1 The Beginning

Warfare is one of the usual ways between kingdoms to get things done.

That's what happened to the Gracelya Kingdom and the Keintheart Kingdom. The Gracelya Kingdom has a small territory with not too many inhabitants. While the Keintheart Kingdom is eager to take the territory to expand their kingdom.

The Keintheart Kingdom is widely known for its large territory and always wins in every war. Especially for the last ten years, after the Crown Prince had participated in strategizing the war.

However, for five years they never managed to get the Gracelya Kingdom which was already on the verge of collapse. The kingdom kept coming back and was able to defend their territory.

Similar to the Keintheart Kingdom, the Gracelya Kingdom also had a strategic war strategist, the Crown Princess. Hearing rumors that the two people were geniuses made many people curious about what they were like. So were each of the two of them.

Crown Prince Keintheart was very curious about what his rival was like. He sent a letter to Crown Princess Gracelya to meet personally.

"Hmn... So you chose to invite your own grim reaper to come?" muttered the Crown Princess softly when she got the message from her rival to meet.

Each agreed to meet the other. But their meeting ended in a duel. Crown Princess Gracelya challenged Crown Prince Keinheart to a fight. The winner could ask for anything they wanted, including stopping the war.

A sword fight ensued. They were equally ambitious to kill each other with the goals they held dear. Until finally Crown Prince Keintheart's sword slipped out of his hand.

"I told you to give up and stop bothering my kingdom, Crown Prince Dion. But you still tried to take it," said the woman with silver purple hair.

Her long, wavy hair looked very elegant when paired with her lilac eyes.

"I guess there's enough time for games," Dion replied as he picked up his fallen sword without taking his eyes off his rival.

Dion raised his sword and pointed it at the woman before him. "I can't believe a woman like you is so good at fighting against me."

"Don't look down on a woman. They could kill you in your sleep." The woman stared flatly at the sword that was right in front of her eyes.

"Stop interfering with my kingdom. Why don't you understand?" she continued.

"I do it because it is my purpose, Crown Princess Jillian." A sweet smile was etched on Dion's face, though it meant something else to those who saw it.

She swung her sword at Dion. Dion was not to be outdone and attacked Jillian.

The fight resumed between the two of them. Jillian continued to attack Dion with her fast movements, but Dion's light body could easily dodge and find an opening to attack the woman, when she found it, Dion slashed at the woman's left side. Luckily, Jillian quickly blocked Dion's attack with her sword.

Unfortunately, that caught her off guard and opened up another gap. So Dion could easily kick Jillian in the stomach and send her flying.

"Ahhhh!!!" Jillian's reflexes drove her sword into the ground to keep her body from crashing into the surrounding trees.

Now Jillian was cornered with Dion's sword ready to slash her neck.

"Do you have any words to say to your parents?"

Jillian's head lifted slightly and she looked at Dion sharply. "Tell them, my regards for killing you!"

Jillian threw the dagger at Dion and the sharp object stuck right into the man's stomach.

"Akkhh--" he whimpered. Dion reflexively took a step back and held his injured stomach.

'Her move... Too fast--' the man thought as he saw how deep the wound was. His forehead scrunched up in pain, his head slightly bowed until his blond hair covered his face.

Dion's sword slipped from his grasp again as well as his knees as the dagger stuck into him.

Jillian slowly got up and dusted off her dress, "I told you I would finish everything." She drew her sword again. "You and your kingdom are just a hindrance to our kingdom. You keep disturbing our territory."

"Intruders?" Dion pulled the dagger from his stomach and held the wound with one hand.

"You think we're bullies?" The man threw the dagger, slicing Jillian's neck. "We just want to take over it."

The woman remained calm as the dagger hit her. "Take over our kingdom? Stop joking around!" Jillian kicked Dion's head round.

Luckily, Dion was still fast enough to roll away. A faint grin graced Jillian's beautiful face. "Nice moves. I admit, I admire you."

Using her foot she lifted Dion's fallen sword and caught it. She even threw Dion's sword away. "Now... It's your turn to pay. Even your head is not enough for that."

Dion slowly rose from his position to stare at Jillian.

Without any compassion, Jillian thrust her sharp sword into Dion's stomach. For the second time the man received a jab and quickly pulled it out to expose the wound.

"Kkh- Is that all you can do?" Without Jillian realizing it, Dion quickly pulled out a small knife from under his sleeve and slashed Jillian's neck.

Jillian jerked back while holding her neck which started to bleed. "Uhhh... Damn--"

Dion's breath began to catch, enduring the pain. "Those two cuts will drain your blood in the next hour," he explained while trying to get up.

Jillian tore off her dress and tied it up to slow the blood flowing down her neck.

"What a waste. I cut it pretty deep... without immediate help, you-- ughh," moaned Dion falling back to his knees clutching his stomach. His ruby eyes were closed from the excruciating pain he was feeling.

"I... Not as stupid as you. I... Wouldn't die that easily..."

"And you think I can die with this wound?" asked a confident Dion.

The blonde man lifted his head, looking at Jillian who was closing her eyes as she endured the pain. The woman's tears dripped slightly, falling right onto his face. But she quickly wiped her eyes.

'Ughh-- I have to stay conscious or I'll be caught off guard and he could kill me,' she thought amidst the pain.

With all his might, Dion slowly got back up even though he had also lost quite a bit of blood.

"Don't try too hard..." He staggered to retrieve his sword. "I'll make the torture end quickly," he continued.

For a moment there was silence between them until Jillian's laughter finally broke a little at Dion's words. "Stop saying things like... You're better than me!"

"I'm still able to walk far with a stab wound isn't a bad thing for me." The man walked back to the woman who was helplessly facing him.

Jillian stuck her sword into the ground and tried to get up.

Dion, who had gotten his sword back, stabbed Jillian's right thigh and kicked her in the stomach.

The crown princess' weak body hit the tree behind her. She could no longer bear the pain in her body, but she couldn't just give up either.

The Crown Prince approached his rival and put his sword to her neck.

"No... Don't underestimate me..." Jillian said.

"I'm not underestimating you. I'll admit you're pretty good for stabbing me." The sharp object returned to Jillian's neck, which was already bleeding profusely.

The woman also stared at Dion's red eyes with hatred in her eyes. "Move a little, this sword will stab you."

Jillian growled as she scooped up a handful of sand with her hands. Unexpectedly, she threw the sand into Dion's eyes. The man reflexively closed his eyes tightly by pressing his sword slightly against Jillian's neck.

"Ukh!" Jillian immediately swung her sword to knock Dion's sword away.

But of course the man wasn't going to just let his prey slip away. He kicked Jillian's shoulder, knocking her against a tree. He even asked what Jillian wanted to go to such lengths.

"Ahahahaha... What do I want? How does it feel when your victory is snatched away by something you didn't expect? Crown Prince Keintheart?"

"And you think that will happen?"

"Why not?" Using her sword, Jillian snapped a thread that dropped several large sacks right on top of Dion. Dion's eyes widened as he looked over his head.

BRUK!!!