The eminence in shadow: A Mob's way out of polygamy 8

Chapter 8: Beginning of the prelude

To be completely honest, she didn't really have a plan of how to get rid of Zenon. She just wanted to show him that he's lower than someone like Cid. But during the two weeks they spent together, she began to realize that Cid isn't as bad as she originally thought.

Sure, he's an asshole through and through but he's honest to the core. She lived her whole life completely masked off from everyone as she didn't trust anyone. But Cid just had the vibe of someone who wouldn't judge you even if you do the most gross thing in front of him.

Alexia appreciated his honesty to the fault even if it did make her look bad in some moments. But she knows that it's probably just a part of finally being honest with herself.

Though, there were some disadvantages of being together with Cid. There was not only zero reaction from Zenon but also Amelia Hikari making her life harder than it should be.

Amelia Hikari, the duke and duchess only daughter and second child in the family. Alexia had to admit, she was certaintly beautiful for the standards of the kingdom and there was no doubt in her ability of seducing any man she wanted. Even before she ventured out to study at the academy, Amelia was pretty popular with the noble sons and was constantly asked for her hand in marriage.

So imagine her suprise when Alexia's new boyfriend who confessed because of a punishment game said that Amelia and him are practically engaged to each other. Alexia remembered Amelia talking about a certain boy on one ball some years before but refused to give his name. She described him as the one she had in mind in the future so she was baffed to hear that Cid is supposed to be that one.

Alexia doesn't like Amelia. She knows that Amelia feels the same. But Alexia basically had a win over Amelia as she basically stole the crush of her right in front of her nose. She isn't even able to blame Alexia for stealing him away as she herself was a witness of his (pathetic but she knows that it was an act) confession.

Poochie's condition of continuing the fake relationship was keeping Amelia away from him. She really couldn't for the life of her say why someone like Poochie would want to avoid someone like Amelia. It was a mistrust on his side because he himself doesn't know why Amelia would want him.

Deciding that it would be a hassle to ask for more, she concluded to just accept his request and keep Amelia away from them. So she basically abused her position as a princess once again because not even someone like Amelia is able to overrule her.

She put on a restraining order on Amelia which says that she has to be in a distance of 10 meters away from Poochie and Alexia individually. But she could feel the murderous intent glaring at her everytime she was with Poochie.

But she didn't really care about that. Alexia had more important plans in mind, specifically making Zenon lose interest in her. Though, she sometimes lost herself in the moment of carelessness and just enjoyed the small moments where she could feel like a normal girl.

A girl not burdened with the responsibilities of a whole kingdom. Sure, her sister is most likely to take the throne after her father, but there's no doubt that Alexia will also have to help here and there sometimes. Not to mention her inevitable fate of getting married off to some random son of a duke which she doesn't even know.

Though, she should really be more concerned with her current situation than the future of her partner.

Moss stained walls. An unknown ceiling. Bars standing straight up before her. That was the rough summary of the room she was currently in.

Being attacked on the way home was something she didn't expect, especially after having a dispute with Poochie. She can only remember being hit on the back of her head and passing out immediately after.

But why would someone kidnap her? Blackmail, abduction, human trafficking... There's no definite answer. She may not be the first princess, so not the heir to the throne, but there are enough reasons for criminals to kidnap a princess.

The last time she was seen was probably with... Poochie... There's no doubt that he'll be targeted first in this confusion of her disappearing. And if they think that he won't give them any clues they'll most likely resort to...

Alexia refused to continue that thought. She wouldn't forgive herself if her one friend would get hurt because of her while he's innocent.

"Even if someone kidnapped you I would simply think "Heh, serves you right!"."

....

No, he wouldn't have the gall to hire someone to kidnap her. Poochie isn't like that.

She woke up on a stretcher and instantly felt the restraint on her hands and her feet. Obviously, she tried to break free after waking up but was stopped by the magical restraint. Chains and fetters built by a special material that stops any magical flow you try to use.

Beyond the bars of her stretcher, there was a steel door, a wooden table with various documents but most importantly, a strange creature next to her.

'Strange' would be an understatement because she couldn't really describe what it was. It had long and smooth white hair and the skin was dirty gray. The right arm of this creature was almost double the size of her legs while it's left arm was comparable to hers. It's left eye was completely shut, forcibly it seems as there is a scar above the eye, while the right eye was pure black with a single small red pupil shining out of it.

Alexia had never seen or heard such a creature in her life before. Fairytales, horror stories and so on have never depicted such a creature. Most people would be disgusted by it's appearance but she couldn't help but feel sorry for it for some reason.

The creature suddenly looks at her.

Huh!

It glanced at her briefly before losing interest and turning away from her. Feeling relieved, she sighs.

Suddenly her cell door was opened.

"Royal blood. Royal blood. Finally... I finally have royal blood."

It was a slim man with long gray hair which was tied up behind his head. He was wearing a white lab coat, presumingly a researcher she concluded. He was holding a metal tray in his hands with three syringes. Although he was smiling, Alexia really didn't get the friendly vibes from him. He was rather laughing to himself creepily.

Deciding to humor him because she didn't know what he had in plan with her, she began with a simple question.

"How do you do? Are you my kidnapper?"

"Royal blood, royal blood, royal blood... Royal blood. Royal blood... royal blood."

Getting completely ignored, Alexia can only watch him taking one of the syringes in his hands and pointing it towards her right arm. He kept mumbling "royal blood" like a obsessed maniac as if her blood could cure Demon Possession.

Alexia wrinkles her face and has a deep frown forming on her face.

"May I ask a question? What will you be using my blood for?"

"Y-your blood is demon blood blood blood. Blood blood blood. I'm going to resurrect the demon in the mod-modern day!"

After his explanation, he begins to laugh maniacally without making any sense to her.

"I see. Sounds lovely."

What's with this creepy guy? He wants my blood and nothing else so I better not make him angry.

"Not that I know what that means."

I hope Cid is alright...

At the same time:

A loud punch echoed through the halls. But it didn't end with just one as many other rained down after another. It sounded like a sandbag beaten up by a aggressive gorilla only with the exception it wasn't a sandbag but human being. He also wasn't beaten up by a gorilla but a knight who hit him repeatedly with his baton.

He was almost nacked as everything except his shorts were taken from him to "examine and find" any clues for Princess Alexia's location. His wrists were tied up with a tight knot that could make someone lose any feeling in their hands.

There were two chains bound to his ankles with a magic restraint as they couldn't have him escape at any cost.

What was supposed to be a interrogation turned into a torture session for the pleasure of his torturer. They were smiling sadistically, enjoying every single sound of him being in pain by their methods, even though they knew that he wouldn't be able to ever answer their answers truthfully.

And if he attempted to lie through it, they would instantly saw through his lies and torture him more for his lies.

It was basically the most unfair scenario for anyone in this world. The Knight Order, basically the ray of hope and the protectors in the Kingdom of Midgar, torturing an innocent boy gleefully as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

But there was someting the knights didn't know. Out of all the people they could have taken, they especially chose the most dangerous one with their knowledge. And they wouldn't know it because right now...

"Take that! Had enough yet? You're the only one who could have possibly done it!"

"I'm gonna ask you one more time. Where did you hide Princess Alexia?"

...he was playing his role as the background character perfectly.

Another small amount of blood was spilt from his mouth as it was punched out of him. He had bruises all over his body, many of them big enough where you could think he's a demon possessed male.

But inside his mind there was a bigger thing that bothered him.

The physical pain is something I can just put up with. The bigger issue is...

*BAM*

Hit again. They were only aiming at his face in this moment. How he hadn't lost a tooth yet is somethimg that the knight can't explain. But nonetheless...

"Why don't you try saying something? Keeping your mouth shut won't solve the problem!"

*BAM*

Another hit. The knight with the baton didn't hold back with his punches. It was like there was some stress he built up so he can release it on Cid.

...This interrogation is such a classic minor character material! Such a degree of NPC-ness! I can't let them out-unshine me!

