Beginning after the end._Harem King

Chapter: 1

Beginning after the end.

"...ness! ...Highness! Wake up, your Highness! "

"Hmm... 5 more minutes mom, let me kiss my cr... Zzz"

"Sigh! Your highness, wake up, your breakfast is ready. You will be late for the coronation later."

"Zzz...Zzz...Zzz"

"What happened, He isn't up yet?"

"Uh, young miss! No, unfortunately not I have been trying to wake him up for hours but highnesses don't seem to wake up."

"Let me try,... WAKE UP, YOU MORON! HOW LONG ARE YOU PLANNING TO LIE THERE LIKE A ROTTING CORPSE! HUH??"

"....."

"AHHH! Who the fuck kick me...?!

" WHO ELSE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! YOUR NIGHTMARE!"

"Eiii...lll...iiee?"

"Eille, my ass! Hurry up and get ready and come to the dining hall for breakfast it's getting late"

"YES! MAM!"

I am Arthur Phoenix, 16 years old and Throne warmer aka King and sorcerer of Hellberg Kingdom of Eastern continent. The one who was yelling and cursing at me despite being the king of the kingdom is none-other than my childhood friend as well as my fiancée. We are both of the same age, but it's hard to believe from her mature outer appearance, a curvy and equal proportional body with white silky hair and deep blue eyes. Just thinking about it makes me drool, ahem! Anyway, the one who was waking me up was my trusty personal aide; Maria. She is in charge of all my personal needs and affairs.

Although I am a king here, this isn't truly who I am. For this, we have to go back in time a few years ago.

Feb 22, 2022.

My name used to be August D. Heart. And I was a College student studying bachelor science. I had already a lot on my plate, my luck from birth was rotten as hell nothing in my entire life went right. My hard work didn't pay off, family issues, loneliness, betrayal and list goes on. No one was on my side and when I tried to get someone I always got rejected. The grief and sadness just kept piling up. I tried everything I could to stop myself going insane but in the end it wasn't enough. I was at the edge of my life, just one event was enough to tuple my life. But I somehow manage to hold on for a little longer.

6 months later...

Aug 03, 2022

The one event I was most afraid of finally hit me. I lost another best friend. Ah! Hold your horses, she wasn't dead or anything. We just fought a little bit and stopped talking and for me it was nothing sort of a break up. Although, it wasn't my first time something like that happened but this time it hit pretty hard. Because not only I truly loved her as a romantic partner but I was willing to do anything for her despite being rejected countless times yet she still accepted me as best friend without a shred of annoyance and it was my first time meeting someone like that. I am not crying, you are crying! Anyway the reason I said I lost my best friend was because of my pride and jealousy. This whole thing was my own fault, my own jealousy but I refuse to bow down to others. That's how my personality was and I couldn't help it.

The cloud of loneliness, despair and what not, negative emotions that were lingering around me which seemed to be fading away were rushing like storms. And when it finally hit me it was too late to turn back. I had a mental breakdown, I couldn't sleep the whole night. I had eye bags under my eyes, messy hair and unattended clothes. I just went to college the next day just like that. Then that happened...

Aug 04, 2022

HONK! HONK!

....

HONK! HONK!

...!

(CRASH!)

I don't know what came over me that day, but I just jumped in front of an oncoming truck without thinking anything. My mind was blank and i didnt give a shit about the world or anyone. People said that your entire life flashes in front of your eyes when you are faced with death but there wasn't anything good to actually see it so i just closed my eyes and gave a gentle smile.

Present Time

And when I opened my eyes I found myself in 6 years old; this dude's body and that's how I ended up getting isekai by none other than truck kun which was probably every isekai fanatic weeb dream including me. Kekeke! (Don't give much thought on our narrator and mc, they are both anime fanatic weebs and they are speaking in weeb language)

If you are wondering how no one is doubting me or accusing me of kidnapping the king and impersonating him, then it's because of his memory. Yeah, not only I remember my old life but I can also look through the memories of the previous owner of the body but as for how is this possible, I am in the same boat as you all are even though I knew science there was no scientific explanation for this except parallel world slip or dimensional slip.

Anyway, We are getting late to start my legendary story, How will i become harem king so let's get back to the content.

" Ah! Man that hit the spot."

