For a week my life becomes a nice routine. I wake up, eat, go to class, eat dinner, and then sleep. While it's quite mundane the classes are at least interesting. Violet doesn't let me get bored in hers and I am always happy to work on my skills in the forge. The other classes are overall useless to me because I can't use or even see magic really, but the content is interesting. In my old life magic really doesn't exist, so learning magic as if it were science is quite interesting.

Then one day as I am leaving a very long lecture I am caught at the door by the princess. By caught I mean she literally grabbed me by my arm. She asks me,

"Took you long enough. You are needed."

She begins pulling me along and I ask,

"How did you know I was in that class?"

She laughs and replies,

"I just asked for your schedule. I get what I want."

I shake my head and go along. I reply,

"So... what am I needed for?"

She says devilishly,

"Well... I want to see what you are capable of. "

With a sigh I go along until I am brought into what appears to be a smallish arena with only about forty seats available. Its empty though. The princess takes me out onto the field and tells me to stand on the opposite end. I do as I'm asked and shout over at her,

"Alright. I'm here. What do you want?"

She replies,

"Well I'm bored and since you're considered an equal to me I want a good fight for once. I wanna see what kind of magic power you have."

I shake my head and shout back,

"I'm a Frontiersman or have you forgotten? We can't use magic across the board."

I see here frown and shake her head and ask,

"Everyone I've met can use magic. I don't understand, I thought everyone could."

I shake my head slowly realizing she may have never met anyone who wasn't a noble or servant. I assume even the lower servants in the royal hosuehold have some capability of magic. It's really unfair, but I gotta do what I gotta do. I shout to the princess,

"Well, you can use whatever you want I guess. I'll just... do my thing."

She shakes her head replying,

"No... it's not right."

She begins walking toward me with a strange look on her face. I go to meet her halfway. She then says,

"Well... my body strengthening magic needs some work. I'm still not on the level of Violet yet in that field."

I nod and ask,

"Well... if youre gonna do that I have to ask if it's okay to actually fight back. No strings attached?"

She nods with an annoyed look before replying,

"I asked you for a rivalry. If you hold back I will make sure you are punished."

I sigh with a nod and she begins powering up.

"Moderate Body Hardening....

Moderate Strength....

Moderate Swiftness....

Moderate Pain Immunity...

Moderate Reflexes..."

Her whole body glows in the telltale sign of the modifcation magic and then she takes a swing.

It's fast, way to fast. I barely manage to fall backward and the punch doesn't connect completely but her knuckle scrapes my cheek wich cuts it as if it were a knife. The momentum of her punch causes her to fly by me. She manages to catch herself before falling over. This lets me roll to my belly and get my hands and feet under me. I have to be careful, I will not survive a single one of those blows. She turns on her heel which digs into the dirt below. This slows her turn just enough for me to dive forward.

Still on my belly I catch her planted foot and drive forward. This makes the heel dig even further into the ground and causes the princess to lose her balance. She falls to her rear with her foot stuck firmly in the dirt. She quickly reacts throwing a devastating punch. I can't dodge in time and she hits my shoulder. There is a loud snap as something very obviously breaks. I scream in pain as I fall to the side holding my shoulder. The princess gasps loudly in shock. I catch myself and grit my teeth. I plant my foot and fly forward headfirst. The top of my head makes contact with the princesses nose where I immediately bounce off as if I hit a concrete wall with my head. I finally end up on the ground with a massive knot on my head and a busted shoulder. She reaches for me and in a moment I grab her wrist and put her arm between my legs and pull her hand toward my chin. I lock my legs around her arm and place my feet on the opposite side of her body. I pull back and push my hips up. Then there is a sickening crunch and the princess shrieks in pain.

Stolen story; please report.

I let go quickly and roll away lying on my back groaning in pain. The princess sits up holding her elbow screaming and whimpering in pain. Then two armed guards enter the arena shaking their heads. Close behind them is another man in priestly robes. They check on the princess who explains what happened and shows them her limp and busted arm. The priest heals her and she is fine in a few seconds. The guards then approach me and one of them says in a very tired voice,

"Yeah... you two shouldn't probably do this again. No one wants you dead and well, if you manage to hurt her bad enough during one of these fights even her word defending you won't be enough. So... just like have a rivalry but no more of these fights. "

I nod and reply,

"I'm guessing from your reaction this isn't the first time."

He doesn't speak but gives me a short nod confirming my question. The priest uses some healing magic on me and quickly I am feeling so much better and I can move my arm again. I laugh a little, that really was stupid. The princess looks over at me and when we make eye contact she laughs, most likely for the same reason as me. It's not cruel or means like during dinner before, it's gentle and sweet, and the normal happy smile on her face makes her already stunning beauty all the more radiant. It really sucks that she's a shitty person on top of being a royal.

