Ruins surrounded us.

The roofs long disappeared, and only a small portion of the walls remained. At a glance they were from an earlier civilization, a different era, but the Imperial Road cut through them as if they weren't even there.

"Tis' all that's left of Saipole, Your Highness," I announced to the tired mass ahead of me. The Princess did not take well to our journey, and I couldn't blame her... The way we left Sanctuary, and her father, when we advanced on foot, she seemed less exhausted. We had a clear goal back then, a purpose, and an end in sight. Even if it was all fake... Now she was apathetic on the horseback. "Should we make camp?"

"Do you need rest, Cath?" She asked me, her voice weak.

"Um, well... More like the palfrey does." I claimed. I realized a few days ago, that if I said no, she'd demand us to press on, and she needed rest, no matter how much she refused to admit. "We did nearly fifty miles already, we should eat lunch and let the horse regain some of its stamina, then we can continue until dusk."

"Fine, we can stop then." She approved. If I hadn't got the reflexes, she might have fallen off the saddle a moment later. Since I dyed her hair and dressed her in commoner's clothing, she lost her shine. Well, probably not because of that, but she was a shadow of her former self, and I could barely force her to eat since last week.

"Princess, please, let me share my lunch with you," I asked, pulling out some of the leftovers that Lambert made us. She glared at me from below her hood. Of course... I forgot again. "Sorry, Elizabeth."

"You had me go all these lengths to disguise myself and still call me Princess." She complained. At least she was quick to fire at anything as usual, which gave me hope she’ll make it through this somehow.

"I'm a brute as you know." I smiled at her, offering some food. "I didn't get my rank and post because of my brains or pretty eyes."

"They are at least pretty, for real." She reluctantly accepted the dish. She started to eat, but not before adding. "But you sure are dumb..."

"I won't deny that, Pri..." I just pretended to cough instead.

I also wore a hood over my armor but refused to discard it. It must have been expensive, light, sturdy, and saved my life from the Elder. Had I not worn this during our duel, she could probably turn me into a worm, and stomp on me right away...

Even with this, I barely hold my own against her. On the flip side, I didn't have my helmet back then. I was unsure what it could do, but it resonated with me. Too bad, I could not ask my family about it, they were gone with the old capital, but if they were still around, I wouldn't have inherited this piece of history either...

"I'll feed the palfrey too," I noted once my lunch disappeared. I had a bright moment too. "I should call it Princess. That way, if I ever accidentally slip up I can say it's the horse... Commoners often name them anyway, it would be more suspicious if it didn't have a name."

The actual Princess refused to even react to that, only a glare. That's all. But I took it as a yes. The palfrey got a few playful pats from me as I poured some fodder. Yes, my other horse had a name too, but we had to leave him behind. I hoped he was all right. It was unlikely the Guard would treat such an expensive warhorse poorly, he couldn't be blamed for anything after all. This reminded me of Lambert.

"Maybe we should have gone back to Nateaser instead," I muttered loud enough that Her Majesty could hear it.

"We need to find the Pope." She reacted immediately. "The Elder said he ran away to Saipole. Whatever the truth is, we need powerful allies if we want to beat that cursed woman. You alone couldn't do much."

"I mean, the Goddess in that village already beat her once..." I reminded her, sitting down on a log. "And I'm sure she would have been happy to help us. Not to mention, Lambert is the only one who knows how to banish someone. Well... Not that it worked when he tried."

"See? We should walk our path." She claimed. It didn't matter to me, I was ready to take her anywhere. My job was to protect her and not make decisions in her stead. "They will be our last resort, but this should be solved within the Cranta Church. It's human business."

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"That makes sense, however, I doubt the Elder would actually slip up, and give away such valuable information willingly," I warned her. While the old witch certainly liked to monologue, it didn't mean she had to tell the truth. "If we think about it logically, there would be no reason for the Pope to come here. Whether he's a necromancer or not..."

"He is not a necromancer, you idiot." She fired back, but I didn't mind. "And I'm aware of this as well, but there had to be a reason why she mentioned this place. And if anything, the Sea People was never a fan of hers. We can use that to our advantage."

"If the Sea People even exist at this point..." I shrugged. "To me, these ruins say that nobody lives here anymore. These are ancient, untouched, right next to the imperial road. But at least we will be harder to find."

