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As Alice searched the valley for the missing Princess Violet, a sudden recollection from the past flashed through her mind.

It was when she was thirteen years old.

There had been a large-scale swordsmanship tournament held at the Royal Academy at that time.

It was open to all grades and was reflected in the semester grades, so everyone had to participate without exception.

Princess Violet, Alice’s classmate at the time, was no exception.

While Princess Violet was known to be skilled in magic, she had a reluctance towards physical activities like swordsmanship.

Many were curious to see how she would fare in this tournament.

When the tournament began, the moment finally arrived for Princess Violet’s turn, but she never showed up.

People assumed she had withdrawn due to her aversion to physical exertion, so their reactions were somewhat expected.

However, the problem arose afterward.

Not only did the Princess not appear in the tournament grounds, but she couldn’t be found anywhere in the academy.

Her personal guards were in a frenzy, and the academy itself went into chaos.

The swordsmanship tournament was even temporarily suspended in order to search for the missing Princess.

Every dormitory room was searched thoroughly, and detection spells were even employed to scour the entire city, but not a single trace of her was found.

Amidst the panic, Princess Violet finally revealed herself in her room after sunset, with a remarkably dignified and composed demeanor.

The reason for her disappearance was simple: she didn’t want to participate in the swordsmanship tournament, so she hid until it was over.

While hiding might have been understandable to some extent, the fact that the entire academy’s resources couldn’t find her was a shocking revelation at the time.

It was an unprecedented event for an imperial Princess to disappear from a stronghold of demonic beasts.

For some reason, Alice’s memories of that day were vividly coming back to her.

“Alice, are you alright?”

Cecilia’s voice interrupted Alice’s reverie.

“Sorry, Cecilia! I was lost in thought for a moment…”

Startled, Alice shook her head to clear her mind.

“I sense a magical presence coming from over there.”

Cecilia pointed towards one side of the desolate valley, where a faint magical aura seemed to be emanating.

The artificial magical aura, which could never naturally occur, was indeed palpable.

“If it’s here, then we’re near Blood River, right?”

Even the faint sound of flowing water seemed distant.

“Yes. But, Alice, you seem very unwell…”

Cecilia asked with a worried expression, noticing Alice’s troubled face.

Alice couldn’t deny it.

There were multiple reasons for her unhealthy complexion.

Witnessing Princess Violet manifesting mana, Alice couldn’t help but consider the possibility that the current situation might also be another one of the Princess’s schemes.

But what concerned her the most was,

‘Is this something that even Aschel doesn’t know about?’

His reaction, so genuine and unfeigned, particularly stood out to her.

Alice could confidently attest that it wasn’t a false reaction.

He seemed genuinely taken aback by Princess Violet’s unexpected behavior.

“Don’t worry too much, Alice. The Princess will be safe.”

Cecilia comforted Alice, gently patting her shoulder.

“Thank you, Cecilia.”

Since finding the Princess was their top priority, they hurriedly made their way to Blood River, where the magical presence was detected.

“Princess!”

At the mouth of Blood River, where crimson streams flowed, Princess Violet was seen collapsed and unconscious.

Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to be breathing normally, and there didn’t appear to be any serious injuries.

“Thank goodness. She seems unharmed.”

While Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief, Alice’s anxious expression remained unchanged.

How could she collapse in such a peaceful state at a stronghold where demonic beasts could attack at any moment?

And the fact that she was unconscious itself raised suspicions.

“Please wake up, Your Highness.”

Alice murmured quietly, her tone solemn and heavy.

“Alice?”

Confused, Cecilia called out to her, but Alice remained impassive.

“I know you’re awake. Please don’t pretend to faint and just stand up.”

For a moment there was still silence,

The second princess slowly opened her eyes and raised her body without any problem.

“Was my act too obvious?”

The Princess even smiled faintly, as if the current situation wasn’t too serious.

Her nonchalant demeanor starkly contrasted with Alice’s serious expression, maintaining her composure.

“It’s frightening, Alice. It looks like if I don’t explain this situation quickly, you might not let me go,” the Princess said.

This was undeniably the territory of formidable monsters.

As long as Alice didn’t understand the current situation herself, there seemed to be no way to leave this place.

“I won’t bother making excuses. Alice, did you see it? I used magic to disappear, didn’t I?”

Alice responded with silence.

“There’s more than one thing that’s questionable to you, Alice. Before you start wondering why I disappeared, think about why someone like me would come here and why, of all people, your brother Aschel accompanied me. Everything must seem suspicious to you.”

Her words pierced Alice’s thoughts perfectly.

“You might find it amusing to hear this, but the truth is, Alice, you should be thankful that I came on this expedition instead of my brother,” the Princess continued.

“What do you mean by that?”

“If my brother had come, this valley would have been a battlefield by now, filled with demonic beasts. But after receiving a scolding from His Majesty, my brother decided to refrain from joining us. And with the key figure in the original plan gone elsewhere, I ended up leading this expedition.”

“A battle with demonic beasts! What on earth are you talking about?”

Alice, now agitated, raised her voice as she locked eyes with the Princess.

