The night air outside was suffocatingly damp.
Cedric practically carried his mother through the dark, overgrown stone archways of the palace's inner perimeter. The moon was obscured by thick, jagged clouds, casting long, twisted shadows across the cobblestone path.
The Queen could barely keep her footing, her heavy skirts catching on the brambles lining the path as Cedric dragged her toward the decaying stone structure of the ancient eastern boundary gate—the 'edge of the door'.
"Just a little further," Cedric panted, his chest burning as he scanned the treeline. "Just a little—"
"Cedric!"
A sharp, panicked voice called out from the dim corridor behind them, that they had just eloped from.
Two figures broke through a secret passage, running at full speed toward them. Rosetta was gasping for air, her pink hair tangled with leaves, her face flushed with pure terror.
Right behind her was Aefia, her long, pitch-black hair with their silver edges whipping in the wind, her crimson eyes gleaming like lethal embers in the dark.
"Rosetta!" The Queen cried out, reaching a hand toward her daughter.
Before they could bridge the gap, Aefia's hand shot out, grabbing Rosetta by the shoulder and violently shoving the girl forward toward Cedric and the Queen.
"Take her and step back!" Aefia commanded, her voice ringing out like a iron bell in the silent forest.
Rosetta stumbled into Cedric's arms, weeping frantically as she clutched at her mother's robes. Cedric instinctively pulled both women behind his back, staring at Aefia in absolute shock.
"Aefia, what are you—"
CLANK.
Aefia didn't answer. With a fluid motion, her gloved hand swept back, drawing Spectrum from its scabbard with a sharp, resonant ring of dark metal. She skidded to a dead halt in the middle of the stone pathway, turning her body completely around to face the dark forest path they had just fled from.
The air around the boundary gate grew sickeningly heavy.
From the shadows of the stone archway, a figure slowly stepped into the moonlight.
Prince Kazimir stood there, dressed in his immaculate navy-blue and silver military dress uniform. A gold-hilted rapier resting casually at his side. A dozen elite Mides knights clad in black iron armor materialized silently behind him, their drawn swords gleaming with a faint, purplish dark-magic coating.
On Kazimir's face was a sickening, wide smile—devoid of any genuine warmth, curved with pure, predatory amusement.
"My, my," Kazimir said softly, his smooth voice gliding through the cool night air like a blade through silk. He clapped his gloved hands together in a slow, mocking rhythm. "What a touching family reunion. I must admit, Guardian Sofia... you truly live up to your reputation. Your intelligence is quite remarkable."
Kazimir stopped ten paces away from Aefia, his dark eyes flickering past her shoulder to glance at Cedric, Rosetta, and the trembling Queen. The smile on his lips stretched just a fraction wider.
"When you mentioned the 'edge of the door' back in the sub-basement..." Kazimir tilted his head, his tone laced with dripping sarcasm, "...did you mean exactly this spot? The literal edge of my kingdom's boundary?"
Aefia stood unmoving. The wind rustled her dark cloak. She raised Spectrum slightly higher, the dark silver blade angling directly at Kazimir's chest.
She offered a single, curt nod.
"Exactly this spot," Aefia replied coldly. "For I had a feeling that you were going to live up to my predictions and end up stalking us here. Though... I am quite amused at how much audacity you have..." She smirked.
His eyes widened at her statement. Then, he bowed his head a little.
"Well I suppose you and I have something in common then."
"No, sorry to correct you... I think we don't." She lowered Spectrum by an inch. "I know for one thing that as long as I have known you... You are not even one step closer enough to reach my level of thinking."
"Is that a brag?" He let out a chuckle.
"I would say so... But I would also say it is a warning," she answered back. Then, turned her head to the people behind her, before turning back at Kazimir.
"I thought your biggest target was me," she squinted her left eye. "Then I have a negotiation."
"Oh?" He held an impressed expression on his face. "Well I am intrigued then. What is it?"
"If you were asked to choose three small targets to your biggest target... You would take the biggest one, no?"
"Certainly."
"Then let's bet."
"..." He couldn't help but smile, folding his arms while his fingers secretly rested at the hilt of his sword.