*SIGH* "At least behave like a king when you are awake Jeez! "

"Yeah yeah whatever, what do you know about being king anyway? (Not like I know Either kekeke!)

" Huh?! What do you take me for? I will let you know that I was the daughter of-..."

"Yeah yeah we all know you were the daughter of Eastern Empire's Emperor and he was great at ruling the entire empire blah blah blah... "

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

" What? We already heard that story countless times like how one day empire fall because of western conflict and civil war inside the eastern empire and you father was killed sacrificing himself to save your life and somehow you manage to escape to another country with your escort but on the way you were ambush and all the escort stall for time for you to escape but none of them return and you somehow manage to escape to nearby countryside village alone.

And that's where I found you when I was secretly practicing my magic."

" Still, you have no right to say that and make fun of it"

"I wasn't making fun of it, it's just I have listened to it countless times not only me but the whole castle knows about it now.and we all understand it ok, we all get that you had a hard time. So please not today, today is the big day you know. You don't want to spoil the mood now do you?"

"Hmph! I am done eating, I am going first"

" Hey, wait a minute. Listen to me first I am not done saying"

"Ugh! What more do you wanna say? Whatever it is i don't want to listen"

*STEP* *STEP*

STEP* *STEP*

" Maria, Distribute all this remaining food to the soldiers and maids in the castle, okay. It's not good to throw away all this food. I am going after her"(Rushes Hurriedly)

" But your highness, It's your food how can we just-..."

'No buts Just do what i said" ( echoing voice)

"Yes your highness!"

(Scene Switch: In a hallway)

" Ellie, wait! Please listen to me. I am sorry, okay. I was may be little over the line this time

So will you forgive me just this once?'

" Listen to what? Like, how are you getting tired of me now? So no, I won't forgive you."

"Let's torture him more, he is always making fun of me, this time it's my turn. Let's say it's payback for until now. Although he is sorry and was out of line I won't get this opportunity every time so I won't forgive him this time that easily. Let's play with him more"

" Please forgive me just this once, Pretty please. Look, it doesn't look good for a king to beg in front of someone. Then how about this, I will fulfill any one wish you have but don't expect resurrecting dead people or anything. Then will you forgive me?"

" HO! That's a tempting offer. Look how he looks cute when I mess with him a little bit. He looks really cute when he is regretting '' "Ok I will forgive you when you fulfill my one wish but not right now i will tell you when it's time. For now we should focus on that."

( A big crowd as far as the eye can see gathered in the square and a floating magic stone recording us and projecting it on the square. It was similar to a camera but with magic. This world is still behind in the field of science but they compensate for it with magic. Since this world has plenty of mana unlike mine they choose magic over science. Pretty much same like isekai novels i used to read)

"Shit! Do I have to give a speech? If it is then I am doomed. I forgot to write a speech nor did I practice it. I don't know how kings respond to the people in this world. Until 10 years ago I was just a college student. And I recently became king. Before that I was just a prince, before the former king and father of the previous owner of the body died due to anonymous assassination the culprit is still on the lose and previous owner of the body was just a kid and never saw his father coronation at that time. This is troublesome i will just wave my hands how Queen Elizabeth used did on earth

"CITIZEN OF HELLBERG KINGDOM '' Eille shouts " It has been a few days after the dark day of the kingdom when our fallen majesty was assassinated by a filthy vermin. Although he managed to escape unscathed in the middle of the night, we give you our word that we will find that bastard and make him pay for what he did. In these times , you may have felt saddened, despaired and scared of the future of yours and your family and friends and kingdom but don't fret because our new hope and a ray of light to guide us and kingdom to a brighter future has been appointed by 12 council of ministers. Our second prince; Arthur Phoenix, has been chosen and appointed as our kingdom's new hope and ray of light to guide us. You may all probably be wondering what happened to the first prince. Our answer will be he is right now out of kingdom for certain affairs and has been out of contact for a while. We tried several times to contact him but we were unsuccessful. But we are certain he is alive since we are getting reports but no reply. Since we were short on time, we had to do something to establish a foothold for the kingdom, before any other kingdoms used this opportunity to launch an attack on the kingdom. That is the reason why the 2nd prince was appointed as the new heir to the throne. Now I would excuse myself for our new majesty to say a few words to our citizens to encourage and bless them with his presence."

