"Weak! Your new bride will break you if you are this weak" I taunted Leon

"Shut up Crimson!" Leon quickly retorted

"That's it, little brother, use that rage" 

I blocked his downward slash and shifted it's weight, letting it slide off my blade. Taking this opening I struck his abdomen, my kick sent him flying away, dropping his sword. There was no movement...crap did I hit him too hard?

"Nurs-" I was about to call the nurse before a bright light engulfed the training yard.

A lustrous golden mane, with a furious face of a predator to match.

"Oh, I see you are serious enough to use embodiment"

"Crimson!!!"

He lunged at me, he is heavier than the usual lion but much stronger as well. I dodge to the right as I hear the sound of his claws ripping through the air

"Crims-"

I dropped my sword and sunk my knuckles into where I assumed his lungs would be.

"You talk way too much in the middle of a fight, Come! Stand!"

Leon forced his body to rise even though it clearly refused to.

"Your body is weak, you have no means of escape, in this scenario...Struggle, Struggle as much as you can to survive, the last one to keep drawing breath is the winner, now stand!"

Staggering side to side, he managed to finally stand upright.

"Good! let's conclude here for today we have already been at it for 3 hours now"

"I can...still keep going"

"Listen, Leon...Being foolhardy isn't a good trait of a warrior, if you can't win there is no shame in running away to strike again, the one to keep drawing breath is the winner after all"

When I said that he returned to his human form, golden hair and light brown eyes that seemed as if they were pools of honey. "Rest your muscles, it will help them repair." He finally passed out as I said that.

It was nearing the end of the day so I headed to my room to have a bath to cleanse myself from the sweat. The warmth of the bath gave me time to think. I used to be the crown prince so originally it wouldn't have been Leon but instead me that should have gotten married. I'm no longer crown prince due to certain circumstances and so the marriage fell onto him. He barely hit 18, to give him a burden that he doesn't deserve causes me pain.

I was quite tired but after the bath and couldn't help but drift...asleep.

"THE DRAGON TRIBE PRINCESS IS HERE!"

I was awoken by the shouting and hurried movement of the maids. I slept straight to morning, huh?

I slowly got up.

"Young master! You are awake"

A maid with violet hair, blue eyes with no emotion whatsoever expressed on her face quickly came into the room accompanied by a group of maids.

They quickly helped me to change.

"Hey! Hey! I can change my clothes...Oi! Not my trousers!" 

It was a long and tedious process.

{Alena-Princess-Point Of View}

My heartbeat raced incredibly quickly, it felt as if a second of carelessness could cause it to leap out of my mouth. A 100 years could not be simply resolved by a single wedding, could it? Either way, I have to place all my hopes on this...for my people. The lands here are much more vast than at home, so much so that it has taken roughly a week to reach here. What if...this long journey was to tire us out in order to strike the final blow.

I couldn't help but start to shake...no, I wouldn't shake. I grit my teeth and increased my own determination.

Knock!

A sound came from next to the carriage, I opened the closed curtain, a handsome lively face with brown hair and eyes greeted me. 

"Are you all right princess?" 

"Stop with the jokes, you know I don't like being called that...especially by you"

"Right, my apologies, Alena, my question still stands though" 

"Nothing...I was just slightly nervous"

"I understand, we are in the enemies territory, it would make even the strongest of will waver but you need not worry Alena, i will make sure nothing harms that smile of yours, it is my duty to protect you after all"

"R-right, thank you" I tried my hardest in stopping my face from becoming red. 

Cleo rode back into position with the other 5. I wish I could be honest with my feelings for him but now's not the time for that.

"Halt! This is a restricted area"

"We have permission from the royal court! Make way for the dragon princess,'bride-to-be' of the Crown Prince!"

The leader of the people protecting me, Edgar, held out the scroll marked with the Insignia of the crown.

Ahhh! How embarrassing!

"Ah! Forgive us! Please allow us a moment! Quick send word, the princess has arrived"  

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A man quickly rushed into the large building behind him. It was a large golden palace with what seemed like pagodas on both sides. 

