"I don't have that much time to live, honey" said an unknown figure with a masculine voice.

"*Sobbing* this can't be happening" cried an unknown figure with a feminine voice.

As I opened the door, the two figures stared back at me.

"Mom...? Dad?", my heart was throbbing, why head was hurting, what was happening?

[["y̴͎̓͑̈́͛̿̉͆ơ̵̮͓͓̰͚̲̦͓͙̼̥̼̝̲͖̋̋͛́͘u̸̘̺̤̮͖͕͚̻̣̹͓̞͑̂́͛̅̑̅̎̋̒͗̓́̏͝ ̶̛̙̪̒̊͋̅̈́͛̆͑̓͑͘͘w̷̨̬̣̱̣̪͈̘͔̯̺̮̲͖̌̂̍̆̾̂ͅĭ̷̦̟l̸̠̗̯͖̹͚̰͆̈́̊̈́͛͂̌̃͑̏̆̓̓̀ͅl̷̨͚̬̫̗̎̔̐ͅͅ ̴̧̲͈̳͈̻̲̣̎̈́͛̌͆̾̐̆͐n̷̘̖͖̳̑͛ë̸̡͚͎̻͉͙̱̲́̌̇̄̆̈́v̵̡̨̨̩̹̳̮̹̙͎̠̙̯̝́͋͋̐̒̈̂̂ͅę̴̧̼̯̘͔͙͔̼̠͖̟̃̌̀͌̾̑͗̆̀͒́̈́̉̎̋ř̷̰̰͈͎̇ ̴͉͇̤͉̀̓̍̎͋̍͌́̂̅̕̚͜͝͝͝ͅŗ̸̡̛͖͍̯̣̠͔̝͇̯̳̫̐̓̏̍͋͗̊̆̑̚͝ͅȩ̷̡̤͕͔̼̯̙͖͔̥̮̹̪̽͛̿̑͗͑̆̇̀͐̐̓͠ͅá̶̛̛̮͛͆̍͒̂̊̂̍c̸̩̱͖̳̮̤̥̯̞̜̥̪͌͌́́̓̇̉̏̈͝ḫ̷̡̡͈̻͈̦̟̩̏̿̌̾̋̾͝ ̶̡̧̛͕̳̯͉͕̫̑̑̚t̸̡̪͇̗̣̬̤̻́̑̓͋̆͌͐͛͘͠h̴͍͓̾͒̑e̶͓̬̾̋̍̄͘ ̴̡̰̭͖̫͎̯̆̂̅͐͒͗̎̓̐̽̀̋̈́͋ţ̴͕͚̱͉̜̥͙͙͑̄̑̈́̅̓͆̚̚̕r̸̢̛̛̜̺̙̮̤̘̙̜̞̟̻͂͌̔̀̑̉̊͂̿̋͘͠͝u̸͇͔̥͇̳̠̭͇̮̣̽̆͆͒̈́̋͆͋͠t̸̛̰͚̯̜͇̥̯̹͋͊̈́̎̈́͠ͅḧ̵̥̼͖́̾̄̌̍̄̋"]] exclaimed the both of them.

"....ory" a voice called out to me.

I have to run, run, RUN!

"....regory.." the voice calls out again.

The path in front of me, has no end nor beginning, but I fear that once I touch this...my hand felt like it was being pulled forcefully into that darkness, I tried to resist but failed, "is this how it's gonna be, if I'd known..."

"Gregory..." calls out a voice.

I stopped resisting and let myself touch the darkness,"If I'd known I would have grabbed that kn-" 

"GREGORY!"

• Thy petal who stands, shall fall if thee does not persevere.

My eyes slowly opened, and a ray of light blinded me.

"Gregory, wake up, they've arrived" said a lady next to me.

As my vision grew clearer, I soon realize that the one who called out to me was, Emily Sovia, introductions not needed, Princess of a Kingdom of Anthropia Sovia. 

"Who's coming?" I said while rubbing my eyes.

Emily looks at me with a sharp glare but then proceeds to point at the road she had been staring at, and it hadn't been a second but a luxurious white painted carriage comes to a halt, along with its two white horses.

"PRINCESS!" a fat man, with blackhair, a monocle and fancy clothes came running towards Emily's direction, as I looked at her reaction, she seemed slightly happy and perhaps annoyed. 'No wonder her eyelids are tight and shut'.

As the fat man, approached Emily, with the intent of giving her a hug, she quickly dodges away, making the fat man hit face flat on the ground, despite the pain he still rose his face

"I see, you're still the same as ever Princess Emily" the fat man smiled.

'How can he smile, when he has a bleeding nose' I thought to myself.

"Same to you Oleg" Emily smiled back.
[["Give her some space, you cynical man"]]  said a duo of feminine voices.

After that, 2 maids came out of the carriage.

"Julie, Christel, it's nice to see you again" said Emily with a wave.

"Enough chit chat" said the pink haired maid who was...Julie?

'Wait which is which? Is Julie the greenhaired girl or the pinkhaired one?' I thought.

"Forgive my words but, your dress is completely horrid Princess Emily" said the green haired maid.

Emily stared at her dress which was completely muddy and tattered.

"I see, that's true...oh wait, let me introduce you to my...friend" Emily said.

"Hello, I'm Gregory nice to meet you" I said.

The three people looked at each other, 'What are they thinking about', not a second later some of them greeted me with a smile.

