“How close are we, Your Highness?” Lord Madeline, or Maddison, wiped some blood off her cheek as Alejandra cut through one of the grunts’ chests with a sword she picked up from one of the dead soldiers.

“I’m fairly certain we’re near the second garden.” The Empress bit her nails. “But…they just won't stop coming.”

“Indeed.” The cross-dressed woman grinned. “I do find it amusing how they run straight for certain death. Almost like they have no qualms for sacrificing their lives.”

The Emperor looked at Maddison weirdly as he processed her words.

“A little help, please?” Alejandra complained as she cut down another one. However, one managed to slip past her guard and was about to sneak an attack behind her when they suddenly flew to the side wall and crushed flat like a pancake. Alejandra gawked and stared at the smirking fake noble behind her. “T-thanks.”

“With pleasure, My Lady.” Maddison bowed in a gentlemanly manner which only made Alejandra roll her eyes.

They trekked across the halls as more Kingdom soldiers rushed towards them blindly, ignoring the strength difference and dying either by a sword slash or getting squashed into mush by an unknown force.

Alejandra's beautiful dress was now stained with a disproportionate amount of blood. It was torn as well, albeit by the Lady herself, to allow for more freedom of movement. 

The young lady grit her teeth as she feels the sword she held is wearing its tear and is close to falling apart. After cutting through bone many times it could hardly be called sharp anymore.

“I should've asked this earlier, My Lady, but have you killed fellow men in the past?” The crossdressed Witch tilted her head with an intrigued look on her face. “You seem to be quite good at it.”

“I-I’ve…this is my first.” Alejandra paused for a moment but went back into her position. She somehow felt disgusted by that comment from Maddison but she kept her eyes ahead. “I’ve slayed monsters before but this… this is my first time killing…humans.”

“Intriguing.” Maddison hid her smile in her palm. “I applaud your determination in staying sane, My Lady. Even the bravest of squires vomit after their first kill.”

Alejandra breathed out and swiped her sword once more, killing another Kingdom bastard. “I have no time to feel disgusted. I’d rather live with blood on my hands than die as a coward.” Alejandra winced at her own words but there was no time to double-think her choices. She was here now. No time to dilly dally about the morals of this situation. She had to survive.

“Alejandra…” The Empress seemed worried about what she said but didn't speak any further.

“Eyes up.” The Emperor grit his teeth. “Stay close to me, Andrea.” He pulled the Empress closer. “Young Lord, Lady Alejandra, I have a favor to ask.” He eyed the Lady’s blade.

“What exactly is your request, Your Majesty?” Maddison raised an eyebrow toward the Imperial. 

“There's a detour I’d like to make that might help us later.” The Emperor proposed. “It might take a bit longer, however, to get to the garden.”

The Empress glanced towards her husband and placed her hand on his chest. “Jacob.” She muttered in concern.

“Please.” The Emperor begged.

“No need to panic, Your Majesty.” Maddison sighed. “It is my honor to serve you…any time.”

“She–He’s right. Lead the way, Your Highness.” Alejandra nodded her head and they, instead of heading straight towards the second garden, turned their attention to a connecting corridor. 

It didn't take long but they ended up in front of a large room with an arched double doorway that had gold plating and silver metal plates that served as its sort of handles.

“How are we opening that?” Alejandra walked towards the door and placed her hand on the silver plate only to jerk it back quickly as she had suffered a burst of pain upon doing so. “The hell!?”

The Emperor stepped forward and placed his hand instead, and with a click and a rumble, the door opened to reveal…a bedroom?

“The door only opens to those with royal blood and their partners.” The Emperor explained. “I’m sorry for not saying any sooner, Lady Alejandra.”

“I’m fine.” She replied, kissing her palm to wane the pain.

“This is…” Maddison glanced at the metal plate and reached for it with her fingers before stopping herself. She pursed her lips and went to look around the room instead.

“This is a girl’s room...” The Empress softly spoke. “My baby girl’s room…why are we here?” She turned her gaze towards her husband, Emperor Jacob, who stepped forward and reached his arms under the bed.

“I saved this as a gift for her 13th birthday since she always seemed interested in swordsmanship.” The Emperor smiled and Maddison felt a lump form in her chest. “This sword was a relic found in a dungeon and said to awaken its true power under a skilled swordsman. With my daughter gone…I want you to use it, Alejandra.”

“That's…” Alejandra panicked and backed away for a bit. “This seems quite big to just simply give away, Your Majesty.” She tried to refuse the gift, not only because it carried so much emotional weight but also because if she did, she’d seem even more like the soon-to-be Crown Princess of the Empire.

