1. Amelia

Never in my life had I had the privilege of choice. All I could do was lay in bed and accept everything coming my way. My only escape from it was death, but not here.

Not in this world. In here, even if my choice came with a price, I could still choose to live.

My arm was gone, there was no feeling in it at all. As I wandered through the swamp, my dried up and burnt body part was slowly disintegrating into an ashen trail behind me.

Before heading onward, I spent what felt like an eternity sitting in the swamp, staring at the burnt wolf, even though I’m sure in reality I only stayed there for a few minutes.

I found a torch attached to one of the pieces of cloth remaining of the two men.

Luckily, there was a piece of flint stone in the caravan, unluckily I was missing an arm. Lighting the torch was much more of a struggle than I expected, not only due to my lacking anatomy, but also due to simply having never lit a fire of any kind in general.

You might be wondering how I even knew what flint stone looked like, but the answer was the same as always: video games.

The mist thinned out around me noticeably ever since the torch was lit. Maybe the stuff was a gas of some kind instead of actual water vapor? Luckily, it didn’t seem to be the explosive kind of gas.

Pondering these mundane things was all that I could do to keep my mind from racing too much.

To be precise, my head wasn’t abuzz due to the unimaginable horrors I just faced, but more so due to how everything played out in the end.

The reason I had bet everything on my idiotic fantasy right there, was simply due to a hasty observation I made. I mentioned about something missing as I stood before the wolf. I couldn’t figure it out until the last moment.

When it dawned upon me, I realized I had a choice. A choice to believe in my haphazard guess or try something more concrete.

In my infinite lunacy, I chose the haphazard guess… simply…because my heart wasn’t beating.

I tried feeling around my chest, and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I felt excited, adrenaline was surely bursting through my veins… and yet, I was unable to feel the familiar weak thumping.

It was quiet to the point of absence. At the moment, I realized I might not have a heart to begin with, and that I might actually be a witch.

This was one way of getting my answer to the question of if this was a magical world or not.

I just cast a spell with a sigil I knew from my past life. In my desperation to become a witch, in my hopeless effort to cure myself, I had learned all the magical symbols from a game I played in the past. Somehow… its name keeps escaping me, but I distinctly remember the patterns found within the witches’ lairs.

They had magic symbols carved into walls to act as magical traps. The witches had no heartbeat, meaning they were heartless, both literally and figuratively.

Most importantly, they were enemies. You couldn’t play as them… and yet, I remember the witches having incredibly robust lore behind them. Somehow, I never found it odd why such random enemies were given so much attention…

But thinking back on it now, it does seem weird, doesn’t it? I admit I had no issue with them having a denser story to them. They were what filled me with empty hope through my teenage years, so I am forever thankful for all the pointless backstory, and it seemed my obsession with them saved my life just now.

With all this, I couldn’t help but think this world had some sort of connection to my past life.

There were various little elements from different kinds of media I used to drown my misery in decorating this world. The fantastical scenery, the monsters, beautiful princesses and ballrooms…

And most importantly, the witches. The embodiment of my desperate hopes and dreams. I didn’t care if they were the enemy. To me, they were everything I could ever want…

As yet another piece of my charred arm fell off, all I could think of… was that this world was like…

An amalgamate.

The stories… games… Things I used to escape from reality with, mashed into one.

Maybe it was a personal purgatory I had been put in. Could be it existed to judge the value of my soul. Perhaps giving up on life was a sin, even if your life is worth nothing, so, now I was being put through a test to see, if I truly knew how to value my life.

To be fair, none of this mattered to me at all. What was crucial, was that I lived through a horrific encounter with my own strength.

The answers to the other questions I could find along the way. What was important now, was to find myself some shelter.

Almost as if on cue, a structure of some kind appeared before me. It was a worn-out log cabin. It wasn’t very big, maybe two rooms and nothing else. There wasn’t anything particularly notable about it, except for a crude little stone monument next to it. It seemed hastily made, and there were clearly human hand-prints all around it in the mud.

There were no lights on, and my pace hastened as I made my way to it. The door had bloody claw marks on it, and upon closer inspection, there was a trail of red going into the building.

Listening closely, I could hear quiet repeating noises of some kind coming from inside.

Brandishing my torch, I pushed against the door, only to find it didn’t yield. There was a somewhat rustic metal lock underneath the handle. It was missing a key.

Groaning to myself, I wandered around the little cottage a bit. It had windows, but they were really high up and small, probably to prevent monsters from getting in. To my surprise and delight, one of the windows was broken, and within the shards of dirty glass laid a big rusty key.

It fit the lock, and I slowly opened the door, only to find the source of the strange noise.

A knight in full armor was slumped against the furthest wall from the door, a trail of blood marking the path they had taken. It was hard to discern their identity due to the bloodstained steel covering them from head to toe, but it was easy enough to see they weren’t your average knight.

The armor was adorned in beautiful, finely crafted golden ivies. It was clearly the gear of someone rich… An aristocrat maybe? Judging by the blood, I guess they got ambushed by a wolf as well.

For whatever reason, the bloodied person was weakly slapping their hand against their helmet.

I hoped with all of my lacking heart, that they weren’t one of those nasty aristocrats from the infinite novels I read in my past as I entered the building properly.

