《Is There a World We are Together》


 0- Prologue - How Can our World be so Different on the Same Soil

    She is just right in front of me, if I just stretch out my hand I am sure that I can reach her but despite that the distance still feels a lot wider than ever. We all walk on the very same soil every single day but despite that, our steps seem to never align with each other. What does it mean when someone says that they live in a different world than us?


    Those who are rich are automatically treated like they live in another world and it is not a surprise, that they experience life differently from the common folks. Those who are well off tend to take stuff for granted that commoners would find a blessing and that is just purely through ease of life. Heat is a convenience for those who can afford to have it immediately but it is something that needs a lot of work for just a normal person to attain. Both the rich and the poor live on the same planet but what makes their world different? It''s Value.


    Those who have strength live in a different world from those who are weak. Those who have strength lives with courage, they get to face the world with an exciting output due to being able to face adversities effectively. Those who are weak live with fear, they face the world with the eyes who just want to survive. The ones with strength see a monster as an opportunity to grow while those who are weak see a monster as nothing more than just a symbol of death. Both the strong and the weak live on the same planet so what makes their world different? It''s Power.


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    As a hero, I have both Power and Value but despite that, I am still not in the same world as her. It is not just me who is having a hard time with this right now, because of me 2 people''s worlds got divided extensively but at least in this situation, I can try to remedy the division that I have caused. Would helping these people''s two worlds reunite help me reach her world? I can see through everything but I cannot read minds nor see the future, no one knows how will this turn out but there is something that I know and that is that as long as no one does something their worlds will stay separated.


    I know I have been asking a lot of questions but all of those are something that I can work around with. There are a lot of unknowns in our existence and not all questions can be answered. There is just something that I want to know that I am ready to sacrifice everything just to get the answer. I just want to ascertain if there is a world where we are together and if there is indeed such a world, is it going to be my world or her world, or perhaps, it is going to be a different world entirely? It does not matter as long as we are in the same world.


    ¡ª Branton, The Hero.

 1 - I Want To Be With Her

    It is early in the morning and the sound of wooden swords slashing is already echoing around the place. Every nobility at the age of 15 to 18 has to join an academy centered around improving everyone''s combat ability so that when we reach adulthood, we can at least protect those who are around us or join the frontline. Having us attend this academy is important because of what is near to our nation. The land of demons, Ykarn''v. Our nation of Lytron is always in constant danger of being attacked by those vicious demons and we have been at war with them for 200 years now. Every student has a choice as to which one they want to focus on, weapon fighting or magic weaving. I chose to lean towards weapon fighting for I do not have a strong affinity with magic.


    "Marcel!, Let''s spar. I am going to try to finally make you surrender."


    "Okay then, sure."


    Dynel, a friend of mine that I met in the academy is calling me for a spar, I know that I said I leaned more towards weapons fighting but in terms of actual offensive prowess, I am also kind of lacking in that situation. Despite of my attacks not being that strong, I do excel at deflecting, parrying and absorbing damage making me a perfect partner when they just want to test how far they came along with attacking. For what I lacked in attack I made up with tenacity.


    "Are you ready?"


    "Ready!"


    After confirming that I am ready, both of us charged towards each other clashing our wooden swords. Dynel would be considered one of the best attackers in my class so he is definitely not someone who will be considered weak but even so I can still easily block attacks that he is dishing out.


    He is putting all his force with each strike that he is using, this would usually work if the enemy is actually getting damaged from this but against me right now it is doing me more of a favor. Each strike that he is doing is just making him get tired more and more. While I did say that it might give me more of a favor, that only takes effect if he actually gets tired because, with all the training that he did, he actually has a lot of stamina to continue this barrage of attacks. Due to the rules of this battle, there is only a limited area where we can fight and whoever crosses the line loses. This barrage of attacks is actually making me take a notable amount of distance to absorb them so I am actually running out of room here. I haven''t attacked yet in this fight for I did not have a chance yet until he overreached. He extended his hand too much that it gave me an opening to counterattack, I took advantage of this opportunity to do an attack of my own. My slash made him back down a bit but still, it''s not a great slash.


    "I know that you consider yourself weaker but look at this, I am sweating enough to create a river while you are there barely catching your breath"


    "Well you did attack more so it would be a given that you would get tired more"


    We continued to exchange blows but it ended just like how the other spars ended, they got too tired to continue and they surrendered.


    "Are you looking for her again?"


    "What?"


    "Princess Maya, I noticed that every time you are here you always look at that direction and Princess Maya will be there reading a book, eating lunch or just chatting with her friends"


    "No, I just happen to just always look in that direction"


    Every break session I do avert my gaze towards that direction and yes it is actually because of Princess Maya. Usually, she would be there doing what she usually does but for some reason, I haven''t seen her all day.


    "Well, whatever your deal with you probably should give up on pursuing her."


    "Not that I am pursuing her but why would you suggest that."


    "It''s because according to the rumour, she is getting engaged."


    "What!?"


    That was news to me, I did not know that she is getting engaged but why so suddenly though and more importantly, who is she getting engaged with.


    "According to what people are saying, she is getting engaged with the hero so if I were you I would just give up because there is no way you would be able to win against the hero himself"


    The Hero Branton? I guess it would make sense if the hero got engaged with the princess for he is the saviour of the nation. According to the records he managed to kill the previous Demon King when he was still just 10 years old 7 years ago. The news made waves not just in this country but in the neighbouring nations as well. Because of that action, it brought peace to our nation for the demon realm have stopped attacking until their current demon queen turned 17 last year and claimed the throne. I cannot believe that the Demon Queen is the same age as me and so is the current hero.


    "While people are grateful to his accomplishment, I have heard a lot of nasty things about him."


    "What kind of nasty things"


    "People are claiming that he is ruthless and that he gets violent when he is angry. There are also those who report that he is the one who killed his own parents."


    "Those actually sound insane."


    "That is not all, there are also those who are claiming that he extorts people and that he even uses violence to get what he wants. The most important one in our current conversation is that he might be an abuser."


    " Is he actually a hero? He is sounding like a villain right now."


    "These are just rumours so it is actually not confirmed but if you met the hero before, he does give a scary vibe."


    There is no way that these rumours are true right? Those horrible stuff about the hero aside, there is at least no way that the princess is getting engaged because we have a promise.


    My family used to be pretty prestigious that we were even usually invited as a guest inside the palace. Back then I would see Princess Maya everyday frequently reading books in the garden. As what adults usually do they just make me go to the garden so that they can have their "adult talks" but thanks to that tho I get an excuse to see Princess Maya. In the beginning, nothing really happened between us, I sat on the side of my seat while she stayed at her own side just minding her own business. For a month most of our encounters just started with silence and ended with silence until I worked up enough courage to finally say hello. She just looked at me shortly and then returned to reading her book. I was in shock for the courage that I mustered resulting to nothing until 2 minutes later, she finally replied with Hello. Starting that day we started talking a little with each passing day leading to more words until 3 months later we were finally having a solid conversation.


    She apologized for taking so long to finally be talkative with me, she explained that she hadn''t really talked to anyone else before so she did not know how to respond. I was fine with it so it is alright that it took her this long because at least I can finally talk to her. Talkative is an understatement tho because a month later she is just dominating every conversation that we were having and honestly I was overwhelmed. The girl who barely made one sentence before now talks to me in paragraphs within one breath. I may be overwhelmed but I like it, I like it so much that I accidentally said it out loud one time.


    "You are so cute when you talk about your books."


    "wh- what?"


    I was panicking internally so hard at that moment, why did I say that out loud, am I stupid? She probably thought that it was creepy, who in the world would find talking cute? I looked back towards Princess Maya expecting to see an angry or disgusted face but instead, what I saw was her having a massive grin. To this day I still do not know what that face meant. We just carried on with our day as if no one heard I uttered those words. 2 years have passed and I am now 11 years old, we got closer as time passed and I developed romantic feelings towards her. I do not plan to ever say this to her because there is no way that I would have a chance with her for she is a princess and while I am a nobility I did notice that something amiss is happening within my family so with this context, it is like the two of us are living in a different world entirely.


    I was happy with my current situation but of course, not everything in this world is sunshine and rainbow. and in the background, something horrible is actually happening. It turns out my family was overtaxing the people and then keeping the excess tax for themselves. This went on for a while but eventually, my father got caught red-handed. Normally we would have received a harsher punishment but thanks to the consideration of the king with how I am the 3rd princess''s friend we just got punished by being relocated to the lands near the border close to where the fighting happens. It is still not a good scenario but at least we still get to keep our title. It''s not so horrible in that situation because of the hero''s recent action, the attacks paused so it gave us enough time to fortify the land until the demons started attacking again.


    With us being relocated, it also means that I can no longer visit the palace just due to the vast distance between those two places. My family is now poor but I still have some money saved up while not much, it is still a substantial amount for someone my age. Before we leave I wanted to give the princess a gift, now that I think about it, this is kind of dumb because there is no way I can give her something that would actually be good since I only have so much money. I roamed around the kingdom trying to find something that I could buy and in the end, I decided to buy this necklace with red crystal on it. My money was actually short by some change but the lady who sold this was kind enough to lower the price for me. I went back to the palace in order to give her the necklace but when I came, she was not there. A maid told me that she went out to say goodbye to someone. I assumed it was me so I went back to the house that we were about to leave behind but according to the people there, they hadn''t seen the princess.


    The 3rd princess is illusive with her natural magic being [illusion] so she always tries to slip out of her guards because she wants to move her own pace. This is worrying because one of the paths towards my house is the slum and as how I know that girl, she will go use the shortcut. I hurried towards the slums hoping that I was wrong with my assumption but unfortunately, I was not wrong. Some people were saying that they heard a young woman screaming, I informed the nearby officers but I couldn''t afford to wait for them so I went on alone. I managed to find where they took her and thanks to my natural magic [unlock] I can unlock any place that is considered locked. I sneaked into the building trying to find the princess and when I found her she is trapped inside a cage. She was crying so I tried to attract her attention, when she finally noticed me her crying stopped and I gave her a signal to be quiet. I tip-toed my way towards to cage and managed to open it but unfortunately, they were using the creakiest cage in existence and it gave us away. Before they could catch us I grabbed the princess and ran, back then I already had a stronger body than someone of my age would have regularly so I just jumped from the 3rd floor to the ground while carrying the princess, The fall still hurt but not enough to incapacitate me. The shortcut gave us some space in between us and the pursuer but as we are running away, the princess''s shoe broke leading to her tripping and breaking her foot. I tried carrying her the rest of the way but since I couldn''t run fast while carrying someone else, it resulted to the pursuers catching up and hitting me with thick wooden slabs to my back. The impact made me drop the princess so us a last-ditch effort to protect her, I surrounded myself around her acting as a dome shield against the pursuers.


    "Boss this kid just won''t let up, he already broke 3 slabs"


    "Killing kids is not really my thing but I guess I will need to this time"


    The pursuers seems to be not able to get rid of me with those slabs so they turned towards their boss. Getting impatient the boss pulled out a metal sword, I might be able to handle getting hit by wooden slabs but I am not swordproof, getting slashed or stabbed directly will definitely kill me. Their boss was about to stab me when a young kid around my age showed up and kicked the boss away. At this point, I am already losing consciousness so all I can remember is that the kid has a sword. When I woke up 3 hours later I was greeted with the 3rd princess''s face and again in tears. For some reason, my body does not hurt as I thought it would. The princess explained that the kid who saved us apparently gave me an expensive medicine that greatly heals injuries, while not fully it is still a significant amount.


    "Why?... Why do that? you should''ve just let them get me. Because of my clumsiness, you got hurt so badly."


    "It''s fine, I don''t mind."


    "You always say that, whether I am making a mistake, being an inconvenience or being just plain annoying. I know this is not fine. You almost died!"


    "Just like I said, I don''t mind if it''s you even if I''m dying."


    "wh-"


    I did not let her finish her question, I just went and said it. One of the side effects of the medicine the kid gave me was the removal of my filter.


    "It''s because I love you, I don''t want to see you die."


    "Then you know the reason why I am mad, I also don''t want to see you die."


    "What?"


    "WE HAVE THE SAME REASON!"


    She then laid her head on my chest muttering something.


    "I also love you"


    I did not know how to respond so instead I just reached down in my pockets, luckily the necklace was still intact. I tried giving it to her but.


    "I am not going to accept that."


    "I''m sorry, I guess a cheap accessory won''t really do for a princess."


    "It''s not that. You bought this necklace because you will never see me again after you move right?


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    I stayed quiet because she was not wrong.


    "I will only accept that if you promise me something."


    "what is it?"


    "Promise me that you will marry me someday."


    "What, that is a reach not only are you a princess, I am also part of a disgraced family."


    "So what, still promise me that you will marry me."


    Her eyes were serious, deep inside I was still thinking that this was an impossible task but this was no different from the usual princess who always had inconvenient requests. At this point it''s fine, I am used to taking absurd requests from her.


    "Okay then, I promise that I will marry you someday."


    It was just a promise between 2 kids, in reality, it holds no merit for a lot of childhood promises get broken all the time. I know all of that but deep inside I am still hoping that I get a chance to actually fulfil the promise. Shortly after that incident, I returned home. The medicine the saviour kid was so effective that no one at home even recognized that I was on the brink of death. I kept what happened today a secret because I did not want them to worry. We left in order to go to the place the king relocated us to and I was not able to see her until I turned 15 when it was finally time to enter the academy. The princess also went to the same academy, I was hoping to get to talk to her but for some reason, it''s like our progress has resetted. I mostly just see her in the academy''s garden reading a book and just like the first time I met her, it was hard to say hello. She is more of a princess now than when we were kids so probably she is avoiding me now in order to not tarnish her name, I am part of the family who stole from the people after all. For the rest of the year, I tried to approach her but to no avail, everytime I tried to get close, I just got cold feet and turned around. It has been more than a year since I came to this academy and all I can do now is just avert my gaze towards the direction in which she is usually reading her book.


    "Hey, are you listening?"


    "oh, uhm ye my bad I kinda got lost in my thoughts."


    "The professors gave notice that there will be an announcement that is going to be made later, Let''s go back to the classroom for now"


    Our class have been training since 7 am, it is currently 2 pm. I guess this is a good time to stop and cool down in the classroom. We changed into our spare clothes and went on our way to the classroom. Inside the classroom it is like the students are not being trained to be hardened fighters, they all just go around being teenagers that they are with no sign of being ready to kill anytime when they need to. A professor entered the classroom and in an instant, the room went from joyful and bustling full of friends chatting into quiet and serious where everyone at their sit focused on what is at front.


    "Okay class, I have an announcement. As all of you people have noticed the 3rd princess did not attend school today, and there is a reason for that."