"Most of the continent will look like this if we fail to do something about it." The Princess argued, laying back on the grass. It was in the middle of the day, but a bit chilly. I worried she might get a cold and winter was yet to come. "These ruins were here way before the Collapse. I was taught that they were left as a reminder for the Sea People, that they weren't superior to the other races. Once their gods rampaged and forsake them, this is what remained of their empire."

"And I thought you hated history lessons," I noted, remembering a similar discussion earlier this month. "I will remain by your side no matter what, but I'd like to hear the details of your plans. Our supplies won't last forever. I need to know how to prepare for the next day, and the next..."

"Why, excuse me. I haven't planned everything... Not yet." She seemed upset. "I'm just trying to grab at straws and not give up hope..."

"Fair enough, and you shouldn't either, Your Highness." I tried to encourage her. "But we can't exactly ride to the end of the world, hoping we would find the next clue there. As you said, we need allies. We need a plan. While we are away, the Elder is surely advancing hers. And we don't know if she was able to follow us or not. It seems unlikely since we haven't met anyone, but this distance is nothing for a gargoyle..."

"Fine, if you have plans, I'm all ears." She claimed but turned the other way. As long as she got some rest, I was fine with that.

I didn't have one either, anyway. Unconcerned about who's ruling what, while I was a noble myself, it did not define me. If she decided to run and hide forever, I was fine with that too. All I had to do was to protect her. As fate would have it, I got this task from the Elder, the same person who tried to harm us. But I stubbornly held onto this mission, even if it was meaningless. Regardless, if she tried to take back the throne, I would stay beside her, determined to protect her at all costs.

Which reminded me of my training. Or rather, that I hadn’t honed my skills for nearly a month by now. The Princess was fast asleep, and the roads were empty. I took this opportunity to practice.

I didn’t get the opportunity to swing my sword around since we left Sanctuary. While it meant we had a smooth ride here, I couldn't let myself get out of shape. I unsheathed my heavy falchion and swung it around as a warmup. I wanted to feel its weight, have it become a part of me again.

It needed some maintenance too, quite badly. It still had some blood on the blade, and I realized, it wasn't just Elizabeth who behaved apathetically and tired. My paladin duties were neglected too, I couldn’t remember when was the last time I prayed for Remmol or made him an offering. It was the perfect time to make up for all of this.

I walked over to the other side of the road since I didn't want to wake up my sleeping companion or leave her alone. The road was empty. We didn’t meet a human being again for a whole week, but the forests teemed with wildlife... Nature mostly took over these ruins too. While it was disturbing, not to come across any intelligent life, I found it lucky to be avoided by all the beasts too. I didn't make connections, but as the Princess said, I was dumb anyway.

The ruins provided me with an excellent training ground. I could climb the walls, jump across them, and even find some targets to swing my falchion against. It was easy to forget about time. I cleaned up my blade and found some time for prayers. It felt nice, breaking a sweat after so long, a nice change of pace compared to sitting in the saddle all day. But before I realized the sun was already setting.

Considering how focused I was, I wouldn't even notice if something happened to the Princess. My mind deep within the falchion and my techniques, her on the other side of the road... When I turned to check on her, she sat on a log like normal, watching me intently. Well, no. In her case, it was anything, but normal. She even ate on her own.

"Hey, Cath, how long did it take to learn all this?" She asked once our eyes met. She must have been watching me for a while now. She got bored so easily, that I didn't even think about it, but normally, once she woke up, she would order me to stop and continue riding.

"I... Um... That's a tough question, your H... Elizabeth," I stuttered. I managed to catch myself at the last moment. "I have been swinging the sword ever since I was a child... My father had enough heirs for a safe succession, and enough daughters to marry off, so I was left to my own devices. For some reason, I was fascinated with the knights."

"This didn't answer my question." She rolled her eyes. "I know it all well, where you're coming from. I asked, how long it took you to learn to fight like this? Or did you just receive Remmol's blessing one day?"

"Hmm... I'm not even sure myself..." I pondered loudly. "I think I was capable before I even learned about my affinity, but how long it took me to learn these techniques? I've been training all my life. The only difference was in the masters, and the intensity, so..."

"Okay, forget about that." She waved my answer off again. "Let me phrase it differently. How long would it take me to learn everything from you? Could you even train me? And how can I receive god's blessing? I want to kick the Elder's butt on my own..."