1 Duty above all? My duty is to my heart!

Prologue

"It's time to plot his untimely death, treason be damned!"

Sven Nightfall pushed away the royal guard who had been keeping him at bay with the flat side of his heavy sword, his gaze pinned on the two figures dueling at the center of the ruined main hall. Although it was a duel in name, in fact, the lady clad in oriental clothes was surrounded by five opponents.

Fairness? Being a gentleman to a flower?

That damned prince! Those concepts didn't seem to exist in his vocabulary.

Sven kicked the guard once more. He was angry, but he knew better than to kill his ally.

Although Sven was not a royal guard, he was still a knight, someone receiving salary from the tax of the people. Technically, the two of them belonged to the same camp.

What more, that guard had only been following the orders of His Highness Lukas, the Second Prince, unlike him, who was rebelling. Therefore, instead of hacking at the man who was only doing his duty with the sharp edge of his sword, Sven twisted his body like he's wielding a baseball bat and hit him with the flat side of the blade where the sun doesn't shine.

"Aaaaahhhh!!!"

It had been more than a year since Sven started wielding a cold weapon to impress his future wife, and thankfully, his hard work paid off...kinda.

As the poor who-knows-what's-his-name guard started to get up once more, Sven used his heavy sword to hit him again and again and again on his body armor.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

"Dammit! Just pass out already!" Sven said through gritted teeth.

He's afraid that if he hits the man in the head, his skull would crack and he would be beyond saving. Fortunately, his kind sentiment was appreciated by the royal guard.

"Bro! Bro! I'll pass out now! I'll pass out, just stop hitting me!"

The poor man cried as he curled his body like a shrimp and pretended to play dead.

"Don't move, okay?"

At the corner of his eyes, Sven could see his future wife sneaked attack by one of the bastards--he meant, one of the royal guards of the Second Prince.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had one Midnight potion left inside his bag. He took it out and passed it to the crying guard curled under his feet. Upon seeing the familiar black liquid on the test tube, the crying guard sobbed even more.

"Bro! You should have just given this to me in the first place!" he said, full of grievance.

Without waiting for Sven to say another word, the man tipped back the contents of the test tube inside his mouth.

This time, he passed out for real.

Sven could only scratch his head. "Sorry, dude. After playing as a knight for so long, I nearly forgot what my official occupation is."

After thoroughly checking what potions were left inside his bag, Sven crept towards the slimy bastards fighting against his future wife. He uncorked one of the outlawed paralysis potions he 'borrowed' from his father and hid behind one of the large statues near the entrance of the main hall.

All he had to do was toss the potion in, wait for everyone to be paralyzed, then sweep in to save his dear damsel. He would not need to fight the Second Prince, and with his mask on, he would be unrecognizable.

If I help her out, Su Mei would be thrilled, right? She would finally realize that I was the only man worthy of her!

Three, two, one...

However, before he could toss out the paralysis potion, he realized that the sound of battling seemed to have...disappeared?

Knowing that taking a peek would be dangerous for him regardless of who won, Sven lifted a small mirror from his bag and used its reflection to check the situation inside the main hall.

In the middle of the smoke and rubble, one delicate figure with a sword in hand could be seen standing. Although she looked tired, her injuries were few, nearly negligible.

Su Mei won?! Single-handedly?! Doesn't this mean she'll be heading to the next realm without him?

Damn, my future wife! Please don't fling your husband too far behind!