    Everyone focused their attention even more to the professor anticipating what she is about to say.


    "She is getting engaged to the current hero. She is not here today in order to meet with him in the palace."


    So it is true, she is indeed getting engaged to the hero. It''s fine because in a real sense, nothing is worthy of a princess more than a hero. The class remained quiet until the professor made her leave, the moment the door closed is when everyone''s mouth opened. The class is divided, there are those who like the hero for apparently he is very handsome however, there are also those who have heard nasty rumours about him being a horrible person or someone who is abusive so they are scared for the princess.


    ***


    It is now 6 pm, and everyone including me has returned to our respective dorms. Dorms are separated based on status so those richer and more powerful live in the nicer dorms. The dorm that I currently live in is fine. The food is not extravagant but it''s still good and the only real gripe I have is that there is no water heater so I have to boil my own water for the bath. The water I heated myself is now ready so I just went on and had my nightly bath. I could not stop thinking about the announcement earlier. Is this really going to be the end for us, I just pondered repeatedly while bathing myself in hot water. After an hour of pondering I made my decision, I am going to at least see what the hero is like. It is dark outside but I still went my way into the palace, I am able to sneak my way into the garden by unlocking the gate in there using my natural magic [unlock]. I was walking in the garden when the door to the palace suddenly opened. A handsome man with a sword around my age came out of the door. He has a very serious air around him and his eyes look like they can cut you with just his glare. I hid in the cornet in order to not get caught and the man with the sword is right in front of the garden looking to the stars. Maybe I am on the clear and this is a perfect time because he left the doors open. All I need is to just tip-toe towards the entrance.


    "So, what are you doing here sneaking around?"


    I felt chills in my body just hearing his words. It sounds like they were directed at me and as I turn around to confirm there he is tilting his head slightly so that one of his eyes can at least look at me. The surrounding seems to have changed like we are in different place despite still seeing the same scenery. What is happening right now?


    "I locked the space around us. Noone else can see us, no one else can hear us and no one else can interrupt us so let me ask again. What are you doing here sneaking around?"


    Lock the space around us? there is only one person that I know that can do such a feat.


    "Are you the hero?"


    "Answer my question first."


    Shutting down immediately my question but I guess that is fair he did ask a question first, it is rude to answer a question with a question but what should I say?


    "I am Marcel"


    "Marcel, huh,"


    "I came here to see the 3rd princess."


    "What would a person like you have to do with the 3rd princess."


    "I answered your question so answer mine back first"


    I was shaking my legs but I held my ground. He looks really scary and every word that he says sounds so imposing but I don''t want to back down.


    "Okay then, I am indeed the hero. Name is Branton"


    He actually is the hero, there is not kidding when people say that he is scary does that mean the other rumours are true aswell?


    "So why would you see the princess?"


    "I just want to make sure she is safe."


    "Safe? If I am here there she surely will be safe. I am the hero after all."


    "I want to make sure she is safe from you."


    I do not know what I am doing, I uttered such words to him while pointing at him accusing him that he is a horrible person.


    "I heard that you are someone that cannot be trusted, you get violent and even abusive. I cannot trust if you are a good person."


    I expected the look on his face to be anger but when I looked back towards his face he had a menacing smile and shortly after he began to laugh diabolicly. The closed space that he created through this Natural magic started to echo around his laugh. The atmosphere around us turned from scary to nightmarish in an instant. He put his hand to his face and then speak.


    "HahAHhahaHA, and what did you think? Did you think that you can save her from me?"


    Huh? What is this? Is he actually admitting to being a horrible person? Why? Why? Why? Why is the hero who gave peace to the nation be such a thing? It is clear to see that he is strong, I do not think anyone can stop him if he actually wants something, do I run? Normally people trapped inside his space cannot leave willingly but thanks to my natural gift I can unlock a path for me to escape. After a short thinking, I made my choice.


    "So that is your course of action huh, you point your sword towards me"


    I choose to fight.


    I trust forward with my sword and began swinging towards the hero but each slash just barely misses the hero with how effortlessly he is dodging my attacks.


    "Your swings are slow but they are precise, aiming at the part of my body that is most likely to be hit however this is easy to evade. Why are you doing this though, what merit would a no name like you be obtain on dying in an impossible fight."


    " I just want her to be safe! You are a dangerous person so while the whole world is grateful for your contribution, I cannot trust her with you."


    " You have nothing to do with the princess though, it is a waste of your life to be devoting it to someone who does not even care about you."


    " I do not care if she do not care about me, all I care is that she is in safe hands."


    " Let''s test that out then."


    After he said his piece he disappeared from my vision, did he turn invisible? No he just sped up, a kick is coming towards my right side but before it hit me I managed to steel myself and absorbed it maintaining minimal damage.


    "Woah, you took a whole kick and you didn''t fly around. That is a surprise."


    "This is nothing."


    Of course that was a bluff. While I said I maintained minimal damage, it still hurts. I do not know how many more of these kicks I can take. First of all, why is he even kicking, isn''t he a swordsman you have a sword so use it!


    "What is she to you?"


    "She is the one I love."


    "I seriously doubt doubt that."


    "HUH? How can someone like you would know about what I feel."


    "Well because if that is true, then why am I the one marrying her?"


    I am getting angrier by the minute.


    "Oh I know what is happening here, you think that you love her well she is beautiful after all. Oh, and she got that money in her so of course a poor nobility like you would be attracted to her hahaha."


    I am frozen, I do not know what move to do next and the hero just walks nonchalantly towards me in puts his hand on my shoulder.


    "I understand since she is a beauty and rich you just want her fo----"


    "Shut your trashy mouth. What I love about her is her smile, her laugh, and the way she talks so cutely about the books that she loves and that I made a promise. I am going to be the one to marry her."


    I did not let him finish what insulting words he was about to say towards the princess. Fear is no longer in my inventory only anger. He kept on disrespecting the woman that I love so much without the fear holding me back right now. I made a declaration.


    "Are you seriously declaring that to the face of someone who is officially engaged to her? You got some guts."


    With a new fire inside me, I moved faster than I usually do. I am finally hitting some attacks on the hero but yet the power is still not something that I am proud of. With every minuscule attack, I landed towards him came with a massive amount of kicks from the hero towards me.


    "You seriously made a promise like that a long time ago and made no moves? Did you really think a promise between two kids would bear such significance?"


    "Shut up!"


    I know that already, I was ready to give up on it but if it meant her going to this douchebag then I do not want to quit yet.


    "You claim that you love her but you did nothing all these years. You are just playing pretend at this point."


    "My feelings are true. It''s true back then and it is true even now."


    The barrage of kicks just keeps on coming, I managed to counter-attack a few times but I am reaching my limit.


    "Did you even ever think if you can defeat me?"


    "I do not know."


    "Did you ever think that you can survive all the attacks that you are about to receive?"


    " I do not know."


    "Did you ever think that you are prepared to fight me?"


    "I do not know."


    "Then what do you know!"


    "All I know is that I want to be with her!"


    I did not realize while in the moment that the space around us became silent. The sound of attacks stopped and the hero is just there being quiet. All the noise that is going around the place right now is just me crying.


    " I do not know anything. I do not know if she still loves me. I do not know how to approach her right now. I do not know why we resetted into not being able to say hello to each other again. I do not know how can I recover from the tarnish of my family''s name. I do not know anything. I want to be with her but I do not know what I can do. Is my family''s name going to be a bother to the princess? Should I still be pursuing at this point? I cannot defeat you, anyone with a brain can instantly know that but I do not know why I still want to fight and try to win against you.


    The scene is just me right now kneeling on the ground crying and spewing up every worry that I have been bottling up inside. I am grovelling on the ground right now but letting it all out makes me feel a lot better it is like a massive weight behind my back just got lessened.


    "So do you feel better now?"


    The air around us changed, I thought it was me who changed the air but it actually was the hero. The nightmarish aura that was surrounding him disappeared, and right now that air he is giving is as if he is my friend who is genuinely concerned about me.


    "Huh?"


    "You finally let it all out right? All the stuff that is concerning you right now. You are so used to absorbing damage that you forget you still need to recover from it. When you get hit by a sword, you just tend the would and then rest. But you forgot to do that on your inside. You have been repeatedly damaged by all the doubts you have inside you that you just kept on getting degraded. You are used to pain so you did not notice but you were killing yourself on the inside all this time thinking that you can''t do anything."


    I kept my face facing down the ground. I could not bear myself to face him because I knew what he told me was the truth. I never really complained about all of these with anyone because I did not want to be a bother. The hero began to move towards me and he put his hand to my head.


    " I will help you."


    "Help me with what?"


    Did I hear him right? what is he gonna help me with? I looked up to his face expecting the scary hero that I met at the beginning but instead I was treated with a reassuring smile while saying the following words in a friendly tone.


    "I will help you win over and get together with the 3rd princess of course."


    This is the person that I said I cannot trust just half an hour ago and yet the smile that he is making and the reassuring sensation in my hair right now leads me to believe that I had the wrong impressions about him.


    "Just so that you know, I do not actually like the princess, I''m more of just being forced by the king to be with her. Oh, but before we continue further take this medicine."


    "This medicine, this looks like the medicine that the kid back then gave me. Wait. Someone who kicks despite having a sword and is almost the same age as me. You were the kid that saved us?"


    "Bingo. That was me and just so you know I was in the room when you two made the promise, pretty bold back them I must say hahahaha."


    So he is actually the one who saved us back then. His laugh seems to have also changed from the diabolical laugh that he had earlier to a tone that is more akin to a friend teasing each other it''s like he is a different person.


    "I am so sorry that I had to be harsh with you just now but it is true that I was mad at you. I couldn''t believe that the person who had the guts to jump off from the 3rd floor, shield someone with their whole body and brave enough to promise to marry a princess became a spineless coward when it finally mattered."


    "Spineless, I literally faced against you though and you were scary."


    "I am not the one that matters in this picture, it''s the princess. You didn''t make a move ever since that promise so of course all of this happened."


    "I didn''t do nothing, I tried my best to approach her."


    "Efforts that resulted in nothing might actually not have happened at all."


    He is right, I pretty much did nothing, I''ve only just been fooling myself with the illusion of actually doing something.


    "Atleast you did not slack off on your body. While your attacks might not be strong you have an impeccable defense."


    "Well always had a stronger body ever since I was a kid."


    "So that''s how you were able to deflect all those wooden slabs."


    "What did you mean by you are willing to help me?"


    "It means exactly how it sounds. I am going to help you get together with the princess but just so you know there are some problems."


    "What problems?"


    " Normally people would not really care much about who the 3rd princess marry because her 2 sisters are considered more important so she actually would not have a problem marrying you despite your familiy''s status."


    " The problem now is that?"


    " The problem now is that I am now part of the picture. You are trying to replace the hero. Your only problem is not just winning over the princess but also winning over the people."


    "But don''t the people think you are some creepy abusive person?"


    "While it is true that I am feared by some people no one actually think that I am an abusive person, I just happen to paid people in your class to spread those rumours hehe."


    "Why?"


    "To see what you would do of course."


    I have been dancing to his tune the whole day? That Dynel, he knew all this time I was going to give him some piece of my knuckles when I get back.


    " I do not think I will be able to replace you though."


    " Do not give up when the fight hasn''t started yet, there is a way."


    " There is?"


    " In a little less than a year, a tournament I am hosting will happen where winner(s) are granted the ability to make a wish to the hero and the hero will grant it if it can be fulfilled."


    "But isn''t that the tournament where no ordinary person has won before? Are you saying that you are going to throw the match for me?"


    "yes it is the very same tournament but nope I will not be throwing anything. If you are going to fight me there you will have to fight for real for I am not going to hold back?"


    "Then it is the same as an impossible task then."


    "Look, you are not so bad with my guidance you can surely reach the level that you can actually win against me in a tournament setting."


    "What do you mean?"


    "In the tournament making me surrender is not the only way to win, There is also a time limit and with your speciality in defense you might actually be able to last til the time is up."


    Am I actually going to be trained by the hero himself? But with this, I might actually have a chance to be finally with her. This is an opportunity that I cannot miss therefore I will take full advantage of this.


    " Your target right now, the princess and the nation. The goal you have is to win over both of them. The plan is to win against me in a little less than a year. The progress will be your training with me. Remember that the battle will be us no holding back. I may bu but that is only for the preparation, the execution will depend entirely on you. You may have a promise with the princess but you still need to work towards fulfilling it. Are you ready?"


    "I am ready."


    Today, January 18 I formed a partnership with the hero for him to help me prepare to beat him in the tournament. I will do my best.


    "Just so you know you will still need to overcome this ''I cannot talk with her like we used to'' problem on your own because I will not be able to help on that front."


    "Yep, I know. I do miss listening to her rambling about the books she has finished reading haha."

 2- I Want To Be With Him

    "Oh Maya, I love you."


    "Marcel, I also love you."


    "Let''s get married, Maya..."


    Maya...


    Maya...


    Maya...


    Maya...


    "MAYA! WAKE UP!"


    "ehhhh, Miya, why''d you wake me up It''s just getting to the good part."


    "What good part? It''s already 7 am Go wash your face it''s full of drool."


    I''ve been having the same dream for over a year now, it''s always just me and Marcel being lovey-dovey with each other. I might not sound like a morning person but I do not mind waking up early to go to the academy because he will be there but the current problem right now is that I am too shy to talk to him. We used to talk all the time before but now that I see him again, everytime I look at his face I just see the dreams over and over again. I can''t maintain eye contact with him so I just deflect by just looking at my book. I really want to talk to him but I can''t muster up the courage to speak to him so all I do now is sit in the same spot where I can see him when training.


    "Why are you wearing that?"


    "Because it''s my uniform? I need it to enter the academy?"


    "I know that you pagehead, I meant why are you wearing that today, you are not going to school."


    "What?"


    "You are meeting the person you are gonna be engaged to today."


    "I am getting engaged!?"


    What? What is happening why am I suddenly getting engaged, I thought I wouldn''t need to be engaged so early because I am only the third princess, my engagement is not as important as my other sisters so why?


    " Last night it got decided."


    " How?"


    " Roulette."


    "What? My engagement got decided using a roulette?"


    "Well, more precisely the reward that was going to be given to the hero was decided using a roulette. you just happened to be in it."


    "So I am going to be engaged with the hero?"


    I guess it is not so bad if it is the hero but I already made a promise to someone though, maybe the hero will be nice enough to hear me out and maybe not get engaged with me.


    "You should be careful. Maya."


    "Why?"


    "I hear a lot of nasty humour about that guy."


    Nasty humour on the hero who brought peace to our nation by killing the previous demon king when he was 10? I can not imagine it but on the other hand, maybe it takes a monster to kill the demon king while someone is still 10. This is getting scary though.


