"Excuse me?!" the Princess gasped.
Noelle's Truth — The Weight of Eight Years
Noelle stopped, and suddenly her voice carried such force that the air itself seemed to freeze around them.
"I'm not strong. You are too weak."
"I'm just a simple girl from an orphanage.
Do you know why I could kill a Fire Demon?
Because I've trained every single damned day since I was eight years old.
You think it was easy?"
The Princess stared at her, stunned.
"Since I was eight, I had to do a hundred push‑ups, a hundred squats, a hundred sit‑ups every day.
And on top of that, as a maid I joined the knights' training, then I studied magic, then I took cooking lessons…
all while I was in so much pain I thought I'd die.
Every part of me screamed.
But I didn't complain. Not once."
Noelle's eyes burned with a mix of anger and old wounds.
"Because Young Wolf and the Wolf Knights were the only ones who didn't mock me.
The only ones who didn't call me an ugly, disgusting witch just because I was born a half‑elf.
Long ears, white hair, purple eyes…
and that was enough for everyone to cast me out."
"Is it my fault who my parents were?
That some human knocked up an elf woman?
I don't even know who they were.
They threw me into an orphanage like trash.
And even there they mocked me… for sins I never committed."
The Princess's lips trembled.
"Why don't I want to join the Hero's Party?" Noelle continued.
"Where was the Hero when I was suffering?
Where was Eris when they beat me and bullied me in the orphanage?
Did she come to save me when I needed her the most?"
"She damn well didn't."
Her voice softened — but her words hit even harder.
"But Young Wolf came.
He pulled me out of hell.
He was the first to show me what it feels like when someone needs you… and loves you.
Carla taught me what a mother's love is.
Master Florian was the grandfather I never had.
Anita, Andrea, Ironclaw, Fireburp…
they're not just comrades.
They're my family."
"And Young Wolf… he's not just love.
He's true love.
The other half of my soul.
My destiny.
My everything."
Tears welled in the Princess's eyes.
"None of us will give each other up just because some so‑called Hero shows up, someone who did nothing for us and only wants to order us around.
For the sake of saving the world?
Young Wolf is my world.
Just like he is Andrea's and Ironclaw's."
"We don't care about the Hero or the Demon King.
If anyone tries to hurt the people we love — demon king, demon, monster, whoever — we'll stand against them.
Even if it kills us."
"You don't need to be a hero for that.
You just have to fight.
Every. Single. Day."
The Princess lowered her head.
"I… I'm sorry," she whispered.
The Birth of Resolve
Princess Anabella's throat tightened.
No more words came out — only tears, flowing so freely that not even a Hero could have stopped them.
For the first time in her life, she truly felt how meaningless her birthright was.
How weak and helpless she was against demons.
And for the first time, she understood that Noelle — this half‑elf maid — had once been nothing more than an orphan who had fought every single day of her childhood just to earn a place in the Kingdom.
Noelle glanced back at her over her shoulder.
"If you want to cry, then cry," she said quietly, but not unkindly.
"But we have to keep moving. It's still an hour until we reach Young Wolf."
The Princess wiped her eyes and spoke in a trembling voice:
"Noelle… can I ever become as strong as you?"
The half‑elf girl stopped and studied Anabella's face for a moment.
Her answer was simple — but heavy.
"I can't tell you that."
Her voice, for the first time, was truly gentle.
"But I can tell you this: the Princess you are now… can become a much stronger Princess.
And that Princess is the one the Hero will love far more."
Anabella's heart tightened — but for the first time, not from fear.
From determination.
She made a decision.
She vowed to become stronger than the girl she was now.
To never again remain helpless, weak, or wait for others to save her.
And only then did she realize how much she had in common with Noelle.
More than she had ever imagined.
This was the moment when the strongest Queen in the history of the Kingdoms was born.
But let us not run so far ahead in history.
Where the Teleportation Wave Threw Andrea, Anita, and Ironclaw
Andrea Wolf
"They separated me from the others," Andrea noted as she turned in a slow circle.
"In situations like this, the Wolf Rule applies. Objective: the castle.
And the hunt has begun."
Her eyes flashed with determination.
"Whoever slaughters the most demons wins.
This time I have to give it everything if I want to take first place.
Anita will latch onto every demon with that Demonhunter Blade of hers,
and Ironclaw is practically on home turf in a forest like this.
I'll rest a bit, refresh myself… then the competition starts."
The Champion of the Wolf Knights didn't waste time.
As soon as she set off toward the castle, she cut down every demon that crossed her path.
She moved between the trees like a predator — fast, silent, merciless.
Anita
"What the hell was that?" Anita growled as she looked around.
"Where am I? How did I get here?"
Then she shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. Wolf Rule. The castle is west, so I go west."
The Demonhunter Blade pulsed in her hand as if it were alive.
"I can practically feel it thirsting for demon blood," Anita grinned.
"This is going to be the most entertaining hunt I've ever been on.
I hope there are plenty of demons…
because I need to kill at least a hundred before the curse lets me go."
The blade guided her toward demons like a magical compass.
Wherever she went, demons emerged — and Anita butchered them all.
The more blood she spilled, the deeper she sank into ecstatic frenzy.
To the demons, she became the embodiment of doom.
Ironclaw
"Where did everyone go?" Ironclaw muttered as she sniffed the air.
"I can't smell Master anywhere.
But I can smell demons."