But the victim in this situation wasn't going with their questions at all. He was more buisy in acting like the mob character he always aspired to be (except the other one). Everytime he was hit, he exaggerated the hit and bounced off 20% more than he originally would.

He also relaxed a lot of his muscles so he would look more skinny and frail than normally. That gave the knights the boost to hit him more so he can act out more for himself.

The blond knight approached him and kneeled down so that they're on the same eyelength. He still had his cocky and sadistic smile on his face.

"We're going to have to give him a wider variety of pain."

He pulled out three long iron needles. They were about as big as a finger but still hard enough to penetrate through human skin. At the sight of them, Cid immediately trembled in his stool and looked in fear of getting hurt.

"I don't know! I swear, I don't know anything! Please, let me go!-"

But his pleading was interrupted by the stabbing of three needles into his thigh. The immediate reaction was loud cry that was heard outside but was ignored by the civiliants.

And a perfect clincher.

The guards were looking even more happy at the sight of him suffering. But they're not monsters as they have a legitimate reason for torturing him.

Flashback:

"Man, I'm bored. I'm tired of always playing cards with these losers. I'm looking for a way to relieve my stress and boredom."

"Same. The streets are getting too peaceful for my taste. Ever since Princess Iris became an official knight, burglars don't even try to go outside anymore."

"But that just takes the fun of getting to kill them while they beg for their life."

Both of them were having a lunch break right now and were contemplating about their plans in the future. One of them just enrolled into the Knight Order so that he can satisfy his thirst for human cries. But lately, he didn't get to go outside that much to catch some thieves here and there. So he was in his own words, "dying out of boredom".

His buddy to the side just didn't have any idea what to do in the future after graduating from school. Not to mention, his fiancee dumped him to be with another man. You can guess how much that effected him as he looked like a corpse coming to work the next day.

So it was logical that both of them were looking for something to relieve their built up stress on. Something that could be very punchable or maybe a woman to play with...

"Hey, you guys! We have something for you."

Another knight came into the room. He had some documents in hand but fortunately for them, they could just pass them off to their juniors. And if they even tried to refuse, both of them would just blackmail them with some dirt they found on their colleagues.

"Hm?"

On top of that document pile, there was a description of a average looking boy with raven hair. Normally, they wouldn't have given him a glance in his direction but they vaguely recognize him from somewhere.

Ah!

Ah!

He was the boyfriend of Princess Alexia! She had gone missing since the morning. It was understandable to arrest to person who was with her the last time she was seen. But from what he read, this boyfriend really didn't look like someone who could kidnap a Princess on his own.

So he problably had to hire some other people to do it.

"Now listen, this boy has been framed for the kidnapping of Princess Alexia. We're instructed to "interrogate" him for answers, if you what I mean. Do what you want with him. Oh! There's also this girl who was framed along side of him. She's a real eye-catcher if you ask me. Both of them should arrive any minute now. So don't go overboard you two."

That's at least what they're letting the public think. But the information and off hand comment from their senior intrigue them so they lifted the paper of the boy to see a stunning picture of a blond woman with the most beautiful face they've ever seen.

It seems that both of their wishes are coming true as they can torture the boy first and then have some "fun" with the girl later on.

""Oh, we're so back!""

With new found motivation, they eagerly awaited the arrival of the two students.

"*sigh* When we're done with you, we'll go to the girl next. Once we find her..., you probably can guess what fate awaits her."

Pushing the iron needles deeper in his thigh, the blonde drops this comment. He probably remembered what he wanted to do after this session.

"Oh yeah, completely forgot about that. I've heard that she's an absolute bomb and has a gorgeous body. I can't wait!"

Are they talking about Amelia? Oh yeah, she was included in this mess for some reason. But forget about that! Even their lines are the peak NPC-ness! Oh, how I envy them! But I won't let myself be beaten by them in this aspect!

This is our protagonist.

"NO! Please, leave her alone! She's innocent, I swear! Please don't involve her in this any further!"

The knights were a bit startled by the sudden energy from the boy they had just beaten into a pulp. He was quiet the whole time but just at the mention of the girl he gets all fired up. They don't like that. He's supposed to be their punching bag for the time they're here.

"Oh? Is she someone special to you? How can that be if you're already in a relationship with Princess Alexia herself? Did you perhaps... cheat on her Highness?"

"No! I would never! It's just... Amelia is innocent! I can vouch for that any time in my life!"

"Someone is sure of that. But if you're so confident in the fact that she's innocent, then didn't you just out yourself as guilty?"

Baseless accusations like that is what he prefered. It saves the trouble of leading the knights into the right direction of thinking. But there's a reason why he's trying so hard to get Amelia out of this mess. His acting practise aside, Cid really didn't want Amelia to suffer from the dumb stuff he did.

Anybody could see that the Knight Order is corrputed, especially Amelia. So there's no doubt that she'd try to defend herself from getting arrested without any legitimate reason against her.

And if she gets in trouble because of him, it's only natural that you would try to get her out from that. That's basically the repayment for all the times where she had paid for all the sweets and outings out of her own pocket.

So if he saves her now, they'll be even!

"N-n-no?! But Amelia isn't the person to kidnap someone without any reason! I'm sure of that!"

"But that doesn't give us any evidence. So we'll just have to find her again so we can interrogate through and through. But hey, there's something you can do."

"And what would that be?!"

"You can just plead guilty and we'll leave her alone-"

Should I gamble with this risk? I know I said that I would get her out of trouble but my head in now on the line! Not that they could actually kill me, though. But if I do that, my Cid persona is doomed to die because I'm taking the bullet here.

Oh well, I don't go back on my words.

"I will do it! Just please... leave her alone from this."

The guards, completely amused by the situation, laughed at the exclamtion from Cid.

"Finally! You admitted it. But don't worry, we're not done with you, yet. And the girl still has to be arrested for fighting against the Knight Order and even injure some of them. So you're whole stunt was completely useless!"

Wow, so much for that.

Cid, deadpanning at his decision, realised that he forgot about Amelia's nature to fight back against anything that doesn't go along her way. Because of that, he failed to remember the punishment of refusing an order from the Knight Order itself.

With this stupid decision plaguing him, the knights continued with their torture session with even more vigor. They were only amused by the cries of him but after getting to know that he's acquainted with a beauty like that, they couldn't help but feel jealous.

This average guy already had a Princess as his girlfriend and instead of "revealing" where the kidnapped Princess is, he's defending another girl with his life on the line? He doesn't appreciate the joy of having at least one person loving him.

So they'll make him suffer for that.

But during the whole process of torturing, threatening and beating him up, there was only thought that was in Cid's mind.

How long is this gonna go on?

Back in time, Amelia POV:

It's a fresh morning. It's beautiful day outside, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and I'm in a high mood. You may ask me, why? And the reason is very simple. I've seen Princess Alexia breaking up with Cid! Though admittedly, none of them knew that I was there, tailing them.

They seem to have fought about a mundane topic I don't care about. But that's just the way it is. Sometimes even the small things can destroy a relationship and make you realise that you're not supposed to be with them.

I'm very thankful for Alexia that she had that realization early in time, though I would have prefered it to be even more earlier. Then I wouldn't have had to waste my time on following them in the shadows suspiciously.

I was forced to watch the guy I had been crushing on most of my life, spending time and dates with another woman. They even had an indirect kiss together! When Alexia passed Cid her ice cream and then took it back after she licked it one time!

I remember accidentally destroying the ice cream stall where I was lining up. Confused by the whole commotion, I just ran away. I did repay for the damage later on, though.

But now I don't have to worry about the possibility of romantic stuff ever happening between them as they've broken up! Now I can focus my aim directly at Cid during our three years here in the capital. And if there's even a slight chance of a woman wanting to approach Cid, I'll make her stop.

How I do it depends on my mood.

So I was currently preparing myself to go to the academy. I want to look extra fancy and stunning today so I can greet Cid in my best form. I even used some of my pocket money to buy the newest product from Mitsugoshi Inc, the makeup. After twenty minutes of explaining and showcasing in the store, I felt ready to take on the challenge of putting makeup on my face.

