Megumi woke up, not in an inn or the Adventurers Guild, but in the Castellum palace. She slowly sat up in her over sized bed and looked around. It had been three days since Reynard convinced her to stay and somehow swept the whole incident of all the guards she had killed under the rug. The king had lapsed into a coma before she had even gotten to see him, and would likely never wake again, so Reynard was effectively the new king in all but name.

Something told her that the king's condition was likely not just some random twist of fate. Her memories flickered back to a certain high lady in Rivean who wanted the man dead for some reason. Was she going to go after Reynard next? Megumi climbed out of her bed and went over to the large gilded mirror, picking up a fine brush and running through her hair while she thought.

Everything had changed, she had been used like an idiot and for just over a decade. Her face grew hot with rage and she gripped the brush so hard that her knuckles turned white. Why was she sitting in a palace doing nothing? Had that much really changed? Sure, she didn't need to kill this king and do what she had intended, but that didn't change much.

Instead of the king being on her hit list, Cerberus now was. The fact remained that the high nobles in Vaeliea connived with or were manipulated by Cerberus to bring down a centuries long monarchy that had long been loved by its people. A usurper sat upon the crystal throne now and had so poorly managed the affairs of her stolen subjects that news of riots all over Vaeliea had been widespread for years now.

Soldiers quelled those riots with extreme violence at every turn, but they continued to pop up like rats in a disgusting sewer. People who were overtaxed to their breaking point and who couldn't afford to feed themselves or their families tended to do desperate things when backed into a corner. Didn't Megumi owe it to them at least to kill the bitch who sat on her throne?

Megumi knew that Cerberus had wanted her to take down her former kingdom at some point so that he could de facto rule through her. The vampire talked of little else other than world domination. It was his end game and Megumi couldn't help but wonder how many fingers he had in the pie at this point.

She finished brushing out her long hair and got changed out of her new, elegant nightgown. It was time for her to make a decision: would she stay here and let Reynard try to shelter her in this stuffy palace, or would she once again go out into the world and make her own way? She had come so far, and bloodied her hands beyond reprieve, didn't she owe it to the world to put down Cerberus like one would a rabid dog? 

She stepped out of the lavish room and into the royal living quarters. A large sitting room stood before her with shelves upon shelves of books lining the edges of the room. The furniture looked comfortable, and she had to resist the urge to browse through the books and just laze about like she had when she was young and visiting this place. She had a couple pressing matters to attend to, and then she intended to get back to her real life, the life where she wasn't stuck in a castle being waited on like a helpless child.

A butler had seen that she had left the room and was already approaching her. "Your highness, is there anything I can do for you? Breakfast can be prepared for you if you're hungry. What would you like to eat?"

Megumi half opened her mouth to object, but her stomach grumbled and demanded that she at least take advantage of the royal chef's delicious cooking. "I would like some of those pastries that the chef made yesterday. The ones that were filled with fruit."

The butler bowed deeply. "It will be done, your highness."

Megumi watched as the man left her and headed out of the sitting room. Megumi was about to follow when Amalisa, the royal attendant, popped out of her room and made a b-line for her. 

"My, my, my, dear. You can't be serious about wearing that. Just a moment and we'll get you dressed in proper attire for your station." The woman clapped her hands three times and four more women came into the room.

Megumi silently ground her teeth, but reluctantly let them shove her back into her room. I can't even wear what I want to in this place. I need to get out. She had made a conscious decision to not refer to herself in third person anymore. It had been a habit she had picked up in the orphanage because she thought it was cute.

Somehow, now that she was no longer hiding her identity, it didn't feel right to continue playing that game anymore. The attendants fussed over her and made her try on three different gowns before Amalisa decided for her which suited her best. Megumi had to admit that the gown was beautiful and it made her look more grown up to wear it, but gods was it uncomfortable.

The evil woman had put her into a corset and squeezed the air out of her lungs. Megumi was pretty much the opposite of what one would call fat, but the woman had said that she needed it tight to give her extra lift. The group of women finished by braiding her hair in an intricate design, and by the time she was done and left her rooms again, the butler was returning to tell her that breakfast was prepared.

