I couldn't wait to see my Papa.

I was away for so long, yes, I no longer lived in the castle, but I met him almost daily. The main temple of the Cranta Church was close, and my living quarters looked at the Royal Castle. But I couldn't talk to him in the nearly two weeks I spent on the road.

I was excited and wanted to tell him everything, wishing the soldiers marched faster. It was a shame that Cath didn't come, I didn't want to reveal her mishaps, to be honest, if anything, I wanted to commend her in front of the King for her dedication, that she protected me, even though I made her life difficult. But I was the last Princess of Cranta, so I had to act the part.

Lost in thought, I didn't even notice, that the soldiers took a wrong turn. When I was suddenly in front of the main temple instead of the castle, I started to complain.

"No, you idiots, I don't want to go to my place, lead me to the King right away," I demanded, turning around. They were in my way though. "What? Stop bumbling around, I had to wait long enough."

"Dear Princess." I heard a familiar voice. Not as raspy and weak as usual, but it unmistakably belonged to the Elder. I felt as if my face got distorted from the disdain towards her. "I'm so glad you have returned. We were already fearing the worst. Please, tell me about your travels."

"I will tell my Papa all about it, but let me see him first," I demanded without even looking at her. "Order the troops to turn around now"

"But your Highness, your clothes are heavy from the dirt of the roads. You should rest first, change, and..." She was just as annoying as ever. I did change my clothes right before we entered the city, and I was well-rested. I even reprimanded Cath for not thinking about it on her own.

"Stop wasting my time, I'm still your Princess. Just do as I said." I demanded, turning to face her. My jaw dropped. "Who the hell are you?"

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?" She asked with a worried expression. I could tell it was fake, but I had no idea who she was until I remembered what that witch told us in the orc's village. "You don't recognize your most loyal servant? It must have been a very tiring road."

She looked almost as young as me. Her blonde hair had a silky shine dancing in the light breeze. Her pretty face was unrecognizable. No, that annoying wrinkled hag face was unrecognizably pretty and young. She wasn't wearing her usual worn-out gray clothes either.

She wore purple from top to bottom.

Something was not right. My mind screamed danger, but I couldn't move. Her smile was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

"W-what happened here?" I could barely stutter as the soldiers were on the move again, aggressively nudging me toward the main temple.

"This is what I'd like to know too, Your Highness." She claimed, waving for me to move. "Or should I call you the Impostor?"

"What? You will pay for your insolence." I tried to resist them. "Lead me to your King, or I'll make sure you all lose your heads."

"I'm afraid I can't bother the King right now..." She shook her head as the troops tried to drag me away. "He ordered three days of mourning for the death of his only daughter. These are dark times for Sanctuary."

"What are you talking about? I'm right here." I screamed, but one of the soldiers put his filthy hand over my mouth. I couldn't believe it. How did they dare to touch me? And say such nonsense that Papa was mourning me? I thrashed as much as I could, but they quickly surrounded me from all sides to drag me off the streets.

"It is truly despicable that you try to imitate the adored Princess Elizabeth, but we will get to the bottom of this soon." The young-looking Elder declared while I was taken towards the dungeons. I've been in that place before when a maid ticked me off. I sent her down there to teach her a lesson and visited her a few days later for a good laugh. But these scum were dragging me as if I was the criminal here. No matter how much I tried to fight them, that woman wouldn't stop smiling. I wanted to wipe that terrifying grin away...

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"I have to assume you took part in the Pope's plans too, right?" She asked later as I got dragged through the dungeon's corridor.

"What are you even talking about?" I screamed now that my mouth was no longer covered. "You will pay with your lives for this. Let me go immediately, don't you dare to oppose your Princess, or else..."

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." She spoke softly. "His Holiness already escaped to Saipole, but we won't let him run forever. And as much as I hate to take the burden, I'll make sure he will pay for his sins. Just like the Goddess of Luck, for her crimes against humanity, and the Demon Lord of the Lesser Races. They will all be subjected to my judgment, all in time, once I'm elevated into godhood myself."

"You? A god? What brought this on?" I laughed hysterically. Things seemed so surreal that I might have lost my mind already. "There is no place for a joker like you in the great Cranta Pantheon. End this nonsense."