The new product called perfume with a unique scent was also something I didn't want to miss out on. The only regrettable was the fact that I wasn't able to take Cid with me during my shopping trip. I know that he would have complained but if I just bribed him with some stuff there, he would have absolutely agreed on to accompany to the store.

Being in a good mood, I hummed some songs that stuck to my head. Most of them were from the famous musician Silon. Because of her I also started to practise playing with the piano and wanted Cid to take up another instrument so we can have a duo together.

Suprisingly, he told me that he's already well immersed with the piano. Unfortunetely, there wasn't a convenient piano around during that time so we had postpone the date when Cid is playing the piano for me.

But that just gives me another idea. Instead of us playing two instruments, he can just play the piano while I sing. I haven's suggested that to Cid yet but I'm sure he'll like it.

After getting done with everything, checking if I have closen the windows, looking in the mirror three times in a row just to be sure, I felt ready to go out. Opening the door with more energy than usual, I'm greeted with the sight of three knights standing right infront of my door.

If I was in high spirits before, then now would be the moment where it would plummel down into a never ending abyss.

The knights were strongly armed, all of them having a hand on their sword at all times. They all looked grim and serious, befitting of a knight in the Midgar Kingdom. But my expectations would go down a drain as I see their line of sight going towards my chest.

They don't even try to hide it as they look at them for at least ten seconds. I'm very grateful that Princess Iris is the strongest knight in the kingdom right now. So she can preserve the spot of the strongest belonging to a woman for me.

Snapping out of their trance, the knight at the front starts talking first.

"Amelia Hikari, Princess Alexia hasn't returned to her dorm last night. After a whole night of searching, we haven't found her. We suspect a kidnapping of the Princess. And you, who was tailing the princess and her boyfriend on the tram, are one of the main suspects."

Wait, Alexia was kidnapped? HAH! Serves her right!

"For the sake of investigating, we'll ask you to follow us. I think you're willing to coorperate, right?"

It seems like I don't have much of a choice, huh?

"Look at her body!"

"I know, right? I can't wait until we arrive with her in the interrogation room."

Although the knights are whispering to each other, I'm still able to hear them. But I don't react to any of it as they seem like small fries. They try to look intimidating but are just a bunch of losers with some swords and a title. Even Cid would be able to beat them, I'm sure of that.

I silently put my hands forward so that they can arrest me. I know that they expected me to raise my arms and go down on my knees but that's really beneath me. I would never kneel in front of such people wether they "protect" the kingdom or not.

The leader takes out his handcuffs and puts them on me. The two idiots behind him click their tongue in frustration. But even during my arrest, they still have their eyes on my breasts like there's some kind of gravity pulling their eyes towards it.

I'm currently in the middle of three knights. One is in front of me and two knights are behind my back, making sure that I don't get any funny ideas.

As I'm being led outside out of my dorm, there's a question forming in my mind which I completely neglected because I was too irritated about the sad excuses of knights standing in front of my dorm door.

Who is the other suspect? I don't remember anyone who could have made themself an enemy out of the Princess of Midgar herself. Except of me, of course. Well, asking won't hurt.

"Uhm, excuse me?"

The knight who was responsible for leading me on my handcuffs, turns around to face me. And again, he doesn't look me in the eyes...

"What is it? We don't have much time talking to a suspect when the Princess' life is on the line."

"It's not really important, but who's the other person that will be arrested along side of me?"

"Hmmm. I think it's Cid Kagenou, the boyfriend of Princess Alexia. He was having a heated argument with her the day beforehand so we suspect him being an accomplice responsible of kidnapping the Princess."

....

What.

"We haven't arrested him yet. But Zenon will take care of that once the boy arrives at the school gates."

I think my mind just did a black out. Normally, things and news like these don't take too long to register in my brain. But what that knight just told me is so stupid and poorly thought through that I can't help but think that they're framing him for fun.

I mean seriously, the boyfriend of a Princess kidnapping her? Yeah, sure if he's a complete psychopath obsessed with Alexia but he isn't. Cid isn't even able to overpower Alexia as she's a black coat while Cid just stumbled upon the first Bushin Section for the first time in his life.

The skill difference between the two couldn't be even more bigger. And if they think that he hired some kidnappers and assassins, they'd just have to think about the amount of money Cid has for his disposal. The last time I checked, the Kagenou family wasn't that rich.

So there's no other reason for them to arrest Cid without any evidence just to torture him later on. I know how these "interrogations" are going as the suspects never left the Knight Order building without a hint of trauma on their face.

I've seen some whose live have been ruined just by remembering some of the parts back that was done to them. And if Cid ever ends up like that... then I don't want imagine such a future without a sane Cid, without a Knight Order as I would kill them all if they even touch a hair on Cid's body.

So I have to make a move. Maybe there's enough time for me to run to the academy and hinder Cid of ever approaching the academy gates. But how would I do it? These handcuffs on me are built with magic restraint material. I can't just bruce force my way through it, so I have to get creaitve.

Hmmm. Think Amelia.... think about a chance of escaping these grasps...

What would Cid do in my situation?

"What I'm getting arrested?! Please don't! I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Silence! You will come with us whether you like it or not!"

"Nooooo! Please let me go! I'm innocenttttt-"

That's undoubtedly the scenario that will play if I don't do somthing! Cid doesn't deserve to be roped into this mess so it's my duty as his (girl-) friend to protect him from any danger.

I have to use this last resort, don't I? I know it's a trick that both my mother and Cid have repeatedly told me to abuse more but my pride was way too high to do it. Now that I'm in such a situation, not to mention for the purpose of saving Cid in the process, it seems like that it's my best choice.

Well then, here goes nothing.

"Wait a minute please."

"Hm? What is it? We don't have that much time. And I want to have fun with your body as soon as possible."

Even if you're whispering, your disgusting intentions don't escape from my ears.

"Well, you see, I'm a bit frustrated over the fact that I'm getting arrested right now. Especially before relieving myself just like I usually do before school."

"What is this girl saying?!"

"Relieving herself?! Before school?! Usually?! Damn, this girl is more horny than I thought!"

"But where is she going with this?"

"So you can guess that I'm a little pent up right now. Oh if only there were some three big and strong men who could take me behind to the ally there?"

I know that it's completely obvious what I'm planning but there's a chance that they could fall for it. I have to take this gamble so that I can escape from them.

Leaning forward to show off my ample chest, I look upwards to them with a pleading look and breathe heavily. I can see the knights gulping one time before looking at each other with a grin on their face. It seems like they have made their decision.

"Very well. If you ask us like that, who are we to refuse such a plead of help from someone like you?"

"We'll have a lot of fun together!"

Geh. These guys are absolutely disgusting. Even Cid's "friends" are a little better than that. But don't lose your edge, Amelia! This thing is not done, yet!

"Yay! Lead the way then."

Heading towards the back alley of the street, we get out of the public sight.

Exactly where I wanted them.

The knights behind me were laughing and giggling like virgins who get to touch a woman for the fist time in their life. Wouldn't suprise me, honestly. I can already see some bulges forming between their legs.

....

Is that it? Wow, that's really disappointing. I think Cid was bigger than this when we were kids.... Speaking of Cid and his size...

Nope, not going this way. Although it's very tempting to think about, I have more important things to do. I can think about that later once I'm free from them.

"Here we are. You asked for it, so please don't complain if it hurts, okay? I mean, you look like that this way specifically for the purpose of attracting boys, right?"

Nah, more like to get the attention of a dense childhood friend of mine.

"Yes, I thank you for bringing me here. But sadly I have to inform you that whatever is in your nerth regions will never be able to satisfy me in any way."

The knights look shocked at the change of my tone. Before I played the horny damsel in distress who is dependent of some guys. But now I tried my best to give them the coldest stare I could muster up in this situation.

"What did you just say!?"

They're obviously offended by my remark of their sizes. It seems like that they're especially sensitive about that specific topic. I wonder what made them hurt like that? Or is it just some pride thing of the men? I'll never get to know it, and honestly? I don't need to.

