*:･ﾟ✧ previously on ; runaway princess
"Do you need the money?" The words escaped her mouth insensibly as the boy looked up, expressions cleared of his face as he mumbled what seemed to be a "no".
"Then," Athy took a step closer to the red eyed boy- a cheeky smile lingering on her face. "See ya," she took a swipe with her legs to his, making him lose his balance to fall right in the ditch. "You little rascal-" he exclaimed, but Athanasia was caught off guard.
She felt something grab her ankle as she fell in with him.
Chapter 2: See Ya In A Ditch
The fall down was disgusting- looking around as she dusted her hanbok, all she could see was shit- including the obnoxious boy in front of her. Even so, she flinched, realising he was there too. The boy got up, expression showing how much he wanted to kill her as he raised a hand at 'Athy', before stopping right in the air and forcing a smile.
"Shall we both get back up?" He forced. "Carry me up, and I'll pull you out," he spoke. Athanasia gave a puzzled look. Her- carry that boy who looked almost 6'1 when she was just 5'3? A plan blinked a lightbulb in her head!
"How about you carry me up- and I'll pull you up?" She put her hands behind her back, devious intentions hidden. "How can I trust you?" He was skeptical. "I'm a man of my word," of course, she wasn't even a man.
"You don't even look like a man," he scoffed. Gosh, this boy was mean. "Do you want to get up, or not?"
After a long time of consideration, he finally replied. "Works too," the boy spoke as he squatted down, carrying her up. Her face felt hot- being carried by a boy she didn't even know, but it was no time for feelings like these. "Can you reach it?" Her hands stretched to the most she could, but to no avail. "Nope."
"Now?"
"Nope."
"I swear, once I get out of this place," the red eyed boy muttered to himself.
At the last boost up, she finally got touched the edge. "You'll what?" She felt a little intimidated- but what was there to fear? She was never going to see him again.
"You'll pull me up, right?" He flashed a smile while gritting his teeth. With her kind nature, she hesitated a little about running away, but she leaned in, the naughty grin playing around her face again. "I'm sorry, My Lord. But that'd be my own death, you said it yourself!"
Athanasia got up on her feet, dusting dirt off her hanbok and adjusting her gat, then skipping away in her dirt-smeared clothes. "Hey!" The boy, still stuck in the ditch shouted again- but no one was there anymore. The sun still shone brightly, though.
"Aish- that pathetic excuse for a man!"
•••
"What are those, sir?" An elderly man sitting by the notice wall asked a noble guard putting up wanted faces. "A servant got our masters' daughter in law to fall in love with him," he sighed in disgust. "And they fled the country together."
Athy took a small peek, but just had to run over to take a closer look. No matter how she looked it it, that face was familiar.
Crap.
She recalled the face of that man who'd she helped get together with his love days back.
I didn't know they were a servant and his master's daughter in law!
"Daughter in law?" Athanasia's face lowered to face the ground as she repeated in softly, in a lower tone. "Yes, daughter in law."
"And this is the person who helped-"
The man clicked his tongue, before looking back at Athanasia. "Aigoo, where have I seen this face before?" He tried racking his brains.
"Doesn't he look like him?" The elderly man pointed at her, who was trying to walk away quietly. "Goddamnit!" Athanasia mumbled to herself. From behind, a silver haired boy with watched as the scene played- he smiled to himself and stood there.
"You there, turn around!" With great apprehension, Athanasia slowly turned around, hoping for a miracle to happen- and it did. She felt someone clip their hands on her shoulders to face them as his low voice spoke to the men, "is there a problem there, gentlemen?"
Athanasia looked up to bright mecury eyes with silver platinum hair falling down onto his face. "F-Future Duke Alpheus!"
It made sense to her then- no one else would have silver platinum hair as such other than Ijekiel Alpheus and Roger Alpheus. "Sir Alpheus?" She spoke, forgetting her low voice as they turned round to walk. By then, the sun had already set.
"So," he looked straight into her eyes. "How long are you going to hide it?" Hide what? Hide her gender? Her identity? "That you're a woman?"
She wondered too- she really missed living as a girl- but living for the rest of her life as a boy would help her survive. She shifted uneasily, avoiding the question. "Thank you for saving me, Future Duke Alpheus," she spoke as she turned to the left, heading for a now quiet alley. "I'm going this way."
"See you around, then," he flashed a smile. But even so, she looked really familiar to him. He could tell that she was a girl right away, which was weird. But by the time he turned around, she was gone.
Athanasia had barely took a step. The feeling of her heart pumping against her ribcage as a hand slapped around her mouth, letting everything go black.
When she awoke, a bunch of familiar faces greeted her eyes as her hands were tied to a chair. "I told you, give me a week..." she groaned in a harsh voice. They were silent as the man in the middle turned around, a paper in hand. "W-What are you doing?" Sweat dotted her forehead as her heart hit her ribcage harder every second.
"H-Hey!" She screamed as they forced her thumb into ink, pressing it onto the paper. Terror struck her face as her face was white. "We did it!" The man rejoiced.
"W-What did I just sign?"
They were still ignoring her- and she didn't know what she was in for at all.
•••
Her mana was running low- there was nothing she could do as she was thrown into what seemed to be a little warehouse in the dark. Thankfully, an elderly man clad in what seemed to be a noble's uniform stood in front of her with a welcoming grin. "W-Where am I, sir?" She wasn't completely relieved- feeling sense of doom somehow. "They call this the mage factory," he was still smiling.
Athanasia's eyes widened- what she knew of mage servants weren't at all good.
Mages were those who served the royal magician- as normal servants, but their mana would be connected to his for usage in important battles. Once one's mana was used beyond what they could take, they'd die. And of course, all mages had a mark of loyalty that binded their mana to the royal magician to be- who was said to be a young troublemaker who even so, did not use their mana for anything.
But one of the problems were that all mages were male. And since only one person in the kingdom could make people mages, royals who received it would die with immediate effect because of the difference in mana in their blood.
Athanasia took a gulp as she hugged herself, backing away from the old man. "N-No, sir," she spoke. "Please..."
"I'm sorry, young lad, you know how strict the king is."
Roaming around the palace for all her life, she did come across dozens of mages who told her about their marks- that were more painful than what was said to be giving birth because the first step was to carve out a piece of their skin and flesh.
"There we go," the man said as she tried to struggle out of the chair she was tied to. The tears rolled down her cheeks furiously as the images felt as if it were the same as the cold look her dad gave her before she left.
"Hey Gramps, why do you do this job?" She asked, before looking at what he was drinking. Sakae, the idea lingered in her mind. She was a smart girl, after all. The more she asked about his life, the more he took sips of his sakae. She tried to be as informal as she could to let his guard down.
For some reason, her hands could slip right through the ropes as she tried taking the knife away from his hands. But he grabbed on hold to it. "You know, I'm reeeally good at this," he exclaimed, stabbing the knife into the table.
"I know, I know," she said, trying to take the knife from him. "It's time to do my job!" He was completely drunk, standing up as he pointed the knife towards her.
And from the outside, a shrill scream could be heard. "Gramps! W-What are you-"
; A/N ;
oOOOF felt like posting! i reeeally wanna know ur opinions of this story 🥺👉👈 cos idt many people are reading it,, but it's okay! i'm sure it just starts like this! my updates for this story will be every friday, but i may post if i want to before that too! but i'll surely post on friday hehe <3 i hope you liked this chapter!
and and yEp i did make that title cover 😳 i'm sorry if u find it extra! o but i'm willing to help anyone do their title covers- just DM me and i'll gladly do one for you <3
till next week,
ja, matane~
-eru <3