Chapter 4: The Evil Princess and the Order of Knights
Chapter 4:
The Evil Princess and the Order of Knights
The Evil Princess and the Order of Knights
CLANG, CLANG! Metal clashed in the garden, interrupted by the occasional whoop or cheer.
“Please wait just a minute, Pride! There’s no need to do this with me!”
Stale Royal Ivy, the eldest prince, was ten years old.
“Big Sister, please make sure you’re being careful.”
Tiara Royal Ivy, the second-born princess, was nine years old.
“Don’t worry, you two. The instructor is right here with us.”
And I, Pride Royal Ivy, was now eleven.
Three years had passed in peace since I first regained the memories of my past life. Stale didn’t suffer more hardship; Tiara wasn’t banished to a solitary castle tower. I even got to see Mother more often than before.
I spent a lot of that time studying. I’d recently finished every available history book in the castle and started to dive into books on Freesian law. Not only was it interesting in and of itself, but I could also pass the knowledge along to Stale and Tiara. I enjoyed teaching them. I even found a few truly interesting bits, such as a certain law enacted long, long ago.
“After this law was enacted, it wasn’t uncommon for siblings-in-law to marry each other, even within the royal family,” I’d told them. It made sense, thinking back on the royal family tree.
“What?!” Stale had blurted out. At first, his shock confused me; after all, I knew he married Tiara in some routes in ORL. But the Stale here knew none of that, of course.
Tiara had perked up as well. “Does that mean…you or I…could marry Big Brother Stale?” she said.
Before I could even nod in response, Stale had slammed his head down onto the table with impressive force. His face burned red, no matter how he tried to hide it. Did he already have feelings for Tiara, even earlier than in the game? In that case, my punishment at their hands might come sooner than I expected.
That thought chased me ever since that day. I no longer knew how much time I had left, but all I could do was continue on trying my best.
On this particular day, I wasn’t reading, though. Stale and I were fencing. Stale had been studying the fundamentals for some time, but this was his first opportunity to experience the real deal.
My earlier attempt to reassure Stale that all was well and good earned me an angry “That’s what you said when you joined my self-defense lesson this morning too!”
However, I was eager to get some combat training. Father insisted it wasn’t something a queen needed to know, and in all honesty, I knew he was right, but I couldn’t help wanting to learn.
Besides, there was something I needed to test.
Thus, I joined Stale in his training while Tiara watched us from a chair a few meters away. The instructor focused mostly on Stale, walking him through the basics, after which Stale got to take a break. I seized the opportunity and asked the instructor to practice with me in the meantime.
Shockingly enough, he agreed. I mentally ran through all the tips I’d heard him give Stale, then stepped forward with my blade at the ready. The instructor moved toward me and swung. I dodged his blade, then lunged to close the distance between us, parrying his sword along the way.
One meager step separated us. I set my feet and jumped with all my might, leaping right over the instructor to land behind him. He spun, thrusting his sword, but I rolled out of the way and used the opening to jab for his throat.
I knew it.
The instructor went wide-eyed with shock. Stale’s mouth hung open. Tiara clapped her hands over her face as she yelped.
It happened again.
I’d never held a sword before. The most experience I had with fencing was watching Stale’s lessons. Yet my body moved on pure instinct, and I even landed a hit on the instructor. It shouldn’t have been possible.
The same thing happened this morning during self-defense combat. I’d never done more than watch others train, but when I sparred with Stale’s instructor, I dodged the man’s every punch, shook away his grab, and jumped over his kicks, landing at his back and subduing a fully grown man.
I feared I knew what was behind this. The knowledge knotted in my stomach. I was using my “final boss cheats” to achieve these miraculous feats. More than anything else, this was proof that the memories of my past life weren’t just delusions.
I knew from the game that Pride was strong. She even dueled the love interests, wielding swords and firing guns with uncanny skill and precision. There was a scene where Tiara tried to launch a sneak attack against her sister, only to get taken hostage instead.
“With my precognition, I see everything!” Pride would shout. But that strength didn’t come simply from precognition. For example, if a boxer informed his opponent that he would punch them in three seconds, how likely would the other person be to dodge it successfully?
Now that I was Pride, I could feel her skill and tactical know-how inside me. I needed no training to master combat. It was the ultimate cheat, but what else could I expect from a wicked otome villainess and the final boss of the game?
In some routes, Pride had to fight off the love interests themselves—including Stale. Sometimes, he tried to end his suffering by plunging a sword into his own gut. He didn’t actually die, though he bled profusely while wearing a grim smile. But in other routes, he faced off against Pride with Tiara’s help.
When I considered all this, it came as little surprise that I had a natural, perhaps even supernatural, knack for fencing and fighting. Although, frankly, I assumed the developers just made Pride OP without really thinking it through.
“It happened again…” Stale said. “Elder Sister’s a woman and yet she has no need for me.” Stale shook his head as though admonishing himself.
Tiara ran over to comfort him. “The instructor said you’re doing great, Big Brother.”
“No, our elder sister’s the only impressive one here,” he complained, clearly upset. “There’s no point if I’m weaker than the person I’m supposed to protect.”
“But my teacher said that you’re the very best in the kingdom when it comes to studying, Big Brother.” Tiara tried her best, but no matter what she said, Stale just collapsed in on himself yet further.
“Tiara’s right,” I said, hoping to help. “Plus, you’re a boy, Stale. I’m sure you’ll grow up to be stronger than me. Not to mention…”
I hesitated. Perhaps it’d be better just to keep my mouth shut, but Stale and Tiara were watching me, waiting for me to finish.
“If it was a simple battle of strength, then I certainly wouldn’t prevail,” I offered.
Stale would certainly overpower me someday. Already, he’d surpassed me in height and started filling out. I knew the Stale in the game became quite strong before his battle against Pride. He, along with many of the other love interests, ultimately prevailed against Pride by overpowering her.
“Strength…” Stale mused. He looked up to meet my gaze, finally coming out of his slump.
“Yes, that’s right,” I said. “For example, if a man pinned me down, I’d have trouble escaping something like that.”
“Pinned down…by a man…” I was just trying to throw out a hypothetical, but Stale started muttering under his breath, and all the color drained from his face. “Not Pride,” he mumbled to himself before hopping to his feet and taking up his sword.
“Let’s continue,” he said. “Teacher, please resume the lesson.”
He faced his instructor stoically, his face set and hard. The poor instructor was still trying to steady himself after fighting me, but quickly readied to spar Stale, who awaited the bout eagerly.
That buzzing anticipation in him stirred suspicion in me. True, Stale was getting used to life in the castle, but he was also rapidly growing into the expressionless man I knew from the game. He still managed a smile in public, but outside of that, his face fell into that terrible, blank stillness.
Now here he was, suddenly leaping to attention and eager to spar. Was this all so he could slay me some day? His eyes shone with deadly intent, and I couldn’t help but worry.
“Big Sister.” Tiara tugged on my dress. “I’m not strong at all, and I’m not amazing like you are, Big Sister, but I-I’ll always be with you!”
I blinked at her sudden determination. Tears shimmered in her eyes, but she set her jaw firmly. Her too? What is going on here?
“I’ll be by your side so that nothing bad happens to you,” she said.
Feeling a little pang of guilt at having suggested such a scary-sounding fate for myself as being overpowered by a man, I stroked her hair. “Thank you, Tiara. I didn’t mean to scare you. But don’t worry, we have Father and Stale and all our guards and knights to keep us safe.”
It seemed Tiara truly wanted us to connect as sisters. My heart swelled at the very idea. Already, she’d grown more beautiful and ladylike. As in the game, the sickness that plagued her as a child ebbed as she aged, allowing her to grow into a normal teenage girl. Already she ran and played with me and Stale when we went out into the gardens. In fact, she spent most of her days with us, even if she couldn’t participate in things like fencing. Seeing her love and determination, I longed to give her the sibling relationship she evidently craved.
After that day, Stale dove headfirst into daily fencing and self-defense lessons, honing his skills. I was invited to spar with the instructors, but I had no reason to keep practicing now that I’d proven I really did live in the otome game setting that I knew. I didn’t want to get in Stale’s way anymore either, so I politely rejected their offers. The last thing I wanted was some rumor about the crown princess being a savage tyrant. It was more important for me to study the etiquette and knowledge I would need in becoming queen, but before that, I wanted to teach Tiara everything I knew—she was the one who’d someday rule this kingdom.
Tiara also began to request physical training, perhaps wanting to follow in my footsteps after seeing me perform, and it took quite some time to convince her that such things weren’t necessary for us. I was only allowed to participate just the one time myself, and that was with special permission. If the sickly heroine and second-born princess actually got hooked on hand-to-hand combat and fencing, well, that would be an ordeal all on its own.
***
“Elder Sister, your hand.”
Stale reached out for me. I accepted his hand and let him help me out of our carriage.
We arrived at the training grounds for the order of the knights. With Stale so focused now on training, his instructor had invited him to observe the knights at their practice. I joined, making my first appearance as the crown princess. Even Tiara planned to join us once she finished her lessons for the day.
Though the practice grounds lay within the palace complex, we still needed a carriage to reach them. The castle sprawled out, so huge that it reminded me of the theme parks and large train stations from my previous life. I couldn’t quite decide which world was stranger.
Mother lived and worked in one part of the royal palace, which connected via passageways to the buildings where Tiara, Stale, and I spent our days. A separate palace held rooms for guests, then there were the other buildings for visitors from faraway lands or for special use by royalty or nobility. That whole area where the royal family lived was called the “royal residence,” but beyond it lay more manors and buildings for upper tier nobility. Thus, we’d needed a carriage just to get from the royal residence to the knights’ training grounds—and it wasn’t a short ride.
“Thank you very much for coming, Princess Pride and Prince Stale,” someone said.
The knights stood lined up along a path. Two men waited at the end of the lane, one of whom was the man who’d greeted us.
“Oh, I don’t see the commander here with you today,” I said.
I’d assumed he’d be the one greeting us, but apparently he’d sent his vice commander in his stead. The second man was likely a squadron leader.
“My apologies, Your Highness,” Stale’s instructor, following behind us, said. “The commander had urgent business come up. He must attend a joint exercise with the new recruits of a neighboring country today.” He sounded a bit flustered, and I realized I’d probably said it before he could inform me himself.
These “new recruits” were aspiring knights themselves. They served as reserve troops before they could join the main order. In this series, or, rather, in this world, the recruits were hand-selected for the order, which meant they had to show particular skill.
The knights here assembled appeared uniform in their white clothing and gleaming armor, but closer inspection revealed subtle differences. These slight embellishments differentiated between new recruits, main forces, vice captains, captains, vice commanders, and commanders. While subtle, the knights took these differences very seriously, especially because some troops remained “new recruits” for years before earning any mark of distinction.
According to Stale’s instructor, a squadron from a neighboring kingdom had failed to show up for exercises with new recruits a few days ago. With no way to contact them, the commander set off for that kingdom with his own new recruits in tow. Mother and Father followed soon thereafter, taking a couple squadrons with them. One way or another, someone had to figure out what happened, report back, and decide what to do next.
“Mr. Carl, this is my elder sis—Princess Pride’s very first observation,” Stale whispered so that only his instructor and I could hear. “I’m sure that Mother already knew of this, but I believe that Her Highness should have been informed beforehand as well.”
His instructor, Mr. Carl, bowed his head. “You’re right. Please accept my apologies.”
“It’s all right,” I said. “I knew about the joint exercises as well, so I should have confirmed the details for myself.”
I was a bit disappointed to hear I wouldn’t be meeting with the commander, but what was done was done.
“Princess Pride is always so understanding,” Stale said with a smile, smoothing over the awkwardness.
“The commander told me that he trained you all to be the very best of knights,” I said. “Even without his attendance, I’m certain my observation today will be just as valuable an experience.”
Despite Stale’s somewhat sharp rebuke, I hoped my words could set everyone back at ease. Thank goodness. I didn’t want them to think of me as some kind of overbearing princess.
“You’re always so clever,” Stale whispered into my ear from behind as the vice commander led us inside a tower. I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, and his customary blank expression certainly didn’t help, but he seemed pleased, so hopefully it was a good thing.
Mr. Carl and the vice commander led us up to a tower balcony from which we could look down and observe the training grounds. Attendants had prepared a lavish chair for me to rest in while I watched the knights go through their warm-ups. They soon progressed to sparring, combat from horseback, and even rifle practice.
That last took me a bit by surprise. In my past life, I always wondered if knights actually used firearms. There was one scene in the game where Pride used a handgun, so it didn’t come as a total shock for this world to have firearms. The vice commander explained that while the troops primarily trained their swordsmanship, firearms experience was also required to become a knight. Stale leaned forward in his chair as the vice commander spoke, hanging on every word, his eyes glued to the scene.
As expected, the knights displayed perfect form during their exercises, even without the commander present. They wielded their blades with such passion and talent, yet the Pride of the game used them only for waging war on other countries and oppressing her own citizens. What an absolute fool she was. The vice commander indulged us when we peppered him with questions. His calm, mild manner contrasted sharply with the commander, but I found myself enjoying his patience and gentleness. He almost reminded me of the type of man who worked in a flower shop back in my old life. He kept the top layer of his blond hair tied back, while the rest hung down to his shoulders. With his placid voice and soothing demeanor, I wondered if he wasn’t more of a strategist than a soldier, in truth. However, I could see scars peeking out from under his armor, proof of his experience on the battlefield. Through him, I got to learn about the chain of command, emergency preparedness, and anything else I wished to pester him about.
“While you’re still only eleven years old, Princess Pride, it seems that the rumors of your wisdom are not unfounded,” he said with a slight grin.
For a moment, I thought I must have misheard him. Surely he couldn’t be praising me just for asking questions. “No, that’s not—” I started to deny it when Stale jumped in.
“I see you’re even well informed when it comes to castle rumors, Sir Clark,” he said. “It just speaks to why you were made vice commander.”
Huh? I thought he was completely focused on the knights. Was he actually paying attention to all this?
The vice commander, Sir Clark, smiled and said, “That one’s quite well known by all.”
It was certainly the first time I’d ever heard it. Me? Wise? How did a rumor like that get started? Thankfully, the conversation shifted, and we passed a pleasant hour just observing and chatting up in the tower. I was just about to stand up, thinking that Tiara would be finished with her lessons and want to join us soon, when a shout rang out below.
“Attention! Attention!”
As the cry sounded, Sir Clark leapt into motion. He hurried down the tower. We followed, but we couldn’t keep up with his panicked strides. Eventually, we followed him into a separate building, the order’s tactical strategy room. By the time we arrived, anxious knights filled the space, pacing back and forth. A few people gave Stale and me curious looks, but none of them had time to worry about us for long.
“Is Roderick safe?!” Sir Clark asked.
“Yes, sir! One of the troops is using his power to relay a transmission from Commander Roderick now.”
The transmission contained a desperate request for backup. Apparently, while the commander led his new recruits on their journey to that neighboring kingdom, they got ambushed along the road. Multiple horses were dead or immobilized, and while none of the troops had yet perished, some had suffered grave injuries in the attack.
The vice commander froze for a beat, obviously trapped between his duty to his commander and his duty to the royal family. Technically, he had to protect Stale and me first and foremost. It would violate the rules of chivalry to abandon us or send us away, even if it was an emergency. Thus, we could make his job a little easier by simply staying with the knights, allowing the vice commander to look after us and his superior all at once.
Besides, I couldn’t get the word “ambush” out of my head. The transmission came through as an image floating in the center of the room, like a hologram, but magical. In it, the commander pleaded for help and described the dire situation.
“The commander has forwarded us his coordinates!” one of the knights shouted. “I’ve determined his location, and we may now transmit back to him.” The man’s eyes glowed orange as he called on his power to produce the wavering image of the commander. The whole thing reminded me of a video conference call from my past life.
“Roderick, it’s me! Can you hear me? Tell me what’s going on!” Sir Clark said.
In the projection, the commander seemed to react to Sir Clark’s voice. But he was still focused on something off screen, even as he replied.
“Yes, I hear you!” Commander Roderick said. “The situation hasn’t changed since my last report. We still have no casualties, but we’re seeing more and more injured.”
“We’re preparing to send backup. The vanguard of the special power forces is already on its way, and other squadrons will be out as soon as they’re prepared.”
“Get here as quickly as you can. Our new recruits are doing well, but there’s only so much I can do as the only experienced soldier here.” The commander turned his attention elsewhere for a moment and barked out orders.
“What about the enemy? Just who are you up against?” Sir Clark asked. All the cool calm he’d displayed up in the tower was gone now, replaced with urgency.
“I think they’re an opposition group,” Commander Roderick said. “They must be against our inter-kingdom alliance. First they dropped a boulder on our road from above so we couldn’t pass. The attackers have been firing at us from the cliff tops ever since. We’re sitting ducks out here! If we attempt to retreat, we’ll have to do so with no cover. Right now, the squad’s formed a shield to protect us, but it’s only a matter of time. We’re preparing all the horses we have left to carry the injured to safety.”
“We can send horses from headquarters to your coordinates now,” Sir Clark said. “They should arrive in about ninety minutes. The vanguard is already on their way, and though they’re only a small group, they should arrive in thirty minutes. You’ll have to find a way to hold out until then.”
The vanguard. If they could just get there in time, there might be hope. Every one of them had special powers and had trained specifically for high mobility.
“I know,” Commander Roderick said. “We can make it as long as we still have weapons and ammo… There!”
He turned suddenly as gunshots cracked and a distant scream rose. From the way he was pointing, the enemy must have come from above on the cliffs, meaning the knights could only fight with guns and not their swords. And that meant that their bullets—and time—were running out.
“What about Her Majesty? Do we have orders from her?” Commander Roderick pressed.
“We’ve been in communication, but she’s currently outside the kingdom with His Royal Highness,” Sir Clark replied. “The Queen has supposedly negotiated with their king to get you more backup, but…”
They won’t make it in time. Sir Clark didn’t need to continue. We all heard that horrible line hanging unspoken in the air.
Since the commander had left with new recruits, they’d probably traveled slowly. In all likelihood, they were pinned down closer to our kingdom than the next one over. Our allies’ backup forces wouldn’t arrive before ours did. I was sure Mother and Father were doing everything they could, but I wanted to help too.
“So backup will reach them in thirty minutes at the earliest. But what they need more than anything right now is supplies,” I said.
Sir Clark and Commander Roderick both snapped their attention toward me.
“Princess Pride?” Commander Roderick said. “Why is she…?”
“Stale, I’ll need your help with this. What do you say?” I asked.
“Whatever you wish, Princess Pride.”
“Quickly, gather all the weapons and ammo they’ll need and bring them here,” I ordered. “Stale can use his special power to send them to the battlefield bit by bit.”
It certainly wouldn’t be quick, but Stale’s teleportation afforded us an opportunity to shore up the commander’s provisions a little faster. Unfortunately, Stale could only transport the equivalent of his own body weight at most and only to places he’d seen before. When he was first adopted into our family, he could only teleport things a short distance away, so he was already on the path of growth. I knew his power would get even stronger in the future—to the point of being able to carry three or four times his weight—but for now, he faced some stiff limitations.
Still, he was our best hope.
Sir Clark spoke up: “Please, the princess and prince needn’t concern themselves with—”
“Right now, the only thing that matters is ensuring that as many knights survive as possible,” I cut in.
Though reluctant, the commander and the other knights agreed. Sir Clark sent more than half his men out to gather supplies light enough for Stale to transport. I wished Stale could bring back some of those injured soldiers during his trips, but that simply wasn’t possible for him yet. He had never left the country before, and even if he had, they’d simply be too heavy even if they removed their armor. At the very least, we could get them the supplies they so desperately needed.
It was time to strike back.
***
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
In all my years as commander of the order, I’d never seen such chaos. My recruits writhed on the ground, clutching their injuries. The enemy blocked our escape route. Our supplies were depleting at an alarming rate. The vanguard would reach us soon, but their priority was speed, not supplies. We could send some of our troops to safety, but at that point, the tide of the battle would turn against those of us who remained. I wanted as many of my men to survive as possible, even if that meant I had to act as a decoy. But then…
“Commander Roderick, we’ve finished restocking the ammo stores!”
“We’re continuing to treat the injured soldiers! May I send in a request for more bandages?”
“I managed to stop the bleeding. I’ll join the others on the front lines.”
“Some weapons just arrived over there. Someone go bring them in!”
Soldiers—my soldiers—shouted all around me, yet I wasn’t sure how or if I could help them. I’d earned the moniker “the Unwounded Knight,” yet here I was pinned down with my troops behind a hastily erected barricade, sheltering from gunfire, trying to tend to the wounded while only occasionally firing back at the enemy.
Then, by some miracle, shields, weapons, bandages, and ammunition started appearing out of nowhere. My fresh, green recruits gaped at the sight, but I soon realized what was happening—this power must’ve belonged to Prince Stale.
It had to be him. When I said as much to the troops around me, they let out a whoop, morale suddenly soaring.
I knew boys adopted into the royal family had to possess a special power. Some of them even posed a threat if wielded with malice. But it was quite another thing to witness that power all around me in the thick of battle. Plus, only the royal family knew the details of the prince’s ability; I myself had just learned of it today. It wasn’t a secret, but it also wasn’t something the prince would publicly display. Some royalty took the secret of their powers to the grave with them.
And then there was Prince Stale.
He was famous within the castle for his wisdom and discretion. I’d heard that he busied himself forming friendly relationships with people throughout the castle, but not one of them knew of his power. There were even rumors that Princess Pride forbade him from divulging it to anyone. If you tried asking directly, he’d just smile and say, “I’m prepared to reveal it if that’s what Her Highness desires.”
I’d seen it myself at all the ceremonies I attended. Princess Pride always told him she didn’t mind if he wanted to reveal his power, but he’d respond with, “I want to use it when that’s what you want from me, Elder Sister.”
Thus, in the three years since he joined the royal family, Prince Stale never once used his power in front of others, nor did he make it known to the public. What a powerful ace he had hiding up his sleeve.
I wasn’t the only one impressed, most likely. The other recruits, Vice Commander Clark, and the knights on the other side of the projection all had to be shivering at the sight of what Princess Pride and her brother could do.
Why hadn’t the crown princess made use of Stale’s power before now, though? As princess, she essentially owned Stale’s power. Even now, she could have kept his power a secret, yet she rushed to put it to use. The prince showed no reservations about following her suggestion, openly displaying his power even though he’d refused to reveal it before now.
He would only get stronger in time. Youth likely limited him, yet he could still send items to faraway locations, no matter how distant. Fear coiled through my awe as I watched item after item appear from nowhere, never more than three meters out of my reach.
But what if Prince Stale or Princess Pride… What if they misused those powers for something evil, like assassinations? A chill shot down my spine at the thought.
“Why don’t we get Prince Stale to drop bombs on the enemy’s position?” one of the recruits shouted.
“I’ll agree to it, if that’s what my sister wishes,” Prince Stale said without a hint of fear in his face.
The princess responded quickly and firmly. “No, he can’t do such a thing.”
Even as the commander, I breathed a sigh of relief. What would have happened if she’d actually gone along with a plan like that?
She likely harbored the same fear I did. If we had Prince Stale start killing indiscriminately, he could become a threat more powerful than any army. I certainly didn’t want him getting accustomed to murder with a power like his that was still developing. Already, I doubted he’d hesitate to take a person’s life if the order came from Princess Pride.
Such unflinching devotion hinted at a fealty contract rather than a subordination contract, but I doubted that was the case. It was a feeling, a gut instinct. I had no proof, but I felt confident Prince Stale acted more from devotion than obligation.
Besides, Prince Stale clearly still had a will and purpose of his own. Those under fealty contracts rarely showed such voluntary devotion. Such arrangements left their actions completely under someone else’s control, but that wasn’t how Stale acted. Honestly, he showed more determination than even some of my own knights. Everything he did, he did for the princess.
For now, I focused on the supplies he delivered. They kept us from running out of ammo as we battled back the ambushers. Stale also delivered medical supplies for the wounded. With what he brought us, we could hold out until the vanguard, and perhaps even the main forces, arrived to support us.
“I’m truly grateful,” I said, though I wasn’t sure anyone heard me with the battle still raging on all sides.
I didn’t just mean Stale. I also meant the person who ordered him to help us in the first place, Princess Pride.
***
“Prince Stale! Here’s what we need next!”
“Prince Stale! We’ve brought the medical supplies you requested!”
