Chapter Text
It was the end of Rei’s life, yet the execution was not even meant for her.
The sun sank behind the castle, surrendering the sky to a darken twilight. But the upcoming night didn't dim the collective frenzy from men and women that has gathered at the center of the town.
Insults and jeers are thrown towards the sole raised tough wooden cross–the cross was stained crimson with blood and patches of black spots, they didn’t have the time to make a new one after they last burnt the pair of royals, their late king and queen, so they just reused the same one. The wind whistled, as if groaning, it straightened the banners of the kingdom for the eyes to see, once the symbols of highest. Yet now those hang like funeral shrouds.
The land was currently without leaders, all executed by the hand of its own people, the result of the rebellion that had happened last month.
All dead, except for one.
But the crowd's attention wasn't even celebrating the end of this corrupted dynasty, not to the death of the former tyrant king and queen this time. But rather—
"BRING OUT THAT SPOILED EXCUSE OF A PRINCESS!"
"WE NEED THAT WITCH GONE RIGHT NOW!"
"BRING BACK OUR PEACE!"
"GET THAT HELL SPAWNED HARLOT OUT HERE!"
Among the crowd, a figure that was being held down by a pair of bulky guards jolted, it was clear that the crowd was referring to the late royal pair's offspring; the young princess who was currently detained by the rebellion group awaiting for her death row.
Soon the princess would join her parents through the blazing fire that would devour her.
At that thought, her eyes immediately followed the crowd’s jeers.
Rei gritted her teeth, her armor had been stripped away, leaving only her tunic and the wild disarray of her dark purple hair. She was kneeling, her eyes swept around the crowds. Her shoulders slumped slightly as she realized that the cross was still empty. She tried flexing her arms, only to get the rope to dig further into her now bleeding wrists. The woman hissed, each twitch of muscle hurt, her legs suffered since she had been forced to remain kneeling in front of the empty wooden cross. They gave her the perfect view to watch, to witness the death of this kingdom herself, they said.
"We're sorry about this, Dame.” She felt a tap on her back from the man on her right. How comforting. “Y’know, don’t take it personal, please? We’ll let you free later. I'm sure you understand why we do this, no?"
“He’s right, Dame, the winter’s cold and sitting here surely will warm you up.”
They didn’t even hold back at their sneers.
These damned traitors, they were lucky that they made the right move to restrained her completely or their heads won't be connected to their necks the moment they laid their hands on her.
No, the moment they laid their filthy hands on her, Rei would’ve made sure they died painfully.
“So, how do you feel, being the soon to be former Princess' personal knight, Dame Rei? Doesn’t watching this make you feel good?”
Rei immediately moved to put the sole of bare feet to the ground, trying to stand up, to at least rip their skin off their bones. Any part of the body would be okay, she thought as she growled. That earnt her a sigh from her former peers. A sole of metal boots landed on her head, slamming her forehead to the ground.
“You bloody bastards–”
If only she moved faster, perhaps she could’ve broken their legs. Armors meant nothing to Rei, she could knock these two out easily, even with her hands tied. These two–she remembered, those hands touched the princess on that particular night. Those hands gripped on the bare skin of the princess’ arms, they left bruises on her pale arms. They even scratched her cheeks with their dirty fingernails. Unforgivable, to even hold the princess–
“Calm down, Dame, we’re all tired here, please stop the commotion already, wouldn’t you?” One of the younger knights commented as he was about to step even further, yet his action was halted.
“Hush, hold yer tongue. The princess is here.”
No.
The crowds’ voices suddenly grew louder and louder that the grunt of the agitated horses pulling the carriage didn’t even reach the place Rei was currently on. They stopped the poor animals right in front of the platform, the passengers walked out on their chest resting the crest of the kingdom with a red crossmark on it–the rebellion. They stepped away, some stood in the center, right of the cross. One of them, a charming young man with unusual silver hair, attached to his arm sleeve was the crest that he shared with the rest of the rebels.