*Mutter* *Mutter*

*Chatter* *chatter*

"Hey, go say something they are waiting for you" Eille whispers

"What?! But I didn't prepare anything for it. I didn't know I had to give a speech. What am i supposed to say"

"You don't need to give a speech, just give a few words of encouragement and praise to them that will be enough."

*Sigh* "Fine, whatever."

"What did I get myself into? What a hassle..."

"My dear citizens, I hope you all are doing well. If not then you don't have to worry about the kingdom or your future here onwards I will do my best to protect my people and this kingdom with my life. ah! man i can't believe what I am saying, this is so cringy someone please save me. I know it's difficult now to trust a new leader but I will do whatever I can to gain all of your trust and be worthy to the throne. You all have worked for the sake of this land and for your families and I commend you for that dedication you have shown despite the dark times. But from now on I will try to ease at least a little bit of your burdens. I will try to improve your lifestyle, re-enforce laws and lower the crime rates as much as possible. So that something that happened to me never happened to any of you. I hope you all are in my favor and will support me with all your hearts.

."TCH! I can't believe I gave such a cringe speech. And Act like a weakling because of this dude's personality. To match his demeanor, I just said whatever looks like he would say. Hope it works."

*CLAPS* *CLAPS*

"LONG LIVE THE KING! LONG LIVE THE KING!"( Crowd shouts)

"Huh?! Did they like it or something? I had no idea what I was saying." Let's act clueless here " So, Eille How was it?"

"It was ok I guess. If you couldn't even do that, what good are you?"

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! He looked so cool giving a speech. And He looks so handsome in those white attire and red robe."

*BUUUUUP* *BUUUP*

"Huh, What is that sound?" I asked

" It's the sound of a trumpet. It is sounded when a royal is returning or coming. I wonder who it is." Eillie replied

(Walks slowly forward staring at the screen)

"If someone is coming at this time, and judging from previous experience from my life this is not going to end well. Something always goes down whenever I successfully complete something. I thought it was weird since everything was going well now I see why it was. I have a bad feeling about all this."

(Scene Shift)

*Mutter* *Mutter*

*Chatter* *chatter*

"EVERYONE! Our Prince Francis has finally returned" A guy in the crowd shouts*

"What Prince Francis is back? Where?" Second guy in the crowd speaks*

'Look over there, Our Prince is finally back. Looks like We are finally saved. They said they were unable to make contact with him. Did they lie? Third guy in the crowd speaks*

" Who knows? But it will be revealed soon enough. If what they said were false then this could stir up civil war in the kingdom if that happens we are as good as dead." Second guy replied*

*TIP TAP*

(A cavalry Knights of 10 and 100 foot soldiers accompanied by the prince with charming face and silky blond hair, blue eyes as deep as ocean expression as bright as a day with overwhelming presence and a body which seems to be lean but not much muscular riding a ia white horse which was intimidating as royals to look at was entering through the gate making way to the castle through crowd of people in the plaza.)

"AH! Our prince is so charming. Just looking at him once i feel like i will lose consciousness

I wish I were also a royalty or even just a noble. So that I could at least see him everyday." (A commoner girl drooling over prince)

( Prince waves hands to the crowd with a slight smile on his face)

" Did he look at me and smile?! " *Faints*

"Hey, what is the commotion about? Why is everyone gathered in the plaza?" Prince asked to the nearby soldier

" Highness, how should I say this- it seems that we arrived a little bit too late. Looks like 12 councils already declared the 2nd prince new majesty. And today was probably the coronation.

"SAY WHAT???" Shouting to the soldier " Shit I was too loud. I should keep my cool. Let's assess the situation first and act according to it. They did what? Did i hear that right, are you saying they declare good for nothing, weakling and timid brother as heir to the throne."

" I am afraid that is the truth"

" FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUUUCCCKKK! This FUCKING HELL BASTARARD! After all that trouble and planning for my right to the throne, he is reaping all the fruits. I won't let this happen, Enjoy while you can little brother, you big bro just happen to have a surprise for you later. Kekekeke! "

" Sigh! First let's go to the castle and see what's going on. We also have to congratulate my little brother for his big accomplishment" Prince speaks

" Understood"

At this moment I was clueless about what was about to unfold in the future. Dark gloomy clouds started to shadow over the kingdom. It was Beginning of the end and Beginning after the end. A certain someone from far above the infinity was watching it unfold but did nothing but watch. Someone who betrays the hopes and beliefs of people, when someone who shouldn't favor anyone favors someone, the sacred balance is disturb, driving the world to the path of no return.

