"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh." I let out a long droning noise as Crux walks up to me.

"Come on, let's go little madam." He offers his hand.

"I uhh— uhh— I'm—"

"That's right, you are excited for the festival after a long day at work, and I am too, so let's get moving." Crux grabs my hand lightly and starts moving.

Why is he playing dumb? Does he really not know or...

I instantly grow suspicious and stop walking. Crux stops and looks back at me with a raised eyebrow. I was warned about this. The reasons most nobles weren't allowed contact with us was because of the fact that we were young and easily influenceable. Many feared that we would become puppets later on in life, controlled in the back scenes by some nefarious character.

Yet... I watch as the sun goes down. There were some flashing lights in the distance, stray voices running through the air, filled with joy. The festival, having started an hour ago, was beginning to reach its highest point.

"...Sorry, I thought I forgot something." I scurry back forward and nod my head, as long as I'm careful nothing will happen... Right, right, right as long as I stay vigilant, I can still enjoy the festival. I reassure myself a second time.

"By the way, I never caught your name."

"It's Ye—Jine." My breath catches in its throat.

"Yejine huh. Can't say I've ever heard of a name like that around here, is it a Zlitian name?"

He knows, he is 100% playing dumb. There's no way.

"Ahaha, you could say my mother is Zlitian, but my Dad is still from Lyster. Didn't get very many of my mom's features though." I say with an extremely unconvincing tone of voice.

"Ah, would have never of guessed. You know, I have a little bit of mixed blood myself. Got a grandmother who was Shesuan, though I'm not sure I inherited any of her features at all as you can see."

We walk together in silence for a couple minutes. I take in the buildings and brick and mortar around me, it was just a dusty old street, but it was like exploring a new land after living in the castle for so long.

I flinch away as a woman gets uncomfortably close to me, passing me through a crowded street. I unconsciously clutch Crux's hand tighter. I wasn't used to this; I always have had guards make a path for me, but here it was like a complete free for all. Nobody payed any attention to each other as they bumped into and trudged past each other.

He responds in kind and grasps my palm. Not hard enough that it was painful, rather it was a firm pressure that gave me reassurance.

Wait no, no, no, I release my hand. I need to be careful around this guy, any responsible person would take me back to the castle as soon as they catch me, but this guy was letting me run around anywhere I wanted.

"Oi, someone like you would instantly get lost in crowds like these. Don't go sneaking off on me now."

"Sorry."

Crux suddenly glances back, but slowly returns his gaze back forward. "Alright we're almost there. Stay close to me alright? Here, let's get close to the wall." Crux then slowly leads me lightly left until we were right next to the wall.

As we approach a stack of hay Crux suddenly stops.

"I apologize in advance for this Yejine." I stagger right into the stack of hay as Crux quickly pushes me into it.

Seconds later a couple of armed soldiers run through the crowd. "Captain Crux, sorry to interrupt your leisure time, but the princess is missing from her quarters." My breath spikes in panic, did they find Jine? "There wasn't any evidence of a struggle however, so it's very likely that she escaped of her own free will, rather than an Oliviand attack."

"Between what time and what time was she seen in her room and was then found missing?" Crux asks.

"The maids were the last people who saw her as they escorted her back to her room. Grandy came in to check on her twenty minutes later and found her missing."

"Well that's unfortunate, are you going to interrogate all the maids that'll be at the festival today? Sounds like a mood ruiner."

"We just need to find the specific maids that were in charge of escorting the princess... Although, yes, we will probably ask any that we see a couple questions too."

"Well, I'll keep an eye out. You two continue doing your jobs, and try not to be too much of a party pooper." Crux says with a relaxed but firm tone.

"Yes sir!" The two soldiers continue on their way.

"You hear that Yejine? I'm going to have to ask you a couple of questions, being a maid and all."

I stay quiet.

"Stop it. You already know what's going on, quit playing dumb, it's frustrating." I finally say.

"I see, then shall we go back princess?" Crux drops the act instantly. "I'm still a part of the guard after all, it is my duty to see to you safe and sound, but right now, I'm just your father's friend taking his daughter to a festival, nothing more, so after all those weeks of preparation do you want to stop right now?"

"Ah, I..." Crux immediately leaves me speechless.

"Frankly, this is quite immature for how precarious the situation we're in is, you are the princess after all." He continues. "You're being selfish, and I mean really really selfish.”

“Mmhm…” Was all I could do to respond, it’s not like I didn’t agree with him.

”That’s fine though, you’re still a kid after all, and kids deserve to have a little fun.”

