Chapter 108
The palace gates slowly opened.
For the first time in her life...
Princess Flora crossed them.
She couldn't help but look back once.
The towering white walls of the royal palace stood proudly beneath the morning sun.
For ten years...
that had been her entire world.
Now...
everything beyond those walls felt endless.
---
A royal carriage waited outside.
Queen Anastasia smiled gently.
"Come, Flora."
Before stepping inside, Flora hesitated.
She looked toward the bustling road instead.
"...Mother?"
"Yes?"
"May we... not travel like this?"
Anastasia blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Flora pointed toward the carriage.
"If everyone sees the royal crest..."
"...they will treat us differently."
"I wish to see the kingdom as it truly is."
"I wish to know how our people behave when they do not realize their Princess is watching."
The Queen immediately shook her head.
"No."
"It is too dangerous."
Flora wasn't discouraged.
"What if we hide our identities?"
"We could wear ordinary traveling cloaks."
"No."
"We will still be escorted."
"Then..."
Flora glanced toward the royal stables.
"...could we travel on horseback instead?"
The Queen sighed.
"You have planned this already, haven't you?"
A tiny smile appeared on Flora's face.
"...Perhaps."
Guinevere stood silently nearby.
Though inwardly...
she found herself agreeing.
If the Princess wished to understand the kingdom...
this would indeed be the best way.
After several moments of silence...
Anastasia finally closed her eyes.
"...Very well."
Flora's face instantly brightened.
"But only because Lady Guinevere will remain beside you every moment."
"And twenty royal knights will follow from a distance."
"They will intervene the instant danger appears."
"I understand."
The three of them exchanged their royal clothing for simple traveling cloaks.
Even hidden...
their elegance remained difficult to conceal.
Still...
few would imagine they were looking at the Queen herself.
Soon...
three horses rode through the capital's streets.
Twenty mounted knights followed far enough behind to avoid attention.
Flora couldn't stop looking around.
Everything fascinated her.
The sound of blacksmiths shaping steel.
Fresh bread cooling outside bakeries.
Women laughing while hanging colorful cloth between buildings.
Old men playing board games beneath shaded trees.
Children chasing one another through narrow streets.
A little girl tripped while running.
Before anyone else reacted...
Flora had already guided her horse closer.
"Are you alright?"
The little girl blinked before nodding shyly.
"...Yes."
Flora smiled warmly.
"I'm glad."
The child grinned before racing away again.
Flora watched her go.
"...They're happy."
Anastasia smiled softly.
"Many are."
"But not all."
Flora nodded quietly.
She remembered those words.
---
As they continued deeper into the city...
the streets grew livelier.
Merchants called out proudly.
"Fresh vegetables!"
"Warm bread!"
"Today's finest fish!"
Spices filled the air.
Music drifted from somewhere nearby.
Flora watched everything with wide emerald eyes.
She spoke little.
Mostly...
she simply observed.
"They smile while working so hard?"
Queen Anastasia answered without hesitation.
"Because hope is easier to carry when shared."
Flora looked toward an elderly baker handing an extra loaf of bread to a poor child.
"...I see."
---
Eventually...
they reached a wide plaza unlike anything Flora had imagined.
Colorful banners fluttered overhead.
Long wooden tables overflowed with food.
Musicians filled the air with cheerful melodies.
Families laughed together beneath strings of bright lanterns.
Flora blinked.
"...A festival?"
Queen Anastasia nodded.
"Stonehaven recently renewed its trade agreement with Lumivale."
"Our friendship has grown stronger."
"This celebration honors that bond."
Flora slowly looked around.
"So much food..."
Guinevere's expression became more serious.
"It may appear plentiful..."
"...but our harvest grows weaker every year."
"The cursed lands continue spreading."
"Many farms produce less than they once did."
Flora fell silent.
"...I've read about it."
She lowered her gaze.
"Several kingdoms disappeared because they could no longer feed their people."
"Others were destroyed after repeated monster attacks."
"The survivors became refugees..."
"...or simply vanished."
Neither Anastasia nor Guinevere answered.
Because every word was true.
Flora looked around once more.
The smiling faces.
The laughter.
The children.
She quietly wondered...
How long could they keep smiling?
---
Hours passed peacefully.
Flora tasted food she had only read about.
She watched traveling performers.
She listened to merchants bargaining.
She even laughed quietly after watching two little boys argue over whose wooden sword was stronger.
