1 The Chaotic Situation

Sitting on the highest seat in Sefrania, King Silas Stawarski glanced at the group of high ranked ministers kneeling on the ground.

The King was like a sleeping tiger. Although he had more wrinkles over the years, no one dared to underestimate him as he was the one who fought wars and extended Sefrania which was a small city to the large Kingdom it was today. He, who was only the city lord, established a huge Kingdom and became the King at the age of thirty six.

Standing beside the King was a young maiden who was an alluring beauty. She was like a little flower bud which had yet to bloom. In a few years, she definitely would be a beauty that could topple nations! She seemed to grow more beautiful each time they saw her.

In terms of appearance, very few could rival this precious flower of House Stawarski, however everyone knew under this beautiful exterior lay a hot tempered fiery girl who could burn them easily. Princess Ariadne Stawarski's notoriety was known throughout, no one dared to treat her as a well behaved little rabbit even though she was only fifteen years old!

The Princess is the exact copy of her dead father, Prince Amory who was supposed to be the next King, in her temperament.

After Prince Amory, the eldest son of King Silas, died in the battlefield, the next King of Sefrania naturally should be Prince Alfred, second son of King Silas, as he was the only living male heir of the current King.

But King Silas was very guilty that his eldest son who was supposed to be the next King died because of his ambition. So, he wanted to name Princess Ariadne, the only daughter of Prince Amory, the heir to the throne. This decision of the King was supported by half of the court and rejected by the other half who wanted Prince Alfred to be the heir as they did not want to be dominated by a woman.

The court was then split into two groups, one supporting Prince Alfred and the other supporting Princess Ariadne.

The major supporter of Prince Alfred is Sir Oliver Beverly, the prime minister of Sefrania and one of the good friends of King Silas who accompanied King Silas in life and death situations. He is also father of Queen Freya and maternal grandfather father of Prince Alfred whereas the Princess is supported by Sir Louis Elrod, the Assistant General of the Armed forces, who fought alongside Prince Amory. Two third of the army of Sefrania was in his control. These two people are one of the most powerful people in the Kingdom. A direct war between these two people was not something Sefrania could withstand at this moment as the Kingdom was in war with Riagovis Empire and the situation at the border was chaotic.

Riagovis Empire is located towards west of Sefrania Kingdom. Riagovis Empire consists six large Kingdoms as it's vassals. The House Racanelli has been ruling Riagovis Empire for three hundred years.

King Rowan Racanelli, the current ruler of Riagovis Empire, is a calculating, ruthless, and controlling man.

In his youth, he witnessed his father grow frail and weak. Eventually several nobles and vassal Kingdoms revolted against the Racanelli rule. The previous King was sick at that time and was unable to stop them.

Disgusted with his father's inaction, Prince Rowan Racanelli, who was fifteen back then, personally led the Imperial army and utterly destroyed the rebellious vassals, placing the dead bodies of their entire families on display at the entry gate of city of Asiris, the capital of Riagovis Empire.

This cruel King was now after Sefrania Kingdom. He sent an army of thirty thousand troops to the border to fight the war. The situation at the border was chaotic. In three months, two cities were lost. The Armed forces were losing morale with a quarter of the soldiers dead.

The worst news is that the General commanding the Armed forces at the border is seriously injured. Many soldiers are deserting the army. Increasing the morale of the soldiers was the first and foremost thing right now.

The only way to do that is to send one of the royals to the border to fight alongside the soldiers. Else, this war will be impossible to win.

King Silas was in his sixties and his body cannot withstand pressure. So, the choice came down to Prince Alfred and Princess Ariadne.

***

"I will go to the border to fight alongside our soldiers."

I may be the only one who has faint smile on my lips when I said those words.

My grandfather looked at me with half relieved and half regretful expression.

Then there were my friends who insisted that I not go to the border and instead send Prince Alfred.

"Your Majesty! You can't agree!"

Sir Kael exclaimed and tried to run to the front, but he was stopped by the guards and barred from taking a step forward.

Sir Kael and Sir Louis are the only people in court who would support me and love me unconditionally. I'm thankful to them.

I cast them a grateful glance and turned to face my grandfather and Sir Oliver.

"Your Highness, do you really agree to go to war without any objection?"

Sir Oliver spoke in a cold voice. He wanted me to resist this decision. If I did that, the small folk will have a bad impression on me and my reputation will be damaged. I will be labelled as a coward who abandoned her homeland in face of danger.

"I accept this decision. It is my duty to serve and protect my homeland."

Sir Oliver's face turned red with anger, as my reaction was the most unexpected to him. He would never have expected that I, a weak woman, will agree to go to the battlefield. That is why he brought forth this proposal.

Grandfather looked at me in silence. His gaze seemed to ask, Is this what you really want? I nodded my head in determination.

