“Are you sure you should be eating that much food?” Commented Yhaine as she lightly took a bite out of her burger, she chewed on it, face thoughtful, then said, “that's kind of… too much right?”

She turned to Zyra who shrugged before eyeing the small plate of food that Lucille was eating, it was more or less full, with plenty of bread and a load of fries present on the entire thing, and sauces of different kinds were on either side of the plate, Lucille dipped her food on them occasionally.

Yhaine frowned, “... I think that it's too much,”

“I'm gonna train later so it's fine,” Lucille replied with an upbeat tone, “for that, I'm gonna need all the food I can get and besides! I've been saving so much for this day and it finally came!” She grinned before continuing to stuff herself silly.

“According to what I've heard,” Zyra started, “the princess eats much more than a single plate, and all of it is meat, too,”

Surprised at what she just heard, Lucille looked up and eyed her friend, her blue hair at the moment was tied into a ponytail instead of being left free on her shoulders, it made her look pretty, Lucille thought, and the gazes directed her way were proof that. Zyra swallowed her food then added, “I think those are just rumors though, after all, they claim that the princess eats entire tables of meat and really? With that figure? There's no way!”

Lucille nodded in agreement, with how good princess Neophyte looked, there's simply no way that she eats that much food, how would that make sense? The answer is simple- it doesn't, and where does she even store all of that? There’s simply no way.

Humming, Yhaine pressed her back against the cushions of her chair and looked around, “honestly, with how excited you were, I thought that you were gonna start exploring the place, not… you know, this,” she said, clearly wanting the topic to change, in response to her words, Lucille simply shrugged, it's literally advertised that the food here is personally designed by the princess! Of course she wanted to taste Neophyte's cooking first instead of exploring the place! That was common sense!

Zyra smirked, “so, is the food everything you thought it would be?”

Lucille gulped, “uh, yeah!” She replied with excited nods, “and this place is honestly so amazing-” she eyed the restaurant, with its cheap food, playground for children, and light colored furniture, it feels like it was meant to please the masses and make them feel at home while staying here and Lucille can only silently compliment the princess’ genius when it comes to designing building decorations and color coding- “it's so colorful,”

“Definitely beats the gloomy atmosphere of a regular restaurant yes,” Yhaine nodded, “though, I suppose that gloominess disappears the moment that you bring in a date and instead, all that darkness and candlelight becomes “romantic” or so my sisters claimed but honestly? Eh.” Lucille and Zyra smiled, “I think that's bogus but also, I have never done it so what do I know?”

“Do… you think the princess has had dates before?” Lucille asked just as the thought came to her mind.

“Uh, no?” Yhaine answered, “it's only been recently revealed that the princess actually likes girls so chances are, all those guys that went to the castle in order to “court her” were denied, the complete opposite of what their claims of “bedding her” or some such,”

“Horseshit!” Lucille uncharacteristically cursed, causing her friends to turn to her, how can they say that they've slept with her?! “Everyone knows that the princess is pure!”

“Yeah… about that-” Yhaine said with a small wince, “she brought two girls to her room a few nights ago,”

“Oh-” the girl's face fell, “but that's fine! I think- I… don't really mind if the princess has…” her face turned red and the ears of her companions had the same crimson shade, “... bedded people before.”

Before her imagination ran wild in all the wrong ways, Lucille went back to her food and so did her friends. She silently ate, and as she stuffed herself, she couldn't help but start wondering if what Yhaine claimed was actually true, did the princess actually sleep with two people?..

“Do you think that princess Neophyte will… you know, marry anyone?” Asked Lucille.

“The vassal hood yesterday is an unofficial marriage between Neophyte and Zathania I think,” Lucille's eyes widened, what? She was there and she could've sworn that the princess was holding a sword- Yhaine's hum stopped her thoughts from escalating any further, “apparently the two have had a romantic relationship for quite some time now but chose to hide it,”

“Why?” Zyra asked.

“I dunno,” replied Yhaine with a shrug.

When they were done eating and paid for all their food, they decided that staying inside the restaurant simply wasn't worth the time so they left.

Yhaine asked them something as they got out of the door, “So… you guys wanna go somewhere else after this?” She asked the two as they stepped onto the sidewalk, “you know, just hang out, get to know each other? That sort of thing?”

“I…” Zyra trailed off while Lucille couldn't help but once again eye the streets of Everlast-

She really couldn't get enough of it, and she's sure that even if she'd seen this scene over a thousand times, she would still feel a sense of appreciation at the architecture found across the city; with its wide roads full of carriages of varying sizes, either owned or rental, buildings of extreme height, reaching apexes of 8 stories tall while the shortest stood at 2, all of them built with light, cream colored walls and circular windows while their doors contrasted the colors of the walls with their own dark brown coloration.

