Arpious of the Planes

"S-Sorry… but, please consider it…."

"Well, you wouldn't be so bored if you kept skipping class and coming back home to train with the knights…." A look of guilt flashed across my face. "But I guess real-world experience wouldn't be so bad. I'm sure your mother would be fine with you going on an espionage mission,"

"R-Really?!" I exclaimed, practically bouncing with joy as I thought the day would never come.

"Yes, but make sure to say goodbye to Fol as well. She hasn't been feeling well ever since Arpious left, but it seems to be more than just sickness,"

"Yes, ma'am!" I exclaimed excitingly once more before dashing out of the room.

Quickly, my legs carried me out of the door like a strong breeze swept me up, and I visited my mother's room, where all of her wives still slept occasionally.

"Auntie~! I'm here!" I shouted before popping out of the doorway and poking my head into the room.

Auntie Fol was extremely pale and had massive bags under her eyes, almost scaring me because she looked more monster than human now.

"Auntie? What are you doing? You haven't eaten any of the food we gave you," I said while walking up to the bed and sitting right beside her.

"I just haven't been hungry lately…."

"Y-You need to eat. You've lost so much weight that you don't even look like my aunt anymore… b-but of course, that doesn't mean I don't love you," I said before bringing her in for a soft and warm hug.

Her body might've been deathly pale and skinny, but she was still as warm as ever.

"So, what are you doing here?" Auntie asked, completely reading me as I looked up at her.

"W-Well, Auntie Amanda said I could go explore the plane. I'm done waiting for the approval of my mothers and will now become a nomad!"

"Well, just make sure to eat lots, and if you ever need help, you can come back here anytime you want," Auntie said before giving me a soft kiss on the cheek.

"A-Auntie… y-you won't die, right?"

"Of course not," She replied with a warm smile, but deep down, I could understand her true intentions.

"O-Okay… just… please… please… please don't die," I squeezed out before running out of the room, stopping myself from saying any more.

If anything else slipped out of my mouth, I definitely would've regretted my decision to leave and would've stayed back to tend to her.

After only gathering my things for half an hour, I quickly said goodbye to everybody on short notice and left for the borders of the capital.

From there, my journey would truly begin… but first, I needed a goal. I might've said that I wanted to become a nomad, but in reality, I just wanted to be free. The shackles of being a royal were quite annoying, and even though I didn't feel much pressure to succeed my mother, I just didn't like how I was being raised as a weapon for the kingdom.

"I should also get more real-world experience… meaning… the first stop should definitely be the frost rabbit kingdom,"

As we had just allied with each other, visiting them wouldn't be too bad, but just in case, I made sure to bring a cloak with me.

We might've allied, but the tension between both kingdoms was quite persistent until it even worked its way through the citizens.

Unlike my perfectly run kingdom, the frost rabbit kingdom was very corrupt, with several nobles and royals selling loads of information to the ice drakes just for their own personal gain and greed.

"Ugh… I should teach them a lesson while I'm at it," I muttered to myself while happily skipping to the exit where the wall separated our kingdom from the rest of the world lied.

"Woah. Where are you going, young lady? There is a line, and you must follow it," A hoarse and grating voice stopped me, a rough and calloused hand even daring to grab my shoulder.

My face nearly melted into a frown as I looked backward and twisted the hand off of my shoulder.

"Who do you think you are to grab my shoulder?" I muttered, glaring deep into the eyes of the adventurer.

"Kid, get in the back of the line if you want to leave this place. The guards won't even bat an eye towards you if you walk up there-"

"Princess, please allow us to escort you to the wall," A few knights interrupted, and I quickly blew a raspberry towards the adventurer before making my way to the frighteningly tall wall.

I was quickly escorted to a room inside the small wall and began to answer some questions sent over by auntie Amanda to approve my legitimacy.

"So, can I go now?" I requested, but the man questioning me still had something to say.

"Forgive me, but that won't be possible until you select a few guards to go with you. Don't worry. They are highly trained and will not lose in any normal circumstance what's so ever,"

Suddenly, an entire row of at least ten guards entered the room and presented themselves very neatly with perfect posture and glimmering armor.

But, even with such a spectacular sight, I let out a long sigh that made everybody in the room begin to sweat profusely.

"The queen has requested for us to fulffil that wish of hers…."

"I know… I know…" I sighed once again.

"Forgive me for asking, Princess, but are you dissatisfied with the selection presented to you?" The questioner asked, and I quickly shut him up with a wave of my hand.

"If any of you beat me in a spar, I shall grant you permission to be my guard. I don't want anybody weaker than me attempting to guard me… do you even know how shameful that is?" I scoffed before leading them just outside of the wall where an endless forest was presented to us.

So this is the outside world… it's much prettier than I imagined it to be.

"First, you come here…."

The entire selection process was extremely boring as I wiped the floor with pretty much every knight… until I got to the very last one.

It was a frost drake who had escaped from the tyrannical reign of their king and queen and swore loyalty to the frost moth kingdom.

She had short yet luscious white hair with pale black eyes that had been sliced over, revealing a large scar going through them.

She was also pretty lean and muscular for somebody her age as she had to be no younger than twenty years old.

She wasn't unique but seeing somebody different like her was an expectedly beautiful and nice experience… until I faced her.

"Princess, please go easy on me," She humbly muttered

"I'll try," I replied with a large smile, and as soon as the duel began, I lifted up my sword and decided to end the fight quickly.

SHING

But, before I could take a step forward, the blade of a wooden sword lay against my neck, the sudden and retracted impact leaving a small bruise along my flawless pale skin.

"Th-the winner is Quincy!"

"You… How did you do that?" I asked the woman as my stats were far superior to anything and everybody around me.

"I trained hard to get here. I wasn't gifted by the spirits…." She smirked before slowly laying down her wooden sword, leaving me to bask in my own embarrassment as her cocky words traveled through the crowd.

"I-I don't want her as my guard. I can summon my own guards if need be," I instantly refuted, but the questioner brought out a stone that began to speak in the same voice as Auntie Amanda.

"I know you are complaining and complaining, but I don't give a shit, okay? You're taking a guard that you can't unsummon instantly with you. If you decide not to comply, I shall retract my order and make sure you can never leave the kingdom again. And if you decide to escape now… then I shall make sure when you come crawling back here that you can't have access to the royal treasury or any of your hard-earned money… okay?"

I was shaking in anger as the recorded voice of my auntie traversed through the atmosphere, making me even more embarrassed as she completely read me from head to toe.

"G-Goddammit…" I muttered before glaring at the icy snow drake who stared right back at me.

"Shall we head off now… princess?"

"Shut up! Don't call me that! My name is Hepha, and you shall call me by that name only, understood?!" I shouted, but she still refused to comply.

"Let us head off now, Princess Hepha,"

"Th-this bitch… I'm going to murder you once we get out of here! OKAY!? GOT IT?!" I shouted before storming off into the distance, taking the training wooden sword with me.

DAMMIT! WHERE IS MY FREEDOM IF I'M CONSTANTLY UNDER SOMEBODY'S WATCH!?