"We will have a duel. If I lose, you get to imprison me. But in return, they can run freely to wherever they wish and you won't touch them." Her tone of voice raised slightly, turning into something more than just serious.
"I like that term..." He answered back. "And if I lose... Then the Mides territory will be fully whipped out and left as a free city."
The Queen raised an eyebrow. "You are so reckless, you are willing to sell off the throne?"
Suddenly, another pair of footsteps paced forward to their meeting area. A rustle of expensive fabric following along.
"What is the point? If Kazimir is to lose to a Guardian, then the secret of the Kingdom will go out. Will it not?" The King answered from beside the eldest Prince. "The Guardian of Death is a kind of person... Who sometimes will keep her promise... And other times, use it against you. She is good at manipulating the game however she wishes."
"Yeah... But it is not like the Kingdom already knows that the entire family may be using dark magic." Rosetta piped in.
"If we lose to a Guardian... It is more prove that we use dark magic and no one can ever stop us from earning the name of a traitor. You do know that a Guardian's power can help a dark magic get detected?" The King answered, his expression unreadable. "Even if the three of you survive, you won't be able to keep the Mides throne. That is Sovereign Sofia's game."
Every eyes turned towards Aefia.
"Well... That is true to some extend." She finally answered after a long moment of silence.
"Then what is not true?" Kazimir tilted his head to the side.
"The fact that every member of the Mides family will be named traitors." She replied. "For instance, as the Aethalgard currently appointed to the Mides territory alongside the Smod Empire and others, if I wish to, I can wipe their names clean in the eyes of the public. And the Mides throne was never stable for a long time... I would have broken down the Mides territory to rebuilt it from the ground up and then hand it back to Cedric. Or I might as well merge it with the Smod Empire and have Cedric become a Duke."
The King's expression turned grim.
"Besides..." The Queen suddenly stepped forward. "I don't want either of my remaining wise children to inherit the throne that was built on killing my mother... The Dowager Queen whose heart was poisoned by my own husband and son."
Aefia turned her head over her shoulder. Is this how the Queen piece of the chessboard shines? ...Then I clearly understand why they are considered one of the most powerful pieces. Rage really is a thing...
"You speak as though you have a choice, Mother," Kazimir said smoothly, though the knuckles of his hand turned white against his rapier's hilt. "A disgraced Queen, a cowardly prince, and a traitorous princess... standing on the edge of the woods, begging a the Guardian of Death to spare them from their own family. Do you really believe she cares for you? You are merely leverage to her."
"Leverage or not, they carry the truth," Aefia interjected, her cold voice effortlessly cutting through Kazimir's venom. She stepped slightly to the side, positioning herself squarely between the King's men and the fleeing royals, Spectrum's silver edge catching the pale moonlight. "And unlike you, Kazimir, I don't need to slaughter my own blood to secure a win."
"Then explain why your brother did that with the throne..." His eyes narrowed solely at her. "Your own brother was about to wipe the family tree clean until he found out that one of them carried a use. You were about to become a chancellor."
A silence downed onto the forest boundary. Until it was broken with a laugh that sounded quite wicked.
"Hahaha! Seriously..." Aefia lowered her blade, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I didn't used to believe that a person could blurt out just anything when in pressure... I will leave you to rethink what you said."
Kazimir stood confused for a while. Until he felt a jab from his side and a glare from the King.
"Just what are you saying...?!"
"I am trying, father..." He answered back. "This girl is too sharp to cut through. I can't think of anything else..."
"Well now you don't!" The King raised his hand to slap Kazimir at the back of his head. "The fact is that... Prince Lewis had been much better than the rest of the Mides lineage!"
The King took a deliberate step forward, his heavy, velvet-trimmed cloak rustling over the damp grass. His face remained a hardened, unyielding mask of regal arrogance, but his eyes narrowed as he locked his gaze onto Aefia.
"You talk of restructuring my kingdom, my Sovereign. You talk of Duke titles and Smod Empire mergers as if Mides is already a corpse waiting for your scavengers," the King spoke, his deep voice carrying a chilling, absolute authority. "You are bold for a girl standing alone against a dozen elite knights and two masters of the royal blade."
