Serena just received a letter from her kingdom. It was about the news that the Samalanra kingdom had just announced that they would launch an all-out attack on the Elf Kingdom Evermist. They had finally decided to end it all in this final attack.

But of course, no matter how outnumbered and outperformed, the elves wouldn't just give up like that. They would fight until their last breath.

In other words, they all would die.

Serena sat inside her room, holding the letter with trembling hands. She knew that her peaceful days wouldn't last forever, but she still wasn't ready for this to happen now.

"Are you okay, Princess?" Altea asked. The silver-haired elf looked at her, worried.

"Yes--no, I'm not," Serena said. At first, she wanted to act tough, but in the end, she just didn't feel like doing that. She wasn't okay, this whole situation wasn't okay, and she was scared.

Altea came closer to her and suddenly hugged her.

"I'm sorry, that was a stupid question," Altea said.

Serena let out a small laugh. "Sorry, I can't act more like a princess," she said, still in her maid's embrace, feeling terrible.

"Not at all," Altea said. "You do what you can. I'm pretty proud of you."

"Really?" Serena said.

"Really," Altea replied.

"Even if I decide I won't join the fight?" Serena asked.

"I will support you whatever you decide," Altea said, releasing her hug. "But I know you won't just run away."

"But what if I actually do, though?" Serena thought to herself. After all, she wasn't the real Princess Serena. She didn't need to die with her kingdom.

But even so, she couldn't really say that.

Serena sighed. "It was just around two weeks since we taught Prince Casper's knights how to use guns. I didn't think they were ready to use them in a real fight yet, but..."

Altea nodded. "There was no other choice," she said. "At first, I wasn't sure how things would go with this alliance, but now I know that their help was the only way we could win this fight."

"So, my decision to work with Aurora was a good one, right?" Serena said, a little excited that she had done something right for once.

"Yes," Altea said. "Unfortunately."

"What do you mean, unfortunately?" Serena pouted her cheeks.

"Why are you so fond of her?" Altea said. "I just don't get it."

"What is it?" Serena grinned. "Are you jealous?"

"Forget it," Altea said, a little annoyed.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Serena giggled.

Joking aside, she hoped that Aurora was there. Aurora was the only one with whom she could talk freely about anything. Not to mention, she seemed smart, she might have given her a solution to this problem.

But there was no point in thinking about that. To begin with, one of the reasons Aurora had gone was to collect materials for her. So she would be ungrateful if she hoped for more.

Serena stood up. "Let's talk with Prince Casper first," she said. "We have an agreement, but still, that doesn't mean he will help us send his knights to fight with us."

"You're right," Altea said, looking uneasy. "If he deemed that this fight was unwinnable, it's possible he won't want to get involved with our fight at all."

Serena gulped. That was the worst possibility. She obviously hoped that it wouldn't happen, but if it did, what would she do?

"Princess?" Altea said.

Serena shook her head. "Nothing, let's go."

They got out of the building and walked around, asking where Prince Casper was.

"I believe he was in his room," one of the guards said.

So they walked there.

"Anyway, where are the twins?" Serena asked while they walked. "I haven't seen them yet."

"I believe for the last few days, Salia has been getting close to a girl from the library named Sera," Altea said. "So I assume she's in the library. Talia, she might be tagging along."

"Talia and a book?" Serena said. "I can't picture that."

Altea giggled. "Yes, me too."

When they got close to Prince Casper's room, there were a lot of knights guarding, and they stopped them.

"I'm sorry, I know you're special guests, but we can't let anyone pass here without Prince Casper's direct order," one of the knights said.

"Then can I ask you to tell Prince Casper we want to talk? It's urgent," Serena said.

"Alright, please wait here," the knight talked to his colleague for a moment before his colleague ran to Prince Casper's room.

"Guarding his room this much?" Altea said. "Isn't this a little too excessive?"

"I'm not sure, but I heard his fiancée was sick or something?" Serena said. "And she didn't wake up for a long time. This was for protecting her, so nobody gets close to her when she's unconscious."