"Alright, let's continue." I tug on Crux's arm. "I only get 3 weeks of vacation every year after all." I say, having memorized the pay for the maids.

"That's the spirit Jine." We then begin quickly navigating through the crowd, he leans down close. "Although, just for the record, we changed it to two weeks recently."

"Jine doesn't know that then."

"You're Jine though." Crux responds in a smart-ass way.

"Okay captain guard person that I just met." I respond in likeness.

We continue walking silently.

I deserve to have fun huh... Sounds nice, but I almost guarantee that he's trying to butter me up with some sweet words. Well, whatever, I'll just take advantage of this opportunity he gave me, and if he tries to reach out to me in the future I'll reject it.

Yea, that's what I'll—

"We're here."

I let out a small puff of air in surprise as we turn the corner. A trio of kids runs across the street, carrying longs sticks, laughing playfully. The air was filled with music and laughter. The smell of food and drink drowned out the general city muster. It was nothing like the cold, formal, parties we had back in the castle. This party was just pure... fun.

"That's a nice looking smile." Crux pats my shoulder.

I instantly bring my hands up to my face in surprise, but he was right, I was smiling right now. It was the first time I had smiled willingly since the invasion by Oliviand.

"He... He... Hahaha!" I throw my arms up playfully as I begin laughing out of pure joy, running forward, forgetting all my responsibilities and worries.

"Yep, this is what kids need." Crux smiles as he runs after me.

"Who approved this damn party... Waste of budget..." Crux flicks an official over the head who was darkly muttering while walking through the crowds.

"Who the hell— I mean captain sir!" The man in uniform instantly stands up straight.

“If I get complaints about your behavior tonight, your pay is getting slashed in half. Don't ruin the fun aye?" Crux says as he jogs by.

The official looks stunned as Crux disappears into the crowd.

I danced, I sung, I ran around like a little child, I gorged down dozens of sweets, years of pent up urges, urges that I never thought I had, all released at once. I was no longer princess Yesenia, one of the only and last survivors of the royal bloodline of a dying kingdom. I was a thirteen year old girl.

"Let's take off that makeup shall we princess? Very good disguise for a first timer but... I suspect you were only able to stay disguised because people didn't want to look at your face." Crux said as he carried me back to the castle on his back, my being too tired to move. He leans to the side and turns me towards a mirror; my pads had slipped down to my belly, giving the appearance of belly fat rather than an adult woman. My lines and markers had all but faded, dripping down my face from my sweat. I looked more like a chubby little boy that had a little too much fun with a dark marker rather than my original disguise.

I hastily jump off Crux's back and find the nearest stream and scrub off my face, removing all the pads I had stuffed in my clothes in the process.

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"Come on, I looked like that!?"

"And nobody suspected a thing, that's a success if I do say so myself."

"I mean, you're right but..."

"You're like a completely different person." Crux teases me as he hoists me on his back.

"Thank you." I say back. "I don't know what your true intentions are, but today is a day I'll never forget."

”…” Crux watches mournfully. “You really don’t remember huh?” He whispers.

“Remember what?”

“When you were six… Never-mind actually.”

Hmm? Wait, do I remember? Is he…?

"Don't relax just yet, you've still got a massive mess to clean up now." Crux says as we come into sight of the castle. I could hear the panic emanating from the castle even all the way over here. Men and women shouting, the clanking of armor as knights and soldiers dressed up. I found many of them all over the festival grounds as well, scurrying around like little mice, running from place to place.

I take a deep sigh as we are first spotted, men and woman quickly flooding out of the castle gates. Soldiers, nobles, even Grandy and my brother were among the crowd as well.

"Captain! Sir! Captain! Captain! Sir! Sir! Captain! Sir!" The whole crowd rushes forward like a tidal wave.

"I can't believe you would be this stupid!" Hanafin shouts as he rushes forward and hugs me. He then leans in close and whispers in my ear. "Was it fun?"

"Wish you were there." I whisper back.

Grandy sighs as soon as he hears this interaction. Despite his age, his Anku was on par with some of the greatest in the world, allowing him to listen in to our whispers.

"Found this little rascal trying to sneak into the festival." Crux pats my back. "No harm no foul though, I gave her a stern talking to already. No need to drag this incident out any further."

"Always could rely on you Crux." Grandy comments. "Come on, you heard the man, let's get packing. I'll send the signal to all the men still out there searching for her." He then waves his hand to all the guards before turning his back.