And I was the only one who could stop that and at some point I was finally able to find the answer I was Looking for.

"Life does it disappoint thee

Grieve not, nor be angry thou!

In days of sorrow gentle be:

Come shall, believe the joyful day.

In the future lives the heart

Is the present sad indeed

Tis but a moment, All will pass

Once in the past, it shall be dear"

-Alexander Pushkin

Chapter: 2

Beginning of the end.

(After reaching the castle, he went straight to the throne room, where his brother and everybody else were discussing their matters. He had a calm and composite face as well as elegant movements without any slightest of hints of frustration, anger and raging furry inside him. He had mastered the art of unwavering despite any situation he faced from a very young age. Because he believed that showing any kind of emotion outside is the same as revealing your weakness to your enemy.)

Throne room*

“ Your majesty, the first prince is here to see you.”

one of the throne room’s gate guards comes as a first prince messenger and kneels before the Arthur with right hand in his chest*

“Alright, Let him in then. From the memory, I only know how he looked as a teenager and what he was like at that time.. I wonder how he is now.”

“ I bow and greet the majesty. Fuck Fuck Fuck! How dare you make me kneel in front of you. You are just a weakling who knows nothing about the outside world, who only immerses himself in books and plays around the whole day without care in the world.”

“ Ah! No, no. Lift your head big brother, you don’t have to; we are brothers remember. You can drop the formalities.”

(Arthur quickly gets up from his seat and insists on him to stand up and hugs him.)

“Ugh! I Can’t believe I have to hug him.Technically, I don’t even know him nor I have any brotherly love toward him. He is a total stranger to me. Is this some kind of BL novel or something.”

“ Brother, I missed you so much. I am glad you finally returned home.”Arthur speaks

“I missed you too little bro. It’s finally good to be home. And congratulations on taking our father's position. It’s a huge responsibility so I hope you will see it to the end and work hard for the sake of the kingdom.”

“ The more I look at him, the more it pisses me off. Goddess, should I kill him now? I can’t stand him anymore.” Francis asks the goddess who was favoring him and observing him quietly from the shadows.

“Nope we can’t do that right now. I have lost half my power breaking the rules and making a contract with you. If we do anything that will attract the attention of other gods before I regain my power then we will be in big trouble. I can neither protect you nor myself. So wait for me to regain my power before you do anything stupid. *YAWN* I am getting sleepy so see ya later.”

“Ofcourse, big brother, I will not disappoint you or the citizens of the kingdom. I will do my very best to live up to everyone’s expectations. Also I am really sorry to take your right away from you. I refused but they forced me to take it and I had no choice.

“ It’s fine, don't worry about it. It will be mine soon anyway. It was a critical time for us so it was uncalled for. You did the right thing.”

“ If you say' so big brother. you are probably tired from a long and tiring journey. Why don’t you go and take a rest for today, then we will discuss any matters tomorrow.”

“ If my little brother is insisting I have no choice. Then I will see you tomorrow.”

“So this is how he is, He is quite the looker. Man, I am so envious of him. Why don’t I look like that, I didn’t get any in both of my life. From the memories, I recall hearing that the former king had two wives one of which was commoner but later she died while giving birth to the francis. He was blessed by the goddess of beauty and war; Freya, From the birth. Because of his looks and personality even though he was the son of a commoner he was well looked up by the people.”

“ Huh?! Wait. Why does she look so familiar? Hey, young lady I haven’t seen you here before

Would you mind Introducing yourself to me?” Francis sees the Ellie standing in a corner and walks towards her*

“Huh, me? I am the fiance of Arthur, Ellie Charlotte. Oh god why is he here? I hope he doesn’t recognize me. If he finds out I will be dead for sure and because of me Arthur will also be in danger. I will have to tell the truth about this guy to the arthur.”

“ Alright, Ellie. I am the 2nd prince; Francis Phoenix. So, Have we met before? Why do you look so familiar?”

