C-compensation?

She was surrounded.

She couldn't find a single escape route. Not like she had any more of an option; she had to fight them to get away.

The immobility spell.

"Got you"

The white haired guardian said.

How come she was actually at par with her energy and speed? She was most definitely a royal. And why in the world was she so pissed because she killed a criminal everyone wanted dead? The white haired girl aggressively took of the cloak she wore to cover her face. The shock written on her face and the gasps in the vicinity when they saw her were remarkable. She loved it, and maybe she should drop even more surprises to leave them dumbfounded.

"You are….a girl?

Tch! She smirked.

"Problem?"

Silence.

" Why? I just had scores to settle with the reaper. And I did. Problem?"

The princess drew out a blade and held it against her neck, hard enough for it to scar her neck.

"Damnit that's painful!!!"

She said lifting up her hand to the blade and pushing it away from the neck. The blade being as sharp as ever cut through her skin. How did she…..? Iris had so many questions about who this girl was. The princess instinctively took two steps back. Not only did what this girl do shock her, but her aura was something else.

Dark and ominous, almost chocking.

And hadn't she cast an immobility spell on her? How was she moving. Her spells had to be more powerful. She was a white haired royal.

"A stupid spell doesn't work on me."

She said gently rubbing her neck with her uninjured hand.

The princess was intimidated by her.

And this made this even more interesting. No, she won't kill her. She'll take her as hostage, see how far she can go, then maybe kill her right after.

"Attack her. Capture her alive, injure her or whatever. Just bring her to me alive." She sent an order to her men who were all ready to attack her.

"Tch!Coward."

They all charged towards her as the princess leapt away, but just close enough to observe her combat skills. She watched with awe how gracefully she fought all those men at once. She was really determined to win against them. Her speed did not alter even for a single second. It was all steady. The attacks were direct and precise.

No, she wasn't one of her people. Before anything else, Iris had to figure out who or what she was. Vampire? No. she was fighting out in broad daylight. Dragon maybe? Or could she be a witch from a very powerful clan? No. her clan was the most powerful clan; no other clan possesses more power than they do.

Should she fight her? She called her a coward. But was she really a coward? Maybe she was.

The girl wasn't going to lose to her men at this rate. Neither would she lose to her and let her get away.

She'll use magic to boost her energy level to the maximum then she would most definitely win against the girl. That was the only way after all since an ordinary spell had no effect on her.

Close your eyes.

Concentrate.

Keep everything out and-

Pain.

Her eyes flew open as she jolted forward.

Hot Blood gushed out through her mouth.

She looked down at her torso where she could feel the immense pain and could see a bloody arrow peeking through. She was shot? By who? And how come she didn't detect any movement behind her.

Her legs felt like jelly, like they were about to melt.

"My princess!" the commander, Marco called out while running next to where she stood.

Her whole body felt numb.

She turned around and saw whoever took the shot. She sat on one of the trees' branches. She had short green hair that she had in a perfect bob. Iris could tell what kind of power she possessed. She could easily kill her. Then why did she provoke her? A satisfied smirk grew across her face whilst swinging her legs happily like she had achieved one of the greatest accomplishments. If anything, she seemed like she was humming a tune.

The arrow was poisoned. She could feel the heat spreading from where the arrow wound was to the rest of her body. Her body was completely surrendering to the poison. She pulled out the arrow from her torso and completely fell numb in Marco's arms.

"Your majesty..." Marco called out, worry clearly depicted in his tone.

With her last ounce of strength, she ordered Marco to capture that girl alive no matter what. She fell limb in Marco's arms. He picked her up in his hands and handed her carefully to two of his fellow men, "Kris, I entrust the princess in your hands. Oliver, I trust that you'll make sure the two of them make it to the castle. Get the best healers and start the treatment as soon as possible." He turned to look at the two girls. "I'll take care of this."

The other girl stopped fighting and stared at the princess. Something in between shock, regret or panic covered her face.

She was in trouble now. This wasn't part of the plan. Why the fuck did she shoot the princess with a poisoned arrow?

And why was the green haired girl even here in the first place?

She noticed the whole troupe sent to capture her. She knew the green haired girl would never manage that. True to her words, Marco held a knife next to her neck. Immediately, with indescribable speed, she kicked Marco away from her. Almost immediately, two other guardians had two of their blades next to the green haired girl's neck. Before she could move or utter another word, Marco stood in front of her , a blade directly pointing at her head, clearly telling her that there's nothing more she can do.