Huh, I guess this turned out alright after all. I lean on Hanafin's shoulder as we are escorted back into the castle.

Everything.

Turned..

Out...

Fine....?

The moment I remember I see her tiny figure getting dragged across the courtyard, yelling and struggling. The maid that I had left in my room. The one I had told to hide underneath the floorboards. She must have been caught when my room was searched.

I freeze up, causing Hanafin to look at me.

"Hey wait!" I try to run after her only for Grandy to immediately lash out and grab my arm.

"What are you doing? Let me go! What are you going to do to her!?" I yell and struggle against his grip.

"She will be questioned and interrogated, probably lose her job here too." Grandy says plainly.

"What? No! She's done nothing wrong!" I try to force myself out of his grasp with my Anku but fail miserably.

The moment I say this, the maid spots me from afar and points at me.

"Here, she can vouch for my innocence! I was only doing what she told me to do!"

"That's right, I was the one who planned everything, all the blame should fall on me! Please I beg you..." I shout back.

"You're the princess. We cannot let any harm befall you."

I begin gnawing my teeth in frustration. "Oh yea, you can't let any harm befall me?" I open my mouth wide, bringing my tongue between my teeth

I close my eyes and then chomp down viciously.

I open my eyes and look down surprised to see a finger jammed between my teeth. Grandy had stuck his thumb in my mouth at the last possible second.

"Let... me... go!!!" I begin struggling in vain as I realized that I wasn't going to able to hurt myself. I try to throw a punch at my face only for Grandy to grab both of my arms.

"Princess, I don't think you understand, even if none of it was her fault, there must be some consequences for your actions, we cannot hurt you, so she must take the fall." Grandy says sternly.

"But... It's so unfair. She's done nothing wrong. It was all my fault." I say, beginning to hate myself. I then close my eyes and scrunch my eyebrows in discomfort. "I am the sole daughter of King Mallefard and of royal blood. As your ruler. I command you to let that maid go, she is my friend."

The soldiers and guards stop and look around hesitantly as soon as I say this. However, both Crux and Grandy don't stop moving.

"Ignore her, I am Crux, ruler of the Havfield province. She may be your future queen but right now she's a child. Her words carry less weight than ours." Crux says.

"Huh?" I watch helplessly as the procession continues moving despite my protests. "Why would you— I thought you were on my side?" I half-whimper half-yell at Crux.

"Every time something doesn't go as you like are you going to simply use your status to get what you want? Is that the ruler you're going to be?" Crux reprimands me with unexpected harshness.

"No I—" Why would he say this? Wasn't he trying to use me? Or...

"If you're going to be a good ruler you must get the people on your side, convince them of your cause rather than force them to follow your orders." Crux stares at me intensely as he says this.

At this moment I realized that Crux truly wasn't trying to do anything during the festival but be nice.

"I'll get you out." I say to myself.

"You hear me!?! I'll do anything! Anything it takes to get you out! I'm sorry for dragging you into this! I will right this wrong; I swear on it!" I scream across the courtyard.

Crux looks down and takes a deep breath. "Alright, everybody stop." He says in his regular voice, but his tone was firm enough for everyone to hear.

"I have a confession to make. I wanted to get closer to the princess, so I planned this entire thing out. I was the one who told princess Yesenia to fund the festival. I was the one who approached the maid and told her to switch places so the princess could switch out with her. All me. My mistake." Crux knocks his head comedically.

"Release the maid." Grandy then commands the guards holding the girl.

I slump down in relief as Grandy lets go of my arm. It felt like a giant stone had been lifted from my shoulders.

"Well, I hope you learned to never do something like that ever again. Come on, lets go back to your room." Grandy pats my head.

"Can I take that as a confession to treason and breaking your oath to act in the country's best interest?" A new man walks into the courtyard.

Grandy immediately frowns in anger. "Calm down you damn vulture." He growls under his breath.

"Oh, I'm just saying, I remember that all of us swore to stay away from the heirs until they reached sixteen years of age. Isn't what Crux did a clear violation of that? In fact, since you're their guardian, you should be the one who’s most furious?'' The man who's name I remember as Roxan says.

Crux snorts. "That's incredibly rich coming from you boy."

"Oh I'm sorry, did I break any rules? Or are you just projecting your failures onto me?"

Crux glances at me for a second. "If you aren't going to let me go. Then yes, I do confess to all of that."

"Wait, wait, wait, he's lying I was the one came up with all of this. Please punish me instead." I interject.

"And how can we be sure he didn't tell you to say that?"