As I took my first step into the room, the creaking of the floorboards alerted the knight of my presence immediately, and the slapping stopped.

With how much blood there was everywhere, I was genuinely more surprised over the fact, that the person within the plating was alive, than how their voice was distinctly female.

“Who goes there…?! Dare come closer, and I’ll have you greet your makers…” Her voice was tired. It was more than obvious she was in no shape to go through with her threats.

She didn’t even have the strength to lift her head up properly to look at me. Judging by where there was the most blood, her shoulder was wounded severely. Looking a bit more closely, though… It was also clear some of the injuries on her body were man-made. There were broken arrowheads covered in blood next to her.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m not here to hurt you. Look, I’m in the same boat as you.” I tried to speak as calmly as I could, but as frustrating as it was to admit, my voice was shaking a bit.

“Don’t lie to me, scum! The kingdom sent you! Didn’t it !?” The knight’s voice had an honorable, commanding air to it, despite her obvious plight.

“Just give me a proper look. Do I really look as if I’m even capable of hurting you?”

This finally made her glance up a bit. Her grip on the sword she had next to her loosened.

“Did you perhaps get ‘exiled’ too?” My question caused the knight to jolt a bit.

A moment of silence preceded a weak mixture of coughing and grim laughter. The knight loosened her grip on her sword fully. I honestly doubted she even had the strength to lift the weapon anymore to begin with.

“I wish…” Her reply was short and marred with bitterness.

She gestured behind her. There was a wooden door leading into a somewhat filthy pantry. There were some dry foods and supplies along worn-out shelves. Judging by the sight, this building was most likely some kind of outpost for travelers or guards passing through the swamp.

I used the torch to light a fire in a somewhat filthy fireplace on the opposite side of the wall the knightly lady was resting against. The slightly moist wood crackled a bit, but eventually caught fire properly. Some of the worn-out furniture was also sacrificed to the fire to warm up the cabin.

I found some strange dry and flat bread with dried meat in the pantry. It wasn’t particularly good, but hunger is a powerful spice.

I ripped into it as if my life depended on it… and well, maybe to an extent it did. I was in a ragged shape to put it very lightly… but somehow, I didn’t feel like I was growing weaker. Surely, a normal person might get poisoned from having the toxins from burning your own arm enter your blood? I’m no doctor, but I do feel like my body was recovering faster than any normal human’s.

“How can you eat that with such joy on your face?” The knight seemed thrown off by my appetite.

“Fuddup! I’m hungwy!” I mumbled with my mouth full of food, some flying out. Furthermore, I had just gotten almost killed. Table manners were not my primary concern in a situation like this.

Taking a glance at the knight again, she really was wearing pretty crazy armor. I don’t know exactly what kind of armor it would classify as, but it looked pretty! Or… would have if not for all the blood and denting on it.

“We should probably do something about the bleeding, or you’ll die.” I spoke after swallowing.

“No point. I have nothing left to live for… I’d rather die. The only reason I threw the key out was simply to help other poor souls who might get lost in this hellhole. It wasn’t a plea for help.” The knight scoffed at my words.

A curious reply. She seemed to be in rather good health outside of the… obvious gaping wound around her shoulder. I’d say no severely important blood vessels had been torn, judging by the fact, that she was still alive.

The room had all of its fixtures left, although a few were rapidly burning to cinders in the fireplace. The furniture was made of wood, but the surface had worn out over time considerably and was now full of splinters and dirt of all kinds.

There were two tiny windows in every direction of the room. One of them was obviously broken due to the key having been tossed through. Due to the small size of said windows, the majority of light inside the room was from the fireplace.

Judging by how red the blood was and how none of the furniture had been used as kindling, it was clear the knight hadn’t been here for a very long time.

“Why? Do you have some kind of incurable disease?” I asked the knight.

Her reaction was strange. She seemed to gauge me, as if to see if I was joking. As she came to the conclusion that my question was sincere, she sighed heavily.

“No. I don’t. Why?”

“Because I don’t see any reason to give up on life, unless all control is literally forced out of your hands.”

My reply seemed to confuse her. She was about to begin speaking, but I spoke over her.

“Is there really any other reason to give up on life? If you have a healthy body, it means you still have a way to gain control again.”

This time, as I was about to continue on my monologue, she interrupted me.

“Don’t speak of my life as if you know anything! I LOST EVERYTHING!! THAT MISERABLE WOMAN!! SHE DESTROYED EVERYTHING!! MY HUSBAND!! AND MY… my child…!!” Her screaming was hoarse. Weak, but still carried a hint of elegance to it.

I sat by, looking at her. Only the crackling of the fire and her quiet sobbing filling the quiet abyss of the room.

“What… the hell would you even know…!!” She muttered to herself.

“I…” I couldn’t think of what to say.

As someone who was confirmed to die young from the start of my past life, I admittedly felt there shouldn’t be any other reason to really give up on life, unless you literally had no other choice.

But the mention of… a child… or a husband? It made me realize that it was only easy for me to give up on my past life, because I truly had nothing to begin with. By the time I was resting on my deathbed, I had no friends, no family, no personal interests, no religion, no hopes or dreams. I had nothing to cling onto life for.

