Roland woke up in his bed as soon as the faint streaks of sunlight fell through his window. He quickly got dressed and was about to resume his meditation, when he heard a knock at his door.

“Jake? Are you there?” A voice said softly through the wooden door. It felt familiar.

Roland stayed quiet for two reasons. One, he wasn’t Jake anymore, and two, he just got up. Roland really didn’t want to deal with anyone right after waking up, no matter who they were.

“Jake, please open up.” The voice said again with a slightly commanding voice.

Lets see what they want. He thought.

Since the summoning, he never interacted with anyone from his group and completely skipped the knight’s classes to stabilize his mana. He didn't bother trying to remember anyone either since the memories conflicting within him would either give him a massive migraine or reignite the near uncontrollable hellfire within his heart. Fortunately, his constant efforts with remembering were slowly paying off.

Giving up with a low curse, he walked over and opened the door.

“What do you want?” He simply said, clearly irritated at the thought of human interaction.

“I would like to have a talk with you later. Also, breakfast will be served soon so please come join everyone else.” After saying what she needed to, she walked off. However, Roland could sense a faint trace of magic coming from her for some reason. Instantly, he knew that it wasnt naturally from her.

He set aside that observation for the moment and went to the main hall where breakfast was normally served with his group. After opening the door, the room became quiet for a second as there seemed to be a visible tension...then the students resumed their lively banter. Underneath the facade, he could tell that everyone was slightly stressed after his entrance. Everyone from his class, including his teacher, were all sitting at a very long table. Each person had their own utensils, napkin and cup. At the end of the table, sat a luxurious chair that Roland assumed only the king sat in.

Roland walked over to the table, picked a chair some distance away from the group, and sat down in it. Sometime later, the king also joined them while a servant announced his presence. “All hail Ruslan Costa, ruler of Remford!”

Immediately after the king entered, a strange spectacle took place. Everyone from his class minus three people bowed their heads slightly sitting at the table. Just as quickly as they did so, they returned to talking, as if the whole thing never happened.

I knew it. Guess the spell on that blade was some kind of hypnosis or suggestion magic. Maybe some kind of mental shackles rather than a full-blown rewrite or forced contract. They are summoning people and immediately enslaving them. God save the king and his motherfucking WHORE OF A-

Roland felt his mind slipping and inhaled sharply to regain his wits.

“Good morning everyone, the classes yesterday weren’t too hard I presume?” The king cordially asks.

“No, the students and I are doing fine your highness. I still don’t feel right about making them fight though.” The teacher said with a tinge of anger.

“I don’t as well, but we are left with no other options miss. Enough about such gloomy topics, let us dine and work hard for another day! Servants, start handing out the breakfast feast!” The king hollered.

Immediately after, numerous servants filled the halls. Each one carried two large plates with lids on top. One by one they set down the plates on the table until the entire length was filled.

“The feast, as you requested your majesty.” One servant bowed and said.

“Good. You are dismissed.” The king waved a hand and all but one of the servants left the room in an orderly fashion.

Roland looked at the numerous plates filled with food and slightly drooled a bit. He hasn't eaten since he arrived in this place. He looked at the food infront of him and a hit of contempt flashed in his eyes.

Even the food here is laced with magic…when the servant gave me that tray, it was laced too. He thought to himself.

Wordlessly, he put down the steak and began to leave the room when he was stopped by the teacher.

“Do you not like the food?” She asked, concerned.

“I don’t really have an appetite. I’ll eat later.” He said simply.

“You should at least eat something. It would be rude to the king here if you didn’t eat anything.” She scolded in a hushed voice.

Roland told her to fuck off inwardly, but showed nothing on his face.

“I’m just not hungry.” He said again and walked off.

The king eyed the man leaving the room with curiosity and waved an attendant over.

“Keep an eye on him and report back to me.” The king whispered to the attendant.

“Yes, your majesty.” The attendant whispered back.

***

After walking back to his room, he sat on the bed and began to make a plan. He needed the essentials to live, like water and food, that weren’t tainted by magic. He needed to leave here and get more familiar with his class so that he could survive on his own. He briefly also thought about breaking the spell that the 'classmates' and teacher was under…

On second thought fuck them. None of them ever did anything for me, so why should I do anything for them? He thought angrily.

