This must have been hell.

And for some reason, I enjoyed every moment, something I've never experienced. I attended those boring classes to learn etiquette, history, and stuff. But that was meaningless. The only challenge was to stay awake. Training my muscles was completely different.

"Good going, Princess, just five more." The paladin encouraged me, but I wanted to punch her face for calling me that again. I wasn't even looking like the Last Princess of Cranta anymore. My hair was dyed, and my frilly garments were gone. Even the simpler ones I wore during our previous journey. Nothing but plain commoner clothing.

"Why. Are. You still. Calling me. That?" I hissed at every pushup I made. This was even worse than running. That at least took me somewhere, but on my current level, I couldn't hold her falchion up for more than half a minute. And that was before I started swinging it around.

"Ah, sorry, you are right." She giggled. If anything, I got to see a new side of Cath too. She was merciless when it came to training but did everything she demanded of me too. Effortlessly. And at the same time, she acted cutesy. It was so different from how she usually was. I heard she went to great lengths to behave politely around me, but otherwise, she lost her temper easily. Not now though. "What an excellent series. Let's do some stretching next. We want to build some muscle, but if your movements become sluggish, you won't hit a thing."

"And I will hit you the next time you call me Princess." I gave her a warning, but this only made her grin more. The training has become part of our daily routine now. Right after waking up, then while her horse was resting, and sometimes even before going to sleep. And the exercises are rarely repeated. One day running, next day strengthening the arms. While the rest of my body was aching, she could always find a spot ready to be trained.

"All right, on to sword training then? Or do your arms hurt?" She asked next, offering the scabbard of her falchion. It was much lighter than the real thing, although it had no hilt to grab onto properly. I wanted a real sword, but I had no chance of handling hers. "If your legs are better, we could do some running too. Less the palfrey has to carry us."

"You said something about sword training while running before,” I noted, although wasn't talking seriously. I was already sweating bullets, and the weather wasn't even warm. We were deep in the fall now, hoping the winter won't find us out here traveling.

"Hmm, we could do that, but…” Catherine pondered. "How about a few swings while running at first? I'm worried, that your coordination is not exactly there yet. You'd either fail to parry or fall while doing so. Better not to rush these things."

"Fine by me. Just do it before I pass out." I yelled, fired up. I still remember, how long it took the last time to run ten miles, without additional muscle training beforehand. I had no illusions about it, I was probably to collapse halfway through. Especially, if I had to add some extra movements, but I was of royal blood. Talking about it for so long, I had to back my claims about being superior to commoners.

First and foremost, I wanted to prove myself to the paladin. She was always there to save my skin. Not only did she put up with my selfish behavior, she even agreed to train me now. I owed her much more than my life, and as the heir to Cranta, I was hellbent on paying back my debts.

I swore that if this nightmare ended at some point, I would hand her a nice fief and some fortunes as a reward. But first I had to train hard. She couldn't be the only one doing all that fighting for me. Trying to impress her was a great motivator.

"That was good. You managed it in a little over two hours this time. Congratulations, Elizabeth." She noted all of a sudden. I couldn’t understand what she talked about. I was so lost in thought, running with clenched teeth that I didn't realize how far I had come.

I could no longer recognize my surroundings. Did I run for two hours? And ten miles? While swinging her scabbard for about one-tenth of the distance. Now that she said it, I suddenly collapsed, I was dead tired.

"S'that all? Could... Go for... Another ten. Aren't I amazing?" I panted and lied blatantly. But the blue-haired paladin had a smile on her face, a very smug one. Was she proud of me? I wanted to ask but lost my voice. She looked so pretty, standing over me.

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"You sure are, Prin... I mean, Lizzy." She corrected herself, surprising me. Now we used nicknames? I had no strength to protest that and didn't feel like it. I called her Cath all this time, so it was only fair. I bet my face was all red, but she was too. We ran ten miles after all, but was she blushing? "We shall rest, then we can eat in the saddle. The capital of Saipole is roughly a day away."

"We came that far?" I yelled. I did not expect that. Traveling on a horse was much faster, even if the two of us were riding on the poor thing. "And we still couldn’t find a single village.”

