The eastern sky was dyed red, as if burning. It was supposedly like every other sunset, but, yet, it transmitted uneasiness.

The queen of the Kingdom of Lenster, Alfiona, felt anxious while looking at the eastern sky. The soldiers who remained in the castle were mostly either imprudent or apprentice young soldiers, or old soldiers who weren’t really in active duty. Her heart trembled, divided between her desire to believe that the king will return safe and sound, and the anxiety that this time could be different.

The wind stroked her face. Her standing shadow stretched lengthily on the castle’s balcony.

“Your Highness, the wind is becoming cold. Please come inside.”

So said a maid.

“How is Leaf?”

She asked that same servant, while entering the room.

“He’s in his room, playing with Lord Fin.”

“I see, that’s good, then. I wonder if there isn’t any communication from His Majesty, yet…”

“Well, Lord Dorias asked the same thing some time ago…”

“I see… thank you, that is enough.”

Queen Alfiona sat down by the window, and once again gazed at the sunset.

She hadn’t felt this uneasy ever since her marriage with King Calf. She felt a great deal of unrest when she was informed of her daughter’s death, and when her son Cuan died in battle, too; however, it was different from those times, and she felt strangely restless and uncomfortable.

“To think that I’d be this worried when you aren’t around… I didn’t think I would feel so helpless without my son and daughter to support me…”

The setting sun was disappearing in the horizon. By association, she was growing filled with melancholy.

Knock, knock.

“Your Highness, your meal has been prepared.”

“I understand, I shall be going soon.”

The queen, who was about to sink into dark thoughts, was brought back to reality by the servant’s voice. If she didn’t pull herself together, she would end up unable to protect even the prince Cuan had left. Even if she had to become a shield, she would protect that heir. Cheered up by those thoughts, the queen stood up.

“Everyone in this castle is anxious…
if I don’t pull myself together, His Majesty will laugh at me…”

After adjusting her posture, the queen looked through the window. As the traces of light were soon to be swallowed by the coming night, it felt as if they were struggling frantically.

Lenster’s army swallowed a crushing defeat in River Thracia, but not all of its soldiers died; a few knights and soldiers managed to stay barely alive, and aimed to reach Lenster Castle. One of those lent his shoulder to a wounded friend, while another used a broken lance as a walking aid, as if it were a rod.

“I wonder how far His Majesty’s horse went…”

Everyone was seeing King Calf’s horse galloping through the battlefield. The king wasn’t on its back, as it left shortly after Leidrick’s triumphant cry could be heard.

They could only think of that as a nightmare. To think that King Calf, who was even called a “wargod” for his bravery and resolution in the battlefield, had his head taken by that pathetic Leidrick, a traitor from Conote without any special power… they wanted to think it was only a nightmare.

“… Leave me here. Go report this to the castle, quickly… tell it to the generals.”

“Don’t be silly, after we’ve come so far…”

The wounded soldier was trying to break free from the companion who was carrying him on his shoulders.

“You have a girlfriend waiting for you, no…? Londa, wasn’t it? You want to meet her soon, don’t you? So…”

“You…”

“I don’t have a girl like that. We can see a village from here. I’ll hide there, and go back once my wounds heal.”

“Huh… I have a horse here. Its knight fell unconscious, so I was leading it here, but please use this horse if you can.”

Perhaps having listened to the knights’ dialogue, a soldier who was riding a horse took the animal to them.

“But it’s carrying a wounded man…”

“I’ll carry him. I’m known as a strong man, back in my village…”

“Thank you. Now, go. If you stay here doing nothing, you might end up not having a place to come back to anymore.”

The hesitant knight then gave a staff to his friend and rode the horse.

“This is a good horse. Isn’t it General Ranz’s?”

“The general’s horse…? I don’t know his name, but it was of the person who gave us orders.”

The soldier who was guiding the horse, while carrying the soldier who was riding said horse on his back, answered with a hint of sadness. General Ranz, who fought like a fierce god in the battle field, was very popular among the soldiers, even the ones who joined along the way; they were soldiers as well, after all. They expressed clearly their grief over his fall.

“Then, I shall borrow this, General Ranz. And your name is…?”

“I’m Dio. I used to live in a village near Lenster… please take care, Lord Knight.”

“Thank you. Then I’m coming, Romul…”

“Go, fulfill your role as a knight…
Karlel… I’m alright. Even in this state, I’m a knight of Lenster. I have no intention of following our fallen king so he can laugh at me.”

“Then, to Lenster… to our queen…”

The knight rode the horse, heading towards the national border. He was lucky that both the Thracian army (starting to devote itself to taking Manster) and Leidrick’s army of Conote (desperately suppressing the unrest within its borders) were too busy to care about the tiny remnants of Lenster’s army.

The king’s horse galloped for around three days from the crushing defeat in River Thracia, until it finally reached the border outpost.

“One horse, alone… why is it here…”

“Go get it, we might discover something.”

“… I’ve taken care of it before…
that’s His Majesty’s horse!”

