When Katy awoke from her imprisonment, freed with nothing but a hazy memory, there was only one question on her mind: why the heck is there an engagement ring on my finger?!

It hadn’t been more than half a day since she found herself at the bottom of the tower, an uncertain feeling of dread accompanying her. Despite her missing memories, her mind screamed at her to go and see her father. Her father—the asshole who not only was the lord of the Ambertrix kingdom but also had the audacity to never visit her in all this time. Not even once.

Who could have thought that showing up there without any warning would turn out so badly?

“Miss Ambertrix, please halt!” the voices yelled after her again.

But Katy wouldn’t listen. She ran as fast as she could. Unfortunately, it wasn’t particularly fast.

“Get away from me, you freaking stalkers!” she shouted back.

Katy hadn’t expected the soldiers to be looking for her already, let alone to find her. But as she darted through the streets of Feratól, she began to realize why she’d been spotted so easily.

The people living down here seemed more than just poor—although that wasn’t necessarily true. They could have been rich, but simply from a different period of time.

Primitive. Old-fashioned. Dirty.

Katy must have stood out like a white rose in the desert.

The same went for the entire look of the city with its rundown appearance—more roof tiles missing than present—yet colorful decorations were scattered everywhere. Garlands hanging over the doors, confetti mixing with dirt on the ground.

Running through a crowded market place, countless citizens gawked at her, some astonished with mouths agape, others horrified, pulling their children aside. It wasn’t simply because of Katy’s appearance but more so the whole scene that must have baffled them. The chase, the soldiers—many of them—running after a white-haired girl dressed in crystalline warfare armor.

Katy lowered her gaze. The situation was humiliating, being stared at like an animal in a zoo. They must have assumed she was some kind of criminal. But really, she felt more like a clown than that. An involuntary clown. Even when no one was laughing, she could hear their voices in her head. From way back—in a life before the tower—where she had tried to meet expectations.

“Miss Ambertrix! Don’t force us to use violence!”

The soldiers couldn’t have been far; she heard them clearly.

Being the shut-in that she was, her lungs burned from exertion. Her eyes darted around for an escape—she had to find a way out! Otherwise, all these people—innocent humans—they would all…

She couldn’t bring the thought to an end.

If only she had made an Oath already, maybe she could escape them!

Everyone had to leave this island—evacuate. But where? Where would they even go? Feratól was supposed to be the safest island of all, hovering directly under Magicae, where the most powerful Oath Keepers resided.

Yet her father wanted to punish them. Punish them for whatever must have happened while she was locked up in that damn tower.

If she wanted to stop him, she had no choice but to fight. Fight these trained soldiers with her nonexistent abilities.

Boots slid across dirt, dust filling the air as she came to a halt in an empty alleyway. At least here, no civilians would be dragged into this.

Whirling around, she raised a hand toward the soldiers. “Halt!”

Her voice was exhausted—uncontrolled—but to her surprise, the soldiers did as she demanded. Even they looked surprised at that, eyeing each other questioningly. While yes, Katy was a noblewoman—the daughter of one of the so-called Big 5—the soldiers were the ones hunting her, not the other way around. Yet, the girl suddenly seemed so self-assured and composed that they simply obeyed. For now.

Using the moment of calm, she let her gaze sweep across their faces.

One, two, three…

Only three soldiers were after her?

Katy put on a smile, the men swallowing nervously. It was just as she thought; they knew exactly who they were dealing with here. To the public, she was still a big deal, after all!

With a trembling voice, one of the soldiers blurted out, “I b-beg your pardon, but we will escort you back home now,” taking a step toward her.

“I had ordered you to stay put,” Katy said. “Or do you wish to defy a potential heir to the throne?” She tried her best to sound intimidating.

The soldier’s eyes went wide. “Uh, n-no, of course not!”

Another soldier interjected, “That doesn’t make sense! If we obey her command, we’re defying Lord Ambertrix’s command!”

The nervous soldier nodded. “Yeah, right.”

Once that was settled, the three soldiers looked back at Katy, as if expecting her to solve the problem.

Katy hesitated. “Then… see it this way: If you defy me, I will kill you. For my father… he will only have you whipped or something.” She tilted her head with a faint shrug. “It’s up to you.”

“I w-want neither!”

“Yeah, both sucks!”

Frick! Katy cursed to herself, feeling her heart beat faster. What else could she offer to convince them? She’d be in real trouble if they found out that—

“Wait a minute…” the third soldier said, drawing the others’ attention. “I think she’s just bluffing!”

Oh, no. Please don’t—

“I heard the Lord’s daughter is a complete loser!”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“What? Really?”

“People say that Lord Ambertrix was so ashamed of her that he locked her high up in a tower!”

Once again, they looked at Katy, expecting an explanation from her. But her actions spoke louder than a thousand words ever could.

She dipped.

No bluff in the world would save her if they knew about the thing with the tower!

She kept running at a mediocre speed until a fourth soldier appeared ahead of her.

I knew it had been more than three!

“Please give up,” The soldier said, “You will only get hurt from any resistance.”

Give up? She didn’t even know those words. Besides, she would always make sure to hide one last card up her sleeve.

Clenching her fists, she screamed, her voice trembling with years of pent-up anger, “I VOW TO NEVER BECOME LIKE MY FATHER, OR MY LIFE SHALL END!!”

Taken aback, the soldiers halted in their tracks. Everyone stood silent for a moment. Knowing the power of the Ambertrix family, their hesitation was only natural, reconsidering whether they should risk making even a single move.

