It was at that moment that a magic formation glowed beneath our feet. I didn’t understand it because it was too complex, but it was a teleportation formation. The next thing I knew the scenery had changed. We were no longer within my father’s room, we were next to a small barn in an opened field and the sun was setting. Looking behind me I could see the walls protecting the capital and realized that I was finally leaving the capital for the first time in my life. But I felt terrible because I didn’t want to leave the capital in this sort of circumstance. I wanted to travel outside the city with my brother Lance, with my brother Tristan, and my father. I wanted to enjoy visiting the other villages, camping outside, looking for food in the wild, but I wanted to do all of this with them.

After being teleported, that was the last time I would ever see my father. His body was skin and bones while his hair was all white, and he didn’t look anything like the father I knew. But there was one thing that was the same, his smile. Even when he knew he was going to die very soon, he still smiled. The only thing I could do was smile for him.

But now that I was no longer with him, I could feel the tears seeping out. I couldn’t hold them back anymore. My brother Tristan still hadn’t been found, my brother Lance is being controlled, and my father was going to die. Realizing that all of this was happening, all my emotions flooded out and I began to wail like a banshee.

That entire night I cried and cried. Even when the tears wouldn’t come out anymore, I still cried. The only thing that calmed me down a little was that Clive was with me. When we slept in the barn that night, Clive held my hand and didn’t let go. Even as I cried, I could feel the warmth and comfort from Clive’s hand.

The next morning we stole some cloaks from the barn and covered ourselves. We also took a horse since we didn’t have any other way to get to the frontlines. The days following that were a blur. Every scenery I saw was something new, but during that time I didn’t have the heart to enjoy it. I was depressed and everything I saw was colorless.

An entire week passed by and we could finally see the walls of the frontline. It was one of the two great walls that protected our nation. One of the great wall is on the west side of the nation protecting us from the Kingdom of Spears and one at the north protecting us from the Kingdom of Shields. There isn’t any wall from the south and the east because the Kingdom of Sea rarely involved itself with human affairs.

The wall we approached was the western wall. Just a ways from the wall we could see tents set up all around the area. There were also a few stalls with people selling goods. But most of the people I could see were soldiers.

“Halt! Who are you?!”

“Heh, it’s only been a year and you can’t even remember me, Rick.”

“Oh, it’s Clive. Go on ahead. Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Sorry, Rick. I have to go and meet my father.”

“Oh, your father isn’t here right now. He’s out on the frontlines.”

“Ok, i’ll go and wait at his tent then.”

“Wait before you go, who’s that behind you.”

“Uh, she’s...uh my friend.”

“Ok, I won’t bother you with it anymore. Just go on ahead you lovebird.”

After passing the guard we headed closer towards the wall. All around the wall were many tents, but there was clearly one tent that was bigger than the others. I assumed that this was Jonathan’s tent because we were headed towards it, but I was wrong. Clive turned the horse and we arrived in front of a tent that was the same size as all the other soldiers. He entered the tent like it was a natural thing for him to do.

We had expected the tent to be empty but we were wrong. There was a woman in there, but what shocked me the most was what she was doing. Her face was buried in a shirt and we could clearly hear her sniffing it like a dog.

“Abby, I thought I already told you to stop sniffing my father’s stuff. One of these days he is going to find out and his image of you will be ruined.”

“Huh?”

That woman turned around and stared at us in shock. She was very pretty. She had wavy hazel brown hair that reached her waist and a pair of glasses covering her green eyes.

“Clivveeee!!!! Your back.”

That woman jumped towards Clive and embraced him. Clive didn’t even resist, it looked like he was already used to this happening. But it still made me a little irritated that he didn’t resist.

“I’ve missed you so much Clive. Oh wait, who is this? A-am I about to become a mother-in-law.”

“This weird lady is your mother?”

“N-”

“Yes I am. Nice to meet you, I am Abigail Euper, Clive’s soon to be mother.”

“Ok.”

“No, don’t accept it so easily Claire. This woman isn’t my mother, she is just a soldier hopelessly in love with my father.”

“Oh, how embarrassing. You can’t just be telling everyone about my feelings, Clive.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone except my father realizes.”

“Hehehahaha!!!”