    "There are some that reported that he killed his own parents. Some also shared that he can be abusive toward the other sex.


    "No way, he is the hero. That seems far-fetched for someone who is meant to save all of us."


    "That might be so but at this point he is also a monster who is strong enough to kill a demon king when he was still just a child."


    " And I am supposed to get engaged with him? This sucks."


    "Welp, good luck out there my dear sister."


    "Why don''t we switch then."


    "I am already engaged to my love."


    "Well lucky you then."


    Stupid sisters both of them actually happy with being the person they actually love while I am here getting stuck with a monster. I do admit the monster is handsome but I am not really the one who cares about the face. I am not saying that Marcel has an ugly face, I am just saying that his face is at least what I like more. Do I escape out of here? I have nowhere to go though so I think things will just get complicated.


    I am not against getting engaged but I want it to be with Marcel. Marcel is my friend way back when I was still a child. He used to come to the garden which is usually my spot to read books. I love the feeling of the air and the sun hitting my skin while reading a book surrounded by plants even these days I still love reading books outside near plants or trees. There is currently a similar spot in the academy grounds where I usually watch the weapon-fighting students practice. At first, Marcel is just there because the adults do not want him to overhear what they are talking about, for days Marcel just sits on the other side of the bench quietly, sometimes I can feel his gaze but whenever I try to look back he just looks at any other direction except mine. After some days, I wanted to finally talk to him and so the day before that I practised the whole night in the mirror saying hello, over and over again. The day had arrived and Marcel finally went to the garden, I tried to say hello to him but I couldn''t so the start of the day was just the usual silence. I was getting sad for myself because I did all of that practice just to not say it until I heard Marcel muttering something. At first, I could not recognize what he was saying but once he got his composure right he finally said it clearly.


    "H- Hello, Princess Maya."


    I was happy when he finally greeted me, I wanted to greet him back but words won''t come out of my mind. I was given a second chance right then though so I did not want to waste it. I kept repeating ''Hello.'', ''Hello.'', ''Hello'' in my mind until a minute later I finally mustered to courage to finally say it out loud.


    "Hello hello hello."


    I said too much, I only needed to say one hello. My face was so red but at least I finally said hello. As time went by we got closer and closer to the point where I could share with him the books that I love. I got so comfortable talking to him that 3 times I accidentally became the only one who talked the entire day. I got so engrossed in retelling the stories I read that I just talked the whole day. I tried apologizing to him about it but he just responded that it''s fine and that he is happy to see me happily talking about something. There are 3 books that I read to him completely and those are [ Maiden Who Lie], [ Forgotten Pasta], and lastly [Farewell Gift].


    [Maiden Who Lie] is a story revolving around a lady who just lies all the time just because she thinks it is fun. One time she saw someone get injured, and the injured man asked for the lady to call a medic. The lady reassured the injured man that she had indeed informed a medical personnel but in reality, she lied and the man died a slow death while clinging to the false hope that help would come. The other time a lost child approached her for help, the lost child asked the lady if she saw the lost child''s parent. The lady responded that she saw them go to the alley. The Child followed the lady''s direction and went into the alley but of course, all of what the lady said was lies and the lost child stayed missing after that. These cycles of lies continued until one time she unknowingly encountered a god. The god asked the lady a question. ''Do you prefer truths or lies?''. The lady answered with truth which is a total lie. The god acknowledged her answer and made it so that everyone around her would only speak the truth. The rest of the day went as usual until she went to the town. She is a frequent roamer in the town so people know about her. She is there to meet up with a friend, usually when she and her friends meet up they would hug and greet each other with pleasantries but this time it''s different. They still hugged but the words that came out of her friend''s mouth were not pleasant.


    " You really are a piece of garbage."


    The lady was confused if what she heard was accurate so she just went and ordered drinks on the bar but as she ordered the bartender said something.


    "So you are here to smooch off your rich friend again huh?"


    The lady was confused for the bartender was still using his friendly smile but those words that were coming out of his mouth were hurtful. Realizing what people were saying the lady ran outside the bar and then bumped into her crush. She was hoping that her crush would be there to comfort her but instead, it happened again, those people had gentle smiles on their faces but the words that were coming out of their mouths were nothing but ruthless.


    "This is the girl that keeps on following me around, honestly she is kind of creepy."


    "Seriously dude that is the girl? not worth it man."


    "Disgusting."


    Something is not right the lady assumes. Everyone around her just kept on spouting worthless nonsense towards her. She went around the town but all she could hear were those ruthless words and at some point, she just could not handle it anymore. The god appeared again right before her and the lady begs for the god''s help. The god once again asks her the same question telling her that choosing the other option will make all of these stop. The lady chose that she prefers a lie. The lady felt relieved that all of these were about to stop but the god replied.


    "Since you prefer lies, I will give you a favour and make my previous statement a lie."


    The god lied to the lady, all of this suffering is not stopping. We do not know what happened to the lady but this is where the story ended. When I read this to Marcel he was speechless, now that I think about it I do not think it was appropriate for a child to read but I just take whatever book I can reach and this just happens to be one of them.


    The next one was the story called [ Forgotten Pasta]. It is a short story about a man and a woman. When they were kids both of them liked eating at a certain restaurant, and both their parents met up there for a gathering. The boy and the girl both ordered a cake, they both loved it. They noticed that they also served pasta but as they were already full with their cake they told each other instead that they would get the pasta next time. 7 years have passed since then and now they are teenagers, both of them happened to go to the restaurant at the same time but now ordering burgers. Both were happy with what they ordered but then they noticed, that the restaurant offered pasta, they remembered from the last time that they were going to order the pasta but since they felt full now they instead promised to get the pasta next time. Another 7 years have passed and now they are now on their 20s both bustling and improving their careers. Both entered the restaurant at the same time and now they bought pizza. The two of them satisfied with their meal went and paid the bill but then they noticed, the restaurant sells pasta but since they already paid they just promised each other to buy the pasta next time. 10 years have passed and now they are in their 30s. Both have met up again in the same restaurant but now they are no longer alone. The girl came with her husband and her son and the boy came with his wife and his daughter. The girl''s family bought steak while the boy''s family bought lobster however both their children wanted cake so they got it. The kids enjoyed the cake but they noticed the pasta, they promised each other to try the pasta next time but the girl and the boy already had forgotten about the pasta.


    Marcel did not understand what this story meant, I can not blame him since I also did not understand what the story was at the time I just found it funny that they kept on forgetting the pasta.


    The third story was [Farewell Gfit]. This story is a very simple one, it just just about a couple. The girl and the boy were living a fun life, they were friends since they were kids and now they are a couple. The life they had used to be simple and peaceful however one day a calamity struck, an unknown lifeform started to show up from outer space. Both of them ran away in order to not get caught in battle and they managed to stay hidden for some fair amount of time. However, while they are indeed safe from hiding the situation outside is not getting better, for years the battle outside has been fierce. The girl exclaims that she is scared, the boy is also as scared as her but someone needs to pretend to be strong for the sake of their sanity. After a few months, it looks like the people outside have managed to find a way to counterattack. While it is good news that they found a way to fight back, it needed a volunteer. The boy just happened to be in a profession that is good for what they need. The boy volunteered to join but before he left he gave the girl a necklace.


    "I wanted to give you a ring but I think that is better to do when I come back."


    The situation outside became better where it is safe now to go outside however there was no sign of the boy. In the end, the only thing left of him for her is his farewell gift.


    Marcel did not know why the man did not come back but I guess one part of the story got stuck on his head.


    Shortly after I shared the 3rd story something horrible happened. Marcel''s family got caught stealing the taxes of the people for themselves. Their whole family was about to be banished from the nation and it included Marcel despite being just a kid. I cried to my father about it so he showed some mercy and just made it so that they get relocated to the place hearest to the land of the demons. Because of this, Marcel has to leave making it so that it;s not possible for me to see him. I wanted to at least see him off so I went my way towards his home at the time. As usual, guards were patroling alongside me but since they were slow I used my natural magic [Illusion] to slip past them.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I wanted to get to his house fast so I took a shortcut, the slums can be used to shorten the path it would take to get there so I made a detour there. At first, it was going well until a group of guys blocked the road. I tried to escape past them by creating distractions using my illusions but one of them managed to grab me making it literally impossible to do anything back then. One of them lifted me and because I could not do anything else, I just screamed hoping for help to come. They locked me up in a cage and with that, I just wanted to cry. I just wanted to see him because it might be the last time that I would be able to see him. The thought of not being able to see him made me cry more than the fact that I am being held captive right now. I just kept on crying until I saw something on the edge of my eyes, at first I thought it was just an illusion created by me because of my sadness but no, the one I saw at the edge of my eyes was the real deal, it really was Marcel.


    I was about to exclaim his name until he made the sign for me to be quiet, not wanting to be caught I covered my mouth in order to avoid any accidental noise. Marcel tip-toed his way towards my cage. I was shaking from fear but when Marcel saw that, he greeted me with a friendly smile in order to make me calmer and it worked. Marcel has the natural magic [unlock] letting him unlock anything that is considered locked. The calm did not last long though for when the cage was opened it made a screeching noise. It notified the people who captured me so in order to get me to safety, Marcel pulled me out of the cage and went to the window. Marcel carried me with his arms and he unlocked the window with his magic. He jumped down from the 3rd floor and it did not hurt me at all.


    Thanks to the shortcut Marcel took we managed to gain some distance but one of my shoes received some damage from the previous encounter so when enough stress from trying to escape hit my shoe it broke. The shoe breaking made me lose balance and when I tried to recorrect it, the situation have gotten worse instead and broke my feet. I basically threw myself to the ground but in order to still try to get away from danger Marcel attempted to carry me the whole way however he was not fast enough. Someone has hit his back with a large piece of wood making me fall off his arms. I was in the open not being able to run away because of my feet but in order to defend me, Marcel wrapped his whole body around me acting like a dome shield against the pursuers. They kept on attacking his back, Marcel was already tearing up with pain but even with all of that he was still making a smile in order to reassure me but I know that smile is only there to not make me realize how much pain he is in right now. In that situation I felt helpless, I wished that I knew how to fight. I wished that I tried to be stronger because maybe if I did, he would not be in this much pain. His tears and my tears were getting mixed as they fell to my face. My cry just got louder when I saw one of those men pull out a metal sword, he walked closer and closer preparing to stab Marcel. Every step that he did made me scream Stop, no, get away, over and over again but of course, no attacker would listen to that. The metal sword was about to hit Marcel when a kid almost the same age as us kicked the one who is holding a sword across the road. He was as little as us but when those people saw him they started running away.


    I turned my attention back to Marcel for he lost consciousness. I tried shaking his body and calling his name in an attempt to wake him maybe up but to no avail. The kid who saved us walked toward us and pulled out a potion, its potent is something that I had not seen before as it instantly closed up any wounds that he received, he also gave me medicine for my feet. one use of it has fully healed my feet. The kid then began to carry Marcel towards the closest clinic and with that, mine and Marcel''s life was saved. I tried thanking the kid who saved us but it looked like he disappeared.


    I waited for Marcel to wake up because despite the medicine closing up all his wounds I was still afraid that he would not wake up. I was still in tears when his eyes finally opened. The first thing he did when he woke up was to make the same smile again to make me stop crying but this time it did not work. I just felt so bad because the only reason he got hurt this badly was because of me. I am the one who went to the slums despite being warned multiple times, it was my clumsiness that got us caught. All of this was my fault. I began questioning him and that he should''ve just let me go, there was no need for him to get hurt for my actions but of course, he had the same response as on every other annoying request that I have imposed on him before.


    "It''s fine, I don''t mind."


    It''s not fine, it shouldn''t be fine. my own actions shouldn''t be affecting him this way. I do not want to see him die. He then confessed that he loves me and that is the reason why it''s fine. He probably thought this would make me go ''your love is that strong for me, I''m so touched'' But no! This just made me angry more because I feel the same way about him, I love him that is why I do not want to see him die. He couldn''t understand that it''s because I love him that I am angry that he is basically killing himself, I''ve seen this a lot in books and I always hated it. He then tried to distract me again but now with a necklace, he said he wanted to give this as a gift to me for he is going away.


    I did not want to accept it. This just reminded me of the most recent story that I read to him. I do not want something that reminds me of you, I want you. Marcel assumed that I did not want his gift because it was cheap. I do not care about such a thing, I actually would love to have this because it''s from him. In the end, I accepted the necklace but with one condition. We have to make a promise that we will be married someday. We made that promise but since both of us were just kids back then I do not know if he actually took it seriously.


    "Princess Maya, the hero has arrived."


    "Okay, I will be right there."


    I finally get to see him now after all these years but I can not even muster up the courage to talk properly with him and worse of all I''m getting engaged to someone I do not even know personally. There is nothing else I can do but to face this so I am just going to try my best to get around this. When I entered the room where the hero is, the air felt like it suddenly changed. The air around us felt heavier and I couldn''t help but feel some fear in my bones. Despite all of these I still tried to keep a straight face.


    "Hello there Mr. Hero."


    "You can just call me Branton."


    "Okay, then Mr Branton."


    "close enough."


    He sounds so condescending that it is making me angry but I need to be in his good favor If I want to get out of this.


    "Why did you choose to get engaged with me?"


    "I did not really choose you per se, Your father was insisting that I get a reward from him but I did not really want anything but despite that, the king still prepared a wheel to decide which reward to give me, your name happened to be in it. Honestly, I got unlucky."


    What? What do you mean unlucky, I know I also do not want to marry you but just calling me an unlucky pick is just infuriating.


    "So are you saying that you don''t actually like me?"


    "I guess not."


    Perfect maybe I can convince him to cancel this then.


    "You see there is actually someone that I like and I already promised him that I am going to marry him."


    "Is it an official engagement?"


    "Nope, not really. It''s just between the two of us and it was back when we were just kids."


    "And you actually love him?"


    "Yes!"


    This is going smoothly so far, maybe the hero is not as bad as what they were saying.


    "Did he give you anything as a sign of this promise?"


    " I have this necklace."


    "Can I borrow it for a second?"


    If this can get him to change his mind then okay but I am just going to try to give him a copy using my illusion attached to a makeshift necklace just to imitate it''s touch.


    "Here you go."


    "I was talking about the real thing though."


    "That is the real thing."


    "We both know that''s a lie."


    He saw through it, huh, I guess there is no work around it, I handed him over the real thing.


    "So this is it huh, the thing that is pushing you away from our engagement."


    Suddenly everything around us became quiet and the air turned from heavy to creepy in an instant, what is happening right now?


    "I locked the space around us. No one else can see us, no one else can hear us and no one else can interrupt us and I just want to confirm, this is the promise necklace?"