"I see," Altea said. "That makes sense then."

Not long after, Casper appeared. "I heard you had urgent business?" Casper said. "Then please follow me."

Prince Casper took them to a room not far from there. After they comfortably sat, Casper then asked, "So, what urgent business do you have with me?"

Serena picked up the letter she got from her pocket and gave it to Prince Casper.

"What is it?" Prince Casper asked as he received the letter.

"I got news from my father," Serena said. "Samalanra kingdom is about to launch an all-out attack on our kingdom."

Casper read the letter and understood. "So you're wondering if we will help you or not?" he guessed.

Serena nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

The elf princess and her maid looked uneasy.

Prince Casper smiled. "No need to make that face," he said. "Of course, we will. You and Aurora already made an agreement, right? I will do what I can to fulfill it."

"Thank you," Serena said, a bit confused.

He agrees because of Aurora? Serena thought. As expected of her best friend. Though she's not quite sure why.

***

The next day, they were already prepared to start moving. It wasn't clear when the fight would begin, but it was better for them to move as soon as possible.

Close to where Prince Casper's carriage was, a bunch of knights whispered with each other, glancing at Prince Casper and his companion.

"Hey, who do you think that girl was?" one of the knights whispered.

"Maybe his lover?" the other said.

"There's no way. He was obsessed with that Nova girl, right?" another knight replied.

"The one that's still unconscious?" another knight said. "But isn't she a criminal? She was involved with the rebel attack the other day, right?"

"Yeah, but nobody really knows how much her role was," the first knight said.

"But look at them, they're obviously close. I hope he just forgets about that Nova girl and goes with this one instead," the other replied.

"But who is she exactly?" one of the knights asked.

"I heard that she was an ex-adventurer who had already retired," one of them answered. "Do you see that she wears a mask? I heard she was attacked by a monster so badly that her face was ruined."

"That's right. I heard some adventurers will be joining us," one of the knights said, excited. "So she was one of them?"

"Probably."

"Hey, enough chit-chat!" a senior knight suddenly appeared near them. "Hurry up and get back to your own posts!"

The knights disbanded while the prince looked like he was having a serious talk with the girl.

"Were you sure about this, Nova?" Prince Casper asked the girl wearing a cloak and mask.

The girl kicked his leg. "Don't call me Nova when I look like this," she said.

"Right, sorry," Casper said. "You're... Viola Drewn."

"That's right," the girl said. "You better not make that mistake again."

"Okay, but were you sure about this?" Casper asked again.

The girl, who called herself Viola, sighed. "I didn't want to admit it, but Aurora's plan was great," she said. "But where was she when an important thing like this happened? She just randomly went on vacation without a care in the world! How stupid!"

"Well, I don't think she was going on vacation," Casper said. "She told me she was going to collect some materials for Serena--"

"Whatever," Viola cut him off. "The point is, she wasn't here. And someone had to do her job of commanding our knights. That's why I'm doing this."

"I can do it," Casper said.

"Are you stupid?" Viola said. "You're the only prince now, and your father is ill. There's no way I will let the future king command the knights from the front line. In fact, you shouldn't even come to the fighting ground at all!"

"I won't let you go if I'm not going too," Casper said.

"You're so stubborn," said Viola.

"You should say that to yourself," Prince Casper said, sighed. "I'm sorry, I guess in the end, the middle ground was that we come together. But were you sure nobody would find out? What if the body double got out of my room?"

"It's fine. I used my magic to put her in an endless night--I mean dream. She won't wake up until I decide she can," Viola said. "Except if she can use light magic, which she obviously can't. Unlike someone else."

She looked annoyed again, but this time, it was because she remembered Aurora.

"Prince," a knight said as he approached him. "Sorry to bother you, but we're all ready to go. Anytime you want."

Casper nodded. "Alright then," he said. "Tell everyone we will go immediately."

***