What would it feel like to be given everything you ever wanted… and then have it robbed from you? I could somewhat understand this sentiment. I didn’t want to give my current life up.

That’s why I fought…

But what if I had been forced to give up everything I was blessed with here? I’m sure it would have felt absolutely horrifying.

Admittedly, while I spent a lot of my life looking at people. I also never spent a lot of time properly interacting with them outside the internet.

I felt a twinge of shame.

Who was I… A bedridden lunatic with no life-experience whatsoever to tell her how to think. I didn’t know what happened to her, and I was being arrogant to the point of lecturing her at her worst moment…

Ahhhh… I’m really a pretty trashy person… Aren’t I?

“I’m… sorry. Uh… My circumstances are a bit… odd. I’m a bit bad at dealing with people…” I admitted quietly.

A cold silence filled the room, but then… something about her words clicked in my head a bit.

“Did the woman you mentioned have golden hair and… emerald green eyes?” I suddenly perked up.

The clatter of her armor was noticeable. I had hit the nail on the head.

“Y-you too were…?” The woman in armor began to speak shakily.

“Well… I didn’t get anything done to my loved ones… But I got exiled alright!” I pointed at my arm with a playful grin… Then realizing the gesture was probably very unwarranted, so I did my best to calm down.

“That wretch…” The bitterness in the voice of the knight was so shamelessly present it sent chills down my spine. “Tell me… what happened!”

“Y-yeah sure… But can we maybe stop your bleeding first?”

After a bit of convincing, she finally yielded to the idea of me treating her wound. I wasn’t some kind of medical professional, but I knew the basics from having spent most of my past life in a hospital. I found some worn out first-aid supplies in the pantry, but nothing to stop the bleeding with. We had to resort to cauterizing it, which the knight didn’t even flinch at.

I couldn’t help but think she was pretty cool.

“So, long story short. There was this golden girl. I don’t know her name, but she really didn’t like me. It had something to do with the crown prince being too good for me? Apparently, I bullied her or something… and so I needed to be exiled for my crimes.” I began summing my situation up.

“My experience with her had extremely shallow reasoning behind what led to my current situation as well…” The female knight commented.

“Well, yeah. I honestly don’t really know what she was on about. My memories… are a bit weird.” I stumbled awkwardly. “But either way! All in all, I got falsely accused of something and then exiled!” I chirped cheerily, then realizing my energy levels needed to be toned down a bit for the kind of story I was telling.

I couldn’t see her face much, but the hatred burning in her eyes through the visor of the helmet was more than apparent. Honestly, I don’t know if bloodlust is really a thing people can sense, but if it could be sensed, this must have been what it felt like. This woman hated the golden-haired princess more than anything in the world. That much was clear. With a clatter, my attention was pulled back to her, as she took her helmet off.

A visage nothing short of a classical beauty. She had a perfectly sculpted, almost princely face and sky-blue eyes marred with tiredness. Her expression was cold and dry, like all the joy of life had left her, which her dark brown hair accentuated due to the shadows it cast upon her visage.

“My name is Amelia fil Sectoris. I was the captain of the royal guard of the kingdom of Rachasia…” The woman began to speak after a moment of silence.

Amelia went over her story to me, and I feel it might be easier to understand her if I quoted her word for word instead of simply summarizing what she went through.

So, here on follows a story from her perspective.

“I was the leader of an honorable group of knights to the kingdom of Rachasia.” Amelia began narrating.

I spent the entirety of my life dedicating myself to becoming a shield for my country.

image [https://imgur.com/a/39lKr4M]image [https://i.imgur.com/enYE2oc.png]image [https://imgur.com/a/39lKr4M]

All of my youth was spent enjoying heroic and most certainly exaggerated stories of knighthood my father told me. He wasn’t particularly successful as a knight himself, but he certainly was a good storyteller.

The longer I listened, the faster I grew completely enamored with the idea of becoming a paladin myself.

I started training at a very young age. My father told me that I’d have to work harder than anybody else to be allowed to be a knight, because it wasn’t common for women to be allowed into the holy order.

While my father’s concern over my dreams of knighthood was well-founded, he never in his life told me I shouldn’t become one. His methods of encouragement were strict, but it was all simply out of fear of others belittling me for being a female knight. It was his way of supporting my goals, while also giving me the strength and pride to stand tall next to any other knight, and I love him for it.

At the age of eighteen, I swore my paladin oath, which lead to me being blessed by a Goddess and I officially became a knight.

With my father’s tales of honor in mind, I worked my hardest to uphold that image of a knight in how I came across to the people. I wished to become a hero my father could be proud of.

This caused me to rapidly rise in ranks, until I was at the head of the royal guard and the holy order of knights before even realizing it.

It was a duty of high honor. The king himself appointed the role to me in a very extravagant ceremony. I remember it being one of the happiest days of my life… This however, all happened a good few years ago.

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“Amelia. I have a special task for you.” The king himself approached me one day. He was a man of a very tall stature, towering upwards to two meters in height. He wore a beautiful red cape with fur lining, and of course, a heavily decorated crown on his head.

The king was aged, but a very understanding and warm gentleness was always present behind all the wrinkles.

“Your Highness. It’s an honor. How may I be of service?”

