The Runaway Princess

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Every little girl dreams of being a princess. To be dressed in the most beautiful and fancy of gowns, to have personalized chefs and maids trained to cater to your every need. To live in an enormous palace with every wish at your disposal

Unlike every little girl who longed for the lavish lifestyle, Scarlett Edwards hated it.

Her hatred only seemed to grow stronger every passing year. Ever since her mother died from a rare deadly plague, her once lavish princess life became her hell. Her father became entirely distant and treated his only daughter as if she ceased to exist, and yet he was bold enough to keep her locked up behind the castle walls for her protection. Such actions from her father made her more bitter against him, in private he spoke not even a word to her, but in the public view, he was a good man who wanted only the safety of his daughter. He was such a hypocrite.

Since her mother's death, Scarlett began training with deadly weapons. She figured if she was stuck behind the Palace walls, the least she could do was learn how to defend herself. She employed a retired warrior to death with her way of the sword as well as the bow and arrow. Long hours of training also developed her strength and agility.

Her ability to fight gave her a sense of independence, which she loved nothing more. She also felt powerful, both in physical strength and intelligence.

Her nativity led her to believe that if she trained herself both mentally and physically and proved to her father that she was able to take care of herself in the world, he would let her go. But alas, she was wrong.

Her father refused to acknowledge her accomplishments.

It was as if she no longer existed in his worldview. At first, she would cry for extended hours, desperately wanting some sort of affection from him. But as she grew older, she realized that nothing she did would please a man who was hell-bent on ignoring her existence.

So imagine her shock when her maid informed her on a random Wednesday afternoon that her father requested her presence that afternoon. Scarlett resisted the urge to physically pinch herself to see if she was awake as she relayed the message for a second time.

"He specifically requested me?" She confirmed once more with wide eyes as the shock hadn't worn off as yet. Her brain refused to process the words.

"Yes, your majesty." Julie, the elder maid, basically raised the young princess since the death of her mother and the neglect of her father. "He wishes for you to dine with him."

Scarlett physically scoffed and rolled her eyes. She spent years wishing that her father would even spare a glance at her, and now that she gave up did he choose to acknowledge her? She was still baffled by this and chose to hide her shock with a poker face. 'How incredibly bold of him! He spent years not uttering a world to me, but now he wants to dine?" Scarlett was positive that she sounded like a maniac with her rambles. But how can anyone blame her? She felt no emotion toward the man whom she once loved with all her little heart. As a child, she loved nothing more than to hop onto her father's lap while he sat on his glorious throne and played with his long beard.

"I refuse to meet him." She knew that she sounded childish, and a little part of her knew that if her father wanted to dine on a random Wednesday afternoon after years of zero contact, then something must have happened. But she chose to simply not care. She felt as if she owed it to herself to act this way after putting up with years of neglect.

"I'm sorry, but your father was quite adamant that you attend." Julie looked at her with eyes of sympathy as she shared the princess's pain. Julie cared for the girl since she was six old and often witnessed the girl crying and pleading to her father's guard to let her into his chamber.