Yasuline and Merry would spend some time going through their memories with one another. A quick knock on the door frame calls for their attention. It was Elise.

"Princess Yasuline, you're keeping your party members waiting."

"Party members?" Yasuline asked, confused by the term.

"Yes, when you are in a group of adventures, they are often called parties. So, best to learn the terms now before you embarrass yourself." She says just before she leaves.

Yasuline adds a few more items from her room into the bag and closes the door behind her. He hangs onto the doorknob for a moment and let's go. As she walks down the halls, she takes another look of the hall and parts of the hallways that weren't damaged from the battles.

Knowing she would not see this place again for a long time, every little detail was now immeasurably important to her. Even the small dent she caused and hid behind one of the tables. She goes and checks to see it was there and sure enough, it was.

Smiling, she lightly touches it and continues to go down the hall, she could feel her sword bopping against her hip, the way her waist cape and scarf would lightly flow behind her. Some of the guards and maids would look at her, but she didn't mind it. To them now, she looked like a true adventurer.

At the main hall of the castle, she would see that her parents and the two boys that she would be traveling with waiting for her.

"There she is." Her father would state, back to his usual happy self. Her mother was a little less quiet but lightly wipes her eyes and gently waves hello to her daughter. Yasuline with a smile jumps right in front of them with a "Ta-Da!"

"Very nice. No idea where you found that outfit, but it sure suits you incredibly." Her father would comment to her as he lightly pats her head, messing with her green ribbon a bit. Her mother fixes it up to her and even straightens her hair a bit, no matter how futile it was.

"My little girl looks like the true adventurer she was born to be. I'm so proud of you." She would say, a single tear appearing.

"Geez, mom, no need to get so emotional. I'll be writing to you as much as I can."

"You better. Fail to, and I'll send Caliber to hunt you down and drag you back to your room."

"Yeah, please don't." She says, thinking of the only other time she actually did.

Queen Noria would smile at her and gives her a kiss on the forehead.

The large front doors of the castle begin to open up. Yasuline looks over in awe. She was always impressed with just how big and thick the doors were. It took two men on each door to open them. Looking outside, she would see that the gates at the walls were also opening up. People waved about into the interior. Yasu waves back, along with the King and Queen.

"I don't think they're waving at you, kid." The man in the dark clothes whispered to her. Confused she looked at the crowd again and noticed where their eyes were focusing on. It was toward her father and mother.

Her mother would notice the confusion and explained it. "Caliber went to inform the public about what happened and let them know that your father and I are safe from the White Reaper.

"We specifically left out your involvement and that you are about to leave to go on an adventure. If people knew about you, they would be bothering you with gifts for favoritism and the matter. Happened to me and I learned to keep it all hush hush until I couldn't hide it."

"Oh, right." She says and then looks back to the crowd. The man in dark clothes and the child in the blue robe would begin to walk down. Yasuline hesitates for a bit and then starts to follow them behind. She tightly holds onto the strap of her bag and the handle of your sword.

"Yasuline, don't hold your sword unless you're worried about your safety. Most take it as a threat." Her father called out.

"Be sure to remember what I taught you about flowers. In case you need to heal yourself! Green means health! Red means energized!" Her mother also yelled out some advice. Yasuline would only nervously smile and nod at them as she continued to walk forward.

The sunlight beamed down when she hit the stone path that connects the front door to the gate. Each clank of her boots against them felt like they were part of her own heartbeats.

The doors to the gates were still opened, but she expected them to close and hear her father laugh behind her as a form of prank. Then, she finally stepped in the frame of the gate. People that were crowding in front of her were still preoccupied with seeing the king and the queen. Looking into the crowd, she would see a hand sticking out to her. Thinking it was the man in dark clothes, she would reach for it. They would pull her into the crowd and basically acts like a shield to push people to the side so she could get through them all.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Once the two finally made it behind the crowd, Yasuline pants a bit as she had to hold her breath. The feeling of suffocating was messing with her mind.

"Thanks for that. That's a lot of people together."

"Thank nothing of it, Yasu." They replied

'Yasu?' Nobody calls me that, except...

She turns her head up. She looks and sees Ann, smiling down at her.

"Ann!" Yasuline says happily.

"Where you been, was waiting for you for days now." Ann would complain. Putting her hands on her hips, taking a stance like her mother.

"I- I was resting apparently. Least that is what my mom and dad said."

"Really? Well, you're here just on time to say goodbye. I was about to leave soon."

"Leave? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Fortress Town for a bit. Gonna invest some of my new riches to refurbish my grandparents' place."

"And then after that?"

"Who knows. Retire and whatever I want."