"As I said, Saipole was mostly abandoned ever since the Crantan invasion a millennium ago," Cath noted, sitting beside me. She fanned herself with her palms, ten miles was felt even by her, especially, since she ran it in armor and her helmet. "Apart from their capital, only a few smaller towns and isolated villages remained. Most of the population was enslaved before the Lesser Races became widespread. Very few returned, and I heard nothing about them.”

"Since the Collapse?" I asked, supporting myself on the elbows.

"Well, rarely anything before that too, but absolutely nothing since." She confirmed, then suddenly grabbed her sword.

"That is because we didn't want to be heard about." A strange voice announced, and Cath was on her feet before I could even blink. I had to look around to see the speaker, who turned out to be a young woman.

She wore long, blue and white robes. Her black hair was straight as nails, and her eyes were narrow and dark. Most of her skin was covered in fabric, but what I could see was fair as snow. Her mouth was painted white, and her eyes were emphasized with makeup. She was alone.

"Who are you?" The paladin asked, naked blade in her hands. Her calm demeanor was gone, just like the tiredness I perceived earlier. If I hadn't run ten miles together with her until now, I would have thought she hadn't even lifted a finger all day. The stranger smiled.

"It shows the Crantan arrogance. When you invade someone's home, you think you have the right to ask questions first." She claimed, opening her arms theatrically. She looked like a blue butterfly or a bird in that robe, but if she were to stand in our way, I knew I should be ready to fight. Except my body would barely move. "Why are you here?"

"We are merely traveling through," Cath answered, while I still struggled to get off the ground. She glanced at me for a second as if contemplating, how much she could tell to a stranger.

"There is nowhere to travel on this road, other than the heart of Saipole." The woman pointed out. "What business do you have here?"

"We have fled the capital of Nordhaben," I told her, bowing my head. I had to remind myself to act humble like a commoner since I did everything to hide my true identity. It was harder than I thought. Old habits were difficult to overcome. "The Cranta Church started a heretic movement, and we were chased away. We are just looking for a place.

"Oh? A heresy in the great Church of Cranta?" She raised an eyebrow. "And it's not the heretics, that were ousted, but the true believers? I assume that's what you are, right? Which gods do you follow?"

"I pray to Remmol, to aid my duties as a knight. But we had to leave because of a power struggle in the new church structure.” Cath explained, injecting half-truths whenever possible. "If you haven't heard of the events so far, I have to assume we were lied to. The current head of the Church claimed, that the former Pope fled to Saipole.”

"If he were, I would have been happy to take his head." The stranger grinned, lowering her arms at last. "That is how I greet everyone who tries to intrude on our territories. Whatever the reason, Saipole is closed off from the outsiders now. The Crantan oppression can no longer reach us here, and I must keep it that way.”

Our eyes met with the paladin. She didn't have to ask, I nodded, and she bowed her head toward the woman. If she was some guardian, who made sure nobody could enter their territory, she must have seen the pope, if he was ever here. It was clear now that the Elder lied to us, and this woman was not particularly friendly either.

"If that's the case, we beg for forgiveness and will look for refuge elsewhere. We won't intrude on your lands any further." Cath said, as humble as possible. She would still not lower her sword though. The stranger laughed.

"You came all this way to turn around now?" She yelled, assuming a stance, ready to fight. "I can't allow you to bring news about my home to the outside world. The last time people caught wind of our weakness, we were oppressed for a millennium. There is no in or out here now."

Cath was prepared to fight too, but I only had the strength to hide behind her. The battle didn't go the way I expected. The stranger shot a lightning bolt at the paladin right off the bat. The armor she wore protected her, with sparks flying everywhere.

"I'd hate to disappoint you, but your magic can't hurt me," Cath claimed without moving. "I don't want to fight you, nor do I plan to harm your people. Let us go now, and I'll pretend this never happened."

"Oh, you wear some magic-resistant artifacts? What a pity.” The stranger answered, but she still smiled. "I guess my spells won't work on you then. Not directly. But what if I hurl these stones at you?"

Before I realized it, the nearby ruins disintegrated around us. The building materials floated, spun, and danced as the stranger moved her arms around. The next moment, they flew towards us at speeds my eyes couldn't follow. The palfrey ran away on instinct, but I couldn't move. The paladin tossed me out of the way at the last second, and then she disappeared under the rubble, covered in a dust cloud.