Chapter 2

Luna set herself to return to the camp of the soldiers. She saw them yesterday and was fascinated to see another human being. All she saw were tall, muscular, good-looking men.

Luna saw Porcha fly over a man with long black hair. He is riding his black horse and stopped by the tip of the cliff. He is looking down at the vast dark forest. He has deep dark eyes with thick eyebrows. He has a pointed nose and thin lips. A clear scar is visible along his right eye yet it is added to his cool persona. He's very attractive in his armor. He looked like a high-ranking knight. He seems superior and intimidating yet there is a soft expression on his face when Porcha landed on his arms.

My heart jumped when I saw this. Why would Porcha suddenly approach that man? I know he's handsome but he's still a stranger. Did she also get seduced by his beauty? What if he hurts her?

I was on edge when the man took something from his pocket. But it's only pieces of bread and fed Porcha. He looked so fascinated at her that I almost felt jealous. But I still scolded Porcha when she returned to me. She just can't approach a stranger and flirt with him just like that!

Kind. Porcha thought.

"Fine." She just answered.

Although this man looked intimidating and powerful, she can also sense kindness towards him, especially in how he fondly petted Porcha.

When she was observing at a close distance, for a second, she even thought that the man looked in her direction as if he knew she was there. But she knows her ability to camouflage. The monster can't even detect her. Every day she put mud on her fair skin and painted her face with dark ink from the tree sap. She also dyed her hair a brown color to cover her bright ginger hair. The dye is made of a mixture of plant sap and oil. She learned the dye formula from the book. It was oddly mentioned there. The dye lasts for several weeks before it wears off.

Half of the men prepared to enter the woods led by the man with long black hair. Next to him is a man with ginger hair. Same color as her. He looks handsome but her black knight is more handsome. Even the uniformed soldiers are good-looking. This world must have plastic surgery or they are a beautiful race. But she knows she can't trust beauties. But they are giving me vitamins in my eyes.

"For the first time in three years, I got to see people. And not just people but delicious kinds of men."

Luna followed the group and entered the forest. She saw them walk into the monster's pathway. She got nervous upon seeing this. She accidentally crossed this path when she was new in this forest and she almost died escaping the bloodthirsty monsters.

She quietly jumped from tree to tree tailing them at a safe distance.

The man with black hair stops in front of a tree with red marks. It was a mark put by her years ago indicating dangerous areas. These areas are territories of high-level monsters. Thankfully, the man avoided the area. They led to a different pathway. However, they might encounter an ape-like monster or Erecpus according to the book. She fought a few of them before. They were fierce and physically strong. Their weakness is bananas.

After an hour, the Erecpus appeared and attacked the group. Men can fight well with this monster. So they don't need bananas. They were able to pass by this pathway without injuries. They encountered a few more monsters along the way and they easily killed them. These men are very strong, especially the black-hair man and ginger-hair man. She's still confused about where they were heading or what they are looking for. But she has a feeling that they are looking for a mystical beast.

She looked at Coco who was napping on her back with a carrier. He looks like a puppy.

I hope they are good people and won't take Coco.

After 10 hours they entered the dark woods or dark forest. It's a literal dark wood with no sunlight. She entered this area once and was poisoned. Good thing, she only experienced hallucinations.

The dark forest is a pathway you have to cross to reach the place of the nests of the mystical beasts of Gordrock. Gordrock is a mystical beast that looked like a huge lion. She saw a drawing in the book and its vivid description. The problem is the dark forest is full of poison. It was like a gate with a high-level security system that automatically flashed poison in the air when alerted by intruders. The plants are highly poisonous and release gas into the air.

They might die!

Luna look at Porcha and Coco.

"Porcha, wait here. You can't enter the forest. You might get poisoned. Since Coco is a mystical beast and immune to poison, he will come with me."

Luna entered the dark forest. She's now closely tailing the group since she's afraid of the danger of this forest. She wasn't able to explore this area due to the poisons.

******

It was so sudden. The pungent smell, and headache then they all started to vomit. It was too late to realize that they were poisoned. Grey looked at his knights starting to fall one by one. He also felt dizzy and stumble.

"Damn it!" He cussed.

His eyes went blurry and his body fell to the ground.

"Grey, you will be engaged to the daughter of Randolf."

Grey looked at the emperor, his father sitting on his iron throne.

Father?

Why am I here? I was in the forest looking for the mystical beast. What's happening?

He looked around and saw the marquess of Randolf and his daughter Georgina Luna Randolf bowing their heads to the emperor.

"Once the war is over, you two will get married." The emperor added.

This felt like a dejavu.

This happened before. Almost 4 years ago. When his father, the emperor announced his engagement to Lady Georgina Luna Randolf.

Georgina is known for her beauty. She has this long ginger curly hair and fair white skin. She has bright brown round eyes and pink pouty lips. Her round rosy cheeks looked adorable especially when she smiles. But she was also known as an ill-tempered spoiled brat in the noble society. She tends to bully or look down on others who did not meet her standards. She thinks highly of herself and despises the slaves and the commoners. Thus she's one of the people he dislikes.

"I don't want to marry him! I like Prince Julius! I like him a lot!" She cried in anger at her father.

I was only passing by when I heard Georgina's angry voice. I was going my way out of the palace after the engagement announcement.

"Georgina! Enough! We can't oppose the emperor. Once he decides a thing, no one can change his mind!"

That's right. My father decides like that. He's a stubborn man yet his decisions are always for the good of the empire. Somehow he is similar to me. For me, marriage is a political move, it doesn't matter who he marries, as long as it benefits the royal family and the empire. It's a royal obligation. So even if I despise this girl's attitude I will compromise. She can't even act like that once she gets married to me.

"No! I don't want to! I don't like him! I don't want to marry him!" Georgina shouted then ran towards the garden.

I exhaled my discomfort or the feeling of irritation that started to build inside.

Georgina was only 14 years old so it's understandable that she was very immature and sees marriage from a different view. On the other hand, I was 18 and was trained to act according to my royal status, not my age. Besides, I am a half-born commoner. Even if I am the firstborn, I am still discriminated against because of my mother's origin. My half-brother Julius is two years younger than me. He has golden hair and blue eyes. A physical feature of royal blood. And he's the son of the empress. The nobles love him. He would be a perfect crown prince but he's not a firstborn and he's always sick. He stayed mostly indoors but he's very intelligent. Even though he can't fight in the recent wars he has great potential as a military tactician and a politician.

He unconsciously followed Georgina into the garden and saw her standing in front of the fountain. Julius is beside her.

"I like you. I only want to marry you!" Georgina confessed to my brother.

I laughed internally. This girl is still a child. Once we get married, I'll teach her a lesson on how not to confess to your brother-in-law.

Julius' face turned angry.

"How dare you! Father just announced your engagement with my brother and now you are confessing to me? You don't have shame."

My brother who never gets angry scold the girl in front of him. I almost laughed looking at his face.

"But-"

"Leave!" Julius commanded her.

Georgina runs away crying. I saw her long ginger hair waving in the air as she runs away...