That was the first time in an entire week that I had a good laughed. I had been so depressed over everything that had happened, but seeing Clive and Abigail bicker made me remember my brothers. Whenever Tristan got into trouble because of his pranks, it was always Lance who cleaned up his mess. Since our mother had passed away and father was so busy, Lance was a mother-like figure who would scold Tristan and I, or comfort us.

“There you go. You look much more beautiful smiling.”

Before I even knew it, Abigail embraced me and began to gently rub my head. It was a mysterious feeling, I felt absolutely calmed and comfortable. It was so warm, so incredibly warm that every negative feeling was washed away. It was like being in my mother’s embrace, even though I don’t remember that feeling. The tears began pouring out and I began to cry.

“It’s ok to cry. You shouldn’t bottle up all your feelings. You’re here right now and don’t have to worry about anything. Just cry it out.”

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……

I don’t remember how much time passed, but by the time I woke up, it was already night time. That comforting warmth still wrapped around my whole body. I wanted to stay in that position forever. I wouldn’t have to worry about me being a princess, I didn’t have to worry about the kingdom, I didn’t have to worry about the future at all, but I knew I couldn’t stay like this. I slowly opened my eyes and the first thing that greeted me was Abigail’s gentle green eyes.

“Good morning Claire. Oh wait, or is it good night since it’s night time?”

Abigail laughed at her own comment, and I slowly got up from her lap where my head had been resting. I looked around the room and it was the same room I had first seen Abigail sniffing a shirt, but this time there was another person in the room. It was the same man with scars all over his rugged face that I had seen a year ago, Clive’s father, Jonathan.

Clive was currently telling his father what had happened in the capital. I could see the various emotions that went through Jonathan’s face: Worry, anger, and sadness. Unlike me who had been depressed after all the events that happened, Jonathan immediately got to planning for the future. He began to instruct Clive on what he had to do and eventually he came towards me.

“Good morning Princess Claire. I know that you have been through a lot these past few weeks, but you must keep your head up. Rike wouldn’t want you to stay depressed like this, rather he would want you to smile and stay happy.”

“Thank you, Mister Lock.”

“Good, that’s better. Ok, let’s talk about your future Princess Claire. For now, I plan to have Clive take you the village of Clear View, but in a very roundabout matter. The first thing Phillis will probably do is look for clues around me and my army, since i’m the only person you can rely on. So I plan to have you leave immediately tomorrow, so no one in the army sees you. If he finds no clues on your whereabouts here, then next he will probably check the village of Clear View. I will have you leave for the Kingdom of Spears and live there for a year before coming back to Clear View. I know Phillis’ personality very well, at first he’ll observe Clear View for a few months at most and eventually stop. He’ll come to convince himself that you guys aren’t there, so he’ll stop spending resources to observe Clear View.”

“Big Boss Jonathan, do you really think it’s a good idea to send only Clive to protect Claire.”

“Abigail, you’re calling me Big Boss too.”

“Hehe, sorry. Everyone’s been calling you Big Boss and I wanted to join in.”

“Haah, I don’t mind but let’s get back on topic. I think this is the best option for Clive and Claire to survive. The less people, the smaller the chance of them being discovered. Do you understand, Clive, Princess Claire.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Yes.”

“Ok, that’s all. Go ahead and get all the rest you can before dawn comes. Claire, don’t be so worried, i’ll do whatever I can to protect Rike’s dreams.”

After Jonathan was done explaining his plans, Abigail took my hand and led me to her tent. Clive stayed behind and continued to talk to Jonathan. It didn’t take long for us to reach Abigail’s tent, it was only about 3 tents away from Jonathan’s.

“Why don’t we take a bath Claire. I’m sure that Clive just rushed here without giving you time to properly clean yourself. That kid may try and act like he’s popular with girls, but he knows nothing about them.”

“Ok.”

Abigail suggested taking a bath because in the middle of her tent was a tub. It was going to be the first real bath I had in a week. During the time I was coming here with Clive, we only rinsed our body with cold water. I was glad that I would be able to take a bath. As I was undressing, Abigail was locking down the tent while also creating water for the tub.

“Abigail, you’re a mage locksmith?”