Why? Because...

"I have already the greatest man in the world on my side! People like you, having the title of a knight despite never acting like ones are never going to get on his level! Having said that..."

I jump upwards and spin around to kick the knights in their faces while they're still shocked. They haven't put on magical restraints on my ankles so there's a leeway for me to abuse that. My mother and father have taught me the art of self defense even if you're at a disadvantage.

Using a minimum amount of magical energy at the last moment before the impact of my foot on his chin, I get to put out more power and knock him out immediately. His partner next to him is on his way to pull out his sword, before I kick him in his groin. Just like before, I use the same technique and crunches down, holding his "thing" as if he could save them from falling out.

The biggest problem is the last person remaining. Dealing with the losers behind me was a piece of cake but the knight in front of me has already pulled out his sword and is ready to strike.

"You bitch! You'll pay for that!"

Even though he has a weapon, a sword not to mention, that could kill me easily, I can already see some blindspot in his stance and lunge. If people like him are already choosen to be knights, protecting the kingdom from any harm, then I'm only sorry for the civilians believing in that.

Because these guys can't do jackshit.

As he's running towards me, he's rising up his sword up high to go down with a downward slash. But that's very dodgeable as long as I can flow some magic into my legs. In my perspective, everything looks like in slow motion. The people, the birds above me, the woman doing the laundry in the distance and the knight attacking me.

Compared to Claire, father, mother and not to mention Cid, this guy in front of me isn't even a bug on the sideway that I would notice.

Turning to the side, I dodge his attack but don't counter. Seeing this oppurtinity, after missing his first slash, he goes for a horizontal slash this time. But that only proves to me that he's a complete amateur, not worthy of holding up a sword as a knight.

Because I just duck, avoiding his strike, while he slashes the wall of the building behind me. As he was attacking with pure magic power alone, I can guess he put in as much magical energy possible to strike me down. But because of that he slashed through the wall and got stuck, once the effect of the magical energy has faded away.

Perplexed by the situation of being unable to pull out his sword, I take him by suprise and give him a upward kick aimed towards his chin, just like the first one, and knock him out with that.

And after being done, I can only look back at my new technique.

Beautiful girl technique 13th: Seduction!

Mother and Cid have repeatedly told me that I could use my looks and body to my advantage when dealing with boys. When mother told me that, I just shrugged it off as someone do natural to me that I didn't even have to give much thought to it. But when Cid told me that, I got really angry at him.

Really? Using my body to seduce other men when I'm already that devoted to him? That wouldn't make any sense. Why would I persue other men when I already have my hands full with this lazy bum of a friend. Checking his calender, his regular times of the day in a week, observing him when he's not paying attention, doing something like that to someone else just feels wrong.

After his remark, I forced him to accompany me to the next cafe with him paying for it. Cid looked shellshocked when I said that and then proceeded to go on his knees and bow down before me, begging for mercy. But his suggestion made me really angry so I didn't forgive him, even though I wanted to.

The whole time he was crying, on our way to the cafe, in the cafe and even after exiting it. It was like killing something very precious to him and I couldn't help but feel like a villain being the cause of his misery. Maybe I'll make up for that later in the future.

Back to the current situation. All three knights were lying on the ground. I pretty much knocked out them out.

"Grgh..."

Oh? Someone still hasn't lost conscious yet.

"D-don't t-t-think-k yo-you are get-getting a-a-away wi-with th-this..."

It was the knight who I kicked into his balls. Whilst it still hurt, he's still able to talk as I haven't given him the knock out blow yet. He seems to be standing up but I really can't take him seriously because he's holding his nether region with one hand while shaking with his knees as if he could fall down any moment.

"I don't worry about that. I'm ready to take on the whole world for the sake of the things that I like. And you who are about to take my (future) fiancee, have made a huge mistake."

From his stance I can see that he's not able to continue the fight. That's why I ignore him and take the keys of the knight who was in front of me the whole time.

Freeing myself from the handcuffs, I get the feeling of magical energy back in my arms. Shaking them through, I feel like I'm being whole again.

"Now then, I can't really let you go. It would be a real hassle for me if you report things now. So please, don't complain if it hurts, okay?"

"Wait-"

Giving him a taste of my fast, right into his face he gets unconscious immediately. Now with that being done, my next destination is the Midgar academy. The knights have said that Zenon will arrest Cid personally. So my plan is really simple:

Get to the academy before Zenon can take Cid.

Run away with Cid until nobody can find us anymore.

After a while, the whole commotion will calm down and we can go back into our ordinary lives.

Or if the princess is never found, I'll just wander to another kingdom with Cid and start a new life there with him.

....

To be honest, I really like the last idea a lot. Nobody to disturb us, only just us. No Claire, no Alexia, no Adam and no annoying rich kids trying to woe me everytime I get into their line of sight. But where should we go? I've heard that Oriana is a beautiful kingdom which prioritizes art in the highest form. But militically speaking, they're extremly lacking in that regard.

What about the Velgata Empire? They're famous for their strict nature and tradition of persuing the sword. And I don't have to worry about the empire getting invaded by other kingdoms as Velgata is undoubtly the only empire that rivals Midgar.

Well, I'll give it some thought later. I have more important things to do. For example... saving Cid first!

My full on sprint to the academy didn't take more than ten minutes. Not bad, considering that it usually takes twenty minutes for me to commune with the tram. But I don't want to be weird and scare the people around me off as I leap to the academy with high speeds.

But sprinting like that doesn't come with any drawbacks. My hair is completely messed up by the wind and my uniform looks like it has been crankled in every other direction that it should be. I'm pretty sure that I ran into something on my way here but it flew off later.

Just reaching the entrance of the academy, I see Cid's "friends". They're kneeling down and hold each other while having their eyes shut. I would understand that if there's something big and scary in front of them, but there was nothing around. The students were diligently marching through the entrance while giving some weird stares to the boy couple.

Even though I really don't want to ask them, they're my best chance at the moment. They usually swarm Cid for some mundane stuff but I can't see Cid anywhere. That only worries me more as time passes.

You can do this, Amelia. Just imagine them as potatoes.

"Excuse me? Have you seen Cid Kagenou anywhere?"

They seem to wake up from their trance and look at me curiously before they realise that a girl has spoken to them. They stand up in a heartbeat almost suprising me with their speed. They both stand still and stiff as a stick and I can see a lot of sweat coming down their faces.

"C-C-Cid w-w-w-was ju-just t-t-taken b-by Mr Ze-Zenon!"

Shit, I was too late. Now where was the Dark Knights headquarter again...?

"B-but we-weren't y-you a-a-arrested, a-already?"

Hm?

"What are you talking about? If I did get arrested, then why would be standing here right now?"

Nobody needs to know what happened with the knights in the morning.

"Be-because C-Cid a-asked who t-the o-o-other p-p-person w-was w-who's g-g-getting a-arrested a-a-alongside him."

"A-and t-t-t-they d-d-dropped y-your n-name."

Okay? But what does that have to do with Cid.... wait. Could it be that Cid let himself be taken by the knights so that he can get the testimony for me and him being innocent? Did he really sacrifice himself for me?!

"I see. Well then, thank you for your time. I'll get going now."

"That's the second time THE Amelia Hikari has spoken to me! Maybe she has a crush on me?"

"More like me! Did you remember when she sat down with us during lunch? She was more near me during that time so that could only mean that she's more attracted to me!"

"No, me!"

Ignoring the remarks from the two idiots behind my back, I'm on my way to the Dark Knight headquarters to give them a piece of my mind and taking Cid alongside me. Princess Iris, practically the strongest in the kingdom right now, hasn't returned yet from her expedition from Velgata.

So there's basically no one who could stop me if the guys from before were the average Dark Knight. If I'm not mistaken, one of them had a badge of a superior knight on his right chest. And he was defeated by me who was handcuffed and put on magical restraint.

