"Your Highness! There has been a terrible incident!" A young man in full plate white armor came rushing through the training grounds of the Carolingian royal family.

The young prince halted another swing of his spear, looking at his knight with concern. "What is it? What's got you so worked up?" He asked gently, his blue eyes laced with worry.

"I received a report that lady Sophia of House Maine has been kidnapped by a group of soldiers from the Kingdom of Valencia. She is being held at Castle Maine, sir!"

"What?! Why would they do that?!" The prince was shocked. To think that Valencia would openly disregard the peace they established. What could have drove them to insite such madness?

"Send some messengers to the heirs of House Naimon, Baligant and Blanca. Tell them to meet me at the counsel room of Castle Burgundy and be sure to hurry. We need to save her as soon as possible!" The blonde prince ordered his knight.

"Understood, Your Highness!"

As soon as the knight left, he suddenly felt a sting on his hand. His fist was buried on the nearest pillar. He removed his hand from it, his hand bleeding slightly, his gauntlet bent by the force.

Why? Just why would they stoop so low to these methods? King Gadea was a kind man, he may have not knew him long, but he was sure he would never resort to something so low. Especially when he and his father created a treaty of peace for them all. He couldn't fathom why he would insite a war on his kingdom.

No. Now is not the time to feel sentimental. He would put an end to this conflict as quickly as it came.

On his honor as a knight, he would swear it.

"Is it true, Charlemagne?" The heir of house Naimon asked, his dark gray hair framing his face. Not sure if it was some kind of sick joke.

Charlemagne gazed at him with an apologetic look. "Yes Inigo, Sophia has been kidnapped, likely ordered by the king." His eyes turned grim when he said that.

"Then we have no choice but to retaliate. Drive them out like the rabbid dogs that they are" The heir of house Baligant said. All throughout the meeting, he seemed coldly indifferent to the situation, although, that doesn't seem to be the case if the grip on his sword was anything to go by.

"For once, I agree with Lyon. We have to go rescue her immediately or else something terrible might happen!" The daughter of the head of house Blanca said to her prince. She could not bear the thought of her best friend going through all those hardships.

"Then prepare our horses Judith, Lyon handle our weapons, and Inig—"

"Whoa okay hold up a minute. You're telling us, that us four, should just blindly charge in Castle Maine in a den of barbarians? Without a plan?!" Inigo asked in disbelief. As much as he wanted to rescue lady Sophia, charging in would be damn near suicidal especially if they already took control of the castle.

"If we advance slowly, draw them in one by one, then we can wittle down their numbers." Lyon said to him, obviously annoyed by the womaniser.

"Oh I'm sorry Lyon, have you been stuck at the training grounds all year? Do you even know the state of the kingdom?! It's in a state of damn civil unrest! Our military strength have been spread out incredibly thin with all the crap we're dealing!" Inigo said to him.

As much as they wanted to save her, they too knew that Inigo has a point. With the current regent, the kingdom hasn't improved since the late king's death. Crime and famine have risen exponentially these few years.

But that doesn't mean Charlemagne will abandoned his honor by doing nothing.

"Calm down Inigo, I have a plan." He said to his close friend.

All three of them were now curious, or in Inigo's case, shocked. They didn't expect him to have a plan. The normally brave and courageous prince almost always won his battles with his own guts and strength.

Charlemagne smiled at them. "I called a friend for help. Right before you all came here."

After calming down, Judith raised her hand, asking permission to speak. The prince complied. "Your Highness, if I may be so bold, who did you ask for assistance?"

Lyon and Inigo looked at the blonde prince with curiosity, his smile grew wider. "Roy von Othello." He simply said

All three of them were shock, they didn't expect him of all people to help them.

"You mean the next leader of the New Venetian Republic?!" Judith was almost horrified at what she heard.

"Yes, well a month before the graduation, Adelaide, Roy and myself promised that one day, when the three of us are in trouble, we would call upon each other for help." Charlemagne said with a smile.

He noticed Judith stunned in silence while both of his male companions were silently accepting the given fact.