"One more move and we'll shred your accomplice. Surrender now."

Fuck.

She had messed up, again. Like she always does.

"Don't worry about me, big siz. Just fight them and run away. I'll find a way out…."

A way out?

She had no choice. She released the two blades to the ground and raised her hand up in the air in surrender.

"What? What are you doing? Why are you giving in?"

She didn't respond.

Marco aggressively kicked her and chained her up. His men did the same for the green haired girl who really tried resisting but she wasn't strong enough. Once well tied up, marco made them kneel in front of him.

"What are your names?"

No one answered.

Impatient and angered by their mere presence, he sent a slap across the green haired girl's face. This got the attention of the other girl as she gasped while watching this.

"Why did you disrupt a royal function?"

"I don't answer to a mere commander."

Marco let out an annoyed laugh. Did she really not know who was in charge here?

"We'll talk more in the torture room." He said while glaring at her.

She only smirked back.

So she really wasn't intimidated, huh.

With one final kick directly sent to her head, everything went black.

"Big si-"

**************************************************

.

.

Kris laid the princess gently on the bed. Her breathing was rugged and from observation, it seemed painful. From his observation the poison had already travelled all over her body. If the healers don't do anything, and quick, they would definitely lose her. Within a minute, her sheets were already soaked in her own sweat. Her body was quickly dehydrating. Her wound on her torso would not stop bleeding, and there was literally nothing he could do but watch, patiently waiting for the healers.

After a minute or so, five healers walked in hastily accompanied by oliver. Took him long enough to get a mere five healers!

Oliver and kris took a few steps back and only observed from afar.

" it's not like the princess is gonna die anyway. Why are you so tensed up?"

Kris's veins popped. What was this moron even talking about? Did he understand the situation they are in?

"oh, I can only think about the booze we are gonna drink today." He said dreamily "do you think we'll get royal wine today? I mean we did capture the reaper. We deserve it, right?"

Kris only glared at him in disbelief.

" oh I understand why you are glaring." He wore an expression that showed he had figured everything out. " I'm sorry….."

Kris sighed "Well, at least you know you-"

"I'm sorry I forgot the first prince is so stingy and we were under him today. So no royal wine today."

"HUUUUUUUHHH???!!!"

.

.

.

She slowly felt energy creeping back into her system just as it had left before. She had been conscious the whole time. She felt everything at the same time. Pain, relief, anger, confusion… she slowly lifted her hand up to where her wound was, and she could still feel it. Though it was almost completely healed.

She slowly cocked her head to confirm who she was with in the room. She could see three people sitted across the room, but couldn't clearly tell who it was. She tried lifting her head up, but with how it throbbed with pain, she let out a painful groan.

Immediately, the three people rushed to her bed. She could see them now; her trusted men.

The commander and his juniors.

"You know better than to strain yourself, your highness." Marco stated.

She fell back on her bed, surrendering to the pain.

"Right….." she said faintly.

"Marco, did you capture them?"

"Yes we did. But we got no information. Not even their names."

Iris sighed in frustration.

"Leave it to me. I'll make them talk sooner or later."

She then turned back to look at them, and noticed their tired faces. They had stayed up all night beside her. She knew if she asked Marco he would deny it. So she ordered them instead.

"The three of you had better get some rest."" She stated.

"The commander forced us to stick with you. Otherwise we wouldn't even be he-"

Oliver blurted but immediately, Kris covered his mouth while the commander sent a deadly glare in his direction.

So this kid just says whatever comes across his mind, huh?

"You answer to me. Not the commander. You are dismissed."

Kris uncovered Oliver's mouth and the three of them bowed down to Iris in respect.

"But your highness, we had to stay here all night and we missed the celebration." He then looked her up directly into her, with something close to a pleading look. " Aren't you going to compensate us at least. I mean-"

Kris facepalmed himself in embarrassment. This CAN'T be his partner.

The princess blinked thrice in confusion. Who was this kid? And why was he talking like that to her? And he was directly under Marco. Also, she had just woken up!!

"C-compensation?" she asked confused.

"I'm sorry your highness….he's a little…."

"Oh no its ok. I'll compensate him. Just wait outside, I'll call in for you…umh, what's your name again?"

His eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oliver." he said with a satisfied smile.

"Oliver. I'll call you back in."

They took one final bow and turned to leave, Kris literally dragging Oliver by his collar. Oliver screamed "Thank you princess" before the door slammed shut.

Well, what a scene right after waking up!!