My heart was beating fast at that moment. It was beating so fast that it felt like my heart will break my rib cage and fall out of my body. Will grandfather agree? The old man's mouth opened to speak and I swallowed dryly.

"I approve the decision of the Princess."

"Your Majesty, thank you."

I smiled and bowed upon receiving his permission.

"Princess, I approved this request because I believed in you since your childhood. The road you chose is not an easy one."

"Thank you, grandfather."

The first time, I was thanking the King who allowed a girl to participate in war. This time, I am thankful to my grandfather who always had immense trust and faith in me.

'Grandfather, I will never fail you. Thank you for believing me.'

Murmuring broke out in the room because of the King's words.

Sir Oliver was livid with rage. My uncle, Prince Alfred who was standing there, looked like a volcano ready to explode at any moment. His face and fists were red with anger.

"The court ends here."

After saying that, The King stood up to leave and was immediately followed by Sir Oliver. Prince Alfred and his companions also turned away to follow The King.

With both The King and Prime Minister gone, the room suddenly burst into a cacophony of noise, much like a whole host of instruments playing at once. My friends, the ladies-in-waiting and Sir Kael ran towards me and bombarded me with questions.

"Your Highness, what's going on?"

"What happened, Your Highness—"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you all in advance."

I apologized to them in my embarrassment. The plan had to be kept secret to eliminate any chance of it going wrong. If Sir Oliver found out that I was going to agree, then he would never make this proposal. If I, myself suggested that I want to go to war, none of the court ministers would have agreed to that proposal.

Fortunately, someone from their side came to inform me of this, else I would be unprepared. But this decision of mine will upset the people who care about me. They must have been worried for me…but fortunately, the ladies-in-waiting did not lay blame on me. Rather, they held me and cried sadly.

Kayla Stein, one of my ladies-in-waiting, clenched her fists and made a vow.

"I just made up my mind! I will go to the border with Your Highness!"

"Kayla, that's—"

"Even if you are going there to fight war, you still need someone to take care of you! In a camp full of men, how can you be alone?"

Kayla, unlike the other women who were serving me from my childhood, initially became my lady-in-waiting to learn court etiquette. Her father is my grandfather's personal knight. However, I was hesitant to take Kayla to the chaotic border which was full of hidden dangers. Then, Marchioness Gruber spoke up.

"Then Kayla and I will follow you, Your Highness."

"Madam Calista?"

Kayla didn't expect Madam Calista to volunteer, and she looked up in surprise. Marquess Gruber continued to speak.

"Madam Lyra may find it difficult to follow you to the battlefield, since she is on good terms with her husband and has children in the capital. However, my husband and I have been separate for a long time. It will take him a year to notice that I haven't gone home. I don't have any children to take care of either. You are the child I took care of since birth. I can't live in peace in the capital knowing that you are at the border fighting the war alone."

"…"

I stared at Madam Calista, and she gave a sly chuckle.

"Instead of worrying here, I might as well follow you, Your Highness. With me around, your mother will be relieved too."

"I'd be glad if you could accompany me, Madam Calista…"

"I want to follow Your Highness too!"

"Your Highness, please take me along with you!"

"Your Highness, I will come with you!"

With Madam Calista taking the lead, all of my Ladies-in-waiting followed her, expressing their willingness to follow me. Even Madam Lyra wanted to follow me to the border.

Seeing all these people who are willing to follow me in life and death situations, my heart instantly warmed up. Unknowingly, a small smile emerged on my lips.

***

Meanwhile.

In the royal palace, Queen Freya screamed and started breaking all the things in her room after learning of what happened in the court.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

"Scram! I don't want to meet anyone! I don't want anyone to come in!"

The Queen shouted angrily, her eyes turning blood red with tears falling out uncontrollably.

But the person on the other side immediately entered without giving importance to the Queen's shouts.

That person was Prince Alfred. Seeing the state his mother was in, Prince Alfred quickly approached her and held her tightly in an attempt to calm her down.

But as soon as he hugged his mother, Queen Freya burst into tears. Her silent cries from before instantly turned into loud wails.

Prince Alfred only opened his mouth after the Queen calmed down completely.

"Mother, Ariadne already knew that we were going to force her to go to the battlefield. She was just waiting for us to say that."

Queen Freya asked with a look of bewilderment.

"How could she possibly know it before? Only I, you, your grandfather and Alyssa....."

As she spoke, Queen Freya's face abruptly distorted.

"You are saying that Alyssa leaked the news to Ariadne?"

Prince Alfred smiled wryly.

"Not only to Ariadne, your dearest daughter also told father about our plans. Now, Father will be even more suspicious of us."

"Not only that, I also lost a wonderful chance to win the hearts of the small folk by leading our army to victory because of Alyssa."

"Mother, if we win the war this time, even if Ariadne has no contributions, the commoners will love her. This time, our actions paved way for her future. All of this is because of Alyssa!"

Queen Freya bit her lips. 'Alyssa, what have you done?'