It was strangely cold that night.

That was what many of the lookouts thought while they patrolled on top of the Capital's walls.

Walls that had been built to stop a siege but had never seen action before.

After all, the Kingdom's location was far from the Front and those commanding Draconic Forces tend to get bored before even getting there or get intercepted before coming close to the Kingdom's main cities.

That was why many of the Capital's guards always let out a sigh of relief whenever they heard news of the Front.

‘Glad we're far away.’

That was what they would always think.

Such thoughts were natural, of course.

Even if they were still concerned about the war, they could not deny the fact that such distance away from the action gave them a sense of security.  

But then again, life is always full surprises.

Some strange, like the weather changing from a warm summer night to one of an imminent winter.

And others...like a certain dreadful silence.

One that was soon broken in the worst way.

They did not know who, but someone shouted, and they were but the first.

"U-UNDEEAAAD! UNDEAD SIGHTED!"

Indeed, that was only the beginning, for more shouts and reports came in from all the gates as they turned into desperate cries.

A chorus of massacre.

"MONSTERS!! M-MONSTERS ARE APPROACHING THE SOUTHEAST GATE!!”

"LIZARDMEN ARE COMING OUT IN DROVES TO THE NORTHEAST GATE!!!”

"WHAT IS THE MILITARY DOING?! WHERE ARE THEY?! WE NEED THEM!!"

"THE KNIGHTS?! WHERE IS THE TWILIGHT SHIELD ORDER?!"

"LE-LESSER DRAGON LORDS!! THERE ARE AT LEAST TWENTY!!! WHY?!"

"HAS ANYONE HEARD OF THE GALE ARROWS?! COME ON!! WE ARE DYING OUT THERE!!!"

“THE PALADINS!! WHERE ARE THE PALADINS?!”

"GODDESS PLEASE GRANT US YOUR HELP!!"

"THE SWORDS OF DAWN! DAMN IT! WHERE ARE THEY?!!"

"CROWN PRINCE!! WHY IS THE CROWN PRINCE NOT HERE?!"

If one with sharp hearing managed to filter out that chaos, one would be able hear the cries of those who were unlucky enough to find themselves outside of the Capital's walls.

Those who were either patrolling before everything started or as those who tried to repel such advance with what little numbers they had at hand.

Still, the guards were clearly not prepared for it all.

They were doing their best for sure, but it wasn't near enough.

They could only serve as an obstacle that took mere seconds to be dealt with.

Even then, it was not because they were weak.

No.

It was because their enemies were far stronger than normal.

They were overwhelming.

"Th-They are using some sort of greater enchanted weapons!! Anyone cut or pierced by them is frozen from the inside instantly!!"

Such was the information procured by one of the scouts who managed to navigate such chaotic place and survive. All so that he could relay it to his superiors.

It was a feat that even among such chaos the lines of information were still functional.

Even so, knowing that only made it more difficult for them to fight.

________________________________________________

"The situation has worsened almost immediately, your Highness! The citizens are afraid! Some are even trying to get out of the capital by crowding the emergency teleportation circles!!"

Said one of the members of the Royal Court. He was an elderly man who oversaw the Capital's daily operations.

"Fools! How dare they distrust his Highness! Only he can activate those circles! They need not be afraid!! The army is already assembled and on its way!"

Exclaimed another of the members of the Royal Court. He was an older looking beast-man with strong features and bear characteristics. He oversaw the army.

"And the Knights’ Orders?! What are they doing?! With all the resources we allocate to them they should be the first ones on the field!"

Another one of the members of the Royal Court joined in. She was a middle-aged woman with an intellectual air around her and a business centric attitude. She oversaw the economic matters of the Kingdom, its treasury.

"If I may, the Gale Arrows are already mobilizing to the position that is most lacking in firepower. Meanwhile, the Twilight Shields are doing the same for the place that is most vulnerable to a breach."

And among such loud voices, one person spoke out in a calm and collected manner as she answered the woman’s question, it was Hilde.

Such levelheadedness showed that she was one of the few in complete control of herself and didn’t show any sign of fear or anger, unlike the other members of the Royal Court.