"Now now Judith, you know as well as I do that Roy can be quite dependable. So please, for the sake of Sophia's rescue, bear with it for a moment." He tried to reason with her. It seemed like it worked to a degree.

Judith managed to calm down, yet she looked a bit dejected. "You're right, Your Highness. Forgive me for being difficult." She said to her liege.

Charlemagne smiled fondly at her, Judith always tried to be the perfect knight just like him, so he completely understands her current complications. Roy always did love to tease her back at the academy.

"Right. Now that it's settled, Judith ready the horses, Lyon ready our weapons and Inigo, rout out the best path we can take to engage the enemies." He commanded his three closest friends.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

"Fine."

"On it!"

Charlemagne also began preparing for battle.

It was certainly a bit calmer before the storm.

'Where am I?'

Her head was hurting. Her body wasewas more so.

It took a moment for her to process what is going on.

Her back felt a silky substance. Her wrists burnt, like it's bound together by something.

Again. Her head began throbbing. Trying to remember what happened.

'Wait...'

Where were her retainers? Her little brother, Andriodos?

She now only realised that she wasn't in her castle anymore. Laid down on a bed, both hands and feet tied.

The door opened, revealing a burly man in a grean tunic with a scar across his left eye. The firstborn prince of Valencia.

"Where is my brother and my retainers Castile?!" She asked him while trying to loosen the rope.

"Ohoho, lady Sophia, it's a pleasure to meet you too. I must say, you look absolutely ravishing." She could practically feel his eyes violating her. She must know what happened to her brother and her servants. She wouldn't know what to do without them.

"Please I beg of you, spare my brother! My retainers! Please, don't harm them..." Her voice cracking, her eyes swelling up with tears.

"Oh? Begging to me? Such a kind and sweet noble, I'll enjoy breaking you. Your soft skin, your golden hair, those sizable assets of yours, all of them, mine for the taking... Ooooh! I'm getting pumped just by looking at you!"

He walked up to her, lifted her wrists with one hand and tracing her thigh with the other. He sniffed her neck, oooh how he delight in savoring her.

"AAAAAAAH! Please! Let me go!" She screamed, her face having an intensely disgusted look.

"That's enough, brother!" Someone yelled at the firstborn prince. His eyes glared at his brother's back.

Sophia opened her eyed to see who stopped him, and her eyes widened. She recognised that tussle of brown hair, slender figure and the small mole on his forehead. The thirdborn and youngest of the princes, Cidel.

"Huh? You wanna go firs— ARGH!"

Cidel slammed the scabbard of his sword onto his neck, knocking him out instantly.

He looked at her current state. She looked like a mess. But at least he didn't go all the way with her.

"I'm sorry." He had no excuses for his family's actions.

Sophia was still crying her heart out. He felt guilty, what was his father thinking? Invading Lombard, Weren't they allies? And why was he taking that masked man's advice seriously?

He set aside his thoughts for now and decided to comfort Sophia.

"Your little brother is okay. And your retainers were held at Maine Castle. They should be alright but—" He was interrupted by a sudden touch on his hand.

He saw her holding his hand. Her tears, continuesly dripping down her cheek. His eyes widening slightly.

"Thank you..." She earnestly said.

He felt a little embarrassed, he never really received any gratitude from others aside from his father. This experience is certainly... new.

"Hey, Sophia?" He called out softly.

"Ye–yes?" She was still struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"I can get you and your brother outta here. What do you say?" He said, holding her hands with his own.

In that moment, he could've sworn he was seeing an angel with the way she smiled at him.

"Thank you, Cidel."

"Alright are you all ready?!" Charlemagne asked his friends.

Lyon immediately responded, with a smirk on his face. "Yeah yeah, prince! We're ready!" His sword drawn while his bow tucked on his back.

"We're ready too, Your Highness." Judith said, holding her spear.

Inigo merely nodded. Clutching his axe.

Charlemagne rode in front of his comrades acting as vanguard, with Judith and Inigo on his second row for defense while Lyon was at the rear for ranged options.