"That sounds great. I'm traveling too. Want to come with me?" Yasuline asked, excited in having another party member that she could talk to and be familiar with.

"Sorry, I already have my own carriage. Best horses in the capital. Should be there in less than two days. What about you? Does your group need a ride?"

"Nope! We are going to be going the old way." A voice spoke up. Both girls turning to face it. Seeing that it was the man in dark clothes that Yasuline would be traveling. Ann's face immediately flushes red at the sight of him.

"R-really? That's a real shame. I hope you change your mind."

"I wish I could, but I have my rules. But you said you would be over at Fortress City, huh? Maybe we can stop by."

Ann seems to be stunned by such a promise and nods excitedly, lightly biting into her lip.

"Well then, if you excuse me and the princess, we'll be on our way."

"Y-yes. Right, I think I hear the horses impatiently stomping for me. I better go. See you in the future, Yasu." She would say as she was still fixated on looking at the man and only at the last minute did she have to turn around.

"She sure is a real cutie. Might be an inexperienced one." He would mumble to himself.

"What does that mean?" Yasuline asks."

"Nothing you should worry about if you have to ask, Yasu. Come on, we can't keep the boss waiting." He would say and pats her on the head before going on ahead.

"Boss? Yasu?" She repeats as she follows him.

"That's what I said." He would continue to say. Just then, the other one, the child with the blue robes runs to him and hugs him playfully with a giggle.

The three of them would push their way through the road. Yasuline looks around her once again, looking at how the town looks to be normal and at the same time different. Up ahead of them, she could see the main gate of the capital where some guards she actually never met before stood by and watched people come and go. As she passed by, she expected them to stop her and tell her to go back. But they didn't. In fact, they never even made eye contact with her at all. As if she was invisible.

She had finally stepped out of the capital's gate. The environment on the other side of the gate looked so surreal. Endless and endless amounts of lands that stretched further than she could possibly see. There was no wall preventing her to see. Nothing stopping her from just running forward and keep running until her stamina was depleted.

"The boss is waiting for us just up ahead, on the other side small hill." The man in dark clothes would state as he lets out a sigh, breathing in the open air and begins to walk forward again. The small child would lightly skip next to him.

Yasuline would also take in a deep breath. The air tasted so much different. It felt easier to have it flow through her body. She could taste hints of the smell of grass and other floral. 'Is this what freedom tastes like?' She wondered.

"Yasu, hurry up! Even I don't try to test his patience." They called out to her. They were a fair distance away from her. She starts to run over to him. She wonders who could their boss be. As she thought more, she remembered that he referred to a "boss". Nobody spoke about another person being added to the party. Was it someone else she wouldn't know?

She slowed down as she neared the top. Shocked, she sees someone standing with the two party members of hers. She couldn't make them out like the one in dark clothes was tall and his body was in the way.

As she gets closer, she can see that it was none other than the White Reaper himself.

"N-no way." She mutters as she starts to speed up on her walking speed and then pushes the two out of the way to see him.

The White Reaper simply waved at her without uttering a word.

"Where have you been all this time!? You didn't even check up on me?" She says, partly angry and partly happy to see him.

He simply shrugs and looks over at the other two.

"So where are we going to now? Are we really going to Finnoe?" He would ask.

"Hold on. What do you mean? What is going on?" She asks. Getting completely confused as to what it is that was going on.

"Ain't it obvious, we, as a party, are going to do this quest that the king assigned us to." The man in dark clothes would explain.

"Yup! We going to the dark lands!" The small child would add.

"Okay, that's fine and all, but I don't even know you guys. Actually, I don't even know your names. And you think mine is Yasu!"

"That's what your virgin friend called you. Isn't it what your friends called you?"

"I-, well, only she did." She tried to argue more, as if it was something natural to her with him, but couldn't.

"It's a good name." Someone said.

"Yeah, I supposed it is. She agreed. Then she pauses and thinks. 'I don't recognize that voice.'

"Who said that?"

"The boss did." The man in dark clothes replied.

She turns to the White Reaper and she nods.

"Say something again."

He would look at her for a moment and then say. "Something again."

"You CAN talk!." She shouts.

"Of course he can."

"Yasuline, it is pretty rude to shout."

"And you don't call me by that name?"

"Thought you didn't want me to." He would reply

"Well, I don't dislike it. But I don't even know yours."

"Oh, my name is Naxelence Zero Dark."

"Naxelence. How about I call you Naxiro then."

"I was thinking the same thing, Yasuline Mona Lights."

"Well," She then raises her hand up. "My name is Yasu. I look forward to traveling with you."

He reaches out to her hand and lightly shakes it. "Naxiro, here's to your many adventures ahead."

-End of Volume 1: Castle Chronicles-