"And the Royal Knights? The Swords of Dawn?! For Goddess sake, the Crown Prince said they would be spearheading the defense!!"

Exclaimed the elderly man again, baffled and confused at the absence of those who had pledged to be there.

“The Royal Knights have already been deployed with orders for them to not let any enemies enter the city and to exterminate those who already did. For that, they have divided into those who are stopping enemy forces from climbing up the city’s outer walls and those who are moving within the city. As for the Swords of Dawn…”

Hilde paused as she reached that part and turned to glance at the King who had been looking out the window during his subordinates’ whole discussion, his sight fixed on the outside of the Capital and the battlefield that it had become.

And while he was showing his back to his subordinates, none of them needed to see his face to know that even before such desperate scene, he was calm and yet…there was something else about him.

An anger so carefully controlled and tempered that it made it difficult to even call it that.

"They abandoned us."

Said the King with a heavy voice having turned to face his Royal Court, shocking almost everyone with such news.

"W-What…?"

"T-That is not possible!"

"Th-The Crown Prince...he would not do that...that is not who he is…"

Almost everyone was in complete disbelief, but the King simply ignored their reactions and continued.

“The Swords of Dawn left a day ago. Not only they did so with haste, as if they knew something we did not, but they did so only after hindering the trust the other orders had in me. Leading to this sorry state of affairs. It is clear now what they knew that we did not. And…perhaps, they were allied with our enemies from the beginning…”

"No..."

The elderly man trembled in despair, and he would've fallen to his knees if he wasn't already seated due to his age.

"How could they..."

The woman still showed some disbelief, but a burning anger began to appear in her eyes.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged beast-man’s disbelief remained strong, he simply could not believe such things from the bottom of his heart. How could he? As the one in charge of the army he had interacted with the Crown Prince numerous times and moreover, he knew Erevain since he was a child.

"…is his Highness sure of it? Is there any proof?! Crown Prince Erevain has led an honorable life! What moves him is his people! For the love of the Goddess, his values are the same as his Mother's, the Que—"

"Silence! He and his Order betrayed this Kingdom! Even if we are to ignore the matter of the Knights’ Orders, they still disappeared when they are most needed! They left us as if giving up on us! And they did so while leaving us exposed to their new master!”

The King shouted, his anger no longer held under control, but only for a moment, as he soon looked down and glanced to the throne beside his.

“…do not assume that it does not pain me as a father, as someone who watched him grow, because it does, and you have no means to know how much. But the facts do not change, they are not here. They are deserters. Traitors. Liars. The lowest of criminals. Any power and authority that they had is gone, forgotten. And the Crown Prince...Erevain vi Kyrie is no more. As of this moment he is but the Fallen Prince, the worst traitor. You would do best to understand that and relay that information to everyone."

"But that would destroy the morale of—"

The King raised his head and glared at the beast-man intensely.

He seemed to resist it for a moment, but he lowered his head in the end.

"All is not lost my fellow members of the Royal Court. A new Knight's Order has already been prepared to take the place of the Sword of Dawn. At first it was planned as one that would support the now deserters, but their leader has bravely volunteered to take their role of spearheading the defense of the Capital."

Said Hilde with some pride and hope in her voice, although it seemed to leave a bad taste in the mouth of everyone else in the room except for the King.

"What?! That was supposed to be in the early stages of planning! Who oversaw such development?! There is a due process that is needed to ascend to Knighthood! They need to be found worthy!"

Exclaimed the middle-aged beast-man once more.

“I deemed it necessary for that process to be sped up due to the pressing circumstances. Something that the King gave me his approval for. As for the qualifications of those who comprise it, Sir Ulthane’s troop already had top-notch training and great achievements in service of this Kingdom. Thus, it was just the logical choice. If there are still concerns, let me assure you that they have been armed with the best weapons and armor for their job too. The Bulls of the Zenith will do their task of bringing a new glory to the King and the Kingdom.”

Said Hilde maintaining her seemingly warm smile, even as the fires of battle raged behind her, illuminating the room they were in with a red lighting.

"Any objections?"

The voice of the King permeated the area.

No one answered back.

______________________________________________

Licht observed the battlefield from atop of the tower where the royal chambers were located.

