In the Kingdom of Halethia, if not the entire Continent of Aurelia, perhaps there was no thief better at his craft than Olsen var Ehlreid.
He was famous for stealing in castles, mansions of aristocrats, and wealthy men he stole from. In his every action, he only took away one or two valuables in the house. It was one of the reasons why he was never caught.
Other reasons include, Olsen was seldom recognizable since he always wore a black hood at work. Thanks to his adeptness in martial arts, his movement was almost as agile as a shadow. He was also equipped with a complete multi-purpose toolkit and skills sharpened by years of experience.
One night, Olsen dared to try his luck in the Royal Palace of Halethes in Lu Vazr, the capital of Halethia. The gate was expectedly under the guards’ watchful eyes, day and night. Thus, Olsen had to use extraordinary means to sneak in for a visit.
With a long rope tied on an iron hook, Olsen climbed the palace wall twenty meters in height. A soldier passed by on the parapet right above Olsen’s head. The thief paused briefly and held his breath, hanging on the rope like a lurking bat.
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Luckily, the soldier was staring straight ahead, unaware of the hook on the wall fringe obscured by the darkness of night. As he passed, Olsen quickly climbed into the parapet, then immediately stormed to hide within the watch tower.
“Hey, who’s there?” The soldier turned around abruptly with his spear at ready. He looked at his surroundings, then sighed and talked to himself. “Either a cat or the wind, but it sure was loud.” He then turned back to his initial direction.
On the other hand, it was still too early for Olsen to sigh in relief. He then ran on tiptoes towards the palace wall on the cliffside. As sneaking through the main hallway was already considered too common and too predictable, he instead chose the more dangerous route.
From his tool bag, Olsen grabbed his other ‘sophisticated’ tool, which was a pair of iron claw hooks and a kind of blade that could stick out from his shoes. For some reason, he thought of himself as a spider when he began to climb the palace’s outer wall sideways.
Thanks to his wealth of training and experience, Olsen did not think too much about the distance between him and the certain death he would meet on the ground more than twenty meters below his feet. His mind was focused only on the blades. He had to ensure they penetrated the stone wall perfectly, then pulled them out and re-stabbed one rock crevice and another, repeatedly.
Olsen kept moving and entered through the nearest window more like a gap on the wall. Fortunately, that window was big enough for the slim thief to go inside.
generated
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His both feet landed on the floor of a room. It was pitch dark. There was a rather large wooden bed with beautiful carvings on each side.
Suddenly Olsen was thunderstruck. Behind the curtain of the bed, there was the prettiest thing he had ever seen. A young woman with long blonde hair was lying in sleep, facing to a side. The fairy-like smile on her face was perhaps a sign of her currently pleasant dream, probably involving a handsome prince.
While quite a looker himself, Olsen was certainly no prince.
Besides, the intruder must ensure that the girl won’t wake up and see him. Death by hanging awaited anyone who dared to steal anything in the palace. Olsen began to doubt and eager to just go the window and retreat, yet a fancy-looking box lying idly on the ornamented cabinet table proved too tempting for him.
Foolish girl, Olsen thought. Putting her jewelry box in the open like that. Does she, not fear anyone stealing it?
Thus with a pair of steel needles, Olsen began to pick on the lock hole on the box. A click sound could be heard, and then Olsen opened the lid of the box.
Suddenly a melody began to chime loudly, startling Olsen. Inside the box, Olsen found an equally startling pair of man and woman figures the size of thumbs, dancing elegantly as if alive. Olsen reacted quickly, closing the jewelry box that was also a music box. The alarming melody was abruptly halted.
Yet it was too late, as the girl on the bed was already awake. She then began screaming hysterically, “Thief! There’s a thief in my room!”
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Instinct drove Olsen to draw his dagger and stick it on the girl’s neck. Yet one thing suspended his dagger’s push, and that was when its point precisely cut the skin on the girl’s neck that it bled. The girl was aghast, she turned pale before her potential killer.
“Cease your yelling. Let me out of here, there is no need for bloodshed. I have not taken anything…”
Before Olsen could finish his sentence, the bedroom door was broken in by a group of soldiers who quickly scattered. Quickly, Olsen switched position to the girl’s back, his blade still in position.
One soldier yelled, “Don’t you dare harm Princess Ulrisse! Surrender!”
“Hey, hey, even if I surrender, I will only get the noose, right? I think it would be better if I just take this beautiful princess with me to hell,” Olsen threatened.
“How dare you!” The soldiers were about to apprehend Olsen, yet the mortal threat to a member of the royalty rendered them hesitant to take a step.
On the other hand, Olsen, who intended to escape, found it hard to crawl out from the palace wall without soldiers’ interruption. He wanted to run through them, yet their tight formation and the hostage he was bringing him with really impeded his movement. In the worst case, either he would die on the spot or he would have to shed blood at last, adding ‘murder’ to the list of his sins, ensuring his departure to hell in the afterlife.
Being cornered on the edge, Princess Ulrisse whispered into her kidnapper’s ear, “Please, just surrender. There’s no other way.”
“Sure, if I drag you to die with me.” Olsen threatened back, also whispering.
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“It’s strange that you refrain from killing any soldier to get away, but will rather deprive Halethia of a crown princess.”
Her last whisper silenced Olsen’s wits at once. Only a moment later did the thief hissed back, “I never want to kill anyone. I stole only for a loaf of bread because I had no other choice. I was once a peasant, yet famine and pests destroyed my field and forced me to change profession. Unfortunately, I have grown accustomed to theft now.”
Ulrisse frowned, then she spoke again, “Should you be freed today, will you promise me to quit stealing?”
“Yes, I will,” Olsen replied after a pause. “But not to you. Instead, I shall swear before Vadis, the Right Way.”
“Very well. Release me and surrender, and you will find out why I have been appointed as the heir to the throne.”
Taking a deep breath, Olsen slowly loosened his restraint on the princess. Ulrisse got away and the guards came to surround and apprehend the kidnapper.
As he was dragged away, Olsen stared straight into the girl’s eyes as if saying, ‘Keep your word.”
On the contrary, the glitter on Ulrisse’s eyes and her smug grin stopped his heartbeat for a split second. He got a bad feeling about this. Did he just fall to her trick?
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As midday approached, with hands chained in iron cuffs Olsen was dragged and immediately put to trial before the King of Halethia, Haraald var Zwight. The incident in the princess’ bedroom was reported and evidences were shown.
Thus, without delay, the king with a thick mustache and beard, a balding middle-aged man, began his decree, “Olsen var Ehlreid, all shreds of evidence show that you are guilty of trying to steal from the royal palace and have dared to keep the crown princess hostage. Your verdict is death by hanging at the Lu Vazr plaza, tomorrow at dawn!”
Olsen bowed in mourning at his verdict. That’s all he wrote. It would take a miracle to get a second chance. The king ordered, “Drag him to the dungeon!”
It was exactly at that time when Princess Ulrisse interrupted, “Wait, Your Majesty! There is something I need to ask the defendant about.”
Duke Wilford var Rubinal, the prime minister and chief royal advisor abruptly spoke up, “You may not! The king’s decision is absolute and final! I beg Your Highness not to overstep your limits!”
Ulrisse was ready to argue with the brown-bearded middle-aged man. Yet Haraald quickly raised his hand and interrupted, “I allow you to do so, Ulrisse.” He then folded his hands, showing interest.