"Hello, I'm Oleg, I'm the Princess' manager" Oleg said.

"Pleasure is all mine." I said.

"I'm Julie, I'm the Princess' 2nd maid" said the green haired maid.

"Pleasure to me-" my words were cut short when a certain pink haired maid, who I assume is Christel spoke.

"I don't need to introduce myself to you" said Christel, she then turned to face towards the Princess.
"Princess? What noble family is he from? Did he blackmail you?" as she stared back at me with a piercing gaze.

"No, no, stop he helped me, stop being rude!" Emily yelled back at Christel.

"My apologies Princess, it's just that a lot of spies had been infiltrating lately" said Christel eyeing back at me.

"I'm not a spy, you stupid son of a-" 
"ENOUGH!" Emily screamed. The surroundings became quieter.

"Sigh...let's just talk about this in the palace alright?"

We decided to go to the royal palace. Emily entered the carriage first, Oleg, then Julie, then Christel, then last one was m-.

"Sorry, there isn't any more space" Christel used her hand to stop me at my tracks. "Sit with the coachman" as she pointed to the man, the coachman happily waved back to me.

"No, I'm sitting inside the carr-"

"I said. Sit. Beside. The Coachman" Christel enunciated every word with a smile,

'I feel like I might blow up a fuse if I force this too much'

So I decided to sit with the coachman, and I swore I heard that pink haired bitch giggle when I did what she wanted.

"Princess? Where's the prince?" said Oleg.

"I'm not sure myself, I escaped earlier than anyone else, but I'm sure my brother would have escaped fine." Emily replied.

"Oh well that's true! He did solve the Killer of the 26 Wives case, which even the smartest from the knights and guards couldn't solve" said Julie.

"Yes, that's true, thank goodness for that, or we wouldn't have found Christel's mother on time" Emily replied.
Emily stared back at Christel.

"....." but she gave no response, 'It seems the subject is a bit more serious for her'.

As the silence in the carriage continued, I decided to ask some questions.

"So Emily..."

"Yes Greg?" Emily replied.

"How insolent!" Oleg yelled with an angered face,  "They're on a first name basis" Julie blushed, "Filth of all men" Christel stared back at me.

I coughed back realizing my mistake, "Princess Emily, once we get into the palace, how shall we deal with my...compensation?"

"Well Gr-, *cough cough* I mean Sir Williams, of course once we arrive we will first rest and await for his Majesty The King" Emily replied.

"What?" 'The King? I'm meeting the King? This can't be good' I thought.

"Can't you just give me the money straight away?"

Christel then gave a big laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked annoyed.

"It's nothing, I just can't believe, HAHAHAH, a noble such as yourself Sir Williams, didn't know of royal etiquette" Christel replied.

"Here" Christel tossed me a gold coin. "There's your compensation" Christel giggled.

"This..", I forgot to ask a very important question to Emily when I had a chance....

'How does currency work here???' I pondered.

"You're handling this quite well Sir Williams" Christel stared at me with suspicion.

"Well that's because..."

"It's because Sir Williams is unemployed currently!" Emily yelled cutting in the conversation.

Christel stared at me and Emily with suspicion but nevertheless.

"Is that so?" Christel replied.

"Indeed, what the Princess said is the truth" I replied. 'With this my cover-up story is solved.....oh shit'

"That begs me to question though..."Christel placed a finger on her lips. 'Crap, she figured it out'

"How did a noble become peniless and jobless, but still be able to save the Princess" Christel pointed out the obvious fact.

The silence ensued, even the coachman beside me, started distancing away from me.

"Hahaha, I'm a man with many secrets after all" I replied.

"We've arrived" the coachman said.

I was so focused on the conversation, I didnt realize that we had already arrived that palace.

As the people one by one came out of the carriage, I was standing beside the door. I planned to ask Emily more question, however, she was dragged away by Oleg and Julie, leaving me with....Christel, the pink haired maid.

"Gregory Williams, male, wears noble clothes, presumed to have saved Princess Emily, combat power: unknown, fame: unknown" Christel started listing out obvious facts about me until....

"Noble Family: Williams, is non existent, current job is unemployed, wealth: 1 gold coin", 

"How did yo-", 

"How did I know you aren't a noble? How did I know your last name is a fake? How did I know you were peniless until I gave you that gold coin?" Christel replied.

"....." my breathing became more haggard.

"Recall the moment in the carriage, I called you peniless and jobless, yet you did not deny both, most nobles had pride in having money however you on the other hand, have no such pride"
"Last names are only for nobles. I would understand if you were a commoner who only liked wearing noble clothes, but lying about having a last name is just dissapointing"

"...."

"In being the 1st maid of the Princess, lots of knowledge is required, and if I recall in my memories, there is no such family name like William"

"....." I took a step back, preparing to run until a blade appeared at my throat.

"So who are you? Are you a spy? An assassin?"

"....."
"Hmph" Christel retracted her blade, "I'm warning you, if you fail to prove that you are indeed the saviour of Princess Emily or even think of telling her what happened just now....I'll request Oleg to send a kill order¹basically, strong individuals will be sent to kill Greg to you"

Christel then left me, and I felt like a huge weight left my body.

"Jesus christ, what have I gotten myself into" I mumbled to myself.

• Thy petal shall feel the wrath of nature itself, thy shall live? Or thy shall be destroyed to nothingness?