The two ran through the forest, Aiden following closely behind as they both came to a clearing that led to what looked like a stronghold. The large wooden structure seemed about three floors tall, with various rather jaded men standing guard at every entrance. Women and children ran around carefree; it seemed like the family of a select few bandits.

“I’m surprised they can stand being married to such men,” Aiden said as he struggled to catch his breath. She had been faster than he expected, and so he was sweating profusely already.

“Did they have a choice?” She replied half sarcastically, “Should we take a closer look?” She said this as she sprinted towards the makeshift wooden fence behind the tallest part close to them. Aiden gritted his teeth and followed after her, despite his exhaustion. Was this a normal thing women did on dates? He felt like a fish out of water, a king in a bandit’s stronghold.

Anne paid little attention to her fiancé, who tried to quieten his breathing; her mind was rather preoccupied with the structure of the building. She noticed small rectangular air spaces at the base of the structure, and she felt this was somewhat familiar to the building she had rescued Arthur from.

“I don’t think we should carry on; they look rather fierce.” Aiden tried to explain, but to no avail.

“Don’t worry, if I get into trouble, I’ll just run to you,” she said with a laugh. Aiden felt distressed as he felt his words get caught in his throat. Unfortunately, she wasn’t paying great attention to him. “I’ll try and sneak into the boss’s room; I’ll be back soon!”

“Wait-!” Before he could complete his sentence, she was gone. His face was ashen; he needed to investigate her more thoroughly, first the suspicious people protecting her and now this strange activity of pretending to be a thief! It was all too weird that a princess would have so many mysteries.

Settling his beating heart, he took a deep breath before peeking into the compound past the spikes. He contemplated how he would bypass all those people and failed to notice the looming shadow approaching him.

A deep, hearty voice startled him to turn around as a large hand grabbed his arm. “Well, what do we have here?"

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Anne peaked out from the tapestry she hid behind; her eyes scanned the dark room that was only lit by the now-closed window. A large study table took up most of the room space, with a large map situated on top of it. A few seats were scattered around the table and looked like they were pushed aside in a hurry. She searched through the room, admiring the mounted deer heads on the wall and the decorative swords. Coming up to the top of the table, she saw a large ledger. She picked it up and looked through it. Records of various transactions were kept; they were encoded, so she could not fully understand what was written. She dropped the ledger before searching the drawers under the large table and looting anything she found interesting.

“Hurry! They’re about to execute the trespasser!”

Men ran past the room through the halls with excited voices. Anne felt her ears perk up, and after some time, she stepped out into the now-empty hallways. The open hallway overlooked the front courtyard where the bandits gathered; she stared curiously, wanting to find out who was the trespasser being executed, like an audience watching a circus.

Her entertained mood was quickly ruined when she saw the iconic blonde hair belonging to Aiden, who was struggling desperately to be released from the ropes binding his arms and legs together. He knelt on a platform for the audience to look up at; his eyes contained terror like he couldn’t escape and was truly going to die.

‘Why isn’t he escaping?’

Her eyes widened as the shocking realisation that he did not necessarily have the power to escape dawned on her.

“Shit!”

Running down the halls, her mind raced as she tried to think of a way to free him. She was confident in her ability to escape, but if she had to fight those men, she would surely get captured.

‘That idiot! How did he get caught so easily!? It’s literally been less than 10 minutes!’

She wanted to curse at him for being so stupid, ignoring the fact that she had essentially abandoned him without making sure he had the ability to protect himself. As she came into the front courtyard, Aiden was the first to see her running towards him. The feeling of relief he felt made him tear up.

Anne, seeing his watery eyes, felt guilty; she should have protected him more. At that moment, all she could do was call for help.

“ARCHIE!”

Her voice was loud and caught the attention of all the bandits who had been jeering at Aiden. Their reaction to her presence was quick; no one needed to give any commands before they ran towards her with fierce eyes, hoping to capture her. Aiden, seeing this, wanted to scream for her to get away but was gagged, so he could only watch powerlessly as the men approached her.

"Sorry, I’m late!”

A cocky, loud voice came from the sky. A man seemingly descended from the sky, dressed head to toe in black. He wore what seemed like a tight bodice top that let his arms move freely, and his pants were secured to his waist by a belt similar to Anne’s with multiple pockets mostly loaded. His long black hair in a ponytail flowed freely in the wind as his gold piercings glistened in the sun, showing off the three gold drops lined up next to each other on his left ear. His neck was adorned with a black metal collar resembling a collar. He stood tall amongst the men, with very few men being able to compete with his height; his smile bewitched anyone looking at him. He whistled as his hand ran through his hair, pushing it away from his face.

“We need to rescue Aiden!” Anne said it with a firm voice.

“Yes, master,” he said playfully before rushing forward. His figure was hard to keep up with, and there was great chaos that followed his movements as the men tried to subdue him but ultimately failed.

