Chapter 36

POV of the tragic maiden

"Please come down for breakfast, Miss." a servant said, bowing her head slightly with a bright smile. 

"Alright! Wait for me." A lady said, getting up while she pushed back her long black hair from her shoulders. She placed down the cloth she was holding and carefully placed it on her bedside table. 

The lady made it to the dining room where her parents sat. They were having a rather lively conversation with all sorts of hand gestures. Once they had noticed their daughter had arrived, they started smiling. 

"Have a seat." the mother said, her gentle purple eyes exerted a strange energy that could make anyone heed to her words. 

Halfway through her breakfast, the young lady paused as if she had suddenly remembered something. "The yearly Ares competition is coming up, I can't believe I'm going to attend this year. Do you perhaps think I can obtain the reward for this year?"

"I believe you can. After all, our daughter is capable of anything and everything. Including wielding a sword of her own." the dad praised his daughter, holding his head up high. His black hair glowing in the sunlight.

The lady giggled and nodded with content. She quickly finished the rest of her meal and left through the front door after she had gotten her sword from her bedroom. She couldn't wait to start learning and mastering the tricks her instructor last taught her. She could barely contain her smile.

She stood in the middle of a large forest that spanned so far until the end couldn't even be seen. The kingdom of Hersia. A rural and secluded location in the east of the globe. The people of the kingdom had sworn their utmost loyalty and devotion to the small country. To never leave the paradise and not be swayed by temptations of the outside world.

She swung her sword with grace and technique. Hitting the trunk of the tree as she gradually chipped away at its wood. She did it repeatedly until the sun came down and the moon arose. Figuring it would make her parents worry coming back this late, she quickly left the trees alone. 

Her stomach growled in hunger while she ran back home. Soon, she reached her large mansion and sure enough, the lights were still on. In fact, the whole building was lit. It showed her parents' concern in whether their daughter would be able to return home safely.

Her mother stood at the front door, wearing a thin layer of clothes with a cup of hot herbal tea as she looked around for any sights of her daughter. Once she saw a red dress coming out from the dark, she ran towards the figure.

"I've told you multiple times not to make me worry about coming home this late!" Her mother cried out while she gently touched her daughter's face to check for any signs of injuries.

"I'm sorry, I'll definitely be more aware of the time." her daughter replied, feeling guilty.

Weeks then months went by like that until the young lady felt something ominous watching her in the woods. She turned around and pointed her sword at the bushes. She could've sworn she heard the sounds of leaves rustling there. After a while, nothing happened so she inched closer and closer. Curious to find out what was hiding there. 

The leaves moved again without any wind and she knew something was in there! She stabbed her sword into the bushes and she heard a deep yelp. She flinched, afraid she had attacked a monster that was out of her league.

However, a young muscular man crawled out from the bushes with his right arm bleeding. His face and body were hairy and the only piece of clothes he had was a pair of ragged pants. His green eyes were those of the maiden had never seen before. He did not belong here. A foreigner possibly. 

Her being the curious growing lady she was, she was intrigued by the man's appearance. She helped the man up with a caring smile and felt herself blushing. She could not deny that the strange man was just her type. 

"Wh-who are you?" she asked, putting her hair behind her ears.

The man gave her a weird stare as he slowly looked away meekly. The moment he was about to leave without a word, his stomach grumbled loudly. It resembled the sound of a lion's roar.

The lady was shocked and after a while, she laughed loudly. It was unbelievable how loud that was! This person must be starving. She walked to her basket near the trees she was hacking at and took out a sandwich wrapped in paper and gave it to the man. The man warily took the offering and chomped down the food.

She laughed once more as she ripped off the bottom of her dress and reached out to the man. "May I? I promise I won't hurt you." she said in a small voice as to not scare the man away.

Once she got the permission she needed, she held the man's arm and used her ripped cloth and tied it around the injury she had caused. She paused at many moments to check if the person was in any pain of any sort but not once did his face falter.

"And..I'm done!" she exclaimed, letting go of the person's arm. She wanted to have at least a conversation with the man but she saw the sun setting. Rushing back, she took the basket and turned her back. What a shame, she thought.

To her surprise, the next day she came back to her favourite spot, the man was there, sitting with his back leaning on the tree with his eyes shut closed. She creeped up on the man and squatted down near his face. He was indeed handsome, she hadn't seen wrong. Looking at the face longer, she could feel blood rushing to her cheeks. She gave herself a slap across the face and that sound had woken the mysterious man up.

The maiden took a step back and felt herself losing balance, falling backwards. The man rushed to her aid and held her in his arm while his other hand supported her head. "You..okay?"

"Yeah, I-I am!" she nervously replied, his voice gave her the shivers. Without realising the position they were in, she looked up and interlocked eyes with the man. Her face turned as red as a tomato as she half-heartedly pushed the man away. He released her and sat back down as if nothing had happened.

She awkwardly sat down too and realised he was eyeing her basket. She took out the fruits and pastries her mother had prepared for her and passed it all to him. "You can have it! I still have more at home." she insisted.

The man gobbled down the food in seconds that would've taken the maiden hours to digest it all.

She stood back up but felt a hand grabbing hers. "What..is it?" she asked.

"Your name..what is it?" 

She didn't think that the man would've taken an interest in her, seeing how occupied and infatuated he was with his food. She smiled brightly. "My name is Isabella!" she replied.

That was how the tragic love story started.