“EEKK! I am about to be caught, I have to do something. Let’s calm down and reply to him first before he starts to suspect more.I don’t think so your highness, You probably mistook me for someone else.”

“ Yeah, I am tired so I probably miss taking you for someone else. Please excuse me. This is certainly weird.. There’s no way I was mistaking her for someone else. I have never forgotten the person I met. So either I meet someone who has a resemblance to her or she must have been a kid when I saw her. Either way She is hiding something, I will have to get to the bottom of this. TSK! Things are just piling one after another.

( After meeting with Ellie, Francis comes out from the throne room with suspicion and doubts. As he was tired from the journey, he went straight for his quarters. Before he enters the quarter he summons his most trusted butler; Alfred. He was a top ex mercenary with a muscular physique. And gives him orders to not let anyone disturb him or enter his quarter.)

“Phew! That was a long day, I can finally relax now that I am in my sweet little heaven. Alright, before I drop dead from all these tiring things, let's deal with them one by one before I take a nap.’

“So, What’s our next move?” goddess’s telepathy*

“ Oh! Why are you popping now? Forget it. First let’s find out who’s that little bitch. We will deal with Arthur later. He isn’t much of a threat right now. Although I sense a great amount of magic power from him and I don’t know how he managed to do that but I am stronger than him and after our contract my magical power has increased by leaps and bounds. My swordsmanship and martial art has also improved quite a lot after regarass training”

“ So you also noticed huh, but you missed the real deal. The soul in his body is different from before and from closer look it doesn’t seem to be from this world. We have to be careful about this. We don't know what he is capable of or what he is hiding up his sleeve. This must be the work of another god. But We can't let our guard down no matter who it is. You should never underestimate the enemy.”

“Yeah yeah, I heard you now go away, and let me do my job.”

“ Geez! Can’t you be a little nicer you twisted little bastard. All you have good for a show is that look of yours, which was also from me. Anyway, remember to be always on alert for both of our sake.”

“Sigh! She is such a pain in the ass. Anyway where were we? Oh right. About That bitch”

(Francis goes to the nearest shelf and takes out what seems to be magical orb slightly bluish in color. He releases a small amount of magic into it and it immediately starts to glow. He then start to call someone’s name)

“ Black, Are you there? “

“ Yes, my lord. What can i be assistant to you”

“ Go and investigate Arthur’s fiance; Elie Charlotte. Also Keep a close eye on her and Arthur. And keep reporting about their whereabouts.”

“ As you wish my lord “

“Now, that settles the one issue. I will deal with Arthur later so the only thing that’s left is to deal with the 12 councils. Those old geezers sure have grown some balls. I will have to eliminate those dying geezers who got one foot already on the grave yet still clinging to powerful people to leech on them. I am getting tired of them. It’s about time to bring some changes.”

(Francis again releases a small amount of magic power in the orb and it immediately lights up.)

“Red, I have a job for you.”

“Yes, lord. What can I do for you?”

“I want you to eliminate 12 council geezers one at a time without any slightest mistake or slip ups. Can you do that?”

“ Yes, It is possible but It will require some preparation and planning, not to mention time.”

“I don’t care about all that stuff. I will give you full authority, do whatever means to kill those geezers.”

“ Understood”

“Phew! That takes care of things. Now I can finally take a long sweet nap. Yawn! It sure is handy having ‘Black order’ and ‘The crows’ acting as your eyes and ears and tools.”

(Francis Fell asleep the moment he lay on the bed. Unknown to the truth about his little brother. Who he knew was no more and someone else had taken his place.)

Next Day:

Early morning.

(As Usual Arthur was experimenting with his magic with the help of scientific knowledge he had. He secretly trains his mana regularly, creates new spells or refine existing spells in the underground training hall created by himself for the sole purpose. It was a secret space only known to himself and Ellie.)

“Alright, There are 5 basic elemental magic; Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Lightning and 3 attribute magic; Light or holy magic, Shadow or Dark magic and Null or space magic. I know this much since I remember seeing them in books in my memory. But the problem comes with creating new ones. I have been trying to create time base attribute magic for quite a while but I fail every time. For now let’s focus on improving the existing one.”