Truth to be told, even I would get tired eventually if I'd get to fight over a hundred Dark Knights at the same time, but I'm still confident that I would win in the end.

Let mission "Save Cid and elope together" begin!

"Amelia?! Is that you?"

This voice... The fast steps towards me... The way he uses my first name... it's him, isn't it?

Turning around to see who was calling me, I get to see my brother Adam Hikari running towards me with full spped. Just before reaching me he seems to go for a forward jump to hug me midair. But I just duck and let him fly over me into a tree behind me.

"Urgh?!"

He faceplanted into the tree like Cid pretending to lose a fight against me. I know that he's holding back something from me but everytime I ask him about it, he just denies it. After a while I just gave up and concentrated on training with him as much as possible.

"What was that for? Can't you give your worried brother a hug?"

"You know that I don't like these sorts of things but you still do it anyway. Can you guess how much that infuriates me?"

From faceplanting into a tree to being angry about my dodge, Adam kneels down with his head on the ground asking for forgiveness. That was pretty fast of him.

"Please forgive your brother. He only wants the best for you. I was only worried about you after I've heard that you were arrested-"

My brother may look like prince charming for many girls and women in the world but he's nothing more than a siscon who doesn't know his boundaries. He's the older one between us but often acts like a spoiled brat for the purpose that I take pity with him and spend some time with Adam.

Being the older sibling, he's expected to marry into power someday. Our parents don't really care which family it is, but just want to have someone equal to Adam. But outside of school hasn't shown any interest in girls or romance in general.

"Enough of that. How did your last marriage interview go?"

"..."

"I- Just- Please decide someday. If you never choose someone, the burden will fall on me."

"Then that will mean that you won't have to marry the Kagenou boy..."

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing!"

He really has no backbone attached to his spine. But there's a reason why he's so popular with the girls except for his looks. Adam is always scoring high in every test he takes. Not to mention his skill with the sword which even rivals Claire Kagenou. Though, we'll never know who the stronger one between them as Adam is way too scared of Claire because she traumatised him one time.

Adam doesn't like the Kagenou's. Claire is on his "avoid at all cost" list while Cid is apparently his number one nemesis for some reason. He was never able to accept Cid the way he is and insists on me leaving Cid. Too bad for him that it'll never happen.

"Nevermind that! Mr.Zenon said that you were already arrested in the morning! Then how are you able to stand here?"

Ah. So that's what the two idiots meant with me already getting arrested.

"I broke free to come here. I've heard that Cid is going to be taken away by the knights so I wanted to stop them."

The face of my brother cringes into a distorted face. He doesn't seem to like the fact that I only came here for Cid. But once Cid is part of the family, Adam will have no other choice but to accept reality.

But suddenly his eyebrows shoot up and he turns to me in a fast way.

"Wait, what do you mean you "broke free"?"

"I mean that I beat up three Dark Knights and ran away. But don't worry, they're only unconscious and not badly hurt."

His eyes wide out so much that I almost think that they could fall out any moment. His jaw is dropping in a unfashionable manner.

"Amelia, please try to understand the situation you're currently in."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You, who was getting arrested, refused it and even beat up the knights responsible for the escort. But now that you've broken free, it'll only be a matter of time before a bounty is set to find you. Not to mention, you made yourself an enemy of all the Dark Knights in the Kingdom of Midgar. Do you not understand how bad that is?!"

"Whoa, calm down. Every single one of them is a weakling. Even someone like you would be able to beat them up so I don't have to worry about lacking in power."

"That may be true but that's just us. What about the people close to you? They'll definitely be targeted for interrogation if they can't find you. And after that, mother and father will be in their line of sight. And you know that they can't refuse an order from any royalty. We both know who's in charge of the Dark Knights, right?"

"Princess Iris..."

"That's right. One order of her and you can say goodbye to seeing mother and father another time."

I hate the fact that he's right for the first time. Normally, I would be the one who wins every argument between us as he has a soft spot for me. But in this crucial moment, where Cid will definitely be taken away by the knights and interrogated for answers he can't possibly answer.

I don't have much time and here he is, stopping me and telling me it was a bad idea to escape.

"But what should I have done?! Let myself be arrested by these creeps who were ogling me every chance they could get?! No way, I'd rather die than let myself be touched by them!"

"But you can't just beat them up! Actions have consequences and you really fucked up there."

I know that, I know that... but!

"I can't let Cid be dragged into this! He's basically a complete bystander in this situation! I would have no right to call myself his friend if I don't save him now."

I hang my head low in shame. I have to save Cid, but if I do that everyone else would suffer because of me. I can't just prioritize my selfish needs and disregard everyone else around me.

"Amelia...., I know that he's very precious to you. But you have to lay low for a while. I won't let you sacrifice yourself to these corrupt knights and let them do whatever they want. So please, just hide for the moment and I'll give you a signal once you're ready to go, okay?"

I don't say anything but nod. I can feel a tear streaming down my face as I experience the position of someone who has to sacrifice someone so that everyone is happy. I always thought that I would be the one that sacrifices herself but now I'm in the position of choosing who gets sacrificed.

I don't like this feeling at all. Choosing the love of my life or everyone precious to me to get tortured is a lose-lose situation.

But Adam is right. I'll lay low for the moment and make my comeback once I know that Cid is outside safe and sound! Wait for me, Cid. I'll come and get you once everything calms down.

Alexia can feel that a long time has passed but can't exactly tell how much. She's still chained down to a stretcher after all. But even so...

"They should have starting looking for me ages ago. Knowing my sister..."

Alexia is still the second princess after all. And her older sister isn't somone who would abandon their siblings or anyone close to them. She has the command over the Knight Order and should be looking already. They aren't incompetent but Alexia doesn't bet with her chances as she knows that Zenon is someone with influence in the Knight Order.

Her blood was extracted three times already but the weird guy with the white labcoat. He always mumbled something about "Demon blood" and "resurrecting the Demon" but she doesn't really get it.

Though, he's still in the process of getting more blood out of her. He always brings a tablet of three syringes and just yanks them into her skin. It's not very comfortable but better than being tortured or left in the dark without knowing what'll happen to her.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't take too much of my blood. I'm not ready to die yet."

He just laughs maniacally and proceeds to take more blood.

"I know, I won't. I want lots and lots. So I'll make sure I can keep taking more."

"Yes, please do."

He suddenly gets very irritated for some reason. What should be a clean swift into her skin with the syringe, turns into a trembling mess. He frowns very deeply and gets a look of hate washed over his face.

"It wasn't... It wasn't supposed to be like this! If it hadn't been for all those idiots!"

Not wanting to look at his face, Alexia averts her eyes from him. She's speaking in a very monotone way to keep him entertained. Alexia doesn't want him to get some funny ideas if he's bored one day so she'll distract him for a bit.

"Yeah. I hate idiots, too."

"My lab... They destroyed my laboratory! Then they kept... They just kept..."

Being unable to pierce her skin in his madness, he breaks off the syringe, making glass shatter and scatter around her arm. He stands up and holds his head in pain while screaming. But she doesn't feel any pity at all.

"You poor thing. That sounds awful."

Though, she has to pretend to care.

"It was! It is awful! My... my research... I was so close! I-I-I'm so close... I have to complete it soon, or... I... I'll be excommunicated! Excommunicated!"

"Oh no, how could they?"

"Dammit... Dammit, dammit! Dammit. Dammit. Dammit, dammit!"

During his madness, he went to the cell next to her. The creature was just sitting there peacefully without doing anything. But he still made his way over it and kicked it with his heel to it's head.

"Useless! You useless thing! ARGHHH!"

It seems to be the punching bag for him. Maybe it's because of it's appearance or maybe it's failed experiment? In the end it doesn't matter as he repeatedly kicks her with every hate and pent up frustration he has. Unlike the weirdo, Alexia feels pity for the innocent creature that hasn't done anything but still gets beaten up.

Although she likes the time when her isn't extracted from her, the little sense of justice in her will make her do something that she wouldn't have done in the past.

"I thought you were going to take my blood?"