Rei knew him, he was one of the newcomers among the knights just about three years ago. So it was also a surprise that the certain man became the leader of the rebellion group. Jumping from a newbie to being hailed as a hero. Isn't that wonderful of him? Rei can't really stop the bitter thought inside her head.
The rebel leader took a deep breath then shouted.
"Today! It's time for us to end it all! Here, we shall be the witness of the new era!"
The crowd exploded in cheers, at the sound of the deafening wave of fury and triumph. Those men were talking loudly as they ate up each and every word thrown at them, like a pack of filthy pigeons.
“Today we shall watch the devil spawned burn!”
Chills crept up Rei's spine, slow and suffocating. No, no, she should not be here, she hated this, she loathed this. This couldn’t be right, no. Every fiber of her being screamed until it wasn't. Her eyes squeezed shut, her face was still pressing at the ground. The young knight from earlier crouched beside her, grabbing her hair and yanked her head up so her gaze was directed forward.
“Look, Dame, your sweet lil’ princess is here,” he whispered right on Rei’s ear.
All of the sudden, the red tint of the twilight filled her eyes. For some reason, the sky’s hue was even more radiant than it had always been, painting the crowds crimson. The carriage, its door was opened wider. From there, spilled by the carriage, was the young woman the crowd had been waiting for. The woman whom they despised for some, no–hundred different reasons.
The princess emerged, more accurately, she was harshly yanked out so that she fell to the ground.
Without even waiting for her to stand up on her own feet, they tugged on the rope, dragged by her bound wrists, hauled forward by one of the rebels, each of her cries was accompanied by a laugh and satisfied glee from every person they passed by.
"GO TO HELL!"
“BE GRATEFUL THAT WE'RE LETTING YOU DIE!” another hollered. “HOPE THE FLAMES CHEW SLOW!”
A group of men cackled, pointing. “TASTE OUR SUFFERING, YOU HEARTLESS DEVIL!”
“FEED HER TO THE DIRT! THE WORMS NEED A QUEEN TOO!”
For the first time since hours ago, all that she felt was not even anger anymore, she didn’t even wish to cut anyone’s head. Was it selfish that all she wanted now was for them to chop her head off so she didn’t have to be here? Rei tried to move again, to have her back not facing the platform, until the guard holding her pushed her back to the ground.
"Now, stay still, Dame Rei. The show is about to start!"
They had walked close enough for Rei to finally see her. Crown Princess Muu, the princess Rei once had the honor of personally guarding after the Royal Highness threw a tantrum at the king and queen, demanding they let Rei to remain at her side. For years she had been there for her.
Her princess.
Her Muu.
Everything was different from the last time Rei had laid eyes on her a month ago. They had still been together when the rebellion stormed in and seized the royal family. In the chaos, Rei fought fiercely of her own, protecting the princess. Of course that wasn't enough and both of them ended up getting captured and separated by the rebels.
Perhaps because of the frustration that Rei managed to resist and almost win, they made a crueler decision than killing her outright, only punishing her to serve them as a slave and in extent forcing her to live and taking the front-row seat to the final moments of her princess.
What was the use of a knight that couldn’t protect the master they served, after all? Her skill is the only thing good enough about her.
Looking back to Muu, the party gown she wore, the silk and gold dress that gleamed on the night the rebellion erupted was gone, must have been stripped away like a discarded flag. All that remained was the white chemise, thin and shapeless that was once used to be her undergarments, now sullied with dirt it no longer recognizable clothing. The hem was frayed, the fabric dulled by more and more grime on each shaky step she was forced to take on the way up to the platform.
The beautiful long strawberry-blonde hair, the princess had been so proud of, had been roughly cut short, the once-silken strands now a tangled, uncared-for mess from weeks without gentle hands to tend them. She was thinner than Rei had last seen her, fragile in a way that made old jests ache in hindsight. The joke Rei would sometimes throw carelessly, that the princess might snap in two if the knight held her too tightly, felt dangerously close to truth now.