“Really?”

One of the soldiers who saw the horse from the top of the outpost opened the outpost’s door and ran. That soldier called the horse, who followed obediently.

“It’s His Majesty’s horse… this ornamented saddle, too…”

“Are these… traces of blood? But whose… it can’t be…”

“The horse is tired, so let it rest. We must have somebody report this to the castle…”

The captain in charge of the outpost chose two soldiers and sent them to Lenster Castle as messengers. Then, he ordered the strengthening of the outpost’s defenses.

Two days later, the knight riding General Ranz’s horse arrived in a different outpost.

“Captain, I can see a knight that appears to be from our army.”

“Is he a messenger?”

“No… he… seems to be wounded.”

“Let him in at once. Make arrangements so that we can send a messenger to the castle as soon as needed. I’ll listen to him.”

The captain took the tired horse to the stable, then listened to its rider’s story.

“What happened?”

“Thracia… at the river… surprise attack from Thracia… we fought… then we met… a betrayer from Conote… His Majesty… died in the midst of that chaos…”

While the knight talked despite being out of breath, those around him became noisy.

“His Majesty has…”

“A betrayer from Conote…”

“So he lost…?”

“Silence! I don’t think he’d tell a lie under these conditions, but wonder if it’s true…”

The captain approached the young knight. The knight succumbed to fatigue, and ended up falling on his knees right there.

“Messenger, report this to Lenster Castle. Tell Her Highness of His Majesty’s death in combat!”

The captain said only that, at once. Then, he looked at the sky.

The messenger rode the horse prepared for him, with Castle Lenster as his goal. The soldiers who were noisy until a moment ago sympathized with the tired knight and took him to a bed they had prepared. The other soldiers prepared their weapons and started to make arrangements to communicate the surroundings.

The messages from those two outposts reached Castle Lenster at about the same time.

“Report. It has been reported that a horse, thought to be His Majesty, arrived to an outpost, tired and covered with blood.”

“Report. My army fought against the Kingdom of Thracia at River Thracia. During the battle, Conote changed sides and we received heavy damage. It has been reported that His Majesty died in battle.”

“What?! His Majesty has…? I must tell Her Highness at once… gather the soldiers remaining in the castle. Thracia will come soon!”

The face of the general who received the reports became pale. However, he soon pulled himself together and promptly started giving directions.

The only general who had remained in the castle in active duty was the young General Dorias. The one who received the reports was an old general, charged with overseeing the practice of the young soldiers.

“They’ve probably worked from behind the scenes and instigated Conote…
sounds like something Thracia would do…”

“It isn’t the time for this. The most important subject now is how to protect the castle with our current military force, gentlemen.”

While the old general was greatly perplexed, a quiet voice responded to Dorias’s distinctive and thunderous voice.

“Protecting this castle isn’t important. Protecting Leaf, preventing the blood of Lenster from disappearing… that is important.”

“Your Highness, that outfit…”

“In order to let Leaf escape, I shall resist here. While the enemy is confused, we’ll have Leaf escape. Moreover, I believe that planning the restoration would be our best option, what do you think?”

The queen was dressed for battle; it was said that, in her youth, she fought side-by-side with the King, just like Ethlin. Actually, many of the old generals gathered there had seen the queen like that countless times. Grasping the queen’s extraordinary determination from that, the gathered generals bended to her will.

“Fin has already been instructed to escape with Leaf. In order to know well Thracia’s soldiers, I shall serve as a decoy; I shall have everyone’s help for this. However, I wish those who stay with me to be prepared to die. Dorias, please protect Leaf alongside Fin. If Leaf stays alive, Lenster will revive, and the holy blood of Noba won’t disappear. There are also young knights in Dorias’s unit, so I believe that Fin will be reassured in his duty.”

“I accept. I shall protect Lord Leaf, even at the cost of my own life.”

Dorias bowed deeply and accepted the queen’s words. The other generals cast their eyes down as well, pensive; that meant that, even for a moment, their Lenster would crumble.

“Your Highness, please escape safely with Lord Leaf as well.”

“That would be impossible. I don’t think a man like Trabant would let me escape. Leaf will probably be able to escape by himself, especially because I’ll remain in the castle…”

The queen persuaded them with a smile, her eyes showing her resolution.

“If Your Highness has thought so far, then I shall not say anything else. Even if we are old, we are still knights of Lenster. We shall perform that duty splendidly.”

Except for Dorias, all the generals exclaimed their determination of fighting alongside the queen.

“Dorias, in order to confuse them, divide and escape. If you all flee in one direction, you’ll stand out. Leave Lord Leaf to Fin and focus on securing a safe route.”

“Yes, understood.”

“It has been asked of Lady Lachesis to take care of Leaf, as well. Even though she’s carrying a baby, she’s a refugee from that war… I’m sure she’ll be of assistance.”

Accepting the old generals’ advice and the queen’s warm words, Dorias thought that hard days were to come.

