As Mari anticipated, about three hours had gone by since I left the palace and there was no sign of my return yet. I would have been back by then if there wasn't any inconvenience along the way, which meant that I had come across a problem that delayed my journey. It had to have been a blizzard or a snowstorm. Either way, progressing towards the witch or returning back to the palace should have been difficult. It would come as no surprise if I happened to be lost in the forest with no sense of direction to travel in.
The princess was in no particular rush. But she felt that if she were to delay putting the next phase of the plan into action, I might actually find myself in real danger that I could not return from. The clothes I had on could only keep me so much warm and the horse, the fin