“Yep and can you stop calling me Abigail. Just call me Abby like Clive. There is a very high chance that I will become your Mother in the future.”

“What do you mean?”

“Shishishi. Let’s get in the bath before we talk.”

Just like that I got into one side of the bath. It was incredibly warm and comforting. But before I even knew it, Abigail got into the bath right behind me. The next thing I knew, I was laying on soft bouncy marshmallows.

“You want to know why I said that I will become your mother in the future?”

“Yes, I am curious.”

“Well, if you marry Clive and I marry Jonathan then wouldn’t I become your mother. It is as simple as that.”

“W-w-ww-wait, why would I marry Clive?”

I was extremely flustered at what Abby proclaimed. Everything she said was just so outrageous and it surprised me.

“Well, don’t you like Clive?”

“I-I-I wouldn’t say that I like him. It’s just that I can’t get him out of my mind. Or like I just keep thinking about him. It’s like a sickness that just won’t go away. I-I wouldn’t call this love.”

“Hhmmmmmm, whatever you say Claire. But you better be careful, if you aren’t, then one of these days Clive is going to be taken by some other girl.”

“He-he’s going to leave me?”

“You never know Claire. The future is always uncertain.”

I didn’t know why, but my tears started coming out again. The thought of Clive leaving me made me feel so empty. I was scared. The days where he would play with me or eat my cooking would disappear. Those happy days would be gone forever and I would be alone again. I didn’t want to be alone. Clive has always been there for me, and I wanted to be a part of his life.

“Ah, i’m sorry Claire. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Abby began comforting me as I sobbed at the thought of Clive leaving my life. Before I even knew it, Clive had become an irreplaceable piece in my life.

“Have you calmed down, Claire?”

“Y-yeah.”

“That aching you feel in your chest, I won’t tell you what it is, but I have felt it before. Let me tell you the story of how I fell in love with Jonathan. I joined the army 5 years ago as an assistant to Jonathan. At first I thought that Jonathan was a cold and unapproachable person, but I was wrong. There were a few times where Jonathan talked about Clive, and these were the only times he truly showed emotion on his face. I didn’t know at that time but I was slowly falling in love with Jonathan. It was not until 2 years ago did I decide to pursue my love for Jonathan. I knew that Jonathan’s wife died when giving birth to Clive, and I knew that he was still not over her, so I kept my feelings to myself. 2 years ago we were transporting supplies, but we were ambushed. Jonathan stayed behind to fight to allow the rest of the group to retreat. He was all alone fighting for his life. That night I was unable to sleep because all I could think about was if Jonathan was ok. All I could do was lull the crying Clive to sleep and wait for Jonathan to come back. Jonathan finally made it back to the base, but he was severely injured. I couldn’t do anything for him as he was in anguish as the doctors tried to heal him. I was scared, so scared that Jonathan was going to die. I didn’t want him to die. I wanted to live a long happy life with him. I wanted to bear his children. I wanted to see my grandchildren. I wanted Clive to be happy with his father. All I could do was pray that he survived and he did. That was when I decided that I would do whatever I could to become a part of Jonathan’s life. I wanted to make him happy.”

I was surprised about her story, but admired Abby’s determination. She had discovered who she loved and was ready to dedicate her entire life to Jonathan. ‘Can I dedicate myself to Clive like Abby’. I didn’t know if I had the same strength as Abby to take action. I didn’t know what I feel for Clive.

“Welp, why don’t we get out and sleep, Claire?”

“Yeah.”

We both got out of the bath and dressed up. I was still wondering about my feelings for Clive. I got into the bed and Abby also got in and hugged me from behind. She patted my head and once again my body was wrapped in her motherly warmth.

“It’s good to think about your feelings. Don’t just bottle it up. You have to think about your future, Claire.”

“Thank you, Abby. I don’t know how I feel about Clive, but I do know that I feel something for him. And I support you in your pursuit of Jonathan.”

“Thanks, Claire. Before you even know it, we’ll become one big happy family. I’ll be your Mother, Jonathan will be your Father, Clive will be your Husband, and maybe you’ll even have a little sister or brother by next year. Hehehe, I can’t help but smile for the future. Good night, Claire.”

“Good night, m-m-mother.”