Lute and I have joined the rest of the knights again. After we safely pass through the mountains, we arrive at a lake.

“Let’s stop here to make our plans going forward,” Gaia suggested.

Everyone sits down by the lake shore. Gaia spreads out a map in the middle, and then looks around at everyone.

“Because of the attack of the bandits, we have strayed far from the direct route to the palace,” Gaia stated.

“So we’re here now?” Haku asked as he points to a lake on the map. “We’re pretty far from the mountain path.”

“We’re going completely in the wrong direction. What the hell are we doing?” Shion commented.

“That being said, we can’t turn back the way we came,” Lute implied. “The bandits will be waiting for us.”

“But what else can we do?” Kenny asked.

“Shall we fight them again?” Haku wondered.

“We need to put the safety of the Princess first,” Gaia stated.

“Which road should we take, then?” Lute asked. “We should choose a safe, well-traveled route.”

“Wait a minute,” Kenny said. “I think I remember something…”

Kenny turns the map around to face him and frowns. “I remember! It’s Shika Village!”

“What about it?” Lute implied.

“One of my customers from the blacksmith shop mentioned it,” Kenny commented. “When they visit a relative who lives in a town near the palace, they pass through Shika.”

Everyone looks at Gaia.

“What shall we do, Commander?” Lute asked.

“All right,” Gaia said. “Let’s trust your customer and go through Shika Village. We leave in thirty minutes.”

“I’m gonna go move around for a while,” Kenny said.

“I don’t have anything else to do, so I’m going with Ken,” Haku implied. “What about you, Shi?”

“Nap,” Shion replied.

Everyone stands up to go enjoy their free time. However, Lute stays by my side.

“What would you like to do, Princess?” Lute asked.

“I was thinking of taking a walk.”

“Then I shall accompany you.”

We stroll through the dappled sunlight shining through the trees. The only thing we can hear are the birds singing and the rustle of leaves stirred by the wind.

“It has been a long time since I spend such a quiet, peaceful time like this,” Lute spoke.

“Me, too. I’m still in disbelief over what has happened to me these past few days.”

“I’m sure you are, milady. Anyone would be surprised if a group of knights suddenly showed up and declared them royalty.”

“Are you ever unsure of anything, Lute?”

“Of course. I am not perfect, milady.” Lute smiles softly at me and I…

“You seem perfect to me.”

“That is all it is, Princess. It is just an illusion.” Lute jokes with a chuckle.

Pulled in by his smile, I find myself laughing as well.

“Look, Princess!” Lute shouted. “There’s a deer!”

“A deer? Where?”

“Over there, in the shadow of that. See? It’s looking at us.”

I look in the direction Lute is pointing, and see a deer watching us with big eyes.

“Wow, a real deer! I’ve never seen one before! It’s so cute!!”

“There are a lot of grasses and berries in this area that deer love to eat.”

“I’ve only ever seen them in books! It was my dream to see one in person!”

“I am so glad. So happy your dream came true, Princess.”

The deer briskly turns and disappears into the forest.

“What’s your dream, Lute?” I asked.

“My dream? The prosperity of our country, of course.” Lute says smoothly, and gazes at me.

“You don’t want to see anything, or have anything special?”

“No.”

“You’ve never wanted anything just for yourself?”

“…No, I don’t think I have, milady.”

Lute looks up at the sun filtered through the leaves of the trees. He has a smile on his face, but there’s a sadness about it…

There it is again… That faraway look in his eyes. What should I say to him?

“Don’t you ever feel like being selfish for a change?” I asked.

“Well… I don’t think I have ever thought about it, milady.”

Lute quietly looks down at me and smiles.

The knights and I arrived at the next village, Shika.

“Wow, this town is huge! There’s so much going on at the marketplace, too!”

“Oooh, pumpkin filled sweet rolls. Those look so good…” Kenny commented.

“This town is much more urban than I imagined,” Lute implied.

“And the girls are way prettier,” Haku added.

“They just seem that way because we’ve been traveling with this one for so long,” Shion whispered.

“Um, I can hear you, Shion,” I said.

There are vegetable stands, cheese shops, flower shops, and so much more lining the streets and the plaza. A large statue stands in the middle of the plaza as the town symbol.

A legendary knight beside a white princess… It’s like something out of a fairy tale.

I read the plaque on the statue when…

THUD!!

“Aahh!”

“I-I’m sorry!”

A girl runs right into me. She keeps looking over her shoulder as if she’s frightened.

Is someone chasing her?

I think, and then I hear the sound of men yelling.

“Where is she?! Find her and bring her back!” the men demanded.

“O-Oh no!” the girl shouted.

“Hide under the table!” I stated.

I quickly pull back the cloth draped over the vegetable stand and hide the girl underneath.

TMP TMP TMP!

The men’s footsteps grow louder, and I can tell they are getting closer.

“Where’d she go?!” they shouted.

Here they are! Take this!

I watch carefully as the men run by, and then stick out my leg and trip one.

“Whoa! Owww!! Did you just trip me, woman?!” the man asked.

“You caught me!” I answered. “It’s because you’re bullying the weak!”

“Can you believe this woman? Get her!” the man commanded.

The men raise their hands to hit me when…

SLAP!

“Owwww! W-What are you doing?!” the man asked.

