“Knock! Knock! Knock!” Alhen opened his eyes to find himself feeling lightheaded but relaxed.

  When he noticed his environment, his previous sleepiness was gone and was instead replaced by a serious look.

  ‘I can’t believe I fell asleep in the bathtub; the comfortable feeling almost made me not want to leave forever,’ he thought.

  It would be a shame that he would have to leave, but he was sure that he had already been there quite some time.

  Alhen stayed a few more seconds in the warm water before he heard knocking on the door again.

  “Sir Alhen, it has already been quite some time. Are you still there? If you do not respond soon, I will have to open the door,” the voice on the other side said. It sounded masculine.

  “Coming!” Alhen shouted before grabbing the sides of the bathtub and standing to his full height. He stumbled out, his body still feeling weak after being asleep and warm.

  Steam came off his body and covered the room, making him feel dehydrated and suffocated. That’s when he realized that he hadn’t drunk anything since returning to the kingdom.

  He brushed those thoughts aside and grabbed a nearby towel, drying his body and putting on the clothes that were provided to him by the guards.

  After he got dressed, he took his thuls from the ground and carried them with him, leaving his hunter attire lying on the floor.

  He placed his revolver in its holster, and Alhen strapped the axe to his back with the same rope he used on his jacket.

  His appearance looked kind of silly, but he didn’t mind it; protection came first after all. He paused before the door and took a deep breath before opening it.

  The steam desperately escaped the bathroom, warming the outside.

  On the other side, a butler stood; he was dressed formally, holding a letter in his hand and looking ready to do his job.

  “Hello, I mistakenly fell asleep, the exhaustion from the travels caught up to me,” he said.

  Saying it out loud made him realize how stupid he had been. They were in the middle of enemy territory, and he guessed that the enemy had already infiltrated the castle and was out to take the princess’s life.

  He didn’t doubt that they would kill him as well, considering that he was causing all sorts of problems.

  “Sir Alhen, I was starting to get worried. You were in there for more than five hours. I could not bring myself to bother a distinguished guest such as yourself,” the man said.

  With just a few words, his opinion about the butler increased. He was young, very much so, and he guessed the one responsible for sending him to inform him wanted to make him feel comfortable.

  The man appeared to be in his twenties, but his face conveyed the impression of someone even younger. His hair was light brown, and he wore a fine butler’s outfit embedded in gold.

  Even the most ordinary positions in this castle looked as if they had many riches.

  ‘He must treat me with such respect because he knows that I’m the Kovesh’s “son.” Everyone serving or who is part of the royal family is trash, but I guess this young man isn’t that bad,’ he thought.

  It was time he got into his persona, and he would act out his role perfectly from now on.

  “It was good you didn’t bother me. What news do you bring me?” Alhen asked.

  The butler held himself perfectly. Whether Alhen’s words had affected him or not was impossible to distinguish due to his unshakable expression and body posture.

  “Sir Alhen, I bring this letter to you, written personally by the princess herself. She wants you to meet her as soon as you are done with your bath,” the butler informed him before handing him the letter in his hand.

  As the butler handed the letter to him, he reminded himself to be cautious of anything that could happen.

  Alhen remembered the times he was attacked when he was supposed to have his guard down, and now it had become almost second instinct.

  Thankfully, nothing happened, and he glanced at the contents of the letter.

  It read, “Dear Alhen, I will be waiting for you in my room. We have many things to talk about, and I have yet to reward you personally for the wonderful service you provided."

  "I would appreciate it if you took the time to reconsider my offer, but I am almost certain that your answer has not changed. Remember, I will be waiting for you. Do not make me wait,” she finalized.

  Alhen sighed deeply and could smell a set of headaches coming his way soon enough.

  His gaze moved from the letter to the butler, and he said, “I want my hunter clothes to be washed. I will pick them up once I am done talking with the princess,” Alhen ordered.

  “As you wish,” the butler replied.

  Just then, he realized something and went to his pile of clothes on the ground before grabbing the artifact that he had almost left behind.

  “Now we can move,” he said before telling the butler to guide him to the princess’s room. The butler didn’t hesitate and started walking after sending a short bow his way.

  He followed him with a steady gait, looking at his back the whole trajectory to the princess’s room.

  Even though his eyes were fixed on the butler’s back, he couldn’t help but notice the fat, disgusting fairies of light following him with their eyes.

  It made an uncomfortable feeling crawl up his spine, but he ignored it and focused on what truly mattered.

  They arrived at their location, and when looking at it, he couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about the situation.

  Contrary to his expectations, the princess’s door was plain-looking and lacked any sort of decorations.

  It looked more like a door leading to a dark basement than the room of an important figure.

