Falsely Accused

Breakfast continued as one would normally expect breakfast to continue. Everyone ate food, everyone talked, except for the King, who kept secretly taking notes, and everyone left. Everyone except me.

What am I supposed to do here anyways? I have to stop an ancient curse, yet I'm stuck in this castle because the King wants to set me up with Elizabeth. The fate of the world literally rests on my soldiers, but he puts Elizabeth before that. It seems a bit obsessive.

Oh well. I can't risk ruining my relationship with the Elves, as I may need their assistance in the future, so I have to put up with this. All of this is a minor setback. I'll just sleep less than I normally did during my running to make up for it. Until then, I just have to wait.

As I was thinking quietly to myself, the face of an Elf that I didn't particularly like came into the dining room. Princess Amelia Rosa White, the girl that passionately hates Elizabeth.

I should leave before I end up stuck here as she hates and fights me as well. Even the butlers made a getaway as she came in, probably hoping that she would leave.

I quickly and quietly got up to leave, trying not to bring any attention to myself, and scurried quietly off to one of the exits. I put my hands on the door handle and just as I was about to turn it, I heard her taunting voice.

"Oh, I didn't know we served rats in this castle."

Ugh... I tried to leave. I hope you know that. Since you insist on confronting me, however, I guess I could get a little revenge for Elizabeth.

"Ah, Princess Mole Rust White. How have you been?"

"Excuse me!? That is not my name! You should be punished for such insolence!"

"I should be punished? You're the one who just called me a rat."

"That's because you are! A filthy human like you shouldn't be allowed in the castle, yet daddy says that you're fine without explaining why!"

Amelia stomped towards me, her face red and fuming.

"What makes you so special anyways? You're just a filthy human!"

"I might be a filthy human, but at least I'm not a spoiled brat."

Her face turned from red to purple from the rage she felt right now. She was clenching her fists so incredibly hard that deep marks began forming along with a little blood leaking out, dripping to the floor.

As the first droplet hit the floor, Amelia was briefly awoken from her pure rage. She looked down to see the blood dripping off of her hands from digging her nails in so hard, and then a small, evil smile began to form on her lips.

"I have you now."

What?

"GUARDS!"

She shrieked out the word, letting it ring throughout the many castle halls. Immediately, guards came rushing into the dining room from many different halls and entryways, filling up the room. Just before they all entered, Amelia rustled her hair, making it look messy. Then, as they entered, she pointed at me while pretending to cower in fear.

"T-t-this g-girl attacked m-me! See?"

She showed her bleeding hands to one of the nearby guards. It was obvious that the wound wasn't caused by me, but the guards had it out for me after I had attacked one of them earlier. Not only that, but I'm also human, and none of them seem to trust humans. It seems the subjects of this castle aren't as honorable as the ones from Elizabeth's.

"She must be an assassin! Men, seize her at once!"

I can't afford to fight them, otherwise I will only make things worse for me. The only thing I can do is accept what is happening right now. I'm sure the King, Elizabeth, Sylvia, or maybe even one of the butlers will find me and have me released. But for now, I just need to do as they say so as not to make them hate me anymore than they already do.

Listening to the main guard who called out the order, all of the other guards immediately rushed forwards and tackled me to the ground, all the while I let it happen. I could have easily stopped them all with my pinky, but that would only cause them to fear me, and fear can cause a lot of bad.

As soon as I was tackled to the ground, one of the guards tied my hands with rope and began to drag me by my hair. Thankfully, it didn't hurt in the least. I wasn't certain about my pain tolerance in this world, as I haven't had an opportunity to safely test it, but now seems like as good a time as any. Even though it didn't hurt, I still had to act the part.

"Ow! Stop that! I'm innocent!"

"Be quiet you sow! You just tried to have Princess Amelia Rosa White assassinated!"

The guard that yelled at me then turned to Amelia.

"Princess, are you alright? Let me see your injury."

The guard who had only moments before been yelling at me with a strong and demanding voice was suddenly talking softly and affectionately. It seems he likes Amelia.

"That girl scratched me with her nails! She might have poisoned them!"

Amelia didn't seem to even notice the affection she was receiving from the guard, instead focusing only on her lies.

"Poison you say? Everyone, we must escort the Princess to the doctor at once! You four, escort this murderer to the dungeon! We shall execute her tonight!"

You plan to execute me tonight? What about what the King has to say? Do you plan to go behind his back? This might be bad. I might need a change of plans.