Fin, who was in Leaf’s room, stood still in horror after hearing about the situation from the queen; his greatest fear had become reality. The queen soon pulled herself together and gave directions to those around, before going back to her room.

“His Majesty perished… Lord Cuan, I…”

The one who brought the stupefied Fin back to reality was Prince Leaf, who pulled his cuff.

“What happened, are you crying?”

“No, it’s nothing, Lord Leaf.”

Fin, after holding Leaf in his arms, sat down on a chair by the window in order not to get in the way of the servants around them.

“What happened with grandma?”

“Alright, our task here is done.”

The hands embracing Prince Leaf were still trembling. Fin was watching the servants charged with making the preparations for Leaf’s escape. The prince, always quick to complain, was unusually quiet in his arms.

“Fin, I was worried so I came. Prince Leaf…”

The door opened, and Lachesis came into sight. Dressing her usual armor and embracing Nanna, she looked brave and reliable. The nervous court lady ordered to make the preparations asked her, fluttered.

“Ah, Lady Lachesis, what should I do…
what should we take…”

“A few changes of clothes for Lord Leaf, with as little decoration as possible. No matter where we’re going to hide, not standing out should be our main concern. Afterwards, let’s get something Lady Ethlin and Lord Cuan held; it’ll be good to show Lord Leaf something of his parents when he becomes an adult. If possible, getting Lenster’s emblem would be nice as well.”

The flustered maids then promptly arranged what they were told.

“Fin, can you go like this?”

“Ah, yes, anytime. I don’t have anything to take with me… my horse is in the stable, and I can quickly prepare weapons…”

“As one would expect from a knight, indeed. I can go anytime, as well. And Her Highness…”

“Probably in the war council… since I’ve heard that, like Lord Cuan and Lady Ethlin, she fought alongside His Majesty in her youth…”

Lachesis put Nanna down and sat on a chair as well. The servants, having finished the preparations, came to Lachesis and Fin, looking for confirmation. Lachesis checked the luggage, indicating what wasn’t enough.

“I wonder what Her Highness is planning to do…”

Lachesis’s expression dampened. Perhaps she was remembering when the castle of Nodion was about to fall, Fin thought. Her hardened image when they first met; her image encouraging her subordinates to protect the castle to the end came to his mind. However, that time, help came. The army led by the young noble Sigurd, of which Fin was part of, arrived just in time.

There wouldn’t be anyone helping Lenster. Even if they tried an alliance with the Grandbell Empire, their ally Chalphy had been destroyed for rebelling, so Lenster would probably be seen in a similar light.

“It’s painful not to have any choice but to run, isn’t it…”

“What are we going to do if you’re weak now, Fin? Lord Leaf will laugh at you!”

“Fin, you’re acting strange!”

Prince Leaf, who innocently looked up to Fin, melted the weight of his heart.

“Is this odd… Lord Leaf? … shall we go on a trip together?”

“Grandma too?”

“No, Her Highness must stay and watch over the castle, so we’re going with Lady Lachesis here and some other people. A few moments from now…”

As if to trick Leaf, who still didn’t know anything, Fin tried to make it sound fun for him. Seeing Fin do this looked tragic to Lachesis. She knew full well how difficult it would be to run away from the castle and escape. After the matter of Agustria, her life in Silesia was still good thanks to Sigurd and the others’ good will. To avoid that battle at Grandbell, she left her son in Isaac and struggled to reach Lenster…
how many times did she think she’d rather die? However, she couldn’t ignore the feelings of her late brother, or of the one who loved her. That was all that allowed Lachesis to stay alive.

“Come, Lord Leaf. We’ll leave at any moment, so let’s get ready?”

When Fin stood up, a maid jumped in, bringing a message.

“Dragon knights. We’ve been informed that dragon knights have been spotted high in the sky.”

“So early…”

“If everyone flees quickly, Lord Dorias’s subordinate knights will protect us.”

The maid who said that at a breath fell on her knees. The other maids who had understood her words began trembling with fear.

“Calm down. We have something we must do. If we do, a way will open for us.”

“Lady Lachesis… we shall go with you. We’ll become your shield. Meanwhile, please escape.”

“You’ll be a burden. Think of a way of staying alive by yourselves; it’s better that way. If by any chance you attract their attention instead of us, ask the help of one of the knights and escape with him. You belong to Lenster. Hope for Lord Leaf’s safety, and stay alive until the day you can come back with him.”

“Lady Lachesis…”

“Now go. Don’t worry about us… I’ve been fighting in this war. I can at least keep up with Fin.”

“Good luck… Lord Fin, please take care of Lord Leaf.”

“We’re escaping towards Alster. If we’re alive, by then…”

“Lord Leaf, be well…”

“Shall we go, Fin?”

“Yes, with haste… Lord Leaf, Lady Lachesis shall go with you.”

“Let us go, Lord Leaf. Perhaps it’s a bit tight, but come here with Nanna…”

“Quickly!”

Urged by the maids, Fin and Lachesis left the room.