“We have a visitor from a neighboring country. A princess at that.” The king smiled in his ever-warm manner while stroking his immaculate white beard. “I feel she might be a lot more comfortable being escorted around by another young lady.” He continued.

Without a moment’s rest, I replied. “Very well!”

“W-well now! You’re always so ready for work…!” The king somehow had a curious custom of chuckling a lot at my work ethic.

“Is this an issue, your Highness?” I replied firmly.

“N-no…! I simply… thought maybe you can use this as an opportunity to relax a bit… and possibly make a friend?” His social awkwardness in situations such as this one was a part of his charm, if I may be so bold to comment on it.

I was slightly shaken by his words. “A… friend, your Highness?”

“Well…! The royal guard is fully comprised of men. I thought maybe… You could use some female company occasionally…!” Describing His Highness in such a manner causes me to feel he was behaving like a nosy grandfather… Mind you, I might be recollecting his exact wording wrong.

“Your Highness…!” I couldn’t help but let out a minute chuckle. He truly was a kind ruler. I never truly thought about my situation from his perspective, so it was rather endearing to see him so troubled over my happiness in such a manner.

“Her name is Claire. She’s young and dainty. I feel it would show our best hospitality to assign my pride and joy to keep her safe!” The king regained his composure.

I distinctly recall grinning at him a bit as I agreed to go along with his plans.

In hindsight, I somehow never found it strange how the king never specified what kingdom this ‘Claire’ was from. A neighboring country? It was unusually vague. I somehow never found out her surname either…

Sooner than later, the princess arrived in our Rachasia.

She was welcomed with warm open arms, and her bubbly and carefree personality rapidly made her a favorite among not only the men, but also the women in the kingdom. Not to downplay her beauty, of course. Her golden wavy hair always bounced around as she danced along the streets with me. I recall feeling almost as if a character had leaped out of the stories my father told me in my youth whenever she was present.

Somehow, she seemed to have an aura of inherent positivity. Everyone around her was always upbeat and friendly.

“H-here you go, your Highness…!” A known ruffian offered the girl a flower. All I could do was stare flabbergasted, for I had never seen him so docile.

“Thank you, Ralf! I hope you didn’t steal again!” The girl curtsied and smiled warmly at the man, who shook his head vehemently.

I eventually met up with Claire as Ralf the ruffian walked away, looking like a smitten young lady despite being a sizeable bald man of pure muscle. “W-what manner of spell did you cast on him…?!”

“Hahahahah!” Claire laughed carefreely and slapped my back, only to yelp as the cold steel of my plating was most likely a bit less soft of a surface to lay her hands upon, than she had expected.

“I would graciously recommend for you to avoid doing that in the future, for the wellbeing of your own hand.” I chuckled and watched the royalty of positivity caress her aching palm.

“Mmmh… W-well, with a bit of love, even the scariest people turn into adorable kittens.” Claire’s words only made sense in the context of herself. Had anyone else said this, I would have certainly called them a naïve dreamer.

“Love, is it?” I cocked an eyebrow. “You sure seem to have plenty of it coming your way!” I teased her over her sheer popularity with the opposite sex.

“Eeeeh?! Don’t tease me, Ameliaaa!” She squealed in feigned anger and began venting her frustrations out on my armor, only to instantly regret it afterward.

“Hahahahaha!” I laughed and gently grabbed her hands to stop her from hurting them more.

“Mmmmgh!” The girl continued her acting of disdain toward me. “You love me too! Even though you tease me!” The false distaste changed into a triumphant smirk.

“I do. We’re friends, after all.” I countered her sulking with a gentle smile.

She seemed unusually shocked by the reply, growing a bit red and then fanning herself. “Uhuh! So, you should treat me nicer!” She had a bizarre manner of sulking, which involved puffing one’s cheeks with air. I simply poked at said cheeks, causing her to burst out giggling.

“Forgive me. I feel a bit out of character in doing something like this as well… But I somehow cannot help it.” Somehow, her nonsensical antics put a smile on my face as well.

“Well. It’s okay, I guess. I mean, I am happy you were assigned to me. I feel a lot more comfortable having you around. It makes me feel safe.” A few further quiet mumbles ensued.

“Hahaha! I’m sure you’d be safe even if I was far away, with how many knights and men are head over heels for you! You got enough admirers to probably kill a demon!”

“EEEHHH!! B-but!! I like you the best!” She hugged onto my arm firmly.

Somehow, I couldn’t help but tease her more. “I’m honored… But I am married.”

“Y-YOU KNOW I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAAAAT! AMELIA YOU MEANIEEE!” She squealed with the usual playful fury as we kept walking.

Speaking of the men I mentioned just a moment ago, there really were plenty of admirers for the Princess. Similarly, to Ralf’s flower, Claire was showered with gifts from left to right and center. Rachasia was a monogamous society, and yet somehow nobody ever found it odd how Claire was clearly and openly loved by so many men. Admittedly, she never showed particular favoritism towards anyone, so her relationship status was always vague.

Approximately a week later, there was a festival in town. It was an annual celebration of the harvest season ending. Rachasia doesn’t have a proper winter, so half of the year is dedicated to harvesting crops. The other half is living off the bounty of the harvest season while the soil and nature recover.

“These things…They’re sho goob…” Claire had her mouth full of a skewer with a mix of meat and vegetables on it. She seemed quite preoccupied with it as we sat on a bench while watching the festivities.

