Rose watched as the man began to trace the groups tracks through the forest.

She stayed close, scared that anything could jump out at any moment. Knowing now that those people were bandits, Rose remembered the oracle lady having mentioned them.

It wasn’t clear to her what they wanted, but knowing things could have turned out for the worse filled her with anxiety.

As they traversed through the snow, she tug to the coat that she was given. Even though it did smell funny, the cold was starting to get to her—so the warmth it provided was more important.

Often, the pink haired man would check on her, and even help her since the snow made it tiring to walk. But it seemed the snow made it easier for him to track where the bandits came from, at least until more snow began to cover it up the further they travelled.

“It should be around here,” the man said as he looked beyond the trees.

A few minutes later, they had found the bandits camp. There was a tent and a place that looked like the base for a camp fire, but covered in snow. As the man began to search around the camp, Rose stood still—cold—and not sure what to do to help.

After he’d finished rummaging through the few sacks and crates that were there, he turned his attention to the tent. He peeked his head into it, and then a few seconds later peeked back out.

“Come. It’s warmer inside,” he said, as he held out his hand to Rose.

Rose grabbed it without much hesitation, and walked inside. It was quite spacious, seeing how it probably had to fit the people they came across on the road. Once she found a place to sit, the pink haired man began to retreat back outside.

But before leaving, he looked back at her. “It seems they were out hunting since there’s no food here. For now, you can help yourself to what’s in the pouch I gave you. I’m going to look around the camp and gather some wood for a fire.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you,” she said.

Rose was then left to be inside the tent by herself. When she opened the pouch, she saw that not only was there food but also a flask to drink from. However, she noticed there wouldn’t be enough left for the man to have. She did a double take on the contents of the bag—but ultimately decided that if he said it was okay, then it was okay.

After eating and drinking what was inside, Rose quietly sat as she could hear the pink haired man rummaging outside. Her thoughts were alternating between three things.

What is this place? Who exactly is that man? And what happened to the people on the road?

Eventually, her train of thought was broken when the man entered into the tent again. He walked up and grabbed the pouch on the floor next to her. After looking inside, he then took out the flask and shook it.

“Oh. You had all of it,” he said.

Rose eyes widened. She couldn’t believe it. He was actually expecting her to save some for him. Now she felt like she had just taken his kindness for granted.

“I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you wanted—I mean of course you would want some but I just wasn’t thinking…I’m-I’m so sorry,” Rose said.

The man did a slight chuckle. “It’s okay. I did not mean it in a bad way. You don’t need to worry about me, but I do wish I had more to give you.”

He then put down the pouch and walked toward the entrance.

“We might have to stay here overnight. Help should come sooner than later, but we will need to find food since we could very well be here awhile.”

He then lifted the bow and arrow he had brought. “Let’s do a little hunting.”

Rose was simply dumbfounded by the man’s kindness.

Time passed and they were now walking around the area, looking for small animals nearby. If she had a choice, Rose would of preferred not to be apart of this hunt. She didn’t think that she could handle seeing anything impaled by an arrow, and then freely eat it later. But seeing how it wouldn’t be safe staying at the camp alone, there wasn’t much of a choice.

However—while they travelled—Rose noticed the man was wearing a circlet on his head. She had not noticed earlier because of his long hair, and wasn’t paying much attention due to how sudden everything had happened. It looked extremely fancy, and most interestingly was that there was a heart shaped jewel at the front.

“Look. We’ve found something,” he suddenly said.

When Rose looked, there was a rabbit a few distance away sitting in the snow. It looked so innocent and harmless that she couldn’t help but feel bad.

The man started to draw his bow. “The Oracle won’t like someone hunting so close to the sanctuary, but I’m sure we will be forgiven given our circumstance—”

But, Rose sneezed—causing the rabbit to hop away.

The man slowly looked at Rose.

Rose slowly looked at the man. “S…Sorry.”

“No need to apologise. It’s cold after all,” the man said. “Lets hurry and follow it so we can return to the camp sooner.”

Rose nodded, and they carefully followed the direction in which the rabbit fled.

When they had finally found it, Rose made sure to prepare to cover her mouth just in case. As the man drew his bow once more—but this time all the way—Rose couldn’t help but be impressed by how confident his form was. When she was at the archery tryouts, she had to re-adjust herself many times just to achieve a somewhat suitable form. However, the man seemed to only do it in a single swift motion. Sabrina’s demonstrations were impressive, but there was something different about this mans aura.

Mesmerised by this, Rose had forgotten what exactly he intended to do with such a tool.

With his aim now steady, he let go and swiftly shot the arrow.