    "yes"


    He began making a diabolical smile and his face became really scary.


    "Then I shall just destroy this so that nothing is holding you back from our engagement."


    He made the motion to throw the necklace to the floor in order to destroy it but I moved fast, I quickly went behind his back and then leg and arm locked him from behind.


    "I knew it, you are for of a fighter than you let on."


    "Ever since an incident when I was a kid, I began training my own in order to be better at fighting or at least protecting myself. Now, let go of the necklace."


    "So you think you can protect this necklace?"


    Branton jumped and then Bodyslam his whole body backwards in order to maybe hurt me but I was fast enough to dodge it, unlike me though, the table where I put the replica of the necklace did not survive.


    "Do you think you can get away making this much of a mess?"


    "I loved the area around us, no one else will be coming here."


    "tsk."


    I rush forward in order to try to take away the necklace from his hand.


    "Give me the necklace!"


    "No, this junk is better being trashed."


    "It''s not junk!"


    "It''s not junk? this thing is so cheaply made that it does not even deserve to have a price tag.


    While I was talking, Branton suddenly went forward so fast that I did not have enough time to dodge. He kicked with all his power but-.


    "That was just your illusion?"


    "I am not dumb enough to fight you face to face, I know that you would be more formidable than that.


    "So what? Are you just going to hide?. You can''t protect this piece of trash if all you do is hide behind your illusions.


    Infuriating as it is, he has a point hiding in the shadows will not be helping me much to reach the real objective. I threw a kitchen knife towards his direction but he managed to block it however that is part of the plan because the knife is not the attack but the punch that follows it. I landed a full hit to the hero but he took that punch like a champ. He is not fazed about what just happened and so I kept on barraging him thinking what I was doing was effective but it actually was futile. He grabbed my arm and then threw me across the room.


    "What even is the point of fighting so hard for this thing, does it even mean something to you?"


    "Of course it does, it is the symbol of our promise."


    "you say that but did you actually do anything in order to fulfil that promise?"


    "Of course, I was doing something, every single day I try my hardest to approach him."


    " And then what? That is right. Nothing."


    "That is not nothing."


    "You are just lying to yourself at this point."


    What does he mean that I am lying to myself, I do try my hardest every day to approach him.


    "Are you even sure that the other person remembers this so-called promise of yours?"


    "Of course he would remember, we both agreed to this."


    " Just like how they both agreed to eat the pasta because we know how that ended up?"


    "What? This is nothing like that."


    "You and I both know it''s the same damn thing."


    The hero kept on spewing nonsense, but despite all that, it also stings my heart.


    " You are scared."


    "Of course I am scared, you are someone who killed the demon king when you were 10."


    "Not me, I am talking about how you are scared of him."


    "I am not scared of Marcel, he is a gentle person."


    "Not that part of him, you are afraid that he forgot the promise."


    "I am n-"


    "Here you go again with the lying, it''s not that you are too shy to speak to him. You are afraid to know if he has actually forgotten. You have that necklace to remind you of it but he doesn''t."


    "You are wrong!"


    I rushed forward in order to punch his face for spewing up those nonsense but he dodged all my kicks and punches.


    " You did not want to hear him speak because he might just confirm your fear."


    "stop!"


    " Maybe this necklace is not a promise but really is just a farewell gift but maybe you already know that."


    I am just frozen on the floor right now contemplating what he is saying, is this actually all true?


    "You are questioning yourself now so I guess it is alright for me to just do this now."


    "what? No!"


    He took out the necklace and raised it with his hand.


    "Stop!"


    He wrapped his hand around the crystal that hung onto the necklace.


    "Don''t do that."


    He then proceeded to crush the crystal.


    "So your love is as fake as this counterfeit crystal huh."


    My anger right now is on the roof. My vision is getting darker and alongside that, the whole room began to transform. My illusions right now are going out of control making the whole room get enveloped in random stuff making it very disorienting. I began to rush forward again to Branton but now my punches and kicks are finally hitting him.


    "I do not know if I am actually lying to myself when I say I was trying my best."


    Branton tried to counter attack but he just attacked a clone made from illusion. After whiffing his counterattack, I managed to get more hits towards him.


    "I do not know if he actually forgot the promise."


    I did not let up with my attack and I managed to get a clean kick on his stomach.


    "I do not know much about anything."


    Branton was just laying on the floor so I grabbed him by his collar.


    "But I do know two things. My feelings for him are not fake and I know that I want to be with him!  So give me back the necklace. Give it back.... please...."


    I did not notice but while I was on barraging him with attacks, the air around us changed. The heavy creepy scary vibe that it was spewing before disappeared. I am just on my knees right now crying because the necklace is now crushed into a million pieces. The hero who was staying quiet finally made a move, I thought he was about to attack me but instead what I felt was a reassuring sensation on my head. He had put his hand to my hair, I looked up to see his face and it was just him smiling, but unlike the diabolical smile that he had before, he is currently giving a more friendly vibe.


    "Look at your pocket"


    "What?"


    I checked my pocket expecting nothing but I felt something In there, something hard like a rock. It couldn''t be, It''s the necklace!


    "How?"


    "I put it in your pocket when your leg and arm locked me at the beginning."


    "Then the one that you destroyed were?"


    "The replica that you made."


    "So all this time I was fighting for the wrong necklace?"


    "I told you, why were you trying so hard for something that is garbage."


    "I thought that was the real thing."


    "You got so caught up in the moment that even your own illusion fooled you."


    I can not believe it, the necklace was in my possession the whole time. I thought I would be angry that I got played like this but in all honesty, I am just relieved that it''s safe and intact.


    "Hey, I will help you."


    "With what?"


    "Getting married to that Marcel guy."


    "wait reall- ouch!"


    "Woah be careful, you didn''t realize it but you injured your feet."


    He is right, I probably did not realize it because of the adrenaline but oh man this hurts.


    "Here, use this."


    This medicine, it''s just like back then.


    "Was that kid you? the one who saved us back then?"


    "Bingo, that was me hahaha. I saw how you pretty much proposed to him, pretty bold I must say."


    Aaaaaaaaaaaaa.


    " You are still going to be engaged with me."


    " Why?"


    " Because your father is a pain and also isn''t this better because what if some other guy who actually is obsessed with you gets matched with you? Isn''t it better in this situation to be engaged with someone not interested in you?"


    "You have a point. So what do you mean by help me?"


    "The actual help I can provide you is actually minimal because only you can actually win him over, what I can say though is that you can ask for my help if you need it."


    So the hero Branton is actually going to help me? Wait.


    "Why did you do all of that?"


    " Do what?"


    "The all menacing things like the smile and the scary aura you were outputting. "


    " Honestly, I was just angry that despite proposing to someone before, you did not even make a move. We would not even be in this situation if you at least had the courage to actually begin a conversation with him.


    " Seriously? That''s it?"


    " Yep, even had to bribe your sister to scare you."


    That wretched sister of mine, I am going to rip her hair off.


    " Just so you know if you don''t manage to win over Marcel in a little less than a year, I will have to marry you for real?"


    "What?"


    " Yeah, so good luck getting him to marry you."


    "Why put a time limit though?"


    "So that you do not slack off and drag this any longe--- wait, I am going to be living in this palace while I am engaged with you right?"


    "Yes, I think so"


    " Can you show me the way to the garden?"


    " Sure but why? it''s like 7 pm right now, it will be dark there."


    " I just think I saw something so I would just like to confirm this for myself."

 3- The world. The Demon Queen. The Heros Confession.

    The hero is someone whom people look up to as a saviour who brings peace to the world but I never saw it that way. Being a hero for me is just a title that I just accidentally obtained, In this world there are 3 major races and those are elves, humans and demons. In all actuality, both elves and demons are just humans but unlike regular humans, their souls have been aligned to either nature or darkness. Elves were humans who had been blessed by nature, as a sign of this blessing they received pointy ears and a longer lifespan than regular humans. Demons on the other hand were humans that had been touched by the darkness where they had been granted power but it also gave them desires to wreak havoc as a sign of this, they have been given horns and tails. Demons are destructive by nature while Elves are Passive by nature. As times go by the humans, elves and demons slowly stop seeing eye to eye. Elves received a lot of knowledge therefore they became arrogant but they preferred peace so they did not mess with others. Demons grew greedy and wanted to exercise more power leading them to just want war. The elves with their wisdom managed to avoid direct confrontation with the demons and offered a neutral position while the demons changed their sights to the humans.


    It is important to note that just because a race is of nature to be of a certain behaviour that does not mean that everyone will have the same mindset and no other race show this more than humans. Humans are supposed to be the ''good guys'' in this humans vs demons fiasco but in more ways than one, the humans can be more cruel. As a hero, my job is supposed to be to protect the humans and kill demons but I have decided that I will not do it blindly. I will still do my best to protect humans from demons but unlike those who are before me, I will decide for myself if it is worth it to do so or not. Since I became a hero when I was still ten years old. instead of being bubbled inside the kingdom, I followed my late parent''s footprints and travelled around the world not only to train myself but also to learn more about who is it that I am assigned to protect. Throughout my journey, I met a lot of humans who are the most kindest people on the planet while I also met the most despicable people who would rival demon generals when it comes to cruelty. It is not just the human lands that I travelled, I also reached the land of the elves and while at first they sound so condescending and unbearable, you soon figure out that they just talk like that out of attitude but not of malice. They are a race that just says whatever is on their mind and does not mince their word. A lot of humans hate them because they find them rude but they really are just being truthful.


    "Hero Branton! Hero Branton!"


    "Just call me Branton, we are still engaged even if its just by papers."


    Princess Maya came barging into my room full of energy so early in the morning, but it did look like she had a piece of urgent news to tell me.


    "Okay then I would do that but that is not what is important right now. The demon queen''s army has been reported to be on the move in the Inanis region."


    "Did they report anything else?"


    " Other than that they also said they noticed the demon queen being furious about something."


    "That is... concerning."


    Inanis region is a large piece of land that separates the land of the demons and the land of the humans. The inanis region is owned by no one as part of the neutral agreement with the demons and the humans also do not dare to occupy it as advised by the elves. Inanis region right now is a piece of land that while full of materials and wildlife is also the neutral battlefield between the demons and the humans.


    "Looks like I will have to go to deal with this but other than that, are you alright now?"


    "Oh yes, the medicine that you gave me last night works wonders."


    "It better be because I brewed it myself."


    " Wow, you can brew such high-quality medicine potions."


    "My father used to be an expert in making medicine potions so I just followed his steps. But anyway since you are good now, it is time I head off."


    "Take care."


    Last night I had to fight those two lovebirds in order to ascertain if it is worth it to help both of them. My plan was to reject the engagement but the king is just persistent that it would be an uphill battle denying him. With those two actually liking each other at least makes this situation interesting and a little more happened after the encounter last night. The sword of hero in other words the sword that I am using right now has reacted and told me that Marcel is a hero candidate meaning if I train him then I can pass to him the responsibility of a hero with no problem. Multiple humans are born that are considered a hero candidate but not all of them get discovered and not all of them become or even want to be a hero. I for one did not know that I was a hero candidate until I became a hero myself by accident. Anyone can use the hero sword normally slashing stabbing and blocking but only the current hero the previous hero and the sword accepted can use its power which is the ability to nullify demon curses, give you affinity to all elements and the most important of them all, the ability to make the sword light up as some sort of portable light source. The hero''s sword is not that important in most practicality that pretty much all the heroes including me do not even use the sword primarily. While I do still use the sword a lot it''s mostly just for looks because I actually prefer hand-to-hand combat instead. The sword right now acts more as a status symbol instead of a weapon but of course we still need it to be in our possession to get the benefit that it gives.


    Since I am in the center of the kingdom right now, I need to teleport in order to get in position on time. While I was heading on my way to the teleport center I came across Marcel.


    "Hello there Marcel, do you feel better now?"


    "Yes sir, thanks to your medicine."


    "No need to call me sir, we are pretty much the same age."


    "Okay then. Are you on your way to the battlefield?"


    "Yeah, I am heading for the center right now."


    "I am actually also going to the battlefield as well, we can use my teleporter instead."


    "You have a personal teleporter and aren''t you still a student, why are you going to the battlefield already."


    " I may be a student but I am still the nobility of the land near the border just outside of the Inaris region so I have the duty to defend my family''s land from potential attacks."


    "So as a nobility of that land, you also have a teleporter of your own in order to be able to assist there when needed."


    "yes."


    I just went along with Marcel because the teleport center will be full of soldiers trying to get teleported. While teleporting is convenient it has limitations such as being only able to teleport a limited amount of people or objects at one time. I followed Marcel back to his house and I do not know why I expected it but it was just full of weights around the rooms. I kind of expected this because he is like a tank when absorbing damage but he does not look bulky when you look at him, at least when looking at him with clothes on.


    "So you like lifting weights?"


    "I guess so, it''s just what I do on my off time."


    "So you already train at the academy but you also train more at home? When did you last time have a complete rest from training."


    "I don''t think I ever stopped ever since I moved to the new land."


    "Okay as my first task for you. After this battle with the demon queen, you are not allowed to train at all, no weights, no sword training, nothing for a whole week."


    "What? But won''t I get weaker If I stop?"


    Back on the journey to the elves'' territory, I had the same mindset as Marcel. All I did was just build up my strength every single day with next to no rest. The elves there were making fun of me and at the time I just chucked it off to them being rude again to humans. I kept on training for 4 months straight until one day I collapsed, when I woke up I was greeted by an elderly elf man tending to me and he also expressed that he had expected this to happen at some point but he is surprised that it lasted 4 months before I collapsed so for that he at least gave me kudos. He proceeded to lecture me with condescending and rude words as how most elves speak but his face showed a different tune. His facial expression is as of those concerned father in contrast to his belittling words was a comforting look. He explained to me that I was an idiot for not letting my body heal itself from all the damage from training.


    ***


    "I heal myself using potions though."


    "You dumbass, magic and physical prowess are 2 separate things."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Your pathetic body needs to heal itself naturally in order to get stronger. What a stupid healing potion does is close wound and ease pain, nowhere does it say that it aids on muscle growth."


    I do not understand what he is saying, The healing potion should be healing every wound, even the wounds that came from training.


    "In order for your disgusting muscle to grow, your own body needs to rebuild it. Magic is a powerful thing but as of right now no magic can replace or replicate a human''s body. The closest that was achieved in that sense was when a whacko tried recreating the body of his beloved wife who had passed away. He was almost successful at replicating a human but in the end, all he made was a homunculus. Only the outside looked like flesh for the inside is nothing but an empty shell."


    "Homonculus body parts were used a lot to replace amputated limbs though."