For the first time...
the kingdom no longer felt like words inside books.
It felt...
alive.
---
Then—
The ground shook.
Everyone froze.
A deafening roar echoed beneath the plaza.
CRAAAAAACK!!
The earth split apart.
People screamed.
A massive claw burst from underground.
Then another.
A gigantic monster climbed from beneath the shattered earth.
Its body resembled black stone covered in crimson crystal.
Its roar shook the festival.
"Panic!"
"Run!"
"Civilian evacuation!"
Royal knights immediately charged forward.
Queen Anastasia's sword flashed from its sheath.
"Protect the civilians!"
Steel clashed against monstrous claws.
Guinevere instantly stepped before Flora.
"Princess!"
"We're leaving!"
Flora nodded—
Then stopped.
A frightened family was trapped beneath collapsing debris.
Only a handful of knights stood between them and several smaller monsters.
"They're being overwhelmed!"
Flora whispered.
Queen Anastasia noticed.
"Guinevere!"
"Take Flora away!"
"Now!"
"...Yes, Your Majesty!"
Guinevere grabbed Flora's wrist.
Just then—
A little boy cried.
"Mother!!"
A massive claw descended toward him.
Without hesitation—
Queen Anastasia threw herself forward.
She pushed the child aside—
SLASH!!
The monster's claws tore across her shoulder.
"Mother!"
Flora's eyes widened.
Blood stained the Queen's sleeve.
"Stay back!" Anastasia shouted.
But neither Flora...
nor Guinevere obeyed.
Guinevere released Flora's wrist.
"...Forgive me, Your Majesty."
Silver flashed.
Guinevere leaped directly into the battlefield.
Her sword danced like flowing water.
One monster.
Then another.
Fell within seconds.
Flora took one steady breath.
This wasn't training.
These weren't wooden swords.
If she hesitated...
people would die.
She drew her blade.
A monster lunged toward an elderly man.
Flora moved instinctively.
Her feet remained steady.
Just as she had practiced thousands of times.
The monster swung.
She ducked beneath its claws.
One step.
Two.
Her sword pierced upward—
Straight through its neck.
The creature froze.
Then collapsed.
Silence surrounded Flora for only a heartbeat.
...
She had...
killed a monster.
For the first time.
There was no joy.
No triumph.
Only relief.
Because behind her...
the old man was still alive.
Around her...
Guinevere continued protecting fleeing civilians.
Queen Anastasia fought despite the blood running down her arm.
Seeing them...
Flora tightened her grip.
"If I stop now..."
"...someone else will die."
She charged again.
Together—
Mother.
Daughter.
And knight.
They drove back the remaining monsters until the last beast crashed lifelessly onto the broken plaza.
Silence followed.
Then...
cheers erupted.
"We're saved!"
"They defeated it!"
People rushed toward the survivors.
A small boy stared at Flora.
His eyes were wide with amazement.
"...Who..."
"...who is she?"
Another child looked closer.
"Her hair..."
"It's orange..."
"And her eyes..."
"They're emerald..."
Someone noticed the fine quality hidden beneath her torn traveling cloak.
"...Wait..."
Royal knights hurried toward them before kneeling.
"Your Highness!"
The crowd froze.
The children gasped.
"The Princess..."
"She's... the Crown Princess!"
"The Blood of Peace..."
The little boy Flora had saved looked at her with shining eyes.
Then he smiled.
"Thank you..."
"...Princess."
Flora looked around at the frightened...
yet smiling...
faces.
For the first time in her life...
the people she had sworn to protect were no longer names in history books.
They had faces.
Voices.
Families.
Dreams.
And in that moment...
something quietly settled within her heart.
No matter what dangers waited beyond today...
She would protect them.
All of them.
Even if one day...
it cost her everything.
slowly
The festival slowly settled into silence.
Royal healers hurried from one wounded civilian to another while the surviving knights secured the area.
Queen Anastasia's injured shoulder had already been wrapped with clean cloth despite the blood still staining her sleeve.
Flora stood quietly.
Her sword still rested in her trembling hand.
It felt...
heavier than before.
Not because of its weight.
But because, for the first time...
it had taken a life.
Guinevere stepped beside her.
"...Your Highness."
"You fought well."
Flora slowly looked toward the people around her.
A little girl hugged her mother.
An old merchant wiped tears from his eyes.
The boy she had saved waved excitedly.