“I’m surprised you enjoy the more rustic foods as well.” I offered her a napkin to wipe her face. She had a slightly messy way of eating for a royalty.

From a small distance away, I could hear the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching us. They were very little footsteps.

“Mamaaaaa!” A little girl rushed at us, clutching onto my legs. Her eyes were full of innocent joy, the clouds of the sky reflecting off of their blue as if heaven itself were shining through.

“Amy!” I was caught off guard, only to find my husband closing in on us from a distance away as well.

“Aaaahhh…! I’m sorry, dear. Amy saw you, and I couldn’t stop her! I know you’re on duty and…!” Matthias, my husband. Also known as Matt more casually, was quite flustered by the situation.

Matt was… How should I put this? Extremely handsome to a dangerous degree? It was like there was a choir of angels following him wherever he went. He had slightly long dark hair, murky, yet passionate eyes and a jawline to match the marble statues depicting ancient deities. In addition to the physical appeal, he was also a gentle and loving father, who was more than willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of his family.

“Amy! You know mom is on duty now! It might be dangerous to run around without dad!” I scolded the little bundle of joy grasping onto my legs gently.

“D-dangerous…?” Amy looked around, only to notice Claire. She blinked twice with her big eyes. “Are you… dangerous?”

“Waaah!” Claire squealed with delight. “Mmmmmmaybe I ammmmm! Grrawrrr!” She laughed and grabbed Amy, beginning to tickle her. “I AM THE TICKLE MONSTERRRR!”

The little wonder giggled and squirmed in Claire’s hands. “MAMAAAA!! HEEELP!!”

I gently bonked Claire. “Gaaaaghhhhhhh!” She reacted dramatically, collapsing like a defeated monster. “Ughhh… I have been defeated!”

“Uaaaahhh…!” Amy’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she lunged onto my lap again, bonking her head on my armor a bit. “Uwweh…”

“I told you to be careful…!” I laughed softly as I pet her head. “Please keep a sterner eye on her, Matt.” My gaze was moved up to Matthias, who kneeled in front of Amy and me.

“Forgive me. I was distracted momentarily by a florist.” He smiled apologetically and handed me a single colorful flower.

“Ooohh! You must be the husband I’ve heard so much about!” Claire brightened and stood up, offering a polite curtsy to Matt.

“Y-your Highness! You shouldn’t need to be so polite! I am a mere commoner.” My husband was quite a devout follower of the local laws, which made him awkward in situations with those of higher stature than his acting casual.

“I feel people should be equally polite to each other despite social standing.” The golden princess bubbled in her usual carefree manner. She marched over to Matt and extended her hand to shake.

Matt was clearly a bit surprised. “My… A quite open-minded young lady.” He scratched the back of his head, which was a habit of his whenever he was slightly awkward. He did eventually shake Claire’s hand and calmed down.

Claire got along with Amy really well. It was honestly a relief to see she didn’t start thinking less of me despite my family. When I originally rose to power, countless people questioned if I was truly worthy of my position as the head of the royal guard when I had to take a maternity leave for Amy. It was a refreshing turn of events to see Claire’s treatment of me and my family remain unchanged regardless of the circumstances. I felt like I had indeed found my first true friend. The king truly was wise in his choice of assigning me to help her. I didn’t know until then how much I needed someone like Claire in my life.

… Or so I thought.

A few weeks later, I was in the royal garden with Claire.

“So! Let’s have some girl's talk!” The girl began.

“G-girls talk?”

“Yeah!! Tell me about your husband! How did the two of you meet? Share all the embarrassing details!!” Claire was quite energetic about the subject. Not that it felt particularly odd. In fact, it somehow fit her quite well.

“Oh… Uh… I um. Matt was studying in the knight academy when I went there. He was a year older.” I revealed.

“Ooohhh!! He’s also a knight?! No wonder his body is in good shape!” Claire’s eyes sparkled.

“W-well…! After we had Amy, he decided to take a break from being a knight and remain a stay-at-home father in order to take care of her.” I continued.

“Waaaahhh! And a kind heart too?! Wouldn’t it normally be expected to have the woman stay at home with the child?”

I couldn’t help but blush over recalling the events. “Yes… We got along well, and after we got to know each other better, Matt really began respecting my devotion. He fought tooth and nail for me to not be sent home to take care of Amy. It was…”

“ROMANTIIIIIC!!” The princess squealed.

“Y-yes…”

“You gotta introduce me to him properly sometime!!”

“V-very well…”

Only a few days later, Claire got her chance, when I forgot some important papers at home.

“Can I come with you? Pleaaaaasee! I got nothing to do here in the castle by myself!”

“Hm?! No! You should stay here. It might be dangerous for you to wander around on the streets, even if I am there. You need a proper escort!” I panicked.

“NnnNNnooooo~! Please let me come too! Please, pleaseee!”

I stood my ground. “No means no! Even if it’s your Highness! Please understand, I’m thinking of your safety here.”

“Hohoho…! What seems to be the problem here?” The king himself approached us. He seemed to be on a walk through the palace.

“Your Highness! Please help her understand it’s too dangerous to go out!” I argued.