"Then let's move out! For Lombard!" The young prince bellowed at his comrades moving in a fast pace.

The battle now commenced.

To save Sophia, they must retake Maine Castle.

While the Valencian soldiers were greater in number, their quality is severely lacking. Packing their horse with heavy armor would allow them to bulldoze them.

However, that strategy would merely work on foot soldiers. As much as he loathed to admit it, some of the higher ranking officers are far more powerful.

And those officers still outnumber them.

They could try Lyon's strategy and draw them in one by one but it was too risky.

They could try Inigo's plan and use hit-and-run tactics. But that would take too long to save her.

The only viable strategy was Judith's plan, to decisively strike at the commander as hard as they can by using the momentum of their charge and letting Roy deal with the remaining forces.

"Everyone! Get Ready!" He commanded them.

Valencian soldiers saw the advancement of Charlemagne's group.

"Sir! The prince are heading towards here at breakneck speeds!"

The commander and the second prince, Desig, merely laughed at the futile efforts of the prince. "Form a defensive wall! Keep them at bay!"

"Sir!"

'There's no way that they can handle a defensive wall. Their horses aren't strong enough.'

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" He heard one of his soldiers screamed.

He turned around to find out that, that damned prince managed to break through the ranks easily. He noticed that the group didn't bother to with the surviving soldiers and went towards him.

'So that's how it is...'

"All of you! Form a defensive wall on the castle entrance! Put every defense you can muster! They cannot pass!"

As soon as the order was demanded, armored knights began surrounding the entrance as soon as Desig entered the castle.

"Dammit Charlemagne! We're gonna get surrounded at this rate!" Lyon called out from the rear.

It was true, they're slowly losing momentum of their charge, Judith and Inigo were getting tired and Lyon can't singlehandedly defend on the rear. Soon, the soldiers who survived would surround them quickly.

Just then, a Meteor spellcraft came out of nowhere. Descending on top of the broken defences.

"What was that?!" Inigo was shocked. None of them really knew what happened.

"Hey! Over here guys!"

They looked behind and saw a great number of cavalry forces, and at the vanguard, they can see a man with long dark brown hair held in a ponytail. A huge smile was plastered on his face.

"It seems like I was a tad bit late on the party right, Charlemagne?" His soft yet devious smile was the most prevalent in his appearance.

"Hahaha, took you long enough!" Charlemagne gave a smile of his own.

Roy merely smirked at him. "We'll talk later but for now let's rescue Sophia."

"Right!"

Desig, who saw the arrival of the New Venetian army, was terrified and shocked to see them. He never expected any reinforcements to come to the prince's aide.

He now needed to escape. But before he could, the combine might of Charlemagne and Roy's army broke through the castle gates.

"Judith! Inigo! Round out the area and find Sophia!" He commanded his allies.

Roy noticed Desig trying to find a way to escape. "Well well, it seems that a rat was cornered by a lion, how will this end? I wonder..." He said with a devilish smile.

Charlemagne faced Desig. He brought his lance to his personal combat form.

Desig made a last ditch effort tried to swing a blade towards him. Charlemagne merely dodged his telegraphed attack. Their weapons crossed with each other, though, the prince was having the upper hand.

With his superior strength, he tossed Desig at the pillar, shattering part of his ribs on the process, alongside stab wounds that he caused.

Due to the loss of blood, he was now at his dying breaths.

"He—hehe, the girl ain't here, mister prince. Hehe—BLARGH–haha"

"What?! Then where is she?!" The prince tried asking him but Desig now died on his own puddle.

Once again, he was too late to save her.

'Those bastards! I'll make them pay!'

"Hey! Charle! There's someone who wants to talk to you!" Roy called out to him.

While still feeling strongly frustrated, he needed to set aside his own desires for his duties.

"What is it Ro— Godfrey?!" He exclaimed in concern. Godfrey did not look good, he was beaten up, his body were full of bruises, his slender physique were full of cuts, his light hair was severely messed up.