I wonder what the prince looks like. I was told that he had both the leadership and charisma of a Lion, I assume he probably will have just as many concubines. There are rumors of him being of high moral character so I hope we can at least get along. 

Okay! Stop being so nervou-

Thud! 

I looked to my left slowly and saw an arrow sticking next to my head.

"IT'S A TRAP!"

My heart started thumping again and I could feel blood rush to my head.  

"TO DEATH WITH THE DRAGONS!" 

"Cleo! escape with the princess!"

The door of my carriage was forced open as Cleo grabbed my hand pulled me into his embrace, his horse was much faster than the carriage so he quickly hopped back onto his horse with me in his arms. 

"Wait, Cleo, what about the others!" 

"We can't worry about that right now, don't let their sacrifice be in vain" 

He started to speed up, but the Felidae tribe had other plans for us. Another arrow quickly flew through the air and struck the horse causing us to fall off of it. 

"Are you hurt princess?" Cleo was the first to quickly recover and get up.  

"The Princess is here!"

"Quick Al, use your embodiment!"

"But I can only use it on my legs, it won't help fight"

"It's not to fight! Use it to run away, NOW!"

"I'm not just gonna leave you here!"

"This is no time to discuss this, if you live, so does our hope, I can't hold them off for long, GO!"

There were 7 different people coming to attack Cleo, even if he is the best fighter he can't handle that many at once. He had used embodiment on his arms and they were at the strength of a dragon but so had the attackers, they had used it on different parts of their body, some on their hands' others on their jaws.

However, the strength of a dragon was built differently. With one swing Cleo managed to take down one of the attackers, He spun his glaive and then struck another one. One of the attackers saw an opening and managed to strike his back with a sword, a fresh wound now apparent there. He was greatly weakened by it but managed to cut down the one that had struck him.

"Leave him and after the head of the princess!" One man yelled and ran past him towards me.

Inches away from me, an edged blade pierced through his head. It was Cleo's glaive, he had thrown it.  I looked at him, he was now fighting with a weapon from one of the attackers. I also saw some of the palaces guard fighting the attackers, were they not on the same side? The other men protecting me were still alive thankfully, however, the attackers seemed to increase in number.

"Why are you still here!? Run!" 

A man quickly brought down his sword and landed a blow on Cleo. 

That's right...why was I still hesitating. I know what to do! 

I felt power run through my body as if every single cell of blood was replaced with adrenalin. 

Another man swung his sword his blade at Cleo's neck, a blow that would kill him. 

Time seemed to slow as the sword was inches away from his neck...

My leg struck his face blowing him away. 

"Princess! What are you doing!?" 

"If I die, then I do so with my people" 

"Princess-"

"Shut up! Look, the palace guard are fighting as well, I don't think this is a ploy by the Felidae tribe, if it is, it sure is elaborate, now help me so we all may live" 

I grabbed the dagger at my waist. Cleo and I were now back to back. We managed to strike down a few attackers. 

That was when I felt it, I was struck in the side by a fist. I felt the air leave me behind. The world went silent. No, that wasn't quite right, I simply couldn't hear anything. I felt like I was flying, had I finally managed full-body embodiment? No there was no way things would turn out that happily, my fleeting hope came crashing down like my body. 

I looked at the man who had done this, half his body was transformed, the strength, the mane under his chin, a Siberian tiger? 

Is there no way we can win? Was our fate sealed the moment we thought we could stop this war? Was our hope of peace so wrong?

I could see Cleo yelling, "ALENA!!!" 

The world seemed to lose all its color.

The fist of the man aimed directly at my head

Forgive me...my people. 

BOOOM! 

My vision was quickly coloured in the scarlet of blood as sound quickly returned to my ears. A large blade landed heavily, embedding itself in the ground whilst separating the arm from the body of the man. Black hair and eyes contrary to his name, A distinctive large black bade that had the Insignia of the crown carved into it. The strongest soldier, once upon a time, the crown prince. He had arrived...

Crimson