“I see no problem with you using it.” The Emperor reassured her. “Take this as a token of my appreciation towards your Father.”

“But Your Majesty.” Alejandra whimpered and tried to back out but an arrow whizzed and soon almost lodged itself in her head but it snapped midway and fell flat onto the floor. Maddison, or Lord Madeline as she calls her persona, nodded towards the Young Lady.

“There is no time.” The Emperor shoved the blade towards the daughter of the Duke. “Will you take this powerful sword or not.”

Alejandra hesitated, she could hear the footsteps of more Kingdom Soldiers approaching, she took a breath and reached for the hilt of the blue blade. “Ah! Damnit!” An arrow shot straight at her but she swung the blade with such speed and precision that it split the arrow and half and blocked it completely.

She hated how it felt perfect in her hand.

“Now we can finally go to the second garden?” Alejandra clearly wasn't amused but she had no choice at the moment.

“Indeed.” Maddison agreed and stretched her neck, there was a strange glint in her eye but the Lady simply ignored it for the moment.

As the group of four made their way to the second garden, the battle within the ballroom itself seemed to be nearing its end. 

Fwoom!

A wave of heat blasted through like a beam and crashed into the wall charring the white marble black. A lady, her clothes messy and burnt, neatly dodged the attack with a sidestep. 

“You're becoming messy.” Roselia pointed out as the man who controlled the flames glared at her. “It's about time, I'll finish you off like your friends.”

The old man and the bird woman were still flat on the ground unconscious. They haven't woken ever since they got knocked out by her kicks earlier.

“Try it.” The man ripped his sleeves and started chanting, siphoning flames around him. The fires grew larger and stronger as it turned to a hurricane of flames that covered his body like a barrier of sorts. “Now…let's see if you can even strike me anymore.”

The Duchess felt the heat harshly on her skin, she had never sweated so much in her life before. She wiped the moisture from her forehead and grabbed a pebble that fell on the floor because of their fight.

She tossed it up and as soon it landed back in her palm, she chucked it towards the man. It shot forward like a bullet and pierced through the air before turning to dust as soon as it touched the barrier of fire.

That's what Roselia had been doing this entire time. By decreasing the weight of her arm and allowing it to move with ease and then increasing its weight a hundredfold at the final arch of motion, thereby increasing the acceleration of her hand in a single moment and throwing the rock at such high velocity that it was like a bullet.

“Bwahahahaha!” The Man laughed. “Try and touch me now, you old hag!”

“Threaten my daughter, hurt my husband, and then insult me like some common peasant.” Roselia glared into the wall of flame. “It seems you really want to die don't you?”

Roselia then stomped hard on the ground, cracking the floor and pavement and launching several pieces of the marble upward as debris. In a split second, without even a blink, Rselia twisted her body and with the same principle as throwing the stones, she kicked all of the debris towards the Man’s defense like a rain of stones.

Some of the rocks eviscerated in the flames but some pierced through and lodged themselves into the man’s chest, limbs, and flesh. 

“Graaaack!” He screamed in pain as the barrier slowly faded into smoke. His body was finally revealed, with several holes littered around his body allowing you to see right through, and chunks of his skin peeling away like paper

“It's about time we end this, you Delha Bastard.” Roselia scoffs and the man with a last ditch attempt, raises both his hands again and fires wave after wave of fire which Roselia dodged gracefully.

She ran to the side and lowered her weight so that she could find it easier to run across the walls. She dashed quickly avoiding the torrents of flames that were crashing behind and following her. 

The Duchess circled the entire ballroom before stopping right behind the man and launching herself like a piercing arrow towards him. She raised her leg as she fell and stuck out her knee and with all her weight centered on it, she struck it right at the man’s head, sending him nearly lifeless on the ground.

“Finally…My maids worked so hard on these clothes only for them to get charred.” She commented as she patted the ash and dust off her clothes. “Now, time to help the others.” 

Roselia began to run off the ballroom but a sudden burst of heat exploded behind her.

“I’M NOT DONE YET!” The man, well what's left of him was now burning his entire body in flame. It was a sight that made Roselia’s gut turn along with the horrible stench of burning flesh.

The man had set himself completely on fire and was using his own body as fuel to make his attacks stronger. 

“You've gotta be kidding me right now.” Roselia’s face was suddenly eclipsed by a flash of light and fortunately, due to instinct, she moved in a blink, avoiding what could've been a horrible burn from a fireball. “Crap, so he's gotten faster too.”

The Grand Duchess stared down the burning man in front of her. She knew this was going to be a far more difficult fight than she had initially thought. She stretched her legs and prepared herself for a hell of a fight.