The mad scientist looks up as if he remembered something important. He seems to have calmed down and stops his abuse on the creature.

"That's right, your blood. With your blood, I can complete it."

"Well, that's good."

He turns around and goes to the table infront of her. He picks bowl up with white substance that she reeks awful. At first Alexia was alarmed and thought that the bowl was filled up with something she wouldn't ever want to drink.

But to her relief, it was just some rational food that expired already.

"Your blood, blood, blood... Oh, I forgot!"

"What is that?"

"Your blood levels have gone down. I was forgetting to feed you."

Shoving the bowl into her mouth, Alexia is forced to eat whatever her food was supposed to be. It didn't have any taste, it's texture in her mouth like dry rice. Forcing herself to swallow it made the mad scientist laugh like never before.

Struggling to make it stop, she quickly realizes that it useless to stop him. That was the start when her heart slowly enbedded the seeds of hopelessness. In the back of her mind there was the small doubt of her rescue ever happening. Maybe she'll be a blood donator for the rest of her life.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the creature remembered what just happened and won't forget the favor.

"What? Amelia Hikari is nowhere to be found?"

Iris Midgar, the first princess of the Kingdom of Midgar, asked that after reading the report that was given to her.

"Unfortunately, yes. She seems to have escaped from the arrestment and injured some of my men."

"Trauma of girls...? Asking for paid leave after being kicked in the...oh. Repair damages for slicing a part of a building... Well, we'll deal with that later. What about Cid Kagenou? Is he really someone who should be a prime suspect?"

Just a short while after returning from her expedition in Velgata to investigate the weird seeings that were made. She has been told that a horde of monsters were sightes by several villagers and none of them seemed to have lied to her.

But after a fruitless search for clues, she advised by her father to return to the capital only to find her little sister kidnapped by someone. Iris wasn't even able to get a short break and continued to work for the sake of the people that she wants to protect.

That only frustrated her even further and she was almost at the end of her nerves.

"The circumstantial evidence is against him, but seeing him myself in my classes I can confidently say that his skills aren't enough to match your sister. So he can't have overpowered her."

"But we will continue to monitor him once he has been released."

"As long he remains a suspect, that is the right course of action. But I'm inclined to believe him."

"I'd prefer not to suspect my sister's schoolmates myself without any evidence. But the fact that he has a history with Amelia Hikari that goes way back..."

"Yes, it's very likely that Amelia Hikari is the culprit. Hiding herself while her childhood friend is being interrogated just gives off the feeling that it's her that we should be looking for."

"Let's not jump to assumptions. For all we know, Ms. Hikari was just scared by the knights surrounding her."

Iris has spoken with Amelia before. Her family are good friends of her father so it wasn't that uncommon for her to see the two Hikari siblings. They usually weren't very excited by the annual visit in the capital but knew well enough not to disobey the king.

The last time Iris has seen her was last year when all nobles met up for a ball. She remembers talking with Amelia for a bit and having the impression of a well behaved and beautiful lady that you should not make an enemy off. Iris doesn't know if she's able to beat Amelia in a sword fight.

Giving Iris that feeling of someone is so close to beating her, it gave her the motivation to train more. But now that Amelia made herself an enemy against the Knight Order, Iris is sure that almost nobody has a chance against her.

"My sister has been kidnapped and I don't have nearly enough personnel to send after her. Not to mention Amelia's case. She didn't really strike me as someone who would want to kidnap Alexia."

"Everyone knows that you are stronger than the average knight, Princess Iris. Exactly because of that, you should not go look for yourself. We can't afford to lose more princesses when we only have two."

"Let me go! Don't try to stop me!"

"Hm? What's that noise from outside?"

Zenon only smiles warily and laughs a little bit.

"Although the students are all instructed to stay in their dorms when not in class."

"Please calm down!"

"How can you expect me to calm down?! My brother's in trouble! I have to save Cid (before Amelia). Get out of the way!"

"It's Claire. Oh right, Cid Kagenou has the same surname as Claire. Obviously, she's worried about her brother."

"Calm down, Claire!"

"I don't need to calm down!"

In the distance, a golden blonde girl with drills in her hair approached the scene after being informed about the situation. Unsheathing her rapier, Rose Oriana, the princess of the Oriana Kingdom and the student council president, striked her sword to the ground with a loud noise.

Gaining all the attention, she stands before Claire Kagenou, struggling to escape the grasps of her fellow students.

"Whatever your reason may be, you aren't allowed outside your dorm."

"Dull, uninspiring Cid could never have kidnapped someone! I'm just going to explain that to the knights!"

"Then you could at least sheathe your sword."

"If I do that they won't listen to reason!"

"You're an unreasonable person."

Iris watches the two argumenting against each other before Claire get put down by Rose in a hand to hand combat. Rose is still regarded as the strongest Dark Knight in the academy right now and was always a challenge for Iris to beat everytime they sparred in their one year together.

But Claire isn't someone you should underestimate. Even though she comes from a barony far away, she has the talent to achieve greater heights. But seeing her like that, fighting for a member of her family, to prove that he's innocent, reminds Iris of her old relationship with Alexia.

She didn't know when it happened or what the catalyst was but Alexia distanced herself one day. She built a shell around her and didn't let anyone in.

"For her brother..."

"Yes, we all care about our families."

Zenon makes that last remark before deciding to turn around and leave the room. On his way to the door it suddenly gets opened right in front of him. Iris turns around at the noise and the curiosity as she didn't give permission to come in.

"Princess Iris! I have urgent news!"

Zenon holds him in place as it looks like that the knight is ready to burst on Iris' table.

"Calm down for a moment. Nobody gave you permission to enter. Do you know what punishment will await you once we get back?"

"Hiiii!?"

"Zenon, leave him be. What do you have to say?"

The young knight pants for some time, trying to regain his composture infront of the princess. After finally calming down and feeling his adrenaline go down, he begins to deliever the news.

"Cid Kagenou has pleaded himself guilty! We concluded that it'll be better if we let him go for the moment so that he can gather some evidence for us!"

What?

It was already dawn. The sky had a pink tone to it and only indicated the beginning of the night that will come. And during such a time I, the mobbest character of everyone...

"Go on, get out of here. Get some evidence and clues for us."

"Kehehehe."

...am thrown out by the Knight Order after five days of torture.

They throw me my bag with all of my stuff and clothes as they didn't let me change myself. So because of that, I'm lying face down on the floor with nothing but underpants on my body. They probably did that to humiliate me infront of the public but I could care less.

One thing is making me angry, though. After putting on my uniform, I check all of my belongings and most importantly, my wallet. Only to find it empty! These bastards! Torturing me for five days is okay, but taking my hard earned money from me?! Unforgivable!

But I'll have my revenge later and return first to my dorm with injuries all over my body. None of them are life threatening or hurt anymore so I'll play the role of the victim at first.

I'm currently sitting in the tram on my way home. I could heal my wounds instantly, but that wouldn't be a very "background character" thing to do. Especially when there are people tailing me. I know that they try to be as inconspicuous as possible but anybody would be able to feel their stares when they're looking at someone so intensely.

I only smile at the sentiment that they see me as someone worth monitoring, giving me a small role as the mob character.

Finally arriving at my stop, I step out of the tram and go to the station. I hear footsteps behind me following me only some meters away. Just after I got, a white hooded figure walks past me.

"Later."

This voice, this hair... Alpha... It seems there is some new lore in town for me. I can't wait!

"Grugh?!"

"Argh!?"

Passing her, I don't turn around at the grunts of the men in disguise who were trailing me. Either it was Alpha who dealt with them or they just tripped on their own, who knows?

As I approach my dorm, I get stopped by the dorm master who was pretty suprised at the wounds on my face.

"Cid? Is that you? What happened to you? Are you alright? Amelia was here to ask if you have returned already-"

Really? The second I get here, he starts talking about Amelia? Man, I just can't catch a break from her, no matter where I am.

"I'm alright. I... just want to rest for the remaining day so I'll go upstairs."