“Prince Stale! Let us know how else we can help!”
I watched Stale send supply after supply to the battlefield, teleporting in and out. He always returned looking just as calm as when he left, but I planned to stop him if I noticed any kind of physical toll.
For now, he seemed entirely unaffected. I couldn’t believe how easily he kept using his power. At the same time, I longed to be useful myself, but there was little I could do but stay out of the way. I didn’t want the knights to think I was some good-for-nothing princess just being a nuisance, but everyone around me looked more frightened than annoyed.
“What’s the matter?” I said, but the knights only shook their heads, apologized, and hurried away to some other task.
Wait…were they already scared of me?
With the rescue attempt smoothly underway, Sir Clark left his soldiers to their work and approached me instead. “Your Highness, I can’t thank you enough for your help,” he said with a humble bow of his head.
“It’s too early for that,” I told him. “Shameful as it is for me to say, I haven’t done anything today. You should direct your gratitude toward Stale once he’s finished here.”
Sir Clark just kept his head bowed. “With all due respect, I believe everything that happened here was thanks to you, Your Highness. Once this is all over, I intend to express my gratitude again, and to His Highness as well, of course.”
I shook my head, but as I did, I realized the vice commander wasn’t the only one looking at me that way. His knights snuck glances at me as they hustled to and fro.
“Sir Clark,” I said, “is it possible the knights…don’t like me?”
Fewer people referred to me as the “selfish princess” behind my back now than three years ago, but nasty rumors still made their way around the castle. Some even suggested that I’d forced Stale into a fealty contract, but whenever I brought it up, Stale just laughed and said, “Don’t worry about that.” Easy for him to say; he didn’t realize that a different Pride had done exactly that. The first time I’d heard it, my whole body had erupted in goosebumps.
“No, no, not at all,” Sir Clark replied. “The knights are merely intimidated. Or rather, they are awed by your presence. I apologize if they’ve made you uncomfortable.” He smiled, but it looked strained to me. “I also offer my apologies for that soldier’s thoughtless remark earlier, and I thank you for your sensible decision.”
By that, he had to mean the proposition that Stale drop bombs directly on the enemy. While plenty of nobles might have taken that opportunity—including the Pride from the game—I shuddered at the idea of ordering Stale to kill others. I didn’t want him to have to do that ever, if I could help it. The weapons he teleported now were for self-defense. But to drop bombs on the enemy would mean taking their lives directly.
At this point in the game, Pride had already made Stale kill many people, including his own mother, but that only made me more dead set on never having Stale use his power to take someone’s life. He wasn’t evil and devious like me. He was a good person with a kind heart, and he deserved better than to become a murderer.
“I certainly was startled,” I admitted. “Please reprimand that soldier once he makes it back. Well, I suppose the commander already did but…”
In fact, the commander had roared when that soldier suggested a bomb. Everyone in the room covered their ears and some went rather pale.
“My sincerest apologies, Princess Pride. I’ll be sure to give him a good scolding as well.”
“Yes, please do. Also, I’d like to ask that you keep the nature of Stale’s power to yourselves as much as possible. I’d prefer for Stale to use his power for his own wishes and protection, rather than as a weapon for the sake of the kingdom.”
The vice commander blinked before gathering himself and nodding, a kind smile gracing his countenance. “Of course, Your Highness.”
“Vice Commander! The vanguard will arrive at the scene in ten minutes.”
“Understood.”
Thank goodness. This will change the tide of the battle, if only a little.
Stale continued sending weapons and ammo to the front lines. The knights, still amazed at the sight of the constant teleportation, placed more bundles of supplies before him.
“Send half of the forces to Commander Roderick’s aid and the other half to the clifftops to capture the enemy,” Sir Clark ordered. “We only need one alive to interrogate. Don’t let a single one of them get away.” The knights shouted their assent, and Sir Clark addressed the projection. “Just hold out a little longer, Commander. Don’t let your guard down!”
The commander was still hunkering down on the ground from what we could see. He held his position, only turning to fire at the enemy.
“I won’t,” Commander Roderick replied. “Tell the vanguard that the ground here is loose. I’m sure the boulder they dropped on us was intentional, but unlike the lower level where we are, the cliffs will need to be scouted with extremely careful footing.”
“Very well,” Sir Clark said.
Wait.
“The ground?” I repeated quietly.
The ground is loose? Why does that sound so familiar?
“The ground there was always loose. And that’s where my…”
Something from my past life—a line from ORL—suddenly rang in my head. It was one of the love interests describing his tragic past to Tiara. Assailed by the memory, I suppressed a scream.
I then shouted, “No! The vanguard mustn’t go to the top of the cliffs! Those cliffs are going to collapse!”
All of the knights, Stale, and even the commander in the projection all gaped at me in pure shock. But now that it was out, there was no taking it back.
“I’ve just had a vision,” I went on. “Those cliffs will collapse very soon, taking the attackers with it. Our knights are about to be crushed under all the rubble!”
I didn’t have time for caution. Based on my recollection of the game, that cliff would collapse regardless of whether the vanguard arrived. But no one in the room was heeding my warning. They just stood there, stunned and wide-eyed, blinking at me in utter confusion. I had to snap them out of it, and quickly.
“I, Pride Royal Ivy, deemed heir to the throne for my precognition, give you my orders! Quickly! The vanguard must find an evacuation route and lead the troops to safety, as quickly as they can.”
All at once, the spell broke, and the knights leapt into action. The projection shifted from the commander to the vanguard, so Sir Clark could issue new orders. All the knights hauling supplies to Stale changed course to help with the evacuation. The moment he finished with the vanguard, Sir Clark ordered his knights to connect him to the other backup squadrons on their way to the scene.
“Commander Roderick, did you hear that?” Sir Clark said. “Get out of there right away. Get as far from those cliffs as you can!”
“Right.”
But the commander didn’t move at all. He barked orders for the new recruits to flee from the front lines and put distance between themselves and the cliffs, but the commander himself stayed in place.
“I’m glad we placed the shields and defenses you sent us at our backs,” he said. “We managed to form a wall just a few meters away that works as shelter from enemy fire. Anyone injured who can’t move should go first.”
“Commander Roderick! I told you to get out of there too!” the vice commander shouted.
Still, Roderick made no attempt to flee. “You’re seeing me through one of the troop’s powers, set from the perspective of the boulder that sits in front of me. Everyone else got away from the cliffs as much as they could.”
“Then why won’t you move?!” Sir Clark asked, frantic.
“I can’t move.” Commander Roderick’s voice came through hushed and weak and I noticed for the first time how pale his face had gotten.
Why can’t he move? Is he wounded?!
If that was the case, the troops should’ve carried him away to safety. The commander was a large man, but there was no reason uninjured recruits couldn’t lift him.
“The boulder pinned one of my feet when they dropped it from above.”
“What?! Is it broken?!” Vice Commander Clark’s hands trembled. My stomach tied itself in knots as I imagined the commander’s predicament.
“It’s not broken, just completely pinned. There’s nothing I can do to get it out. Even the new recruits couldn’t get the boulder to budge. Blowing it up would only bury me under the rubble… If only my foot were crushed, then I’d be able to escape.” The commander smiled far too casually as he added, “Before we began transmitting, I ordered the troops to leave me behind if they had to, and not to speak a word of it to any of you.”
With that, he unsheathed the sword at his waist. Before I even had time to gasp, Commander Roderick sliced down, right onto his trapped foot.
I shrieked and covered my eyes, but when the blade came down, we did not hear rending flesh, but rather the screech of metal against metal. I peeked between my hands. The commander sat in the same spot, his blade utterly spotless—not a hint of blood anywhere.
“Anti-slash,” he muttered through gritted teeth.
I didn’t understand. I stood there in a daze until one of the grim-faced knights at my side offered an explanation.
“It’s the commander’s special power,” he told me. “Nothing can cut him, no matter how sharp, and he has no control over that ability. In other words, he can’t sever his foot to escape.”
“The Unwounded Knight.” That was how Father had introduced him, but I’d taken it as a nickname that resulted from his prowess on the battlefield. I never imagined something like this. The very power that had made him a celebrated commander now trapped him in a situation his troops couldn’t save him from. At any moment, the cliffs could collapse, or the enemy could come to finish him off. Perhaps if the reinforcements completely wiped out the opposition, they could come help him, but there simply wasn’t time.
The knights in the room murmured in disbelief as the reality of the dire scenario set in. Some collapsed to the floor. Sir Clark tried to suggest some sort of alternative, but the commander just shook his head.
“Sadly, it looks like my time is up,” Commander Roderick said. “I’m counting on you to take care of things when I’m gone, Clark. Now that no one’s firing back at them, the enemy will probably reach me any minute. As a knight, I’d like to die with—”
“Is this a joke?”
A new voice interrupted the commander. Everyone swiveled toward the sound to find an unfamiliar boy in the room.
The knights made to haul the boy out, but the commander shouted, “Stop!”
“He’s Roderick’s…the commander’s son,” Sir Clark said.
The knights froze. The vice commander stepped aside, allowing the boy to approach the projection of his father.
This kid is the commander’s son?!
The boy looked nothing like the son of a commander. He had the same silver hair as his father, but long and unkempt, falling down to his back. His bangs covered most of his face. In his white tank top and worn-out pants, he looked more like a farmer than a soldier. He seemed a bit older than me, perhaps thirteen or so, but he was so small and lean, nothing like his stoutly built father.
“What are you doing there?!” Commander Roderick asked, eyes flying wide.
“A bunch of knights were passing by the fields, so I came to see what was happening,” the boy said. “Tell me what the hell’s going on!”
This wasn’t the way the final conversation between a father and son should go, but the commander just stared at his son in silence.
“What kind of stupid dad are you?!” the boy asked. “What about Mom?! We have to worry about you all the damn time and now your time is just ‘up,’ huh?! Well, go to hell with that! You call yourself Unwounded?! You’re supposed to be the commander! How are you gonna die from something like this?!” The harsh words didn’t mask the boy’s distress. “Stand the hell up. Go home and apologize to Mom a thousand times!”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” Commander Roderick said. “I’ll be dying a knight’s death here. But I’d still like to teach you one last lesson of—”
“I don’t want your stupid knight lessons! I already told you, I’m never becoming a knight!”
The commander’s face fell a bit at this. Then he broke into a smile.
“I see. It’s your life,” he said. “I have no desire to force you into joining the order. I just wanted you to know what it means to be a knight. To put your life on the line for the sake of duty, just like my troops and comrades do. As your father, I wanted you to appreciate that.” With that, the commander plunged his sword into the dirt and stood up, one foot still trapped under the boulder.
Distant footsteps sounded through the projection. They came from the cliffs where the enemy had hunkered down to fire at the knights.
“Finally out of bullets, are ya? Took long enough.” Men dressed like bandits appeared at the edges of the projection as the pounding footsteps grew louder and louder.
“Cut off our transmission,” Sir Clark said quietly.
The knight who’d been transmitting the signal regained his original eye color. The commander chuckled. “Good call,” he said as our image closed in tight and narrow to focus only on the commander.
“Sir Clark! What are you doing?!” the commander’s son cried.
“We need to get information from them without giving up any of our own.”
Now completely on his own, the commander turned to face his attackers. They burst into laughter at the sight of his trapped foot, but the commander ignored their taunts.
“Those boys who made it out of here still have lives to live,” Commander Roderick said. “I won’t let you go after them. You’ll have to deal with me until backup arrives.”
“Tough talk for a guy who can’t move, huh?! We’ll let you live a little longer, if you promise to cooperate,” one of the attackers jeered.
“Watch me, my son. Watch your father’s final moments…my final triumph as a knight.”
The commander lunged, slashing at the nearest attacker. He moved so quickly, the other enemies didn’t even have time to react, then followed through with another swipe. He used his own arm as a shield, deflecting blows thanks to his special power, before driving his sword into one enemy’s heart. Finally, the enemies gathered together to launch an attack all at once.
Oh, no…
My legs trembled as I watched the projection. Stale rushed to my side and held me by the shoulders. He tried to turn me away from the scene, but I refused to move. This was something I had to witness.
The commander’s son let out a guttural scream.
“Go to hell, you thugs! Don’t touch my dad! I’ll kill you all! Let him go, let him go, let him go, let him go, let him go!” Fits of choking interrupted the boy’s words, but he kept on screaming at enemies who could not hear him. Tears tracked down his cheeks, while insult after insult poured out of his mouth.
Sir Clark began relaying orders to the vanguard, who’d just arrived at the battlefield. He told them to get the young troops to shelter then evacuate to safety before the cliffs collapsed. He didn’t order any of them to go help the commander, however.
There was nothing I could do. I’d pledged to use my remaining life to do whatever I could for this kingdom, for my people. But I was completely helpless in that moment.
The tragedy unfolded in slow motion. The commander cut down his enemies, but they just kept coming. Each strike played out with agonizing slowness. I could see every movement of his sword, every terrified expression on the faces of his attackers. Then…
“That man!”
My eyes locked on to one of the attackers. He stood behind the rest of the enemies, a tan-skinned man calmly observing the struggle.
He was in the game. I remember him from one of the routes… He’s part of a group of criminals in my kingdom!
I launched into action, scooping up a smaller sword from the pile of weapons once set aside for Stale to transport. Then I rushed closer to the projection. Commander Roderick’s son did not so much as turn to acknowledge me, standing pale and shaking before the image of his beleaguered father.
Bang!
The boy jerked as a shot rang out. Commander Roderick fell to the ground, and the attackers around him whooped.
“Guns work on him! Everyone, stand back!”
“Nooooo!”
Howling, the boy reached out for the projection. His hand slipped right through it, and he sank to the ground as more screams rose. The boy slammed his fists against the ground and wailed in frustration. He twisted to glare up at me and the rest of the room.
“Somebody help my dad!” he roared. “Isn’t he your commander?! Unlike me, he’s supposed to be special, right?! So save him! Why isn’t a single one of you knights doing anything?!” The commander’s pained screams cut in under the boy’s shouting. “Why can’t anyone save my dad?!” The rage broke, giving way to the grief waiting beneath the surface.
Vice Commander Clark and the other knights made no response. They merely glared at the attackers, watching their dear commander’s final moment with awe. The boy hung his head again, and then…
“It’ll be all right,” I said, setting a hand on his shoulder.
He twisted to look up at me, jolting at the sight of the sword.
“I won’t let a single person in my kingdom suffer,” I told him.
Before anyone could react, I slashed the sword down, cutting my skirt into two equal halves so I could move more easily. My hair flew wild around me as I whirled and shouted, “Take me to that battlefield!”
The room fell silent.
The boy looked up at me in awe. The knights’ mouths all hung open. And Stale…when I met his eyes, I knew he understood that I’d been speaking directly to him.
“You can’t, Elder Sister!” Stale protested. “You’re the one who saw the danger for yourself in that premonition, aren’t you? You should know better than anyone how badly this can go.”
“Don’t worry. Just trust me,” I said. I started to undo the metal fastener on my torn skirt.
Stale shook his head furiously. “No! You’re the crown princess! You’re the last person who should be going!”
“This is the only way to save the commander,” I said.
Stale flinched. As much as I hated to frighten or worry him, however, I needed him to understand. I grabbed him by the shoulders, speaking close so he felt the weight of each word.
“I just had a premonition,” I said. “I can still save him if I act now. I can save that boy’s father.”
Stale hesitated, and I knew he had to be thinking of his own father and the anguish his mother must have gone through when he died. Still, he said, “No, I can’t let you go. I can’t send the future queen to a place like that!”
I tightened my grip and looked him dead in the eyes. “I don’t want to be a wicked queen who saves herself at the expense of others,” I said.
Stale’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. I’d chosen my words with care, hoping to remind him of that promise from three years ago, a promise I’d made as we hugged and sobbed. Stale held my gaze, even as more pained wails came from Commander Roderick through the projection. The taunting laughter of his attackers quickly followed.
Stale clenched his fists. “Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
“I promise,” I said.
Stale sighed, but then reached down to help me with my skirt, sending them away in a flash with teleportation. I gave his shoulders a final squeeze as I backed away and retrieved a sword.
But Stale didn’t quite let me go. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a strong hug.
At first, I flinched. Then I relaxed into his gentle, warm embrace. Stale squeezed tightly, breathing in deeply. The next instant, I blinked and he vanished.
Or, rather, I did.
One moment, I stood there in Stale’s arms. The next, I was on the battlefield.
***
I lowered my arms after Pride vanished from within them. Her warmth and scent lingered, and I clung to it as long as I could. Around me, the knights murmured in disbelief. But I didn’t care what they thought of what I’d just done. If Pride ordered me to send her to the battlefield, that was what I’d do.
“My princess,” I murmured, “everything shall be as you desire.” As long as I can protect your beautiful heart.
With that vow in mind, I placed myself near a box of explosives and coals. If things went downhill, I wouldn’t hesitate to rain hell down on the enemy.
***
I guess this is it for me…
After all my years as commander of the order of knights, it had really come down to a foot stuck under a rock.
I dodged as many bullets as I could and fired back at the enemies, hoping to put up a fight during my last stand. But there was only so much I could do with the enemy keeping their distance. I wanted to stand to get a better angle, but the men on the cliffs would only get a clearer shot. Crouching wouldn’t provide full cover either. On top of all this, my legs shook with exhaustion, and blood trickled from a gunshot wound. I didn’t have much time left, no matter what I did.
Now assured in their victory, the men pointed their guns at me and sneered.
You won’t be laughing for long, you demons. Her Highness has seen what happened here. You’ll all join me under the rubble of the cliffs any minute now.
I smirked as they approached. One enemy screwed his face up in anger. He aimed right at my face and fired, but the bullet wasn’t meant to hit—it merely grazed my cheek, sending a fresh stream of blood dripping down my chin. The other enemies reloaded, but I wasn’t about to let them take down the commander of the order of knights that easily. I raised my sword to strike, but just then…
“Guh?!”
Someone screamed up on the cliffs.
Everyone whirled around, toward the sound. The two men who’d been preparing to fire down at me from the cliffs now shot in the opposite direction. Abruptly, their shots ceased, replaced by screams as they collapsed. Even the enemy paused, confounded by this turn of events. Soon, only one person remained atop the cliffs.
What the hell is going on? I braced for whatever new calamity awaited me, but nothing could have prepared me for what came next.
Bang! Bang! Gunshots rang out from the cliff, and the enemies around me howled as bullets struck them in the arms.
I had no idea what was happening, but I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. I used my sword to drag one of their guns toward me, then fired it at my foes.
The enemy looked between me and the clifftop, trying to go back on the offensive. It was no use. Bullets rained on them from two angles now, and soon all of them were writhing on the ground.
The gunfire ceased, replaced only with the pained groans of the men on the ground. Then, a small figure leapt down from the clifftops. But how? Even the enemy had needed ropes and gear to get to me. Who in the world was I facing now? The enemy completely forgot about me, gaping at the figure who approached us now.
No, it can’t be. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but still couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“It looks like you were completely out of ammo too, weren’t you? I’m afraid I used up the last of it just now,” came the sweet voice of a young girl. She held a sword in one hand. Her skirt, torn in two, fluttered on the wind like a war banner.
“Prepare to meet your end, you demons,” she said. She may have looked young, but that gleam in her eyes did not belong to a little girl. It was pure malice, and it struck fear into the enemies around us. “That man is one of my subjects,” she said.
Subjects… But that meant…
No, Her Highness Pride Royal Ivy was the last person who should ever be on a battlefield. A crown princess had no place here.
My mouth fell open.
I could have taken on the attackers if I were free, but I was the commander of the knights. These were adult men with weapons they knew how to use. I couldn’t fathom how a child was fearlessly facing them down. And not just any child—the crown princess. Perhaps I was hallucinating. Hadn’t I just seen her back with the knights and Sir Clark in that projection? How did she get here?
I was still busy gaping while Pride launched into an attack, cutting down attackers. Even with her skirts split, her dress hampered her movements, yet she dodged enemy swords and immobilized man after man nonetheless. Even when they swarmed her, she slipped from their reach, knocking their feet out from under them. Her fine dress dragged through blood and her bright red hair flew loose, but she ignored it all as she crushed the enemy. Not even bullets reached her; she dodged each one effortlessly.
“That’s it. I can just use this,” she said to herself.
She exchanged her sword for a gun on the ground, shooting at arms and legs. Once she ran out of bullets, she snatched up the next gun and continued, wasting no time as she immobilized foe after foe.
The men were all sprawled out on the ground, and Pride still had some ammo left. Only moments ago, I’d hopelessly faced a whole swarm of attackers, but now, not a one of them still stood. Pride ignored my open-mouthed shock as she went about examining each foe.
“Wh-why?” I barely recognized my own hoarse voice. Princess Pride finally turned to acknowledge me. “Why did you come here? You should know the danger better than anyone.” It came out harsher than I intended, but the princess didn’t react.
“Stale said the same thing to me,” she said, then went back to checking the faces of each of the vanquished men.
Why, why?! She’d saved my life, and yet…
“This whole place is about to collapse. You were the one who predic—”
The cliffs themselves trembled and groaned around us.
“There he is!” Princess Pride cried. At the same time, the flimsy rock around us started to flake off, then spill down in a cascade.
This is it. For the second time that day, I surrendered myself to my inevitable doom. At least the new recruits had hopefully gotten out safely.
I wished I had the chance to tell my wife and son how much I loved them one last time. I wished I could have died with honor as a knight. But all I could do was stand there with the princess and wait for the cliffs to come down.
She was the daughter of the queen to whom I swore my oath of loyalty. She was next in line to take the throne as queen herself. But now, my own mistake would cut both of our lives short. I could fathom no more shameful end for a knight.
Please… Please just spare Princess Pride somehow…
I dropped my sword and stretched my hand out to Pride, who truly looked like a helpless little girl now rather than the fearsome warrior who’d burst into this battle. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and protect her as long as I could. At least that way I could die a proper knight’s death. My head swam from blood loss, but I clung to that one final thought as our end rushed toward us—
“Commander!”
Her shriek brought me back to my wits. Princess Pride held her sword against the throat of a tan-skinned enemy and forced him to stagger toward me. Somehow, amid all this carnage, he was completely unharmed.
“If you want me to live, then hold on to this man and don’t let go!” Pride said. With that order, she turned and kicked the man in the back.
The attacker flew forward and collapsed at my feet. I had no choice but to obey the princess’s words, even if I didn’t understand them, so I grabbed the man and held him as tightly as my trembling arms allowed. He struggled, demanding I release him, but I held on with all my remaining strength. Princess Pride tossed her sword aside and grabbed the man as well.
“If you don’t want to die here, then use your special power at once,” she hissed. “You have to save all of us, or this will be your end too.”
The man jerked at her demand. “How do you know about that?”
“Hurry! Do you want to be buried alive with us?!” Pride urged him.
The man growled, but he ceased his struggling. Already, rocks piled up around our ankles, and more were fast approaching.
“Damn it all!” the man cursed.
Then we disappeared.
***
“So this is where the commander was?”
An hour and a half after we were dispatched from the castle, we arrived not at a battlefield but a mountain of rubble.
The cliffs were gone, the roads completely blocked by large rocks. No one would be traveling between these kingdoms for some time to come. The rest of the vanguard and I used any special powers we had to get the most wounded recruits back to the castle. In all my years with the knights, I’d never seen anything quite like this. Scores of injured, an entire cliffside collapsed, frantic knights everywhere I turned. I helped up one of the less severely injured new recruits and tried to get somewhere safe.
“The commander was trapped under the boulder, so he stayed behind to buy time for us to escape,” the recruit said. Tears shimmered in his eyes as he pointed a trembling finger at one particular area in the wreckage. “That’s the spot. That’s where the commander was.”
I gulped. Not even the “Unwounded Knight” could survive something like this. I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to stay strong for the recruit beside me, but I couldn’t help feeling like we in the vanguard had arrived too late.
The recruit and I knelt down in the rubble and started digging. Others had already taken up the task, all searching for some sort of keepsake we could bring back to the commander’s family.
“Captain, I hear something over here!” one knight shouted. He waved frantically and we all rushed over to him. Sure enough, faint voices reached us through the rubble.
We dropped to the ground and dug with every bit of energy we had left, desperate to free whoever was beneath that rock. A wild hope rose in my chest, but when we reached the source of the sound, we found not a human, but a projection of the strategy room back at headquarters.
“Vice Commander!”