Just how long was I in there? It's no wonder that royals never get anything done. I had completely forgotten about this. Megumi followed the butler, who escorted her to the dining hall. Reynard was sitting at the end of a long table and Megumi was seated on the opposite side.

"Good morning, Megumi. You look absolutely stunning, as always."

The table was so long that it felt like she was being talked to by someone in another room. She couldn't help but feel her cheeks get red from the compliment, however. "Thank you, Reynard."

"If you're not too busy, after our meal, would you like to accompany me on a walk through our gardens? It is a nice day today."

Megumi needed to go find Hideki and Velyie. Velyie had resumed her job as a guard and Hideki had been given rooms inside the palace as he was her knight. Nobody knew that both of them were already dead. Velyie had continuously insisted that Megumi release her from the Soul Trap even after discovering who she was. 

It appeared that the woman had a strong stubborn streak and didn't like the idea of being Megumi's puppet even if she had to die for real to get out of it. She couldn't blame Velyie. After all, she had in fact tortured the woman in the most horrible of ways for well over a day. Megumi would release the woman today. She had use of another Soul Trapped companion, but Velyie didn't deserve what had been done to her. Megumi had another person in mind for the job anyway. She pulled herself back to the present?

"Megumi?"

She jumped a little, being pulled out of her head once more. "S-Sorry. I'd love to go for a walk with you, but can it wait until a little later? There's something I need to take care of. We need to talk anyway." Megumi watched as maids exited the kitchens with plate after plate of food and placed it on the table in front of them. 

The maids set the table in front of each of them and asked if they wanted anything to drink. Reynard requested black tea, and Megumi asked for orange juice. The two of them were left with only a couple butlers standing at attention by the kitchen doors and two of the elite guards that always followed Reynard around who stood behind his chair.

Her plate had pancakes with blueberries atop them as well as three of the pastries she had requested.  They were in the shape of squares that were puffed up. The outside was covered with cinnamon and sugar, while the inside featured different fruits in each square she had received. She cut off a piece of one and took a bite of the flaky pastry. It was like she had died and gone to heaven. It was tempting to stay in this place, just so that she could eat like this every day.

"We can talk now, can't we?"

"I can barely even see you, you're so far away at the end of the table there. Also, what I want to talk about needs to be done in private." She eyed the butlers who continued to stand like statues at the doorway.

"Very well. I have some matters of state to attend to for much of the morning. I will be free again in the mid-afternoon. We can go for a walk then, yes?"

"Yes. Thank you."

The remainder of the meal was spent talking about times past and the various antics that they had gotten up to when she had come to visit with her family on several occasions. The two of them had been betrothed since Megumi was five, and as such, she had spent a couple months a year living in this place. It was almost like a second home to her.

She felt so relaxed here, and that bothered her. She felt as though she didn't deserve it. She had failed to protect Miki from that evil bitch at the orphanage, and had subsequently been manipulated into becoming the monster that she now was. After the meal had ended she headed for Hideki's quarters. 

Two attendants followed her everywhere she went, but when she got to the room, she asked that they stay outside and they, of course, obeyed. When she entered the room she saw that Poro-tan was playing a game of chess with Velyie. It was good that they were both in the same place.

"Hideki, we're going to leave here soon. There's just a few things that I need to wrap up first. I'll let you know more after I talk to Reynard alone later today."

"You say that every day. Also, I'm not complaining or anything, but why have you decided to suddenly call me by my real name?"

"You deserve to be called by your real name. It was childish of me to do that to you. I'm sorry."

He looked down at the chessboard and moved his knight to take a pawn. "It was embarrassing at first, but it's kind of nice that you gave me a nickname that only you call me."

She was genuinely surprised to hear this. Megumi thought for sure that he absolutely hated to be called Poro. She smiled and stepped over to where the two were playing. After examining the board for a few moments, she could see that Velyie was going to have him in checkmate within four moves.

