Tigreal's POV.
Several days after his sister was invited to the empire, Tigreal tried to think of more people to recruit. During his past, he met a great amount of decent warriors, but he remembered one particular man who fought bravely in the battlefield to seek revenge for the death of his parents, caused by the demons deep under the abyss. Of course, how could he ever forget him? The fighter respected him way too much to forget him, either. They were so close, and it was time for a revisit to the Monastery of Light, a place where he trained, to see him once again.
Tigreal stood up from his large desk filled with disorganized maps and scattered stationeries in his private room, but before he walked out the door, he remembered it was disrespectful to see the princess in his plain white tunic and black breeches, so he added his reddish brown vest and tidied up his hair a bit.
He knocked on the princess's room, but there was no answer. He knocked again, a little harder, but the same thing happened. Was she still in her sleep? The sun hadn't fully risen yet, the sky was still half dark. He decided to open the door, small enough that it made a creak sound. He witnessed nobody on the luxurious bed. The princess was awake. Where in the world could she be? She couldn't possibly walk to the cities by herself, she would be recognized by everyone, and that was totally against the law.
"Guards!" he called loudly, as he quickly ran down the stairs from the princess' room. He couldn't believe this was happening, and he was the one to blame.
"Yes, Captain," one of them said.
"Where is the princess?" he asked seriously.
"She went to the city, Captain. I do not know her purpose, she only told us she wanted some fresh air. That would be all."
"And she didn't tell me... why?"
"She said she would be back very soon, she didn't want you to worry," the other guard explained.
"Soon means the other way around. Have you any idea where she is heading to?" he asked again, but the guards shook their heads. Tigreal had to find her before anything terrible happened to her. It was his duty to protect the princess, and he thought he did a horrible job doing it.
Silvanna's POV.
Silvanna was glad she could be in disguise while walking in the streets of the city. It was a pleasant day indeed, and even better, nobody recognized her. She was wearing her old blue cloak to cover herself. To make sure she was more unrecognizable, she completely changed her appearance; this time, she put on her simple light brown long dress with a faded black belt. She looked nothing like herself, and she seemed to love it so much; not because she was trying to be someone else, but because she was glad she didn't have to look like a princess for some time. With an outfit like this, it wasn't a must for people to bow down for her, talk politely to her, or even fake a smile just to satisfy her. She would be happier if her people spoke to her like she was a friend.
She was already walking quite far now, almost arriving in the Monastery of Light, and she decided to take a quick visit. The Monastery of Light was an ancient and religious shrine to worship the Lord of Light. Long ago, it was constantly used by pastors and believers to perform religious ceremonies, but now it was just an ordinary church with ruins and a place where special people were chosen to be trained in order to be the Church of Light's assassins, and a lot of them were still trained here.
The Monastery of Light had always been an exquisitely mysterious sight to see, and Silvanna was glad she could come around here again. She had been here once or twice when she was a little girl, it was also the place where her parents got married. She let out a relieved sigh, this place meant a lot to her.
Just when she was about to enter the building, someone from behind called her.
"Your Highness!" She knew that voice enough to smile and turned around with a radiant expression.
"Running all the way here just to see me, Captain?" Silvanna asked. Tigreal slowly came to a stop, panting quite hard.
"Why would you do that?" Tigreal asked breathlessly.
"Do what? Simply visiting an old place? I told you to stop worrying too much about me. I will be alright. Besides, I was about to return soon," Silvanna said calmly.
"Really? I saw you from afar you were about to enter the church," Tigreal lifted an eyebrow, proving her wrong. Silvanna wanted to speak, but what he said was true, and Silvanna just gave him a small grin and entered anyway. Tigreal looked like he had no other choice but to follow her inside.
Tigreal's POV.
He was grateful he found her, and she was right. He had to stop worrying too much about her, she was indeed the princess, and not a little girl she used to be anymore. Moreover, she had trainings, which made him even more of a fool for worrying a strong woman like her.