Several knights cried out in shock, but Sir Clark didn’t seem to hear us.
“Get in contact with me as soon as you see this message,” he repeated over and over again.
The knight in charge of transmissions quickly established a connection with the vice commander. Finally able to communicate, Vice Commander Clark rattled out our orders.
Sir Clark said the transmission we were seeing was being broadcast thanks to one of the troop’s special powers. The transmission began an hour ago, with the commander’s side of it anchored to the boulder pinning his foot. So if the transmission was still going, the commander could be somewhere nearby. We just had to dig until we found him.
Sir Clark tried his best to make it sound like a hopeful rescue mission, but we all heard the fear and anxiety in his voice, even through the shaky transmission. We also heard something along the lines of “You…also…ighness…” but the message was unclear.
Still, we immediately set to our task, gathering up anyone nearby who could help move the massive pile of debris. But as we dug, we found newly formed fissures in the earth, and the more rubble we moved, the deeper the holes went. We moved as much as we could, but eventually, we hit large rocks that formed a dome beneath all the other rock. The dome wasn’t very wide, but it stretched downward for dozens of meters. Baffled, we gathered around it, tapping it with our feet or the pommels of our swords. It rang hollow, which only made us more confused.
“What is this thing?” someone murmured.
“Before the final transmission, we overheard that the man with Commander Roderick may possess a special power of some kind,” Sir Clark said. “There’s a chance Commander Roderick and that man are still down there.”
The commander was alive? The suggestion filled us with fresh hope and renewed our strength for the monumental task ahead. But the vice commander tempered us, telling us to go about our search cautiously.
“Is anyone here?” a knight called.
“Commander?!” another shouted while we worked.
Finally, about two meters down… Crack! Something split, and just like that, the dome of rubble collapsed. We leapt away, startled as the dome fell apart. Except it wasn’t really falling apart; it was cracking open like an egg.
“Look, the sky! The sky!” That voice was too high-pitched to be the commander. We rushed back to the dome, which was still crumbling away. What it revealed left us all stunned.
“Commander!”
Several knights cried out. The new recruit fell to his knees. From the other side of the projection, the vice commander went wide-eyed with shock while knights crowded around him, desperate to see the new development for themselves.
“Commander, please be sure not to let go of him yet,” the high-pitched voice said.
As the dome fell away, we glimpsed the commander at last. He was hugging one of the attackers, who glared at all of us with indignation, clearly displeased about his circumstances.
“I can’t believe we actually made it out,” the commander said.
Cheers erupted around us as we saw our commander truly was alive and well.
“Commander, we’re so relieved to see you safe.”
“Thank god.”
“It’s truly a miracle.”
“How could we go on without you?”
Sudden relief and joy suffused the former battlefield. It took us some time before we regained our composure enough to realize something wasn’t right.
Who exactly was the owner of that high-pitched voice?
With the dome now completely gone, we beheld a fantastically unlikely sight—a young girl. She waited in total silence while we celebrated, staring straight up at the commander. Who was this child?
When she opened her mouth to speak, every eye went to her.
“Can someone from the order please tend to the commander’s wounds?” she said. “Whoever else is available needs to quickly secure this man with handcuffs to negate his power. If you don’t have any, then have Stale send you some right away.” Covered in dust and wearing a torn-up dress, the girl was hardly more than a silhouette, yet she ordered the knights around with authority. “I’d also like to get in contact with the strategy room.”
“Commander Roderick, just who is this girl?” I dared ask.
The commander gave a long, defeated sigh and said, “This is Her Highness Pride Royal Ivy, the crown princess of Freesia.”
Every one of us erupted in shock. We dropped to our knees, terrified at having disrespected royalty so casually. Someone scrambled to get her connected to the vice commander as she’d requested.
***
CASE SUMMARY: Traveling knights were ambushed by a unity opposition party, then caught in a cliffside collapse.
INJURIES: All 30+ troops, Commander Roderick.
FATALITIES: Zero.
***
“Elder Sister…” I murmured.
Pride broke into a wide smile on the other side of the projection.
She was safe. Relief and exhaustion washed through me in tandem. I did my best to hide it from the knights, but I had to cover my face for a moment and drag in a few deep, calming breaths to manage it. My heart was still hammering in my chest, as it had from the moment I teleported Pride away.
She’s alive. Thank god, Pride’s alive. She’s actually safe. She’s going to come back to me. My throat tightened, eyes stinging. No, I can’t cry yet. I wiped my closed eyes with my sleeve and managed to hold the rest in. I couldn’t stand the idea of anyone seeing me like that, so I grit my teeth and forced myself not to cry. But I was so, so scared.
I really thought that Pride might die. And it would have been my fault for sending her to that battlefield. That fear was absolutely suffocating. When the cliff collapsed and we lost visual contact, my heart stopped, and I truly thought that I might die along with her. I froze inside and out, heart pounding in my ears.
“Roderick!”
I turned my head at the sound of a pained cry beside me. It was the vice commander, openly weeping as he watched the commander appear in the projection, somehow safe and whole. Sir Clark covered his eyes with one hand and sank down to the floor, tears streaking along his jaw. His shoulders trembled.
“Thank god,” he said in pure relief.
So I wasn’t the only one who was terrified. It wasn’t just me and the vice commander either. Many of the other knights were rejoicing…and shedding tears as well.
“Thank god Commander Roderick’s alive!” one knight yelled. He wiped his tears, raised his fists, and let out a shout of joy.
“She’s incredible! Is the princess really only eleven years old?!” another knight said. He, too, was crying, but he smiled even as the tears fell.
“Where the hell did those rumors come from, anyway? She doesn’t act anything like the spoiled princess I heard about,” said yet another, laughing hoarsely.
Most knights just looked in disbelief between their crying vice commander and miraculously surviving commander. Some bit their lips and tried to hold back their tears, while others quivered from raw emotion. Back by the door, a knight stood with his hands on the shoulders of the commander’s son.
“Everything’s okay now,” he said to the commander’s son, his gaze warm.
On the projection, the knights surrounding the commander looked so excited that they didn’t even seem to realize the crown princess stood in their midst. They, too, wept, even as they celebrated and cheered. One of the new recruits collapsed to his knees and dissolved into sobs. Another knight squeezed his shoulders and tried to smile at him, but couldn’t get the expression out before he broke down as well. In both the strategy room and the projection, no one could contain their joy.
My gaze went right to Pride, however. She was covered in mud, all the way to the tips of her beautiful crimson hair. She wore her torn dress, tattered from battle, and a cold, determined expression. My heart clenched at the sight. I turned away, incapable of looking any longer. I couldn’t protect her.
In my current state, all I could do was send her to the battlefield by herself.
That reality ate away at me, digging a hole in my chest. I’d sworn I’d stick to that vow from three years ago, yet right here today, I’d put her in harm’s way. I clutched my shirt right over my aching heart and tried to hold down the revulsion and self-hatred crawling up my throat.
***
Thank goodness. I managed to save him.
A knight was using his special power to treat the dazed commander. Handcuffs doused the power of the enemy who’d protected us from the rock slide. By all appearances, we were safe. When I got a chance to talk to Sir Clark, I apologized for acting without his orders, but assured him we were all okay now. He looked like he was struggling to pick the right words. Eventually, he just shook his head and focused on issuing orders to the knights.
“Goddamn it! That’s your princess?! How the hell do you have a monster for a princess?!” the enemy snarled. A knight led him away, barking at him to watch his mouth. “You bastards weren’t there to see it. She’s a monster!”
His cries fell on deaf ears. A knight shoved a gag in his mouth and forced him into a carriage bound for Freesia—the man’s home country.
Val. He hadn’t said it, but I knew that was his name. In ORL, he belonged to an enemy organization. Naturally, at the end of the game, when Tiara escaped her tower and fled to the nearest town with her love interest, Pride hired Val to drag her sister back to the castle. He was an extremely useful asset to Pride, especially because Val possessed the power of mud-sculpting.
In the game, Val and his gang destroyed the town Tiara fled to. Then Val used his power to block Tiara in with walls of mud. When Tiara and her love interest managed to defeat Val’s cronies, Val shut himself inside a protective dome of rubble. Ultimately, Tiara and her love interest simply left him that way and made their escape. The player never had to see him again.
Despite his aggression against his own country, Val’s special power gave him away as a true native of Freesia. He looked young, with even sharper eyes than mine and fang-like teeth that left a menacing impression. Truly the image of a villain, yet his power mostly served him as self-defense. He never really contributed to any battles.
That power was what I was counting on when I ordered the commander to hug Val close during the collapse. In order to protect himself, I knew Val would have to protect us as well, even if his power had some kind of size limit. I needn’t have worried, however. The moment Val activated his power, it cleared out all the rock around us, even the boulder pinning the commander’s foot.
We had to wait there a long, long time before we were sure the cliff wasn’t going to collapse more. Even then, we feared another surge of debris would rain down on us. For a while, I thought we’d probably run out of oxygen, but I desperately hoped help would arrive before then. Only when we heard the knights’ voices above us could we finally get out of that dome.
Val, meanwhile, was slinging all kinds of insults my way. In the game, Val was just a simple villain character and was probably executed for his crimes in the end. He’d been responsible for unforgivable horrors, after all.
Honestly, it was such a waste. Val could have picked any other path in life with a power as incredible as his. If only he’d gotten just one more chance…
“Princess Pride!” One of the knights hurried up to me. “I shall escort you to the castle. The vanguard is here for you, so please, come with me.”
“But I’m not injured,” I said. “The commander should be the first one sent home.”
“Commander Roderick will be returning with the vanguard as soon as you’re home safe. Please come with me for now.”
“Well, in that case, the new recruits should go first.”
The knights were probably on edge, having a member of the royal family out in a place like this. I understood why they wanted to prioritize my safety, but I was completely unharmed and wanted them to send the injured home first. I kept arguing with the knight, until shouts rose around us.
“Where are you going?!”
“Please don’t hurt yourself.”
“But, you’re injured…”
Footsteps marched toward me. The knight before me was looking past me now, face draining of color. I whirled around.
“Commander,” I said.
I thought they were still treating his wounds. He approached me shirtless, his uniform coat draped over his shoulders and bandages wrapped around his torso. Before I could even suggest that he go and rest, he reached down and scooped me off my feet.
“What?! Whoa!”
I shrieked as the commander lifted me into his arms, striding toward the vanguard. His silence was even scarier than the alternative.
“P-please let go of me, Commander. You’re injured!” I struggled to wriggle out of his grasp.
“There are so many things I want to say to you,” Commander Roderick said. “I don’t even know where to begin. I truly don’t. But for now, you must return to the castle.”
Talk about scary! He’s angry. I can totally tell! I started kicking my legs, desperate to get away, but it was no use.
“Ah! Noooooo!” I let out a scream, louder than any before it.
The knights, apparently as startled as me by this whole display, just stared as the commander carried me around.
“Don’t all look at me,” I said. “Look away!”
The knights obeyed my frantic order, but the commander still wouldn’t let me down.
“All right, I understand, I understand!” I said. “I’ll do as you say. Just put me d—Wait, no, my clothes.” My voice withered to a whimper in my embarrassment.
Somebody… Please, bring me a change of clothes! My legs are laid bare!
I squeezed my legs together, but there was no helping it at this point. I was the one who’d cut my skirt for better mobility. The cuts acted like slits, which were fine on their own. But as I battled enemies, rolled over the ground, and crawled out of a pile of rubble, all that frantic activity ripped my skirt to shreds, turning it into a miniskirt. No, more like a grass skirt. A princess in a grass skirt—could anything be more shameful than that?
The long layers of fabric covered me properly when I was standing, but now that I was on my back and kicking my legs, the skirt wasn’t doing much to protect my modesty.
Having picked up on this, the commander finally set me back down. I smoothed the tatters of my skirt, but it did little to cool my embarrassment. I crouched down and quietly muttered for clothes again.
“Pfft!”
Did someone just laugh?! Who?! Who laughed at me?!
When I finally looked up, I didn’t find rowdy soldiers, but Commander Roderick himself. He turned away to hide his face, and his shoulders trembled with laughter. The mirth even spread to the other knights when they noticed what was happening.
Ahhhhhh! How rude!
They obviously only saw me as a simple eleven-year-old child and nothing more, but I was still the crown princess. I knew how to behave like a proper lady. Besides, who wouldn’t be mortified to have a bunch of people nearly look up their skirt? It didn’t help that in my past life, I was pretty plain. No one had even seen my calves, and now a whole troop of knights had seen far more than that.
Maybe I should have them all arrested for blasphemy right here and now. The evil Pride inside me had several nasty solutions to this predicament, but then…
Swish.
Something fluttered down around me as the commander threw his jacket over my shoulders. It was so baggy and heavy, it actually dragged on the ground when I stood. Still, when I pulled it around me, it functioned like a shirt dress would. With this new “dress” to cover me, Roderick lifted me into his arms again.
He carried me a few meters more, toward a contraption that looked almost like a motorcycle. If I recalled correctly from the game, only the person who created the vehicle using their special power could operate it. It could pull carts that carried people or luggage, and ride-along passengers had to hang on to the driver’s shoulders. Now, however, the wagon part was gone, replaced with a seat and handles.
I sat down and gripped the handles. From behind, the commander and the rest of the knights all knelt as they saw me off.
“I’ll see you at the castle,” I said.
The vehicle roared, then lurched into motion.
A large group awaited me back at the castle. Tiara and Stale were there, of course, as were Lotte, Mary, and the rest of my maids. Jack was there with my guards. Even Carl the instructor, the vice commander, and many of the knights welcomed me back. I also caught glimpses of the commander’s son hidden among the knights.
When Tiara first laid eyes on my muddy, ragged clothes, she burst into tears and made a beeline toward me. My maids and guards paled and urged me to go to my room. But none of them compared to Stale, who looked a bit angry as he approached. I had probably scared him more than anyone else.
Just as I was about to apologize, he wrapped his arms around both me and Tiara and held us tight. He was tall enough now that I fit snugly in his arms. I felt bad getting the two of them all dirty, but they clung to me tenaciously with trembling hands and I couldn’t bear to separate myself.
“You said… You said you’d be okay…” Stale managed, and I held him even tighter. I’d sworn that I would never cause him more pain.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. “But I really am okay. I’m not injured at all. Can’t you see that I’m fine? I just tripped and fell, and that’s where all the mud came from.”
I tried smiling and reassuring him, but he and Tiara only clutched me more desperately.
“How can you call that okay?!” Stale cried. “You were so reckless. If you messed up just once, who knows what would have happened?”
His voice shook. I pushed away to gaze up at his face and found tears shimmering in his eyes. I hadn’t seen such softness in his face in years. He must have been watching that projection so anxiously, unable to tear his eyes away. Even Tiara, who hadn’t witnessed any of it, burst into tears.
I wished I could ease their pain. They had grown up considerably since we first met, but they were still only nine and ten years old—younger than me. I’d put them through so much today, but at least I was back safe now.
Oh… I actually made it back alive.
Just as I was tempted to relax, a chill ran down my spine. Stale was right—I really could have ended up dead if I’d made a single wrong move. Feeling more fearful than I had during the cliff’s collapse, I hugged Stale and Tiara again, trying to keep myself from shaking.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated. “I’ll be more careful next time.”
But I couldn’t promise that it would never happen again. For all I knew, I might end up doing terrible things in the future and hurting the two of them, even if all I ever wanted was to avoid that outcome at absolutely any cost.
Even if that meant my whole body needed to be torn to pieces.
“Princess Pride.”
I extracted myself to face the vice commander and his knights. “Vice Commander, I sincerely apologize for all the disturbance I caused you.” It was my second apology, but I owed him at least that many. Sir Clark just closed his eyes and nodded.
“It was your premonition about the cliff that saved the lives of so many knights,” he said. “Each and every one of us is filled with gratitude for your help, as well as for your assistance in sending supplies to the battlefield. If you’ll allow it, I’d like to find time to discuss today’s events with Your Highness and Commander Roderick at a later date.”
“Yes, of course.”
We could try to talk about it here, but I’d have to order all these onlookers into silence, and that would only make me look like a villain. Instead, I suggested that we meet tomorrow. I probably needed to settle this before Mother and Father returned from their trip anyway.
I bid goodbye to the rest of the knights, and the maids escorted me away, with Jack and the guards at my side for protection.
At the end of breakfast the next morning, I received word from the order headquarters, requesting a meeting with me if I was available. Our superb royal order was as fast as ever. Apparently, the commander’s son wanted to join us as well. I wasn’t sure why, but he had been present at yesterday’s chaotic events, so I didn’t bother mentioning it when I sent a servant back to confirm my attendance.
We met in the castle throne room.
As the crown princess, I was only allowed to use this room once before: one year earlier, when Mother wasn’t at the castle. It was the best possible location to speak privately with a large group of people, though, so I ordered everyone to clear the room and told the knights to meet me there.
By the time I arrived, the entire order, including the new recruits, waited for me. The commander’s son even stood in the very back. I knew some of these men were still injured from the battle; I saw several bandages peeking out from beneath their uniforms, and I could smell the antiseptic as I walked past them. They stood ramrod straight and stepped aside to clear a path for me, and I made my way to the throne with Stale and Tiara at my back. Once I took my seat, with Stale and Tiara flanking me, the knights dropped to one knee.
“Raise your heads,” I ordered, and the knights all looked up at me. “I’ve cleared the room, so it’s only us now, along with my dear siblings.” I’d hoped to leave Tiara out of this, but that was before the teary-eyed look on her face compelled me to include her.
“If there’s something you wish to say to me, this is your chance to do so,” I went on. “Don’t worry. No one here will be punished for saying something improper, not for today.”
The knights murmured and shifted, but they must’ve been wary because they still hesitated to speak up.
“Stale has told me that you’ve kept my presence at the battlefield a secret. I thank you for your cooperation.”
The story of my orders to Stale to send supplies to the battlefield, my premonition about the cliff collapse, and my evacuation order to the troops had already made its way to Mother and Father through official reports. But the fact that I’d visited the battlefield moments before its destruction, fought the enemy, and spent thirty minutes trapped in a dome with only the commander and one of the attackers was still a secret, thankfully. Mother and Father would be furious if they knew I, a member of the royal family, did something so outrageous. They might even turn some of their ire on the knights for allowing me to get involved, resulting in severe punishments.
Thus, Stale urged the vice commander to keep all of that secret. Naturally, he also ordered the silence of the guards, maids, and Mr. Carl, who’d all welcomed me back yesterday. Mr. Carl was especially keen on keeping the secret, since he’d been my and Stale’s escort to the knights’ practice and failed to stop me from leaving.
The commander opened his mouth to speak. “No, it was a beneficial agreement for us as well… Now, let’s get started. I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but where were you trained in fencing, firearms, and hand-to-hand combat?”
There was deep meaning to his question, and he spoke slowly, weighing each word. It figured a man such as he was curious about how I could fight the way I did. I had to give him an answer he could accept without revealing the truth.
“I only practiced fencing and self-defense combat a bit when Stale received lessons from his instructor,” I said. “As for firearms, I watched the knights practice with them yesterday at the training grounds.”
A flurry of murmurs passed through the knights.
I wasn’t lying. I’d truly only practiced fencing and hand-to-hand combat once, and the rest of my experience came from watching Stale with his instructor. That was the best answer I could offer them. I couldn’t exactly tell them that I was using my last boss cheats.
“Is she joking?” a knight muttered.
“That’s all?” another said.
“Wait, so that was her first time firing a gun?”
“It can’t be…”
I couldn’t blame them for their reactions. My explanation left a lot to be desired, but it was the best I had in the moment. Sir Clark quirked an eyebrow, clearly surprised by my answer, but Commander Roderick simply said, “I see,” and changed the subject.
“How did you know that man possessed a special power from Freesia?” Commander Roderick asked next.
“I saw it in a premonition,” I told him. “He used his power to create mud walls and protect himself from the collapse.”
Again, I couldn’t tell the commander the truth—that I knew all about Val from an otome game. That probably wouldn’t even mean anything to him.
“And why did you travel to the battlefield on your own?” It was frightening, how quickly his questions kept coming, but I did my best to meet him blow for blow.
“I was the only one at headquarters who could make it to you quickly enough. As you know, my brother, Stale, can only teleport items that are equal to or less than his own weight. So he couldn’t send any of the knights—but he could send me.”
“Then shouldn’t you have instead made use of one of the transmission troops to convey all this information?” the commander countered.
“They’d already evacuated by the time I had my premonition. I had no way of knowing if they would arrive in time. I was also the only one who knew what the attacker looked like, s—”
“Still!” Commander Roderick interjected, his voice echoing around the room. “That would have been preferable to sending the crown princess to the battlefield!” His anger stung my ears; even some of the knights flinched away. “Even if no one else would have made it in time, you never should have gone there! You needed to tell the vanguard about that man’s power and leave the rest to us!”
“Hey, calm down now,” Sir Clark said, but Commander Roderick just barreled on.
“The vanguard—no, any knight at all would have put their lives on the line if it meant keeping you away from that battlefield!”
“But if things went wrong, you and that knight would have been swept away in the rubble. I was the only one who could ensure—”
“I would gladly accept such a fate! The lives of two knights for the safety of a princess is more than a fair trade!”
I couldn’t muster a response. Two knights’ lives for the safety of a princess. That was the natural order of things here, and every knight in the room likely agreed with their commander on that. But still, I couldn’t.
“Do you understand how great a loss your death would be for everyone?!” Commander Roderick shouted. “Think about your position. Never mind me; your short-sightedness almost sent the entire kingdom into despair!”
I wanted to reel away from his tirade. I wanted to crouch down and hide. But I forced myself to keep meeting his eyes. He must’ve been holding all this in since yesterday. I deserve to hear this. I have to just sit and listen.
“We are knights,” Commander Roderick continued. “We are the swords and shields that protect the queen, the prince consort, and Your Highness. But you almost cast terrible shame upon our entire way of life!”
The commander was right. He had simply wanted to die a knight’s death. My slightest mistake wouldn’t have just resulted in my own death, but sullied his as well. Even so, it didn’t sit well with me.
While the commander scolded me, I noticed his son watching me from the corner of my eye. His wild hair covered his face, so I couldn’t make out his expression, but it reminded me of how he’d looked inside the strategy room yesterday, when he thought he’d have to watch his father die. He’d screamed and pleaded with us to somehow save Commander Roderick.
“Your life holds more value than ours!” Commander Roderick said.
No, I have to hold back…
“We would gladly offer our lives for you or any of this kingdom’s people!”
Don’t say anything!
“We exist to serve the royal family and the people. You should never act out on our behalf like that!”
The Pride lurking inside me yearned to lash out at the commander’s harsh words, but I kept a grip on my composure, struggling to stay in control while I absorbed the lecture.
“Just forget about us! Even if it means that I must die, you shouldn’t hesitate to keep yourself safe first and foremost. You don’t understand just how valuable your life is t—”
Snap.
Something broke inside me.
“That’s enough,” I said. My voice came out deeper and more powerful than I expected.
The commander stopped instantly. The entire hall fell silent as well, every eye on me alone now.
I’d had enough. They really wanted me to walk away and leave them to die, even if it meant they’d see me as an arrogant and self-centered princess. Even if it meant the knights would lose their faith in me and judge me unfit to serve as queen. Even if it meant becoming the queen I saw in my past life, the Pride who would sacrifice anyone with a smile on her face. I’d do whatever it took to avoid that fate.
I rose and faced the hushed assembly.
“It is as you say, Commander,” I said. “My short-sighted actions upset many people, and I rescued you in a way that was against your will. However…”
I set my feet and righted my posture, despite the ache in every muscle thanks to yesterday’s adventure. I ignored the soreness and put everything I had into my next words, projecting my image as crown princess.
“You are not the only one I saved. I saved you and all the knights you’ll train from this day on! Do you know how many citizens you might save throughout your life?!”
He gave no reply, so I took another deep breath, gazing down at the knights from my place before the throne.
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand the value of his own life, Commander! Do you have any idea how much the people in your life love, cherish, and rely on you?”
All of the commander’s righteous fury dissipated, his eyes growing wide. Even Stale and Tiara were gaping at me by now.
“I belong to the royal family!” I shouted. “I am the firstborn princess, and I will inherit this throne! My role is to live for the sake of the people. You are knights, yes! You’re our hope, the light that protects the citizens directly. When a single knight dies, he takes everyone he would have saved along with him!”