Never, ever, had Rei seen her like this.
Who was even that on the platform, she wondered.
Her princess had always been a crybaby, pouting or tearing up at the slightest inconvenience but the Muu she knew had no tear-stain tracks etched on her cheeks. Her eyes were supposed to gleam under the sunset, not bloodshot and swollen red–Those eyes were the eyes of someone who undeniably went through endless weeping.
That couldn’t be her princess.
This was the last state Rei ever wanted to witness her in.
But here it was, unfolding before her as gone is the regal proud princess of the kingdom, and there was nothing Rei could do but watch.
And yet, her heart muttered a praise on her beauty.
Her beauty hadn’t faltered in the slightest.
Dirt and grime could not dull the fairness of her skin. The uneven, hastily cut hair framed her face with an unexpected, adorable charm. It reminded Rei of countless mornings when the princess would wake in a terrible mess of tangles, sniffle dramatically until her ladies-in-waiting worked their miracles and restored her hair to its original state again.
But more than anything, it was the fact that her gaze, the way those eyes moved beneath those pale lashes that struck Rei hardest. She was glaring at the crowd. Since when had Her Highness become this strong? Rei wondered, the fragile, pampered girl she once guarded had managed to stand straight to face her people.
Even now her legs were trembling, shaking like a leaf, yet she remained standing.
Still, the moment she stepped onto the podium, the man who had dragged her there drove his boot into the back of her knee. The impact stole her balance. She collapsed forward, forced down onto the hard floor, kneeling before the sea of staring faces.
“Speak,” the man barked above the princess’s head. “You have permission for your last words. Beg for their forgiveness if you want. Maybe then the people will spare you and pardon your sins!”
The crowd erupted at once, some were in anger. It was clear that they were disgusted by the thought of giving the princess a sliver of mercy. There was impatience roared, filling the space with heap clamor, demanding the rebels to hurry it up and burn the heartless witch, some others came from anticipation, piling up feverish glee from the chance of seeing the once high mighty royal begging for her life at them.
All boiling into disorderly noise on Rei's ears. This was too much, even for Rei to handle. The knight couldn't even imagine what is inside the head of the princess right now.
However, Muu raised her head, looking down at all the people below the podium with a fierce glare. Exactly how Rei has always seen her whenever she felt angry about something. There were confusions, the noise slightly dispersed for a moment. Her act betrayed the expectations of all the people on that plaza. Wait, what was she about to do now? Wait, No-
“LET ME GO!”
A raspy voice, one Rei could not tell was worn from overuse or strained from long silence, rang out from the mouth of the princess that was supposed to have a very soft spoken high voice, slicing through the disarray and forcing the crowd into a stunned silence.
“Muu hasn't done anything wrong! She hasn't done anything that warrants this fate at all! You shall release me now!”
Not backing down from all the eyes that were fixed on her, she once again opened her mouth, “Killing all the people that Muu loved…All of you are hideous cruel mons-AKH!”
Her words barely finished forming before the rebel above her head lashed out with a vicious kick to her side, cutting the sentence clean off.
No.
The crowd roared back to life like startled beasts released from chains, cheering the moment her voice broke as they threw a bunch of things at her.
Why would she do that? She was causing people to hurt her even more.
Muu had always been having trouble controlling her mouth, she was honest–that could be good, but not now. Please, stop struggling, Rei muttered a beg inside her thought. Perhaps they would be kinder to her, perhaps they would stop kicking and yanking at her hair, perhaps they would give her mercy and chop her head instead of giving her long and painful death.
Perhaps they would let her live.
Delusional thoughts that Rei herself knew how the world would never grant her.