    "Yes, it is useful if you want to regain your motor skills but that at the end that thing is still not a flesh that can grow stronger. A living creature''s body is one of the most complex things in our world even we the genius race that is the elves still haven''t figured it out completely but this is all I can say to you. Your measly body needs to grow by itself not with magic but with its own effort.


    "But if I stop training won''t I get weaker."


    "Have you been listening to me you potion head, I''m telling you that resting will make you stronger if you do it regularly after some training, maybe like once or twice a week."


    "That is a lot of days per week."


    "Young man aside from your body, you also need to excel in other stuff. Do not think that just because you can punch the strongest that you are already the strongest person in the room."


    "But you just said I am the strongest."


    "Strength comes in many forms you numbskull. A physically strong man who fights blindly will lose to someone alone who can see. Do not confuse power with being strong because that will be your downfall."


    "Okay okay old man, I just need to rest right?"


    "Yes and do not call me old man, I am only 140 years old."


    " That is basically 50 years old on human age, you are still old."


    "Just sleep for now you little twerp."


    ***


    "Resting will make it so that your muscles get enough time to heal itself and be stronger."


    "Okay then, I will rest after this battle."


    "Wait, Just like that?"


    "What''s wrong? I trust you so I am going to at least try it."


    I expected more retaliation from him regarding stopping training for a week but I guess he is more reasonable than I thought but being friends with that overly energetic princess might''ve some role playing into this. I heard that that girl can be a handful sometimes with her outrageous requests so if this guy is actually in love with the princess then he might''ve already been conditioned to be reasonable enough to accept any absurdity.


    "Okay, I have all my gear now."


    "Is that your sword? I expected your sword to be bigger."


    "I tried bigger swords before but while it did make me hit harder, it made my blocks slower so I opted for a smaller sword instead."


    "What about a shield then for your other arms?"


    "I do not like how bulky a shield is."


    "Okay then, I am ready now too so we can teleport whenever."


    "Okay then, we are getting teleported into my house and from there we go to the camp."


    We proceeded and used the teleportation circle and we arrived almost instantly at the border of the kingdom. When using teleportation everything just turns to dark until we arrive at our destination when our vision slowly returns greeting us with new scenery. The house that we arrived in while still looking luxurious is still more modest than the mansions in the major towns. Marcel''s family have been relocated here as a punishment but from what it looks like the people here at least grew to respect them because they have at least fulfilled their duty to improve and defend this land however, they still remain to have bad reputations to the major townspeople.


    After some time, we arrived at the campsite. A lot of soldiers are waiting for orders to be given. As a hero, I technically have the authority to give orders to pretty much anyone in the army but I do not exercise this power because If I am being honest I do not know a lot when it comes to warfare. It looks like the commander has arrived, he looks like those typical bulky men in the army but he has an eyepatch and a beard. No one knows how he lost his right eye but it would be an understatement to only say that he looks scary but deep inside he is actually kind with a soft spot for his 2 daughters.


    "Hello there Commander Pladis."


    "Hello there Hero Branton."


    "Are everything going well here?"


    "Yes sir so far we have enough supplies and the soldiers are ready to fight."


    There are two separate types of soldiers at least in this country, they are the weapon wielders and the magic weavers. Weapon wielders are people who are more adept at using a weapon just like Marcel. While they can still use magic they normally are not as good at both offensive or defensive magic to aid enough effectively without weapons. Weapon wielders are usually the ones that are on the frontline, there are melee weapon wielders and ranged melee wielders. Magic weavers are people who are more focused on using magic for defensive or offensive purposes. There are dedicated units for applying defensive buffs to the frontline, a dedicated unit for firing long-range offensive spells and there is a dedicated unit for healing people.


    Preparations have finished and the time has come, we marched our way to the middle of the Inanis region and as we reached near the center of the land we just saw the demon queen''s army also marching. The moment both factions saw each other, we both stopped anticipating the battle ahead. The loud roars of the marches suddenly just turned into dead silence, only the wind of the trees could be heard. I as the hero is on the very front being followed by the rest of the army while the demon queen herself is also at the front of her subjects. From my position the reports were right, the demon queen looks furious so that really is concerning. I have a vague idea of why she could be super angry right now.


    With both sides just standing frozen I decided to step forward, the demon queen followed through and also stepped forward. I grabbed my sword and pointed it forward and as a response, the demon queen manifested her axe. As a demon they have the ability to manifest weapons using their blood and the weapons they manifest are no joke. With both our weapons ready and pointing at each other both of us just rushed forward and started the fight. With both of us going at it both sides also cannot go forward, our battle is so intense that with each blow of our weapons, the wind just becomes so strong that it can blow away some people. As the hero I became adept with all the elements of magic so in terms of magic fights, I can hold my own but it is not so easy against the demon queen. The demon queen can use advanced dark and fire magic that even I have no access to, our fight has been so intense that the ground below us has been deformed. With both of us seemingly being equal in fighting power the demon queen decided to use her magic. The sky turned dark then hundreds of flaming rocks appeared, the area of this attack is big so a direct hit of this attack to the soldiers would do a lot of damage so as a way to prevent that I used my natural magic [Locked Space] and locked me and the demon queen inside it to continue the battle in the other plane and to cancel the large magic she casted.


    Both of us disappeared into nothingness but in reality, I just locked ourselves to a plane that is a carbon copy of the place we were originally from. The rest of the army from both side now can continue forward making them finally fight while the demon queen and I have a face-to-face.


    "Rosalie."


    "What!?"


    "I can explain."


    "Explain what? How you are engaged after a month of you confessing to me?"


    Believe it or not but I am actually going out with the demon queen.


    "Blame the king not me, I didn''t want this."


    "Of course, you did not want to be engaged to someone as beautiful as that princess."


    "Look I really don''t I promise."


    "Then why did you not deny the engagement?"


    "The king was just so persistent and something came up."


    "Your thing came up?"


    "No, look listen to me real quick."


    "Okay."


    "The princess confessed to me that she already likes someone so she is at least not interested in me."


    "Go on."


    "Then I met the guy that she is in love it and he also confessed that he is in love with her."


    "Why are they not the one engaged with each other then?"


    "Well when they were kids they already made a promise to marry each other but circumstances happened that led team to be apart."


    "Oh, that is kinda sad."


    " Yeah, so that is why I promised to help both of them separately to be together."


    "Why do you need to be engaged for that to happen though?"


    "It is mostly just to make the king shut up and also because I think it would be more interesting this way."


    Honestly, this is scary, I am gonna be honest here and admit that I actually love her angry look but I can honestly die here any minute now because what I did really was dangerous, she is still the one I love though. Rosalie slowly walked towards me and grabbed me by my collar and she then began to shake me.


    "Still doesn''t this mean that you are two-timing me."


    "Nooo, I don''t like her and she doesn''t like me so this is all just on paper and in the long term this might be good for us."


    "Why is that?" - still while shaking me."


    "The guy she likes is a hero candidate, meaning if he gets trained enough by me I can stop being the hero and just pass it to him."


    "So this is not just about you wanting to be with a beautiful princess?"


    "Of course not, trust me."


    "I trust you, you already proven to me that I can trust you. But still, I do still feel some jealousy."


    "It''s alright I understand."


    This is the truth about the two of us right now, on the outside both sides see us as mortal enemies out to kill each other but we really are a couple and have been for a month now. Right now we just need to play the part of the hero and demon queen in this war to at least not make people suspicious. This is a secret between the two of us but it is about to be expanded for a certain Marcel is looking to enter this domain. Normally no one else would be able to enter this plane by themselves without my permission but because of Marcel''s natural magic to unlock any locked things, it lets him enter this place. I can see what is happening outside thanks to my other Natural magic [See Through Eyes] which lets me able to see through anything that I can think off like I can see what is on the other side of the wall, what is inside of a box and yes I can even see through clothes If I want to. I want to see how this turns out so I am just going to let him enter this domain and discover the situation.


    "I think someone else is in here."


    Rosalie noticed him, now what will happen?


    The demon queen and Marcel crossed gaze and without a second thought the demon queen rushed forward with intent to kill. To my surprise, Marcel managed to block the first hit of the demon queen. The demon queen then continued to slash with her axe but Marcel managed to dodge most of it while the other ones were blocked by his sword. While he is able to defend it looks like that he is exhausted already, this is not a surprise because blocking an attack still puts a strain on a person''s body. The demon queen saw that he is exhausted and went for the finishing move however I stopped her just before she hit it by hugging her from behind. She got flustered and began to talk to me.


    "Wait bran, not now someone else is in here. We need to silence him."


    "It''s alright, he is the guy that is in love with the princess."


    "He is the guy? How did he enter."


    "He has a natural magic that lets him enter into any locked places."


    Marcel is flabbergasted, he just fought the demon queen into exhaustion but now he is being greeted by the hero and the demon queen flirting with each other.


    "What is happening here, Hero Branton?"


    " Uhmm, the demon queen and me are together." - I said this with a smile.


    "Huh?"


    Marcel passed out from the surprise but I can not blame him because this is an absurd situation. I just thought that he would''ve been ready for this absurdity but I guess not. He only passed out for 10 minutes and after that, he woke up again but I think he was hoping it was just a dream but as reality hit him, it was true but he just accepted it.


    "So how are you?"


    "I am just confused right now, aren''t you supposed to be enemies."


    "I decide who my enemy is.


    Now that Rosalie turned off her defensive demon queen aura around him when she realized she could relax a little she turned into her timid self like the first time I met her and started hiding behind me.


    "Wait so does that mean that you are two timing with Princess Maya?"


    "That is what I said!" -Rosalie said it while still hiding behind me.


    "No, I am not"


    "But the princess loves you right?"


    "Maybe."


    "What is this, you told me she does not like you." -Rosalie whispered to me.


    "She does not like me but I need to keep the fact that both of them love each other as a secret." - I whispered back


    "Why?"


    "Because they need to have the guts to actually say it to each other face to face, I am not going to be the messenger in this love story."


    "What are you two whispering about?"


    "Nothing."


    Marcel is calmer now and probably already got adjusted to the situation. His confusion now got replaced with curiosity so he asked us a question.


    "How did the two of you meet."


    Rosalie who was hiding timidly behind me suddenly got excited and began using my back as some sort of a platform as she talked.


    "You really want to know how we met?"


    "Rose you are getting excited."


    "I mean how could I not, I thought we would not be able to talk about us for a long time."


    "You are really okay with sharing it?"


    "Yeah. Cmon Bran tell the story"


    "Rose? Bran?"


    "Yeah, that is just what we call each other."


    "Isn''t Bran a cute name? Hehe."


    "Okay, then I will tell the story."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I began telling the story of how Rosalie and I met each other while Marcel sat a little bit in front of me and Rosalie hugged over my shoulder from behind.


    ***


    This happened a little over a month ago. I just returned from the journey I embarked on 7 years ago it has been reported that the demon queen is finally ready to attack after 7 years of silence. I do not have a permanent residence on this part of the country so I just stay on an Inn. Since people here haven''t seen me ever since I was 10 years old almost everyone does not recognize me. I just proceed to roam around the city trying to see how is it doing now. Everything looked normal until I saw one girl getting fixated at staring on a window. She was a girl with a mix of black and red hair wearing a dress that was colored red and white. Curiosity getting the better of me, I approached her.


    "Are you buying that gown?"


    "Oh, no. It just looks so pretty so I wanted to look at it."


    "Is it your first time in this town?"


    "Yeah, It is actually my first time to be in this country entirely."


    "Want me to show you around?"


    "Really you would? Oh, but I do not want to impose on you."


    "It''s alright I am not going to be busy until next week anyway. I can show you around freely this week."


    "Okay then, my name is Rosalie by the way."


    "Oh, I am sorry about that I should have introduced myself first. My name is Branton."


    It was getting late already by the time I agreed to show her around so we decided to just meet up again the next day. We agreed to meet up at the nearby park tomorrow morning and then we can decide what to do. When I met her earlier I was still in my adventuring gear so I did look kind of rough so I prepared to wear a more casual outfit for tomorrow''s activities. I have decided what to wear tomorrow and so I just went to bed and then tomorrow came.


    "Hello there Miss Rosalie. You are wearing lighter dress today."


    "Well I figured we would be moving a lot today so I thought this would better suit me today. You are also dressing lighter than yesterday too and before I forget, good morning to you too Mr.Branton."


    "That is a fair assessment, have you eaten breakfast yet?"


    "No, not yet."


    "Okay, then how about we deal with that first."


    "Sure."


    It was almost lunchtime but both of us still hadn''t eaten yet so we decided to go to a restaurant to relieve our hunger. Me and my parents used to eat at this restaurant whenever we went to this part of the kingdom so I am kind of familiar with it. To my surprise though when we get there, the owner of the restaurant is different from when I was still a kid. The restaurant is now owned by a different family entirely and I have no news about where the previous family is in now.


    "So Miss Rosalie, what would you like to ea- why are you hiding behind me?"


    As soon as we entered the restaurant Rosalie just started hiding behind me, is she actually shy? I found this as a surprise because she was talking to me just fine.


    "I am sorry, I am just not used to restaurants in this country."


    "That''s alight, let us take a seat first."


    I was afraid we wouldn''t get a seat because I hadn''t made a reservation but to my surprise, there are not a lot of people in this restaurant. Maybe the food here is not as good anymore because of the change in ownership. Have I made the wrong decision to bring her here?


    "Hello our dear guest, thank you for dining at our establishment. Today we have an eggplant dish as our special."


    "Hello there, I am sorry I do not really like eating eggplants. Do you want anything Rosalie?"


    "Uhm... Spicy. Spicy food are there any?"


    "Oh yes Ma''am we offer spicy food but we have to warn you though, our food is really spicy."


    Rosalie stared at me intensely and from what it looked like she really wanted that spicy food.


    "Okay then, we will take the spiciest dish that you have to offer."


    "Okay then, thank you for your patronage. The food will come here shortly."


    When I ordered the spicy food, Rosalie''s eyes were just on fire waiting intensely for the food to arrive. If I am going to be honest though I am not a fan of spicy food but might as well try it now. It took 40 minutes for the food to arrive a far cry from how long it took to prepare food when I was still a kid but still, at least the food looked fine. Rosalie picked up her spoon enthusiastically but as soon as she took a bite her excitement just plummeted.


    "Is the food bad?"


    "No, it actually tastes good but this is not spicy at all."


    "It''s not?"


    She said the food tasted good which is what is important to me and if it actually is not spicy then maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Wanting to know what it tasted like for myself I also took a bite but.


    "AAAAAA! You lied to me. This IS spicy."


    Fire is in my mouth, this hurts so much. How can people enjoy spicy food, it is basically a self torture where you just try to burn your tongue as much as possible. While I was enduring the spiciness, Rosalie in front of me was just laughing so hard at my suffering.