Rose couldn’t help but follow the path of which the arrow flew. But by the end of it’s journey, she was now covering her eyes—remembering why it had been shot in the first place. The rabbit was now still, with the white snow around it turning into a shade of pink.

“Oh no,” she said, with her eyes still covered.

“Sorry,” the man said. “Just know that if not us, then another predator would eventually take our place.”

He then began to walk toward it. “Come. Stay behind me.”

Rose and the man walked through the snow to retrieve the rabbit. But, something unexpected happened.

A wolf suddenly ran up and picked up the rabbit in it’s mouth. It growled and glared at Rose, but eventually switched to the man as he stood in front of her. There was a stare down, as the man and wolf looked at each other.

Then, the atmosphere began to feel unsettling. Rose suddenly felt like something dangerous was nearby—but for some reason—it didn’t feel like it was the wolf.

Soon, the wolf seemed to flee out of fear of something, but with the rabbit still in it’s mouth.

The man then looked at Rose. “As I said. There’s always another predator. Well, it’s getting dark. I feel our luck may be better in the morning.”

Rose nodded and they began to walk back.

Eventually, they made it back to camp and began to settle in. As Rose was about to enter the tent, she saw the man looking off into the distance. For a moment, it looked as if his mouth was moving—like he was saying something. But after a slight breeze travelled by, he turned around.

“I’ll get a fire going.”

Rose nodded and then yawned.

“Go on. You can get some rest inside,” the man said.

So Rose went into the tent and found a place to lay down. Still wearing the fur coat, she slowly began to fall asleep.

Later that night, Rose woke up after having an unexpected nightmare about her boyfriend.

Outside the tent, she could see a shadow of a person being cast by a bright, flickering light. She got up and slowly walked to the entrance. When she stepped outside, the pink haired man was sitting next to the now lit fireplace.

“Did I wake you?”

“No. I just had a nightmare,” Rose replied.

The man then gestured for her to sit next to the fire on a piece of large wood. Rose walked up and sat down.

“Thank you for helping me,” Rose said. “I’m sorry for being a bother.”

“No no. It’s been awhile since…..I’ve enjoyed the company of another,” the man replied.

There was a short silence as they both stared at the fire.

“I like what you’re wearing,” Rose said, as she looked at the circlet he had been wearing on his head.

“Oh. This old thing,” he said while touching it. “Yes. Some do seem to enjoy the sight of it.”

Rose tilted her head. “There’s some that don’t?” she asked.

He took a moments pause, as he then looked into the camp fire.

“To some, it no longer represents what it used too.”

Rose was sure he must be talking about something important, but his vagueness made it difficult for her to guess what. She curiously wanted to enquire further, but her stomach suddenly growled—which was made louder by the current silence.

She held her stomach and looked down in embarrassment.

“If you don’t mind sharing, what was your nightmare about?” the man suddenly asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Rose took a moment to decide if she should answer or not.

“It….it was about my boyfriend,” she said.

“Boyfriend?” the man asked. “Oh. Your lover?”

Rose blushed. “L-Lover??…Um, yeah, I guess.”

There was another brief silence.

“Did something happen between the two of you?” he asked.

Rose began to fiddle with her thumbs. “N…No,” she answered.

The man looked at her restless thumbs. “Are you sure?”

Suddenly, tears began to drop from Rose’s eye’s as she looked down. It was embarrassing for her, but she just couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Rose wiped some of the tears away. “W-We are on a break now. Because….because of me. I haven’t been that great of a girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said.

After a snuffle, Rose gripped at her skirt.

“I wish I knew how to fix it. But I can’t. I’m just not the type of person that can. I…I feel so useless.”

Rose stopped her sentence there, but it was followed by a familiar thought that echoed in her head.

I am a burden.

As she sunk deeper into despair, the man suddenly placed his hand on Rose’s shoulder—causing her to look up at him.

“Is he worth this pain?” the man asked, but with a determined stare.

Rose nodded to say yes, causing a tear to roll down her cheek.

“Then do not give up. Love is a powerful thing—which requires a great deal of sacrifice to maintain. If you truly care for him, then you must continue to try until the very end.”

The man looked from Rose back to the fire place.

“Nothing will change if you just accept things the way they are.”

Because he said it as almost a whisper, Rose wasn’t sure if it was directed at her or to himself. But even so, they were words that she had already heard from another. Noah, had said the exact same words to her.

She also looked at the fireplace.

Hearing those words from another brought a strange feeling of encouragement. It carried something that was always there, but she couldn’t quite reach it.

Hope.

“Thank you,” Rose said, as she then began to yawn.

“It should be safe to sleep for the rest of the night. I’ll come inside to rest in a few minutes after I put the fire out.”