With his hand on the glass, he looked at every nook and cranny of the battle taking place, studying the situation, and nodded after arriving at a favorable conclusion.

"Good. With him gone…I only have to take care of my dear sister before everything ends. For I can be the only one."

He had not been by his Father's side in the emergency meeting because he had work to do, work that was more important than such meeting.

For it was for the sake of his plan.

He then turned around, grabbed a bag that seemed to contain various things inside because of its full appearance and walked towards the door of his room.

Or that is what he would have done, if not for said door suddenly bursting open, broken by something that had been thrown at it.

Something that went all the way to Licht's feet.

No, someone.

It was one of his attendants.

His bodyguard.

Of course, Licht was surprised by such a sight.

But he quickly focused on the single injury that his attendant had.

Such injury looked to a be punch in the gut, but his clothes around the area were burned to the point his skin was visible.

That is when a menacing female voice came from outside the room.

"Oi, you brother-loving prince. Can you repeat what you were prattling about just now? I didn't quite catch that."

Licht immediately turned to see who it belonged to and smiled at the sight of the woman that was now kicking the remains of the broken door as she made her entrance.

Furthermore, she also dropped his other unconscious attendant on the floor while the scene behind her showed that the people keeping an eye on her had been knocked out too.

None were able to stop her.

She was a black-haired young woman.

One that wore the maid’s uniform for attendants of the royal family.

Her eyes shined with a bloody red.

Her face was adorned with a pattern of a vertical third eye made of red mana floating right in the middle of her forehead.

On the left side of it, a horn could be seen sprouting, one that had the color of her skin on the base, but it darkened gradually from there to the tip.

Her hands were enveloped in what seemed like demonic gauntlets made of the same mana and style of the pattern that adorned her head.

She was a certain half-ogre attendant, one that he knew very well.

"Ah, Mary. Please do hear me out, I promise you that it will be quite enlightening."

And yet, Licht was fearless as his heterochromatic eyes lit up while he walked towards her with a dubious smile on his face.

_______________________________________

"Please Princess Euphemia, stop that. The Capital is under attack. We cannot let you out of your room."

"Please Princess, I know you want to help but being here helps your father and your brothers."

Said Charles and Sistina respectively as they stood in front of the door, stopping the little Princess from leaving her room.

"How can you tell me that?! Big Brother is fighting out there and Brother Licht must be working too much just to keep everything under control! I must do something too!! I can use my magi—"

""NO!""

The response from both attendants to the Princess’ words was a strong one, so much so that Euphemia instinctively jumped back.

"Perish the thought Princess! You know very well that you cannot use your magic until you are at least fifteen!"

Said Charles as he scolded her while wagging his finger.

"But...but...."

Before such rejection Euphemia could not help but to start sobbing and crying.

"Princess..."

Seeing that, Sistina tried a different approach and crouched to match her height. Then, she wiped off the princess' tears and spoke.

"...I know it is frustrating. I too have a brother fighting out there, remember? But he would be sad if I just abandoned my duty and went to the battlefield. So, we have to do our best in the roles we are given, Princess. And right now, we must stay here until the danger passes. After all, you do not want to make your brothers sad, right, Princess?"

The sobbing princess shook her head as to say no but still looked sad as she hugged Sistina.

But such thing did not last as someone knocked on the door.

"May I pass? I am a hurried brother here to give a task to his little sister."

Said an androgynous voice coming from the other side of the door.

"Ah, Prince Licht, of course."

Said Charles as he immediately opened the door.

Following that, Prince Licht entered the room while carrying a full looking bag but someone else was with him too.

"Brother...Licht...and Mary...!"

She was still sobbing but her attitude changed instantly as she laid eyes on her brother and the maid, to the point that she stopped hugging her attendant and quickly ran towards them, hugging them tightly one after the other, and they responded in kind.

"How is Big Brother? Is he alright? Can you tell me. Brother Licht?"

Licht smiled at her in a loving manner and patted her sister’s head as he spoke.

"Dear Elder Brother is fine, I can assure you, Euphy."

Euphemia's face lit up with happiness when she heard that.

"So, so, so, what task did you come here to give me?"

She said as she jumped from excitement.

"Yes, yes, here look at this."

