"Come here worm. Are you ready?"

Princess Isadora motioned with one of her hands, standing with a confident smirk and her other hand on her hips. She was wearing her signature red armor, with a black flowing cape behind her, embedded with the sigil of the royal house of Lancaster. Even on the battlefield, she looked extremely stunning to any passerby, if there were any, her brown hair flowing down her body.

Listening to her orders, I rose from the ground and slowly walked to the princess. My maimed leg continued to hinder me, ironic though isn't it? The healer is unable to even heal his own ailment.

"Princess, I do not understand why you care so much about them worm, he is only worthless scum" exclaimed a royal guard, who was standing to her right, "He is unworthy and too dangerous to be near you princess". I could make out a condescending expression through his small metal visor, obviously thinking that he was superior. If only he knew.

"Don't worry, it's only worm, he's not going to hurt me," she replied, "Plus, isn't he so cute!"

She grabbed my face by the chin and shook it as if a person might do to a dog. Of course, I was lower than that in her eyes. I remained mute, blankly staring into her eyes the way she expected, not responding to her actions. For a second, my brain and body without thinking wanted to slap her. Following was a blinding pain right in the middle of the brain, though it didn't show on my face. It couldn't. Or she would figure it out.

The thought in itself was a major advancement for me. Even a few months ago, simply thinking would have brought horrendous pain to me, not that I could have even done that in my drugged state. I wouldn't have been able to think clearly for a couple of days. Before that, I don't even remember, just faint bits and pieces of me following the princess almost always, following her orders. 

I don't know what allowed me to suddenly escape the drug. The other slaves I see are in the state I was in, for who knows how long, blankly walking like zombies and following their masters. Even when I first came to I was like one of those addicts living in the slums, barely being able to make conscious thoughts. Thank god for that though. If I had been able to be completely free, I would have been killed because I escaped from its control.

Breaking me out of my thoughts, the princess released her hold and wiped her hand on her body, as if getting rid of something dirty. After saying something unintelligible to me to the guard, she began to walk forward, followed by the knight and eventually me, slowly limping behind them.

We were currently at base camp, located to the right of the mountains of Arden, our eventual destination. The party members and soldiers were staying here to recover from the orc caverns and prepare for the final raid. 

We continued walking, going past countless tents and soldiers, who after seeing the princess, bowed or curtsied, no matter how clumsily. We finally arrived at a white tent, clearly bigger than the others, and after the Princess paused for a moment at the entrance and took a deep breath, we entered through the flap.

Entering, I saw the familiar round table with seven figures seated around it, with an empty chair on one side. Various other servants or slaves were standing behind their respective masters. The tent itself was dimly lit by candles attached to the sides of the wall, adding to the ominous atmosphere. 

The princess continued forward, and when the generals caught sight of her, they all stood up and bowed, a bit more refined than the soldiers. She nodded in response, and after the knight took the chair and pulled it out for her, she sat down. 

The knight and I took our positions behind her chair, of course, not before I got a glare from him. Sometimes, I wonder about this doofus. I clearly couldn't respond or react to his various taunts, yet he continued to do them.

The princess began to speak as I wordlessly watched on. 

"Hello Generals, thank you for waiting." She paused," Have all the preparations for the raid finished?"

One general, sitting across from her, replied. "Yes, your majesty, the hunters and soldiers are all ready. We are prepared to leave at any moment."

"Good. And… has Matthias agreed to join the battle?"

"He… He has agreed to a price."

"Then no matter, we have gained a valuable ally. if all goes well, he will be the one that gives the finishing blow."

Listening to the conversation, I pictured the maniac they were talking about in my head. I had met him once before, a few weeks after my awakening, and though I barely remember, the rumors about him confirm that he is, in fact, a complete psycho. Unlike me, he was a completely physically based hunter, ranked by the smallest estimates third in the entire world.

The group of people continued their conversation, talking about the operation's logistics, which I could barely understand, and the battle tactics they would use. After several increasingly slower minutes, they finished. 

"Thank you, Generals. May the Saints bless us all"

"May the Saint bless us all", they echoed.

To my relief, the princess then rose from her position, and then with the knight and me following, she walked out of the tent. Contrary to earlier, no soldiers or hunters for that matter appeared in our path when we walked back toward the princess's tent. They had all gone, ready to start the raid.

She turned toward me.

“Worm… Don't die out there. Or you'll cost me a lot of money," she said giggling. 

She whispered something again to the guard, who after a moment, strode toward me and roughly grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. Without taking an inkling of a thought for me, he began to drag me away from the princess. Like the good slave, I was, I remained motionless, watching the princess walk away, who had turned around, of course not before waving at my limp body.

I mindlessly stared up at the night sky, the only thing I could see while getting carried like a potato sack on the back of the guard. When he had realized it would take too long to drag me by my feet, he had hoisted me upon his soldier. Not that it was comfortable for me either, I felt his metal shoulder guard pierce my flesh each time he took a step, me flopping like a fish in the process. I bet that's going to leave a mark. 

After a few seconds, or minutes I couldn't tell, the guard threw me onto the floor, getting a mouthful of dust into my mouth in the process. I coughed, then got up from the floor, getting into basic slave posture. Simply staring at nothing while standing straight up of course. As I looked forward, I realized we had ended up on the outskirts of the camp, right in front of a group of men, generals I recognized before. Behind them stood a caravan of neverending soldiers, and from what I could also see, some hunters mixed in.

Spit suddenly landed on my face.

"Worthless piece of shit," came a weirdly elegant voice from next to me. I didn't dare look left, and when the man himself appeared in my vision, I was glad I hadn't reacted. Of course, a blinding pain followed right after.

It was Royal Prince Phillip, standing in the flesh in front of me. Like Princess Isadora, he was the most charming man in the entire kingdom, or so I've heard from the mutterings of the palace servant maids. His brown hair was cut short, and just like his sister, he was wearing red armor with the sigil. Unlike her, however, he was also carrying a sword on his right, with white gloves on his hands.

Turning away from me, he faced the men.

"Generals! Why is this scum here? Not joining our raid I hope, we have much more capable healers in our ranks." He paused, but when no answer came he spoke softly. "Oh? No one is answering? Whose head do I have to cu-"

"Your Highness! The princess has sent him our way to join the raid, she hopes the slave will be a valuable addition to our ranks." yelled out one of the generals

"Is that so? Well, if my dear sister has sent him, we should use him. It is such a pity." He turned around and looked at my face. "It really is a pity." Then without hesitation, he slapped my face. My head cracked to the side and blood sprayed into the air. I stumbled, my head ringing and in my blurry state, I fell to the ground. My hand clawed the dirt and my knees struggled to support my body, despite my best efforts. I then heard the prince speak through my ringing ears.

"The heavens have some humor, putting such talent in some-some… defective meat. " 

He wiped his hand with the other and threw his blood-streaked glove to one of the men. As if in slow motion,  he approached and grabbed my chin, making my blurred eyes meet his. Why this family has such a fascination with my face I can't figure out. Without a word, he brought his other hand up and began to forcefully tap on my forehead as if it were the glass of a zoo exhibit.

"No one in here either", he shook his head, "Well, no matter he will be put next to the princess anyways. I don't understand why she put so much effort in sending him here. That useless wh-... " He paused and twisted his head. "My wondrous sister must just be concerned for my well-being"

Taking his hands off of me, he stood up and flashed a smile at his generals. 

"We will be leaving in a few minutes. Get ready, I will be with the hunters in the back." After the generals saluted in response, he began to walk away toward the caravan of soldiers. Through my blurry vision, I saw him walking away, step by step while swiging around his sword, until finally, my vision blacked out.