It might be Rei who had lost her mind instead of the princess. Someone told Rei once; that she was an arrogant coward, one that would never be truly happy due to her own ego. Perhaps that person was right. She was hesitant towards everything in her whole life. Regrets, like a steady flow of sand inside an hourglass, they were drowning her, suffocating her. Where did it go wrong, anyway?
Was it from the day she did nothing as she realized that the knights began to hold meetings in secret? Was it when she nodded in obedience as the king told her to just pretend nothing had happened and stay away from something that was her business? Was it when she decided to just stay and observe while she could’ve just taken Muu away when she noticed someone invading the castle?
Rei wasn’t a fool, she knew how the political climates had been a murky mess ever since a year ago. She knew that this country had no future by serving the psychotic king and his self absorbent queen. There were lots of people dying pointlessly protecting this dynasty that had been bound to fall.
And she was by no means a delusional moron for never taking any action.
She should’ve taken the princess sooner, standing by her ground as she dragged her away from the castle. She should’ve yelled, scolded Muu harder as she threw a screaming fit so Rei would let her stay with her foolish parents. She should’ve cut that proud strawberry blonde hair herself, with her own hands so she could disguise the princess better, so they could leave this cursed country.
It would’ve been better if she hurt Muu with her own hands instead of letting her getting tortured and burnt to death.
At least she would’ve chances to have a new life.
“SEE?! STILL SCREAMIN’ LIKE SHE OWNS THE AIR!”
“KICK HER AGAIN! SHUT THE DEMON-DOLL UP!”
“HEARTLESS WITCH, SHE DESERVED NO MERCY!”
Heartless.
The princess was anything but heartless. How could they say that to her?
The knight’s heart felt as if it was stabbed repeatedly with each insult thrown. Call it blind loyalty or whatever, She couldn't even care less about the late king and queen of this kingdom. The only one she cared about was the stubborn princess that she had grown fond of.
Muu. That sheltered fool.
There were so many things to dislike about the young woman but if anyone just took a second to see her as a normal human being, anyone could see it by themselves. The girl couldn’t even hurt a fly, cried whenever Rei scolded her for saying obnoxious things, she never even knew the weight of the crown she wore.
Muu was never involved in all the things the whole country was accusing her of. The tax raise was the king’s wish. She never got a seat at the council let alone speak in it. She was completely oblivious that the plates used to serve her breakfast always reeked of her people’s blood. She was foolish, naive, ignorant, an idiot molded by a palace built on lies that her parents had been teaching her.
It was not her fault.
Soon the people had enough, another scream echoed in the air. The common citizens climbed up the platform, joining the rebels to drag her, seizing her by her tied limbs, they chopped up the rope binding her arms without caring that they might cut her skin, then they hauled her up to the wooden cross and tied her hand behind it.
The leader spoke again as they all got to work, he barked, “people! We’ve granted her enough chances, now it's time! May heaven accept our offerings and grant us our peace!”
Stop.
The young man turns around with a lit torch in his hand, looking directed up to the quivering eyes of the princess as he darkly throws the torch to the mountain pile of flammable woods beneath her feet, “and may the devil drag one of their own back to the pit of hell.”
No, please stop.
Rei's breath grew heavy, her eyes glazed; she could only see the red orange color growing under the flowy white and a tiny yellow-ish peach hue.
“N–no …”
Her ears were ringing. Her hearing sense was invaded by insults, curses, cheering–and on her skin was a horrid rise of heat, she shivered, all the hair on her body stood up in goosebumps. Blur, the loudest thing she could hear was the ragged noise of her breath. She couldn’t hear a thing.
“No … please. Y–your highness–”
It would be better if she was completely deaf.
“IT HURTS!”
An echo; once, twice, then it grew into a screeching pitch, one that resembled a fork scratching across an empty porcelain plate. It came along with sobbing cries, the crackle of woods slowly devoured by the flame. The voice just wouldn’t stop, it was still audible although masked by roaring cheers coming from thousands of people.