  ‘Something is wrong. Why would the princess be held here? That just makes no sense?’ He thought.

  His trust in the butler immediately plummeted, and he reached his hand to the revolver at his hip.

  Alhen activated his blessing and saw five seconds into the future. Nothing seemed to be off, and when he went to open the door, he stopped himself before knocking first.

  “Knock! Knock! Knock!” If the princess didn’t answer, he would know for sure that it’s a trap, and if she did, that would lower the chances, but it didn’t take away from the probable situation of her being captured and forced to act.

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  ‘No, from how she acts, if she’s in trouble, I will be able to notice it immediately,’ he thought.

  “Alhen? Is that you? Come in,” A familiar voice was heard from the inside.

  He could recognize that voice anywhere; it was the princess.

  He didn’t notice anything wrong with it and opened the door, making sure to hide his darkened eyes from the butler lest he find out about his intentions.

  The door creaked open, and he found the princess lying in a dark room. There was only a bed and some candles on the floor that emitted a blue light.

  Everything about it seemed strange, and before his brain could process what was happening, his body moved by itself.

  Alhen reached out with his only arm to the butler’s neck and pinned him against the wall.

  He would have raised him to the air and strangled him if not for his height, which didn’t allow him to do that.

  “S-Sir, p-please, c-calm d-down,” the butler managed to squeeze out, but Alhen didn’t let go.

  It was only when he heard Katherina’s yell from inside the room to let him go that he paused for a second and released the tension.

  The butler fell weakly to the floor onto his knees, struggling to catch some air. Alhen looked at Katherina with a questioning gaze that conveyed all his unspoken questions to her.

  She stood from the bed and rushed to his side.

  “I know that it can look like I was captured, but I am not," she began.

  "My father ordered me to stay in this room, and there is only a handful of people in the castle who know about it. Many do not even know that I have returned,” she explained.

  ‘I see, now it all makes sense. Looks like I was reading too much into the situation,' he thought.

  “Very well.” Alhen turned to look at the fallen butler. “I am sorry for treating you like that when you were just doing your work,” he apologized.

  Alhen dropped his act and apologized from the heart. The butler had done nothing wrong, and he had no reason to antagonize him.

  “I-It’s fine, Sir Alhen,” he said before taking Alhen’s outstretched hand and pulling himself up.

  “Very well, I will take my leave. I will return in a few minutes, so take your time talking inside,” he said before taking his leave.

  Alhen watched the butler’s retreating figure briefly before entering the room. It looked as if a ritual was taking place, and the person on the bed would be the sacrifice.

  No matter what happened, he would not approach it.

  Katherina entered after him and closed the door with a sliding lock before turning around and facing Alhen.

  “Why did you take so long to come here?” she questioned with narrowed eyes.

  Alhen scratched the back of his head and said, “I fell asleep in the bathtub. I am sure that it will not happen again, however,” he responded.

  The princess laughed at him and accepted his explanation.

  “Very well, you should make yourself comfortable. I have a few things that I want to tell you,” she said before pointing to the bed.

  “Thanks for your hospitality, but I will choose to stand close to the door. I want to prevent someone from eavesdropping on us."

  "The door is also the perfect place to stand, as it’s the only entrance, and I will be able to protect you more effectively,” Alhen explained.

  What he said was the truth, but he also said it because he just didn’t want to sit on the bed that looked to be the center of a ritual; he already had many bad experiences.

  Katherina ultimately accepted his reasoning and sat on the bed facing him.

  “First of all, I want to start by saying that the castle is compromised, and there are very few people that we trust," she began.

  "My father wants to thank you personally for protecting me, but he is busy handling the situation at hand. It will have to wait another cycle for that to happen."

  Alhen nodded, showing that he understood, before she continued.

  “This cycle was weird, and I have a few theories about what happened. The first one is that since I was not killed in the Kingdom of Levex, they want to keep me in constant danger here until it is time for the war."

  "I believe this is to cause unrest between us, and when the time of the war comes, we will not be as strong,” she said.

  Thinking about it, Alhen nodded again.

  He had first wondered why the assassination attempts looked sporadic and random, but it could all be a cunning strategy to weaken the royal family before the war, as Katherina was talking about.

  ‘They truly aimed to kill the princess; what if I failed to protect her back then? What would have happened?’ he still wasn’t all convinced that was the true explanation.

  Alhen voiced out his question, and Katherina agreed with him.

  “Yes, that is what I thought too, so I kept thinking about what could have been the true goal. I believe some of what I said is the truth, like the assassins causing unrest, but maybe they have something else planned if I am killed, and that worries me,” she said.