I get to my feet and dust my pants off. I reach my hand out to the princess and help her up to her feet. Once standing she dusts herself off and with a genuine smile speaks to me,

"That... was awesome. I thought you would quit like everyone else when I hurt you. Thank you for the fight... I rarely get that opportunity. To fight someone even somewhat capable."

I laugh and reply,

"Well, it would have been worse for you if you hadn't attacked so suddenly, give me a second to be prepared and that first punch would have been your downfall."

She laughs at this and replies,

"It's a shame that we can't find out any more, but I think we can find a way to challenge one another."

I nod and then ask,

"Well... if I'm unneeded I'll take my leave. I am hungry and supper should be ready soon."

The princess smiles and answers,

"I'm already having a guest over and she's such a bore. Why don't you come by to keep me entertained?"

I think for a moment trying to remember what the cook said they were going to make for dinner. Remembering it's some squash-based dish I reply,

"I would absolutely love to join you."

She smiles excitedly and motions for me to follow which I do. Closely followed by the guards, I ignore this though, my mind is clouded by my hatred for squash.

I am led to the royal villa which is nearly the same size as the manor of one of my targets. The building is truly a mansion but is purely student housing for the princess. I grumble under my breath about the sheer size of the building. The inside is just as grand as the outside. Decorative plants are everywhere in full bloom making the interior a kind of rainbow jungle. I am led into a dining room where as soon as I enter I freeze and my blood runs cold... then hot... very hot as my vision begins growing dark as my hands begin to shake, rage, pain, and fear all build inside of me as my eyes lock on a girl. About the same age as me, blonde, brown eyes, and curly pigtails.

She speaks to the princess,

"Good evening m'lady. I was beginning to worry you had become lost on your way here..."

She trails off as she finally notices me and her eyes go wide as a thousand questions race through her mind along with many different emotions. I really only feel one, absolute hatred.

The girl speaks to me in a distant and questioning tone,

"Doggy?"

A wave of dread washes over me and I grab my own shoulders as I grit my teeth. I notice the blood on my palms from my nails driving so hard into them while I clenched my fists at my side trying to avoid the shakes. My whole body now is shaking like a leaf. The sound of her voice, and that name is all that it takes to make me lose all appetite and resolve, it broke me.

In a polite and shaky voice, I speak to the princess,

"Princess... I appear to have come down with some illness... I don't think I would be much of a dinner guest. I will take my leave now."

She looks at me confused, both at my statement and at my body language. One of the guards grabs my shoulder and asks,

"Are you alright son?"

His hand sends pins and needles through my entire body and I quickly turn and knock his hand away saying sharply,

"Don't touch me!"

I assume I have a wild look in my eyes as the guard takes a step back when our gazes meet. He obviously was concerned for my well-being, I feel like shit for doing that, but I'm about to absolutely lose my shit. I quickly go to leave and the princess follows me closely both bothered by my reaction and clearly frustrated with me for my sudden change of heart.

Once we left the dining room she catches me and asks sternly,

"What the hell was that about? One moment you were fine and the next you're freaking out."

I cough and reply in a sharp tone,

"That was my first master... I...She... I don't know..."

The princess looks at me bewildered and asks,

"What do you mean?"

I take a long deep breath and explain,

"I was... a slave. That woman... that thing in there... Margeret Beller... she was my first owner and master..."

The princess seems to deflate and she asks,

"She's completely harmless and so kind... how can she cause this level of reaction?"

I shudder violently remembering those days... those months...I simply respond,

"To you."

She somewhat seems to understand my statement but reads she won't get anything out of me today. She steps back and motions for me to go which I do. It takes all my willpower not to run all the way back to my villa. I feel tears well up in my eyes as I rush into the villa. The only people in the common areas are the cook and one of the house servants. They stare at me with concern in their eyes but I pay them no mind and make it into my room.

Mekare looks up from some book she is reading while sitting on my bed. I kick my shoes off at the door and remove my jacket. Mekare just stares at me saying nothing. I simply just take my uniform off leaving myself in nothing but underpants. I then go to my bed and sit toward the head, still shaking and breathing hard. I feel her eyes scanning my entire body. I haven't allowed her to see me without a shirt or pants on so this is her first time seeing the horrorshow. I say in a cold tone,

"Take it in while you can. This is the last time you'll see this much of me."

I sense her going to touch me and I snap my head around locking eyes with her. I growl out,

"Touch me and I'll do to you what was done to me, and nothing is off the table there...And change your fucking eyes before I gouge them out."

Her face is one of shocked horror, I doubt my expression hides any intention. In my current head state, I don't think I am lying. I lie down and get under covers and close my eyes hoping sleep comes easy so I can forget today... and the past...