"If that's what you want, I'll keep calling you Poro-tan."

Velyie interjected, cutting Poro-tan off as he was about to reply. "I demand that you release me. I see that you're more than I thought you were originally, but I don't want to live as a slave. I can't forgive you for what you did to me."

"I'll release you today. Is there anyone that you want to say goodbye to?"

The woman stared down at the board and then moved her queen to capture Poro-tan's bishop. "I've already said my goodbyes."

"I'm sorry for what I did to you, I know that I can't make it up to you. I can release you at any time, is there somewhere you wish to go in particular?"

Velyie shook her head somberly. 

"Okay. After you're done here, I want you to go to the courtyard."

Velyie nodded her head and Megumi left the room.

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"Checkmate," Velyie said and Hideki tipped over his king.

"Are you sure about this? She isn't as bad as she seems. Things are going to be better now. Wouldn't you rather live?"

"My husband and son's graves are here. I will not leave them. The truth is, I've been dead for a long time."

Hideki felt for the woman sitting across from him. They had a certain kinship, being bonded to Megumi and having such a terrible time of it at the start, and he liked having her company over the past few days. 

"Would they want you to die? For nothing? You could come with us, Megumi is on the right track now. We'll be doing good in the world, not evil."

"I don't think she has it in her. It will be hard to change what she is. She will still feel the need to kill people without remorse. I'm a guard and started out in the city watch. I believe that people who do wrong should be imprisoned and rehabilitated. I can't go along with her way of doing things."

Hideki knew that what she was saying was true. Megumi had little desire for giving mercy. He remembered what they had done to that mining town. Those people had deserved to rot in a dungeon, but probably not to die. At least not the entire town. He knew that she would do it again and again if she was given the chance, even now. 

"I understand. I wish that we could have met under different circumstances."

Velyie nodded and stood up. "Goodbye, Hideki. Do what you can to soften her heart. She is still young, maybe she can change. She likes you, you know? It's pretty obvious to me."

"She's a princess and she's betrothed to this prince guy. She wouldn't want anything to do with me anyway. I'm just a pawn to her."

"I think you're wrong about that. Also, if she wanted to continue on here with the prince, then she wouldn't be so adamant about leaving. Consider that."

Hideki looked down at the chess board once more before nodding slowly. He wasn't really sure how he felt about Megumi. When he first met her, he thought he was almost ten years older than her. She had the body of a sixteen or seventeen year old girl, but the truth was that she was probably about the same age as he was. It wasn't wrong to like her, was it? Did he like her? Or was she more like a sister to him? He couldn't say.

"I'm going to take my leave now. Thank you for the game, it was a pleasure getting to know you. I will be with my family again soon. Goodbye, Hideki."

"Goodbye." He watched as she opened the door and strode away towards her desired fate.

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Megumi waited near the courtyard, looking out one of the large windows on the second floor that looked down on the space. She didn't know what she could do to atone for what she had done to Velyie, but at least she could honor the woman's wishes. Several minutes passed by and then she saw Velyie walk out into the courtyard. The woman looked up at the sky for a long moment. She could see that Velyie's eyes were closed and had a feeling that the woman was weeping.

It wrenched Megumi's heart, but she gritted her teeth and released the Soul Trap that had bound Velyie to this world. Instantaneously, the woman collapsed to the ground. She was gone. Megumi pressed her hand against the cold glass of the window and then leaned her head against it. That had been hard to make herself do for some reason. She felt sick.

"I'm going to go back to my rooms. It looks like that woman may need help. Go tell someone."

"Yes, your highness." One of the attendants said and she ran off to do as she had been told.

After the long walk back to her room, Megumi suddenly felt exhausted. She had the attendants help her with her dress and felt sweet relief once they removed the corset. She could finally take full breaths again. She dismissed them and flopped onto the bed. "Wake me at 3."

"As you wish, your highness."

Megumi heard the door click shut as the women exited. She closed her eyes and rolled herself up in the soft goose-down blankets. In just a few moments she fell asleep.