Once I let my emotions out, I couldn’t stem the flow, and every word I wanted to say to the commander spilled out one after another.
“Even if you were a mere foot soldier instead of the commander, I would have rescued you. How could I let someone die when I knew I could save them? I will never allow any unnecessary deaths if I can help it. All of you are citizens of my kingdom, just as you are knights, and my people are my pride and joy. Our job as royalty is to protect each and every one of you. If you call yourselves knights, then concern yourselves not with dying an honorable death, but with those whom you’ll save in the future.”
I was panting by the time I finished. Still, I looked around at each and every knight in turn, meeting their wide eyes with steely resolve.
Perhaps I’d gone too far. Even after reassuring them that this room was a space without consequences, I’d lashed out at them. I couldn’t tell if the men were disgusted or just in shock—every single one of them gawked at me. But either way, there was one last thing I needed to say.
“To conclude,” I began, standing straight and tall. “By the name of Pride Royal Ivy, the crown princess of the kingdom of Freesia, I must apologize to you all. I carelessly set foot on your sacred battleground, left a mess on your hands with my selfish actions, and abused my powers as the crown princess for my own interests.”
I bowed my head contritely. The knights, along with Stale and Tiara, immediately responded this time. Members of the royal family didn’t just go around bowing their heads like scolded maids. The gesture carried tremendous weight.
“Elder Sister, as the crown princess, you—” Stale started, but I held up a hand.
“We’re the only ones here right now, Stale,” I told him. “I couldn’t do this in a public setting, but here I can give them my honest apology.”
I kept my head down for a while longer, and when I finally lifted it back up, the knights’ shock hadn’t abated whatsoever. No one offered a response for so long that I was beginning to wonder if I had to dismiss them from the room.
“Your Highness, Princess Pride.” It was the vice commander who finally broke the silence. It was his first time speaking out today, and he looked to be on his guard. “If we’re not to consider this a public setting, and I can therefore speak freely to you, may I be the next to offer my thoughts?”
I nodded, and Sir Clark stood up, walked past the commander, and positioned himself directly before me.
“I thank you for the aid you offered the order, and I thank Prince Stale for his assistance as well.” With that, he knelt before me once more.
The commander attempted to intervene. “C-Clark, you—”
“And also,” Vice Commander Clark continued, voice rising so all could hear, “I give you my most profound gratitude for saving the life of my dear friend Commander Roderick. I cannot thank you enough.”
Suddenly, he fell to the floor in a full bow, forehead against the tiles. I was too surprised to respond. But Commander Roderick looked even more shocked.
“As a knight, I can’t approve of involving the royal family in an incident like yesterday’s,” Sir Clark said through gritted teeth. “There’s no room for gratitude in something so reckless. But as for me personally, I do wish to thank you here and now. Without your actions, there’s no doubt we would have lost our dear friend.”
Another man stood and joined Sir Clark on the floor at my feet. Judging by his injuries, I assumed he was one of the new recruits.
“It brings me great shame to have had my life saved by Your Highness,” he said, hardly taking a breath before adding, “Despite our own failings, we didn’t have to lose our commander in the end. Thank you, Your Highness!”
Next came a knight who’d been in the strategy room, along with one from the vanguard, and then a new recruit after him. It was like a dam had burst. One by one, they came to bow before me and offer their gratitude. Before long, everyone in the room, aside from the commander’s son in the very back, was bowing to me.
The commander froze, gawking at all the knights professing their thanks that he was still alive. To me, it just proved how loved he was.
Then, finally…his son stirred. He stood up slowly and approached the rest of the knights from behind. Though obviously inexperienced in these kinds of niceties, he lowered himself into the same silent bow as the troops. Commander Roderick’s mouth fell open as his son joined the strange procession.
Upon seeing the commander’s face, Sir Clark let out a chuckle. “I think it’s time we take our leave,” he said softly. He rose, signaling for the knights to follow him out of the room.
Each knight took a turn bidding me farewell before they left. Eventually, only Sir Clark remained, the last to reach Commander Roderick on his way out.
“Um…” the commander’s son began. He was staring straight up at me now that most of the room stood empty. “May I…say something too?”
Unlike when he was in the strategy room demanding we save his father, the boy spoke demurely now, quiet and hesitant as he awaited permission.
“Hey,” Commander Roderick began, but the vice commander stopped him.
“Yes, go ahead,” I said.
The boy started slowly, one thought at a time. “Thank you for saving Dad…I mean, my father,” he said, turning his face away shyly. His long hair fell over his shoulder, trailing all the way to the floor. “—we…and…for me?”
“What’s that?”
He was too quiet to hear. He sat up, but kept his eyes glued on the floor.
“I…I’ve got a special power. But it’s not…a power that can help me be a knight, like my father’s. All it’s good for is growin’ the crops…Your Highness.”
The boy studied his hands. I hadn’t noticed the dirt smudges until now, but they stood out as the commander’s son fidgeted. Behind him, Commander Roderick looked like he was doing his best in holding back his words, despite how he clearly wished to speak, and some of the knights who’d left were peeping back into the room.
“I’m nothing like Dad at all,” the boy said. “I’m complete garbage…”
He banged his fist against the floor a few times, as though punching the ground in lieu of himself. Blood started to smear his hand alongside the dirt.
It sparked a memory of our first meeting. He’d screamed insult after insult at his father that time, but perhaps he’d been directing those insults at himself all along. Just how much hatred and pain had he inflicted on himself?
The commander was clenching his fists now, watching his son with a pained expression. But what came next changed his face completely.
“I’m gonna keep training,” the boy said. “I’ll learn from Dad’s stupid lessons. I’ll train, but…”
The boy raised his head for the first time. His hair flopped over his face, yet his eyes still bore into me.
“Can I… Can I become a fine knight like Dad someday?” Teardrops shimmered behind the curtain of his hair. His voice was hoarse as he added, “Even if I start now?”
I answered his cry. “Yes, you can.” At that, he froze.
I did not offer that consolation lightly; becoming a knight was no easy feat. There were probably thousands of people in this kingdom unable to achieve that dream. But none of that changed what I saw.
I was certain the boy would become a knight—a fine knight like his father. Despite his own self-hatred, he stood tall and held on to his dream firmly. Even living in the shadow of his father, he didn’t back down.
“Even if everyone in this world rejects your dream, I will always support it,” I said. “I believe you can become just as wonderful a knight as your father. From today forward, for as long as I live, I shall await the day you meet me again in this room as a knight.”
I stepped toward the crying boy. Through his hair, his eyes never left me.
“Let me see your face,” I said as I crouched in front of him. I reached out and gently parted his long, shiny silver hair.
A pair of deep blue eyes awaited me beneath, just like the commander’s eyes. Though older than me, he came across as a small child when he cried, and I stroked his hair, hoping to comfort him.
“Promise me something. As long as I’m alive, I’ll be waiting for you to become a knight like your father. No, I’ll be waiting for you to become the kind of knight you dream of being. So when that time comes, please protect the people of this kingdom, whom I love so much, and my dearest family as well.”
I placed my hands on his cheeks. His skin was warm and wet with tears. He trembled faintly, still burning with determination.
“I…I don’t know if…someone like me…could do that…” His nose was running, but he never so much as blinked as he met my gaze.
“Yes, you can,” I assured him. “I can see how kindhearted you are when you cry for your family. I’ve seen your hands weathered from hard work. And on top of all that…”
I took his hand in mine. Unlike my frail, tiny hands, his were large and strong, crisscrossed with scrapes and blisters that must have come from tilling the fields in his farm work. The boy gaped at the contact, but I just gave him a gentle squeeze. It was my turn to urge him on. The boy found so many faults in himself, yet he still aspired to knighthood. His ambition was palpable, his whole body radiating with this admirable wish.
“I can see just how badly you want to become strong,” I said. “You’ll succeed. I’m sure of it.”
A fresh wave of tears spilled down his cheeks. “Ngh! Ahh!” He turned his face away, shook his head, and let out a wordless cry. But then, with a gulp, he fought through the tears to speak.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “No matter how many years it takes. I’ll become a knight! And then…” He squeezed back, his hands warm, strong, and slightly trembling. “And then please allow me to protect you for the rest of my life!”
His eyes were red from crying, but he held firm as he waited for my response.
Me? Why me? What was the point of protecting the girl who would grow up to become an evil, heinous queen? Despite my doubts, I couldn’t deny the boy’s steadfast determination.
I smiled. “May I know your name?”
“Arthur… Arthur Beresford, Your Highness.”
Arthur. I gasped when I heard that name.
Arthur Beresford.
Arthur? He’s Commander Arthur, a love interest from the game!
Out of the blue, I recalled Arthur and how he’d spoken of the day the cliff collapsed in ORL. In the game, Arthur served as commander of the knights. Unrivaled in his physical prowess, he was the only love interest who managed to defeat Pride, the deadly final boss, in a contest of blades! His special power wasn’t useless at all! He could…
So many details from the game flooded my mind. But now wasn’t the time for that. I shoved it all aside and focused on the present.
“Princess Pride?” Arthur was blinking at me.
Arthur. I couldn’t believe the commander’s son was truly one of the game’s love interests. But…
All of a sudden, my smile grew wider. What a relief to know he really will become a knight.
“Arthur,” I said. “I don’t think I’ll have to wait very long for our promise to come true.”
He tilted his head to one side in confusion. Perhaps it was wrong of me to go on, but I desperately wanted to offer the boy some comfort and motivation after all he’d been through.
“I’ve just had a premonition,” I informed him, holding his hand even tighter. “You will become a fine knight in the near future. Everyone, including me, will recognize your strength. I believe you’ll become a knight worthy of protecting me.”
“What…?” he blurted out. The tears that arrived this time were much gentler, softer.
“I’ll be waiting for you, Arthur. However…”
I was certain Arthur would become a wonderful knight, just like in the game. But that meant there was something else I had to tell him. I leaned forward and whispered into Arthur’s ear.
“Should you ever look at me and see an enemy of the people, you mustn’t hesitate to claim my head with your sword.”
For the good of the kingdom, turn your blade against me.
Arthur was dumbstruck. I tried to let go of his hands and stand, but he pulled me back toward him. “What are you talking about?!” he cried.
Oh no, that came off like a threat again, didn’t it?
“Don’t worry, that last part wasn’t a premonition,” I replied, trying to smile as I let him clutch my hands in his. “You must become the kind of knight who uses his sword to protect those he loves. That is my wish for you.”
Please protect Tiara. Please protect my family and yours and all the people of this land. Protect them from the threat I’ll one day pose to them.
Arthur sat there mute for a time, but eventually nodded his agreement over and over again.
“I understand,” he said. “I’ll absolutely become a knight someday. I’ll protect you and those you care for. I’ll protect Mom, Dad, and all the people in the kingdom with everything in my power. That’s the kind of knight I’ll become!”
Vice Commander Clark had approached during our conversation, and he now set his hands on Arthur’s shoulders.
“Shall we go?” he asked softly.
Behind him, the commander was crying. I didn’t know when it started. He covered his eyes with those large hands of his, but the tears snuck between the gaps in his fingers.
I tried to go to him, but he said, “Your Highness…”
“Yes?”
The commander fell to the ground at my feet, pressing his forehead into the floor with a thud. “Thank you for saving my life. I’m so happy that I get to see my friends, my troops. My family…” Sobs interrupted his words, and I found his choking voice uncannily similar to Arthur’s, but he pushed on. “But more than that… My son is to become a knight! I can hardly believe my ears.”
Arthur gawked at his father, shocked all over again by this display. For a moment, the room fell silent aside from sobs. Then the commander forced out one more sentence: “I’m so glad to be alive!”
It made me happier than anything I’d heard all day. Tears stung my eyes. I bent to wrap my arms around the commander, who was curled up so small even I towered over him.
That body had saved and protected so many people. His troops, the upper ranks of the order, and his family all loved him so much for the sacrifices he’d made time after time for them.
And yet, despite all he did, the commander didn’t survive in the game.
In ORL, the ambushers swarmed Commander Roderick. Then the cliff collapsed. He never got a chance to save his troops or reconcile with his son. I realized then what grief the Roderick of the game must have carried in his heart as he died that day.
But in this world, I’d been able to save him.
“Thank goodness!”
I hugged the commander close, letting my tears flow.
***
“Your Majesty, may I ask you something?” a knight said.
He stood at the queen’s side, at my side, except this time it wasn’t me. This was the Pride of the game. I was watching a cutscene, helpless to change it the way I’d started changing things in the world now. The man looked straight ahead rather than at the queen as he voiced his query.
“When that cliff collapsed seven years ago… Do you suppose that was truly an accident?”
“What cliff would that be?” the queen responded, bored.
It took me a moment, but I finally recognized the knight. This was Arthur, his hair cut short so he resembled his father more. He’d finally succeeded in becoming the knights’ commander, and this was the scene in which he sought the truth from Pride. Yes, I remembered it well…This horrific cutscene.
“Oh, of course it was an accident,” Pride said, her voice devoid of emotion. “I saw it in a premonition before it even happened.”
“A premonition? So you knew about it in advance. Then why did you send the vanguard to the cliffs instead of ordering them to evacuate?”
“Because those ambushers went after my knights, which is no different than going after me. Unforgivable. They all had to die. A quick death, really, once the cliffs came down. If I gave the order to evacuate, the attackers might’ve survived, you see.” Pride revealed all this without shame. In fact, she smiled.
Arthur clenched his trembling fists, clearly forcing down rage and hatred. As the commander of the order, he was responsible for the safety of all of his knights. But he could not so much as raise his hand to the queen, and it seemed she knew that very well.
Even though she’d revealed all this in a flashback scene, I was painfully reminded of how she was…I was…an utter demon.
In the game, when Arthur watched those cliffs crumble over his father, Pride merely said, “My condolences.” Like me, she knew the collapse was imminent. But she sent the vanguard to the cliffs anyway.
The scene suddenly changed.
“Ngh… Mngh… Ah…”
Once Stale returned, Arthur was free to leave Pride’s side. He slipped away but did not get far, standing out in the pouring rain trying to cope with the queen’s wicked words. She’d let his father and all those knights die, and Arthur was completely powerless to do anything about it.
Now Pride spoke of that horrific tragedy as if it was a means of entertainment.
He hated both her and himself, past and present. How could she do nothing? How could she stand by and let so many of her people die? Worse yet, how could he continue to serve a queen like that?
Somebody, please save him. He’s done nothing wrong. Hurry. Hurry and save him.
He only had one chance for salvation, one chance to heal his broken heart, and that was the second-born princess. Tiara.
***
“Urgh…”
I groaned as I faced myself in the mirror, taking in my heavy eyelids. Well, that was to be expected after how much I’d cried yesterday. Though that nightmare hadn’t exactly helped me recover either. When Lotte summoned me for breakfast, I groaned again, dreading facing everyone in such a state. I dreaded eating outside my room.
“You look much more beautiful than you did two days ago, all covered in dirt like that,” Lotte said with a chuckle when I complained.
I called for Mary, the veteran maid, and tried explaining my dilemma again.
“Only Prince Stale and Princess Tiara will be there today, so don’t you worry,” Mary assured me. “The queen and prince consort won’t be back until this afternoon.”
Looked like I’d get no sympathy there either. With no other choice, I let them usher me out of the room and found Tiara and Stale waiting in the hall.
“Good morning, Elder Sister.”
“Good morning, Pride.”
They smiled as they greeted me, and I smiled back.
“What’re your plans for today, Pride?” Stale said. He took my hand as we walked down the hall. It was kind of him to offer me a steady hand like that, but I wished he’d prioritize Tiara instead.
“I have to go return the jacket Commander Roderick lent me.”
I’d borrowed the jacket from him after the cliffs collapsed. Not only was it covered in mud, but it was also stained with blood from the commander and the attackers. Thankfully, Mary had been able to scrub it clean in just two days.
“Then I’ll accompany you,” Stale said.
“I’d like to go too,” Tiara added.
We approached the next step and this time each of them grabbed a hand. They’d both gotten rather clingy after yesterday, which was a little embarrassing for me as the older sister. I’d made such a fool of myself, snapping at the commander, making that promise with Arthur, even breaking down and crying with Commander Roderick. Plus, there’d been all that business with the commander’s son. During breakfast, I recalled the new memories I’d gained of him in my dreams.
Arthur Beresford was twenty years old in ORL, which made him four years older than Tiara. Just like his father, Arthur was a handsome and heroic commander sporting short silver hair and deep blue eyes.
Unlike here, in the game, Commander Roderick never got his foot out from under than boulder. Desperate to protect his troops until backup arrived, he fought alone against his tormentors without a single weapon while the young Arthur had to watch. Although the vanguard did eventually arrive, much to the child’s relief, the cliffs came down right after and crushed his father in the landslide. Roderick and Arthur never got to reconcile in the game, and Arthur never got to prove that he could become a knight.
Pride, who was already queen by that time, forced her way into the strategy room the day of the ambush and issued her own cruel orders. She even demanded that the vanguard fight the attackers on the cliffs instead of aiding the commander, who fought back even as the cliffs began to fall.
And all Pride said in the face of Arthur’s grief was those two cold words: “My condolences.”
Later in the game, when Arthur asked her about the truth of what happened that day, she laughed and told him she sent the vanguard to the cliffs even knowing thanks to her precognition that they would collapse. Her desire to wipe out anyone who defied her far outweighed any sliver of compassion for her own knights.
“The ground there was always loose,” Arthur said, his words thick with despair and hatred. “And that’s where my father lost his life. But to die like that, left behind for no reason, it never should have happened…”
Arthur’s grief in the game was so great that he even rejected Tiara at first, saying, “Please don’t touch me. I don’t want anyone who shares that woman’s blood to lay their hands on me.”
In the horrible cutscene I dreamed about, Arthur stood out in the rain and cried alone until Tiara rushed to his side, coaxing him to talk about his pain while still respecting his wish that she refrain from touching him. In that moment, she was like a goddess sent from heaven.
I wished I could have remembered this sooner, but this all happened in the very first game. And Arthur as a child didn’t look much like the love interest character. He looked much more like his father in the game and spoke more formally, like the gentleman knight he was. Whenever Tiara praised Arthur’s conduct, he would write it off as “a simple imitation of his father.”
In fact, it was the commander’s passing that motivated him to pursue knighthood in the game. That day lit a fire in him, a burning desire to feel closer to his late father and uncover the full truth of what Pride had done. He was a man caught in continuous torment, yearning to imitate his father and become the perfect knight, the perfect commander.
He achieved that goal on Tiara’s sixteenth birthday. From the moment they met, she began healing his heart. From what I could recall, he spoke very harshly whenever Tiara was in trouble and when he defeated Pride at the very end. The contrast between his gruff and tender sides earned him a lot of fans among ORL players.
“My dad…was my dad, and even though I’ve pretended to be him, I’m still me,” he said later in the game.
Remembering all of this also meant I remembered more about his special power, which was far from “useless,” as he claimed. He didn’t understand the power well in the game either. Perhaps I would need to tell him, but only later. He’d learn the truth by the time he reached twenty either way.
“Pride, why aren’t you moving?”
Stale’s voice snapped me back to reality. I blinked and realized I was sitting frozen at the table, my fork partially raised. Tiara and Stale cast me nervous looks.
“Big Sister, is something on your mind?” Tiara asked me.
“Y-yes, you see, I was just wondering if Arthur is doing well.”
I couldn’t tell them the full truth—that I was remembering his backstory from the game. But I truly was worried about Arthur. My siblings glanced at each other and then smiled in unison.
“I’m sure Mr. Arthur will be all right,” Tiara said.
“Tiara’s right. You did so much for him, Pride,” Stale added.
They must have meant my premonition about him becoming a knight. Sure, that wasn’t the kind of thing royalty usually bestowed on commoners, but still…
“It was nothing. If something so simple served as motivation for him, that makes me very happy.” I forced another smile, but it didn’t seem like I was fooling either of them.
“What on earth do you mean?” Stale said.
“You showed so much compassion to a boy who was a total stranger,” Tiara noted.
Something about their remarks carried further implications.
“You’re a wonderful person, Elder Sister.”
“You should take more pride in your actions.”
Their praise came laden with gentle chiding. My siblings were such kind souls.
Stale offered one more comment on the matter. “Besides, I’d like to become closer with Mr. Ar—with Arthur too.” A hint of a smile ghosted across his lips.
Stale and Arthur never developed any real relationship outside of their work in the game. In fact, Stale once coldly called Arthur “hard to make use of.” Their interactions were hardly pleasant.
“I see a darkness of incredible depth in that man,” Arthur told Tiara in the game, urging her not to trust Stale. Yet here Stale was, professing his desire to become friends with Arthur. I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of concern, knowing how their relationship played out in the game, but hopefully they wouldn’t just start fighting right from the start. Stale’s smile seemed genuine, but also…thoughtful.
After breakfast, we completed the day’s lessons with our tutors. By the end of the day, my eyes weren’t quite so puffy anymore.
After all our duties, the three of us, along with Jack and a few other guards, boarded a carriage bound for the knights’ training grounds. The men went through their paces as usual, even just two days after the ambush. Minus the injured recruits, of course.
Stepping out of the carriage, we made our way toward the grounds. Vice Commander Clark, who’d been overseeing the exercises, rushed up to meet us.
“Princess Pride! Along with Prince Stale and Princess Tiara as well,” he said.
“Good day, Vice Commander,” I said. “I’m sorry to stop by so suddenly. I’d like to return something I borrowed from the commander. Is he around today?”
Injured or not, Commander Roderick didn’t seem like the type to lie around and rest. If anything, he was sure to be right here at the training grounds.
“Just a moment, if you would. Someone go call Commander Roderick!” Sir Clark ordered. “Princess Pride has come for a visit.”
Several knights responded all at once, all trying to get closer to verify the claim themselves.
“Princess Pride’s here?!”
“The princess is visiting us?”
“Hey, don’t push me, idiot! I was here first!”
The men crowded behind the vice commander, trying to get a look at me. Feeling utterly tiny, I struggled not to shrink away from their eyes.
The knights went to one knee, but kept watching me avidly. They’d seen me the past three days in a row, but looked just as stricken as they had the first time. If they wanted to stare at someone, why not take in Tiara’s beauty instead?
“Princess Pride, what brings you to our training grounds today?”
“Princess Pride, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alan.”
“Don’t act so familiar with the princess!”
“Your Highness, might you do me the honor of sparring with me?”
“We’re not supposed to talk about that, idiot!”
Their requests and offers and praise overlapped in a cacophony. I turned to Stale for help.
“It’s no surprise that you’re so popular, Elder Sister,” Stale said with a smile.
That’s not the problem here! Please help me out a little!
I was still flailing around searching for the right words for all the knights’ requests when I spotted the commander sprinting toward us.
Indeed, here was Roderick Beresford, father of Arthur, a love interest in the game.
“My apologies for the delay, Your Highness!” he called. He joined the other knights, going to one knee while he tried to catch his breath. A red spot marred his forehead.
I shouldn’t ask about the forehead, but I really want to!
“I’m sorry that the commander must present himself in such a state, Your Highness,” Sir Clark said. “He’s been resting up on account of his injuries, but he apparently still wants to train with the rest of us, and, well…” The vice commander trailed off and chuckled. “He had a bit too much to drink last night, and on top of that, he started training his son at the crack of dawn this morning, then showed up at the training grounds like this. He’s been resting inside until now.”
“Clark!” Commander Roderick said, face flushing red.
Sir Clark seemed wholly unperturbed. “Doting parents can be so troublesome.”
It was nice to see the commander so lively, and to hear that he was on good terms with Arthur now.
“I wasn’t drinking until dawn on my own, now was I?” Commander Roderick retorted. Once again, he failed to upset Sir Clark’s cool.
“So Arthur is already receiving training?” I said.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Commander Roderick said. “He was up at dawn just to train. My wife was as surprised as me to see that.”
The commander smiled to himself as he recounted the story. The knights behind him wore similar grins. I imagined they were thrilled to hear their commanding officer doting on his precious son.
“He’s so skilled with a sword, you would never imagine it’s been years since he last held a blade,” Commander Roderick gushed. The knights behind him snickered. “Don’t you laugh! Oh, but that reminds me. Well, I suppose I can tell my knights about this too… Even this morning, my son was still talking about Your Highness and how—”
“Shut up, stupid Dad! What the hell’re you tellin’ them that for?!”