  Considering that these people were smart, they would surely come up with multiple ways to keep causing trouble for the Royal Family.

  “So what are the other theories that you have in mind? I believe that you are not far from the truth,” Alhen commented.

  “Well, my father has made many enemies throughout the time he has been king. It could simply be revenge from them."

  "I have my doubts, however, because I know that the Levex Kingdom has allied with the Nurtria Kingdom, so it makes more sense for it to be a political thing,” she said while looking at the ceiling.

  Alhen began thinking and started leaning more toward the first theory, but it was only that, a theory.

  Nothing was certain at the moment, so talking about it was kind of pointless, at least in his opinion.

  “Very well, I understand that what you are going through is difficult, and you want to find a way to keep yourself safe, but stressing over the situation will not help. I hope things get solved soon,” Alhen voiced out.

  Katherina took in his words in silence, looking pensive about something.

  “Thanks for your advice. Another thing that I wanted to ask was if you would be willing to come and be my bodyguard, but not forever, just a couple of cycles over this period of time,” she offered.

  Alhen started thinking, and for a second, he actually thought about it. Once he started thinking deeply about it, however, he still had to refuse.

  “I am sorry, but I will not be able to do that,” he responded.

  “Why!?” The princess exclaimed.

  Alhen shook his head and breathed deeply.

  He couldn’t just tell her that he didn’t trust the royal family, and he thought that she was manipulating him so she could befriend the son of The Kovesh and have more power in the future.

  Instead, he opted for saying, “My hunter work is exhausting, and I have many things to do. Another reason is that my father would never allow me to do so,” he lied with a straight face.

  Katherina sighed and accepted his explanation.

  “Well, it was nice talking with you. I have many things to do now that I am back in the Kingdom of Yhia. If fate allows it, then we will meet again, hopefully without danger lurking in the corner,” Alhen said.

  Katherina looked as if she was going to say something about the topic again, but she ultimately dropped it and wished Alhen a safe trip home.

  Alhen smiled at her and unlocked the room before leaving.

  When he opened the door, he saw the butler a few feet away, far enough so he couldn’t hear the conversation inside, but also close enough that he would be able to react to any threat.

  Alhen approached him and asked for his hunter clothes, which were in a straw basket on the floor.

  “Sir Alhen, as you have requested, your clothes are cleaned and ready for use."

  "I have to say that it has been damaged somewhat, so I recommend getting it fixed before taking any other contracts, but that is only my advice; of course, you are free to do whatever you choose,” the butler said.

  “Thanks, I will be taking my leave now. Lead the way,” Alhen ordered.

  “As you wish,” the butler said before bowing and leading him to the front gates of the castle.

  Alhen left the castle in a flash and headed straight for the church. He had rested, but not nearly enough.

  He felt that now that he’d ranked up, he didn’t need as much sleep for a longer period of time, but he was still exhausted from all the situations back in the Levex’s Kingdom.

  It wasn’t until he took a few steps outside that he remembered what he had gone through before reaching the castle.

  An assassin had tried to kill him, and people were still missing from the streets.

  His caution increased, and he started surreptitiously looking around him, with his senses heightened in case something were to happen.

  ‘That was close. I dropped my guard for almost a full minute. I will have to be more attentive in situations like this if I don’t want to die soon.'

  'There’s a high chance that I have become a target, which means that I have to be extra careful,’ Alhen reminded himself.

  He remained in a constant state of heightened awareness until he reached the checkpoint to enter the Pig District.

  There was no one, and he was able to get through to the other side without a problem.

  ‘Now that I think about it, I didn’t ask the princess why something like this might have happened. Why are the streets so empty? I will have to ask her if I meet her again,’ Alhen thought.

  He got to the church without anything happening and walked through the hallways with his shoulders down.

  He sighed as he felt the exhaustion increasing just as he set foot into the church.

  Despite his rest in the castle's bathtub, he felt that it wasn't nearly enough. His body felt sluggish, and his mind felt full of fog.

  Alhen didn’t know when he reached his room, all he remembered was that he was like a zombie.

  His presence didn’t affect the people in the church, who prayed fervently just like any other cycle.

  ‘No one cares about me. I should make some friends,’ Alhen thought, but rejected that idea the next second.

  ‘I don’t have time to make friends. All I can do now is focus on getting stronger, even if I have to sacrifice everything else in my life. Well, it’s not like there are many opportunities either way.’

  Deciding not to think about it anymore, he threw himself into bed like he wanted to and closed his eyes.

  When his mind started to drift, he heard knocking on the door.

  "Knock! Knock! Knock!" Without missing a beat, he sighed and thought, 'Seems like my time for a break is over.'

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