Their swords met once again, ringing like echoes of something deeper than steel. Astrid backed away, chest heaving, not just from the fight, but from something stirring in her heart.
She stared across the arena at Kuro — silent, composed, but not unreadable anymore.
Something about the way he said "I fight because I don't know who I am when I'm not" wouldn't leave her mind.
She saw herself in those words.
Astrid's Thoughts
Maybe I understand more than I realized.
Maybe we're both trying to fill something… with noise, with battles, with masks.
She circled him, her blade ready, but her heart elsewhere.
FLASHBACK — Age 5
A castle too large, and too empty.
Astrid sat at a long banquet table, the ceiling glittering with chandeliers. She wore a birthday dress — bright blue satin with silver threading. One of the maids had done her hair in tight braids.
There were over 300 chairs at the table.
And not a single one was filled.
"Happy Birthday, Princess," the butler said softly, placing the single cupcake in front of her with a thin candle."Their Majesties send their regards. They are held up in Uonuma for diplomatic reasons."
She didn't cry.
She never did.
She stared at the flame.
"If I blow this out," she whispered,"Does the wish even count if no one hears it?"
Present - Arena
Astrid ducked, rolled under a slice, then jumped back. But she wasn't really focused.
Kuro didn't press.
He saw her eyes — somewhere else.
Just like his had been.
FLASHBACK — Age 7
She trained in a marble courtyard. Sword drills. Bow precision. Dagger disarms. All instructed by her elite guards and palace tutors.
"You must be perfect," one said."You are not just a girl. You are Astrid Von Caelum, Second Flame of the High Lineage."
But perfect felt hollow.
She would win practice fights. She would recite speeches. Smile in front of dignitaries.
Then she would retreat to her tower.
Where no one asked her how her day was.
Where no one told her goodnight.
Where her parents — the King and Queen — were always too busy building a legacy to notice the little girl fading behind the legacy's name.
Present - Arena
They both paused near the center. The flag still high above, untouched.
Astrid spoke quietly, but clearly.
"Do you know what it's like… to feel like a statue in a hallway your parents walk by, but never look at?"
Kuro met her gaze.
She continued:
"They never missed a meeting with nobles. Never missed a summit or treaty…But they missed every birthday. Every scraped knee. Every moment I needed someone."
She smiled — the sad kind.
"People think being a royal means having everything. But no one teaches you what to do… when you have everything, except the one thing that matters."
FLASHBACK — Age 9
She sat by the window during the Lunar Festival. Fireworks were exploding in the sky — blue, red, violet — but they only made her feel more alone.
"Happy birthday to me," she whispered.
She looked to her desk — stacked with gifts from nobles, letters from distant cousins, jewels and gowns and golden bracelets.
But not a single note from her parents.
Not even a knock at her door.
She hugged her knees and whispered something that stuck with her forever:
"I think I'd give up the crown… just to be held."
Present - Arena
Astrid looked down, wiping her eye with her wrist.
Kuro, for once, didn't look guarded.
He nodded slowly.
"Maybe… we're not that different."
Astrid chuckled through her sadness.
"Two broken kids. One locked in darkness… the other drowning in light."
There was a pause between them.
A rare, sacred pause.
"Do you want to keep fighting?" Kuro asked.
"Yes," she answered."But not because I hate you.Because I finally met someone who gets it."
They both stepped forward — side by side, facing the flag now.
Smiling.
Maybe this fight isn't about winning anymore, Astrid thought.Maybe it's about finally being seen.
The flag shimmered in the light above.
They both looked up at it.
And then at each other.
And smirked.
Ready.
To be continued…