A yell cut the commander off mid-sentence. I whirled toward the sound, only to find a red-faced Arthur.
“What? What are you doing here?” Commander Roderick said.
“You went and left this at home after we finished training, and I had to come bring it to you,” Arthur said. “You’re the worst, stupid Dad! You better start apologizin’ to me!”
Arthur tossed a sword toward his father like it was a sack of potatoes and not a sharp blade.
“I see,” Commander Roderick said. “I’m sorry for forgetting my sword, but, son—”
“Seriously, I can’t believe you!” Arthur cut in. Done berating the commander, he snapped his eyes toward me instead. “Princess Pride, about yesterday…” All the heat had gone out of his words. In an instant, he’d turned from a raging child to a contrite subject of the crown princess.
“Good afternoon, Arthur,” I said with a smile. I tried to put him at ease, but his face flushed the moment I addressed him. “I’m glad to see you looking well.”
“Thank you.”
It was hard to believe this was the same boy I met in the throne room yesterday. Perhaps he couldn’t do anything about feeling nervous around someone of higher social status, but I wished he wouldn’t treat me differently just because of that.
Also unlike yesterday, I could see his whole face today. He wore his long silver hair pulled back into a ponytail this time. Now that I see him like this, I can definitely tell he’s the same Commander Arthur from the game.
“I’ll be taking my leave now,” Arthur said, averting his eyes.
“Oh my, Arthur. Are you sure about that? Don’t you want to stay and talk to Her Highness a little longer?” Sir Clark said, a teasing edge in his voice.
“Shut it, Clark! I’ll kick your ass if you say that again!” Arthur yelled, going right back to his rowdy screaming. He turned to me instead. “We can talk once I officially join the order.” With that, he offered me a short bow and made as though to leave.
Arthur wouldn’t be able to participate in the training exercises until he joined the order, of course. He was visiting today as a relative of the commander, but usually, anyone allowed inside the headquarters had to have a history of intense training under their belt. That must have been why he and the commander were practicing together at home. I wished there was something I could do for them…
“Please wait a moment.” Stale suddenly spoke up, stopping Arthur in his tracks as he attempted to leave. Arthur turned, blinking at the smile Stale greeted him with. “If you have the time, would you care to join me in my own training?”
It was such a casual question, but I could hardly believe my ears.
Sure, he said he wanted to become closer with Arthur, but what if they become enemies like in the game?!
Commander Roderick seemed just as surprised as me. “Prince Stale, whatever do you mean?”
“I’ve been looking for a partner to practice with,” Stale explained. “Mr. Carl is a busy man, so I’ve been unable to spar with him outside of my actual lessons, which is very unfortunate. What would you say to giving it a go later today? If it suits you, we could even make it a regular arrangement. It might feel strange to practice methods that aren’t used by the royal order, but I think studying a wide range of fighting techniques will help the both of us become stronger.” Stale offered his hand to Arthur.
“Stronger…” Arthur mused, then reached out and squeezed Stale’s hand.
Knowing what I did about the otome game, this was a shocking development.
“Very well then, Mr. Arthur. Once my elder sister is done with her errand, please join us in the carriage. That’s all right, isn’t it, Commander?”
Commander Roderick needed a moment to recover before he said, “Of course.”
“Oh!” Tiara gasped. “That’s right. Here you go, Big Sister.” She handed me a package, and I remembered what we’d come here for in the first place.
I thanked her, then presented the package to the commander. “This is the jacket I borrowed the other day. Thank you again for lending it to me.”
The dazed commander took the package and unwrapped it to find his jacket inside. “Pfft!” He spluttered a laugh before turning his face away, but his shoulders shook with mirth. Surely he was remembering that embarrassing incident when he picked me up in front of all of his knights.
The troops around us covered their mouths and averted their eyes, but it was clear the commander’s laughter had rekindled the recollection in them as well. Heat crawled up my neck, and I balled my hands into fists.
“P-please stop laughing!” I cried. I stomped my foot, but the knights were too far gone now. Stale and Tiara had their heads cocked in puzzlement.
“Dad is laughing?” Arthur murmured.
The little chuckles erupted into full-blown laughter, and there was nothing I could do to stop it anymore. I bundled Stale and Tiara back into our carriage with a hasty, “We’ll be on our way now.”
The knights saw us off properly, of course, but they still wore smiles and chewed their lips. I glared back at them.
“Don’t you breathe a word of that incident to anyone!” I said. The men nodded their agreement…while snickering.
I was all too relieved to climb back into the carriage with Stale, Tiara, and Arthur. After a moment, the driver flicked the reins and sent us back toward the castle and away from the giggling knights.
What a humiliating situation that was… Maybe I should have some new clothes made just in case I ever need more mobility again sometime.
At least one good thing came of that visit, though. My embarrassment aside, Stale gained a valuable training partner in Arthur from that day forward. That put me even further off course compared to the events of the game. At this point, I had no idea where this would all lead.
***
“Go to hell, you thugs! Don’t touch my Dad!”
My throat ached.
Where am I?
In the projection before me, a group of threatening men surrounded my dad. They leveled their guns on him as Dad shouted to keep them from chasing down the new recruits.
Right. I was in the strategy room of the order headquarters.
How long had I been screaming? The minutes passed with no hope of backup to sweep in and save Dad. The vanguard was late. After an hour of this, Dad was running low on ammo, barely hanging on. Red stained his white uniform, the uniform he always wore so proudly, the uniform I so admired.
“Just a little more,” Sir Clark said. “Hold out just a little more, and the vanguard will—”
But then, a girl spoke over the vice commander. “Here are your orders. Station every member of the vanguard at the top of the cliffs.” I tried to figure out who she was, but her face was too blurry in the projection.
“But Roderick and the troops won’t be able to—”
“The vanguard can kill the enemies on the cliffs first, don’t you see? Or do you plan on defying an order from the queen, Vice Commander?”
You’ve gotta be joking! Dad’s already half-dead, though. Can’t you see that, or are you blind? Dad can hardly even scream anymore!
I was just about to refute the queen when Sir Clark grabbed hold of me.
“Very well,” he said with shaking hands.
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. The queen planned to let Dad die. But then the vanguard arrived at the clifftops, offering a fresh wave of hope as they engaged the enemy. I cried for them to wipe out the attackers as quickly as they could and save Dad.
“The cliffs!” Dad shouted.
The image on the projection went fuzzy as the sides of the cliffs themselves began to tremble.
“Wha…? Dad… Dad, run for it!” I yelled.
I screamed so loud, I could taste blood in my mouth. But the collapse cut the transmission short. Dad would never hear me. And he didn’t even attempt to run.
Rubble began to rain down, but Dad just ordered the troops behind him to retreat. He was too late. The rumble of crushing rocks drowned out their cries of fear and pain as the cliff consumed them.
“Run!” Dad shouted again and again with the very last bit of energy he could muster. And then…
“Roderick!”
It was Sir Clark yelling this time. A shadow occluded the transmission as something loomed over Dad. He looked up at the cliffs in grim realization. Then he reached a hand out toward us.
“Clark, tell Arthur—”
CRUNCH.
Before the screen went black, I caught sight of something beyond horrific. Dad collapsed and a spray of red splashed up where he’d been standing only a moment ago.
Aaaahhhhhh!
I screamed before I even processed what I’d just witnessed. I didn’t even recognize my voice.
“Roderick! Commander!” the knights cried. But their calls did no more good than my own.
Dad was gone.
Crushed right before my eyes.
“That was your ‘Unwounded Knight,’ was it? It sure didn’t take much to kill him, huh? What a pathetic showing from the man who’s supposed to be the commander.”
The girl in the projection sounded almost amused. I could barely process her words. I wanted to run. I wanted to berate her. I wanted to tear out my own hair. But all I did was stand there and scream and scream and scream.
“Commander Roderick fought until the very end so that our new recruits could make it out!” Sir Clark hollered, his voice heavy with grief. He stepped forward to glare into the projection, crying and gritting his teeth.
“Hmm,” the girl mused. “But a death like that’s nothing to be proud of, and all the other troops died anyway.”
My world turned red. If I could have reached through the projection and strangled the queen right then and there, I would have.
“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing that most of the dead were just newbies,” she said. “You can always recruit new knights. And now that the commander’s dead, you can step up and take his place, right? Seems simple enough.” She offered all of this as though it were just another trivial little detail for someone else to work out.
My dad and all those knights… Are they really that disposable to you?
“That dunce of a commander was responsible for everything that happened today, anyway,” the queen went on. “Let’s just leave it at that. Stale, end the transmission now.” A moment later, the projection flickered out, and the girl disappeared.
“My condolences.” Those two words, the first words she’d said when she saw me through the projection, still rang in my mind.
She knew all along. She knew in advance just how my dad was gonna die, and she didn’t care at all.
I couldn’t take it.
He’s dead! Dad is dead! He was your knight! Why didn’t you do anything about it?! He fought so hard for his troops, so why, why did he have to die like that?! And why are you saying those things about him?
All my life, my dad had told me I could become a knight someday, just like him. But what good was any of that now?
No. Someone like me could never be a knight.
Around me, knights cried, still whimpering my father’s name or the names of the new recruits. Some outright wailed. Others balled their hands into fists like they wanted to hit something. A few covered their faces in their hands. There was nothing I could do for them.
As for Sir Clark… He was perhaps the most distraught of all, standing off by himself and weeping openly. Sir Clark shouted for rescue teams to go to the site of the landslide and search for survivors, desperate to not let my father’s death be in vain.
It all seemed so pointless to me. I’d never see Dad again. I’d disappointed him my whole life and I’d never even get the chance to rectify that.
Is this really how you want things to end? Your dad just died and that girl doesn’t even care!
But I wasn’t a knight. What was I supposed to do about the queen?
Goddamn it!
What could I do for Dad? What could I do for anyone? I was trash, even more useless now than when Dad was still alive. At least then there’d been some hope I would become a knight like my father.
No, I’ll do it. I’ll become a knight. And then I’ll get revenge for Dad’s death.
I’ll become like my father.
I’ll destroy myself. I’ll destroy who I am. Every trace of me will be gone, until there’s nothing left but Dad.
If I could just live like Dad did, perhaps I could become a knight like he did. I would never reach his level, I was sure, but at the very least I could imitate the man I’d spent my life watching and emulating.
I would rise from my own shortcomings and become a knight!
It didn’t matter if I was a shoddy impostor. I was going to train and act just like Dad, until I was strong enough to reach…
Her.
The girl who dishonored my dad’s death as a knight. She would receive her punishment by my hands.
I’d do anything to make sure of that.
***
“Arthur! You’re awake already? You’re such an early bird,” Mom said as I left my room. She’d already prepared food for the day.
Arthur Beresford was the name my mom and dad had given me.
“Ah, I think I had a weird dream or something, but I don’t remember what it was,” I muttered. “Ugh, what a way to wake up.”
I rubbed my eyes. I’d fallen out of bed this morning and woken with tears on my cheeks, the vague tendrils of a nightmare drifting out of my mind as I roused. I still couldn’t recall the dream, but uneasiness lurked within me.
Mom shook her head at me, trying to hide a smile. She was already hurrying around the restaurant Gramps had passed down to her. We didn’t need the money, thanks to Dad’s work as a commander, but she enjoyed the job and didn’t want to give up the restaurant her father had entrusted her with.
“Besides, I can never relax until your father comes home safe, anyway,” she always said.
I didn’t share her worry. Dad was strong, so strong I’d never reach his level. Once, I dreamed of being just like him, of becoming a knight and riding horses and using a sword to defend the kingdom. He made me prouder than anything or anyone else in the world, after all. His lessons were tough, and probably not suited for a kid like me, but I worked hard and glowed when I received his praise. I never even doubted myself, not when I was young. But one day I realized that all the training in the world, even from him, wasn’t going to help me overcome my biggest weakness.
My special power was simply useless. I could use it to make crops grow nice and healthy, but that was about it. One day, I’d found a field of shriveled, rotten plants, but as soon as I touched them, it was like I breathed new life into them. I was really young at the time, so all I felt was excitement when I learned that I had a special power of my own, just like Dad. My parents were both so excited when I told them.
But for some reason they were the only ones who reacted that way.
“That’s too bad, huh?” others said.
Soon, I grew old enough to understand the truth: While Dad’s power made him an invincible knight, mine just made me…a farmer. Compared to the Unwounded Knight and his anti-slash, I was practically powerless. My ability certainly wasn’t helpful in battle. I couldn’t even control how the plants grew or how fast they grew. My power just ensured they were healthy. How pathetic.
Some said the powers only the people of Freesia possessed came from God himself, divine gifts granted only to those who were worthy. That was why we made sure our queen and royal family and everyone of high rank had some kind of power.
But if all I could do was grow crops, did I even count?
“There are many knights who don’t even have powers. It’s nothing to worry about,” Dad said.
That wasn’t enough to satisfy me. I didn’t want to merely become some rank-and-file knight. I wanted to be as strong as Dad, or even stronger. Yet no matter how much I trained, no matter how much practice I put in, my weak, useless power would always hold me back.
It was the insurmountable gulf between Dad and me.
At first, I was too upset to keep up with my practice anymore. I quit the training exercises I used to do whenever Dad wasn’t around.
If I became close to my dad in strength, then I could still become a knight, and that was good enough. That’s what all the customers at Mom’s restaurant always said, anyway. But my dad’s name would follow me around like that forever, always reminding everyone that I just wasn’t as strong as him.
The more I grew, the more I feared that gap between us. No amount of hard work would ever help me catch up to him. When I finally told Dad I didn’t want to be a knight anymore, he was aghast and kept on demanding to know why. I made up a random excuse, but he didn’t buy it for a second.
“You’re giving up just because you don’t think you can be stronger than I am?” he said. “That’s the only thing that drove you to be a knight? To surpass your father?”
“Screw you,” I said. “You don’t know anything about me. You don’t know what it’s like.”
Dad was right, of course, but that only pissed me off more. He threw my petty ambition right back in my face, forcing me to confront it, but I wasn’t ready then.
The truth was, I wanted to protect Mom and Dad.
I was jealous of Dad, and of his vice commander, Sir Clark, who stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
I wanted to grow up and fight alongside my dad. I wanted to be like the man I so looked up to. The fact that that was impossible because of something completely out of my control crushed my motivation.
Fighting for the kingdom like Dad did, saving so many people like Dad did, protecting those I cared about like Dad did, growing stronger like Dad… I wanted to be a knight that could hold his head high, worthy of the name Beresford.
Mom and Dad both scolded me that day. I just ran off, fleeing to the fields to be alone. Beneath it all, I really did want to be a knight still, and that realization brought me to tears.
But it was too late. I let years pass without training. New recruits had to apply when they were fourteen, and only a few made it through the rigorous trials. Then they had to pass an exam as well. And even after all that, the order might not choose them. That was why Dad spent so much time training me as a kid. Many new recruits spent a full decade preparing before they turned fourteen, and even then, most didn’t make it.
I was too far behind to even begin. Meanwhile, my father had become the youngest commander in the history of the order. Even if I tried to start my ten years of training right now, I’d just be a stain on his reputation. How old would I be by the time I finally did make it, assuming I did? The youngest knights were still old enough to have families of their own. Maybe, just maybe, I could become a newbie by then, but my father had been the youngest commander in the history of our kingdom. We didn’t even compare.
Once, I’d resembled my father pretty closely, but after I abandoned the idea of becoming a knight, I couldn’t stand to look in the mirror and find a pale imitation of him. Instead, I grew my hair out long, so I could hide my face. I forgot about swordsmanship and focused on being a farmer. I tended to the hidden fields behind our house as a means of escape. At least I’d never struggle to put food on the table.
Soon, there was no turning back. My hands were stained with dirt, my body too slender to don an armor and shield and protect the people. It was too late for me, yet the frustration only grew every day. To everyone else, it looked like I’d given up. But that latent desire to follow in Dad’s footsteps gnawed at me persistently.
I want to be stronger. I want to be a knight, I thought every day, no matter how hard I tried not to.
And every day, Dad would twist the knife by asking if I was really serious about giving up.
“It’s not too late, you know,” he’d say. “You can begin your training again.”
Rage boiled inside me each time he asked. It wasn’t his fault, yet I still had to grit my teeth and dig my nails into my palms to keep from lashing out.
I’d been working in the fields for a full year by the time I turned thirteen. I was even settling into the idea of being a farmer. Dad still bothered me about it sometimes, but he was beginning to change his tune.
“If this is really the path you want in life, I won’t stop you,” he said.
“Knights are pointless,” I spat. “It’s embarrassing as hell to put your life on the line to protect a spoiled little princess like her. What a waste of taxes. You just die in the end anyway, like a common soldier.” I flung all kinds of insults at Dad, but he never raised his hand to silence me.
And, eventually, he gave up. I gave up too. It was all too painful a reminder—I was the worst heir he could have hoped for.
I want to be a knight. I want to be a knight, some voice in the back of my mind kept screaming. I shoved it down every time, sticking to my farm work instead of training, knowing I was just a worthless embarrassment to my dad. Maybe I was better off dead, in that case. These thoughts plagued me day in and day out.
If I’m going to die, I want to at least die as a knight, that voice said, fighting back against my despair. I thrust my hoe into the dirt to distract myself from that sentiment.
“Hurry! The commander needs our help!”
“There’s no time! We have to save the commander and all the new recruits!”
All of a sudden, hooves thundered past the fields and men shouted in panic. Knights rushed past in a flurry, too numerous to count, and my heart leapt into my throat.
“Save the commander!”
“We have to save them!”
Their words finally sank in.
“Dad?”
***
I’d been to the strategy room at order headquarters many times, but today felt different. The gatekeeper let me in when I told him I was Commander Roderick’s son, but he never met my eyes. The whole place just felt wrong. I’d come here enough as a kid—to learn from Dad and Sir Clark—that the shift in atmosphere immediately put me on my guard.
This takes me back.
Dad used to tell me I’d be a regular here one day, his voice loud and proud. I never thought I’d come back here after giving up on becoming a knight. But when those knights rode past earlier, shouting in alarm, it sparked a worry in me that I just couldn’t snuff. I lied to Mom and raced out of the house.
The moment I opened the door to the strategy room, chaos poured out. I reeled back for a moment, but no one even noticed me. Everyone was focused intently on a projection, and as I followed their eyes, I saw Dad wavering in the image.
“Sadly, it looks like my time is up. I’m counting on you to take care of things when I’m gone, Clark. Now that no one’s firing back at them, the enemy will probably reach me any minute. As a knight, I’d like to die with—”
“Is this a joke?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them. Was this real? Was that really Dad saying his farewells, telling everyone he was about to die?
The knights tried to grab me, but Sir Clark stopped them. I stumbled up to the projection, desperate to see it for myself. Dad looked startled, terrified. He was sitting on the ground, totally defeated. The scene was so surreal, I could hardly trust my senses.
“Stand the hell up,” I said. “Go home and apologize to Mom a thousand times!”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” Dad replied. “I’ll be dying a knight’s death here. But I’d still like to teach you one last lesson of—”
“I don’t want your stupid knight lessons!” I shouted. “I already told you, I’m never becoming a knight!”
I won’t be a knight! I won’t take your lessons! As long as… As long as you’re alive, nothing else matters!
I looked down at my feet, at anything aside from the desperate, doomed man on the projection.
No. I don’t want Dad to die.
“I see. It’s your life,” Dad said. “I have no desire to force you to join the order. I just wanted you to know what it means to be a knight. To put your life on the line for the sake of duty, just like my troops and comrades do. As your father, I wanted you to appreciate that.” Pain and sorrow strained his voice.
I couldn’t face him like that, so I studied the floor instead.
“Finally out of bullets, are ya? Took long enough,” a new voice cackled.
When I dared look up again, a group of men surrounded Dad. The thugs formed a circle around him, closing in slowly—until Sir Clark cut off the transmission.
“We need to get information from them without giving up any of our own,” Sir Clark said firmly.
You’re kidding me, right? Clark’s been Dad’s friend for ages, so how is he staying so calm through this?! I glared, at least until I noticed the blood dripping from his clenched, shaking fists. Why…?
The thugs were laughing at Dad, mocking him for being foolish enough to get his foot trapped under a boulder. But Dad didn’t seem to care—he kept his back to us and addressed his enemies.
“Those boys who made it out of here still have lives to live. I won’t let you go after them. You’ll have to deal with me until backup arrives.”
Why are you even thinking about that right now?! You can’t run, you can’t even move! Why are you acting so calm?!
“Watch me, my son. Watch your father’s final moments…my final triumph as a knight.”
Dad lunged, slashing at his attackers. Though I’d practiced fighting with him many times, I’d never seen him like this—going full force at a real enemy. He radiated brilliance and power, without even a beat of hesitation—the exact man I’d always seen in my dreams, ever since I was a kid. How I’d wished to fight alongside this man. But what was I doing to help him now?
Nothing. I was useless. I could only stand and watch him fight.
He was completely outnumbered. The attackers swarmed him as a group, pressuring him to fall back. One pointed their blade at him, and another leveled their gun at his face with murderous intent.
Dad was about to die.
“This isn’t funny! I never said you could die, Dad!” I screamed. “Go to hell, you thugs! Don’t touch my dad! I’ll kill you all! Let him go, let him go, let him go, let him go, let him go!”
I started yelling before I even realized it. It felt like the only thing I could do, useless though it was. Still, I kept shouting at the projection, trying to prevent the inevitable tragedy playing out before me, all the while nearly succumbing to despair.
I hadn’t even mustered up the courage to open up to Dad yet, to tell him my true feelings about becoming a knight. I disappointed him and he lost his patience, gave up on me, and abandoned me…but for some reason, he wanted me to watch him in his last moments.
No. I can’t just want to watch. I wanted us to battle together as knights. This isn’t how it’s supposed to end!
But there was no way for me to say any of that to him now. I was trapped in the strategy room watching Dad die, like getting stuck in some horrible nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. Maybe this is what I dreamed about this morning. I felt my mind attempting to distance itself from reality.
Watching Dad’s demise, my hatred of my own worthlessness only increased, gnawing at my guts. I should be the one to die, not Dad. I’m the one who’s worthless.
Bang!
A dull crack dragged me out of my thoughts. Someone had shot Dad in the foot. He fell to the ground and his cackling enemies closed in around him, making some snide remark about how guns worked on him. I reached out for him, pointless though that was, and kept screaming and screaming, trying to reach him any way I could. My legs gave out under me and I fell to the floor, my hand passing through thin air. I couldn’t reach him. No matter what I did, I couldn’t reach him, I couldn’t reach, I couldn’t reach!
“Ahhhhhh!”
I slammed my fists against the floor and howled.
When I turned, all I saw was a bunch of people dressed as knights, wearing that same uniform I always hoped to wear someday, but doing just as little as me in my pathetic state.
“Somebody help my dad!” I cried. “Isn’t he your commander?! Unlike me, he’s supposed to be special, right?!”
Dad was special. He wasn’t scum like me—he had the strongest power possible for a knight and the physical skills to match. He was one of the chosen ones. So how could everyone just let him die like this at the hands of these bastards?
“So save him! Why isn’t a single one of you knights doing anything?! Why can’t anyone save my dad?!”
Someone… Someone help him! I’ll take his place if I have to. I haven’t been able to say anything to him yet, or pay him back for anything he’s done for me. But I swear I’ll do anything if someone just saves him. Please, I love him so much! You have to save him!
Not a single one of the knights moved. They watched the projection as helplessly as me. All these knights with their uniforms and their training and their weapons, all these knights I’d once dreamed of joining, and yet they were no better than me in that moment.
The world closed in around me, darkening my vision around the edges. I slumped forward again, sitting there frozen and mute. It was too late… There was nothing anyone could do…
“It’ll be all right.”
Someone set a hand on my shoulder. I gazed up, hardly believing my eyes. The girl looked totally out of place among all the knights. She was young, for one thing, even younger than me, and had bright red hair.
“I won’t let a single person in my kingdom suffer,” she said.
She unsheathed a sword, the weapon unnatural in her small hand, and slashed her fancy dress. I blinked, still not quite believing my eyes or ears. Did this girl really think she could do what the knights couldn’t?
“Take me to that battlefield!” she said, raising her sword.
In that moment, she looked more like a knight than anyone else here. She looked like Dad.
Everyone in the room gawked at the girl. I clung to her words, to her promise that she wouldn’t let anyone suffer, including my father. Oh, how I prayed she meant that.