“Ohoo… Is this what this is about?” The old man chuckled and stroked his beard.

“I forgot some important papers at home… As much as I hate to admit it. I simply wished to go retrieve them, but Cl… Her Highness insists on coming along! It could be dangerous!”

The king glanced at Claire, then back at me. He laughed a bit. “Aren’t you overreacting a little bit, Amelia?” His smile was as warm and wise as always.

“W-what do you mean?”

“She’s guarded by my most trusted paladin. How in the world would any kind of harm come to her?” The king was as underhanded as he was wise.

“Mmmghh….!” I grit my teeth.

“THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT TOO!! Glad you understand, your Highness!” Claire linked arms with me… and that seemed to be the end of that conversation.

I sighed deeply, walking down the bustling streets with Claire while she marveled at the sights. She didn’t really hold any grudge towards me not wanting to bring her along. I suppose she understood I was merely trying to think of her well-being.

We eventually made our way to my house. It was a quaint little building located in the more suburban area of the town. Amy had a cute little vegetable garden growing in the yard, and there were also a few toy swords and a ball strewn about.

The building itself was made of stone, making it look quite homey and welcoming. It wasn’t a big house… but we weren’t a big family, so it was a good house, in my biased opinion.

I opened the door and announced my presence.

“Helloo. I’m home. I forgot some papers.” I shouted into the house.

“I was waiting for you.” Matt’s smiling face welcomed me home. The papers I forgot were neatly piled on the table. “I figured it might be a bad idea to try to bring them to you, since we might miss each other if you decided to return to pick them up.”

“Good thinking.” I sighed in lamentation.

“Good morniiing~!” Claire welcomed herself into the house too.

“Oh my! Your Highness. What brings you here?” Matt smiled warmly at the visitor.

“I bullied Amelia into letting me join her!” She declared shamelessly.

Matt’s laughter was quite hearty. “Hahahahahah!! Rough morning, huh?” He had grown a bit less awkward around Claire at this point, so he was able to keep up with her banter a bit better.

I gestured for Claire to sit down. “Please make her some tea… I need to make sure all the papers are here.”

Claire didn’t sit still. She began wandering around the room aimlessly, looking at various photos and such. I decided against telling her to sit down, since it’s not like her roaming was particularly harmful anyway… And I genuinely didn’t expect her to listen in the first place. Her somewhat childish bouts of selfishness were the reason she was here in the first place anyway.

“Oooh! You really are a knight!” My attention was pulled away from the papers by her voice. I thought she was addressing me, but upon looking up, I realized she was speaking to Matt.

“I… I am…” He nodded a bit awkwardly, as Claire was quite shamelessly rubbing his arms and chest.

“I can tell you still work out despite not working as a knight!” She bubbled cheerfully.

“A-are you perhaps interested in bodybuilding?” My husband was clearly trying to steer the conversation away from her rubbing him.

“Mm… In a sense!” Claire nodded.

Matt gently guided her back to the table. “Please be careful…! The kettle is very hot. We wouldn’t want you to get burnt.”

“Kaaay!” She sang cheerily.

Honestly speaking, I felt slightly annoyed by this. She was quite shamelessly groping my husband in front of me. I knew I shouldn’t call her out for it, since she was generally flirty with almost everyone. It still irritated me… and a tiny speck of uncertainty started growing inside my heart.

I am aware some kingdoms and cultures in different areas of the continent support polygamous relationships, but I had grown my entire life in Rachasia, and for this reason, I found Claire’s physical closeness to my husband somewhat intrusive. I recall wishing she’d respect the culture of our kingdom a bit more at the moment.

It might have been subconscious, but I started paying more attention to her. I started noticing she was… really staring at my husband a lot. Whenever we’d talk, she’d often try to guide the conversation in a direction where Matt would be forced to participate somehow.

It was… strange.

But… she was flirty, and Matt was handsome. I’m sure she wouldn’t cross any lines, since he was married. Surely, she knew better than to go too far.

Luckily, I was correct in my assumption. As soon as Amy came down from upstairs, Claire’s attention was fully on her. The two played on a carpet near the table for a little over than an hour.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I think I caught her glancing at Matthias with an almost… lustful gaze whenever I averted my eyes.

Nothing really came of it, to be fair. We left after I sorted the papers, and then returned to the castle. Everything remained completely normal for the next two weeks… outside of Claire asking a few more questions about Matt. She was also quite touchy-feely whenever Matt was nearby, but my husband seemed to grow more used to it as time went on, so I decided against raising a ruckus about it as well.

Then one evening a good while later, the door got knocked. I was at home drinking some evening tea and reading. Matt went to open the door, and in rushed Claire, who instantly hugged Matt, rubbing her face against him.

“P-princess!?” Matt looked at me in surprise, most likely expecting I had invited her.

“Claire? Wh-what are you doing here?” I stood up instinctively. Something about this felt… wrong.

“I snuck out of the castle… It was boring. I wanna have a slumber party!” She declared cheerfully, flailing around a big pillow.

“W-what?! No…! I didn’t hear anything about this! We haven’t prepared or anything! And besides, it’s dangerous!” I argued back. I didn’t even notice before, but my chair had fallen as I stood up. At that moment, I couldn’t figure out why my body reacted so powerfully to Claire’s surprise.