“Man…” The Duchess grimaced, “I could really use a sword right now,” as an engulfing amount of fire was now headed straight towards her.

Outside the ballroom, a few dozen meters away was the first garden. With the grass green and the flowers sleeping, a Knight was laid out on the dirt, his breathing slowing down and his body losing blood.

“In the end, you can only get this far.” A Tall man looked over the dying knight, his dagger in his hand, covered in blood.

The Tall man’s body was riddled with scars and cuts, all from the same Knight that had fallen over weak and unable. Out of spite, the man knelt down and stabbed the Knight in the back one more time.

“Graaaagh!” Asher groaned in pain as he felt the dagger dig deep inside him. 

“Your bravery eludes me, why fight with such zeal for such a measly girl. A stranger from the looks of it even?” He twisted the dagger in a snap. “You goody two-shoes knights always creep me out. Even Delha has its fair share of you lot.”

Across from them, the thief, a young girl, was on her knees, helpless. The last hope of her survival, down on the ground, bleeding out. The person who tried to save her…

Her. Someone like her, who was considered trash by society. 

He tried to save the girl named Soyeon.

And she could do nothing in return for the favor that the Knight graciously bestowed her…even if it was for naught.

“Your courage and kindness are not fit for such a cruel world, young man.” The Tall man snickered. “Kindness only leads to failure, while cruelty is a necessity.” The Man grabs Asher’s hair and pulls his head up to face the girl he failed to save. “Look at her! Look at the woman you were incapable of rescuing! HAHAHA! So much effort for ultimately no reward…I pity men like you.” He then slams Asher’s face into the dirt then stands up to turn his eyes to the young thief.

“Listen well, young Knight.” The Tall man grins with utter demonic malevolence. “Hear the screams of the consequences of your incompetence.” He took short strides towards the young woman, his fingers fiddling with the dagger, and his body ignoring the pain from the things thrown at him.

“No…no…NO! GET AWAY!” The thief, Soyeon, screamed in fear as the Tall man gazed at her with bloodthirsty eyes. Even though she wanted to, her legs wouldn't stand up. She merely crawled backwards throwing whatever her hands could find at the Tall man.

Rocks, grass, dirt, soil, leaves….whatever she could find she threw with sheer desperation.

“Come here!” 

“NO!” Soyeon shrieked, her eyes filled with tears as she threw whatever else she could to defend herself but it was to no avail as the Tall man had reached her and grabbed her by the hair.

He then pulled her towards him and gripped her hands in his palm.

The girl’s breathing was hitched and she couldn't stop herself from crying with her voice turning hoarse from all the screaming. In an out of character fashion, the Tall Man calmly caresses her hand and pats her head with his other hand all the while gently shushing her. “Calm down…” The Tall man speaks quietly.

Soyeon shuts up her whimpers, afraid of what the man is gonna do. Her fear overpowered every other sense in her body. She stared at the man's disgusting hands as they traced themselves on her fingers. “Please let me go…” She managed to croak out.

“Oh unfortunately I can't, missy. You see, these hands of yours are really pretty,” He grinned and looked her right in the eye, “but sadly they are filled with sin.” He took out his dagger and stuck it between her middle finger’s nail and flicked it upward, plucking out the nail entirely.

“AAAAAAAGHHHH!” Soyeon screamed with all her might as the pain filled her brain with horrid terror.

“AHAHAHAHAHA!” The Tall man laughed in perverse delight as the girl squirmed in pain but was unable to break free from his hold.

The Tall man did the same for her ring finger and the girl screamed again, her voice breaking off and turning more and more rough as the pain engulfed pervaded all her thoughts.

“Stop…no more…please.” A voice called out from behind them. 

The Tall Man turned around to see Asher dragging his body towards them. “So you're still alive, huh?”

Asher finds enough strength to push himself up, albeit in a stagger.

The Tall man frowned and lifted the girl up by her arm and threw her in front of the weak Knight. “Missy…”

“Wha-what?” Soyeon glanced back toward the man who tortured her then towards the Knight who tried to save her.

“You want this suffering to end right?” The Tall Man grinned maniacally. In confidence of her fear overpowering her will, he threw her his dagger and it skidded right below her feet. “Kill that Knight. Do so and I will spare you from any more torture.”

Author's note: SOOOO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES!

IT'S ALMOST BEEN A MONTH!!!

i've been so busy with life lately that I haven't had the time to write things out but anyways, expect a HOPEFULLY better schedule this year!

So if its okay with you, let's all go along with Alejandra's journey for a while longer shall we?