“ Arthur, so this is where you were. I have been looking for you all morning. I have something important to tell you.”

“ Oh, Hey Ellie, What’s going on? Why were you looking for me?”

“Well… The thing is…”

“Well, whatever it is, you can tell me later. First I have something to show you.”

“But It’s important. He is not listening again *sigh* When it comes to magic he gets all excited and ignores everything. Well, what is it?”

“I am gonna show you KAMEHAMEHA!” Feeling all proud noises*

“Kame-hame- What now?” Confuse noises intensifies*

“ Just watch, and don’t even blink for a sec.”

“kay…! “

“ Let’s see first I will cover my hands with thin layer of earth and wind magic to protect it from intense heat then I will light fire with fire magic and grow it slowly to the size of a ball then I will compress it very carefully with the help of wind magic so that it won’t extinguish just like that and finally when it compress to plasma state, I will slowly pull out oxygen atoms and supply it with hydrogen atoms at the same time so that the fuel cycle doesn’t break. Now it is not only very hot but also equally destructive. Here goes nothing.” End of Physics class*

“KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAA!”

*WHOOSH!*

( A straight beam of laser emits from Arthur's hands and it collides with the wall that was almost 50ft away creating a 5ft wide crater.)

*BANG!* *BOOOM!*

“ WHAT THE HELL ARTHUR??! What was that? I have never heard or seen magic like that. How is your fire blue and it’s so destructive”

“ Well, it’s something I discovered recently,well to be exact I just used a little bit of physics and magic to imitate something that every 90’s kid has dreamt of at some point of their life on earth. For me It was no longer a dream. Man, I wanted to try that so bad. But It’s too bad it takes a lot of magic power to keep going. I can only do it for a split sec and it’s inefficient in battle since it takes quite a long time to charge. In battle every sec counts, so I will keep it as a last resort.”

“That’s just crazy. Are you planning to wipe out an entire village or something?” Ellie still in a daze*

“Haha, No, It might look fancy and dandy from outside but it consumes a serious amount of magic power and it’s too inefficient for fights, by the time It’s ready to fire, I will be dead.”

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“Now that you mention it, you look quite exhausted and sweating a lot. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am okay. Look I am tota…lly f..i..n..e-! “ Arthur Collapses*

*THUD*

“ARTHUR!! Hey you okay? You don't look very good. Should I call someone for help” Panicking Ellie*

“No, I am fine. I just feel a little dizzy. I will be okay after I get some rest. It seems I ran out of mana.”

“Oh, okay that's a relief. You can put your head on my lap and rest. I will wait for you to wake up.

“Okay, thanks Ellie. You are really nice today… ZZZ!”

“Yeah, because it seems I might not be around here for long”

That day, I made a big mistake not listening to her and I still regret it to this day. If I had just listened to her that day, I wouldn’t need to regret it today. It was my own fault for noticing worry in her face. Yet she just brushes it off like nothing with a warm and gentle smile. If I could get one last chance I will definitely change it. I was so drunk over the fact that I had knowledge and with that and magic I could do anything that I completely forgot about techniques and experience. In this savage world knowledge alone couldn’t do anything. You should also have experience to face any kind of situation.

Late afternoon

(Arthur was doing his usual work in his office, then he heard a knock on the door.)

KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Who is it?”

“It’s your big brother, my dear little brother.”

“Oh, yes please come inside.” Francis enters the room “But what brought you here today? Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine. Does a big brother need a reason to see his younger brother?. I am just here to see how you are doing and adjusting to your new life. If there is anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to ask. But I was wondering, how did you meet Ellie and Where is she from?”

“Oh right, I completely forgot. I haven’t introduced both of you, have I?” I should call her right away, just wait here for a minute.”

“ Uh, No it’s fine she is probably busy right now. We have already introduced ourselves. I was just curious since she looks somewhat familiar to me.”

“ Hmm. Is that so? Why is this guy asking about my dear Ellie? Does he have a crush on her? Is he trying to take away Ellie from me? No, no think positive, think positive. There’s no way he would do that, right? Even if he would, there's no way I would let that happen. Well, I met her when I was 6 years old in a small village in the countryside.She was injured alone and injured at that time so I took her in. She said she was from Eastern Empire and was running away from the attackers or something.”