“It hurts, help Muu … Mother … Father-!” the girl shrieked, “Help me … it hurts so much … REI!”
As if on instinct, Rei snapped.
Her voice. The princess was calling for her. That young woman wanted her knight to be there. What was she doing now anyway? Hurt? Her wrists didn’t hurt, it was on her oath, she was sworn to protect the princess. Even if she had lost her limbs, she should be there for her.
What was the use of a knight that couldn’t protect the master they served, after all?
From the back of her mind, the sentence recited itself.
The woman's throat swelled up as she took a sharp take of breath, then she shouted.
“LET GO OF HER!”
Like a cornered beast, Rei wrenched herself free from the guards’ loosening grips. She slammed the back of her head upward into the chin of one rebel, the impact sharp and deliberate, and followed through by driving a brutal kick into the leg of the other, forcing him off balance.
She paid no mind to their guttural groans of pain as she surged forward, marching with a fury uncontained. Townsfolk who dared block her path toward the podium were shoved aside. Causing a big commotion that took away some of the people's attention from the horrifying sight that they all had been enjoying.
“This bloodsucker moron–seize her!”
“Don’t let her get away! You there, catch her!”
Her action was halted, it didn’t even take more than three minutes. The furthest she managed to go was right before she reached the platform stairs. Her head was repeatedly slammed onto the ground. Her nose broke, one of her ankles crushed.
She can't do this, she can't let–
Then she could hear nothing but the eerie silence.
Rei's thought was cut off when she could no longer hear the screaming of the princess. She tried to raise her head, her gaze swept forward.
The knight saw it, a pair of greenish blue, glistening with tears.
Muu had stopped screaming, instead she had directly found Rei between the crowds below her after the commotion that the knight had created. And yet somehow the Princess looked at her like the time had stopped; as if she had met a ghost.
Rei would do anything to yank off the fabric that they put between her mouth and call for her. But nothing prepared her for the next thing that the princess did. Still with tears flowing, Muu’s eyes went soft and let her lips quivered into a very shaky smile.
Then the princess mouthed something, delivering words, a message no one could ever hear.
The scene blurred by the wind, it fueled the fire to engulf the young woman’s entire body. There was an excruciating squeal overflowing the space as the pitch black colour of the night finally washed out the red hue off the sky.
It was a message without a voice. Yet the knight could almost hear it, the voice scratched a gaping wound on her heart. It echoed in her mind as she began to sniff, crying so loud it couldn't be muffled by the ground nor the cloth between her mouth.
The last word directed from the princess to her dearest knight.
“Rei, I love you too.”
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It had happened when Rei had only served the princess for a year.
”Ah! It's so beautiful!”
Rei could only raise her eyebrow at the sudden words of awe, her own eyes caught the stunned princess setting her eyes on a displayed wedding dress from a caravan carriage.
It was a risky enough act for the spoiled princess to disobey her parents' order, the one happened to be the King and Queen, to never go outside of the castle's area.
But she claimed to be so stuffed inside the castle when the town was having a festival, where caravans after caravans from another kingdom were entering the gate. So she snuck out again, as always tagging along her reluctant personal knight–who was more concerned with keeping her head attached to her neck than having fun in the festival.
Rei mumbled in defeat as she adjusted the slipped hood on the princess’ head. “Pardon me, My Lady. I don't think we have enough time to gawk at a dress all day.”
Seeing that even though the princess nodded, she seemed unable to take her eyes away from the white gown. Rei sighed.
She did not understand. Why would a princess be so awed at a wedding dress? Her own gown at her birthday ball last week was far more beautiful and extravagant than this dress could ever be.
She accidentally voiced out her thoughts, which made the princess turn to her with a frown on her face, “This is different!”
Muu ended up rambling about how elegant and beautiful the dress was while not paying attention to the gentle pull by Rei's hand, guiding her away from almost bumping into the passing townspeople.
