Jordon and Gordon groaned in agony as they lay on the ground, bloodied and bruised. Their health bar was low, and a happy Kyra had collected her 1200 XP. What more did she need at the moment? Her eyes then slowly grew heavy, and she smacked her lips as the weariness from the day slowly settled in. She needed sleep.

The young woman flicked her wrist and gestured for Gabriel to follow behind her.

“Consider me saving the bar as payment for the drinks.” She spoke. All the bar owner could do was nod. The two teenagers slowly made their way to the palace. The alcohol had finally settled in for Gabriel, making his movements sluggish.

As they reached the palace, their stomachs dropped at the sight in front of them. Screams from all corners reached their ears as staff members and nearby residents came running out. The palace was engulfed in flames, lighting the night sky with warm amber. This sobbered the two up rather quickly as they ran forward into the burning building.

Gabriel removed his mask, and his old self resurfaced. His lilac eyes scanned the halls, taking a breath of relief when he saw Isaac trying to get the rest of the maids and butlers to safety.

“Isaac!” The prince yelled. The crimson-haired man turned his head towards Gabriel and jogged up to him, but not before instructing the staff to continue their journey out of the palace.

“My lord. You should have stayed out of the palace.” Isaac reprimanded. The prince shook his head and pushed the butler for answers.

“What happened here?” The man asked. Isaac took a deep breath, his eyes darting between Kyra and Gabriel.

“That new maid we hired. She’s caused quite a mess.” The butler answered. Kyra’s eyes widened as the image of the ginger maid flashed through her mind.

“She’s a fire mage?” Kyra asked, which earned her a nod from Isaac.

“She’s currently locked up with the king in the throne room. You should have seen it. She was able to kill every guard protecting the ki—" Gabriel didn’t finish, as he sprinted in action.

Kyra followed behind him and ran towards the throne room. Once they reached it, the door was locked, and Gabriel could hear a commotion coming from the room. It was muffled yelling, and the duo were unable to make out what was being said. Kyra stepped over the mangled corpse of the guards; the soles of her boots were soaked with their blood. Gabriel couldn’t stomach the sight and proceeded to close his eyes behind his hand, separating his fingers so he could see his path.

“I don’t know how you don’t react to such violent sights.” The prince said, looking at the back of Kyra’s head with a weird expression.

“I sliced a man in half, so it’s something I’m used to.” She replied nonchalantly.

Gabriel made a face of disgust before shivering. The two of them reached the door, and they took deep breaths. Kyra lifted her leg and busted the door down. The throne room was engulfed in flames, and Gabriel stood there unsurprised that his father remained on his seat, unbothered. The two teenagers’ eyes landed on the ginger-haired maid. She looked a mess, as streaks of tears coated her cheeks.

“Father, are you alright!?” Gabriel exclaimed, coating every word. His father simply lifted a hand, gesturing that he was.

“Your dad is foul-looking.” Kyra voiced before she slapped a hand over her hand. The room went silent as Gabriel, Aycius, and Catherine looked at the young girl in shock.

“I’m so sorry.” Kyra said, taking a step back and looking around the room nervously. “Slip of the tongue.” She added.

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“You must be Munich’s daughter.” The king spoke, his weary voice echoing across the inflamed throne room.

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.” She replied, bowing her head down slightly.

“I have been unable to reach your father for a couple of days now. Do you happen to know what has happened?” Aycius asked.

Kyra shrugged.

“I don’t know.” She replied, lying through her teeth.

“ENOUGH!” Catherine screamed. The attention of the room was brought to her, and they watched as she peeled the mask, and her usual appearance came to the forefront.

Gabriel’s eyes widened, as did Aycius’. Kyra, on the other hand, looked between the three, confused.

"Hello, brother,” Catherine said, her voice mimicking a typical villain voice Kyra would read her stories in.

The blue-eyed, raven-haired woman started walking around in circles. The temperature in the room was increasing rapidly, and Kyra was close to breaking out in hives. She was already sweating profusely.

“Where have you been!?” Gabriel spoke, a large grin slowly growing on his face. “Father had told me you were dead.” The prince then realised his words and looked back at his father.

An intense expression of betrayal was etched on the lilac-eyed boy’s face as his eyebrows furrowed.

“You lied?” He asked, his voice cracking, and Kyra’s heart broke for him for a second. She knew betrayal all too well.

“It was for your own good. It pushed you to learn more, didn’t it?” Aycius replied, callously placing his hand under his chin and leaning to the side of his throne.

“But you lied!” Gabriel yelled, flailing his hand around. “How could you lie!?” He screamed.

“You needed to be a prince who was ready to be king, and while she was here, you would have never pushed yourself to learn magic.” His father argued. Aycius sat up and let out a cough.

“I never wanted to become a fucking king! I wanted to be on the battlefield as a great warrior. A person who experiences the excitement of battle! How can you take that away from me?” The young man kept on yelling.

“You can’t even look at dead bodies, but the battlefield is your calling? How ironic.” Kyra, thought, laughed in her head.

“You needed to be king. I wasn’t going to allow Aerion to fall into the hands of a woman!” His father croaked out, coughing at the end of his sentence.

Gabriel turned back to look at his sister, who stood there with a scowl on her face. Kyra did so too, allowing her to study the woman. Just like the king and Gabriel, Catherine was a behemoth of a woman.

However, she was lanky. Her appearance was different from the two men, and Kyra deduced that she must look like her mother.

“You decided that in order to stop me from coming back from battle, you’ll have the very same army you sent me with, assassinate me.” The blue-eyed woman spat.

Gabriel turned back to his father, horrified.

“Is that true?!” He asked. Kyra wanted to leave. The family drama and the flames were causing her already-deadly headache to get worse.

“She was in the way of your becoming a prince. As long as Catherine was still around, you would never pull your weight as a crowned prince.” His father explained.

“I didn’t want to be king, nor do I ever!” Gabriel screamed.

“And why not?” Aycius’s voice boomed.

“Being king takes away the freedom I crave. To enter battle at my will, to explore the world, and to learn whatever I want. To control my own fucking image. That’s what freedom is to me. How can I have that as king?!”

“Silence! You belligerent fool! You dare speak to your father, the king, this way!” Aycius retaliated. The old man stood up and moved his hand around.

The room was immediately engulfed in an intense wave of mana that almost made Kyra buckle. Gabriel did, however. Catherine stood there unfazed, staring down at her father as he got ready.

{Battle With King Aycius Engaged. Reward after his defeat: 82000 XP}

{Would you like to engage? Yes/NO}

“Yes,” Kyra thought.

{Error. Quest only allowed to Upper-First}

‘Great.’ She thought to herself.

The emerald-eyed woman hid behind one of the pillars, but not before dragging the mentally drained prince with her.

“Let your father and sister hash it out. And while we’re at it, let’s make bets.” She said.

“What is wrong with you?” Gabriel questioned, slightly disgusted by Kyra’s lack of compassion for the situation.

“What do you mean? I don’t have real emotional attachments to any of you, and if you wanted my real opinion on your approach to your freedom being withheld, well, you’re a coward in my eyes.” She rambled.

“What would you know? You come from a family that’s only nobility. There’s no social pressure placed upon you!” He exclaimed.

Kyra decided to bite her tongue, but the wrathful look she gave him had him shut up and apologise.

The two decided to drop the subject and look on as Catherine and Aycius began fighting.

‘This ought to be good.’