“Was that…” one began.

“Did she just swear an Oath…?” another muttered.

Katy stretched out a hand, opening it wide, palm facing the soldiers to both sides. “This is your last chance! Leave!”

The men glanced at each other.

“I said leave,” she repeated, smiling to herself.

Suddenly, a soft sound emerged, like rapid, shallow breaths, growing more erratic, more intense with each exhale. Katy looked back and forth between the soldiers on both sides, searching for the source.

A chill ran down her spine as she realized what the sound actually was.

First one soldier began laughing, then another, as if infecting each other. The sounds grew louder with every frantic exhale, morphing into a cacophony of unhinged, amused grunting.

“Hey, kid, I think you forgot something," one of them giggled, pointing beside her. Katy’s eyes followed, staring at her hair hanging over her shoulder. She paled when it hit her.

It’s still white… she thought, of course.

Seconds later, Katy lay on the ground, face pressed against the turquoise, crystalline pavement.

“She’s even more pathetic than I expected,” snickered the soldier pressing her down.

“Did she really think the bluff would work on us twice?!” laughed another.

“Careful!” hissed the third, silencing the others. “Don’t you forget: she’s a ‘heir to the throne,’” he wheezed mockingly, acting scared.

At that, all of them broke into laughter, again.

Katy stopped struggling. She just lay there, their laughter gnawing at her pride. Tears started rolling down her face.

She had failed. Again. The Oath hadn’t taken effect. She really was just the clown of her family—the outlier who could never live up to their standards.

No wonder Father wasn’t worried if I ran away, she thought. He must think I’m just a failure too.

Perhaps he’d even hoped she would betray him, so he could finally get rid of her.

What a joke! Everyone will die… just because I’m so useless!

Suddenly, a sharp sound cut through the laughter. A yell echoed in the distance before fading away. The pressure on her back lifted, allowing her to move freely. Hesitating for a moment, she got up, wiping her tears. She frowned at the sight of only three soldiers standing before her now. Their eyes were wide with terror.

Another sharp sound whizzed past her, ruffling her hair, before yanking away a second soldier.

It looked like the wind itself had clenched its hand around the man, shoving him through the alleyway like a fallen chess piece rolling off the board.

Confused, Katy stared after the men. Motionless, they stood pinned against the stone wall of a house. No, it was more like an unseen force pressed them against it.

Is that the power of an Oath? Katy wondered in awe.

However, observing the men further, she noticed what it really was.

Arrows.

Deep in the soldiers’ armor, arrows skewered them against the wall.

Yet she didn’t hear any cries of pain. Not a single sound escaped the pinned men. Had the arrows killed them instantly?! If so, this wasn’t just a skilled archer—this was an excellent one.

After the third had been eliminated too, the last remaining soldier glanced nervously between Katy and his comrades. She could feel his panic even before he screamed and ran, hoping to escape the attacker.

Katy knew she had to act quickly, too, if she didn’t want to meet their fate.

Seeking cover, she hid beneath a cart stand that barely covered her upper body. She exhaled shakily, only a hint of relief washing over her. Then, a dull scream echoed afar, making her flinch.

Katy swallowed hard.

Where was the archer? Where had they fired from? And more importantly, what was their goal?!

It seemed unlikely they were one of her father’s men, considering they had just taken out four of their comrades.

Much more likely would be that this was a bounty hunter after Katy herself. She was the daughter of one of the Big 5, after all. If her father didn’t hate her, there would be a lot of money to be made.

Nervously, she glanced around, peeking cautiously into the alleyway. Four soldiers pinned to the wall and nothing but silence.

There’s no blood, she thought, bewildered. Why isn’t there any blood…?

“Are you okay?” a voice casually asked beside her.

Katy whirled around, screaming and jumping up. Ready to fight, she aimed her palm against the stranger like she’d done with the soldiers before.

A brown-haired boy, his eyes barely reaching her chin, looked at her with his green-blue eyes.

“W-what do you want from me?!” she asked, her voice trembling.

A bow in hand and a quiver strapped to his waist; the clues didn’t bode well for him. And even less for Katy. She’d been caught, yet again.

“Nothing…” he pouted. “I just wanted to help.”

Katy grimaced, slowly walking backward until hitting a wall. She winced much harder than what suited the impact.

The boy tilted his head. “You look very pale,” he acknowledged worriedly.

“How did you do that?!” Katy asked, gesturing toward the skewered men. She didn’t take her eyes off the boy for even a second.

“Oh, well… I pinned them to the wall with my arrows.”

“Yes, I can see that! But those can’t be normal arrows.”

Suddenly, all the joy disappeared from the boy’s face. Panicking, he held his head. “Oh, no! Those were my last green-crystal arrows!”

“Green crystal…? What the heck is that supposed to be?”

When the boy opened his mouth to answer, he merely grimaced instead. Out of nowhere, a droplet rolled down his forehead. He watched it with squinted eyes as it slid to the tip of his nose. More drops followed, running down his cheeks this time.

Katy raised a brow. “What is that all about now?” she demanded.

But the boy didn’t seem to listen. Tilting his head to the sky, he frowned.

Katy flinched as she, too, noticed the drops on her face. Still, she didn’t understand his sudden bewilderment: they were just raindrops, after all.

“There are no clouds,” he muttered.

Then he looked at her again, this time more seriously—urgently.

Before Katy could speak, the boy moved his fingers, quickly notching two arrows, aiming them directly at her.