“Slumber party?” Amy slowly walked down from upstairs.

“SLUMBER PARTY!” Claire celebrated.

“YEEEEEY!” The innocent little bundle of joy replied by throwing her arms up in the air. “I’ll go find my favorite pillow!!”

“N-no! Wait! You don’t even have permission from the castle!!” I tried my best to convince her otherwise.

“N-no slumber party…?” Amy’s sad face was weaponized mercilessly against me. It was so hard to say no to her… Especially when off-duty.

“Claire is a princess. She might be in trouble if bad people found out she’s here without guards.” I tried to explain.

“B-but mama is here… You’re the strongest. And papa is second strongest…!” Amy mumbled sadly. She walked down the stairs a bit slowly and made her way over to me. “I wanted to show her my pillow…! The one mama made for me…” She was tearing up, and so was my heart.

“I-I….” I was dumbfounded, trying to look at Matt for help. He was scratching the back of his head in his usual awkward manner.

“F-fine… But what about the castle…?” I grumbled. Despite the weaponized cuteness, something about the whole situation was ringing alarm bells in my head.

“Well! If you’re really that worried, you could go tell them I’m here. I’m okay with them sending a guard or two here too if you really think it’s necessary.” Claire’s tone of voice was weird. The whole situation was weird. She was always so against having anyone but me accompanying her… why was she suddenly so open to having more guards present?

It’s not like her logic was totally flawed. If I asked her to go back, she’d be in even greater risk of getting caught in something dangerous, so it was certainly safer if it were I who went.

I begrudgingly gave in and agreed. As much as something in the back of my head was screaming for me to not go. I knew she probably wanted to flirt freely with Matt. But… that was really all that could happen, right? Amy was there too, so there was no way she would go overboard.

With these thoughts in my mind, I found myself running through the streets. My heart was beating. I don’t know why, but something about this got me really worked up. Fearful even. I hastened my pace and rushed past the market.

The sky was slowly darkening. It looked like it might rain soon.

As I made my way to the castle, some of the knights began shouting and pointing at me. It was a bit of an extreme reaction, but I figured they had just found out Claire was missing.

“THERE SHE IS! CAPTURE HER!!” The knights shouted and suddenly rushed in to apprehend me.

“C-calm down! Claire is fine! I just arrived to report she appeared in my house.” I started.

“Silence! Traitor! We saw the ransom note! You kidnapped the princess!!”

“Huh…?” My heart sunk. I knew something was wrong. I should have listened to my gut feeling. Something was horribly wrong here.

The knights began dragging me back home to show where I supposedly hid Claire. No matter how much I tried to argue I was innocent, they didn’t listen.

It was all wrong. I had spent most of my life with some of these knights. They somehow completely disregarded me and treated me like a completely heartless criminal. It was almost as if… they were wholly different people! There wasn’t even any real evidence of my wrongdoings outside a ransom note written clearly in someone else’s handwriting.

At the house, Claire ran out crying the moment we were dragged into sight. It was almost like she was waiting for the knights to arrive.

“HEELP!! I’M HEREEE!” She screamed and rushed out of the house in tears, wearing nothing but a nightgown.

“Princess!!” The men rushed to her and gave her a coat.

“You monster! What did you do to her!?” The knights got even more agitated at me.

“W-what is this!? Claire?! What are you doing?!” I staggered.

“That’s her! She kidnapped me and kept me in her house! Amelia!” She cried while accusing me.

The whole scene was an utter farce. There was no evidence, and yet the men all believed her completely blindly. None of it made any sense.

“PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!! STOP!! SHE’S LYING!! THERE IS NO EVIDENCE!!”

“SILENCE!!” One of the knights punched me. “Her tears are evidence enough.” He smiled to himself, as if he said something really heroic.

“W-what…?!” My eyes widened in shock and horror. “W-who are you!? WHO ARE YOU?! WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE ONE OF MY KNIGHTS!? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?” My screaming echoed through the entire neighborhood, yet somehow it was totally silent. Nobody came out of their houses to come see what was going on. It was as if everyone in town was sleeping at the same time.

The knights beat me down a bit more, calling me names. It was completely unreal. The knights who I trained along for my entire life were beating and kicking me while I was down. They looked like they were reveling in my suffering. As I managed to slowly gaze upon Claire, she was smirking in the most wicked manner, gesturing for the knights to stop, she slowly leaned in and whispered to me.

“I’m sorry Amelia, but Matthias is too hot for me to pass on, so I really need you to disappear.” She smiled and then stood back up again.

It was as if everything went silent. A few drops of rain began hitting the ground. Claire slowly pulled her hood up as a cascade of water began blasting upon me at full force.

The door to my house opened… and Matthias slowly walked out of it. He stopped behind Claire, gently wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

“I was only able to survive because Matt saved me…! He protected me from her evil…!” Claire pointed at me. Her emerald eyes gleamed through the darkness of the rain and her hood.

“Wh… wha?” I stared, the rain causing my hair to stick to my skin.

“Evil women like her need to be removed…! This kingdom really needs a purification… How sad. And I trusted you too, Amelia…!” Claire continued the strange act.

The knights smashed my head against the ground and began hurling insults at me, as from the house, Amy began running out. Tears trailing down her cheeks, she wailed.

