Interlude

My name is Lucina MacGrath, the daughter of Lomun MacGarth, the proud lord of Dalagull land. From a child, I have been taught how to take care of my future husband. How to cook for him. How to take care of the child I will give to my future husband.

In the past, I didn't want to be sold out to a rich merchant or a bastard lord that only wanted to make me his trophy wife. That is why I demanded my father to teach me how to wield a weapon from a sword to a slingshot. I also demand him to teach me how to be a top tier crafter.

Not only practicing a martial skill, but I also increase my knowledge in trading and accounting. When the time comes, I want to have a choice for my life. I don't want to be a trophy wife. I want to choose my own partner for life.

However, all of that changed when Isaac came into my life. Lord Lionheart comes to Dalagull with his son, Isaac Lionheart.

Lord Lionheart and my father become friends when there is a monster outbreak near Dalagull city. With the help of Lord Lionheart and his army, they successfully defeat all the monsters.

After that event, both Lord Lionheart and my father become friends after a year of going to battle against the monster together, both of them declared that they are a brother in all but blood.

When the situation has returned to normal, Lord Lionheart comes to Dalagul and comes with him as his only son, Isaac Lionheart.

The first time I see him, the first I see is his silver hair that reflects the sun. The next thing I see is his blue eyes that shine brightly with power that is not yet unleashed.

My father introduced me to him, and from the sound of my father, I know that this young man is my future husband or someone that my father wants to betroth me with. That day, I could feel my heartbreak as I thought that my father would sell me away.

My mind filled with the worst scenario about how I will become a breeding mate to Isaac Lionheart. I thought that I would only become something like a slave to my soon to be husband. My mind is filled with that, and with thinking like that, I decide to run away from home.

I don't think which destination I will go to or how I could get food. The only thing I can think of is running away from home so I will not be sold away by my own father.

When the sun is setting, I already remember the guard schedule and sneak away from my room when the guards go back to their barracks and switch with the night guard. I begin to run away from the Dalagull city and continue to run away as far as my legs can carry me.

When my leg gives up from exhaustion, my mind begins to think clearly. My mind begins to tell me that all of my so-called plans are stupid. As I sit down under a tree and think about my future, I hear something from the bush near me.

When I hear it, I take out a knife from my belt and prepare for something to jump away from the bush. As I walk slowly away from the bush, I can see something walk from the bush, and I see ten Goblins appear in front of me.

I can see seven goblin scouts and three goblin warriors appear from the bush, and when they see me, they begin to charge at me. Seeing them coming at me, I begin to run away.

As I run away, I can see three of the goblins run past me and block my way to run. Seeing the situation, I take a stance and wait for them to attack. When one of the goblin scouts charges at me with its knife, I dodge it and stab its arm with my knife.

The goblin screamed as I took away my knife and blocked the incoming attack from my back. As I block the incoming attack, the goblin scout from earlier bite my leg. That bite is really hurt, and I still have the bite mark to this day.

When the goblin bites my leg, I push away the goblin warrior's sword and then stab the goblin scout that bites me. I begin to kneel as the pain and the exhaustion from running away from the castle make my leg give up trying to stand up.

As I was already accepting my fate, he came. Isaac Lionheart comes with his spear in hand and stabs the goblin warrior that is ready to take me to their nest and make me their food. I look at Isaac as he kills the goblin with ease and then tosses his lantern away, burning the bush near it.

As the fire keeps the goblin away, Issac grabs me and begins to carry me away from the goblin. As we are far enough, Isaac places me on the ground and looks at my injured leg.

"Why?"

I asked him why he rescued me. From the first time he arrived in Dalagull, I gave him the cold shoulder and ignored him.

"I don't know. I feel like it."

"I ignore you. I give you the cold shoulder. So why?"

".... You look lonely. I don't know why you decided to run away from home when your father loved you so much, but I know you are a lonely girl when I look at you in the garden. You have a goal that you want to achieve, but because of that goal, you never have any friends to talk about your woe, to talk about all the happy moments you have, or to talk about some nonsense. From then, I decide to become your friend and ease that loneliness you have."

Under the light of the moon, I can see Isaac glowing a little, and with a gentle smile on his face, I know that I have fallen.

My feelings continue to grow the more time I spend with him, from sparring to walk around the city. When Isaac and Lord Lionheart say their goodbye, I want to cry or demand my father to let Isaac stay.

I'm afraid that he will forget about me and meet a more beautiful woman than me. My mind began to think about the worst thing once again, but it all disappeared when Isaac walked toward me and hugged me.

"I will be back."

I looked at him with a tear that was ready to fall, but before the tear could fall from my eyes, Isaac gently wiped away the tear.

"Promise?"

"I promise. Here…"

Isaac takes out something from his pocket, and I can see two necklaces. It was a necklace of two doves as he takes one of the necklaces and wears it before placing the other one around my neck.

"Dove is a symbol of a people that will meet again someday. This my gift to you and also a promise that we will meet again."

After hugging him for a few seconds, I let him go and see Isaac and Lord Lionheart go back to his home. I touch the dove with a smile on my face and hear my father say.

"Dove also the symbol of love~."

That day I ignored my father's teasing and went back to my room.

I look at the necklace that I still wear to this day and look at the same necklace around Isaac's neck. I smile a little and ruffle his hair. We have just finished celebrating the announcement of the betrothed between Isaac and me.

I don't know what the future has for both of us, but I know that I will be okay.