But then he suddenly recalled in one of the memories that the woman who was with them was only there for a single day. She was a substitute teacher and had nothing to do with them.

Maybe I’ll break just her bonds… she didn’t do anything after all. Get a grip man, not everyone screwed you over.

He was feeling guilty about leaving her behind and possibly enslaved for who knows how long.

So, that just leaves, the damn princess and traitor. There is no way I can handle Neil right now, but Harmonia on the other hand…

Time flew by as he let his mind wander on how he would kill the princess in the most miserable way possible…

***

(Some time that evening)

Harmonia sat in her room, thinking. Ever since they summoned those people three days ago, she couldn’t stop thinking about one man among them. The one with blue hair with silver highlights. Every hour, her curiosity burned within her more and more. Most of all, however, a certain urge rekindled itself in her heart. Another one…Just one more. She thought to herself before shaking her head and tracing the scar on her face with her fingers.

“No! I have put those distasteful acts behind me….” She said to no one in particular and sighed.

Still, her mind raced whenever she thought of the man. His features were so similar to her recent exploit, yet somehow different. That glare that the man gave her too…it made her shudder with a feeling that she never experienced before. Something was up with him, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, and it was making her frightened but very curious.

“Guess I will just take a walk.”

She slipped her gown on, strolled out of the door, and into the garden outside. She slowly walked among the flowers that the servants took care of. All of her life she has been in this castle. From when she was born, to her tenth birthday, to even now at the ripe age of sixteen, she hasn’t left the castle once. Not that she didn’t want to, but rather she couldn’t. Her mother and father simply wouldn’t let their baby girl go beyond the gates.

Every time she tried to sneak out, her restrictions got worse. Eventually, she felt like she didn’t have a say in anything she did and it drove her a little crazy.

She leaned against a nearby tree and recalled something. The first time she heard someone scream. She was only ten, but she snuck out of her room to ask her mother to read a story. She peeked inside and found her mother laughing while using something shiny to poke the man’s butt while he was lying on her bed. The man screamed loudly with a look of joy on his face, as the shiny thing went inside him over and over again. Then she looked closer at the man and realized it was her father. Her mother and father looked so happy so she thought maybe if she made others scream, she could be happy too.

This was the start of her hobby.

When she was thirteen, she realized what she was doing was horribly wrong. Yet, she couldn’t stop her hobby. It was the only thing that kept her mind in one piece while being stuck here by ever constricting rules of her parents.

Harmonia slumped down and held her knees.

That girl’s smile…she thought to herself and recalled her recent exploit. The girl’s smile is what truly horrified her. Every night after that event, she had nightmares of that smile. Her guilt began to grow and eventually consumed the constricting feeling that her parents gave her daily. Every day when she looked in the mirror, she saw the scar on the right side of her face as a reminder of her sins. In fact, she specifically requested for the healers to leave it as a scar. She kicked, screamed, bit and clawed at anyone who even tried to remove it.

She hasn’t acted on her urges since, and every time she felt like giving in, that girl’s smile would re surface from her memories. If the girl was an angel of heaven then she felt like an unpardonable sinner who just defiled something that was holy. She knew deep in her heart that she would have to spend the rest of her life paying for her sins...or else she wouldn't be able to live with herself. The instinct told her that if she didn't...

She looked up at the night sky with the crystal-clear twinkling stars. “If only I could…” her voice trailed off.

Harmonia stood up with the tree as her support and saw something flash in the corner of her eye. She looked at the wall and saw something shining on the top of it. She kept looking at it until a hand covered her mouth and a black ethereal dagger appeared in her view.

*CRACK*

***

Roland sat in his room contemplating. If he killed the princess, then he needed a way out of here and to get as far away as possible. That meant being stealthy and horses. Stealth he had in spades, horses…not so much. Not only that, but he didn’t really know much about the surrounding area, since he lived here in the outskirts of the castle most of his life while taking care of his sister. Even those memories were seriously fragmented so he didn't know the local area that well.