"I TOLD YOU I DID EVERYTHING! WHY IS EVERYONE GETTING PUNISHED EXCEPT ME?!?" I shout, angry at the new issues that kept on popping up.

"With all due respect princess. He's the adult here, he's the one with the potential motive so it's hard to trust your word over his." Roxan says politely

"Is it not obvious to you that he's just covering for my mistakes?!? You're acting dumb on purpose just to get rid of a political opponent!" I snarl.

Roxan looks at me for a couple seconds. "Take her away."

"Screw you!" I punch at the air as one of the guards grab me.

"It's alright, I'll be fine." Crux reassures me.

"Well, you know the procedure. Crux Laymen of the Havfield province. Would you like to be offered trial? I assure you it will be handled fairly."

Crux laughs. "Don't waste my time."

"Alright, your choice." Roxan gestures. "Hmmm... Let's say... Ten years?"

"No!" I get one last look from Crux before the door shuts before me.

"Open the door! Let me back out there!" I struggle against the guards.

"Calm down. It's no big deal." Grandy walks through the door.

"What do you mean no big deal?! He was just thrown into prison for ten years!? Isn't he a friend of yours?!" I shout back.

"You haven't already forgotten his words have you?"

I immediately freeze as I realize what Grandy was trying to hint at before nodding my head. "Yea, I remember."

One month later

I open the creaky wooden door in front of me, bringing me to a dimly lit staircase descending down, accompanied by almost a dozen guards.

"Are you sure about going down there? I can bring it to him for you if you'd like." One of the guards says.

"No, I want to bring it to him personally. It's the least I can do."

Descending down the staircase, the air grows damp and musty, the smell grows more and more rancid as we descend down into the castle dungeon. I was wearing a shadowy cloak, obscuring my face and body.

I step down the final step, my figure casting a long shadow across the hall. I look around cautiously, not a peep nor sound from the inmates.

The castle dungeon was reserved solely for traitors, prisoners of war, and people deemed too dangerous to hold in the city cell. It was a dreary place, conditions that would break any man or woman in a couple of weeks.

I begin stepping forward cautiously, soldiers surrounding me from all sides.

A2... C9... E3... I keep track of the cell numbers as we walk deeper down.

All of a sudden I hear the sound of someone gathering their spit. I look to the side to see a glob of saliva flying through the air before soaking into my knee.

Instantaneously the soldiers spring to action, drawing their swords, shouting, jingling keys to the perpetrator's cell door.

"Enough!" I immediately shout. "It's just spit, let's continue moving."

"Are you taking pity on me?" The man in the cell then yells. "You Lysterians all deserve nothing but death! It doesn't matter what you do you filthy animals will all die! Just wait—"

"Please, shut up. You are simply not worth my time right now, nothing more." I growl, although he was right. I was taking pity on him initially.

This, of course, only enraged the man further as he began spewing even more heinous insults.

"Shut your damn yap already!" Another prisoner joins in, it was a woman's voice.

"I don't care who she is, you don't talk to a little girl like that. When I get out, I'll be sure to flail you alive from head to toe!"

"Hehe... Let's just ignore all this and move on." I say, nervously chuckling, uncomfortable with how the situation was beginning to play out.

"That voice... Is that you, you damn traitor?! We could have crushed the entire family in one blow yet you decided to turn your sword against us!"

"And I'm going to be the one who gets to leave in a couple weeks. You should already know that a mercenary doesn't have any values." The Shesuan woman said.

I leave them to their blabber and arrive at cell G6.

"Hey there little one. How's your day been going?" The man inside says. He was ragged with dark circles under his eyes, his hair was dirty and unkempt, and his scraggly beard had grown out wildly.

"Oh you know... Better than yours at least."

"Well, that's good. As long as you're happy I don't care what happens to me." He smiles

I suddenly blank out, no idea as to what to say.

"Hey um... I followed your advice." I awkwardly pull out a paper from behind my back.

"Oho, what advice?"

"You k-know..." I begin stuttering. "The one where a leader is supposed to convince other people to follow him rather than force them."

I hand him the paper. He grabs it from my hand and begins scanning it up and down.

"It's the signatures of thirty people from the council... Ahem." I then clear my throat, unsure as how to transition into my next segment. "I, with the approval of a majority, Princess Yesenia, heir to the throne, hear-bye return Crux Laymen his former status and properties back to his stead, effective immediately."

The guards then take out their keys and unlock the door.

I run into the cell and immediately hug Crux.

"Sorry." Was all I could say to him.

"Don't let me down." He whispers back.