“DON’T HURT MOMMYYYY!!” She shouted, picking up one of the toy swords in the yard and rushing at the knights. She was holding the little blue and white pillow I had knit for her in her other hand like a shield.

The rain drops felt slow and heavy, like pieces of molten iron. It was as if I saw each and every one of them while they bombarded me and the endless feeling distance between Amy and me.

“Ah right… The loose end.” Claire muttered quietly, but audibly enough for me to hear. “Kyaaah! PLEASE PROTECT ME!!” She suddenly screamed and squatted down.

The heavy clanging of armored shoes echoed through the rain, as a knight rushed at Amy… and without any doubt, cut her down.

A child.

The pillow flew in a wide arc through the air, stained with red.

She was four years old. Wielding a toy sword made of wood. She was by no logic a threat… But the knights blindly obeyed the insane princess in front of me, as if they were hypnotized.

My daughter was so small, that the only solace I could take at the moment was that her death was swift and hopefully painless.

The instant her tiny body slumped on the ground, everything turned red.

“YOUUUUU MONNSTEEEEERRRRRRR!!!!” I screamed with all the force in my body, forcing myself to stand with magical force provided to me by my paladin’s oath.

The knights flew back. I pulled my sword and began cutting them down mercilessly, but the moment I cut the first one, my powers were suddenly gone.

I had broken my oath to protect the people of this kingdom, so the powers of my paladin devotion also went with it. Not to say I was weak without them, but I quickly got overwhelmed by the surrounding knights.

I couldn’t understand. Why was I punished for hurting these miscreants?! They killed my daughter!! I couldn’t…

All I could see was red as I managed to break free from the group of men and rushed past them and past Claire… past my husband hugging her. I was aching and bleeding all over due to the assault of my very own knights, but all I could see was my daughter.

I rushed to Amy, lifted her up and ran into the streets.

“D-don’t worry Amy!! Don’t worry! Mama is here! I’ll…! I’ll find a healer! It’s…!!” Her innards were slowly pouring out of her body.

She was so warm… but in all the wrong ways. I tried grasping and holding her hand up against my cheek… but it flopped down lifelessly as soon as I let go.

“N-Nonono… NO NO NO!!” I screamed, finding a horse tied to a post by a bar. There were armed assailants running after me, the echoes of their shouts carried all the way to me as I hastily untied the ropes to the horse.

I began riding out of the kingdom. Out of this madness.

Amy was dead.

There was no doubt about it. Her body was almost cleaved in half and her eyes were staring vacantly at the sky as rain fell over them. My daughter…! They killed my daughter.

“YOU TRAITOR!! DIE!!” Screams of more knights were behind me.

Stray arrows began flying past me as I rushed through the forested paths on the horse. Amy’s blood was trailing all over my body. My divine powers were gone. I was helpless.

My line of sight was distorted from the tears, but I got soon jolted out of it by an arrow piercing my shoulder.

I grimaced in pain as more arrows rained down on me.

Somehow, I kept racing ahead. I didn’t even know why anymore.

Amy was dead.

Everything was gone. That monster did something to all the people I cared for. All of them… They behaved entirely wrong!! This was all wrong!!

I began slowly entering the swamplands, and the assailants finally lost me in the mists, but I was also losing consciousness fast. The horse was panicked, as it clearly sensed this area was dangerous.

I ended up falling off the animal, hitting my head and losing consciousness.

When I woke, the sound of quiet munching was what alerted me back to the present. I jolted up…

Only to find a wolf-like beast feeding upon my daughter’s body. Right next to me.

“DON’T YOU TOUCH HERRRRR!!!” I screamed and began swinging at the beast with the last of my strength.

After an exhausting struggle, I finally killed the monster, only to return to Amy.

“A-Amy… Mama is so sorry… So sorry…!” There was nothing left of her but a red mess. My daughter was turned into a pile of unrecognizable flesh in a single night.

My beautiful daughter.

The light of my life.

The one who cheerfully sung me songs during the day, and gently held on to my thumb at night as she slept.

The one who I read stories about knights, and the one who always thought all the characters in the stories should just be friends.

Amy, my daughter, was reduced into a pile of red mush because one golden haired bitch thought she would get in the way of her harem.

The rain was still coming down. The redness from Amy’s remains was slowly spreading around.

“N-No… No no…” I began haphazardly gathering all of it, lifting it up clumsily.

I wandered in the swamps until I came across this hut. All I could do was stare at the merciless dark sky while rain pelted me.

The earth was soft enough to dig through with my bare hands due to the weather, so I made Amy a small grave next to the hut.

It was the least I could do for her after everything.

All I could do was stare at the sky and curse everything in my mind. I cursed the princess, I cursed the knights who betrayed me, I cursed the neighborhood for ignoring me, I even cursed my husband a bit, even though I still think he must have been under a spell of some kind.

I cursed the foul Goddess who abandoned me in my time of need.

I cursed myself, for trusting this monster. Oh… how I cursed myself.

I knew something was wrong the moment she started getting too close to my husband, but I never expected… in my darkest moments for it to end like this.

After mourning in silence for a couple of hours, I eventually dragged myself into the hut.

I’ve been sitting here, slapping myself to wake up from this nightmare since.