“Muu wants to wear it. Maybe Muu would ask the castle seamstress to make Muu one for the next ball!”
Here she goes again, an idea that would cause a crisis in the kingdom.
“My lady, I don’t think it's a good idea. Also please keep your voice down and refrain from calling out your own name so loudly.”
Rei quickly shut the idea down without even thinking of it further. Now that she thought about it again, she should have worded it more nicely because now she had to endure the pouting princess’ gaze on her.
“Whyy? Rei doesn't think I would look good in a dress like this? So mean!”
Rei sighed, she needed to nip this from the bud before she had to deal with a sulking princess for the entire day. In the meantime, they really needed to get going before the day was over. Or else a maid might discover that the princess was not in her room.
As they slowly got away from the public eyes and ears, Rei tried to explain the best that she could. The first thing she discovered about the princess was that she was not the brightest in terms of common sense.
“That dress was a wedding dress, Your Highness.” Rei explained, “Not only is it not proper attire for a ball but it would also cause so many misunderstandings to the noble and guests. They might think you got married.”
Well the last one was unlikely. But it was true that it wasn’t an appropriate dress to wear outside a wedding occasion. Besides, she needed another reason to make the princess back off from that idea.
“Do you really want them to think that you’re getting married?”
She was met with a strong head shake from Muu, “Can't I just wear it without having to get married?”
“If you want to wear it so badly, why don't you just find someone and get married already? There's a lot of gentlemen proposing to you just last week, weren't they? But you keep rejecting them all.”
As much as there were so many things wrong with this princess. She was still one of the most desirable brides-to-be in the Kingdom. The King had been trying to find a betrothed for her but he spoiled her a lot so it still depended on the princess’ term.
Those poor noble boys. But to be honest, Rei didn't feel sorry for them. Who in their right mind would ask the hand of this princess. Well she holds that thought to herself.
“I don't want to! Boys are scary…!”
Rei glanced down at the princess who looked the other way, deliberately hiding her face. That was actually the first time she heard that, she didn't appear to mind when talking to male nobles or servants but the thought of marrying one for life scared her?
Then again, the princess didn't really spend much time around males. Most of her servants were women and the guards usually watched over her from a distance. Of course, except for…
“Is that the reason Your Highness insists on choosing me as your personal guard?”
Rei could clearly remember the day it happened. The top ranking knights had gathered together for a chance to be chosen by the princess as her personal guard.
Not Rei.
Even though she passed the most difficult test with flying colors that the captain kept telling her she would grow to be a monster someday. She was not allowed to be the princess’ personal guard because she was still a new recruit at that time, she was also an outsider, a commoner, and not to mention, a woman.
The last reason still irritated her so badly, but she chose to be a knight for her living expenses, so as long as she got paid, she didn't really care.
However, instead of choosing after the hundred more knights that had been ready to receive the honors. The princess ended up leaving the podium, running towards the other side of the training field … and pulled Rei who had been training alone by her arm. With a smile and ragged breath, she shouted to her father.
“MUU WANTS HER!”
Unyielding under the constant polite refusals from Rei, other knights recommendations showcased by the knight captain, or her father's attempt to make her take her words back. Muu didn't back down with her decision.
To be honest Rei could’ve respected how headstrong she was if she hadn’t been extremely confused on why Muu would bother herself to choose her like this. She wasn't worth the trouble.
But if it's because she was the only female knight that had been strong enough to rival the male knight, then that might make sense.
The question seemed to gain the princess’s attention, but her expression was that of someone who didn't understand what they were talking about. They had entered a garden area where there was no one, which was good because apparently the princess forgot they were there in a disguise once again.
“No, It's not like that, Muu just chose Rei to be her personal knight because Muu likes Rei, Isn't that obvious?”
…
Rei could feel goosebumps creeping up her body, the head tilts, the smile, and the wind was making it worse, yeah, it was the wind.
