---

...

...

...

*beeeeeeeeep*

"Rewinding lo-..."
"ERROR!"
"No. Log. Available."

"Commencing. Data. Assessment."

*beeeeeeeeep*

...

...

...

Four years ago, inside the silver-haired woman's room...

The sun rises in the morning. A silver-haired woman in her 20s is still comfortably sleeping on her bed, tucked in and hugging a pillow. When minutes later, a knock comes on her door by her mother outside.

"......Felicia! Felicia! " a voice of a woman spoke behind the closed door. Felicia flinches her closed eyes and hears her mom calling for her.

" Hmm. Wha-what is it, mom? " Felicia responded while rubbing her eyes.

" Hurry up now! You're getting late for school! "

" Hrrgnnn. Five more minutes, mom." Felicia, going back to sleep.

" Get up now! A young man is waiting for you outside! "

Felicia's drowsiness fades away as she heard her mother. She quickly opens her eyes wide awake and hurriedly looks at the window. Outside of her house, she sees a young brown-haired boy the same age as her.

" See? Your 'boyfriend' is waiting for you. Fufufu. " her mother said as she opened the door and checked with Felicia.

" MOOOM! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP EARLIER? " with a blush on Felicia's cheeks and hurriedly prepares herself to go to school.

" I tried. You're just sleepy-headed. "

Felicia hurries up. She took a shower for just thirty seconds. Wore her underwear and school uniform in just two minutes. She picked a slice of bread as her breakfast.

" I'm going now, mom! "

" Take care hon'. " the mother waved goodbye to Felicia. Felicia exits the house and greets the boy that was waiting for her.

" Hehe. What took you so long? " said the young boy to Felicia.

" Shu-shut up! I, I was on the way! really didn't oversleep because of your love lette- " Felicia then quickly stopped and closed her mouth with her hands.

" Hmm? Love letter? " he said.

"I-IT'S NOTHING! COME ON WE'RE LATE! " as Felicia blushes and runs.

" AH! Wait for me! "

The two then ran towards their school.

...

...

...

Lunch break...

Inside their classroom, Felicia, on her chair, is about to eat her lunch. Then a bunch of her friends approaches her with a smile.

" Hey hey! " as one of Felicia's friends comes to talk to her.

" Hmm, what is it? "

" *smiles* I know you're dating [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.]. Don't try to hide it from me. " with a wide grin on her face.

" WA-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? *blushes* "

" Yiieeee. Oh, you know how handsome he is. Many of the girls are proposing to him but got rejected and yet, you are the only one who is really close to him. It's natural that everyone will think that you two are really dating." said the other friend.

" Co-come on! It's nothing like that! *blushes* "

" *sigh*. Look, Felicia. It's bad that you're hiding your true feelings for him. Just once, be open to him, alright? Maybe you know. He will be your boyfriend! You will be the talk of the room if that ever happens!" said the third friend.

This pressured Felicia on confessing to [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.].

" *blushes* ..........I'll, I'll give it a try. "

" Hehe! That's my girl! You can do this! " her friend patted her on the back to encourage her.

...

...

...

Late afternoon...

The classes have ended. Felicia is planning to confess to [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.].

Inside their classroom, Felicia and [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] are alone.

" Okay. See you tomorrow Felicia! " as [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] prepares his bag and walks out of the room. Felicia then quickly calls for the boy.

" [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] ! "

[ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] then stops and looks at Felicia.

" Hmm? What is it, Felicia? "

Still very anxious and scared, Felicia mustered up her courage to convey her true feeling for [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.]. Her cheeks begin to flush red and she flinches her fingers,

" *blushes* I-I've got something important to say to you. Can you please he-hear me out? "

" Sure. What is it? "

" Um.....um....you see...." as Felicia is fidgeting her hands and toes.

" Hmm? I can't hear you? "

" UMMM! YOU SEE! I, I......I....."

... ... ... ... ...

"..........i love you [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] " as Felicia also sheds some tears.

The boy is shocked. He put down his bag and ran towards Felicia and hugged her.