He gets taken aback at first before realising my situation. I didn't really remember his name as we don't speak that often but he's a small inspiration for my mob acting. But sometimes I think he's just using me as an excuse for talking to Amelia.

I don't miss the look he gives her when she's waiting for me downstairs. He gives me a frown everytime I get in his line of sight because that means no more attention from Amelia for him. But generally, he's a nice guy.

I don't really know why I give him so much thought but that's just how my brain works. The little movements he does, for example lowering his head to seem like he's reading something but in reality he's sleeping. Or his half opened eyes that look like they're ready to fall down any time.

Such a mob character through and through. I couldn't have chosen my surroundings better. Skel, Po and him are all my idols in my normal life.

While I ramble to myself, I go upstairs and stand before my door to my room. Even though it's tiny and almost completely unrecognizable, there's a small amount of magic oozing off the door. Reading the magic waves, I can already guess who's on the other side of the door.

Finally deciding to open it, I'm greeted by the figure of Alpha sitting on my desk and pulling her left knee to her body. Her blonde hair was swaying in the wind that came from the open balcony. But most importantly, Alpha was wearing the school uniform for the girls without the jacket.

"It's been a while, Alpha."

Putting on the light I sit down on my bed while she hands me a tuna sandwich.

"Here."

"Thanks."

Opening the packaging of the sandwich, I don't waste any time in taking a bite out of it. In these five days when I was tortured for no reason, the knights gave me the minimum amount of food so that I can "get motivated to talk". So my diet is a little of balance right now, but that's something that I can fix in no time.

Meanwhile, Alpha just kneels on my desk and looks at me with upturned eyes while supporting her head with her arms. She has a blissful and peaceful expression on her face.

"But I thought it was Beta's turn to be on personal assistrant duty. So what brings you here?"

"I got a call and I came back. I hear you've gotten into some trouble."

"I guess so. How are things with you?"

"We're making more progress on our investigation of the Cult. Of course, we've been increasing our organization's influence, as well. We're not as strong as the cult yet, but we're growing steadily."

Alpha sits up while giving me this made up report of our organization. She has a proud expression on her face that is rarely seen. I'm really happy that she and the other girls still play along with me even after realizing the truth.

I'm sure they all live free, normal lives most of the time. But sometimes they'll stop by like this, to play along with my game. I really appreciate it. They usually take turns every month and go in chronological order. So after Beta it would be Gamma's turn and after that Delta and so on.

The only girl that I've seen only one time during our two years apart was Eta. She more busy either researching something or sleeping after researching too much. Not that I blame her, though. She has her priorities set and that's something I admire about her.

"Thanks for the meal."

After finishing my sandwich, I crumple the packaging into a small ball and throw it towards the bin and miss spectacularly. Letting myself drop on the bed, I only hear Alpha sigh and going down from my desk to pick up my trash.

"You should at least change out of those clothes."

"No, I can't..."

"Excuse me. Do you understand the position you're in? The way things are going, you'll be blamed for the crime."

"I know. The lackluster son of a poor baron is the perfect patsy."

Alpha approaches me and joins me on the bed. She moves her face closer to mine to whisper me some crucial information.

"We can't trust the Knight Order."

In this context, it could only mean...

"The Cult got them?"

"Yes, beyond any doubt. It was the Cult who kidnapped the princess. The royal family has a higher concentration of heroes' blood in their veins."

Oh right, there was a part of the lore about blood and heroes. Specifically about the concentration and of blood and how pure it is. That's what Alpha has reported to me in the past when I asked her why there are so little humans in our group.

"Which means she's still alive?"

Alpha is only inches away from my face. Anybody that looks at her would be blind or lying if they said that Alpha isn't beautiful. Even I'll admit that. But after being surrounded by Shadow Garden in the past most of the time while they also have a similar beauty, I just got used to it.

And there was also Amelia who wouldn't leave me alone....

Speaking of Amelia... I haven't told the girls about the crazy stunt that Amelia pulled off on the first day. It just slipped my mind.

"If she dies, they can't extract any more blood. I don't know why you were cultivating a romantic relationship with Her Highness."

She says that while taking off my necktie and folding it neatly and putting it away.

"I don't think any romance was cultivated. Oh yeah, talking romance. I forgot to tell you guys about Amelia and how I almost got married without my consent."

"I know- wait what did you just say?!"

Alpha, in the process of taking off my shoes, abruptly stops and shoots up in looks at me with a difficult expression. And when I mean difficult, I mean that I can see a lot of emotions running over her face.

"Yeah, it was on the day when I arrived at the capital. My parents have told me that I was going to meet a marriage candidate on my first day, crazy right? I originally planned to make this short and make this person repelled by me but suddenly there was Amelia in front me in a closed off room."

"Marriage candidate... Amelia Hikari... closed off room."

"Obviously, I tried to escape but she wouldn't let me and I couldn't just disappear without making her being suspicous afterwards. So I stayed and tried to talk my way out of this. But that didn't work as she insisted in marrying me for some reason. She even confessed! But I know that it's fake and so we made a compromise that we'd get married if we're 18 and in the case that she still "loves" me."

"Marrying... confessed... wait did you just say you two are getting married when you're both 18!?"

Alpha really has a shellshock expression on her face. She's making a face like someone hearing that the world will end tomorrow. It seems that the story is more interesting that I thought.

"Yeah, but I doubt that she'll hold on these feelings after three years, so I don't have to worry."

Alpha takes both of her hand to the face and hides it. She sighs in a loud tone and crouches down until she arrives her knees.

"Even with all that wisedom, you're still oblivious and dense to something like that, huh...?"

I hear her whisper with my enhanced hearing but don't really understand the meaning behind it. Oblivious? Dense? Preposterous! I have informed and researched almost everything about every important person in my vicinity!

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing. I only see that you carry even more burdens on your shoulders than I thought. But that's exactly why I wish that you would trust us more."

There's absolutely no burden that he carries.

Okay, she changed the topic really fast. Meh, not the type to like hearing something like that, Alpha?

"I know, I will."

"Alright then. Once we've solved this case, you owe me some tuna king. That was my sandwich. And also a long explanation of how that even happened with Amelia."

Alpha's uniform turns into black slime and engulfs her entire body. If it wasn't black like that you could think that it's like a magical girl transformation without the special effects. After the slime goes back it only leaves Alpha in her usual Shadow Garden uniform.

"You lie low for a while. I'll send word when we're ready."

I only raise my hand in approval. That's enough for Alpha to go away before stopping in front of my window.

"Incidentally, about the two men who interrogated you. Would you mind if we disposed of them first?"

"Why? They were only doing their job. In fact, I say they deserve a reward."

Acting like a sadistic character like in the movies from my previous life without even practising beforehand is something only the mobbest character in this world can accomplish. Sometimes I'm really glad that I reincarnated into this world.

But why Alpha even ask something like that? She was the one who hired the knights to do something like that for the dramatic effect.

"A reward, huh? But tell me if you change your mind. Delta's here, too."

My ears peak up to that information and I begin to sit up straight. Alpha, however, only jumps on my railing and looks back to me.

"Delta's here?"

"She's been missing you. I'll tell the others about the piece of information that you gave me. So expect some questions coming your way later."

And with that, Alpha jumps down and disappears into the night of Midgar.

Delta has been missing me? It's not even a long time since I last saw her. But well, maybe dog years are different even for theriathrope like her. Meh, it won't hurt to play with her once in a while.

And what did Alpha say? Questions coming my way? I'll worry about that later. I have to prepare for Beta's arrivial in the most Eminence in Shadow style possible!

With newfound resolve, I make my way to the hidden closet that I have and start decorating my room.

Beta jumped towards the window of her masters room. If someone saw her, which is very unlikely, they would be asking her why would she jump into a closed window? But Beta knows her lord, and she knows the moment she's about the crash it'll open.

*Window opens*

And it does. Beta's stealth skill isn't on the level as someone like Zeta or Epsilon but she's considerably one of the best in Shadow Garden for this type of task. But even so, her presence was already detected and seen by her majestic lord as he opened the window for her arrival.

