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Declare an edge of the planar dual graph open exactly when its crossed primal edge is closed. This dual bond percolation has parameter $q=1-p<1/2=p_c$, using the Harris-Kesten theorem. We use the standard exponential tail of subcritical cluster size: for some $K,a>0$, uniformly in the dual vertex $v$,This is decay of the number of vertices in the percolation cluster, not merely its radius.

On $\{|C|=n\}$, the geometric fact allowed in the paper supplies a simple dual cycle in a graph surrounding $C$, with length $\ell \ge \alpha \sqrt{n}$. Every crossed edge is in the edge boundary of $C$ and is therefore closed, so the dual cycle is open. Its $\ell$ distinct vertices lie in one dual percolation cluster of size at least $\ell$.

A dual cycle in a graph of length $\ell$ surrounding the origin has all its vertices within sup-norm distance $\ell +1$ of the origin: its coordinate spans are at most $\ell$, and the origin lies between each pair of extreme coordinates. There are at most $K_0(\ell +1{)}^2$ possible dual vertices there. The union bound over lengths and possible vertices yieldsfor some $K_1,b>0$, since a polynomial factor can be absorbed into a slower exponential decay.

To remove the constant prefactor for all $n\ge 1$, first choose $n_0$ so that the bound is at most $e^{-(b/2)\sqrt{n}}$ for $n\ge n_0$. For the remaining finitely many $n$, use ${\mathbb{P}}_p(|C|=n)\le 1-\theta (p)<1$ and chooseFor $1\le n<n_0$, the chosen $c_2$ ensures $e^{-c_2\sqrt{n}}\ge 1-\theta (p)$.