"Milord I— AARGH!" Godfrey couldn't finish his sentence as the painful cuts on his limbs he sustained prevented him from doing so.

"Careful Godfrey, you're hurt!"

"Yeah pal, and stay still, you're not exactly the lightest person in the room despite your size."

"Roy!" He tried to admonish his friend. Now was hardly the time to joke about the wounded.

"Milord, lady So–Sophia is in Va–Valencian territory—GAH!" He continued to wince in pain. He was put down by Roy.

"Roy, call a healer."

Roy nodded and called over his army's resident healer.

"Take a rest Godfrey, we'll talk later."

He saw the beautiful Emilia of house Desdemona, healing Godfrey and gave her a thankful smiled. She avoided his gaze but not before acknowledging his gratitude.

He felt someone grabbed his shoulder, Roy for once in his life, looked dead serious. "We need to talk Charlemagne."

He nodded to him, letting him know that he has his full attention.

"What that Desig guy said, about Sophia, I'm afraid I can't accompany you on your adventures like we did on the academy. I can't risk the republic getting involved with Valencia. I'm... I'm sorry man." Roy looked down in shame.

Charlemagne smiled. He understood his stance completely, political relationships needed to be protected, and while Valencia broke that relationship, he can't let New Venetia's figurehead fall under the same pretense.

"Buuuuuut, I'll be lending you one of my mooost trusted allies for your campaign. Because I am such a great friend, oh yes I am!" Roy smiled cheerfully. He turned around and motioned Emilia von Desdemona and a short woman to come over.

Instantly, he recognised the woman, Cynthia Ridell Cassio, a magic prodigy in Roy's class. Her short brown hair was only at shoulder length and her mage robes only increased her dignified aura.

'I guess she was the one that casted the Meteor spell.'

Roy placed his hands on Cynthia's shoulder. "You too might have heard of each other way back when, but let me introduce you to our beloved, Cyn— oof" Roy felt a hard nudge on his ribs.

"Cynthia Ridell Cassio, heir to house Cassio of the republic. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness." She introduced herself. Almost as if it was premade. Stiff and awkward yet refined.

He decided to shrug off his observation. "Oh come now, Cynthia, no need to be so formal with me. Treat me as you do your friends." He said politely.

She merely nodded her head and returned to her duties.

He then turned to Emilia, she was always so shy even towards other people. Frankly, she was one of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her long light blue hair with her priest clothes clinging to her busty chest.

"I'll be counting on you lady Emilia. Thank you for your support" He said politely.

The light haired woman looked up at him, then avoiding his gaze. "I hope I would be useful to you lord Charlemagne."

He nodded to both of them and excused himself for a moment. Roy noticed his demeanor and quickly gave him some space.

How could he let this happen? She was so close! She was in their grasp and yet she slipped away again.

He will not forgive them for this treachery.

He will save her, no matter what.

He swears on his honor as a knight, a prince and as her friend...

"We'll escape tonight. I heard from one of my spies that Castle Maine was reclaimed by prince Charlemagne." Cidel suddenly told her.

Sophia's eyes brightened when she heard the news. But then suddenly, her eyes turned away guiltily.

"I was the cause of all of this right?" She said solemnly.

He blinked at her. "What? No! If anything, it was my father's fault for acting so impulsively." His eyes narrowed as he remembered his foolish father ordering him and his brothers to kidnap the young woman beside her.

"It's almost nightfall, as soon at the sun sets, we'll get your brother out and I'll escort you two to the borders." He said.

She meekly nodded at him. "Cidel, I... I want to thank you again. You were very kind to me. I can never repay what you've done for me. So I want to thank you. Truly." Her voice was so soft, and her eyes were so gentle.

Cidel felt his embarrassment spike, to have a woman look at him with absolute pureness was... Enjoyable.

She saw his reaction and giggled at the sight of his slightly reddened face.

Cidel smiled at the sound of her giggle and yet, despite her uplifting presence, he felt something big was happening.

He honestly felt scared. Scared of what the future will hold.