Jacob and Maria were staring at the people around them. All of the servants didn’t know what to do. Maria had struck their ruler, but he ordered them to leave the kingdom and take whatever they wanted. Jacob was the first to step forward and address the room. He stood tall and confident as his voice echoed through the area.

"I know what happened here tonight was not lawful. I apologize dearly for that. Me and my right-hand Maria will be travelling west to retrieve what my uncle stole from us. All of you, go back to your usual duties. We can settle what has happened when we return and the kingdom is in safe hands once more."

The guards looked at one another to see if they would all listen. Eventually, they eased up and sheathed their weapons.

Jacob and Maria started walking out of the room. Before they reached the doors, Katra stood up and held a hand in front of Jacob to stop. His face was full of fear.

"Whatever you do, don’t fight them. You’ll be killed, my prince."

Jacob grabbed the man’s hand and gave it back to him.

"Thank you for the advice. However, I was never planning on fighting in the first place."

Katra looked at him, still fearful.

"How the hell do you plan on retrieving it then?"

Jacob thought to himself for a moment.

"Hm... Maybe just ask nicely? And if that doesn’t work, I’ll figure something else out."

Katra rolled his hands through his hair in disbelief.

"We’re doomed..."

Jacob slapped him on the back before walking away.

"Get a grip. I said I’ll figure something out."

Maria and Jacob walked towards the palace armory together, side by side.

"What if your uncle really does try to kill us, Jacob?"

"Then we fight or we run. Whichever seems more possible in the moment."

"But... if we return empty handed, the king will-"

"We don’t have to return here."

Maria looked at Jacob in bewilderment.

"What do you mean?"

"Who says we have to return to this place if we fail? I mean, I would definitely miss a few of our friends that’s for sure. However, there’s a whole world out there we could thrive in. I’d rather live off the land than be a prisoner to my father the rest of my life."

Maria smiled but then frowned after remembering something.

"Do you think this battle is going to be the end times that voice was telling us about?"

Jacob thought for a moment.

"I’m not sure, but I somehow doubt it."

"It told me I was the harbinger of the end times. That scares me to know I am possibly going to be the reason this world falls apart."

"Don’t think things like that. Besides, I think there was a reason it didn’t label you as simple as the cause of the end of the world."

"I hope so."

Walking into the armory, they were met with a stench of polished metal. Maria’s green eyes started shining at the beautiful sight. Jacob chose some basic iron armor to put on himself. Meanwhile, Maria was skimming the entire place looking for something that would catch her eye. Eventually she stopped and looked at Jacob.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing’s wrong. But I need you to come with me."

"Sure. Where are we going?"

"We’re going to the Rose Clan dormitories. I need to grab my steel armor from there. None of these other armor sets really catch my eye."

Jacob nodded and followed her out of the room.

Upon arriving to the door of the Rose Clan, Maria knocked on it gently. After a few moments, Lidia Rose opened the door.

"Maria! What a pleasant surprise!"

Her eyes wandered over to Jacob. Lidia grabbed Maria and yanked inside before closing the door on him.

"Miss Rose, why did you do that?"

Lidia’s eyes were wide. She grabbed Maria’s shoulders.

"You brought a boy over?! What on earth were you thinking of doing?!"

Maria’s face turned bright red.

"W-what?! It’s nothing, I promise! I was just going to bring him to the bedroom-"

"WHAT?!"

Lidia looked like she was about to faint.

"You didn’t let me finish! I just have to grab my armor, and we’ll be out of your hair!"

"Oh. Why didn’t you just start with that? You can quickly go get changed, I’ll keep your boyfriend company in the dining room."

Maria’s face turned more red.

"He’s not my boyfriend, okay?!"

"Yah yah, I’ve heard that one plenty of times my lovely daughter."

With that, Lidia opened the door to greet Jacob.

"Oh, young lord! What a nice surprise! Please, come in and have a seat!"

Jacob looked over at Maria who was hiding her face behind her hands.

"Maria, are you okay?"

Without dropping her hands, Maria squeaked out a response.

"Peachy."

Lidia led Jacob into the dining room as Maria rushed to her bedroom to change.

"Would you like something to drink, young lord?"

"No thank you Miss Lidia. And you don’t have to call me young lord; you can just call me Jacob."

Lidia looked shocked.

’He’s already getting a first name basis with me?! Is he going to ask for my daughter’s hand in marriage?!’

"A-As you wish, Jacob." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Lidia sat in the seat across form Jacob; her hands were neatly folded in front of her. An innocent smile was on her face. Suddenly, she slammed her hands on the table and stood back up.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?!"

Jacob was utterly shocked at such a random question.

"Uh... pardon me?"

"What are you planning on doing with her? Or have you done stuff already?!"

Jacob, who was completely oblivious to the implications Lidia was getting at, gave his response.

"I give her meat every now and then. We just went on a picnic recently where she devoured it whole! She couldn’t even wait until we were out of the kingdom to try some of it. I think some passersby gave us some looks when that happened."

Lidia’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she passed out on the floor.

"Wait, there’s no need to worry! It’s the best tasting meat in the whole kingdom! It’s juicy, tender and seasoned well every now and then! You can try some if you’d like!"