    "Ahahahahaha. Mr. Branton don''t tell me you do not handle spice well."


    "Well, I don''t. Both my parents actually love spicy food so I do not know why I did not inherit that."


    "I did not lie that this food is not spicy at least for me, I am used to spicier food. If you cant handle your food, I can just finish it for you."


    "No no, I can finish this food just give me time."


    Come on, I trained for 7 years surely I can handle a food. Rosalie already finished her meal while here I am barely at the halfway point. Maybe because she is already finished eating she started a conversation.


    "So all the food in this country tastes this good?"


    "Well If I am going, to be honest, this is not one of the best tasting food in this country at least."


    "It''s not?"


    "If you look around you there are a lot of empty tables so it is apparent that people are at least not going out of their way to eat here."


    "I think it tasted amazing, back where I am from they do not actually care about the taste much. There are some dishes that have some flavour but most of the time they just care about quantity and spiciness."


    "Is that so."


    The time I spent traveling around the world none of the places I went to had that kind of mentality when it comes to preparing food but I did hear somewhere that there is a realm that is similar to this description. The place that could fit this situation would be the land of the demons and to confirm it I used my eyes to try to reveal something hidden. Natural magic [See Through Eyes] lets me see through anything to let me see whatever I want to look at and this time I used it to find two things, pair of horns and a tail. I expected this but still, I had some room for doubts before this but with now it is confirmed, she has a pair of horns and a demon tail covered with invisibility magic of some sort. This does not change anything, I still plan to show her around but I will have some of my guard up just in case.


    "Wooo, It took some time but I did it."


    "Congratulations hehe."


    "Stop laughing."


    "Okay, okay."


    "I am just going to go pay for our food and let''s go to our next destination."


    "Oh here is the money for the food I ordered."


    "It''s fine I will pay for both."


    "But I can''t just let you pay for my food."


    " Next time we eat, you pay then."


    " Next time?"


    Wait no. Why did I say that? I just made it sound like I want to meet her over lunch again. I want to die this is so embarrassing but still I tried to keep my cool so on the outside I just looked like I was looking for my money.


    ***


    "Wait wait wait, let me just interrupt the story real quick, Just so you know from my POV you were sweating bullets, Honestly it was kind of cute hahaha."


    "Rose please."


    "Your face was pretty red too that time just like now haha."


    Rosalie just kept on shaking my body while she is laughing at my embarrassment while Marcel at the front was just smiling. I returned to the story after Rosalie interrupted me.


    ***


    "Okay, then I will pay for next time."


    Wait there is actually going to be a next time?


    After I paid for the food walked around the town. This town is actually a lot different than I remember, it became more lively. There are a lot more stores opened here now like a street food stall or a jewelry store. We just got out of a restaurant but I can see that Rosalie is already eyeing the food stalls so I just went ahead and bought one of the food she was staring at.


    "Here, it''s supposed to be spicy so maybe you will like this."


    "Oh no, we just finished eating so I am full now."


    "You know I can tell that you really want to eat this right."


    "Hehe, yeah I am sorry. I am used to eating in larger portions so the food before was actually a little lacking in the quantity section."


    "I figured."


    We walked around and I just showed her each part of the town and she even bought some stuff but one part caught her attention, the slums. The people here call this place the forsaken district, this is where those that are considered poor and unruly gather. This place is considered dangerous because this is where a lot of illegal and dangerous activities happen. The government does not do anything to tend this place because they find it not worth it to do so and it made this place basically a land where rules are broken. The soldiers still have jurisdiction over this area but unless there is a direct report that needs their attention they usually just turn a blind eye to what happens in this place.


    "This place seems different from all the other places that we have visited today."


    "Yes, this is the forsaken district the dangerous part of this kingdom."


    "Everything here looks so bleak."


    "Yeah, this is the dark side of all the bright stuff you have seen on the other side of the town."


    "The king does not do anything about this?"


    "The king is not as powerful as you think because as a king he needs to appease the people and as of right now the people in this district does not matter in the grand scale of things."


    "So the people here are just getting disregarded."


    "I am afraid so. In order for things to move forward here the people who have the wealth and power need to be convinced that it is worth it to do so but most rich people just wants more money and those who have power enjoy that there are people like them that are powerless."


    "Are all humans like that?"


    "As I travelled around the world I managed to see a lot of people and I can confidently say at least that the majority are not like that."


    "I guess that is why it''s important to be able to decide who your enemy is and who is not huh."


    The words she uttered sounded familiar so I bought myself frozen staring at her in awe. Despite being frozen in awe though I did not fail to notice a looming shadow in the corner and just like right on cue as soon as we stopped walking a man suddenly cam out rushing and stole the stuff Rosalie bought. I wanted to observe what would happen in this situation so I looked back to Rosalie to see his reaction and her eyes at that moment looked like it is full of rage and resentment. This is the first time that she showed a face that you would be akin to a demon. This is getting dangerous I need to step in or something bad might happen and a demon wreak havoc inside the town but right before I took a step someone else made an action. The guy blocked the path of the thief like a brick wall and took back what he had stolen. At the time the person who stepped in was stranger but the person who actually stopped the thief was Marcel.


    ***


    "Wait, It was me?"


    "Yes."


    "Well I did remember helping what looked like a couple over a month ago, but If I am going to be honest I try to help out there whenever I can so all the thief incidents kida get mismashed on my memory.


    "I figured that since you actually had some reputation in those parts as ''The Wall''."


    " I just wanted to lend a hand to improve that place."


    "Well, thanks to you though the demon queen did not wreak havoc at the time."


    "Hey, I have self control. I was not going to set that place into flames before." -She said while making a pouting face.


    "Sure sure." -with a kind of sarcastic tone.


    ***


    Marcel returned the bag to Rosalie and then proceeded to lecture the thief but it is clear as day that his words was just going out of the other ear. Marcel being done with the lectured just said goodbye to as but he can not really do anything to the thief directly so all he can do is lecture him and hope he learned his lesson, after that, he left. The thief looked back at us looking ready for a part 2 but before he moved gave him a sinister look with a mix of showing the hilt of my sword. What he received from me was not a lecture but a threat and he recognize that the sword is not an ordinary sword so he just ran away.


    "I was not able to help him."


    "A lot of people who help usually do not do it for thanks so maybe he is one of those people."


    "Humans are not as unified as I thought."


    " Never were, that is why you need to be able to decide who to trust."


    We made our way out of the forsaken district but it is about to get dark so we decided to call it a day. Before we parted ways we received a pamphlet showing that there will be a play about the current hero and how he slayed the demon king. A play about me, that is pretty concerning because I have not even told anyone about how I killed the demon king at the time. I am also worried about what the demon beside me thinks but to my surprise, she gave me an invitation.


    "Hey Mr.Branton, can we watch this tomorrow?"


    "Are you interested in plays?"


    "Yes. but I am also interested about who the hero is."


    He is right in front of you. I say that in my brain but I do not want to reveal it just yet so I accepted her invitation and we will meet in front of the theatre around noon. I am going to be lying if I say that I am not interested in how they are going to portray me without even having any factual knowledge about me. I came back to my inn still thinking about the play about me because for some reason this makes me feel so uneasy. I tried to sleep away my thoughts but instead, my dream that night was the recollection of my past. I woke up the next day sweating a lot but this scenario is not new to me, I''ve been experiencing this for 7 years now so I just shrugged it off and continued with my day.


    Since we are going to a play I decided to wear something formal. I wore a blue suit with a red necktie and I also wore very nice black shoes that one of the people I met on my journey gave me. On my way to the theatre, I came across a jewellery shop and a bracelet managed to catch my eye. The clerk told me that this bracelet belonged to a woman who waited for her love to return from battle, but when the man she loved returned to see her he was followed by thieves who in turn killed both of them the night the two of them reunited. The couple were found dead on their room where all of its treasures had already been stolen except for the bracelet that was on the woman''s wrist. The man and the woman were holding each other''s hands so tight that it made it hard for the thief to steal the bracelet quickly leading to them just leaving it behind. I do not know why the clerk is telling suck dark story, is this supposed to help in selling these things? In the end, I still bought it though so maybe it does work.


    I just hid the bracelet I bought in my pocket and just went on my way to the theatre. I got to the meeting point 10 minutes early while Rosalie appeared almost on point to the second of the time of our meeting. Rosalie is wearing a more extravagant dress in a combination of red and black than the one I saw when I first met her with some sort of hair ornament that resembles a white flower. I already have the ticket with me so all we need to do is enter and get to our seats.


    "Hello there Mr. Branton. Ooh, you look handsome in that suit." -She complimented me in a teasing voice.


    "Oh hello there Rosalie. You also look beautiful in that dress." -I replied with a serious tone.


    "Huh" -Her face is red for some reason.


    "What is wrong?"


    "Nothing, let''s go to our seat haha."


    This place is packed with a lot of people and this play is not cheap so people really wanted to see this show. In terms of set production at least, it looks wonderful and high quality. The props they are using look realistic and the clothes they are wearing look believable. They made an announcement that the play would start shortly and everyone went silent and started focusing on the stage including Rosalie. The lights turned off and the curtains opened, the play began.


    ***


    The country of Lytron is a place in the land of the Humans that is closest to the land of the demons and because of this, we have been under constant threats on attacks from the demons. We have been in a constant war with the demons in order for us to survive and not be obliterated. Humans are fragile creatures and we are naturally weaker than demons but that does not mean that we can not fight back. We work hard and train in order to get stronger for us to be strong enough to battle against demons but we also have a trump card, the Hero. Everyone knows now that the current Hero has given us 7 years of peace when he killed the demon king but who is he? That is the question.


    This is the hero, ever since he was a kid he has been gifted at everything. When it comes to swordsmanship he is second to none. This is a surprise to everyone around him because his parents are a couple of commoners who are considered failures. Both of his parents can not support him so a very generous noble offered financial aid and that very generous noble is Count Kedron. Before the hero became the hero that he is now, the sword of the hero had been vacant for 5 years and one day Count Kedron brought it to the hero to be at the time to determine if he is indeed worthy.


    "Son-ny, what I have here is the sword of the hero do you think you are someone capable enough to obtain it''s power?" -The count asked the kid hero to be at the time.


    "Of course, I am the perfect person to do so." - He answered with arrogance.


    "Here just hold the sword and tell us how you feel."


    The kid hero to be held the sword and it began to glow bright and the sword spoke.


    "You have the capability to use me but you must complete a task."


    "What is it?"


    "Prove your strength."


    "How?"


    "Use me and feed me with the blood of those who brought you to this world?"


    "You mean?"


    "Your parents."


    The hero to be did not hesitate even for a second and took the sword. Both his parents have been informed of the situation and they just accepted it. The two of them came to the room and lined up while pushing their chests forward.


    "If this is the only way that we can be useful to you."


    "Then we will gladly let you take our life."


    While both the parents accepted the situation it did not mean that they wanted this to happen, All they could do was shed tears because their own son was going to kill them but despite that, the face that the supposed son was making was just a full ear to ear smile. Both parents closed their eyes and with that, the hero to be finished his task. With the sword now fed with the blood of his parent he is granted its powers. This moment in history marked the existence of the youngest hero to ever exist at the age of 10 years old.


    In the short time that he became a hero, he has demonstrated his powers a lot. In order to prepare for the assault to the demon king the Hero captured hundreds of demons in order to interrogate them about the demon king''s weakness. Those demon''s mouths were not as loose as he would like so he had to pry them open himself. Loud screams can be heard from the hero''s interrogation room every single day but no one dares see where the screams originated from.


    The day has arrived when the hero finally starts his move in order to defeat the demon king. The hero ordered everyone to stay behind for they would only be a hindrance to him. On the land of the demons, the path that he walked on was full of blood and corpses of all the demons that tried to fight him. No one was spared if he saw them they were gone. Kids, Women or the elderly, none of them received mercy for all of them are just demons to him. The hero soon faced the demon king and both of them fought but In the end, the demon king begged for mercy but the hero just stabs him with a smile for he does not care for the life of a demon.


    The demon king has been slain and peace has been attained but this will not last forever for the demon king''s daughter will someday rise in power but it gave us 7 years of peace that granted us enough time to prepare the people for battle. The hero travelled around the world in order to expand his horizons and will return when it is time to face off the demons again. Let us celebrate the hero who saved us from those wretched demons. With that, the story of how the hero gave us peace is now finished.


    ***


    What is this!? practically nothing of truth has been spoken in this play at all, they did not even bother to name me. My parents are not pathetic people and I do not know of this Count Kedron. On the outside look calm but I am fuming on the inside, they have made a mockery out of me. Everyone around me right now is chanting ''Hero, Hero'' and with each chant they do is just the angrier I get but as I look beside me, it looks like someone is raging more than me. Rosalie''s eyes right now look like she can kill, for someone who has the ability to become invisible she sure do show her real emotion a lot. Seeing her angry made me calmer for some reason as for I do not want things to go wrong here I just tried to distract her.


    "Hey Rosalie. Want to go to a hill near here?"


    "A hill?"


    "Yeah, it will let you see the whole city at night."


    "Oh, that would look beautiful."


    "Yeah."


    I managed to convince Rosalie to get some fresh air in the hillside but really I just want to get out of this place. We have arrived to the hill and the breeze here just feels so good to the skin. The atmosphere here is calming unlike the air inside the theatre which felt like it was suffocating me. From here you can see the whole city and the lights from the buildings and houses make it beautiful to look at when it is nighttime.


    "Woah Branton, this looks so beautiful and It''s so breezy."


    "It really is."


    "Too bad this beauty is only on the outside, huh."


    "What do you mean."


    "I was hoping to learn why the humans and demons need to fight."


    "Did you find the reason why?"


    "No, but I also did not find a reason for why not."


    "So you decided to attack the humans then?"


    "I gues-- Wait."


    I think this is the time to confront the elephant in the room. The demons have already announced that they will attack tomorrow so I doubt that I would have any other chance to speak to her if not now.


    "I know. I know that you are a demon."


    Rosalie''s relaxed posture has been changed into a more guarded posture. Her eyes which were full of joy from the beauty of the scenery turned into sharp glares of suspicion towards me.


    "How?" - she replied in a very serious tone.


    "My eyes, I have the ability to see through anything and I just happen to be able to see your horns and tails despite being coated in invisibility."


    "When have you known."


    "Ever since we ate at that restaurant."


    "So there is no use to hiding huh."


    Rosalie began removing her invisibility and her horns and tails slowly started showing up. In order to not attract attention and to keep the surroundings safe I locked the space around us and trapped us on the other plane.


    "The area around is got darker, what are you doing."


    "Relax I just locked the space around us to not involve the other people."


    "You are no ordinary person aren''t you."