“Okay,” Rose said, as she stood up and walked to the tent.

She then looked over at him again. “T-Thank you for being so nice….um.”

It was then she realised something.

“Wha..what’s your name?” she asked.

The man turned toward her. “Name? Oh right. I guess I never introduced myself.”

After standing up and facing her way, he did a small bow.

“I am known as Sir Romance.”

Rose paused.

“Sir…Sir Romance?”

She then remembered him being called that by the leader of the group that stopped them. There was no reason for her not to dismiss it as some sort of joke at the time, so knowing he was actually called that was shocking.

“I suppose it might be a strange title if you’re not from here,” he said. “But it’s come to be my preferred one.”

“O-okay. Thank you….Sir Romance.”

Rose then hurried inside, slightly embarrassed at calling someone by such a name. However, after repeating it several times in her head as she tried to sleep, it began to have a nice ring to it.

Eventually, she fell asleep.

The following morning, Rose woke up to a loud thud from outside the tent. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Sir Romance was also sleeping inside near the entrance.

He too woke up.

Behind the tents entrance, was a large shadow on the ground. He got up and slowly opened the entrance to check what it was.

When he opened it, Rose could see that it looked like something furry was laying still on the ground. The man then quickly moved his body in front of it—blocking Rose from seeing anymore.

“Wait in here,” he said. “Oh, and good morning.”

“M-Morning,” Rose said, as he walked outside.

While she waited, she could here him preparing something on the outside. Eventually, he called her out. When she walked out, it seemed he had prepared them breakfast to eat. It was a soup with some meat. Rose was surprised to see he managed to find something to cook so fast.

As he gave her a bowl that seemed to be from the camp, they sat down. He began to eat and so did Rose, until she noticed something in the distance behind a rock. It was the head of the wolf from yesterday, clearly now dead. Rose looked down at her food and realised that that was what they were probably eating. She felt sick, and quickly ran off to a nearby bush to throw up.

“Sorry, you wasn’t supposed to see that,” the man said. “I knew this would happen if you knew what it was.”

“I’m sorry too. I know there’s nothing else to eat, but seeing it just made me feel sick,” Rose replied.

The man put his spoon into his bowl and looked around. “There’s food that naturally grows in this place. However this isn’t a normal forest, so they are really only suitable for the wildlife that live here. But perhaps I can find something with only mild side effects. Maybe berries woul—”

Suddenly, he stood up. He quickly grabbed Rose’s hand and walked her away from the camp. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but it seemed they were walking in the direction of the road they originally came from.

Eventually, they emerged out of the forest and were now at the road again. In front of them was the broken down carriage, but there was nothing else present on the road. Rose then wondered if the arm she saw before was just in her imagination.

There was then a sudden sound of galloping in the distance. As both of them looked down the road, someone came riding down with two horses.

They sat on one—while the other was free.

After a closer look, Rose realised it was the same horse that had run away. She then wondered how Sir Romance knew someone was coming.

The rider soon spotted and rode up to them.

“You’re here!” he said.

“Thank you for coming for us,” Sir Romance said as he approached his horse.

He then petted it. “Sorry for the scare.”

“What happened?” the man on the horse asked.

“A few bandits stopped us on the way back,” Sir Romance replied.

“Bandits!? It was Baron’s group wasn’t it?” the man replied. “They passed through town awhile ago. But for them to travel so far out…”

“Yes, it’s worrying,” Sir Romance said as he prepared to get on his horse.

The rider then looked around. “I’m sure there was about six of them. Where did they go?”

“It’s been taken care of,” Sir Romance replied, as he looked at Rose. “Come. I’ll help you up.”

Rose nodded, and he lifted her to the front of the horse, but she sat sideways due to her long skirt. She then made eye contact with the rider, who passed her a confused stare.

Sir Romance then got on from behind and looked at the man.

“Have you brought any food or water?” he asked.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be travelling with another. But luckily I brought two days worth just in case you were further away.”

He unhooked two large pouches from his horse and handed it over to Sir Romance. After taking out a flask and handing it to Rose, he also took another out for himself. They both then immediately began to drink what was inside.

Once Sir Romance gulped enough down, he placed the flask back inside.

“I must apologise,” he said to the rider. “I am sure they will become more of a nuisance to everyone now that they know of my travels.”

The rider laughed. “They are bandits Sir. They will always be a nuisance.”

Suddenly, more galloping could be heard in the distance. A few seconds later, a legion of men on horses had emerged from down the road and was coming toward them.

The rider re-positioned his horse to prepare to ride on. “We’re just happy you’re safe, King.”

Rose suddenly choked on the water she was drinking.

“King?”