Lucille was in awe as she stared at the bustling streets- her village didn't… have that many people in it, that much is true and she could even go as far as saying that she appreciated it but seeing this many people in person makes her realize that she's really not the only human that's living on this world; that there are hundreds of them, all with their own stories. Both the good and the bad kind.

And… they all need protecting.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Lucille felt something inside of her flicker for a brief moment- as the feeling passed her heart, she couldn't help but want to promise to keep the smiles of the children as they played, the light laughs of girls as they reacted to the jokes of their lover, and the soft smile of mothers as they watched over their sons and daughters- Lucille eyed the busy streets: all of this? All of this needed to be protected and she swore she would do so, she'll get stronger and she'll help slay the Demon Lord and end keep his iron claws away from humanity for another 50 years- until another hero arises-

“Hey, you okay?” Hearing her friend's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and Lucille realized that she was dazing off and she caught herself before nodding at Zyra, “you sure?” She asked again.

“Yeah,” Lucille replied with a smile.

“Well, if you're sure,” Zyra nodded and reluctantly turned away, “okay, so, uh, I don't think I want to go,”

“Where?” Lucille asked.

“The park, some shops, the market, the like,” Yhaine shrugged before locking gazes with Lucille, “do you want to go?”

“I… don't think so,” she shook her head in response, “I have a lot to do back home so…”

“Suit yourselves,” Yhaine shrugged, “so… you two are leaving right?” Both she and Zyra nodded at the same time, “okay.” Yhaine sighed, “I'll just uh, call a carriage from here, do you want me to do that for you two or?..”

“No- no!” Lucille tried to wave off the awkwardness that was starting to form between them, “We're fine- I think. Right?” She turned to Zyra, hoping that she can do something.

“Yes,” Zyra nodded, “we're going to uh, leave now.”

“Yep.” Lucille agreed, “See you at school?”

“See you at school,” Yhaine smiled as though the atmosphere wasn't chokingly awkward, “I know we'll see each other again,”

“Yep!” Lucille agreed, brighter and chipper this time, she started walking, “see you Yhaine! It was nice meeting you!”

With a wry smile on her face, Yhaine waved, “Bye-bye.”

And with that, the trio parted- on good terms despite the awkwardness by the end of their “trip” and Lucille couldn't be more thankful for Yhaine, the atmosphere just now was getting hazardous that if she didn't hear Yhaine's casual tone, Lucille would've kept herself down until they awkwardly inched away from each other. She turned to Zyra, “so, where do you usually descend from?”

“Well… I live on the southern edge of the territory so…” Zyra trailed off and Lucille sighed.

“I get it,” she said, “I stay around the western edge, uhm, see you,” when Zyra nodded, she parted ways with her and walked till she reached the airstrip at the edge of Everlast, she picked herself a quaint and humble looking Pegasus Carriage and sat there in silence, wondering if she'll get to pass the entrance exam or not.

Her thoughts didn't really go anywhere concrete though- mostly thanks to a kid who kept saying that she was pretty, - and by the time she really started to worry about the question of her getting accepted into the academy or not, the carriage had arrived to her village; a tiny collection of homes that numbered around 20 or so, with houses made of wood and roofs and ceilings of the same material layered with thatch and hay on top, the place was as humble as it can get.

The carriage came down and so did Lucille, she paid the coach and waved the kid she was talking to goodbye, “see you!” She said with a smile before closing the door, “well, that's that,”

She sighed, now, time for her to face the rest of the day, which is to say, the questions and expectations of her parents- and oh look, here they come now! Her mom and Dad walking out of the walls of the village and running by their feet were her siblings, short and still young, they ran forward with happy smiles plastered on their faces before the oldest of them- Gav, - tackled Lucille and bumped his head against her stomach, she rubbed his hair, “hey,”

“Lucille!” Gav cried out, that was the first thing that he did, it made Lucille giggle, “Terry told me that you're dead and that you're never coming backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk-

Lucille tried to stop her giggles from turning into amused laughter, Gav wouldn't like it if she did that, “did he now?” Controlling herself, she hummed as the rest of her family started to near, “well, tell your friend that he's wrong, Gav,” she continued rubbing his head, “because I came back!” Gav looked up and met her eyes, “come on, let's go, I need to talk to mom,”

The second oldest- Caila, - ran forward with her hands waving around, “did you meet the princess?!” She asked with excitement in her voice, “did you?! Did YOU?! DID YOU-”

Her mother grabbed Caila's head and pulled her back, “I think that's enough,” she said before smiling at Lucille, “how'd it go?”