" Felicia...Felicia...Oh, how long did I wait for you to say that. " as [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] also shed some tears.

" I-I thought that I'm just nothing to you. I thought that you've ignored my feelings. " Felicia then hugs back and cries.

" I love you too, Felicia. "

[ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] then kissed Felicia on the lips.

...

...

...

Next day at school...

" I'M REALLY GLAD FOR YOU TWO!!! " as her friend hugged Felicia from behind.

" I KNEW YOU CAN BECOME COUPLES! "

" Hehe. You're exaggerating. We're just starting. No need to rush. " Felicia replied to her friends.

" Oh come on! You knew that this was gonna happen. You're just a coward! Good thing we convinced you to open up to him. "

" Yeah. I thought so. "

" So, what are your plans? " her friend with a wide grin on her face.

" For starters, I think we're gonna hang around and let each other. Then, we can go around town, start making dates, and then..." Felicia then suddenly blushes.

" .....aaand theeeen? '' with a wide grin.

" ........and...m-....make......"

" Good morning girls! " as [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] greeted the two girls.

" WAAAAAA! " Felicia screamed.

" Waa. You scared me! Ahaha. What's the matter? " [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] said.

" Tsk, I was so close!. " the friend girl whispered to herself.

" Hmm what was that? "

" Ahh, nothing, nothing. "

" AAAAH the teacher is here! Let's get back to our seats! " Felicia said while blushing.

...

...

...

On a certain night...

Felicia and [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] are walking along a dark narrow road. They just had a dinner date at the nearby restaurant and headed back towards their homes. Suddenly, a group of unknown hooded men came out of nowhere and try to apprehend the couple. [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] goes on the front to defend Felicia, while Felicia is casting a spell behind. As her boyfriend tries to attack the men with his flame magic and Felicia with her ice magic, her boyfriend's flame fists got extinguished and suddenly got pierced by a fast poison dagger, and Felicia's frost spikes evaporate out of nowhere. The unknown men laughed as one of them brings up a hidden cursed coin that can suppress magic power. They didn't know this time, but that cursed coin is one of the artifacts that are blessed by the demonic bracelet where Fruchiel previously got captured. 

" ARRGH! RUN FELICIA! RUN! " her boyfriend warned Felicia as he feels the poison seeping into his blood veins. Felicia tries to re-engage the attackers with her magic but was soon overwhelmed. She then runs away with tears flowing out of her eyes.

" ARRRGH! " Felicia heard him scream in pain. Her eyes widened in horror as she looks back. [ERROR! Male.Name.Not.Found.] is stabbed multiple times by the men to finish him off. Blood is flowing through his shirt and he lies down lifelessly on the ground as the unknown men try to chase down Felicia. Felicia runs again, but the unknown men easily caught up with her.

" NOOOO! LET ME GO!!!! " Felicia tried to escape the grasp of the unknown men.

" Hehehehe. You aren't getting away! " 

" NOOOOOOOO! GET AWAY FROM ME!! SOMEON- " Felicia screamed but one of them closed her mouth by hand. The unknown man puts her to sleep with a spell and she falls unconscious as they leave the area and the dead young man on the ground. 

...

...

Hours have passed, and Felicia is awakened by the noises of horses. She gradually opens her eyes and sees that she is inside a caravan cage together with a couple of captured female slaves of different races. All of them are tied up and their mouth sealed in order to prevent them from shouting. She begins to feel dread and hopeless as she thinks about what will happen to her when a loud explosion strikes near them. Inside the caravan, she can hear the men groan in pain as they are being attacked by an unknown group. Moments later, the area became silent, and the opening of their caravan opens. What greeted her were knights that are tasked to capture their caravan and rescue them. She and the other captured slaves eventually got rescued and because of this experience, she then decides to become a knight as well and went under numerous training for months which eventually passed.

...

...

...

One day, as Felicia heads back home in the evening, she finds that the front door of her house is unlocked and opened.

She enters in confusion. And then, she hears bed creaks and moaning sounds of a woman and a man upstairs.