Landing on the wooden ground of the room, Beta finds herself in a dark room. If she wasn't that busy thinking about her awesome lord, she would have seen all the furniture that was stacked on top of each other next to her.

Walking towards the only door, she opens it only to feel a gush of wind pushing against her body. Walking through the dimly lit hallway, she approaches the light and a room full of furniture that is antic from all over the world.

In midst of all that, a fabulous silhouette was sitting in his rightly owned throne, mostly made of gold and expensive leather. A glass of wine in his hand and a small round table with a letter on it finishes the observation she does around the room.

That's porteaux wine... A rare brand from the Bordo in the southeast region of french and can sell as high as 900,000 Zennies.

That's a high-class lamp adorned with jewels!

And that painting! Is that the elusive masterpiece that no fortune is able to buy? The Shriek by Monch!

"The time has come. This night is a world of shadow."

"A world of shadow. A night with the moon hidden... Truly a fitting world for us. Everything is in place."

When she says that it's fitting for them, she means every word of it. Her masters motto was always to lurk in the shadows to hunt the shadows. And tonight will be the day all of his organization's fruits and training will be paid off against the cult.

"I see."

He puts down his wine glass in a elegant style.

"Under Lady Alpha's orders, we have gathered all available personnel here in the Royal Capital. They number 144."

"144?"

Her lord asked her such a simple question but she immediately saw the true meaning behind it. 144 personnel is not nearly enough for what her lord has envisioned in this war. How could they be so careless! There's a chance now that Lord Shadow will be massively disappointed in them! She has to apologize now!

"I-I'm terribly sorry! No one else could mobilize... It was the best we could do!"

"Did you hire extras or something?"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

"No, never mind."

Nice! Her master forgave her mistake! She'll learn from that experience on won't make that same mistake again! For Shadow Garden, for the war against the Cult and most importantly... for her beloved lord.

"Our plan is to launch simultaneous attacks on all the Fenfir sect hideouts of the Diablos Cult scattered throughout the capital. At the same time, we will search for the traces of Princess Alexia's magic. As soon as we find her, we will bring her into custody. Gamma will take general command, while Lady Alpha leads the troops on site. I will be assisting her. Epsilon will take charge of support from behind, and Delta will lead the vanguard and signal the start of the operation.

Each unit will consist of-"

Her report of the distrubution of power and where to attack is suddenly interrupted by a letter that her lord swiftly and elegantly opens before her. Taking it out of his hands, she reads the contents in it and finds a location marked on a map and a threat to Cid Kagenou to come.

"Is this...?"

"My apologies to Delta, but I will be playing the prelude."

Her lord arises from his throne and steps forward. He stops just before his balcony and looks back at her with a confident smile.

"Tonight, the world will know about us."

The wind and his hooded coat fluttering in the wind are just the cherry on top for her eyes. A mesmerizing look that can only be made by Lord Shadow. But just like he said, he'll be the first one to move and she'll follow him on it.

Though, there's still one thing that she has to know from her lord directly.

"Master Shadow, I've heard from Lady Alpha that Amelia Hikari proposed to you seven months ago without our notice. Is that really true?"

"Hm? Why is Amelia important right now?"

"Please forgive my insolence, but that's something I humbly ask you to tell me."

Her lord and savior stood still for a good minute and didn't move an inch or said anything. After that minute which felt like an eternity, he looked at her with the coldest and stoic expression she has ever seen on him.

"It is true that Amelia Hikari proposed and even confessed to Cid Kagenou, but in the end it'll have no effect on our goals. So let's not discuss it any further and begin our plan."

And just like that, her lord went ahead and jumped into the beautiful night only reserved for him. Beta didn't really know how to feel right now. While her question was answered, her lord didn't really seem keen on elaborating on the topic any further. But she'll have to accept that. No one in the world is able to go against her lord's will and wishes.

If someone even attempts such a foolish act, then there's only pity that Beta feels for those fools.

"Amelia Hikari. You may have gotten a head start but don't think you have won the war. That's only the beginning."

Her whisper was no heard by anyone and she made haste to follow her lord onto his next plan.

"After all that, not a word from the surveillance team?"

"They must be goofing off somewhere."

"Those idiots. Do they have any idea how terrifying this organization can be?"

Footsteps are heard in the background. Someone was approaching them from behind, while they were still discussing their next move after arresting and putting the blame on the boy.

"Hey. Is he here?"

Both of the knights weren't sure if Cid Kagenou would even show up. Everyone in his position would have run away and would have never looked back at Midgar. But seeing the average boy come out from the corner, they realized they worried too much over trivial things.

Throwing Princess Alexia's boot at him, they both already smirked and began their play.

"Hey there, lover boy. You really took your time in gathering evidence for us. Look at that, Princess Alexia's boot in your own hands."

"Oh wow, there's traces of her magic all over it."

He only took the boot in his two hand and looked at it with a curious expression.

"I see. So that's your game."

"Yup, that's our game. If you would've just talked a little earlier, you could have saved yourself from a lot of pain."

"Cid Kagenou! You're under arrest for the kidnapping of Royal Princess Alexia."

"Don't try to resist. I mean, not that you can-"

*THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD*

All of the sudden, something heavy dropped behind their backs. It sounded like a bunch of potato sacks landing on the ground. But when both Dark Knights turned around to see what it was, they were suprised at the sight of four dead bodies.

"Those were our lookouts! Argh!-"

The moment the one Dark Knight turned his back on Cid to see what happended to their comrades, he was instantly stabbed by a lighning fast slime sword appearing out of nowhere. His companion could only watch helplessly as he fell over and died.

Tracing the black slime, he easily concluded that it came from the boy who was smiling like he didn't just witness a murder.

"You little-! What do you think you're-"

And without even having the time to react, his left arm was cut off like butter. Just like his arm, he fell to the ground to the sudden shock and inbalance that his fatal injury brought along. Looking back on his missing arm and trying to put in a lot of magic to alleviate the pain, he attempted his last threat towards the boy who didn't even move an inch.

"Don't think you can get away with treating the Knight Order like this-"

"You have nothing to worry about. By the time the sun is up..."

The black slime was surrounding his body. And in just moment, faster than he could even blink, there was standing a completly different person infront of him. His face was blurred and put in the shadow of his hood. But even then he could feel the cold gaze on him and unknowingly he knew that it was only a matter of time before he dies.

"Everything will be over."

And with a swift movement, his head was cut off without any mercy.

Cid POV:

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about! The mob character coming out of nowhere and beating up the bad guys without even someone suspecting that it's him. That was absolutely perfect.

"In that instant, the Great Lord Shadow moved with superhuman speed to stand before the lowly knight. No sooner has his noble voice finished speaking than his fierce attack..."

Beta is monologuing again and writing it all down in her notebook. She has done this since we were young and I wonder where all of her notes go. I mean, she really has a tendency to write literally everything down.

I'm trying to say that it's bad but I haven't even heard a single story from all of her notes. That's the very reason why I advised her to literature and even told her some stories from my old world so that she can publish something completely new.

She could learn a thing or two from Alpha. Alpha always comes up with new idea to make our roleplay session a bit more interesting that the one before. Of course it's not always possible to find something more exciting, but still-

*CRASH* *BOOM*

Beta said that Delta would be starting, right? Then that explosion could only mean...

"That must be Delta."

I begin to walk towards the smoke coming out from one of the buildings, before...

"Wait!"

...a familiar voice shouts behind me.

I turn around and silently pray that's only my imagination and my mind playing a prank on me. But my hopes are crushed as I'm confronted with Amelia Hikari standing at the end of the alley with a sword in her hand. Her usual lady like appearance was nowhere to be seen and she looked like she hasn't showered in a whole week.

Her eyelids were swollen and Amelia's eyes were bloodshot red from something. She's breathing very heavily and looks like she could fall over any moment.

But even in such a state, she bravely looks up to me and asks me a simple question that brings me in a lot of trouble.

"You are Shadow, right?"