“It’s really unfortunate for her. I heard Eastern Empire was completely destroyed and none of the royal family were left alive. It's a good thing she manage to escape.”

“Well, actually this is confidential information but Not all royalty were killed. She is the daughter of the emperor. And only the bloodline of the Emperor.”

“What? Is that really true? So, that’s why she was familiar, she resembles her father very well. And the kid that managed to escape came right to the lion’s den huh. Things just got more interesting now.”

“Yeah, so I hope, big brother will keep this a secret.”

“Ofcourse, I will keep this secret to my grave.”

(A knock on the door attracts both of their attention)

KNOCK! kNOCK!

“ Yes, please come in.” Arthur speaks

“ Hey, Arthur, do you have some time?... UH! Greetings Prince Francis. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”

“No, we were just saying hello. Okay I will take my leave my dear brother. I will leave you two alone. But don’t get too feisty in there, alright?” Francis leaves after saying*

“BROTHER!” Arthur yells with full red face*

Ellie is blushing in the corner pointing two index fingers together.

“I am so sorry Ellie, I apologize on behalf of my brother. He can become quite insensitive sometimes. Man what the fuck was that, was he always like that? Or was he teasing Ellie because he likes her? Man, I don't understand him at all.”

“It’s fine.But what he said, I wouldn’t mind doing it with you.” Ellie mumbles in small tone*

“Huh?! Did you say something? Do you think i wouldn’t hear you, but let’s pretend i didn’t hear it”

“No, nothing at all. I should change the topic. Anyway I was saying ``Are you free right now?”

“Hmm… I am always free for you my dear. What is it?” Arthur speaks in Smirking face*

“ You see.. Since It’s been a while we have gone outside, so i was thinking you know maybe we could go outside undercover see how people are doing?”

“Hooo… So you wanna go on a date with me today?” Smirking*

“ I wasn’t asking you for a date or anything alright.” Ellie speaks with blushing and teary face while pouting*

“Haha, Aren’t you my cute little tsundere? You look like an angry hamster while pouting. Alright I will go out with you but I have one condition.” Smirking in the thoughts*

“ One condition? What is it?” Curious Ellie with puppy eyes asks*

“ You will have to give me a kiss here” pointing towards lips*

“ Eh?! Bu…but it's not like I don’t want to or anything or I can't do it. It’s just that, even though we are engaged we haven’t even held hands yet. It’s too much for me now. I am not ready for this. What are you saying, you idiot. This is the perfect chance to step up your relationship with him. This might be the first and last chance for you. Who knows what could the so-called prince francis wolf in sheep clothing be plotting right about now.”

“ Well, alright. If you can’t do it, I will get back to my work.” Teasing*

“No, wait. I will do it alright but you will close your eyes.”

“Alright, I will close my eyes”

“No, first promise me you wouldn’t look.”

“Fine, I promise I won't look. Are you happy now? But I didn't promise I will keep it hehehe…”

“Umm.” Fidgeting while blushing* “ Here I go.”

She came closer to him and slowly leaned her lips against his, breathing heavily—that their hot breath could be spotted even in the afternoon day. She had shivers that made her whole body tremble. "If you want to stop, tell me now," he whispered. When she still said nothing, he supported his forehead against her. He slowly got closer while slowly opening his eyes trying to capture every second of that moment until he was satisfied. When he finally had his fill they finally kissed each other.

“Now, can we go?” Ellie asks while pulling*

“Yes, yes I get it. So stop pulling. Sigh! What a hassle?”

(Arthur and Ellie quietly sneak out of the palace in disguise of commoners and head for the city.)

“ Arthur, Where are we going then?” Ellie asks in excitation with sparkling eyes*

“Huh?! Why are you asking me? I thought you already had in mind since you asked for me.”

“Hehe! Actually I haven’t. Sorry about that.” Ellie purposefully acts dumb*

“Geez, What a drag…! So where do you wanna go? Do you have a place in mind?”

“Hmm- oh I know first let’s go to the vendor street, I haven’t had lunch yet and I also want to try some street food there.”

“Now that you mention I haven't had either. Ok then we will go there first.”