“Is that so?” She looked away from the princess while trying to get rid of the heat on her face. It was awfully hot for this windy weather.
‘Idiot, it's not the weather and you know it!’
She knew she couldn't really take anything Muu said seriously, the princess had a habit to be very honest with her words.
She liked that, she disliked this, she hated those, she loved these. And she was sure that Muu didn't mean her word in that way. It was just her way of saying she liked Rei as a person.
How would that work if they had only just met back then doesn't cross Rei's mind.
“Rei?”
“Anyway, back to the previous topic at hand.” Shaking the thought out of her head and changing the topic, Rei glanced back to the bluish green eyes that always looked up at her with such fascination. “You can't really be picky with the timing. Your Highness, one day you must marry and choose a husband to fulfil the royal duties. It is best that you pick a gentleman and get familiarized with him.”
Muu's pout was back on her lips as she went and walked ahead with her hand behind her back, “Muu doesn't want to pick gentlemen and be engaged with him, it's so unromantic.”
Now she's trying to find excuses, but Rei decided to just humor her for a while. “And what exactly would your highness find to be romantic?”
The princess stopped and put a finger under her chin, she seemed to be thinking about it seriously, “If he's on one knee and confessed like the leads on the novel that the maids read for me, Muu might be able to consider it!”
What an idealistic view.
“Hmmm is that so?” Rei's hand carefully pulled a clover with a broken stem and slowly walked forward, catching up to Muu.
With one swift move, she held Muu's palm while she walked past the princess to stand right in front of her, looking straight at the surprised expression she had on her face and before she could even react, the knight got down on one knee and pulled out a made up ring from the clover near the princess’s hand that she held.
“Your Highness, Princess Muu, I love everything about you right from the top of your hair down to the tip of your toe. To this humbly request from I who love you,”
The wind quietly whistled, disrupting the room around them, it caused the hood on her head to come off.
“... would you consider marrying me?”
It was silent between them, only the sound of the grass moved by the wind filled the tensions.
“Eh-Huh… I-”
Feeling triumph, Rei slid the flower ring on Muu's finger and got up, “See, you can't even handle a mere mock proposal from me, Your Highness, how are you expecting to give a proper response to the real thing?”
Rei glanced at the princess, expecting to see the usual pout on her face, but ended up seeing the princess looking at her with widened eyes, mouth slightly agape, and a very bright red blush on her face.
That was the first time Rei ever saw her that flustered. She had seen Muu looking troubled and embarrassed before but never had she seen her stuttering, too stunned to speak and so red faced up to the tip of her ears.
Seeing her like this, she gets why Muu's lady in waiting kept fussing over the princess like she was a small animal. She was extremely adorable.
Her staring was cut short when Muu snapped out with the very familiar pout that Rei expected and repeatedly hit Rei's shoulder with her fist. “THAT'S SO MEAN! REI IS SO NAUGHTY! MUU DOESN’T LIKE THIS KIND OF THING!”
Rather than feeling hurt, Rei really wanted to laugh at how weak her punches were. “Alright, alright. I'm just joking, geez. But you get what I mean right, princess?”
Muu stopped her punches and moved her head to look down. Rei started to feel anxious, did she tease her too much?
But before she could take back her words, Muu looked back up, trying her hardest to maintain her eye contact. With a very nervous expression, she said, “Muu will try to get used to it! After she grows up a little more, Muu will definitely answer back to you!”
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Rei didn't understand what the princess meant back then. But she remembered the flutter in her heart that she kept for years hidden in her heart as she guarded Muu as her personal knight. And she never really thought deep into her feelings nor did she even think back to what Muu said to her at that moment.
Not when she got carried away with the punishment she gave at a man who tried to sneak behind Muu’s back when she was resting in the back garden. Not when they had to pretend to be a married couple when they sneaked out to a night festival. Not when they danced together outside of the castle, accompanied by the faint sound of the music inside the ball as they laughed together under the moonlight.