" *cries* ..sto---stop...I dont...want.....this anym--ahhh ! "

" Oooh we both think that you're enjoying this hehehe. "

Felicia slowly walks upstairs and peeks through a gap in the open door of her mother's room.

She is shocked and horrified that a man, in beautiful clothes, is having sex with her mother. She saw how the man kept humping her mother in her room.

After a couple of seconds, Felicia with clenched teeth had enough. She grabbed a knife into the kitchen and entered her mother's room.

This surprises the two in the middle of their intercourse.

" WHO ARE YOU?" the man spoke.

" F-FELICIA! NO! PLEASE DON'T LOOK! "

Felicia then aims the knife at the man and threatens him.

" STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY MOM! OR ELSE THIS KNIFE IS GONNA BE STUCK IN YOUR THROAT! " Felicia has confidence due to her knowledge of combat training at the knight school.

The man then backs off.

" YOU-YOU'LL REGRET ABOUT THIS! YOU'LL REGRET IT! " as the man runs off scared.

Felicia locks the entrance door. She puts down the knife and then talks to her mom

" ...Mom? "

Her mom cries.

" I'm *sobs* I'm sorry hon. It's just. We've got some debt to pay. I didn't have a choice. Ever since your father passed away, I couldn't find some decent job *sobs*. I'm sorry for being a worthless mother. I don't want to do this. I'm sorry hon."

" It's alright mom. It's alright. " Felicia hugged her mom.

...

...

...

Another couple of days later...

Felicia found out that the man who was having sex with her mom was a high noble in her city. This made her despise all of the wealthy and in power, as she further discovered that they're just corrupt traitors.

But the high nobles outranked her knight superiors. She had no choice but to follow their orders as she is a knight. So, Felicia had to make up a plan. She plans to just send her mom into a secluded area so that she can focus on her knight duties and not be raped by the nobleman again.

She searches in the school library for a suitable location for her mom to stay. Luckily, she finds a full map of the Gargan Forest. There she studies all of the terrains, locations, and landmarks around it. And soon, she finally found a suitable place.

She then helped her mom to pack up things and gave her a map of a secluded area inside the Gargan Forest that she picked. She discusses with her mom how to get there.

She also promised to visit her twice a week.

Then in the evening, as the bread deliverer comes to a halt, her mother secretly enters.

The carriage then heads off, leaving Felicia behind. All alone.

Felicia packs her things up and decides to stay at a local inn where she uses her salary to pay rent.

...

...

...

One day, a call from the messenger of the Almeda Kingdom requested some of the knights to head off to Arksonville for a tax collector. Most of the knights didn't participate, seeing it was just a poor-quality mission. But, after studying the layouts, and landmarks of the Gargan Forest where it's near Arksonville, Felicia thought that there may be bandits living there. Also, the fact that her mother's location is near there, made her participate. She was also given the role of a navigator and the leader of the knight group.

What happens after, is history. They've got ambushed by the bandits while taking a break. The bandits quickly outmanned the knight group. They were also outpowered by the Jackal with his experienced talented bandits. After that, Felicia then saw all of the atrociousness and debauchery the bandits made to her fellow knights. Stabbing their chests, decapitating their heads, and raping women and male knights. But Felicia puts up a fight. She somehow lasts a half-hour of fighting until she gets exhausted and gets captured. The bandit leader has taken a liking to her so he ordered his underlings to not lay a single hand on her.

...

...

...

"Fast.Forward..."

[CURRENT. TIME.]

At the main bandit base...

" Unnghhh. " Felicia had woken up from the loud explosions and the commotion outside. She wonders if there's some sort of battle happening right now near her. So she prepares for what's going to happen. When her tent opens and a silhouette of a man in a cloud of dust appears. Although she can't see his eyes, she can feel that the man is staring at her. She stares back as the clouds of dust begin to fade away.

...

...

...

---

[ ERROR! ]

[ NULL. DATA. ]

[ ERROR! ]

---

---

UPCOMING NEXT CHAPTER:

Chapter 12 - Safety First, Kill Later