“That’s my line. What are you doing?” Lute asked.

Lute and the other knights twist the men’s arms behind their backs and save me!

“Only the lowest kind of man would ever raise his hand to a woman,” Haku stated.

“You’ll have to get through us first before you ever lay a hand on her,” Kenny implied.

“So what’ll it be?” Shion asked.

“D-Damn it!” the man cursed.

“You have ten seconds. If you don’t want to get hurt,” Lute said, “I suggest you get out of our sight.”

“…Y-You’ll pay for this!” the man yelled. “Let’s go, men!”

The men rush off.  Seeing them leave, the girl comes out from under the table.

“Thank you, Sir Knights… and thank you, Miss!” the girl said.

“Be careful going home so the men don’t see you,” I implied.

The girl bows politely to the knights and leaves the marketplace.

“You’re really making me nervous, Princess,” Shion commented. “Didn’t you think of the trouble you could get in tripping rogues like that?”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine. That is what we are here for, milady,” Lute replied.

“There Lute goes again,” Haku commented. “Stealing all the good lines for himself.”

“I just did what was right.”

“Why don’t you let me show off for a change?”

“I wasn’t going it to show off!”

 The men stand face to face, glaring at each other. Even though it seems like they’re joking, I can tell they’re serious and I begin to get nervous.

“What should we do about them, Kenny?” I asked.

“Don’t worry,” Kenny said. “Their personalities are completely opposite, but they’re more like close rivals than enemies.”

Just then…

“Damn it!”

“Huh?”

I turn around in the direction of the voice and see one of the men who just left raising a rod to attack the knights.

“Watch out!” I shouted.

“Haku!” Lute yelled.

“Lute!” Haku yelled back.

Haku releases an arrow. The arrow pierces the man’s rod and then Lute slices it in two with his sword.

“Arrghhhh!”

Scared out of his wits, the man runs away as fast as he can.

“There,” Lute said.

“We got him,” Haku added.

The two knights bump fists and grin at each other.

They were in prefect sync with each other. They must really respect each other’s skill.

I’m glad to see the two of them get along.

“Shall we go?” Lute suggested.

“Yes,” Gaia replied. “I heard from a villager there’s a tunnel near town, which is a shortcut to the palace.”

“We should hurry,” Haku implied.

Haku begins to leave, but Gaia stops him.

“Wait,” Gaia said. “Only the mayor can open that city gate. So we must meet with him first.”

We quickly head towards the mayor’s house.

We arrive at the mayor’s house.

“We’d like to have an audience with the mayor, please,” Gaia said.

“Please wait here,” the servant replied.

The servant disappears into the house and then we hear some kind of commotion.

“…But we almost had her! If only they hadn’t interfered…! Fine, fine, you can tell me about it later.”

A man, presumably the mayor, appears in the doorway, followed by several other men. I look at the men and gasp.

It’s them!

It’s the same men we just chased off.

“It’s them!” Kenny pointed out.

Hearing Kenny speak, the men look in our direction.

“What?! Mayor, she’s the one! That woman and those knights got in our way!” the man said.

“What did you say?!” the mayor asked.

“Wait! We were just trying to help the girl…”

“Just keep your mouth shut, okay?” Shion said.

“Pardon me, but what is going on here?” Lute asked.

“Is it true you protected a girl from these men?” the mayor asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” Haku wondered.

“Well, then we’ve got a problem here,” the mayor said. “That girl was supposed to marry the Count today!”

“What…?”

“The Count holds a lot of power in this town!” the man implied. “How are you going to make up for this?!”

“That’s enough. I will explain the situation.”

 The mayor interrupts the man and then continues.

 “The Count controls everything in this town. So if this marriage doesn’t go ahead as planned, we’re in a lot of trouble.”

Wow… I had no idea…

“But she ran away. There’s nothing you can do about that,” Haku said.

“We’ll bring her back, no matter what,” the mayor stated. “But we’ll need someone to stand in for the girl until we can find her.”

 The mayor looks in my direction.  “…Will you do it?”

“Excuse me?!”

Lute takes one step towards the mayor. “I’m sorry, Mayor, but we must refuse.”

“But you have to!” the mayor said. “If you stand in for the girl, I shall open the gate for you.”

“Listen, we didn’t do anything wrong here,” Haku commented. “She was being chased by those men. Who wouldn’t try to save her?”

“Plus, there’s no way this one can stand in for the girl,” Shion added.

“No matter the reason, I cannot allow this,” Gaia stated.

Everyone is standing up for me. But I can’t help but feel some responsibility for what’s happened.

It’s because of my actions that things ended up this way…

“This is ridiculous,” Kenny said. “Sophie, let’s go.”

“Kenny, wait.”

He grabs my arm, but I gently remove myself from his grip. I stare right into the mayor’s eyes.

“Very well,” I said. “I’ll stand in for the girl.”

“What are you saying, Milady Sophie?” Lute asked.

“Lute, everyone… Please listen. Even though I didn’t mean to, this happened because of me. So please let me take her place. After everything’s settled he’ll open the gate for us and we can continue on to the palace.”

“Milady Sophie…” the mayor said.

Lute stares at me and then closes his mouth. The other knights exchange glances, not quite sure what to do. But I have made up my mind.