I need a map, food and water, a horse or carriage, an escape route, and a way to kill her.

Just the thought of getting that catharsis that he desperately needed brought out a feeling of relief. He thought about various parts of his plan while walking around the castle in an errie calm, until he saw the princess in her flowing gown. He noticed that she was walking to the garden.

This might be my only chance for a long time…he thought to himself. So, he used his [Rogue] skills to follow her into the garden. He had been trying to remember Zeno's experience as a rogue at the expense of a throbbing migrane for the better part of the morning for his plan.

Roland quietly followed behind her while sticking to the shadows, as his anger grew more and more turbulent. He needed revenge and he needed it now. He couldn't wait any longer, so he snuck behind the tree she was at.

He focused his mind inward and pulled the reservoir of energy within him. It erratically flowed from inside him to his arm, to his hand, and into each finger. Slowly the black energy left his hand and solidified into a simple looking somewhat see-through black dagger. He looked at it while it flickered on the edges, not entirely solidified.

This will have to do for now. He thought to himself.

He peeked from behind the tree and saw her hugging her knees. Roland looked at the seemingly defenseless girl. Suddenly various memories of his sister flooded into his mind: her laugh, her smile, her home cooked meals. Her strained efforts to go out shopping for the two of them while he worked double shifts most days to keep them fed...sorrow bit deep within him as the hellfire within was set free and flooded his mind. It felt good...so good to let it loose.

The princess stood up and looked at the wall. Roland followed her gaze and saw another assassin aiming a crossbow at her, trying to steal his kill, his revenge, his RIGHT-

This drove the hellfire within him to automatically guide his body. He needed this to survive. He immediately came out from behind the tree with the mana-dagger in hand.

A wrathful howling echoed in his mind. He released a gutteral roar and took hold of the princess. Roland covered the princess’s mouth and brought down the dagger that would slice open her throat and stab her repeatedly, ending her life.

*CRACK*

His dagger hit the crossbow bolt in the shaft as he was bringing it down, and completely broke the projectile, while his dagger fell from his hand and winked out of existence. He shoved the princess to the ground as another whizzed by. Roland materialized two more daggers, this time made of a deep black swirling energy and threw one at the assassin and the other dagger at the princess for a second attempt.

The first one collided with a bright blue energy film on the assailant that came out of nowhere, and the dagger winked out of existence. After fending off the dagger, the figure jumped down the other side of the wall and fled after firing a last shot. The other dagger pierced the shaft of the crossbow bolt that was aimed at him. His dagger snapped it into three uneven jagged parts, flinging both of them to the side and into the ground with only the handle remaining. After a few seconds, it also winked out of existence. Roland inwardly cursed at the assassin for ruining his chance at revenge. He stared at the girl in front of him with frustration as his mind kicked into gear. His revenge was over. His planning and efforts till now were for nothing.

He got up to get away from her, but he walked only a few steps. He saw the princess stand up and stare at him with a determined look.

Roland looked at her and felt that something about her was odd. He couldn’t quite put it into words but it didn’t matter. His chance was gone and he needed to make another somehow, or flee immediately. Roland looked around for a way to escape from the castle when he heard the princess mumble something.

He watched her face get redder and redder while she slowly opened her mouth.

What is wrong with this girl? Why isnt she running or calling for the guards? With his mind calming down, he started to notice the odd points in her behavior as something didn't seem to add up.

“-ry…me.” She mumbled.

Roland’s mind immediately cooled down. Any semblance of rage or anger was immediately dissipated due to pure shock. Disbelief was plastered on his face as he looked at her. He could have sworn he just heard something completely ridiculous, but he asked just to make sure.

“What...did you just say?” He stammered.

Harmonia stared deeply at him while even her cheeks and ears became red.

“You saved me, my hero…I will never let you go as long as I live…so…I-I order you…t-to…MARRY ME!” She screamed at the end with a completely serious and flushed face. You could almost see the determined look to repay her savior with her life.

Roland’s mental processes ground to a complete halt as his feeble brain tried to process the ridiculousness of the situation. Suddenly two unbidden words floated into his head and out of his mouth.

Well…shit.