Speaking of trainings, he remembered what he wanted to tell the princess beforehand, and this was the perfect timing because this was where his old friend trained. A demon hunter he was, and despite his kind and fun personality, he would always release all his might and anger in the battlefield when fighting an army of abyssal demons.
"Princess, there is actually someone that could fill in the member as a Moniyan warrior," Tigreal said. The princess waited for his answer.
"Right this way," Tigreal said as he led the way to the monastery's training ground. They went through a small, dark passageway with only candles as the source of light. As they arrived in the corner, they opened the door and revealed a large spaced training ground with various types of weapons to practice with. Tigreal remembered it all too well. The place was filled with the clanging sounds of swords which was nostalgic enough for him. Going after the princess wasn't so bad after all.
While the princess was reminiscing her childhood in the monastery, Tigreal missed being in the middle of the battlefield, protecting his army of knights and his friends. One of them was the demon hunter, and he was here.
Alucard's POV.
Alucard saw someone familiar from the entrance door. It was Tigreal, but he didn't know who the woman was. He assumed it was the princess, but does a princess dress like that? He put his demon hunter sword down and walked forward to where the captain stood. Alucard had always admired the captain's bravery during any battle. Never had he respected any other man more than Tigreal, a daring man who would do perhaps anything to protect the empire. Reuniting with him again was the last thing he didn't know he needed.
"Tigreal, it felt like decades," Alucard happily said.
"You were only a seventeen-year-old fighter when we fought alongside each other," Tigreal stated. "Now, look at you." Tigreal smiled and embraced him as a 'welcome back' greeting. He was almost like a brother to him.
Alucard turned to the woman beside him, she looked like an angel, except, of course, she was wingless. He wanted to ask her if she was really the princess, because her appearance looked nothing like a royalty. "... Have we met?" he asked politely.
"We haven't, but there's a big chance you probably know me." The woman lifted her cloak to reveal her enchanting silver-white hair. She was Princess Silvanna, and Alucard was completely surprised to see her in different clothing. He was too lost in her elegance he forgot to bow.
"Shit—Your Highness!" he exclaimed.
"Rise, please," Silvanna laughed, lifted his chin and held his shoulders. But it was too late, because he half shouted at the princess, now almost everyone around him turned around to see her, including a little creature behind him. He looked like a little boy, except he had cat ears and a short little body.
"I apologize, Your Highness, but why are you dressed differently? Not that you look less beautiful but—"
"Hello, there...?" Silvanna ignored him and paid full attention to the little foreigner instead. He immediately turned around to see who she was talking to. Oh, it was the leonin he rescued when he was travelling to the Enchanted Forest in Azrya Woodlands. Poor thing, he lost his only home and some of his friends. Alucard couldn't possibly leave him alone, so he took him and saved him to a safer place instead. The Moniyan Empire was not the best idea in mind. It was only filled with humans, and leonins or other species like him would most likely be kicked out of it.
"May I know your name?" the princess asked nicely.
The little leonin looked at Alucard, making sure if it was alright to answer the princess. The demon hunter confidently nodded. "Um, Harith," the leonin said. His voice was adorable, it made the princess smile in awe.
The princess was on her knees, levelling herself the same height as he was so that she could see his face clearer. "You know, Harith, I learnt that leonins have strong sense of magic. You have them, don't you?"
"Uh, yes," he replied.
"Perfect. Both of you should come with us. We are, well, recruiting." The princess winked as she started leaving the training grounds, but before Alucard walked out, he saw someone strange sitting right in the corner. He didn't know who he was, nor had they met before.
The man had a violin case beside him while holding his gun tightly as if nobody was allowed to touch it. His eye was scarred, trying his best to hide his utterly mysterious face with his black, tall-collared jacket.
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[ an; yep, had too much fun writing again. i hope this isn't too long. please enjoy! i cant wait to write the next part ;)
ps. stay safe and healthy! ]
xoxo, cel.