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nAbout twelve hours earlier in Lionarch, inside a gorgeous room where beautiful golden red curtains hung from the ceiling and windows and crimson carpets adored the floor, a beautiful blonde girl was standing by the room's balcony looking out over the ocean. The riches and beauty of the inside room couldn't compare to adventures she continued to imagine outside of the vast and open world. She sighed to herself as she thought about the events that had transpired these past four months.

nOn the night of her coming of age, she had cut off ties with the only friend whom she had shared her dreams of venturing the wondrous world. But thoughts of him soon faded into something else as she became embroiled in the world of politics, which her father, the king was pushing her into.

nSomehow being preoccupied with courtly duties, council meetings and kingdom activities had kept her mind off some of the unwanted things her father had introduced to her now that she was considered as an adult. Suitors. Her father kept meeting with many envoys from different kingdoms that had arrived in their palace wishing to tie their kingdom with the Lioness. A new kind of unhappiness sprang within herself even though she knew this was one of her duties as the Princess of the Lioness Kingdom.

nIn some days, she was required to stay by her father's side as envoys from other kingdoms went to see her. Of course she knew what these meetings meant. In the larger scale of kingdom politics, this was only done to achieve one end purpose and that was marriage.

nArranged marriages between kingdoms were a common practice for princes and princesses. After all, there was no other more powerful political tool than marrying a daughter to another kingdom in order to strengthen the nobility as well as keep the royal blood amongst themselves. It would bring a lot of benefits to both kingdoms, but as for Gwen, the thought of being locked in a palace was the most repulsive thing she could ever imagine.

nThe time she had used to spend outside became less and less as her father and the royal advisor gave orders not to let her out of the palace especially without supervision. Just like what she had thought, since she was the only one who had royal blood who would continue the line of her father's legacy, whatever freedom she had before was now like a far away dream.

nShe understood it was her sole duty as the Princess of a kingdom, still… it was not the thing she wished for. It wouldn't be wrong to say she hadn't dreamt of being courted by a handsome prince or a charming knight on a white horse, making decisions for the better of her people but her true passion lay elsewhere. It was to ride off to the sunset on her own horse and be on an adventure just like what she had shared to that boy…

nNow, she could vaguely recall his face but three months ago, she had heard about the tragic fate of the Ambrose estate. News of it spread like wildfire, and because the Ambrose estate had once homed one of the finest knights in the Lioness Kingdom, the result was that more marauder groups became bolder and started raiding more settlements.

nThe King had responded with more patrol guards along the roads and tasked some knights and soldiers to eradicate the threats, but Gwen knew that wouldn't be enough. So, on her own accord, she had tasked some people and delegated her personal knight to protect her beloved people from being terrorized.

nAnd during yesterday's audience with the King, one particular plea for help caught Gwen's attention. A representative from the many settlements that had arrived in the capital city requested for protection against those thugs and crooks who had been extorting them after exchanging their yearly tribute for coins. Again, her father, the King, responded with the generic 'I'll let the garrison commander know about your situation' and from that moment, she knew she had to do something.

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nLuckily on that same day, Yvain returned and reported to Gwen that he had received information that a marauder group had entered the city and was planning some big operation the night after. With that in mind, she became determined to capture and eradicate those city rats who had been poisoning her people today.

nHer door issued a knock and quickly several handmaidens entered her room.

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"Prepare my combat gear,

" said Gwen. After receiving a look of shock from her handmaidens, they quickly composed themselves and nodded before proceeding to help Gwen wear her preferred outfit.

nEvening arrived and a group of knights and several garrison soldiers led by Sir Yvain started searching for any out of the norm activities in the Lionarch City.

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"Princess, I beg that you reconsider joining us. It's too dangerous,

" said Sir Yvain.

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"No, I need to be here. I want to see it first hand. These hateful people are damaging my people's lives,

" retorted Gwen.

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"But—

"

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"I won't have no as an answer. Anyway, the order is not to go outside unsupervised. With you there, I am not breaking any of the rules,

" said Gwen.

nWith that being said, Sir Yvain complied with the princess and made sure she would be staying safe beside him or on the backline. Within hours, they had managed to capture and eliminate dozens of them.

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nThen, one of their scouts returned and reported the location of an abandoned house where there seemed to be an unusual amount of people heading toward. Sir Yvain's group of knights and garrison soldiers came bursting in that area and within minutes, they had completely subjugated the whole area.

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"You all better surrender now,

" demanded Yvain.

nAnd just like that the operation was a big success.

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"Is it done, Sir Yvain?

"

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"Yes, princess. The place is now secure.

"

nThe knights tied ropes to all the evil doers and had them sit in the front lawn of the ragged house. Princess Gwen then heard that this group in particular belonged to the Crimson Fang and like a flash in her mind, she recalled a person.

nGwen approached the short man who had been identified as their leader and said,

"You're part of the Crimson Fang, aren't you? If so, then you should be behind the attack of the Ambrose estate! Tell me now! Was there a boy? Did you guys kill him?

"

nThe small man had actually been half-blue by some of the garrison soldiers; he wasn't in the right state of mind, so he said,

"What... a boy? Yes... The boy's in there. We didn't kill him.

"

nGwen's eyes widened as she hurriedly asked,

"He's there?

"

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"Yes.

"

nAfter hearing that, Gwen's heart started pounding and asked Sir Yvain about a boy who had been captured by the Crimson Fang.

nSir Yvain then led her to the boy and said,

"That's him, Princess.

"

nAs she laid eyes on him, at first she thought saw Emery's face but when the light of the torch landed on brighter, she sighed. It wasn't him.

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"What's your name?

" she asked.

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"My name is Lanzo, your highness,

" said Lanzo, keeping his head down.

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"I see. In any case, I'm sorry we didn't get to you in time. Sir Yvain, please have someone cater to his wounds,

" said Gwen. She didn't know what had gotten into her but after she thought more about it, that boy she wished to see should have been dead by now.

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