“You can’t, Elder Sister!” a boy—her little brother—said. “You’re the one who saw the danger for yourself in that premonition, aren’t you? You should know better than anyone how badly this can go.”
Premonition? What in the world was this boy talking about? His older sister stood her ground, refusing to back down. I could barely keep up. The crown princess…was going to save my dad? Or had I gone completely nuts, sinking into some impossible fantasy of salvation?
“I just had a premonition,” the girl declared. “I can still save him if I act now. I can save that boy’s father.”
There was that word again. “Premonition.” The little brother looked at me, but I couldn’t read his impassive face. He shook his head again, muttering something about refusing to send the future queen onto a battlefield.
“I don’t want to be a wicked queen who saves herself at the expense of others,” the girl said.
My thoughts were in total disarray.
Queen? How could this girl be a queen? The boy’s eyes went wide when he heard that. The pair stared at each other in silence for a while, with Dad’s screams still coming through the projection behind me.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Get on a horse if you’re gonna save Dad!
Even with a horse, I couldn’t fathom how she’d get to the battlefield in time. Dad seemed completely out of strength already. Would she even make it if she left right this minute? Was there any chance at all that she could save my dad? The questions raced through my mind as the siblings came to some sort of agreement beside me. He wrapped her in his arms…and the girl vanished into thin air.
“Wait, Sir Clark?! What was that?! Where’d she go?! Why’d she just…” I stuttered.
Still on the ground, I turned toward Sir Clark, but I never managed to get the rest of my questions out. The knights all around us stood stunned as well.
“Don’t tell me…” Sir Clark said to the boy.
“Sir Clark, what happened to that girl?!” I asked.
Unable to rise, I crawled toward Sir Clark on the floor.
“Prince Stale,” Sir Clark said, mouth agape. “He used his teleportation to send her away.”
He looked down at me.
“P-Prince Stale?” I parroted. That boy couldn’t be…
“This is the firstborn prince, Prince Stale,” Sir Clark said. “The girl who just disappeared is Her Highness, Pride Royal Ivy, the crown princess.”
“What?!”
I choked out a single shocked sound before falling silent.
The crown princess? That little kid?! Why are the prince and princess here?! Does that mean everything she said about premonitions and becoming queen was actually true?
Everything finally fell into place. Sir Clark ordered a backup squadron to rush to the battlefield, but Prince Stale stopped him. The two argued back and forth until suddenly a scream rose from the projection.
“Guh?!”
The scream wasn’t Dad’s this time. Some other man was shouting now.
Sir Clark, Prince Stale, and all the knights focused on the transmission. Dad and all the attackers surrounding him stared up at the cliffs, but we couldn’t see what they were so intent on through the projection. After all, we had only a sliver of a visual to go by.
Gunshots rang out, followed by screams up on the clifftops.
What the hell’s happening?
Even Dad was frozen in place. The knights broke into confused chatter.
“Could they be battling in close quarters on the clifftops?”
“No, the vanguard wasn’t supposed to go up there.”
“Then who’s firing?”
“My elder sister.”
Clark and I whipped our heads around when Prince Stale spoke. He stared fixedly at the projection, clutching a box of explosive powder.
No way. That girl is Princess Pride? Princess Pride’s shooting at those enemies up on the cliffs right now? What the hell is she thinking?! She’s tiny. There’s no way she can beat men with guns. They’ll kill her like it’s nothing. I’ve heard the princess is spoiled, but I guess she has rocks for brains too. I can’t believe I was desperate enough to ask her for help. I was such an idiot!
Even as I cycled through these thoughts, the gunshots fell silent. She was dead. She was dead, and it was my fault for begging her to save Dad. The princess was…
Bang! Bang!
Two more gunshots cracked. The men aiming their guns at Dad suddenly howled in pain, clutching arms and legs as they fell. Dad plunged his sword into the men who’d fallen.
What the hell’s going on?
Lost for words, I focused on the projection. Silence suffused the battlefield until soft footsteps approached. It couldn’t be possible. Miracles like that didn’t exist in this world.
Dad slowly rose to his feet. Past him, I caught a glimpse of a familiar dress. She was so small and fragile-looking. She wasn’t even a boy, much less a knight.
But my eyes weren’t deceiving me—the tiny little princess stood before Dad.
There was no way… She couldn’t be the person who’d just swooped in like some hero out of a picture book. Yet the image didn’t change, and as the reality sank in, tears blurred my vision.
“It looks like you were completely out of ammo too, weren’t you? I’m afraid I used up the last of it just now.”
It was that same voice, that same voice that had reassured me here in this room.
“It’ll be all right.”
“Prepare to meet your end, you demons,” she said.
Goosebumps broke out all over my body. I shivered from her words and the force of her presence. The crown princess had actually stepped in and saved my father, even though she was the one all of these knights, including him, were supposed to protect.
“That man is one of my subjects.”
I couldn’t see through my tears. I couldn’t follow her words. All I could do was weep with relief.
She’d made it in time.
It was going to be all right. She was really there, and it wasn’t just hypothetical anymore.
Her Highness, Pride Royal Ivy.
The young lady we were all supposed to protect.
***
A man who’d been lurking at the back of the band of thugs faced the princess. He made some snide remark before lashing out, but she twisted around his sword and leapt at his undefended chest. The princess swung, and with a loud, wet slash, the man collapsed, clutching his legs.
No one could believe what they were seeing, least of all me. An eleven-year-old girl was cutting down fully grown men without the slightest hesitation.
Princess Pride continued her rampage while we watched. She dodged any attack thrown her way before slicing down her foes. Every time her sword flashed, another man fell, taking a deadly hit to the arm or leg.
How is this possible?
My mind went fuzzy. I couldn’t even remember how long I’d been watching her fight to defend Dad. She never slowed, never reeled back in surprise or fear. She bested every enemy who dared challenge her, the very picture of a knight.
Still, I gulped when the thugs rushed her together. I lost sight of her tiny body within the cluster of enemies. Then, Princess Pride reemerged, swiping at the men’s feet, sending them backward, and taking out their legs with one swish of her sword.
“Whooooooa.”
All the knights in the room cheered when she popped back up out of the huddle of attackers.
“Incredible…”
I was so amazed, the word just slipped from my lips. The way she fought was actually beautiful. Even guns didn’t stop her. The immobilized men grabbed weapons off the ground and fired straight at Princess Pride. But quick as lightning, she vanished, and the bullets struck the man behind her instead.
“What just happened?!” multiple people said. We got our answer when the princess reappeared, falling from above. She had actually jumped over the bullets and now plummeted back down.
“That’s it. I can just use this,” she said to herself, picking up one of the guns with a grin.
She dropped to the ground. Had someone struck her, or had she lost her footing? I was still trying to figure out why when more gunshots whizzed past, followed by cries of pain.
“What skill!” a knight said. “Was Her Highness really the one doing all that shooting we heard earlier?”
Seeing her roll across the ground, popping up to fire with deadly accuracy, I had to believe she was the person who’d wiped out the enemies up on the cliff. She was mesmerizing as she tore through the group of thugs with unnatural ease.
I suddenly realized I wasn’t trembling anymore.
“Is that her special power?” someone asked.
“No, the princess has precognition,” another person replied. “There’s no way she could have any kind of power related to combat as well.”
“But, her aim… I don’t think even we could pull that off!”
Even the knights—Dad’s proud, chosen knights—couldn’t figure out how a little girl was taking out so many enemies on her own. While they pondered it, the projection filled with fallen foes, until only Princess Pride and Dad remained standing.
“Wh-why…” Dad said. “Why did you come here? You should know the danger better than anyone!”
I couldn’t believe he was actually scolding the girl who’d just saved his life, but my relief that he could stand and speak overwhelmed that feeling.
“Stale said the same thing to me,” the princess told him. Unperturbed, she paced through the carnage she’d caused.
Wait. Dad’s safe now, so why is everyone still upset? It’s all over n—
“This whole place is about to collapse,” Dad said. “You were the one who predic—”
What?
I latched on to those words, churning over them, refusing to process them.
Then a terrible rumble rose, like the earth was splitting open. The cliffs started to flake, flecks of rock pattering down behind Dad.
“Vice Commander! The cliffs are beginning to collapse,” a knight said.
“The vanguard has just finished evacuating our troops,” another reported.
“Reinforcements on their way to the scene can see the collapse from a distance.”
“Vice Commander! The vanguard has just confirmed that they can’t make it to the commander’s position due to the landslide.”
The knights’ reports overlapped, coming one after another to deliver the dire news.
What’s going on? Even though she defeated all of Dad’s attackers, he’s still not safe?! But she said everything would be all right…
The noise in the room made it impossible for me to demand an explanation from Sir Clark or anyone else. Suddenly, the cries turned to shouts of “Princess Pride!” In the projection, the princess kicked one of the attackers toward Dad, then cast aside her sword and embraced both of them at once in some strange hug.
“What’s going on?” someone said.
The rumbling cliffs made it tough to hear the princess, but I picked out the phrase “your special power” and an outraged shout from the attacker hugged between her and Dad. Then rubble spilled down, tumbling into view until it filled the projection. Both Dad and Princess Pride disappeared among the debris.
“Wha…? Ah… Aahh…”
It all happened in the blink of an eye, and at first, I could hardly react, too dazed from the whole experience.
“Ahhhhhh!”
When I recovered enough to respond at all, all I could do was scream.
***
How many years must’ve passed after that? In reality, it was probably just a few minutes. But I stood there in a total daze for so long I couldn’t tell anymore, screaming and screaming until my throat went raw and I started to cough. I was still on the ground, slumped over and too weak to stand. How did it come to this?
My thoughts grew sluggish. The projection was empty now. It’d been connected to a boulder that rolled off somewhere in the landslide, yet I kept staring at that empty image, hoping against hope.
Sir Clark issued orders to the knights, demanding they start their search once the rubble settled. He also added the reinforcements to the search effort, once all the new recruits were safe.
It took me a moment to process what Sir Clark said. It wasn’t a rescue mission. It was a search party. They were looking for Dad’s body—and Princess Pride’s.
Everyone died someday. I wasn’t so naive I didn’t realize that. But how could this happen? I shook my head, refusing to accept it.
“I have to go save my elder sister,” Prince Stale said.
“You mustn’t! Pull yourself together, Your Highness,” Sir Clark said.
I managed to turn my head just enough to look at the prince, who was pale and quivering. “Elder Sister… Elder Sister…” he repeated under his breath.
He lost a family member too.
The death of Princess Pride would be a huge stain on the order. Part of me wanted to take the blame for this. After all, she’d only gone to that ill-fated battlefield because of my pleading and begging. I was even willing to face execution for the fate to which I’d doomed the amazing princess.
And then there was Dad. As my thoughts turned to him, my despair washed over me anew. He’d died so easily. I never even got to tell him anything. I never even…
“Get in contact with me as soon as you see this message,” Sir Clark said. He was stomping around the strategy room, shouting the same orders over and over in an endless refrain.
Eventually, the knights did manage to make contact with someone. The projection changed. The knights in the image provided an update on the situation—they’d just arrived at the scene and assessed the pile of rubble while searching for the commander and Princess Pride.
“Why don’t we go outside and get some air?”
I jumped when a knight addressed me. The man lent me his shoulder, which I had to lean on to stand up and shuffle out of the room. When we made it outside, he propped me up against a wall.
“I’ll come get you if anything happens,” he said before returning to the strategy room.
He took me here so I wouldn’t see Dad’s body, I realized, still reeling. They can’t show a kid like me a mangled corpse.
But as soon as that thought crossed my mind, a vivid image of Dad and the princess crushed beneath a mass of stone flashed before me, and I vomited on the ground.
Pathetic.
Empty inside, I leaned against the wall and looked up at the sky. The murmur of voices within the strategy room still managed to reach me, but I couldn’t make out the words anymore.
What am I gonna tell Mom?
She’d cry when she heard the news. She lit up every time he came home from a long mission, and now I had to tell her he was never coming back again. Even though Dad and I were always fighting, I was happy to see them together. Not only would I never see Dad again, but I’d probably never see Mom smile.
Why couldn’t I do anything?
Why was I so powerless?
I hugged my legs and pressed my face against my knees while the image of Dad standing tall and proud flooded into my mind.
“Watch me, my son. Watch your father’s final moments…my final triumph as a knight.”
I was watching, Dad. You were so amazing. I watched you fight to protect your troops, refusing to retreat. You were the hero I always knew you were.
A hero…
“Take me to that battlefield!”
The princess wielded her blade with such majesty. She radiated beauty as she fought.
Princess Pride took on all those grown men, but she was younger than me. It was unbelievable. But she was dead now too. Both of my heroes were gone.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
I’m sorry I’m so weak. I’m sorry all I can do is cry. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry I’m worse than scum, weak, pathetic. I’m sorry all I can ever be is the victim. I hate myself so much.
But, what if…
Just then, a commotion rose in the strategy room.
“It can’t be!”
“The commander!”
Voices overlapped. It sounded like they’d found Dad’s mangled body, but I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to hear their cries of disgust. I pushed my face harder against my knees and hugged my legs closer. Then the door flew open.
“Beresford!” The knight who’d walked me out stood over me, out of breath despite the short distance.
No, please, I don’t want to hear it.
He grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to meet his eyes. “It’s your father!” he yelled, clearly a bundle of nerves.
But what if I could do it all over again?
He dragged me back into the strategy room. Chaos ruled the space. Knights raised their hands in the air. Some screamed; some wept. And then I heard it…
“I can’t believe we actually made it out.”
Dad’s voice.
I blinked, not believing what I saw on the projection. Dad, standing there right next to Princess Pride. She was covered in mud, but she smiled as knights rushed up to her and Dad.
They’re alive. Dad and Princess Pride are alive.
My body went limp with overwhelming relief. I crumbled to the floor and burst into tears. All around me, the room filled with cheers of pure joy.
But what if I could do it all over again?
This time, I’d protect them with my own two hands—Dad and the princess and everyone else I cared about.
I’d be just like them.
The strategy room never quieted back down once they confirmed that Dad and Princess Pride were safe. Sir Clark inquired about my dad’s injuries, figured out how to get the princess home safe, and debated whether to inform the queen and prince consort. Prince Stale stood at his side, quietly conferring from time to time.
Eventually, Sir Clark told me that the vanguard was escorting Her Highness and Dad home, specifically a knight who specialized in transportation thanks to his special power. I thought that might mean more teleportation, but Sir Clark said the journey would take thirty minutes. All this time, the battlefield had felt so close because of the projection, but that made me realize just how far away this all unfolded.
The moment we knew Princess Pride was returning, Prince Stale disappeared, just like the princess had before. I asked Sir Clark about it and he explained the prince’s power. I had a lot of questions, but Sir Clark stopped me, warning me to keep my silence on the topic.
Just then, I was happy to oblige, much more concerned with seeing Dad healthy and whole. I followed the knights when they headed toward the castle, as eager as anyone to see the princess.
Prince Stale and a young girl waited for us outside the castle, along with a row of maids and guards. The girl was probably Princess Tiara, the second-born princess. Her face was so pale and she clung to Prince Stale’s shirt like she needed to hang on to him to stay standing. He stroked her back and murmured reassurances, though he looked plenty pale himself.
We waited there a long time. Finally, a strange vehicle raced toward us. It skidded to a stop before the assembly, and a knight climbed off, offering Princess Pride his hand to help her off the contraption. Princess Tiara gulped. The maids and guards drew deep breaths. Mud covered Princess Pride from head to toe, except where she wore a knight’s jacket, far too baggy for her slight frame. The beautiful dress beneath was nothing but tatters, and Princess Pride’s wavy red hair drooped like dried-up vines of ivy. It was no fit state for a princess.
It’s my fault, I thought and realized I had no idea how to face her. I cowered behind the rest of the knights and hid.
Prince Stale and Princess Tiara rushed to Princess Pride and burst into tears when she embraced them. Even after all she’d just gone through, Princess Pride was the one comforting people now that she’d returned.
How can she be so calm about everything? I looked closer and realized the princess was trembling as she hugged her siblings.
She wasn’t fearless, and she wasn’t invincible, yet she stood up and faced the enemy with unwavering strength. She even had the courage to accept the weaknesses of others. Her radiance in that moment could have blinded me.
People led Princess Pride and her siblings to the castle. The moment they disappeared inside, Sir Clark approached to tell me that Dad and the vanguard were about to arrive at the infirmary and join the rest of the injured recruits.
There were already dozens of injured soldiers at the infirmary by the time we got there. Among them, in a wagon carrying the injured, was my dad. But I didn’t feel ready to meet him face-to-face yet, so I hid myself away behind the knights.
The men roared with joy the moment Dad arrived. The new recruits disembarked first. Then, the moment Dad stepped down, the knights swarmed him. He greeted each and every one, still dazed from the battle. Sir Clark shouldered to the front of the pack and wrapped his arms around Dad, shouting, “Roderick!” Soon, all the rest of the knights were following suit, trying to get closer as they called out the name of the commander they couldn’t believe had survived.
I stood by the wayside, casting nervous glances at the group. I wish I had a bond with him like the order does. It’s like they know Dad better than I do. What do I even say to him?
“Commander Roderick?!” someone cried, and not with elation this time.
Dad’s legs gave out under him. He collapsed against Sir Clark’s shoulder, completely drained. The rest of the men rushed to carry him to the infirmary.
Finally, my worry overwhelmed my shyness; I ran up to be next to Dad. He still slumped against Sir Clark, relying on the other man’s shoulder all the way to the infirmary. The doctor hurried out to greet us and got Dad into a bed right away. We waited anxiously for the news, but the doctor returned quickly, saying Dad had been treated back at the cliffs and wasn’t in mortal danger.
“He probably collapsed from exhaustion. I’m sure he’ll be well soon,” Sir Clark said.
Yet Dad still had to get more treatment before they took him to a different room in the infirmary to rest and recover. Perhaps his injuries were so bad that they wanted to monitor him. I hoped he just got a special room because he was the commander.
Two knights guarded his room at all times, but they gave us privacy when I finally went to visit him. Sir Clark was too busy to hang around the infirmary once things settled down a bit, so I was on my own.
I leaned against the wall by Dad’s bedside the moment I arrived. For a while, I just listened to his breath and watched his shoulders rise and fall.
Dad’s alive. He’s here, and he’s alive. My vision blurred with tears. I slouched down to the ground, hiding my face against my knees.
I really thought I’d never see him again. I thought it was goodbye. I thought I’d regret it for the rest of my life. And once I accepted that, the guilt nearly broke me. I prayed for a second chance, a way to undo it and try again. As a knight, Dad had put himself in danger well before now. I thought I’d accepted that. Knights fought and died—that was just a reality of the procession. But today, I’d had to see it up close. And surely, this wouldn’t be the last time. Surely, he’d end up in mortal danger again someday. How could I repair things before then so I wouldn’t face this guilt all over again?
“…thur… Arthur… Arthur.”
Someone touched my shoulder. I raised my head, bleary with tears and exhaustion. Sir Clark was looking down at me, concern in his eyes. Had I fallen asleep? How long had I sat here moping?
“Sir Clark,” I said.
“Are you well?” he said. “If you’re tired, how about heading home for now? I’m sure Clarissa is worried about you.”
Oh, right.
My mom—Clarissa—had to be worried half to death. I’d told her I’d be back soon when I left, but now most of the day had passed. Still half-asleep, I clambered to my feet, asked Clark for the time, and went cold when I heard the answer. I dashed for the door, but turned around at the exit.
Dad was still sound asleep. I watched him, watched one last breath rise in his chest just to reassure myself.
“I’m going to wake him and give him a status report,” Sir Clark told me, having noticed the gesture. “Would you like to speak to him before you leave?”
I bristled at Sir Clark’s presumption. “No, there’s no need. I’ll go see Mom and come right back here.” I turned to leave, and he snuck in a final word.
“All right. Good to hear you’ll be returning.”
“Shut it,” I growled.
I’d known Sir Clark since I was a little kid, but I still hated the way he acted like he knew everything about me. I didn’t bother elaborating after the quip; I just turned on my heel and left before he could get under my skin further.
By the time I got home, Mom was pacing. Apparently, she’d heard all the knights passing by our fields and that only made her worry more.
“What happened? Did you visit the order? Is your father safe?” she asked.
I assured her that everything was all right; it was a bit of an oversimplification, but it eased her worries. Anxiety tightened her face all over again when I told her I had to leave again and might not return for a while.
“Why do you need to go?”
“I’m gonna see Dad,” I told her.
Her face flickered through emotions—surprise, doubt, joy. I told her Dad was at headquarters if she needed anything, but she didn’t ask any further questions this time.
When she agreed to let me go, I staggered back down the road and returned to the infirmary. Dad was awake and sitting up in bed, talking softly with Sir Clark. Bandages covered most of his body. He was still looking pretty beaten up, but he waved me over when he noticed me, his eyes widening in surprise. I crept closer while Sir Clark continued delivering his report. It sounded like they had a formal meeting with Princess Pride tomorrow.
“You’re right, I think we should move quickly. I plan to inform her that I’ll be taking responsibility for her actions,” Dad said. Determination burned in Dad’s eyes. I wasn’t exactly sure why, and Sir Clark ignored it as well.
“Very well,” Sir Clark said with a nod. “If Her Highness is available tomorrow, we’ll tell her then.” Then, Sir Clark turned to address me at last. “Hey there, Arthur. Where were you off to?”
Damn him for seeing through me so easily. He knew I wanted to keep it a secret that I’d stayed by Dad’s bedside while he slept, and he was actually covering for me. Somehow that was more frustrating than him just outing me.
“I went to see Mom,” I answered.
“You what?!” Dad said, raising his voice. “Don’t tell me you told Clarissa—you told your mother about everything that happened?”
Sir Clark looked like he was biting back a smile.
“What the hell?! Of course I didn’t tell her, moron!” I said. “Then I’d have to sit there and calm her down for the rest of the day.”
“I see.” Dad sighed. “That’s good to hear.”
“But I’m telling her next time I see her.” Shock renewed on his face, but I just kept going. “I swear, I’ll tell her. I’ll tell her you went and got your foot stuck under a rock, and you got crushed by a landslide, and you got yourself all shot up, and you collapsed when you made it back to the castle. Oh, and I’ll let her know you were babblin’ about how you were about to die, and during that whole embarrassing final spiel, you never once mentioned her name.”
“B-but I think about Clarissa every day!” Dad stammered, looking deflated.
I ignored his excuse. “She’d cry, y’know that? And I’m not helpin’ you out when she gets upset. You better get ready for Mom to scold the hell out of you when you go home. It’s gonna hurt, but you deserve it, stupid Dad.”
Dad didn’t even try to retort this time, mouth hanging open.
“Looks like you’re not getting out of it this time, huh, Roderick?” Sir Clark laughed.
Just like that, Sir Clark confirmed that Dad had certainly brushed up against death before now. Dad froze, clearly trying to think of a way to wave this all away.
“I won’t mention this to Mom,” I said, “on one condition.”
Dad tried to get out of bed at this, but he whimpered when he attempted to move.
“Condition… What do you mean, Arthur?” Sir Clark asked.
Dad was still wincing from pain, but he focused on me.
“I want to see Princess Pride again,” I said. Dad and Sir Clark shared a glance at this. “You’re gonna see her tomorrow, right? So let me come too. If I can’t join the meeting, at least let me see her again. I’m not goin’ home until I get to see her, no way. I told Mom I wouldn’t be back for a while, anyway.”
Dad and Sir Clark held a silent conference, heads cradled in their hands, sharing a look of mingled horror and resignation. They knew I wouldn’t give up when I was being stubborn.
“Clark…” Dad muttered.
“Very well,” Sir Clark said. “I suppose it can’t hurt. I’ll put in a request with Her Highness.”
Victory was mine.
“’Kay. I’m gonna go lie down out there, then.” Assured they’d meet my condition, I headed for the door.
“Wait a moment, Arthur! You don’t have to leave,” Dad called.
“Even as your son, I don’t deserve some fancy room in the castle,” I said. “I’ll be fine outside.”
I brushed past Sir Clark, who grabbed my arm to stop me.
“Why are you like Roderick in all the worst ways, Arthur?!” Sir Clark yelled, his voice bouncing off the walls. “You share the strangest sense of honor!”
I tried to fight them both on it, but I was outnumbered and eventually gave in. I ended up spending the night in Dad’s infirmary room, since he needed more bedrest anyway.