---

"It is 3, your highness."

Megumi awoke with a start at the soft voice. She still wasn't used to having all these people around her. A decade of being more-or-less alone had taken away all of the training she had received as a child. She sat up and then hopped out of the bed. 

"I'll call the others to help get you dressed again."

"No need. I want to wear my own clothes."

"That... is unbefitting of one of your station."

Megumi ground her teeth. She would not be made up like a toy doll again. She wanted to wear her own clothes, and would not budge this time. She was leaving this place soon anyway. She didn't care that it irritated Amalisa. "I will wear what I want. Is that clear?"

The attendant shrank at Megumi's tone and curtsied before exiting the room.

Finally. It's about damned time that I get to do what I want again.

She got dressed again in her own clothes and gathered up her few belongings into her magical bag. Once she was sure she had everything, she exited the room and headed straight for the butler who was by the door leaving the royal apartments.

"Do you know where Reynard is?"

"The prince told me that he would be waiting for you in the center of the hedge maze. I will take you there."

"No need. I remember where it is. Thank you."

The man bowed deeply and Megumi headed straight for the gardens. Conflicting emotions within her raged like a tempest, but she had made her decision this morning and she would stick with it. She would send for Poro-tan after she was done. The gardens were much less pretty than she had remembered them during her spring and summer visits.

The maze was not the beautiful green, covered with flowers that she remembered, but rather an assortment of fall colors as the leaves were prepared to fall off. Hues of yellow and orange hid the path even this late in the year, but she remembered her way. It was nostalgic to be walking through this place again. 

After several minutes of meandering through the various paths, she found herself at the center of the maze. Reynard sat next to the large fountain that was the focal point of the maze and was reading a book. She wondered how often he had time to read with everything he now had going on in his life. Contrary to commoner beliefs, royals rarely had time to sit around and do nothing. Every second of their days were often planned out weeks in advance for them.

It was refreshing to see that her childhood friend was still a bookworm at heart. He looked up when he heard the sound of her footfalls crunching leaves that had already fallen from the maze's hedges. "There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you'd show or not. Back to wearing your adventurer clothes? Amalisa must've wanted to throw a fit over that."

That comment brought a smile, a genuine one, to Megumi's lips. "Well, they argued with me for what felt like forever. But at least I was able to get my way this time."

"Come. Sit next to me. What is it that you wanted to tell me?" Winter was nearly here, and she didn't want to spend it in these high mountains, that was for sure.

"It's not good news, unfortunately..."

"You want to leave?"

"...I have things I must do. I'm sorry, Reynard. I can't go back to living this kind of life. Not when those responsible for the death of my family still run loose."

His face twisted with sorrow at her words. She knew that he didn't want to let her go. "Castellum is not powerful offensively, or I would offer to go with you, an army at our backs. We can't march across the world recklessly though, despite how badly I want to right the wrongs done to you. I have to think of more than just myself..."

The burden of royalty. She understood. "My people are being mistreated by Terinisa, and I won't rest until she no longer sits upon the Crystal Throne. There is much more that I need to tell you about, however."

Reynard gazed into her eyes and gave her his undivided attention as she told him everything she knew. She spilled all the details about Cerberus and the Council of Nine as well as the locations of the guild halls that she knew about. His face grew serious the more she went on and at the last, she revealed Lady Undine's plot against his father.

He stood up and began to walk towards the exit, but she grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry for what happened to your father. It turns out... he didn't deserve it and I was just a fool."

His grip tightened slightly and she saw that his other fist was clenched tightly. "I will have her head, on the morrow."

Megumi held onto him and pulled him back into an embrace. "I'm really sorry, Reynard. There is another way that we can see the woman punished, if you're willing to hear me out."

He pushed her back after a moment and looked down at her. She could see the beginnings of tears in his eyes, then she explained her plan to him. At first he brushed aside her idea, but eventually she convinced him to do as she suggested. A messenger left the castle shortly after they left the gardens and Megumi went to tell Poro-tan of her plans.