Not even right before the incident happened.
The former knight smiled as the memories passed her mind. Her eyes closed while she sat on the platform. The wind was a bit wilder today, bringing her hair to wave around. She could see the glimpse of the violet hue of her own strands, yet what caught her eyes was the golden silk she used to bind her hair up.
Ah, now that she thought about it, the dress she cut this silk from was one of the princess’ favorite dresses.
She wondered if Muu would yell at her for ripping her dress off.
‘Rei, I love you too.’
That particular sentence lingered in her mind, brought by the whistle and quiet rap of outdoor furniture tapping against each other.
Wasn’t it a bit too blunt? Normally, someone would have to get down on one knee, perhaps bringing a ring as they proposed.
She questioned whether the princess was serious about the confession or merely putting her in the same category as her beloved sweet treats. But Her Highness was always the type to prefer such an easy way to think, Rei couldn’t really complain.
The woman calmed down from her laugh and softly caressed the gold silk tied to her hair. Wearing it was like bringing a piece of her in some way. Rei laughed. It was such a nice day, the weather was kind, and she felt so at peace.
Then again, she was the foolish one. She should’ve known more than anyone that the princess loved her, that she was desired, that she would always be the one and only person whom Muu would choose. The princess was an excessively honest person, after all. It had always been one of her adorable qualities.
She hummed a tune with no melody, a song that was filled with glee yet it didn’t distort the somber clinging to the town square, shamelessly echoing her voice, drunken in love as the space was distilled from any noise but hers. It was okay though, Rei didn't mind the silence. It gave her all the time and place to ponder on her own feelings.
Rei should’ve realized her own feelings too–no, she did realize, her own ego refrained her from admitting so, that from the very beginning, she …
“A-aughhh- ugh … help, somebody …”
She clicked her tongue at the noise.
Her eyes followed the source of distraction, finding a man wheezing for air, crawling weakly with an arm clutching on his own stomach while lying in a puddle of crimson staining the ground with its filthy stench. What a bother, Rei sighed and stood up unwillingly. Grabbing her sword, she walked toward the man and grabbed his head by pulling his silver hair, his eyes widened, a shrieking yelp escaped his throat.
“Just when I thought I was finished, there's always unfinished business.”
Keeping a right grip on the head of the struggling man, she beheaded him in one swift move.
“GUAAHH!”
The man's body was still moving as he dropped with his blood pooling and dripping down to join the splattered drip. It took approximately three whole minutes until the body completely stopped wriggling on the ground.
Letting out a sigh, Rei crouched down, pulling the body by his leg and threw him along his head to the mountain of dead bodies at the center of the now blood painted podium. She lifted her head, watching on how her new addition just made the whole pile shifted.
Too high.
Did she stack on the body too high? Now the whole plaza was covered in shade, the afternoon daylight couldn’t even reach her face.
She hoped it wasn’t too dark.
Ah, but then again, Her Highness always preferred to nap without any sunlight disturbing her, wasn’t she? Maybe she should stack the bodies a bit higher?” Wiping off the blood of her sword, she didn't pay any attention to the blood splattered on her clothes or her body.
Rei threw her sword away, she wouldn't need that anymore.
It was finally peaceful and quiet in this country. There would be no conflict and no one is getting hurt again, an ideal outcome; since there was no one to hurt, and no one could be hurt anymore. Rei had made sure it ended this way. Everyone was holding on to each other after all, they were at long last getting along well.
The princess would certainly agree to that, wouldn’t she?
Smiling brightly, she chuckled to no one, like a lunatic in solitude. Because no one was alive in this kingdom anymore.
Walking back up to the podium, Rei sat down next to the most beautiful being that had ever existed in her life, reaching for the hand of her beloved as she pulled the palm closer to her lips. She granted it a chaste kiss, her eyelids fluttered close, then she murmured to her ear.
“Sweet dreams, My princess. I love you.”