    "I think looking at this would make you understand the situation better."


    I showed her the hilt of my sword, she just watched the play where the replica of this sword had been used so it should be easy for her to understand what this mean.


    "So why is the hero hanging out with a demon? Oh, I know you are going to kidnap me when I get comfortable."


    "Wait no."


    " Just so you know, I am no ordinary demon so you better not think this will be an easy fight."


    Blood began flowing around her arms and formed a big axe. Amongst the demons, only the Royal Demons have an Axe as their blood weapon so this can only mean one thing. She is the demon queen.


    "Wait no I don-." - I was going to refute her but I was interrupted by her attack instead.


    "I thought I found a human that I can finally trust. -She has an angry tone in her voice but it also gets muffled by her tears.


    "I did not do all of that to kidnap you." - I am trying hard to say my piece while blocking her attacks.


    " Then why interact with a demon?"


    " I can ask the same question to you. Why talk to a human?"


    " Because I wanted to see if it really is possible to trust a human."


    Is she serious? Is the demon queen really trying to connect to humans?


    "Who gave you the idea that it is even a possibility." - I questioned her in order to just get more information.


    " I do not know their names but over seven years ago I met a couple of adventurers."


    "What about them?"


    ***


    I liked exploring around but one time I went to the Inanis region by mistake. I got lost but I saw smoke coming from the forest assuming it was a campfire I thought maybe another demon was camping on that site but I was greeted by humans instead. Normally humans are too scared to camp in the Inanis region so that was a surprise to me. I tried to sneak out as soon as I saw them the the man and the woman noticed me immediately and captured me. At first, I was scared but they let me go after some time and they even apologized for capturing me. They told me that they were only interested in the boars around that area and that I would be let go if I just don''t mess around with them. They gave me food and then I made my way back home.


    That was a scary experience but I wanted to explore again so I found myself back in the Inanis region a week later and I saw smoke again from the forest. When I tried to look at who created the campfire was, I got greeted with the same couple again. This time they did not knock me off but instead invited me to eat. Despite being humans I took their offer but I got lectured instead.


    "Hey kid, I know you are a demon and all with ultra strength but you should not trust people easily especially humans like us." - The man gave the kid Rosalie a lesson.


    " Yeah, I know my cooking is all good and all but it is still risky to just trust people with food." - The woman also chimed in.


    " But the two of you look nice though."


    "Look, humans and demons are still enemies and this region is also a battlefield so if any other humans besides us saw you, you would''ve been attacked already."


    "What is such a young demon doing here though?"


    " I just wanted to explore."


    "So you also have the brain of an explorer, huh? That will not be easy with a demon''s reputation."


    Both of them kept my company and I got to open up about stuff that I was not able to talk about with other demons.


    "I have a question."


    "Okay, ask away."


    "Do humans and demons really have to fight?"


    Both of them looked at each other thinking of an answer to the question.


    "I would say yes, humans and demons will fight." - The man answered seriously.


    "So even the two of you will fight me at some point."


    " High chance yes, The only reason we spare you really is because you are a kid." -The woman then responded to her question seriously.


    "I see."


    "Did us saying that we would be fighting you not scare you?"


    "Not really, I have always known that humans will attack me so I am honestly more scared that you two are not."


    "While we did say that humans and demons are destined to fight, that does not mean that you cannot defy it."


    "I do not understand."


    "What he is trying to say is that you can always try and find a human that you can trust yourself."


    "What about you two then, can I trust you two?"


    "We do not recommend it, adult''s are tricky people so it is better to just find someone you can trust within your age."


    "I really doubt I would be able to find someone the same age as me in the Inanis region."


    "Then just do it when you are older, no need to rush on it now because you need to make sure you can trust the right person, not just human but also demons and elves alike."


    "I can just do it later."


    "Bottom line though, you should not trust the both of us ever and you should probably avoid meeting other humans until you are strong enough to actually protect yourself."


    " But you two are so kind though."


    "Humans can be so deceitful, there are those who act nice but are bad. There are those who act bad but are nice. There are those that act the way they look and there are also those that you cannot read at all."


    "Just do not forget that Humans are your enemies first so always be ready to fight back and only when they gave you a reason to trust them is when you should consider maybe trusting them."


    The three of us are having a nice conversation until the two of them notice something, two demons have shown up and one of them has shot an arrow towards them. In that instant they made me realize what they meant, they killed those two demons in an instant.


    "Hey kid, this is the reality of the situation. We did not give you any reason to trust us so you shouldn''t we can do this to you anytime so if you really want to be able to gain the trust of someone someday you should be able to fight them off in case it does not turn out well, okay?"


    Looking back at it, what I did was very reckless. In the end, everything went fine but they were right they did not do anything to gain my trust aside from not killing me. The hero killed my father but I do not resent the humans for that, they only did what they had to. I still believe that maybe someday I can fully trust a human. I have natural magic [ Invisible coating] It lets me coat anything I touch with invisibility magic. In order to get close to a human I would pretend that I am also a human and then maybe if we get close enough maybe just maybe I can have someone trust me as a demon from a human.


    ***


    "So a couple of humans told that to you, and you trusted their words?"


    "The reason I am trying to confirm if their words are true is because I do not know if I can trust it."


    How can I get across her that I really do not mean any harm to her?


    "Look I am telling the truth, I am not here to kidnap you or anything. The first time I saw you I did not know you were a demon, I only began suspecting after you talked about your spicy food preferences."


    "Then why did you stay pretending to not know."


    "It''s because I want to hang out more."


    "Why?"


    "Because I like you."


    There I go, I actually said it will she believe me?


    "Are you messing with me? A human falling in love with a demon?"


    "I am serious."


    "You are someone who kidnapped a lot of demons, I can not trust you."


    "That play was a sham. Almost nothing about it is true. My parents are not like the one they portrayed, I am not gifted since birth and I do not know the count that they kept on mentioning"


    "Let me ask you a question then."


    "What is it?"


    "Did you kill your parents?"


    "I.... Cannot answer that question specifically."


    "A simple yes or no and you can not even answer it and you expect me to trust what you are saying? Did you just say that you like me in order to get spared?"


    "I am serious with my confession with all my heart."


    "Humans are a deceitful creature they can hide their desire easily making them hard to believe."


    "I am being truthful, I wouldn''t be going through all the trouble that I did yesterday and today If I didn''t like you."


    "You are so persistent but still I have no reason to trust you in this situation."


    "I have a question for you then."


    "Okay, what is it?"


    "Based on the time that we spent together, if you are sure that you can trust me would I have a chance?"


    " I will have to admit, you have good looks and in terms of personality based on what you have shown me, you are easy to talk to."


    "I want you to be honest with me If I can assure your trust, will you give me a chance?"


    " I guess so." - she said this with one eye closed.


    So that is what I need to do here, I need to do something in order to gain her trust. Watching the mockery that is the play is making things harder right now I wish that we hadn''t seen that instead. I have to put everything that I have right now in my next move in order for her to trust me. I pointed the sword that I am holding towards me and I aimed it just a little higher than my heart.


    "Wait what are you doing?"


    " Rosalie! I love you and that is the truth. I can not talk about my parents but in here I tell you that I did not kidnap any demon. I killed your father that is the truth but I had to do that at the time. My name is Branton and I am not born gifted with strenth, I had to work my way up myself and I took no shortcut. In order to gain your trust I will lay everything including my life right here right now."


    After saying my piece I stabbed myself above my heart. Rosalie''s face right now is of shock.


    "Here Rosalie, my sword right now has impaled me just above my heart and one push of the sword downward is enough to end my life right here."


    "You don''t mean."


    " If you trust me you can pull out the sword yourself and then heal with the potion in my bag then if you don''t trust me still then you can push down the sword and kill me. This why you can fulfill your duty as the demon queen and have the glory of killing the hero.


    "What if I choose to do nothing?"


    "I will push down the sword on my own and kill myself."


    "You will not do it."


    " I am giving you 10 seconds to make your decision."


    "You can''t fool me."


    "7 seconds."


    "This will not work"


    "4 seconds."


    " You are lying"


    "2 seconds."


    As the last second comes Rosalie in front of me is just standing frozen. She couldn''t answer which is a shame but it''s fine I could not give her enough reason to trust me.


    "Zero."


    Just as I promised if she does not choose anything then I will end it here myself. With the use of both of my hands, I grabbed the sword that is stuck on my chest and then with one move, I pushed the sword downward all the way causing my heart to get slashed. After the Initial pain what followed that was just darkness as I died. On my death, I see the same dream again from last night about when I became the hero but at least this time I will not wake up sweating at least that is what I thought. I can suddenly see light again but how? I feel something hot at the front of my face. I opened my eyes and I was greeted by Rosalie kissing me.


    "What is happening, how am I alive."


    "You idiot, of course you are alive because I kept you alive."


    "How?."


    "Demons have the ability to control blood, normally we can only control our own blood but we can also channel that power by connecting with a kiss. Slashed heart is usually unhealable by potions because potions can not replace blood but I managed to recirculate your blood before you lost it using my kiss and I managed to heal your heart with your potions."


    "Why even do that, you already decided that u don''t trust me with your silence" - I say this while being slightly embarrassed.


    "You confessed your love just like that and you were just going to leave me hanging?"


    "You literally did not even believe I was telling the truth."


    "Okay okay, I trust you now and you also better take responsibility."


    "Responsibility to what?"


    "The kiss that I just gave you, you better marry me."


    "Huh, okay sure."


    " Just like that?"


    "Yeah, that''s what I wanted from the start anyway. We can''t do it in the near future though since we still need to figure out this demon queen and hero situation."


    With all the stuff that happened, we lost track of time and the day has already changed to tomorrow. I decided to give her the bracelet that I had bought earlier.


    "Here have this."


    "Is this a bracelet?"


    "Yeah, I bought it earlier but I did not know how to give it to you."


    "Thank you, I will treasure it. Speaking of the demon queen and hero fiasco though, just because we are together that does not mean that I will not attack later okay?"


    "That is fine, I already imagined that we would still need to fight publicly."


    "Starting today I need to attack this kingdom at least one time a month, so you better be prepared for that."


    "I will be."


    ***


    "So that is how we became together." -I said this to Marcel with a cheerful tone.


    Marcel just sat there with a flabbergasted face.


    "Well look at the time we need to end this ''battle'' soon."


    "Oh that is true, it is getting late."


    "Marcel already looks beaten up because of what you did to him earlier, we just need to rough up each other now to make it believable. Marcel I should not have to say this out loud but you will keep what happened here a secret right?"


    "I know that what you said was not even a request, Do not worry my lips are sealed."


    "Okay cool."


    With it getting late we decided to end this meetup. Everyone that is inside this space needs to look roughed up in order to make people think outside that a battle actually happened. When we got out surprisingly there were no casualties there were those who were injured but so far no one died and that is a win for me. This day is a long one but at least I get to meet her and Rosalie is also happy that we get to share the story with someone. Today is a good day but It can''t last forever so I just went ahead and slept to greet another day.


    ***


    Today is a peaceful day at least that''s what I thought so until an energetic princess once again barged into my room.


    "Branton! I need your help."


    "What now?"

 4- Runaway Girl Who Lied.

    "It is so early in the morning, why are you barging into my room already? How did you even enter? It''s locked."


    "I need your help, also I have the keys to every room in the castle just in case."


    "In case for what?"


    "That''s a secret. But yeah, I need your help."


    "What now?"


    The energetic princess is as lively as ever, first thing in the morning and she is already making a ruckus. She is wearing her usual outfit but she seems to be holding a letter.


    "I need you to find someone."


    "Nope, I am not a detective."


    "Listen to me first."


    "Go on."


    "I have a friend from Huenida who needs help finding her sister."


    "Still a nope for me."


    "Aren''t you the hero? Don''t you want to help people?"


    "Hero is just a title and only Lytron recognizes me as ''the hero'' for other countries I am just ''a hero''. "


    "You are not important in other countries?"


    "No, I am not. The only reason I am a big deal here in Lytron is because this is the first wall against the demons."


    Being the hero sounds amazing at face value but the whole world does not recognize you as such. My value differs depending on where I am. The areas closer to Lytron treat me more favourably because of close proximity however the countries further on the back will not even bat an eye to me because they have a false sense of peace. Demon attacks usually get stopped by Lytron or the few countries close to Lytron so the countries who are not often involved in battle do not even know the possible severity of the situation. It does not help that it keeps on being passed around that the demon king is killed ''only'' by a kid, some countries took that as a sign of my strength but the countries at the back took that as the demon king being a non-threat all along being beaten by a 10-year-old.


    "Come on, I know you are someone who is trying to break the stereotype of a hero but can''t you do this for your fiance?" -She uttered those requests while trying to make a cutesy face.


    "Huh?" - I just responded with a disgusted face.


    " You making that face hurts you know. Come on it''s just that her sister has run away for 3 months now. for the first week, they were able to track her through her necklace but for some reason after the first week the signal from the necklace disappeared."


    " Sounds like a lost cause if it''s been 3 months now."


    "Yeah, but last week the signal from the necklace returned for 5 hours and then disappeared again so hope have been regained that she is alive."


    " What is the colour of the necklace?"


    " Blue? It was given to her mother, stepmother."


    "This girl is adopted or remarried parents?"


    "She was adopted at the age of 4 and she should be almost the same age as us."


    "Why did she run away?"


    "It''s because her sister got engaged to the man she liked."


    "Okay then, I am taking this request."


    "Seriously? Thank you~" -She tried to show her gratitude with a hug but I stopped her.


    "Hold on, do not be so grateful yet."


    "What?"


    "While I am taking this case I will be gone for a week so do not think that you will be doing nothing while I am gone."


    " You are making me do something for you to do this request?"


    "Of course, I do not work for free."


    "Wow, what a hero."


    "Shut it. I want it so that by the time I come back next week, you and Marcel are on a speaking term already."


    "What? You can''t just make us talk suddenly."


    "You already took before you literally just have to open your mouth and utter words, it''s not that hard."


    "But I get so nervou-" -She was stopped by me.


    " One week. If I come back and you two are still not talking I am going to punish you."


    " You can''t do that to a princess."


    " Sucks to be you since the hero has a higher status than a third princess in this country."


    "Fine fine. One week I will show you that we will start talking."


    "Good, also what is that letter on your hand right now?"


    "Oh yeah, this letter is actually for you. It''s from Leatus Village from the very northwest."


    "Oh, gimme that. You should have opened with that letter."


    "Is that letter important?"


    "Kind of. We are done here now. One week I find that girl and one week you learn how to talk."


