge to my face and now you fucking won’t pull it off… that is… it is no longer possible to take off.”