“You’re sure you don’t want a blanket?” Dad said.
“What right do I have to borrow something like that?” I snapped.
I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t unbearable, and more than anything else, I hated the idea of borrowing castle supplies when I was already on their property completely uninvited. I had some folded-up bedsheets on the floor. That would have to be good enough.
“What do you intend to say to Her Highness when you see her?” Dad asked me.
“I dunno. I’m goin’ to bed, so don’t talk to me anymore, stupid Dad,” I replied, turning away and curling up into a ball.
In truth, I really didn’t know what I wanted to say to her. I just knew that I had to see her again.
Dad didn’t pester me further, and I soon drifted off to sleep.
The next time I opened my eyes, someone had laid a blanket over me. I quickly pretended to still be asleep, but I could hear Dad letting out a grunt of pain as he clambered back into his bed.
Stupid Dad.
The next morning, Sir Clark arrived after his morning duties to inform me that I’d be allowed to join the meeting with Her Highness.
***
I trailed the rest of the order through the halls of the royal palace. Chandeliers glittered overhead. The floors were polished to a shine. Everything shone and sparkled and I shrank down in the dingy clothes I’d been wearing since yesterday. Dad and Sir Clark had changed into their armor, but I’d rejected all their offers of fresh clothes. I wasn’t some helpless little kid. They even tried to get me to tie back my hair, but I resisted, too terrified by the idea of the whole order getting to see just how much I looked like Dad.
The procession paced through the palace until we encountered tall double doors that opened into the throne room.
Princess Pride arrived right on time. She wore an immaculate dress, unlike yesterday, and had Prince Stale and Princess Tiara flanking her as she walked through a path created by the knights.
It was the first time it really hit me that this girl was an actual princess. She practically glided to the throne, taking one careful step after the next, otherworldly in her elegant beauty. It was dizzying, trying to equate her with the girl on the battlefield yesterday.
As she passed, Dad, Sir Clark, and then the rest of the knights went to their knees. I followed suit, waiting with the others as Princess Pride took her place.
“Raise your heads,” she said. Everyone gazed up at the crown princess. “Stale has told me that you’ve kept my presence at the battlefield a secret. I thank you for your cooperation.”
Sir Clark had issued a strict gag order. Even I was ordered not to speak a single word, not even to Mom or my friends. I was happy to oblige if it meant helping the order and the princess.
“No, it was a beneficial agreement for us as well,” Dad replied.
He launched into a stream of questions, asking if she had previous combat experience, how she knew about one attacker’s special power, why she went to the battlefield alone. The longer it went on, the more aggressive his questioning became.
It might have been shocking to see Dad address a princess so, but it was even more shocking when Princess Pride said she had almost zero combat experience. How had she slain so many foes then? If this was a lie, it was a terrible one, but nothing about this made sense. My head swirled with confusion, but Dad pushed on, and the conversation shifted to the princess’s precognition, the limits of Stale’s teleportation, and details like that.
“Still! That would have been preferable to sending the crown princess to the battlefield!” Dad’s angry shout echoed in the throne room, slapping against the high ceiling. “Even if no one else would have made it in time, you never should have come there. You needed to tell the vanguard about that man’s power and leave the rest to us!”
Sir Clark tried to get him to calm down, but it was no use. Dad had clearly already made up his mind, and he was going to keep on yelling, even at the very person who’d saved him.
In a way, he was right. A member of the royal family had no business being at that battlefield, and Dad knew that better than anyone. The people of this kingdom obeyed the royal family and paid them taxes out of more than mere tradition. Every knight knew they were training to protect the royalty, with their life if it came to that. To have that reversed—to have a princess trying to trade her life for a knight’s—it was downright absurd, even if she was trying to save a commander.
Princess Pride bit her lip like she was holding back some retort, but Dad just kept going, talking about how knights put their lives on the line for royalty, how the death of any royal could rock the whole kingdom. Dad even said Princess Pride’s actions would have dishonored his death, as though he was meant to die out there on that battlefield.
What a joke. The despair and the loss I felt yesterday is still just as suffocating as it was then. Do you have a goddamn clue how happy the knights are that you’re alive? Do you have any idea what I…
“Just forget about us!” Dad said. “Even if it means that I must die, you shouldn’t hesitate to keep yourself safe first and foremost. You don’t understand just how valuable your life is t—”
I clenched my fist as hard as I could, quivering with the urge to punch him and make him stop.
“That’s enough,” Princess Pride cut in.
Her voice echoed through the room, silencing everyone, even Dad. Unlike Dad, her authority wasn’t raw rage. The power of her words rippled through the knights as she rose off her throne.
“It is as you say, Commander,” she went on. “My short-sighted actions upset many people, and I rescued you in a way that was against your will. However…” She spoke low, her anger palpable, each word sharp and cold as an icicle waiting to fall. “You are not the only one I saved. I saved you and all the knights you’ll train from this day on. Do you know how many citizens you might save throughout your life?!”
Goosebumps spread down my arms. She was right. She hadn’t merely saved Dad; she’d saved everyone he and his knights would help in the future.
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand the value of his own life, Commander!” she said. “Do you have any idea how much the people in your life love, cherish, and rely on you?”
She understands. She understands how I feel. She understands how all of us feel, and she put it into words.
I trembled, but for the first time in days, it wasn’t from dread or sadness.
“I belong to the royal family!” Princess Pride declared. “I am the firstborn princess, and I will inherit this throne! My role is to live for the sake of the people. And you are knights. You’re our hope, the light that protects the citizens directly. When a single knight dies, he takes everyone he would have saved along with him.”
I shuddered down to my bones. “Living for the sake of the people…” What an act of selflessness that was. She’d even called the knights her “hope” and “light.” Knights were the first line of defense for the people. Even a single knight’s death should be avoided at all costs.
She was right about all of it.
How did she see through us all so easily? She understood the ideals of knighthood on a level few outside the order ever did. It was those ideals that first inspired me, those ideals that I still admired in Dad and yearned to achieve.
“Even if you were a mere foot soldier instead of the commander, I would have rescued you,” she continued. “How could I let someone die when I knew I could save them? I will never allow any unnecessary deaths if I can help it.”
I couldn’t imagine how much her words meant to the knights.
It struck me then that Princess Pride hadn’t gone to that battlefield for my sake; I’d just happened to be in the strategy room that day. She would have gone either way. It wasn’t pity. No, she went because she could, because it was possible to save Dad and she knew it. Simple though it sounded, it required a strength and bravery I could hardly fathom.
“All of you are citizens of my kingdom, just as you are knights, and my people are my pride and joy,” she said. “Our job as royalty is to protect each and every one of you. If you call yourselves knights, then concern yourselves not with dying an honorable death, but with those whom you’ll still save in the future.”
As her words sank in, they echoed in my mind, replaying over and over as I quivered before her.
“Concern yourselves not with dying an honorable death, but with those whom you’ll still save in the future.”
I wanted to protect everyone—Mom, Dad, all the people of this land. That was why I despaired when I realized I’d never be stronger than Dad. How could I protect him when I’d never measure up to him? I longed to be like him, but I could only cause him shame in my current state, and I’d therefore abandoned my dream of knighthood.
When I thought Dad was going to die, what was I most concerned with? What was the thing in my life that filled me with constant, constant, constant regret?
“I wanted to be a knight. I wanted to protect people. I wanted to become strong.”
Who was it? Who looked down on me, telling me I’d bring shame to my dad, who shoved all the blame on him and said it was too late for me to become a knight? Was it Dad? No, he always said there was still time, that I could still become a knight if I started training now. The person who constantly poisoned me with negativity—with the idea that I’d be a disgrace, that it was too late to become a knight, that I didn’t have any talent, that I’d never be like Dad…was me.
Ah… There I go again.
I couldn’t stop shaking. I sank to the ground and tried to focus on Princess Pride’s voice, although I was enduring the aftereffects of my epiphany. She was apologizing to the knights for her rash actions. Sir Clark thanked the princess for saving Dad, to my delight. At least someone had finally said it. Yet while all this went on, Princess Pride’s voice kept on echoing in my head.
“Concern yourselves not with dying an honorable death, but with those whom you’ll still save in the future.”
The knights bowed on the ground before the princess, thanking her for what she’d done. My heart swelled with pride. Meanwhile, Dad stood frozen amid all this. I stood too and walked right up to the princess. I’d been watching from the very back, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it right, but I clumsily lowered myself down to the ground, pressing my forehead to the floor.
I was terrified. Terrified that I wouldn’t be strong enough to protect anything or anyone I cared about in the future. But I had to at least thank the princess for all she’d done.
“I think it’s time we take our leave,” Sir Clark said softly somewhere above me. The knights filed out one by one at his command.
I kept my head down and tried to hold on to my composure. What if I gave up again, right here and now, and lost my one chance to save the people I cared about? What if I failed all over again?
“Um…”
I forced the words out. Princess Pride watched me. I wasn’t even sure she remembered me. The last time she saw me, I was bawling my eyes out in the strategy room just before she went to save Dad.
“May I say something too?” I said.
I wasn’t ready to give up, yet I was almost too nervous to speak. Princess Pride, the crown princess, the future queen, waited for me to continue. I didn’t deserve to speak to someone like her, and I knew that better than anyone, but I had to keep going now that I had her attention.
“Hey,” Dad started, but Sir Clark stopped him.
Dad had to be terrified for me right then. I could get thrown out of the castle if I made some misstep now, but for all I knew, this was my last chance to speak to the princess for the rest of my life.
“Yes, go ahead,” Princess Pride said.
I actually get to talk to her.
“Thank you for saving Dad…I mean, my father,” I said. At least I’d managed to say the most important bit.
Unfortunately, Dad and Sir Clark were standing right next to me. I kept my head down, cheeks burning with embarrassment. But I’d been dying to thank her since yesterday. If it weren’t for her, I probably would have spent my life burdened by regret. I certainly wouldn’t have realized my true feelings on the matter.
“—we…and…for me?” I muttered.
“What’s that?” she said.
This was it. I had to confess my true thoughts before my nerves got the best of me, but my throat closed up before I could speak. When Princess Pride asked me to repeat myself, I sat up a bit straighter, though I still couldn’t muster the courage to look at her. With my head hanging, I let the words spill out at last.
“I…I’ve got a special power,” I said. “But it’s not…a power that can help me be a knight, like my father’s. All it’s good for is growin’ the crops…Your Highness.”
I studied my hands on the floor. No matter how hard I washed, the dirt and mud never quite scrubbed off. They weren’t the hands of a knight—they were the hands of a pathetic loser who hadn’t even held a sword in ages. That stinging reminder of my shortcomings dug into my chest like rending claws tearing me open, leaving me raw before the princess.
“I’m nothing like Dad at all,” I said. “I’m complete garbage…”
I slammed my fists down so hard, blood smeared my skin alongside the dirt. Such feeble hands to bruise so easily. And every word only left me feeling weaker, more pathetic. I wanted to crawl away and hide.
I know better than anyone that I’m total scum. I know I’m just bothering her by asking her this question. She’s just gonna shoot me down anyway. But still, I want to hear it from her, even if I’m weak and useless as I am right now.
“I’m gonna keep training,” I said. “I’ll learn from Dad’s stupid lessons. I’ll train, but…”
Please. I need an answer.
Even if it wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear, I could live with it. But she was a hero in my eyes, just like Dad. She’d saved the both of us with her actions. I had to hear this from her and no one else.
“Can I… Can I become a fine knight like Dad someday?” I asked. My vision went fuzzy with unshed tears, Dad and the princess blurring along with it. “Even if I start now?”
How pathetic and miserable I must have looked. I was back to wailing and moaning just like in the strategy room.
Please… Please… I was practically praying, hoping against hope that Princess Pride wouldn’t dash my dreams right there and then. Please tell me… I need the motivation to carry on, a reason to get up off my knees and fight again.
Scum like me can’t even stand up on his own. But you’re the one who helped me figure it all out. You saved me from this crappy life I’ve been living. Now that I wanna be a knight again, you’re the one who can make or break me with your—
“Yes, you can.”
I froze.
She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t flinch. She stared straight at me, and no matter how I tried to make sense of it, I could tell she wasn’t just being polite.
Was I dreaming?
When I blinked, the tears finally fell. For a moment, my vision cleared and I could see Her Highness clearly.
“Even if everyone in this world rejects your dream, I will always support it,” she told me. “I believe you can become just as wonderful a knight as your father. From today forward, for as long as I live, I shall await the day you meet me again in this room as a knight.”
I hardly dared to breathe. I couldn’t have heard her right. She not only said yes, but she also believed I could even measure up to Dad. And she’d be waiting for me. How was this real? She was our crown princess. We lived in separate worlds. Why would she wait for someone as insignificant as me?
Regardless, I couldn’t look away now, afraid if I blinked this would all disappear. Yet no matter how long I knelt there, the girl who’d given me back my life in so many ways remained right there before me, smiling down.
“Let me see your face.”
She elegantly came and crouched down close to me. I hadn’t seen her so close since she’d patted my shoulder and assured me that things would be all right in the strategy room.
I went even more still, unable to do more than blink as she parted my bangs with her delicate fingers and peered at my face—the face that so closely resembled my dad’s, but tainted by dirt and shame. I’d come here with my long hair down in order to hide, to shrink away from probing eyes looking to compare, and here she was, looking me right in the eyes and stroking my hair.
“Promise me something,” she said. “As long as I’m alive, I’ll be waiting for you to become a knight like your father. No, I’ll be waiting for you to become the kind of knight you dream of being. So when that time comes, please protect the people of this kingdom, whom I love so much, and my dearest family as well.”
There it was again—that declaration that she’d wait for me. She really meant it. And she was waiting for me, not Dad. Me. Though she looked into a face that appeared so similar to Dad’s, she acknowledged me for my own abilities, she asked me to protect her subjects and family, the things she cherished most. She chose me, Arthur.
I was to become the kind of knight I wanted to be.
Joy and fear consumed me all at once.
She slid her hands down to my cheeks. With smooth, gentle fingers, she stroked the face I’d been desperate to hide for so long.
“I…I don’t know if…someone like me…could do that…” I stammered.
Despite her conviction, I didn’t want her to meet with disappointment later. I desperately wanted to live up to her hopes, but was that actually possible for someone like me? How could I possibly protect all that she held dear? In spite of her words, the doubt seeped back in.
“Yes, you can,” she assured me. “I can see how kindhearted you are when you cry for your family. I’ve seen your hands weathered from hard work. And on top of all that…”
Princess Pride gripped my hands, covered in scrapes and blisters, blood and dirt—the result of my work in the fields. She didn’t even flinch, her gaze unwavering.
“I can see just how badly you want to become strong.”
I crumbled.
How I’d wished for strength hundreds, no, thousands of times. How I’d agonized over being weak, useless, broken. How I’d prayed for someone to notice and tell me I was capable, I was strong.
“I want to be strong. I want to protect people. I want to be a knight.” I’d buried those feelings deep inside, hiding them all this time, while desperately, desperately wishing for my dream to come true.
And here was a princess, actual royalty, seeing right through all of that, putting my feelings into words.
What would I call this, if not salvation? The princess had given me my life back in more ways than one these past couple days, but I had nothing to give her in return. Still, perhaps I could request just one more thing from her.
With a sniffle and a suppressed wail, I declared, “I’ll do it. No matter how many years it takes. I’ll become a knight! And then…”
I was the least suitable person in the whole kingdom to ask such a thing of the princess. But I squeezed her hands and faced her nonetheless.
“And then please allow me to protect you for the rest of my life,” I said.
You’ve given me everything. That’s why I can ask this. I want to return that kindness however I can. It’s not much, but it’s all for you. I want to protect you and everything you hold dear without rest. If you’ll wait for me to become a knight, I’ll fight for you as long as I live. I’ll die a knight’s death for you.
Princess Pride froze, taken aback by my declaration. Perhaps she was struggling to come up with an answer, but I’d already made up my mind. Maybe I was out of line, but that wouldn’t deter me. I would spend my life protecting this person. I knew it with every iota of my being. I would serve this girl who showed such strength and nobility, whose name so perfectly suited her regal personality. But for the moment all I could do was wait for her decision. After an interminable moment, she smiled again.
“May I know your name?” she asked.
With a sliver of hope burning in my heart, I answered, “Arthur… Arthur Beresford, Your Highness.”
It was the name my mom and dad had given me, the name of the man who was here offering his very life to her.
Princess Pride froze again, and her eyes grew hazy and distant, as though she was remembering something she’d nearly forgotten. Is it possible we’ve met before?
“Princess Pride?”
Princess Pride snapped out of it, shaking herself. When she noticed me again, some new joy lit her face. “Arthur, I don’t think I’ll have to wait very long for our promise to come true.”
Not very long? I had no idea what she meant, but she spoke as though it was a certainty, as though she was glimpsing some inevitable future.
“I’ve just had a premonition,” she announced. “You will become a fine knight in the near future. Everyone, including me, will recognize your strength.” She squeezed my hand. “I believe you’ll become a knight worthy of protecting me.”
“Premonition,” she’d called it. It really had come on so suddenly. Princess Pride possessed the power of precognition and through that power she declared with confidence that someday I would be her knight—that I would be a fine knight, whose strength was recognized by the people.
This can’t possibly be real. She just told me what I’ll be capable of in the future. With a smile on her face, she told me I’ll be worthy of protecting her. She saw that I have value!
My eyes went wide with disbelief. The joy that rose in me overwhelmed every sense until tears streamed down my cheeks.
Someone like me… Someone like me gets to protect Princess Pride…
“I’ll be waiting for you, Arthur. However…” She leaned forward to whisper in my ear. “Should you ever look at me and see an enemy of the people, you mustn’t hesitate to claim my head with your sword.”
Her voice was clear and strong, but I couldn’t believe the words I’d just heard. She couldn’t possibly foresee a future where she died on my sword. I rejected the very notion.
No way… Never, never, never, never! I could never hurt her!
Princess Pride tried to stand back up, but I reached out and stopped her. “What are you talking about?!”
“Don’t worry,” she said, “that last part wasn’t a premonition.” I could have sighed with relief. At least that last bit wasn’t part of her premonition. “You must become the kind of knight who uses his sword to protect those he loves. That is my wish for you.”
“Those I love?” Then why did you ask me to kill you?! You’re the one I mean to protect. I’d already told her as much, and she’d said I was worthy.
“Should you ever look at me and see an enemy of the people, you mustn’t hesitate to claim my head with your sword.”
Are you absolutely sure that wasn’t a premonition?
I trembled at the idea that that was part of her vision, a fate neither of us could escape. But I’d already made up my mind to pledge my life to her, so I would accept any order she issued, even that.
“I understand. I’ll absolutely become a knight someday. I’ll protect you and those you care for. I’ll protect Mom, Dad, and all the people in the kingdom with everything in my power. That’s the kind of knight I’ll become!”
Even if the whole world turns against you, I still want to be the one to protect you. If your wish is to die at my hands when you become an enemy of the people, then I’ll continue to protect you and your loved ones, even then.
I would be there to keep her on the right path, to keep her heart noble and pure. Nothing would get in the way of her strength. I’d walk that path beside her, protecting her and the things I cared about without fail. I would never, ever let her go astray.
I would cut down anyone who tried to corrupt her or stand in her way. And if the princess, the strong, dignified princess before me, ever came to the verge of collapse…
“How could I let someone die when I knew I could save them?”
I will be there to save you, without fail, just like you saved me today. No matter what hardship befalls you, I’ll reach my hand out to you and rescue you as you’ve rescued me.
Arthur Beresford.
I vowed on that name, vowed right then and there. No matter the cost, I would protect the princess until the very end.
With everything I had.
“Arthur.”
Sir Clark’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I turned to him, lighter than when I’d entered this room. Princess Pride slipped her hands out of mine, but the phantom of her fingers lingered against my skin long after she was gone.
Sir Clark set his hands on my shoulders. “Shall we go?” he said.
It pissed me off, the way he always knew exactly what I was feeling. Sir Clark was almost the same age as Dad, but he acted like my older brother, and sometimes…sometimes it was exactly what I needed.
I nodded and finally shambled onto my feet.
I really did it. I’d told her everything I needed to say. A massive weight lifted off my shoulders. My head swam with dizziness. Sir Clark had to help me to the door, but along the way I realized I had no idea where Dad was.
“Your Highness…”
I whipped around at the sound of Dad’s voice, but the sudden motion made the whole world spin.
A thud rang through the room as Dad fell to the floor and thumped his head against the tiles, bowing to Princess Pride.
“Thank you for saving my life,” Dad said through tears.
Even after my vision steadied, it took me a moment to process what I was witnessing. I’d seen Dad get angry so many times, but this was the first time in my entire life I’d ever seen him cry.
“I’m so happy that I get to see my friends, my troops. My family again.”
So many moments in Dad’s life were worthy of tears—when I said horrible things to him, when he thought he’d die on that wretched cliff, when he miraculously returned to the castle healthy and whole. But he never cried at any of those times. Now, he wept right before my eyes.
“But more than that…” he said. “My son is to become a knight! I can hardly believe my ears.”
Me?
My eyes were so fixated on Dad, I forgot to blink. Until only a few minutes ago, I always believed I was a disappointment to him.
Whenever I heard “Don’t give up,” and “Are you sure about this?” from Dad, I assumed he’d given up hope for me already, and would only think of me as a burden if I changed my mind and decided to become a knight. I was so sure I’d be an embarrassment to him.
But that changed when I heard Princess Pride’s words, and realized Dad never once gave up on me. In fact, right now…
“I’m so glad to be alive!”
Dad was crying for me.
As elated as I was by Princess Pride’s assertion that I would become a knight, Dad seemed equally overjoyed. It was everything he’d ever wanted to hear from his son; how had I ever imagined I was an embarrassment to him? Even after so much crying, my vision blurred once more. After a life spent thinking I was cursed with a useless power and dead-end future, I suddenly felt like the luckiest person in the room. I had a dad who’d waited all this time for me, a mom who let me see the world, even the support of an older brother in Sir Clark. I hadn’t been able to see all those blessings until I met Princess Pride, though. I covered my eyes, but the tears slipped past my hands.
After all this time, it still wasn’t too late for me to realize how fortunate I was. Yet I’d nearly let it all slip away. I’d nearly lost all the good things in my life out of sheer stubbornness.
I wiped at my eyes with my fists and saw that Prince Stale and Princess Tiara were staring at my Dad, who was curled up on the floor, even smaller than me. Princess Pride smiled and wrapped her arms around my dad, tears shimmering in her eyes as she held him. It was the first time I ever saw her cry.
Even with all the excitement and drama yesterday, Princess Pride hadn’t yelled or cried. But today, I saw her get angry. I saw her chastise Dad for giving up hope and assuming his death was an acceptable outcome.
Now she was crying too—crying not for her own sake, but because she was so happy to hear Dad say he was glad to be alive.
“Thank goodness!” she said, voice strained and quiet. I knew I heard her correctly, though. She was like a goddess then, tears glinting, the sun haloed around her as she comforted Dad. I clung to that image, burning it into my heart for the rest of my life.
I never wanted to forget that sight, not for as long as I lived.
***
“Stupid Dad.”
“Don’t call me that inside the castle.”
Dad and I followed Sir Clark and the other knights down the hall after leaving the throne room. I assumed Dad was heading to the training grounds with the others.
“Fine. But what are you planning to do about that, Commander?”
I pointed at the knights ahead of us still rubbing their swollen eyes. They murmured quietly to themselves.
“I can’t stop crying.”
“Thank god. Our commander is safe.”
“Princess Pride is truly wonderful.” When we were leaving the throne room, I noticed the door stood ajar. Meaning all these knights had watched everything that happened in there. I could have dropped dead from embarrassment.
Now, Sir Clark led the chattering knights while Dad hung back with me. I couldn’t bear to look at him, but I felt him smiling over at me.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Dad asked, rubbing his red eyes with a furrowed brow.
“I’m going home. Mom’s waiting for me.”
“Don’t speak a word of this to your mother.”
“Ugh. I know, obviously.”
I tried to turn away, but his eyes prickled at me. I had to beat him to the punch.
“I don’t care when we do it,” I said before he could speak. “Whenever you’ve got the time…um…” My voice fell to a whisper. “Please start helping me train again.”
I refused to look at him, bracing for his response, but it never came. When I finally glanced his way, he had a hand over his mouth, and his shoulders were trembling.