    Normally I do not want to take on a task relating to selfish action such as running away for what I would consider a dumb reason but for this particular case, I might be the actual dumb one. After collecting some information about this it just keeps on getting clearer and clearer that I may have made a massive mistake. The forest that they saw her necklace detected was the same forest that I was in almost 3 months ago and the most important thing is that I did meet a girl while I was in that forest. Now that I know that I might be involved in this I want to make my way to at least confront the girl I met in the forest. Before all of this though I need to go to the academy first to check on Marcel.


    The academy was something I was aiming for back when I was still a kid but my priority changed after I was 10. Both my parents were adventurers so they did not have a permanent residence until they moved to Inaris region. Inaris region while is not under any nation is full of resources but no one dared stay in it because it is considered a dangerous area but my parents at least put in some work to make the house and land around it safe. My parents do not go to the market to buy ingredients for foods but instead, they forage and hunt them in the Inaris region itself. Since no one but us lives in the Inaris region, it is no surprise that I had no friends of my age so I was hoping studying at the academy would let me meet and maybe befriend more people of my age but in the end I never got to enter here because I chose to travel and learn from different countries instead.


    "It is currently 11 AM so he should be in the practice ground but I did tell him to not train for a week."


    "Hello there Mr. Branton what are you doing here?"


    " Yow, Marcel. I just wanted to check if you are actually is not training and from the looks of it you are actually just resting. "


    "Yes, the professors have told me that you already informed them about my situation so they just let me sit out. "


    " Cool."


    I just find Marcel just sitting on the grass part of the training ground just watching the other students train, it does look like he wants to join in but he is still determined to actually complete the task I gave him. Looking around here sure enough there I see her, the energetic princess from what she said is her usual spot having a perfect view of this area. She has a book on her face right now but I can see that she is trying to steal a glance but since I am here she seems to be hiding her face more. I waited for her next move to actually look in this direction and I waved just to mess with her.


    "By the way Marcel, I will be gone for like a week so I will not be able to monitor you but I am sure I can trust you in actually not doing any training this week right?"


    "Of course."


    "Well since I trust I am going to give you a reward in advance."


    " A reward?"


    "Yeah, I have a reservation on this one fancy restaurant that is good for 2 people but since I will not be here I want you to take it for me and invite anyone that you can think of."


    "A fancy restaurant? I do not have the money for that."


    "Do not worry about it, anything that you could possibly buy has already been paid for."


    "Oh, so I can just invite anyone?"


    "Yeah, you can but just so you know. There is a correct person to invite."


    "You just have this reservation just to give me a reason to invite her right?"


    "Excuse me. I had this reservation before I even know I am going to be engaged with the princess. This cost a lot just so you know."


    "Okay okay, thank you."


    "I better see you two talking already by the time I get back okay?"


    After I said my piece I went on my way to the north exit of the country in order to make my way to the forest where I saw who I suspect is the same girl that the energetic princess want me to find. Normally other people with my status would just use a teleport circle to go to a nearby city and from there just go towards their destination but there is a reason I am taking the slower route which is just riding a carriage to the location.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "So, how long are you going to follow me?"


    "You know?" -She revealed herself with a kind of sad face with disappointment.


    "Yep, already saw you on my way to the academy."


    " I wanted to surprise you but then I saw you going to the academy where your ''fiance'' would be so I got curious and followed."


    " Well I personally do not mind but just so you know that behaviour can be creepy to other people."


    " I am sorry."


    "It''s fine. So do you want to go with me? I am going on a journey to the Mendak Forest east of Huenida."


    "I can join? Also, what are you doing there?"


    " You are the reason why I got this carriage right here also I am there to find a girl."


    "A girl!?"


    "Yeah, she has apparently been missing for about 3 months now."


    " Oh you are just trying to find a missing girl."


    " Yeah."


    "You sure I can come? Isn''t this a hero business?"


    "Yeah of course I am sure you can come although you should still hide your horns and tails and wear more appropriate clothes."


    Rosalie turned completely invisible in order to change clothes, of course, I have the ability to see her even if she is invisible but I did not use that to peep. When she got done changing she is now wearing an outfit that is more appropriate in a setting where we might have to run away. She looks happy with the clothes that I brought for her and is checking herself out as this is the first time she has worn such an outfit.


    "Hey look, I kind of look cool in this haha." -She tried to show off with a smile on her face.


    "You sure are." - I replied while having a proud grin on my face.


    "With my horn and tail being invisible I really look like a human. If that is the only physical difference that we have then why are the demons and humans not getting along better."


    "I think the problem here is more than what demon appears as."


    "Is it really?"


    "Well, enough of that for now. Let''s get on the carriage and head to the forest?"


    "Okay then."


    Rosalie went to the back while I am on the front steering the carriage. It is a calm afternoon and if nothing goes wrong then we should reach our destination by tomorrow afternoon also. There is nothing special about this carriage but for some reason, Rosalie''s face is full of excitement. She keeps on looking around the area full of enthusiasm but I guess this is her first time riding a carriage.


    "So why did you decide to bring me along?"


    "When we first met you went to Lytron to see more of the human part of the world right?"


    "Yeah."


    "Then what is the best way to see more of it than riding a carriage to a new area."


    "So this is for me?"


    "Well there is that but I also want to spend more time with you so it''s a win-win."


    Rosalie now is just looking at me with stars on her eyes.


    "Btw speaking of the first time we met, I have a question."


    "What is it?"


    "I killed your father right?"


    "Weird question to say to his daughter but the answer would be yes."


    "How come you are okay going out with someone who killed your father?"


    " Probably because my father has always been open with his potential to die any time."


    Rosalie has explained to me that his father is not a mindless war-loving creature as what the humans proclaim he is. It is true that he can be ruthless but he is also ruthless to himself. He does not disillusion himself by pretending that he is the good guy in his story but instead, he just treats those who win as the ones who have the right to decide anything. The late demon king knows that he has done horrible things but for him, it is alright because he is the winner what he explained to his daughter is that if he ever dies is to not treat it as something she has to take revenge on but instead as a sign that one cannot simply win forever. A demon''s usual desire is power and there is no greater sign of power than victory. Rosalie does not hate me for killing his father because according to them it is her own father''s fault that he died and lost to a 10-year-old. I am the winner of our fight so no matter if Rosalie is angry or not does not change the fact that his father is still the loser.


    "Why did you not try to at least win a battle against me?"


    "Well I won you over, didn''t I? Hahaha." -She said the comeback with a grin on her face.


    "You got me there."


    "So do you have any information about this girl you are trying to find?"


    "Well, I am trying to confirm if she is the same girl I met almost 3 months ago."


    ***


    On my way back to Lytron I wanted to camp out in the Mendak forest for a week, I planned it to be just me trying to survive with only hunting and foraging for my food because for the past years, I may have grown accustomed to buying my ingredients. My alone time was disturbed though when a girl in drab clothes approached me and it looked like she was starving so I gave her food from what is left of what I hunted. Apparently, it has been a week since she got lost in the forest and was only able to survive barely through the random berries or fruits that she found. She told me that she is on the run from her pursuers, she chose to hide in this forest because it is known to make people lost. I have no problem with this for my eyes can let me see the right path easily.


    She told me that she had some sort of tracker with her in the form of her necklace. I asked her why not just ditch the necklace but she said that she did not want to let go of it because the necklace was from her mother. Since I felt bad about her starving already while being lost and also having people who is trying to hunt her I offered to tweak the necklace in order to at least interfere with the tracking. On my journey, I learned how to tweak magical items since that is one of the things my father was interested in. I managed to get accustomed to tweaking magical items because my eyes actually have great synergy with this with how I can see the mana circuits easily by being able to see through what would block my vision. I managed to tweak the necklace to stop the transmission of the tracking but I am not an expert at this so I was not able to disable it entirely. The necklace is still technically trying to send her location to whoever is the receiver of the information but with my modification, it would make it so that the transmission would constantly fail.


    This forest is dangerous though aside from people constantly being lost it is said that there has been a rise of people just disappearing in the forest recently. Despite that, she still feels that she is safer inside the forest because at least in here she can shake off her pursuers. Since I am in this forest anyway to work on my survival skills again I decided to also teach her how to survive on her own. For the whole week, all we did to survive was get our own food and also manage the campfire and correctly identify a good place to rest since in this situation we need to constantly change our place of sleep just to be safe from the pursuers. I should be strong enough to fend off any pursuer that might appear but in the end, we manage to not spot any of them. After a week of surviving in the wild we managed to get through it with no problem and she also managed to pick up the lessons I gave her about surviving. Since I only planned to stay in the forest for a week I offered to at least bring her safely to another city but she chose to stay in the forest, she is free to choose to stay there so I did not try to convince her otherwise and I just left.


    ***


    "So you were alone with a girl your own age for a week in a forest where it is pretty much just the two of you."


    "yep."


    Rosalie is just staring at me with dead eyes.


    "So she is just trying to escape those who are trying to catch her?"


    "Yeah or at least that''s what she made it look like."


    "What do you mean?"


    " She might be lying all this time because her sister told a different story."


    The reason I accepted this task is not so that I can save her if she is indeed in danger but to confirm if she lied to me or not.


    It is now almost dark so we decided to make a stop on the side and I prepared dinner. I made roasted eggplant mash for dinner and ate it with Rosalie.


    "Hey, bran."


    "Yeah?"


    "When we went to that restaurant before, you told the waitress that you hate eggplants were you lying?"


    "Nope, I do hate eggplants."


    "Then why did you make an eggplant dish then?"


    "A week before I became the hero I wanted to learn how to cook my favorite dish, a burger steak but my mother did not want to teach me meat recipes before I learned a vegetable one."


    "Your mother taught you how to cook?"


    "Yeah, she did but as for her condition, I need to learn how to cook a vegetable dish first and also that I will eat at least one vegetable meal a week."


    "Okay."


    "That week she taught me how to make this. I really hated this dish because I do not like eggplants but I still eat it because this is her cooking. This eggplant dish was the only dish she managed to teach me so sometimes I just cook this because it is what reminds me of my mom''s cooking. "


    "I am sorry."


    "No need to be sorry. I hate this eggplant but still, sometimes I just feel the want to eat this dish." - I said this with a sad expression.


    After finishing our food we slept through the night and when morning struck we set out again. From then It did not take us long to reach the the forest of our destination. We can''t bring the carriage inside the forest so we instead leashed the horse near the grass on the side and I had Rosalie coat the carriage with invisibility. We walked inside the forest in order to find any trace of someone but finding the girl would be the best-case scenario. It took some time even with my eyes but we managed to find her taking a nap on a branch of a tree.


    "Hoy! Come down here."


    I tried to get her attention and it seemed to succeed as she jumped down from her branch onto my front.


    "Woah Teacher Branton is that you?"


    "I already told you before to not call me teacher."


    "Who is she?"


    "She is my current assistant."


    "Oh, I thought she was your mistress or something."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Even in this forest news still reaches me and I know that you are engaged with Princess Maya so I thought you may be cheating."


    "I would never." - I can feel Rosalie''s stare behind me.


    "Anyway let me introduce myself to your assistant. I am Yasmine."


    "Sister of Carmen, right?"


    "So you know?"


    "That is the reason I am here, trying to find someone who lied to me."


    "Look okay okay, let me explain."


    She explained to me that she did lie about how she was running away from pursuers but it is true that someone is trying to capture her. She told me that the reasoning I heard from her sister is wrong because she did not run away because she is in love with her sister''s fiance, according to her it is actually in fact the opposite. Yasmine has revealed to me that her sister''s fiance is actually the one who is interested in her. The reason she ran away was because he kept on trying to make moves on her despite being in a relationship with her sister but since her sister loves him so much so she didn''t want to make it more complicated and being only an adopted sister she thought it would be better if she just disappear and not get in her way.


    Her plan was going well until her sister''s fiance managed to follow her because he got the natural magic [Track Entity] which lets him track any entity that he can think of in a certain radius. Since the tracking makes it so that anything that he tracks needs to have some sort of magic for him to track them he had to imbue them with magic resulting in items being a magic items with mana circuits in them. From what it looks like, she has been applying the survival lessons I taught her since she looks so accustomed now to surviving alone.


    While listening to her explanation I tried applying to my eyes the guy that he was describing and it turns out that he is in this forest right now. Yasmine requested to have some girl talk with Rosalie but it looks like she is not really up for it. I just told them to hang out while I take a walk but in reality, I am going to where the guy is in right now. I jumped from tree to tree in order to traverse the woods faster and not so long after I reached the guy''s destination.


    "Hey you, are you Robert? Carmen''s fiance?"


    "Yes, that would be me. What about it?"


    "What are you doing in this forest?"


    "Finding someone?"


    "Who would that be?"


    "None of your business."


    He suddenly draw his sword and tried to slash me but I managed to dodge it just in time. I tried to fight back but he was managing to block my attacks, I am holding back because I am fighting a civilian right now but even still this is kind of concerning. While trying to fight him I noticed something malicious about him and it was not just actions, I just kept on sensing something nefarious on his arm. I managed to finally figure out what that ominous feeling was and it was a curse, a demon curse to be precise. Hoping for the situation to get better I used my hero''s sword and slightly slashed the skin of his left arm in order to break him from the demon curse.


    "I... I can move again."


    "I broke the demon curse on your left arm."


    "Thank you thank you. That girl is a monster."


    "What?"


    "Be careful of that woman!"


    "Who?"


    "Yasmine. Be careful of her."


    "Why?"


    "Because she is a demon with no horns or tails."


    "What?"


    "Everything about her is a lie, Carmen''s family did not adopt her, she just suddenly wrote herself as part of her family and no one else seemed to notice."


    "She told me you were obsessed with her."


    "I technically am because I managed to discover that she is a demon through my tracking but none of them are of romantic feelings like what she may be trying to frame it.


    "Maybe she is a good demon?"


    "No, the reason the amount of disappearances has increased here recently is because of her so she is dangerous."


    Tsk, I lost my sight of Rosalie because I am too far away now so I do not know their current location. I needed to hurry up and get back because things might get ugly, I took the guy with me carrying him by the collar.


    ***


    On the other hand, while Branton and Robert are having a confrontation both Yasmine and Rosalie begin with their ''girl talk'' but as it goes on something changes with the atmosphere around them.


    "You know Rosalie I am kind of jealous of you."


    "Jealous of what?"


    "Your head and your butt."


    "What?"


    "As a fellow demon, I can smell that you are also one."


    "Also what do you mean?"


    "You can not fool me, you reek of a demon."


    Rosalie just stayed silent but she has her defense up.


    "I really am jealous of your head and your butt, well you see. I am a demon but I was born with no horn or tail. So if you are going to hide them anyway how about I take them instead?


    As she revealed herself her face and aura went from someone that is innocent looking into a nefarious aura with a creepy smile.


    "I am going to take them for I am sick of being a demon with no horns or tail."