He said so while crouching and taking out a strange crystal from the bag he was carrying.

“…”

“…”

Charles and Sistina seemed to know what the crystal was for, and the moment they saw it, their expression hardened.

All as they started to slowly position themselves behind Euphemia.

"This here is a teleportation crystal. You break it with both of your hands, and it sends you wherever its twin brother is. Yes?"

Euphemia nodded, perfectly understanding her brother's explanation.

"This one's twin is in a place far from here, it is in the capital of the Elven Kingdom of Deamis. There you will find a school that will teach you so many things, you will become more knowledgeable, more powerful and more capable."

As she listened to her brother’s words, Euphemia's smile faded slowly for she started to understand what his brother was implying.

She tried to step back while shaking her head, her tears making an appearance once again, but she was stopped by Charles and Sistina. They looked at her with sadness in their eyes but also resolve.

"No...I don't want to go to a place far from here! I want to stay here! Here! With Big Brother, Brother and Father!! And with Mary!! And with Eric!!"

As she shouted, Charles and Sistina grabbed her by the shoulders and did not letting her go.

Then, they started walking towards the center of the room while pulling her.

"Mary...! Help! I don't want to leave! I will stop sneaking out! I will stop eating treats at night! I promise I'll be good! Please!"

Before Euphemia’s desperate cries, Mary covered her mouth to hide her sobbing while holding off her tears.

"I know that you will become a great Princess, Euphy. Someone that can even surpass us. I am sorry for doing this, but this is the best way I could think of. And…it is fine if you hate me even if it saddens me to think so."

As he said that, Licht proceeded to break the teleportation crystal, but Mary stopped him and grabbed it along with the bag.

She then walked towards Euphemia and kissed her on the forehead.

That was clearly a violation of all and every rule of etiquette for attendants, but she didn't care, and the other attendants ignored it right away.

"Listen to your elder sis here Euphy..."

She started wiping away Euphy's tears as she said that.

"...promise me that you will be strong."

"But...but...you are crying too Mary..."

Mary made a trembling smile and nodded.

"Dummy, how many times have I told you that crying and being strong are not mutually exclusive? Let it all flow out. Cry for all the time you want but start moving when you finish crying. Keep building yourself, remaking yourself and don't be afraid of making a mistake, just keep moving. That is what being strong means. Do you promise me that, Euphy?"

She nodded in tears seemingly giving up in resisting.

"Good."

Mary then gave the bag to Charles and broke the stone, leaving it on the floor.

Soon, a magic circle appeared where Euphemia and her attendants stood.

"I already made all the preparations, so you do not have to worry about anything, Euphy."

Said Licht taking a step back.

"Will...will I see everyone again...?"

Said Euphemia in the middle of her sobbing.

"Yes, but that will be when the right time comes."

Said Licht reassuringly.

"Just promise me one thing..."

And after making their promise, Princess Euphemia of the Kyrie Kingdom disappeared in an instant, leaving her room in silence.

"Everything is going perfectly. Come Mary, we still have work to do."

Said Licht as he turned around and walked past Mary while showing a dubious smile.

"Yes...Master."

With that, Mary gave the room, and the memories that it held, a last look before leaving it and locking the door.

______________________________________________

We rode as fast as we could.

Perhaps it was their instinct, but the horses seemed to know that it was an emergency and gave their all.

And with a combination of enchantments, healing magic, and incense, we were able to get to the Capital in less than half a day.

We knew what to expect when we arrived, but...seeing it with your own eyes it is something that burns itself into your mind.

And it shouts at you…telling you that those expectations were wrong.

That things were worse…

But even then, our bodies moved instinctively when we saw our people in the verge of being annihilated by the enemy.

I shouted my orders and they followed them.

Even my close friend who I ordered to stay behind and leave the battlefield to search for answers.

Then…I threw myself in the middle of an attack made by the enemy and an escaping group of Knights bearing an emblem that I did not recognize.

It seemed to have a bull in it.

But that did not matter.

For what I had in front was...is...the biggest threat I had ever encountered.

And it was cold, oh so cold…

 

To be continued...(cue epic colored illustration plus little photos of the seiyuus of Sistina and Charles!)