Lucille sighed, “better than what I expected,” she smiled, “the princess saw me once and immediately recognized what my Pledge actually is- a sanguine.”

“Really?! That means you can get stronger right?!” Lucille nodded at what Gav said, “so did you talk to her?!”

Lucille smiled, “I did,” she answered, “actually, she was one of the people overseeing my exams,” which, Lucille thought, showed the true difference between the princess and everyone else when it comes to being a Pledge Bearer, the Academy wouldn't just allow some random girl- let alone a first year, - to oversee the entrance exam after all, “she said that I can be like her one day,”

That type of thought brought a smile to Lucille's face and she rubbed the head of Gav again without thinking about it. Her mother walked forward and smiled, “so, was the Academy what you thought it would be?”

Lucille beamed, well, what she wanted to say could come later, “yep! And after I finished the exams, my friends and I- all girls, don't worry!” She corrected when her mom narrowed her eyes and her Dad puffed his chest, jeez, they can't just leave her alone can they?! “But we went to the princess’ restaurant and-”

…

Dark. It was Dark. The candle had been blown and its orange light is no longer illuminating the room, and the only solace from the darkness would be the moonlight coming down from the small window right next to her bed, shining down on her and making her feel safe.

Lucille dropped back down to her bed once she realized that it was still dark, she stared at the ceiling as Gav's snores- really, this is why she hates it when its his turn to be here during the sleeping rotation, - started to erupt from the bottom bunk, the wooden ceiling colored in dark brown she was staring at is… something that she is used to, but she always knew that she wanted more than this, more than… her current, repeating life that's duller than her father's sword every time he goes back from the forest after a cull of the local monster population.

She sighed, her room wasn't much, well, her and her siblings’ room wasn't much, with it being a small space within their house, it's nothing more than a glorified storage room, with a bunk bed and a few chairs to make it feel homey, her own personal touches were there too, she supposed; there's the table with all the books that she studies with- both ones that she got from the library located a town away here, as well as the ones that the princess had given to her village, - and her own loom is here too, a tiny machine that she uses to make clothes and practice weaving.

As she eyed her loom, Neophyte's words came back to her- “How precise is your control over Light?”

Lucille didn't really know how to answer at the time but the day has passed and she has thought it through- could she really be more talented than she thought she was? The thought of the rather slow running speed of both Zyra and Yhaine cemented that fact in her mind and Lucille couldn't help but think; should she go with her father to start slaying monsters?

The letter wouldn't arrive for another two days, that much she knew, so should she prepare herself before she went to the academy and… grow her Pledge? She never really thought about it before- the want to prepare, to have enough backups in order for her to pass despite her meager Pledge had been the only thing in her mind all this time and the more she thought about it, the more she realized just how much hard work she put into her current skillset.

So… should she go out and hunt monsters? She should be powerful enough to handle the ones residing in the outskirts of the inner forest-

A knock on the door attracted her attention and Lucille's head was brought down from the clouds and back to the real world, where the reality of her weak Pledge is evident from the small blade resting on her stomach, she recalled it and turned away from the ceiling to face the door, which opened, causing light to break into the room, orange and flickering as the candle that her mother held stayed strong despite the light wind coming from her window, “Lucille?” Her mother's voice rang out, “are you awake?”

She nodded, “I am,” she climbed down and met her mother's eyes.

“You said you wanted to talk to me about something earlier,” she said and Lucille nodded, her mother gestured for them to get out of the room and Lucille followed after her as she walked out, the door closed and her mother faced her, “what is it?”

“Hey, dad,” Lucille waved at the other person standing in the hallway, “well- since you're both here,” she started, “I want you to know that I'm going to the forest and will try to kill a monster,” she replied, “I know this is a bit sudden but…” she called her Pledge, “... the princess said that I actually have a Sanguine Pledge so… you know-”

It felt awkward and unnerving at the same time and Lucille can only push herself to keep talking even as her parents eyed her in worry, she didn't feel confident in herself but… she had a genuine fight earlier today, sure, it was against slow dummies but it was a fight nevertheless, and she realized back then that maybe… the world is smaller than she thought it was, that things aren't… as bad as they really are- she sucked in a lungful of air and made her resolution clear, “I want to help you both, and to do that, I need to be stronger, so will you let me kill monsters?”

“...” her mom and dad locked gazes with each other before her father's sigh broke the unspoken conversation, he stepped forward, “... if you want to, then I can't stop you,” he smiled, “I just… hope that you'll come back safe and alive,”

“I will,” Lucille will make sure she does.

She knew her parents would accept, they were exactly the type to do that, they've never yelled before and… well, she knew that they loved her. But hearing it from them directly feels… it feels nice.

She hugged them and she wanted to freeze time so that the moment can last forever.