The Princess continued, unfazed.

“My brother can be quite ruthless. I know that better than anyone, having shared blood with him. Although he couldn’t execute the original plan, that doesn’t mean he would just sit still. This expedition is just like…”

Alice still couldn’t comprehend the Princess’s words.

“Of course, people don’t want to die. Not just humans, but all living creatures. I’m no exception. So…”

Thud!

Suddenly, the ground shook as a heavy, ominous presence approached.

Sensing the threat along with the sound, Alice immediately turned around.

“Grrrr…”

Several Hellhounds, with their lively eyes dripping saliva, stared menacingly at them.

Alice drew her sword, preparing to confront the monsters.

Fortunately, they were only lesser monsters.

“We can discuss the rest later. For now, let’s escort the Princess out of the front line. Please follow quietly.”

But as time passed, they needed to evacuate to a safer area as soon as possible, as higher-level monsters could appear.

However…

“That’s right. We should go. But Alice can’t come…”

Squeak!

With a clear, melodic sound, a transparent light erupted from somewhere and rapidly enveloped the surroundings.

Startled, Alice turned around just in time to witness…

Whoosh!

A chilling sensation rushed through her senses as she felt an unbearable pain surging from her abdomen, momentarily stunning her.

Slowly lowering her trembling eyes, Alice saw a crimson blade followed by a familiar hand gripping it.

The gaze that followed the hand met Alice’s eyes.

“C-Cecilia…?”

Her gaze was like that of a solid pine tree, devoid of any emotion.

It was the knight who had always advised her to protect Vert, the one whom she had trusted more than her own family.

“Why? Cecilia, why…?”

Swoosh!

Even as Alice questioned, Cecilia remained silent and drew her sword, as if no explanation or justification was needed.

Instead, it was Princess Violet, who had been chuckling behind her, who finally spoke.

“Please don’t think badly of me, Alice. You’re a knight of the light sworn to sacrifice yourself for the peace of the continent, aren’t you? You will become an honourable knight who died fighting against demonic beasts for me.”

After finishing her words, the Princess suddenly took out a vial from her embrace and scattered its contents around.

The crimson hue seemed like blood, but it wasn’t human blood.

“I hope you won’t struggle too much. I just wish for you to accept death gracefully. Even though things turned out like this, I hope Alice won’t suffer…”

But Alice was already experiencing a pain she had never felt before.

It wasn’t just the physical pain of being stabbed, but the emotional agony of betrayal from someone she trusted made it even more unbearable.

Thud!

With one leg giving out, Alice finally dropped to her knees.

“Goodbye then, Alice…”

With a merciless final word, the Princess turned away.

Following her, Alice’s knight, Cecilia, also left.

“C-Cecilia…”

There was no response to her unanswered call, only silence.

Sadness, despair, disillusionment.

In a situation where all negative emotions engulfed her, there was only one thing Alice wanted to know: ‘Why did Cecilia betray me?’

But Cecilia never provided an answer to her curiosity.

However, at the last moment when she and the princess were about to completely disappear from her sight.

“…….”

She turned her back.

Pity.

All Alice could see was pity in Cecilia’s final moment, as if she pitied herself for being in this situation.

There was no sense of remorse or guilt.

And with that, Alice understood.

Cecilia was never truly hers to begin with.

“Grrr…”

There was no time for lamentation.

Driven by a sudden surge of anger, Alice rose again and quickly assessed what she needed to do.

Though blood flowed, her wounds were not as deep as she had feared.

She could wield her sword and use magic without difficulty, and the monsters ahead were still easy to handle, being only lesser ones.

First, she would deal with the monsters quickly, then join the other knights nearby.

After that, she would return to the frontline and report everything she had experienced…

Everything she had…

Report…

The word trailed off in her mind as she realized what lay ahead.

Alice pondered whom she should turn to.

The Order of the Knights of Light?

The Prince?

They were both involved in putting her in this situation, and they would likely still have resources at their disposal even after expending some.

The Duke?

He was more than just a father, especially considering her role as the heir to the family.

He valued her survival more than anyone else, but by his side was now…

Where he was present.

Her brother, despite being siblings, was someone she couldn’t trust.

He had even tried to kill her in their childhood, after all.

Would he be laughing at her now, seeing her in this situation?

The wavering of her sword reflected her inner turmoil.

Could she return to normalcy after resolving this situation and coming back, as if nothing had happened?

Alice’s eyes gradually lost focus.

She felt utterly lost, with nowhere to turn.

What would be the point of going back to such a situation?

“Raawwrr!”

The hellhounds charged towards her with fierce growls, but Alice didn’t move.

It was as if she was giving up on life and everything.

She closed her eyes, seemingly ready to abandon everything.

Thunk!

A vivid sound of a sword being drawn nearby caught her attention, causing Alice to snap her eyes open.

“…”

A black cloak fluttering in the crimson wind, a dark mask obscuring the face, and a purple-red dagger exuding a chilling aura.

Alice recognized the mysterious figure that appeared out of nowhere.

She had definitely seen this enigmatic presence before.

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