Both of them were walking through a crowded street and out of nowhere a person in a brown robe collided with Ellie. Suddenly Ellie stopped walking and when she looked down she saw a dagger through her stomach then it finally hit her that shad been stabbed. When Arthur notices the grip of Ellie's hand around his suddenly got loose he turns around and finds Ellie falling to the ground. Arthur quickly catches her and asks what happened, he feels something warm and wet on his hand. When he looked at his hand, it was covered in Ellie's blood then he saw a dagger embedded on her stomach. He was in a shock and lost for words as he looked at Ellie who was slowly losing consciousness. He asked her to stay with him, to not close her eyes and try to stay awake. He immediately started the first aid treatment. He first cleaned the wound around the dagger with the help of water, and by carefully reading the blood flow he cut off the blood circulation to the wound by diverting the blood flow to other veins. Then he wrapped the wound around the dagger with a piece of cloth torn from his shirt. Pulling a dagger would have caused more damage so he let it be until he managed to take Ellie to the physician.

People were gathered in a circle around them wondering what happened. He was unknown to the area since he rarely got out of the castle so he ran around asking people for a physician address but unfortunately everyone kept their silence until a young girl almost the same age as Ellie Cover in dirt and tattered clothes came and broke the silence.

“ I know the place of the physician, good sir. If you like, I can take you there.”

“Of Course- please take me there. You can lead the way.”

Arthur carries Ellie in his arms, with all kinds of negative emotion in his face. Ellie already had lost her consciousness yet Arthur was trying to wake her and talking to her. He was on the verge of tears with all kinds of thoughts that may or may not happen. When he was busy doing that they reached the physician's place. Arthur quickly heads inside and calls out the physician. When the Physician saw him carrying someone and a dagger sticking out of them he hurriedly asked Arthur to put her in a stretcher and help her carry to the operation room. He was amazed by the response to the emergency situation and words used in this world in the medical field despite being behind in scientific study. After sending Ellie for the treatment Arthur finally took a sigh of relief and dropped to the ground as his exhaustion from running earlier caught on to him.

Arthur sat down, curled up lowering his head while resting on hand on the knee. Countless thoughts started to storm his head, he was on the verge of breaking down. At the same time the young girl who brought him there came close to him and sat beside him. She didn’t say anything, she just sat there and waited for him to speak. As if she knew the pain Arthur was going through. But Arthur, who was in complete mess neither noticed or heard anything that was happening except his thoughts inside his head.

“WHY?! WHY? WHY?? Why me? Why is it always me? Why doesn't this bad luck leave me alone? Was it not enough that it screwed my past life that it’s screwing this as well? What did I do to deserve this? Just how much do I have to suffer until it leaves me? Because of me everyone around me is suffering as well. Just when is it gonna end, I thought it was finally over after my past life but it doesn't seem to be the case. Because of me, today Ellie got hurt, it will be someone else another day. Is it really ok for me to be with someone? Maybe I should just leave everything and live alone. But before that I will kill that bastard whoever did this to her.”

A spark of hatred has taken root in Arthur's heart which he may never get rid off.

2 hours later….

Physician finally came out of the operating room, Told Arthur that she is going to be okay and she just needs to rest for a few days. Arthur immediately went to Ellie after hearing the news. His eyes were pained and he didn’t know what to say in front of her. He tried to speak but nothing came out of his mouth. But suddenly Ellie broke the silence.

“ Hey, why are you making that face? I am not dead, you know. It’s just a little scratch, nothing to worry about. I will be good as new after a few days of rest or we could just ask the holy priest to heal it with a healing spell. But I doubt that they will waste their precious time on small things.”

“ No, If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have to go through this. It’s all because of me. I am really sorry Ellie. I am really sorry that I couldn’t protect you. What good of a king I am, who can’t even protect his own fiancee let alone the entire kingdom. Maybe I am not good enough for this-”

“What are you talking about? Who said it was your fault? I was the one who asked for us to come out And Who said you didn’t protect me? You brought me here and I am alive, aren’t I? That's all it matters. You are perfectly fine as my fiance and king of this kingdom so don’t even think of being not enough.”

“Still, If i had been more cautious, you wouldn’t have got hurt. But I promise you one thing, I will find the person behind this and make him pay for what he did.”

“Sigh! Didn’t I tell you don’t blame yourself for this. The things that are supposed to happen will happen no matter what. AChapter: 2