‘He is more effective than I expected,’ Anne thought, watching in bewilderment as he fought, taking down men twice his size. The reason she had wanted him as ‘The Dog’ was for her own protection; she needed someone that would forever be her eyes and eyes, loyal and protective towards her; even if the rest turned their backs on her, she would have him.

Aiden was rescued safely and brought down from the platform alone with the person that seemed to be the ‘Boos’ of the stronghold. He was a rather good-looking man in his thirties, muscular and tanned, with dark brown hair and a clean shave. He glared fiercely at Anne, who had come out of nowhere to kill his men.

“You fucking b-!” Muffled, illegible groans left his mouth as his jaw was dislocated by a smiling Arthur. His eyes were cold, staring at the man kneeling in pain.

"My, what a foul mouth he has; please pay him no heed, master,” Arthur said with a teasing tone, freaking out Aiden, who was now standing behind Anne.

“Did he just dislocate his jaw?” He asked, mildly scared of the man who had come out of nowhere. He looked at Anne, who seemed completely unfazed by him, and he felt a strange feeling like he was in danger.

Anne turned to see him, and her dark brown eyes melted at the sight of his dishevelled face.

“Are you alright?” She asked softly, making him feel speechless, but his face heated up in embarrassment quickly.

“What kind of man needs his fiance to protect him from common bandits?” Arthur’s harsh voice interrupted them, making Aiden feel wronged.

“I didn’t want to tell you. It’s embarrassing.” His voice descended as he felt humiliated and antagonised by the strange man. His downcast eyes softened Anne’s heart as she reached out, taking his hands with a smile. “I have had a weak constitution since I was a kid, so I could never learn to fight,” he continued, trying not to cry at the intense feeling of humiliation.

“It’s ok; truthfully, I can’t fight either; I’m only good at running away,” she said cutely. Arthur’s face was black as ink, and he felt uncomfortable all over looking at the scene of two lovers in front of him.

Aiden couldn’t help but feel deeply lacking compared to his fiance; if she wasn’t born from a mistress, would he even be able to marry her? At the moment, he was indeed inferior.

“What would you like me to do with him, mistress?” Arthur interrupted them before he got angry. Anne looked at the man on the floor, who drooled uncontrollably.

“Let’s wait for Lilian; I want to see just what kind of ‘business’ these bandits are conducting.” She said it with a scuff. Arthur nodded before dragging him away. “We’ll hand him over to the authorities for the bounty, so don’t kill him,” she said casually. It took a while for Lilian to arrive; she had taken off most of the formal armour she had been wearing, as it was hard to move quickly with it on, so she wore something similar to Arthur but with chain mail.

“I thought you were just going on a date? How did you find a stronghold?” She said, looking at Anne with disbelief. Anne smiled as she was now sitting on a grassy spot in the front yard with a bowl of fruit. She did not answer Lilian but instead turned her head to the group of women and children gathered in the courtyard. Some were related to the now-deceased bandits, but most of them were girls who were chained up in the basement of the building to be sold. They had been dressed and were now eating the stored food that had been found.

“It looks like the slave trade in Celestia is a rather profitable business despite being illegal.” She looked up to see Aiden, who was going through the ledgers she had originally found in the large room. His face did not look good. She casually ate her strawberries as she figured she saw something relating to Veinna.  “Just take the girls to the authorities; there’s probably families waiting for them to come home,” Anne said again.

“Not necessarily.” Aiden’s voice interjected as he put the ledger down.

“These sales are from the girl’s families; they were willingly sold; that’s why this has been allowed to continue.”

‘Allowed?’ Anne thought to herself as a bitter laugh escaped her lips.

The two watched as the girls were taken to rest in the living quarters, and Anne looked at Aiden, who had his head buried in a ledger. The sun was setting slowly, and at that moment, she couldn’t help but feel like the way the sun bounced off his hair was rather enchanting. Feeling her gaze on his, he looked up to see her beautiful skin glisten in the sun and felt his heart get stuck in his throat as he got flustered.

“Sorry, I was too engrossed in the sale records!” He said, trying to apologise for seemingly ignoring her, and she let out a breath taking smile, laughing at his flustered attitude.

“It’s alright; I just enjoy watching you.”

His face flushed, and he couldn’t help but feel like her flirting was too good. She was very different from the night they met, but then again, so was he. His stoic persona was nowhere to be seen, and it intrigued her. “Are you really ok with marrying me?” The questions came from nowhere, and even she was surprised by what came out of her mouth.

His blushing face paused, and he looked down at his hands carrying the book he had been reading and then back at her. “I’m not against it.” It was the same answer he had given her when they first met: “I want to marry you.” His words were slow and deliberate; she understood what he meant, and her heart swelled with happiness.

“I, also…” It wasn’t necessary for her to complete her sentence.