Aefia merely scoffed at the reply. "Your Majesty... Surely you aren't thinking too high of yourself?"
He flinched.
"I never said I was alone... And you aren't certain what I am about to do... Is going to be beneficial to me, or you." She pointed her finger rudely at him. "Besides... My role as a Guardian and the Third Aethalgard, is to keep people like you away from the innocent victims and netizens."
Then suddenly she took a pause. Before continuing with—
"Besides... I may seem alone right now. But wait a while... It won't take long before my plan falls into place."
Kazimir let out a laugh.
"So... What if your plan suddenly backfires?"
"Won't it be simple? I will die. Not immediately... But surely soon enough."
"God... You really are very bold." He took a step forward, drawing his rapier. "Anyways... I remember we had a duel."
He lunged forward at blinding speeds. The blade was literally directly at her eye.
She barely managed to block it in time, using Spectrum's hilt as a shield.
Kazimir's eyes widened slightly at the absolute stability of her block, his weight pressing fully into the strike. "Still relying on raw defense, Guardian?" he sneered, his voice tight with exertion as the purple miasma coiled around his rapier tried to gnaw through her guard.
"I don't rely on defense," she murmured, "I rely on momentum."
Aefia stomped onto his feet, distracting him enough to take a few steps back. "For someone who uses dark magic... Saying 'God'... Should sound ridiculous..." She whispered.
He smirked, lunging again. Aefia parried it instantly, as she looked over her shoulder.
Dozens of daggers suddenly fell into the middle of the field, pushing both Kazimir and Aefia backwards. Her eyes immediately flew to Cedric who had just used his magic.
Kazimir stumbled backward from the sudden impact, his teeth grinding together as he regained his balance on the slick cobblestones. The purple miasma swirling around his rapier flickered erratically, reflecting the sheer fury in his dark eyes.
"You arrogant little brat..." Kazimir hissed, his voice dropping into a raspy, venomous growl. "You think a few clever words and tricks make you untouchable? In this kingdom, my word is law, and your title as a Guardian ends the moment your head leaves your shoulders! This was your idea to have him interrupt... Wasn't it?!"
Aefia stood baffled as she slowly started to catch her breath. "You seriously think?! That wasn't me!"
And it was true. Her intentions were clear from the start.
She immediately took the opportunity to set her step, and held her sword high above her head as she descending upon him. Though he blocked it with his hands. She pulled out Obsidian from thin air, but he caught it with his own weapon.
The King watched from behind two guarding knights. His eyes narrowing as he observed her movements clearly.
"Thinking back... I have seen this face a very long time ago..." He mumbled under his breath. It caught Aefia's attention. Though she didn't stop sparring.
"Black hair... Red eyes..." He took a step forward. "I saw someone familiar that day too. Though a bit of your facial structure isn't like hers..."
Kazimir nodded when he managed to get a few steps away from her. "I was actually thinking the same. I had been watching a particularly interesting face that day... Twenty years ago at the orphanage..."
Aefia's eyes widened. Though she didn't stop fighting.
Their blades crossed, held steadily by equal forces from either sides. Kazimir took this opportunity to lean in and whispered right at her ears;
"You look exactly like her... The previous Guardian of Death."
She immediately found leverage to push him backwards and managed to stop to take a very short break.
"You must be the late Guardian of Death's... Only daughter..." The King finished, with a smirk at his face. "If only I had thought about it earlier... We would have taken better care of you as our guest the last time you had visited the Mides territory."
"No thanks... I am good." She answered back politely.
In the meantime... She signalled Cedric to make a run for it. And only after that... Did they realize one of Aefia's steps.
"You think a Guardian helping them run away will save them once I cut you down?" Kazimir spat, sweeping his rapier sideways. The purplish dark magic surrounding his blade expanded, darkening into a thick, poisonous fog that spread rapidly across the grass, wilting the foliage instantly upon contact. "You spoke of a plan falling into place, Sofia... And then you send them away...
"Clearly knowing they will be caught by the knights we have dispatched a long time ago. You are running out of time!"
"Am I though?" Aefia tilted her head, a razor-thin, cold smile touching her lips as she shifted Spectrum into a two-handed stance. "I remember warning you all about certain things not so long ago..."