A Trap

It was dark at night as Amelia walked down the street carefully with her trusted maidservant, Rae. Walking along the quiet street, the Princess was hiding her face under her hooded robe to avoid any unwanted attention.

The two men who came under Commander Irvine's invitation escorted them as to the bureau. The captain was leading their way and his companion stay on guard from behind.

"Your highness," Rae whispered. It has been almost half an hour since they have left the castle. But still, there was no sign that they were approaching the bureau. "Something is wrong. I don't think we're heading to the bureau."

"What?" Amelia copied her maidservant and spoke in a whispering voice. She slowed down her pace so that she was walking side by side with Rae. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm saying that this isn't the way to the bureau."

Amelia was stunned. Suddenly, her heart was getting uneasy, but she tried to mask that feeling lest her maidservant would panic. "Perhaps the men were leading us towards a shortcut to the bureau."

Even when the words escaped her lips, Amelia was not convinced by the words she spoke.

"I doubt so, your highness. The bureau is located in the west. And we're heading towards east."

Amelia halted immediately. Her heart raced upon hearing Rae's information. She then cleared her throat to grab the men's attention. "Um, excuse me. But are you sure that this is the right route to the—" her sentence was left unfinished as the captain turned around with his sword pointing at her causing both girls to yelp in surprise.

"What are you doing?" Rae spoke. Her voice alarmed. She grabbed the Princess and tried to hide the Princess behind her frail body. "Do you realize that you're pointing your sword to the ruler of this country?" She took a step back and paused noticing that the captain's companion too was pointing his sword towards them.

"I doubt that she can still become the ruler when she's dead," the captain said. A malicious smile curled on his lips.

His companion snickered. "You may scream all you want, Princess. But I don't think that anyone will come to your rescue."

Amelia swallowed. She tried to weigh for any possible action she could take to handle the situation. At this time, Amelia was regretting that she had never taken her brother's martial arts lesson seriously.

"Your Highness," Rae shifted closely to Amelia and whispered "In the count of three, run. I'll try to distract them and buy you some time." She released her grip on the Princess's hand and pushed her once she found the chance for the Princess to escape. "Your Highness, Run!"

Amelia did as she was told—she ran.

However, Amelia began to notice that Rae was not trying to escape from their predicament. It was then that she realized what Rae was trying to pull. Her maidservant was trying to sacrifice herself in exchange for her safety.

Amelia cursed. Something that a Princess like her should have done.

Her heart pounded when she turned around to watch one of the men slashed Rae with his sword—a punishment for helping her to escape.

"No!" Amelia shouted out at the top of her lung. She mustered her courage, charged forward, and threw a kick towards the captain, just above his waist causing him to choke for air, staggered forward, and lose his grip on his sword.

The captain was not expecting her to attack and was thrown off his guard.

Amelia took the chance to snatch his sword and pointed the sword towards the companion. "Stay back," she warned, swinging the sword as she made her way to her maidservant. "Rae! You're wounded," Amelia said as she crouched down.

However, she began to notice that something was not right. There was a bright red liquid seeping into Rae's clothes.

"Your highness?" Rae spoke. Her voice weakened. "Why… didn't you escape?"

"I couldn't leave you behind." She said. Her voice turned to a whimper as tears streamed down her cheek. She noticed a movement from her peripheral gaze and looked up. "Stay back!" Amelia shouted as she swung her sword to create a distance with those men.

The men took a step back when the Princess pointed the sword to them alternately.

"Princess, put down the sword or somebody would get hurt," the captain spoke cautiously. Slowly, he crept towards Amelia, sneaking a chance to retrieve his sword back.

"I said, stay back!!" Amelia stood up desperately. Her small hand tightened at the sword, pointing towards the men.

The basic sword lesson she had with her brother gushed to her mind as she was trying to protect both herself and her maidservant.

"What do you want from me?" Her eyes shifted between the two men taking precautions on what they might do to harm her.

"Now, Your Royal Highness," the captain spoke again. "We hold no grudge against you. We're just doing what we were told to."

"Why would Commander Irvine want me dead?" Amelia swung her sword towards the Captain. Her eyes widened as she became aware that the man was giving a cue for his friend to attack her. Amelia spun around and gasped as she saw the man lifted his sword to swing at her. Swiftly, she raised the sword to defend against the attack.

The sword clanked, and the Captain's companion raised his brow, amused. Then, he rushed forward to strike for another attack.

Amelia raised the sword again, but this time, although she could hear the metal clinking over her head, Amelia knew that the companion's sword did not meet hers.

"Are you alright?"

Her gaze instantly drifted towards the stranger's sword shielding her from the attackers. The first thing she noticed was his messy, silver hair. His tall, firm body stood in front of her, blocking her from her attackers.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the companion spat. He swung his sword to the silver-haired man and failed when his attack was blocked.

Then, the silver-haired man landed a punch on the companion's stomach, causing the man to stagger backward, gasping for air.

"Are you alright?" her savior asked again. His eyes were focusing on his opponent, but his question was directed to Amelia.

"Yes," Amelia nodded frantically. She turned around when she heard a thump and saw that the Captain was lying unconsciously on the ground. Another stranger stood beside him with a twin blade in his hands.

"Kain," the silver-haired man called out without turning back to his subordinate. "Get the girls out of here. Take the wounded one to the doctor. She's going to need medical treatment as soon as possible."

Kain slid his swords into its sheath and turned to the girls. "Relax," he raised both his hand when Amelia pointed her sword to him. "I'm here to help you. I'm not going to hurt you or your friend."

Amelia followed his gaze and was now looking at Rae who was lying unconsciously on the ground. Her eyes shifted between Kain and Rae. She was hesitant to trust him. After what she had gone through a few moments ago, she wasn't sure if she could trust him.

But they saved her life. And Rae really needed treatment.

Amelia leveled her sword down hesitantly and gave Kain an approving nod.

Soon, Kain knelt beside her to check on Rae. He studied her wound and gasped as he recognized her as the girl he had talked to in the market a few days ago.

"What's wrong?" Amelia asked in alarm.

Kain shook his head slowly. "Nothing." Quickly, he bent down to study her pulse and her wound.

"How is she?" Amelia asked impatiently.

"We need to get her to the doctor immediately before she lost more blood," Kain picked up Rae gently and lifted her to his back. Then he turned to Amelia. "Come on. We need to get out from here. You have to lead me to the nearest hospital."

Amelia nodded. Then, her gaze turned to her savior. He had his sword back into the sheath and was fighting the police barehanded. It may look unfair for him to fight against an armed man, but Amelia could tell that he was winning.

A frown appeared on her face as she noticed something different about him. His fighting style was something that Amelia has never seen before.

"Don't worry about my friend," Kain said, noticing that Amelia was observing Laif. "That man is no match for him."