"I never said anything about the Cranta Pantheon." She kept smiling. It sent a chill down my spine. "I don't want to have anything to do with the traitors of humanity. Their time is over, it ended a decade ago."

She stopped in the corridor, grinning as the soldiers took me deeper. The place seemed empty apart from us and smelled terrible.

"I'm afraid you won't see the truth in my words, but I can promise you, the continent’s fate will be safe with me." She claimed before turning around. "But for that, I need to leave you now. Make sure nobody sees her. Keep her alive in case I need to question her later..."

With that, she casually walked away, and no matter how much I screamed and thrashed myself, the soldiers dragged me into the very last cell on the dark corridor. I still couldn't believe this was happening.

I wanted to wake up from this nightmare or someone to say it was all just a joke. I would have tried my best to laugh and wipe my tears away, but I had never been this scared in my entire life. Not even when we got ambushed near the pass... Cath was there with me.

Even after that ogre kidnapped me, she was right behind us. She did not rest until she caught up. Sure, I almost died too, but she was ready to sacrifice herself for me... I didn't deserve that, but why wasn't she here now? It was her duty to protect me and take me to Papa.

Instead, these strange soldiers wearing the royal colors took me away. They threw me into a dungeon cell. It was cold and dark and smelled terrible. This was no place for a Princess, but I could do nothing to resist them. I was too weak and treated like a nobody. Or rather, the enemy itself.

I felt like if that heavy steel door closed, it would be over. I'd be left here to rot and disappear without anyone knowing. Princess or not, I had no hope of escaping. I watched a guard grabbing the bars, ready to slam the door shut. They laughed at me thrashing...

But the door never closed.

At first, I didn't hear the yell from their chattering, but they weren't either. They only noticed once the two closest to the exit were promptly wiped away. Smashed against the walls of the narrow corridor, a third one was struck down before they could react. My ears rang from the loud metallic clang, and I didn’t understand what happened but the guards in gold fell, one after the other.

Almost half of them were on the ground before they managed to strike back. The one attacking them was a head shorter, yet they could not stop them. The cell door was kicked open right before it closed for good, but I was too confused to move.

"Come on, Princess, before the reinforcements arrive!" I heard the attacker shout while they fought like a whirlwind. Yes, the paladin was not messing around, I had to remind myself.

But it took me a few moments to realize...

The soldiers were almost all down, the remaining few dropped their weapons, cowering in fear in a corner of the corridor. I made my way toward the exit, stumbling as if sleepwalking and my rescuer urged me to no avail. Once they grabbed my hand, I was almost flying.

Guards came pouring in right before we reached our freedom, but they couldn't stand in our way. With the momentum and a single swing of that huge falchion, the path was open again. The guards seemed lost as to who to attack and how. They hesitated if they should wound me or not, but my rescuer did not give them time to think.

One parry, a low swipe, a stab, and another wide swing later, we were in the main temple’s courtyard. More of them came, all wearing this cursed golden armor, but we cut through them. Everyone seemed confused, I probably the most.

The short blue hair flew around with every strike. Our path cleared, and I could barely keep up. We only stopped when the young Elder suddenly turned up again, imposing in the middle of the courtyard.

"Ah, the Captain of the Guard." She yelled at us. "Welcome back, Catherine. I told your former deputy to give you my heartfelt greetings, but that royal bastard is useless after all... Good thing I was nearby."

I didn't even realize until she told me. It was Cath, dragging me behind herself. Of course, it was her, raging like a bull. How could I ever doubt her? She came to my rescue...

"So Lambert was right after all." She shouted across the courtyard. "You pulled the strings all along, and to think a necromancer was hiding in the highest echelons of the Cranta Church?"

"See? That boy had potential. Did he die?" The Elder asked, laughing. The soldiers tried to encircle us. "He had his wits, too bad he was such a coward... But it doesn't matter now. From the start, I had to do everything myself. Guards, kill the traitors."

The circle of soldiers suddenly shrunk around us, but Cath wasn’t idling either. She mumbled some sort of prayer, then disappeared. At one moment, she was right next to me, in the next, she swung her sword at the enemy. No matter their numbers, they couldn't stop her. The Elder laughed, raising her hands towards her. She blinded me momentarily, a lightning bolt leaving her palms...