Lucius secretly received a message in the middle of the night. It was from his stepmother, the mother of his opposition, Prince Hart. Lighting a small lamp, Lucius read the note, “There’s something to talk about, just the two of us, so come to the north forest before dawn.” The letter was definitely in his stepmother’s handwriting.
Herro suggested not going, stating how this was an obvious trap, but Lucius ignored him. He also knew it was a trap, but Lucius wanted to prove a point. That he was not weak, and he would not avoid any thorns or any fire pits.
“Herro, I can’t act the same as when I could barely save my life by pretending to be dead?” Lucius said as he got up to get dressed.
As expected, the dark forest that he went to hid many assassins. “It’s not fun when you’re so predictable, stepmother,” Lucius laughed loud as he killed them one by one. His stepmother and his younger brother had been attempting to kill Lucius almost every day while Lucius was fighting against the enemy on the frontier. It happened so often that it had become a joke.
“Looks like you want that crown,” Lucius shouted as he stabbed the stomach of a man who tried to slice his neck. A split second later, he cut off the arm of a man who was trying to sneak up behind him. Lucius scoffed at his stupid, weak old self while swinging his sword. The enemies were no match for Lucius. The hot blood of the assailants streamed down his arm and pooled on the ground. Lucius leaned against his long sword and breathed heavily after slaying all of them.
The old Lucius wouldn’t understand the situation around him. He’d also been too young to comprehend his parent’s divorce and being an heir to the throne. And Lucius was unfamiliar with the new stepmother after losing his own. But he also naively liked the fact that he had more family. “How foolish I was,” Lucius murmured, his voice sounded icy as he put his sword away. “I’ll have to become the emperor for sure now.”
Lucius walked through the thick forest littered with dead bodies and passed by an empty field as he headed toward his tent. The rainbow barracks would be visible once he reached the top of the hill.
When Lucius looked up, he could see the outline of a lady on the hill, even though it was faint. It looked like the lady who dared to splash water on him and show pity after seeing the scar on his back. How dare she! Lucius stumbled around as his nerve went away. The smell of other people’s blood was everywhere. I can’t collapse here.
As his consciousness faded, he heard someone calling him, “Lucius, sire!” The lady groped his body with her trembling hand, searching for a wound.
Such audacity! It had been a long time since he’d felt a caring hand, and Lucius was surprised by the unintended situation. The lady ripped a piece of her clothing and tied it around his waist. If Herro saw this, he would have freaked out about him getting an infection.
Lucius didn’t understand why this wasn’t bothering him because he would usually not allow such behavior. Perhaps he’d used up all his strength overnight. Suddenly, a painful headache hit him, and Lucius collapsed on her shoulders.
After emptying the ashes on the dirt road behind the tent, Freya leaned against a tree. The wind that blew shook her oversized clothes as she stared over the horizon. If Freya went down the hill, she would reach the border to the frontier. And if she went a little further, there would be an open field, and that was the battlefield. She still couldn’t grasp the reality, even though she saw casualties all the time. “I didn’t think there was a bigger hell than the orphanage.”
The brothel in the capital and the battlefield were the same. It was as if the world wouldn’t allow a warm feeling for Freya, “Although I think I’m holding up pretty well.” Unlike Freya, the soldiers who fought in the battle had a grand justification, like the safety and prosperity of the Morciani Empire.
“I will meet up with Lotty and eat lots of cake, and if I can afford it, I wonder if I can get a cat.” She thought that this was a pretty good life goal. It felt like her mind cleared up a little after calming her racing heart down.
“What is that?” It oddly looked like soft fur waving to her from the bottom of the hill, but then a man could be seen. “Lucius, sire?” Surprised at seeing him, Freya was going to hide behind the tree. She didn’t feel comfortable meeting him after the last bizarre encounter. But when she looked closer, his white shirt, face, and both hands were red. It looked like he may be badly injured. At that precise moment, Lucius stumbled like he was going to fall.
Without a moment to hesitate, Freya bolted down the hill and supported Lucius’s body. But she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to do such a thing to someone so high up, and she stammered. “So, Your Highness, I,” But then she felt something hot on her hand, and Freya’s voice grew louder, “B-b-blood.” She detested the sight of blood and felt nauseous, but she couldn’t leave the patient. So she wiped her bloody hand on her clothes and then hugged Lucius from behind, dragging him to a nearby tree.
“I will lay you here,” Freya said as she leaned his body against the tall pine tree. She noticed that the blood was still seeping from the shirt, “I’ll do this for now.” Freya ripped her pants and folded the material, which she then placed on the wound. She remembered taking care of a bleeding child in the orphanage like this, but that child hadn’t woken up again.
“Anyway, why is there no one with him?” Freya wondered aloud. A guarding knight or a servant should’ve followed, but no one came out of the forest. “He might not make it at this rate.” As Lucius’s face became paler, Freya decided to call a doctor. “Your Highness, Your Highness. I’ll quickly call someone over.”
As Freya was about to leave, Lucius whispered, as his breathing had become shallow, “Be quiet.”
“Sorry?” Was it her fault for not being able to ignore a collapsing person? Freya felt that she was being unfairly treated by him. But she couldn’t nitpick as Lucius collapsed against her. His large hands wrapped around Freya’s neck and waist, and Lucius’s blonde hair hung over her shoulders.
“Your Highness?” Freya tried to push Lucius away, but he felt like a dead person, and he didn’t budge. “He didn’t die, did he?” Fortunately, she could feel his irregular heartbeat against her skin.
I think I’m going to die from shock. It was the first time that Freya was this close to a person, let alone a man. Wake up, Freya. But through the disgusting smell of blood was a good scent. How odd. It seems like I’ve smelled this before.
As she was about to have a flashback, Freya heard the sound of a soldier in armor approaching, “Your Highness! Your Highness!”
Suddenly, the knight in heavy armor appeared in front of Freya and put a sword on her neck. The tip of the shiny silver blade looked like it was going to slice Freya’s neck at any moment. She was shocked, unable to utter a word, and her breathing quickened.
The knight yelled aggressively, “What did you do to him!”
Freya lifted her hands and declared innocence, “Nothing! His Highness suddenly collapsed.”
The knight looked at Freya’s ripped pants and seemed to have a strange misunderstanding of the situation, “What a sick man! How dare you try this while His Highness is hurt!”