Part 1

Hey, my name is Maria, and I'm just an 18-year-old girl daughter of the chief of this tiny settlement.

Maria's settlement lives near the beaches of Britannia, and doesn't belong to any tribes; they're just dwellers. There are only a dozen or so houses roughly made of wood with a population of less than 50 people.

But this settlement still functions self-sustainably. Bread was made, wheat was farmed, fruits were harvested, water was boiled; anyone could live a typical normal life here.

Right now, Maria was walking along the village preparing to head into the trees to collect some sticks for her fire.

"Stay safe out there, will ya?"

A man that she knew working the fields waved to her with a smile.

"Of course, I will!"

Maria then ran toward the direction of the forest.

An hour later...

When in the forest, she immediately began to grab a bundle of sticks laying on the ground.

The area with trees wasn't as dense as a forest, nor was it an actual forest, but it was quite dark and damp. The trees were bark trees, so she ripped some bark off too.

Still, Maria could see the cloudy sky above her, it wasn't the warmest day today and as always, pretty cold. It even seemed like it was going to rain the next day.

Maria had her blonde hair tied into a ponytail, and she wore a simple brown leather dress with a dark brown belt. She was a cheerful girl and always had a smile on her face with an enthusiastic view on things.

Recently, she had heard rumors of some foreign invaders landing near the beaches and setting up camp, but she disregarded it since even if she wanted to care, there was nothing she could do.

"Hey, pretty lady."

Suddenly, from behind her, she heard a growling voice of an older man.

Although there were around 50 people in her settlement, she knew them all and memorised all their voices and names.

Even with that, she couldn't recognise the voice behind her at all.

Startled, she tripped on her feet, and fell beside a tree.

"Aaaah!"

The voice from behind her grabbed her arms and pinned her back against the ground. She was facing up, and could see the man in front of her.

S-Silver plated chest plate, a red shield, and a red dress... Could this be?

It was obvious that this man belonged to the army that invaded the beaches that she had heard about.

But it wasn't only him, there were a few other men behind him who wore the same armor, holding up their spears and shields menacingly.

"Hey... Maul, she looks pretty young, are you really going to do this?"

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Maul seemed to be the one holding Maria down, a soldier.

"I haven't seen a woman in years, shut the fuck up."

Maria's heart stopped.

D-Do what?

Maria knew what was going to happen. It was a consequence of war that even her mother fell victim to.

But, having it about to happen to her now... Was frightening.

"...Help."

She muttered those helpless words, silently.

Of course, the men around the man on top of her were on his side, they weren't gonna help. Instead, half of them looked on with evil expressions, the other half looked on with pity.

Maul, the man on top of her smirked as he grabbed her belt, unbuckling it.

"No! Please! Don't do this to me!"

Maria cried out, tears welling in her eyes.

"Shut the fuck up."

Maul shoved her before continuing to unbuckle her belt, but Maria grabbed his hand and resisted very violently.

No, this can't be happening... Please, stop it, please.

Maria felt helpless, like an ant swimming in a bucket of water. There was no way out, she couldn't scream because no one would hear her and the man on top of her was simply too heavy to push off.

Her mind numbed out, and a disgusting pulsating feeling came from her throat, she wanted to throw up.

Though, before Maul could undress Maria, a voice came shouting from behind.

"Calm yourself, Maul, let go of the girl. She's young."

A towering presence overshadowed both Maul and Maria, immediately, Maul got off Maria and stood at attention. The voice coming from it, despite sounding deep and scary, said words that saved Maria, bringing her to a heavy sigh of relief.

"Sir!"

"Sir!" x 7

All of the men, who had been watching earlier straightened their backs and put their hands to their sides professionally, like trained soldiers.

The man in front of her was...

He's so large... Woah, a giant... Why is he so big?

She looked up to see her savior, and was met with an intimidating presence. Her father was the biggest and strongest man in her village, even rivalling those of the men standing beside her right now; but this man in front of her was almost twice as bigger, his muscles could be clearly seen through his defined thighs and arms.

If Maria stood up, her head would only reach his belly button at the very best when compared to a normal man, she'd reach their chest.

He wore the same uniform and armor as the man who attacked her, but the helmet he was wearing looked different, signifying his superior rank compared to the rest of the men.

"Good morning, my name is Lucious. Under the authority of Emperor Claudius of Rome, he has ordered your lands ceased and your people under the subjugation of his holiness. What's your name, little girl?"

The large man bent to his knee, though even on his knees he was still towering over her.

"I-I-I-I'm M-Maria..."

Still shocked by what had just happened before, Maria didn't notice it but she was stuttering like crazy.

Her heart froze once again as she looked into the man's sharp gaze, he looked like he wanted to kill her.

"Do you belong to that settlement over there?"

Lucious pointed toward the direction of her village.

She didn't know how to answer.

She was frightened.

"..."

"Seems like a yes. Well, we've already occupied your village, my Optio should be talking to the chief at this very moment."

"..."

Maria closed her eyes and turned away.

"You seem to be far away from home then, let's take you back."

"Why are you doing this?! Don't hurt my family!"

Maria under the assumption that the men here came to destroy and pillage her village suddenly screamed out.

"Huh? No, I'm not gonna hurt anyone. Don't worry."

"I don't believe you!"

It was unprecedented for foreign soldiers to show a girl like her with consideration like how Lucious was showing right now.

Lucious just stood up and adjusted his helmet.

"Let's go back to your home."

"Let go of me right now! I hate you! Let go of me!"

There was no way she could trust this man, even if he saved her from being sexually assaulted. There's is absolutely no way she'll trust a stranger in a soldier's uniform, never in her life will she trust this scary-looking man.

Maria protested and tried to stand up to run away.

The moment she did, her knees gave out.

Despite the reassuring tone from Lucious, what happened earlier with Maul seemed to traumatize her into an unconscious fear. Even though nothing happened to her, the fear of something happening and that it could have happened if Lucious didn't show up forced the energy from her legs.

She was helpless on the floor once again, now afraid that her screaming could have annoyed Lucious.

Seeing this, Lucious simply bent down, brought his arms underneath her knees and neck, and the princess carried her.

This annoyed Maria a bit.

"Little girl, I'm bringing you back home. "

"Go die! Put me down right now! Aaaaaah! And I'm not a little girl! I'm 18 years old!"