---

Three days later, Megumi crouched behind some curtains at the end of the throne room leading to the king's war room. She couldn't see the Obsidian Throne where Reynard now sat, but she heard the large doors at the end of the room open with a thud. The old king had died, and Reynard was now ruler of Castellum. People stepped inside the room and Megumi felt her heart pounding in her chest. This was it, she was excited to see that smug woman get what she deserved. 

"Your highness, I present High Lady Undine of Rivean."

It was the voice of one of the attendants and she heard the cool voice of the Aquamancer. "As you have requested, your highness, I am here to serve. What do you ask of me in such haste?"

Megumi knew why she was so smug. She expected that he was going to announce their engagement. Megumi hadn't known that before all of this had happened, Undine was supposed to marry Reynard and become the next queen of Castellum. Apparently, she had grown tired of waiting for Reynard's father to die and wanted to take the throne now. Megumi had little doubt that Reynard himself would have had some sort of 'accident' shortly after the marriage would have been official. This was going to be fantastic.

"It has come to my attention that my father did not die of a mere illness. He was assassinated. On your orders."

Gasps rang out in the room which was filled with attendants and guards. The sound or steel rang in the air and resounded through the room. "On what basis do you make these accusations, your highness? I would never do something so vile."

"We caught a girl, a necromancer, who told us that you had ordered her to try to kill the king. She didn't succeed, but she wasn't your only asset, was she?"

"I've never met any such person. I deny this accusation unless you can provide real proof. This is an outrage!"

Megumi stepped out from her hiding place in a fine gown fit for a princess and stepped forward. She saw Undine's jaw drop and couldn't keep a smile off her face at the sight. "My witness is reliable."

"She is a commoner! A mere adventurer. She lies!"

"She is Princess Megumi of Vaeliea, true heir to the Crystal Throne and my betrothed. I trust her word far more than I do yours. Guards!"

Undine's face turned as white as a ghost as he had revealed Megumi's true identity. She cursed under her breath and reached into the cleavage between her breasts and pulled out a long vial of water, tossing it to the ground. The vial smashed and water formed into an orb above the woman's hand.

"You would dare attack me here?"

The lady screamed in rage and the orb of water formed into two large spikes of ice which shot forward at both Megumi and Reynard. The elite guards, however, were very quick on their feet and the shards of ice shattered harmlessly against two shields. Undine sank to the floor sobbing and the head of Reynard's elites stepped in front of the woman, his sword in one hand.

"For the crime of treason, I find you guilty and sentence you to death."

The guard captain stabbed the woman as she started to object to the death penalty. Her body lifelessly fell to the side and thudded against the floor. 

"There's nothing more to see here. I want all of you, other than Megumi, her knight, and Adornus out of this room right this second!"

Everyone jumped at the command and exited the room as quickly as dignity would allow. Megumi, however, was busy concentrating on her spell. She was in the process of casting Soul Trap on the fallen Aquamancer and it took a lot of concentration to bind a soul to the plane of the living.

Once the spell had finished, she issued a silent command to the dead woman to remain where she was with her eyes closed until the very last person exited the room. "Congratulations, Undine. You get to live, as my brand new toy. You should consider yourself lucky." Megumi grinned and ordered the woman silently back to her feet.

The plan had gone off without a hitch and tonight would be the night that Megumi and her two companions would leave the city and continue on their adventures. Megumi savored the look of outrage on the woman's face and turned to Reynard. "Thank you for letting me have her. She will be useful."

"This is a fitting punishment. She will no longer have her status, and will live as a commoner. She will be a servant and be forced to fight monsters. I'm glad that I could help you with this and avenge my father. I hope that if you manage to survive what you have planned, that you will consider returning and marrying me."

She didn't reply and simply gave him a huge hug. A part of her wanted to return and do just that, but another part of her wanted something else. She broke the embrace, gave the king one more smile, and then exited the room from a secret passage that Reynard had showed her when they were little with her two companions. They would change in the passageway and follow it outside the city. This was goodbye, an ending, but a beginning as well.