[Flashback continued.]

  Kade watched as the opponent was dragged away. He narrowed his eyes on the Princess who appeared shaken up. She was saying something to the man. The lover quickly dropped his hands and awkwardly touched his neck.

  "Look at that painful rejection," Sebastian commented from the sidelines, his heart going out to the pitiful lover.

  Kade felt something stir from within his chest. An overwhelming urge to kill. He grinded his teeth and continued watching them. Suddenly, the Princess walked off, most likely to return to her tent. The award ceremony was supposed to take place once all of the winners were chosen.

  "That man can hinder our plans, Commander. Should we get rid of him?" Sebastian asked, noting how fiercely the man was looking at her. That was not the gaze of a bodyguard.

  "When it's dark," Kade responded, deciding the lover must die. He narrowed his eyes upon the man's flustered interactions.

  It seemed this man was a commoner. Kade could tell from his hunched shoulders, despite being a seasoned soldier.

  Hah.

  Kade understood this situation. A one-sided, oblivious love story. The Princess was too naive to realize that. From his intel, Kade knew exactly which Princess she was.

  The Fourth Princess of Teran, the Emperor's favorite.

  Perfect.

  "Commander,? now's the time…" Sebastian whispered, lurking closer behind the trees.

  Now that the sword fighting tournament had ended, people were beginning to look elsewhere. Soon, the soldier's guards would leave the arena.

  "Huh, how strange, Commander," Sebastian whispered. "Look at the Princess. She's all alone."

  For some reason, the maidservants weren't following after the Princess, who had been escorted off the premises by guards.

  Kade realized why. The maidservant in charge had furiously turned to the man, whispering something to him, her brows taut.

  The man responded with a dark expression, his mouth moving as swiftly as hers. They seemed to be engrossed in a private conversation, too busy to realize the situation at hand. Since she was the head maid and the Princess was too far along for others to catch up, the rest of the maidservants had no choice but to stay behind. Or else, they'd look like fools for losing the Princess.

  "Signal our men," Kade instructed.

  "Right away, Commander."——

  Lina felt like there was no need for her to be escorted back by this many guards. Now, the people would know who she was. Holding back an irritated sigh, she allowed herself to be guided back into the tent. Everyone was watching her, whispering, before quickly lowering themselves into a curtsy to greet her.

  "Princess, are you alright?"

  "Princess, you did so well."

  "Princess, congratulations!"

  Various responses were thrown at Lina. She responded with a curt nod and walked into the tent. It was then she realized her maidservants weren't with her, especially Miah.

  Lina wondered what happened. She had been guided away by her guards after the incident. Lina nibbled on her bottom lip. Guilt threatened to eat her alive. Atlan had come to protect her from the attack, even abandoning his sword on the ground. When he had arrived, she had reminded him that everyone was watching. Then, he dropped his hands as if touching her skin had burned him.

  "No time to waste…" Lina grumbled to herself, quickly approaching the bookshelf. She heard the flap in the tent, like someone was at the entrance.

  "Miah?" Lina called out, turning to the entrance, and saw it was still sealed shut.

  Weird.

  Lina decided it must've been the wind blowing at the thick tent material. She pulled out a book from the shelf and placed it onto her vanity. Quickly, Lina poured water into the ink tray, grounded the paste until it was writable, and then flipped the book open.

  "In the ashes of war…" Lina whispered the poetry line, quickly attempting to memorize it. She had spent a long time creating this poem, but couldn't recite it without looking at the words.

  Lina grabbed her brush and pulled back her sleeves. She dipped the brush into the ink and began to copy what was in the book.

  "I lift my wine glass to salute the fallen soldiers…" Lina mumbled, writing each word carefully.

  "And drink to the burning embers," Lina uttered, completing the final line on her wrist.

  Lina realized she hadn't? written the words small enough. She had three more lines in this piece, but couldn't fit it all on one wrist. Before she could continue, a hand reached out from behind her.

  Lina opened her mouth, but was grabbed from behind. She screamed into the covering palm, but it was no use. A hand slithered around her waist, yanking her against a hard body.

  "Cheating?" A voice growled.

  Lina froze. Her eyes wavered, falsely believing it must've been one of her older brothers. They were here to play a cruel joke on her again. Now, they had caught her red-handed.

  "Let me see your wrists," the voice demanded.

  Lina's heart stopped. It dawned on her that this voice didn't belong to any of her siblings. In fact, it was much darker and dangerous. A chill stiffened her spine. W-was it one of the bandits?

  Lina thought back to her father's words. He warned her. These bandits were from Ritan, most likely here to kidnap a Princess. The problem was, Lina wasn't afraid. The Emperor had hinted it was for ransom, but Lina knew much more than that.

  "Mmph," Lina said, but her voice was muffled by the hand.

  "Now."

  Lina wondered if her instincts had betrayed her. Maybe this was her brother. Why would a bunch of bandits care that she was cheating? Was it considered cheating if this was her own poem?!

  Shakily, Lina showed her hand to the man who grabbed her from behind. She was terrified that this was actually one of her half-brothers. They liked to tease and tug at her. Occasionally, their pranks went too far.

  Scaring her like this wouldn't be out of the question.

  "Hah… A Princess who commits plagiarism?" The man sneered, his voice filled with disbelief and disgust.

  Lina's heart fell. She lowered her eyes in shame, dropping her hand. She had a good reason too! Everyone was watching her, expecting her to perform. Everyone wanted her to be like her mother, the Emperor's favorite woman.

  Poetry wasn't something that Lina was interested in. This wasn't her hobby. It had taken Lina six weeks to come up with six lines when most women could recite one off the spot.

  "And a cry baby too," the man scoffed, feeling wet droplets on his fingers.

  Lina wondered if it was puberty that changed her brother's voice. They liked to call her a cry baby too. She couldn't help these tears. Whenever Lina was angry, her eyes would grow moist, for she had been so hurt by these emotions, her first response was to cry.

  Lina hated this part about her. It made her weak during arguments. It was why she had trained herself to be calm during confrontations. Yet, when she had been caught red-handed for this heinous crime, she was angry. Not at him, but at herself.

  "Mmfph ergph mmph!" Lina said into the hand.

  There was a pause.

  "I'm going to pull away. If you scream, I'll gut you like a fish."

  Lina's heart plummeted to her stomach. She could feel the blood drain from her face. The realization was haunting. This man was not her brother. This was one of the kidnappers from Ritan.