2 Runaway Princess
*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*
"Stop right there!" The voice of a man echoes behind me.
I can't get caught, not now.
Crap, they are catching up.
I need to hurry.
To find "that person", I must not fail. Also there's a place I want to go, too, so that's make two reasons.
He's the only person that can help me... I hope...
I'm currently being chased by two soldiers along with my maid, which somehow ended up with me.
I did sneak out, after all, so maybe she noticed me.
But that isn't important right now. We keep running, until we are out of the forest and on the dirt road.
*Thud*
Uh oh. This doesn't sound good. I turn my back to see my maid has tripped over a rock and falls over.
If I leave her behind and continue running, I may escape. But I can't do that.
So of course, I turn back and help her stand up. And the soldiers catch up and surround us.
I don't understand. Why are demons being treated like crim-no, like monster? Is it because of the Flower War?
I can't lose my concentration now. I unshealth my sword at my hip and point it at one of the guards, readying my pose. A princess's duty is to protect her citizen, and I will do exactly that.
The guards also unshealt their swords too, and the one in front of me charge in first.
From the looks of it, he's still an amateur. His movement is sluggish and his grip on the sword is loose.
I will quickly deal with him, then the one behind me.
I dash in front of him, and do a quick uppercut, disarming him of his weapon. The sword flies away and lands somewhere near.
Too easy.
While I am thinking that to myself, I realise a mistake I made.
"Ahh!"
I quickly turn around, and see that my maid has been caught, the guard put the sword near her neck.
I was too distracted with the one behind me that I completely forgot there are two of them.
If Teacher was here, he would definitely scold me.
"Put your weapon down, and we won't harm her.", he says.
The maid continues to struggle and says "Lilith...-sama...Run...".
Like I said to myself before. I can't do that.
I follow the guard and slowly put my sword on the ground, not before looking around my surrounding.
And I see a way.
This plan is risky, but a princess has to sacrifice herself for the country.
I dash to a tree near the maid and the guard, jump at it, effectively planting my foot on the tree and launching myself at the guard, headbutting him.
The guard loses his balance and fall onto the ground.
"Run!" I shout.
"But..."
"I will catch on later, now run!"
"You little...!" The other guard uses his sword and slashes me in the back.
Luckily that I manage to dodge the hit, albeit barely, the blade only cut off my long hair.
I fall onto the ground and the guard pins me down.
The maid seems hesitant for a bit before turning her back and runs the opposite direction.
Seems like this is the end for me.
But then suddenly...
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"You can drop me here." I say and pay the rider the appropriate amount of money.
It's still early, so I thought I can enjoy the scenery here for a bit.
How many years have it been since I last left that forest, not counting the nearby town, and effectively enjoying a breather like this.
Well, I already know how many days, it's just a joke to cheer myself up.
*Clang*
Wait, what's that sound?
Is that...
I tries to follow the sound by looking around.
And six seconds later, I found the source of it.
My anxiety rises up again.
Why?
Why does it has to be now?
Two girls and two guards facing each others, with the two girls all have what seem to be horns on their heads.
The one with pink hair is fighting against a guard, while the other one is left unprotected.
What is this feeling inside me...?
As I predicted, the black hair one was captured and was used as hostage to make the pink one drop her sword.
But the next thing she did surprised me.
She used a tree nearby to launch herself into the soldier that was keeping the hostage, thus freeing the maid, but at the cost of her being caught. What is this idiot doing?
A feeling of unease swelled inside me.
I can't take this anymore.
I want to do something.
I want to save her.
This feeling of wanting to do justice inside me, despite fake, starts to grow on me.
And so, I proceed to do something that I consider is one of my most foolish moments in my entire life.
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"GYAAAAAH!!!!"
Suddenly, from out of no where, a boy dropkick the guard that was holding me down, before doing a backflip and lands in front of me.
"Are you okay?" The boy speaks, turning his head around to look at me.
I don't know if it's due to the lighting or what, but at that moment, the face of the boy is imprinted into my mind, my chest feels uneasy and my heart starts to beat faster. And I'm pretty sure my face has also turned red.
What is this feeling?
Is this...
I shake my head in fast motion to clear the thoughts in my head.
"Is that a no?" He asks again.
"Ah?! No, no! I'm fine!"
"Good. Can you run?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go!" He raise a hand toward me.
E-Eh?! We just met and you already want to hold hands?
No, no, no. He only wants to help me right??
Despite these thoughts, I slowly reaches out my hand to grab his, and he pulls me up.
And then we run together, as fast as possible, as the guards have already back to their feet and now are chasing us again.
I manages to pick up my sword in the chaos that I left on the ground.
O' Gods, please allow us to escape safely!
As we run, I see that he's wearing a bracelet on his left hand (which is the one he's holding mine with), and it has engravings on it.
Is that...the demon language?
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Yup, this is definitely going into the things that I regret doing.
We are currently being chased by the soldiers, and if we are caught, we are done for.
And I still have a wish to fulfill.
The soldiers manage to catch up with us.
I draw out my spear from my back and ready my stance.
"Can you still fight?" I ask her, remembering her fight with the soldiers before.
"Yes." She unshealt her sword, readying her stance as well.
"Let's go!" I yell as we dash into battle.
After defeating the soldiers (which they turned out to be not a big deal at all), I realise something.
I'VE SPENT TWENTY-THREE MINUTES WASTING MY TIME WITH THESE THINGS!!!!
What was to be me going to school soon turns into almost late.
I must hurry.
But how should I deal with her?
I need to think fast.
And then, a thought struck me. I look at my wrist.
Mother's bracelet. The mementos of her, to remind me of that incident, to remind me not to make the same mistake anymore.
And now I'm thinking of giving it to a person who I don't know.
...I will do it.
"Here." I take it out and give it to her.
"F-For me?"
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H-Hey!? Seriously?! You are giving a gift to a person who you have only met the first time?!
D-Don't tell me, he's in l-love with me?!?
That can't be, right? RIGHT?!
"Just put it on." He says with an urging voice.
"A-Ah, yes!"
I did what I was told, and after I put it on, suddenly my head feel a lot lighter.
"...Just as I thought." His voice has a tinge of sadness in it.
Hey! What's this all about?
I reach my hand to my head, just to find my most important thing gone.
My horns have disappeared!
"O-Oi! What's this all about?! What did you do?!"
"The effect of the bracelet is to hide your horns. Well, see you later."
L-Later?! We gonna meet again?!
Wait. What do I suppose to do now?
I look at the bracelet on my hand and took a closer look to the engravings.
It says "WATASHI NO AISURUHITO NI".
Wait...
"To...my...loved...one."
Wh-Whaaaaaaaaaatttt?!?!?!
H-Hold up for a sec.
He said that this bracelet is used to hide my horns right?
So it isn't that he gave me this because he liked me?
It can't be, right?
Put that aside, where should I go now?
I had been wandering around this country for a while without any direction.
Let's follow him.
But it's not like I'm into him or something! This is my option left!
And so I proceed to do that, trying to hide my presence as I go.