“Dad!” I yelled, assuming he hadn’t been listening. He replied by smacking me in the head. My whole life, he’d never once hit me. I was more stunned than angry.
“Of course I’ll help,” he said, smiling gently for the first time in ages. “I’ll be home first thing in the morning. Be sure you’re ready as soon as I get there.”
“Yeah,” I said, numb and shocked.
We continued in silence. When we reached the front doors, palace servants opened them for us. Feeling a little annoyed by the realization that he still saw me as a little kid, I decided to ruffle his feathers a little.
“I bet you’ve almost gotten yourself killed a bunch of other times too, and you kept it from me and Mom.”
“What?! N-no, I…” His reaction was answer enough.
“I knew it. What, are you scared of Mom scolding you? You’re such a baby.”
Dad mumbled some kind of excuse. We passed through the door, exited the castle, and made our way toward the front gates on the other side of the garden.
“Just so you know, you won’t be able to hide it from me anymore,” I said. I knew he simply didn’t want to worry Mom and me, but that wasn’t going to work anymore. “Because I’ll be there with you on the battlefield next time.”
Dad halted, eyes going wide. It was such an odd look on him that I grinned like a little kid. I didn’t even know I still had it in me to smile like that.
Flush with victory, I took off running before he could fit in any kind of retort. I dashed past the knights, slapping Sir Clark on the back as I ran by.
“Don’t get that close to death again, not till I’m there with you! Stupid Dad! And you too, Sir Clark!” I yelled over my shoulder.
Then I kept on running, sprinting with my eyes fixed only on what lay ahead.
***
“Ha ha! Are you still with us, Roderick?”
I laughed, watching Arthur dash off into the distance, before calling out to Roderick. My old friend looked completely stunned from the day’s events, and the knights were beginning to take notice.
“Don’t any of you turn around, got it?” I ordered before the troops could get any ideas.
How many years has it been since Roderick or I saw Arthur smile like that?
I could only imagine that Roderick felt as proud as I did in that moment.
***
“There,” I murmured to myself as I faced the mirror.
I’d pulled my long hair away from my face, tying it back into a ponytail. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen this much of my own face. The hair spilled over my shoulder now, but that didn’t make my reflection look any less like Dad. When I furrowed my brow, the resemblance only grew stronger. Once, that might have sent me into a panic, but now I very nearly felt proud of the face I saw staring back at me. I gently smoothed out the crease.
If I cut my hair off, I’d look even more like Dad, but I couldn’t bear to do it. She had touched this hair, and I swore my scalp still tingled from the brush of her fingers. I pinched the ends, approving of the length.
The world outside my window lay pitch black, but I stayed up cleaning my sword. Dad said he’d be home first thing in the morning, but I hardly slept that night and woke up early the next day. After finishing up with my hair, I cleaned my sword once again and did a bit of training on my own, the first time I’d done something like this in so many years.
“Arthur! Your…your hair!”
“Took you long enough, stupid Dad.”
The sun hadn’t yet risen when Dad returned on horseback. He gaped at my pulled-back hair. He hadn’t seen my face much these past several years either.
“It’s easier to move around like this,” I said.
“I see.” A smile seeped across his lips. Ugh, he reminded me so much of Sir Clark in that moment. “Did you get any sleep?” he asked.
“Yeah, but I woke up early for some reason, so I decided to warm up while I waited.”
“I wanted to train with you as soon as possible.” I swallowed those words, terrified to utter them aloud.
“Anyway, are you even ready to teach?”
“What do you mean?” Dad said. He had dismounted, but he still held his horse’s reins. As we talked, I picked up the distinct scent of booze on his breath.
“You were drinking with Sir Clark again, weren’t you?”
“It was just one glass.”
Yeah, right. It wouldn’t smell this strong if you’d poured that whole glass over your head.
“If you’re already warmed up, then that’s perfect. Let’s begin,” he said.
With that, Dad and I began our first training session in years. We started with how to hold and wield a sword. The very, very basics. But by the end, he let me spar with him.
Between exercises, Dad told me all about Princess Pride. I couldn’t get enough. He told me about her life in the castle, the rumors that swirled around her, all the good and the bad. He started with Princess Tiara’s sixth birthday, however, then moved on to the troubling rumors that arose when Princess Pride was very young. I’d heard these sorts of things about her around town, including the whispering about her forcing Prince Stale to sign a fealty contract. But all of it sounded completely incongruous with the girl I’d just met. I vowed to find whoever had started the vicious rumors.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such a long conversation with my dad. And the training was even better. He didn’t go easy on me for a second, forcing me to work hard during every bout. I couldn’t possibly be happier. Although I never even came close to beating him, by the time we stopped, he wore a look of surprise.
“Arthur, you really haven’t been practicing with your sword all this time?” he said.
What’s that supposed to mean?
Of course I hadn’t practiced. I barely remembered how to hold a sword before he reminded me. In fact, I was still using the same sword I’d used as a little kid, though it had taken me forever just to clean the darn thing enough to use.
“I can’t believe it,” Dad said. “You really are more talented than me.”
I was still mulling over his words when Mom came to see what we were up to. She blinked in disbelief when I said I was training to become a knight. Her gaze flickered between me and Dad, but Dad slinked away, saying he had to return to the castle. While she clearly hungered for an explanation, he’d foiled her attempt to pry any further.
Stupid Dad.
He even left his precious sword behind. I had to go drop it off for him after I had breakfast and tilled the fields. During breakfast, Mom asked what had changed my mind about picking up my training again, but I didn’t know how to explain myself without telling her everything about the ambush. I didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t break my promise to keep the events a secret, so I just hurried to do my chores for the day so I could rush off to the knights’ training grounds instead.
“Don’t you laugh!” Dad was yelling when I arrived.
I peeked around the corner of a building and nearly gasped. Princess Pride, Prince Stale, and Princess Tiara stood among the knights.
Crap. Should I come back later? After everything that happened yesterday, I didn’t really have a clue how to approach the princess anymore.
“Oh, but that reminds me,” Dad started.
His conversation kept everyone distracted while I slipped away and did a lap around the castle. Hopefully, the princess would be gone by the time I returned. Yet the moment I turned to leave, I overheard Dad again.
“Even this morning, my son was still talking about Your Highness and how—”
What?!
“Shut up, stupid Dad! What the hell’re you tellin’ them that for?!” I was shouting before I could stop myself, stomping out into plain view of everyone—Dad, the knights, even the prince and princesses.
“What? Why are you here?” Dad asked me.
“Because you went and left this at home after we finished training, and I had to come bring it to you. You’re the worst, stupid Dad! You better start apologizin’!”
I tossed the sword at him.
“Ah, I see. I guess I left my sword at home. Sorry about that.” The way he shrugged like this was all no big deal only ratcheted my anger higher.
Stupid Dad. Why’d you have to go and say that to everyone, not to mention Princess Pride?! I’ve gotta tell him to keep his mouth shut next time we’re alone.
Busy with those thoughts, it took me a minute to realize I was still standing right in front of Princess Pride. The moment I noticed, we locked eyes, and all the blood drained out of my face.
“Princess Pride…” I stammered. “About yesterday…”
Oh no, I’ve gotta say something, I urged myself, but the embarrassing memory of yesterday left me at a total loss. Stupid Dad, if only you didn’t say anything, I’d… Wait, am I blushing? Crap, I didn’t think I’d run into her again before I became a knight. What do I even say?
However, she was the first to break the silence. “Good afternoon, Arthur. I’m glad to see you looking well.”
I muttered a “thank you” as my face grew even hotter. I glanced at the knights, but that provided little relief. I met several smirks, including Sir Clark’s. Damn it!
“I’ll be taking my leave now,” I said, assuming that was that. I bowed my head, face burning, and turned to leave.
“Oh my, Arthur. Are you sure about that? Don’t you want to stay and talk to Her Highness a little longer?” Sir Clark said.
“Shut it, Clark! I’ll kick your ass if you say that again!”
Bastard! He’s teasing me! I’m gonna punch him next time I see him. But the damage was done. I was facing the princess again. And the truth was, I did want to talk to her more. Little would make me happier.
I wasn’t worthy of that yet. I couldn’t protect her. “We can talk once I officially join the order,” I said.
I bowed once more and tried to leave.
“Please wait a moment.”
Foiled again, but at least this time it wasn’t Sir Clark. Rather, Prince Stale addressed me.
“If you have the time, would you care to join me in my own training?” he said.
What the hell? Prince Stale wants to train with me?! What’s going on?
Dad asked what His Highness meant by that, and the boy responded immediately and without a drop of hesitation, like I was actually worthy to train with a prince. He even offered me a handshake. I just stared at his hand for a moment. I couldn’t possibly be a good enough training partner for him, yet his words kept ringing in my mind.
“I think studying a wide range of fighting techniques will help the both of us become stronger.”
“Stronger.” That was it. I wanted to be strong. Dad spent most of his days with the order, and practicing by myself during that time wouldn’t be enough. But maybe there was a different way I could train. Maybe I could use all that wasted time and put it toward becoming stronger.
I shook Prince Stale’s hand at last and he smiled. Is it just me, or does this kid’s smile look kinda suspicious? It’s creepin’ me out.
Still, he was Princess Pride’s little brother, and from what I heard, he’d played a big part in saving Dad and the rest of the knights. Perhaps he was hiding or holding back something, but the terror he’d felt when Princess Pride disappeared in that landslide was definitely real. That was enough for me to trust him for now.
“Very well then, Mr. Arthur,” Prince Stale said. “Once my elder sister is done with her errand, please join us in the carriage.”
***
“So, um, is this it?” I said.
“Indeed,” Prince Stale replied. “I keep a few spare swords over here, so please take whichever you like.”
Prince Stale had taken me to a special practice room the royal family used. Yet when I surveyed the room, I sighed. It was smaller than the practice spaces the order used, though it would be more than enough for a private session. It only had two changing rooms, one for each participant. Among the practice swords sat some real weapons, as well, all polished to a shine. The room was so lavish, it hardly looked like it ever got used for actual sparring.
“Is something wrong, Mr. Arthur?” Prince Stale asked, surely having picked up on my gawking.
“Ah, no…”
I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to reply, now that I was alone in a room with a member of the royal family. Prince Stale didn’t seem to care, but I retreated a step, too overcome by awkwardness.
He held out a practice sword toward me. “You needn’t be so nervous. It’s only the two of us in here right now.”
“Um, you don’t have to be so polite,” I told him sheepishly. “I’m not the kind of guy a prince needs to be on his best behavior around and I don’t think you should be callin’ me ‘Mr.,’ Your Highness…”
Having him address me so formally only made the whole thing worse. He should have just treated me like any other subject.
“All right, then you don’t need to speak formally with me either,” Prince Stale said. “You’re older than me anyway, Mr. Arthur, so what say we both speak to each other as equals?”
Hang on, that’s not right either!
It wasn’t a matter of age. Dad and the rest of the knights all spoke to Prince Stale properly, even though they were much older than me. I couldn’t go around talking to a prince like we were buddies.
“Okay, I’ll start, then,” Prince Stale said when I hesitated. “When you feel like you’re ready to see me as a friend, go ahead and talk to me like one. Right now, I’m just going to be myself with you…Arthur.”
The creepy smile finally faded from the prince’s face. His expression went completely blank as he raised his sword.
Wait a second! I just picked up a sword for the first time in years. Don’t tell me you wanna fight already!
The prince definitely wanted to fight already.
He lunged at me, leaving me no choice but to jump aside and block his sword. I had no armor or shield to protect myself with, so I just had to bat him aside and keep moving. Prince Stale stumbled, but he kept his weight on his right foot to steady himself.
“I was going to stop before I hit you,” he muttered. “Arthur, you really haven’t been practicing fencing at all?”
There it was again, the same question Dad had asked earlier.
“This morning was the first time in years I’d touched a sword, Your Highness,” I said.
It still felt too strange to ignore his status when I spoke. Prince Stale blinked, then lowered his weapon.
“I knew it. I definitely want to keep you as my training partner.” I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. But Prince Stale watched me with keen, blunt interest now. “Also, I’d like you to take the order’s entrance exam as early as next year,” he said.
“Wh-what?” I croaked.
What the hell is he on about?!
“N-no way. I can’t do that. I don’t know any of the basics, and I can hardly use a sword. My plan is to start with the basics now, then take the exam in three years at the earliest.”
“It’s not like you’re only allowed to take it once,” Prince Stale said. “If you don’t make it through next year, there’s always the years after that.”
“No, but even if I take it early, I won’t…”
“I’ll support you to the fullest. I want to see you as a knight in the near future.”
Why? Why is he saying all this? It made my head hurt trying to contemplate it. We were essentially strangers, yet here he was, the firstborn prince, vowing to support me in becoming a knight as soon as possible.
“Can I ask you something?” I said, desperately trying to make sense of all this.
“Sure.”
“Why do you care if a guy like me becomes a knight? And does the firstborn prince really need someone like me to train with at all? When your instructor’s done teaching you, shouldn’t you spend your free time studying laws and whatever else a member of the royal family’s gotta know?”
Princes were busy people. I knew that much, at least. Prince Stale was originally a commoner too, so I imagined there were all sorts of things he still needed to learn about being royalty. Even if he did choose to train, any knight would be honored to join him, and they’d all make better partners than me.
“To protect my elder sister,” Prince Stale said.
My whirling thoughts stopped short. The answer came to him so simply, so immediately—and it explained everything.
“My elder sister is very strong,” he went on. “But what you saw her accomplish was actually her very first day on any real battlefield.”
What she “accomplished” that very first day was the complete destruction of an enemy army, along with rescuing Dad.
“I have no doubt she’ll do something reckless like that again someday,” he added. “As long as she feels she can make a difference, she’ll try.
“But my elder sister isn’t invincible. She has said so herself. ‘If it was a simple battle of strength, then I certainly wouldn’t prevail.’”
The battle flashed through my mind all over again. I saw the princess dodging and sidestepping attacks—but never once trying to overpower the enemy head-on. Suddenly, that made perfect sense.
“In the end, she is but a lady, one who simply can’t rely on raw physical strength to win,” Prince Stale said, as if he’d read my mind. “When the royal family adopted me, my elder sister was only eight years old. But even then she was already afraid of something, and she’s remained fearful all this time.”
Afraid?
That jogged a memory loose, the princess speaking close to my ear, strange words that made no sense at the time. “Should you ever look at me and see an enemy of the people…” A chill ran down my spine.
“I don’t know what she fears,” Prince Stale said. “But all I can say for sure is that something in her life is lurking silently, threatening to crush her. That’s why I study whatever will help me protect her and spend so much time practicing with a sword. But…” Prince Stale leveled his blade at my chest. “It’s still not enough.”
His dark eyes were burning with ambition, too keen and focused for a mere kid. Even so, his voice grew quieter, and even his sword slumped low, representing his emotions. Shadows crossed his gaze, and I recalled the more frightening rumors regarding Princess Pride that, even today, coiled around the castle like snakes.
“I want to become stronger. Strong enough to protect my elder sister, but I’m still too weak. Even if I grow strong enough to be her equal, I still have to get stronger. I want to protect her with my life. But even that’s not enough. If I die without saving her, then it’d all be for nothing.”
Prince Stale stepped back and charged at me, bringing his sword down from above. I blocked on reflex, and metal clanged through the room.
“It won’t be enough,” he said as we struggled. He glared, but not at me. That look was for himself. “Adults may have authority and disputes and ways to work around problems, but even if I used those to protect her, it still wouldn’t be enough. If someone stronger than her decided to resort to violence…”
Leather groaned as Prince Stale tightened his grip. He leaned his weight into his sword, pressing the blade closer to my face.
“I wouldn’t be able to protect her.”
The tip trembled before my eyes. I jerked back, knocking his blade aside, and Prince Stale stumbled back.
“Arthur,” he said. “I know you’ll grow to be strong. Stronger than me, or my elder sister. Stronger than anyone.”
I couldn’t fathom why he believed such a thing. Maybe it had something to do with his sister’s precognition. Sure, I was the commander’s son, but I hadn’t even held a sword in years.
If, as he said, strength was within my reach, then I wanted it. No, I needed it.
To protect Princess Pride, I needed to be stronger than anyone.
I’d never planned to have the prince as my practice partner, let alone to receive such high praise from him. And yet…
“Can I ask two more questions?” I said.
“As many as you like.”
“Why are you doing so much for someone like me? I know you’re Her Highness’s assistant, but why’re you so desperate to protect her?”
Rude though the question was, I couldn’t help but wonder. The prince was just her assistant, a former commoner adopted into the royal family. Yet at such a young age, he threw himself into her service. That, combined with his mysterious smile, nurtured a budding suspicion about his true motives. I waited patiently for him to continue.
“I thought you were like me,” the prince murmured.
I paused, confused by his response.
“My elder sister is the crown princess, and I owe everything I have to that fact. I can’t tell you the specifics, but I’ll never forget what she did for me, not for the rest of my life. I took a vow, not to anyone else, but to myself, that I would protect her, that my existence would always be for her sake.”
He bore into me, eyes bright with determination. I gulped and didn’t dare break his gaze. Yet something more lingered there, the ghost of a memory, the weight of an unseen burden.
“I can’t trust very many people.”
He was only a ten-year-old kid, yet he spoke like he’d seen the face of evil.
***
“I can’t trust very many people.”
As I spoke with Arthur, I saw again that scene from three years ago, when Gilbert met with his subordinates to conspire against the crown princess.
Reputation meant nothing if a man held in such high esteem could turn out to be a traitor. For these past three years, I’d wondered what traps Gilbert was planning, what schemes he was devising. It meant I couldn’t trust anyone in the castle, except Pride, Tiara, Mother, and Father. Now, I counted the commander and vice commander among my potential allies. But I had to view everyone else with suspicion, including Uncle Vest, Lotte, Mary, Jack, Mr. Carl, and the rest of the castle staff. And Prime Minister Gilbert, of course.
Despite my wariness, I’d forged as many useful connections as I could during my foray into high society. But I didn’t trust a single one of them. I had no way of knowing who would one day betray Pride, or who already had.
That left me with few allies. I’d hoped becoming strong on my own would be good enough. But it wasn’t. Pride had too many potential enemies. Then, just yesterday, I witnessed that moment between Arthur and my elder sister, and I realized something.
This boy will protect her.
Running into him again felt like destiny. On top of that, and much to my surprise, he truly was strong. Arthur dodged my lunge on his very first attempt and forced me to retreat. I’d only just begun to study the fundamentals of fencing myself, but my basic training started years ago. Mr. Carl said I was doing well. He told me I had natural talent with a sword, that I was performing wonderfully, that he wasn’t just being polite. Thus, when I struck at Arthur, I gave it everything I had, hoping to find a dent in his defenses.
But I didn’t.
Despite not touching a sword in years, Arthur met me blow for blow. He seemed oblivious to his potential, but I wasn’t. I saw how powerful he could become, more powerful than me, more powerful than Pride. More powerful than…
“Please allow me to protect you for the rest of my life.” The moment he made that honest declaration…
“I knew I could trust you,” I said. Arthur received that news with wide eyes. “When you said you’d protect her, you meant it from the bottom of your heart. It felt like a vow to me.”
He was someone I could believe in. Even Pride said she foresaw a future in which Arthur was a fine knight worthy of standing at her back.
I needed him. Pride needed him.
“I will be my elder sister’s shield that protects her from political influences and threats unseen. Arthur, I want you to be her sword and cut down anyone who tries to hurt her by force.”
Arthur didn’t respond. He just stood there, lips softly parted. Did he doubt me still?
“Do you think I’m lying?” I said. “Trying to entice you to join me? Do you think I would make all this up to control you or my elder sister?”
“Hell no, I don’t think that,” Arthur replied, the words bursting out of him. Finally, he addressed me as an equal.
“Okay, I’ll start, then. When you feel like you’re ready to see me as a friend, go ahead and talk to me like one.”
“I don’t know why you feel like you owe Princess Pride or just what the hell you see in someone like me…” Arthur said. He drew in on himself as he spoke, becoming smaller right before my eyes. At the same time, he held up his sword. “But I believe you when you say you wanna protect Her Highness. I can tell that’s what’s really in your heart. I want to protect Princess Pride, and so do you. That’s why you wanna become strong with me, right? So let’s practice together every single day.” His eyes bore into me, as if judging me.
Rather than interrupt him, I nodded my agreement right away. He’d said every word I wanted to hear.
“Ha ha! Callin’ us a ‘sword’ and ‘shield’ and stuff like that is really embarrassing,” Arthur said. “Kids can be so annoying, I swear. But…” An easy smile broke across his face. At last, he seemed relaxed around me. “I guess I don’t hate being called a sword.”
I couldn’t resist his boyish smirk and found myself grinning right back. His smile shone right through me, lighting me up from the depths of my heart.
“Just so you know, I wasn’t lyin’ about how long it’s been since I held a sword,” Arthur went on, scratching his head. “I don’t wanna hear any complaints if I can’t become a knight as fast as you want. Got it, Stale?”
“Stale,” he’d called me. The moment the name dropped from his lips, I realized it was the first time I’d been called by name alone since the royal family adopted me. Well, except by people like Pride.
“Of course,” I replied. “You’ll get stronger, and I’ll be your support.”
“Will you stop acting like the future’s set in stone?! Plus, you’re gonna get stronger with me.”
He pointed his sword at me, and I had no choice but to respond by raising my own.
“You’re gonna get stronger too, right? For Princess Pride.”
It was clear he still had some wariness about me, but at least now we knew we shared a common cause.
“I’ll teach you everything I learn from Dad—and the order, once I make it in. So, teach me what you know too. There’s gotta be stuff I can learn, right? Like the royal family’s fencing style or self-defense combat or something like that.”
Even if we weren’t the sort of people who should be teaching each other, as long as it was to achieve our own goals and protect the princess, it would be all right.
“Yes. Thank you, Arthur.”
“No problem.”
Thus we forged our unusual alliance. I could see some joy in his eyes, even as his expression was stoic. I did my best to smile, but Arthur turned away and scratched at his head again, grumbling to himself.
“Oh. One more thing,” Arthur said.
He glared up at me, gaze suddenly sharp. His shyness of a moment ago evaporated in an instant and I found myself taking a step back.
“I don’t wanna see that creepy smile anymore. The one you made last time I saw you. Just make the same face you did when we were talking about Princess Pride.”
I gulped. No one had ever seen through that fake smile I affected, not until now.
“It was…weird? I thought I was smiling pretty we—”
“Hell no you weren’t,” Arthur said. “You made me think I’d have to keep an eye on you, but I guess you’re not that scary after all.”
Scary? No one had called that smile scary before now. If I wanted to frighten them, I certainly could, but the bland smile I wore most of the time was supposed to appear genuine and inoffensive. Not even Princess Pride or Princess Tiara remarked on it.
“You’ve seen how unfriendly my Dad looks all the time, but Mom’s actually got a really expressive face,” Arthur said by way of explanation. “Then there’s all the people who come to her restaurant. Basically, I’ve seen all kinds of expressions my entire life.”
A restaurant. I didn’t know much about Arthur’s background, but if his mother owned a restaurant, it made sense that he learned how to read people. He seemed almost painfully sensitive, now that I understood. He must’ve helped her out a great deal, interacting with customers on a regular basis, and eventually enduring all sorts of superficiality once his rumored power was discovered. Perhaps that was why he hid his face with that long hair, as though he could shut out some of the information around him behind the curtain of his hair before running off to the fields he tended.
“I’m tryin’ to say, I’m more used to seeing people look cold, like my dad,” Arthur said. “There’s no need for a kid like you to force himself into being nice around me.”
He reached out and ruffled my hair. It was such a familiar gesture, such a friendly gesture, that my shoulders sank down away from my ears. Rather than see me as the firstborn prince, he was treating me as a normal kid three years younger than himself. It was a brand-new experience for me.
It seemed he really would help me protect the princess.
“Okay, then who teaches who first?” Arthur asked, bringing his sword up again.
But I wasn’t thinking about swords just then. The warmth of Arthur’s simple gesture still radiated through me. I didn’t just have a confidant; I had a friend.
“Arthur,” I said, taking care to address him directly. “I’m glad I met you.” A faint smile ghosted across my lips.
“It’s just one embarrassing line after another with you,” Arthur said. “You’re worse than Sir Clark.”
But he laughed even as he spoke, and in that moment, I knew we’d forged a bond that would remain for the rest of our lives.