"Okay."

Lyn watched as he stood up and made his way to the door, sword in hand. Allen opened the door slowly. Lyn saw who it was through the small creek. Once he saw who it was opened it completely.

There stood a frantic-looking Carlo, "A thousand pardons Prince, Princess," judging from his sweaty face, and drenched, looking clothing. Lyn a.s.sumed that he must have ran all the way here at great speed. "She"s getting a bad feeling," Lyn thought. Could it be, that something happened to Kazuya?

"Speak, what"s the matter?"

"Princess … Princess Shaarya, they said Prince Ereland has her."

At that comment, Lyn immediately got up. How come? Wasn"t her dear sister studying in the academy? Why is she all the way out here?

Almost as though Allen read her mind, he said, "Those posters of you, somebody has circled them to the regular towns in other Kingdoms. Right now, your brother is hunting them down. But, even then it is difficult. I"m guessing she decided to handle it herself."

That stupid sister of hers. She"s no match for that haughty Prince. Or rather, Lyn is afraid what would happen if she doesn"t hurry up.

….

Lyn met up with Rhys at the check-up point. Allen too came along. It seemed like this was also a change in the plan that Kazuya didn"t inform her about. Allen would come with her, at least until the halfway point. Allen quickly explained the news and Lyn watched as Rhys frowned.

"Did you just say, sister?" Rhys said.

"Yes," Lyn trailed off, "What"s wrong?"

"So that"s it. My bad, I"ll apologize in advance."

Eh?

Rhys looked away and scratched his face, "Uh, well, you see," and then Rhys tells her what happened at the gate. Her sister came here with no identification pa.s.s, so they would not let her enter. Her companion didn"t have one either. So Rhys got them inside. This part of the story seemed fine, and yet Rhys was sweating bullets.

Lyn"s gaze hardened, she didn"t have to say anything to guilt trip Rhys this time.

"When I heard that she was looking for Prince Ereland, I simply thought she was another girl trying to pin for him. That"s why I sent her to him."

Silence filled the area. n.o.body spoke a word. Rhys just sent her beloved sister into the lion"s den, the guy who claims to love her just sacrificed. Sacrifice? Lyn recalled the sight of those limping women, the ones who could barely speak. "Carlo, lend me your horse."

"Princess Lyn," Carlo hesitated.

Allen reached over and pulled her into his arms, "Do not worry, I shall get her back."

Lyn shook her head, "I can"t stand it. Just thinking about it," Lyn was frantic. Even if her sister is strong, Lyn was afraid that the girl had yet to see the true cruelties of the world. A man like Prince Ereland who has no morals whatsoever, she shuddered.

"Lyn, do not worry. I shall personally go and fetch your sister."

She pulled away from his hold, "Allen?" Lyn realized it right away. Could it be, that him coming along with her and Rhys wasn"t part of the plan at all? "Don"t, I"m worried that you"ll," Lyn didn"t know what to say. She did not know how to end her sentence.

Allen smiled; it was a rare smile. Not a full-blown out one either, but to her, it was very bright and filled with such kindness.

"We can discuss why, along the way, ride with me, Lyn."

Lyn looked over at Allen"s horse, "Stephen," it was the usual one and yet for her, it would be the first time riding it. But in contrast to Rhys horse, this one was one of the fastest ones. She didn"t want to delay Shaarya"s matter any longer.

___

- Prince Ereland"s Manor--

A girl with long chocolate brown hair woke up to a pounding headache. Her name is Shaarya, the Third Princess of the Mist Kingdom current Royal family. Daughter of the current Queen Orthez. It took her a few seconds to adjust her eyesight, but when she did, Shaarya found herself in a unusual room. This place… Shaarya recalled what happened earlier, and she scanned the room. "Ark isn"t here," Shaarya thought. Of course, they didn"t put us two in the same place.

Shaarya sat up and looked around baffled. The place she was in was a luxurious looking room, with the most elegant quality furniture. But, whoever designed this room has lousy taste. Who doesn"t stick to a color scheme when designing? Such a bright pink color, it hurt her eyes.

To think she ended up getting kidnapped. While Shaarya found this treatment to be unusual, she must have let something slip up regarding her ident.i.ty. They..they didn"t find out who she is, right? It"s not like Shaarya was hiding her ident.i.ty or anything. But one condition she made to her family before she left home was that she would not carelessly reveal who she is. It"s okay for others to think she is a Princess or a n.o.ble lady. But actually, know who she is…

A deep sigh pa.s.sed her lips as she collapsed back onto the bed. Despite the kidnapper"s bad taste in the interior, at least the bed is comfortable. What is she doing? Even though she made that bold statement about not leaving the academy until she graduated. But, the news reached the academy too. At first, Shaarya didn"t think it was her sister, there are many lost Princess out there - many cases where they appear out of nowhere.

However, the more rumors she heard. The uneasier she became. That"s why she contacted eldest brother, and sure enough, he asked her to take down any posters circulating around the campus. The head of the academy knew her real ident.i.ty, so it was easy to fulfill that request. But, the headmistresses warned her that loads of students took the posters home already. When Shaarya saw the poster, she knew she had to take leave. She didn"t know who drew the portrait of her sister, but it was gorgeous. While a mere picture pales in comparison to the real one. Shaarya understood how bad the situation was.

So she got permission to take leave, and when she was halfway. She finally caught that idiot who was trailing her. It did feel like somebody trailed after her from the academy, that"s why she tried to lose them halfway. But, it turned out the person who followed her was her childhood friend Ark.

"What an idiot," Shaarya thought. If only he continued trailing from a distance, then even if she got captured. He could go and get help. Still, Shaarya recalled that man from earlier. That person, why does he have her sister"s scent on him? Are they acquaintances?