"...They survived."
Guinevere smiled.
"They did."
"...Because of you."
Flora remained silent.
She wasn't sure she deserved those words.
---
Not far away...
Hidden among the crowd...
a man wearing a faded gray cloak watched everything.
His face remained concealed beneath a hood.
"So..."
he whispered.
"So the Blood of Peace truly exists."
His lips slowly curled upward.
"At last..."
Without another word...
he quietly disappeared into the crowd.
No one noticed.
---
Despite the destruction...
many civilians gathered around Flora.
"Thank you, miss!"
"You saved my son!"
"I'll never forget today!"
Flora smiled awkwardly.
"I... only did what anyone should."
Then...
the crowd suddenly parted.
An elderly man stumbled forward.
His clothes were little more than rags.
His cheeks were hollow.
His hands shook violently.
"...Please..."
"My lord..."
"My lady..."
"I haven't eaten in three days..."
"Please..."
"Anything..."
Flora froze.
She had read about famine.
She had studied poverty.
She had memorized reports describing starving villages.
But...
this was different.
This man wasn't words inside a book.
He was standing before her.
Hungry.
Desperate.
Flora instinctively reached toward the small pouch at her waist.
Then stopped.
She carried no money.
She had never needed to.
"...I..."
For the first time in years...
Princess Flora did not know what to say.
The old man's hopeful expression slowly disappeared.
"So..."
he laughed bitterly.
"You really don't know."
His voice grew louder.
"You people call her the Blood of Peace."
"What peace?"
"We starve while the palace shines."
"You hide behind your walls."
"You feast."
"And we're told to keep believing."
His eyes filled with tears.
"What has the royal family ever done for people like us?"
Flora's emerald eyes widened.
"I..."
"I..."
She couldn't answer.
Queen Anastasia immediately stepped forward.
"Enough."
The Queen's voice was calm.
But firm.
"This man requires food and treatment."
"See that it is done."
Royal knights quickly escorted the old man away.
He no longer resisted.
Only muttered quietly...
"...Too late..."
---
Around the edge of the crowd...
whispers began spreading.
"He's not entirely wrong..."
"This is the Princess's first time outside."
"I've never seen her before."
"They say she's the Blood of Peace..."
"Shouldn't she awaken the gods?"
"Shouldn't she save this cursed world?"
"If she truly is our hope..."
"...then why are we still suffering?"
Each word quietly reached Flora's ears.
She didn't understand.
Awaken the gods?
Blood of Peace?
Why did everyone keep saying those words?
But...
their disappointment...
their doubt...
their hope...
She understood those.
Queen Anastasia looked toward Guinevere.
"We're returning."
Immediately."
---
The ride back to the palace felt much longer than before.
Flora spoke only once.
"...Mother."
Anastasia looked at her.
"...Am I..."
She hesitated.
"...worthy of becoming Queen?"
The Queen answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
But Flora simply lowered her eyes.
For the first time...
she wasn't certain.
---
As the palace gates came into view...
the hidden barrier surrounding Lumivale shimmered faintly beneath the evening sun.
The royal knights relaxed slightly.
"We're home."
Then—
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
THUNK!
An arrow struck the stone beside Flora's horse.
"AMBUSH!"
Figures in black cloaks erupted from the surrounding trees.
More than twenty.
Every one of them charged directly toward Flora.
"Protect the Princess!"
Steel rang across the courtyard.
Royal knights intercepted the attackers before they could reach her.
Queen Anastasia drew her sword despite her injured shoulder.
"Guinevere!"
"Take Flora inside!"
"Now!"
"...Yes, Your Majesty!"
Guinevere didn't hesitate.
She grabbed Flora's arm.
"We're leaving."
"But Mother—"
"Now!"
Reluctantly...
Flora followed.
The massive palace gates began closing.
Yet several assassins slipped through before they could fully shut.
The barrier surrounding the palace rippled like water as the intruders forced their way inside.
One masked man laughed.
"So..."
"Even this ancient barrier cannot hide her forever."
He pointed his sword toward Anastasia.
"How much longer do you intend to hide the Blood of Peace?"
"Her fate cannot be escaped."
The Queen's golden eyes grew cold.
"My daughter's fate..."
"...will be decided by no one but herself."
The assassin laughed.
"You still believe that?"
"Kill them."
The courtyard exploded into battle once again.
Despite her wound...
Queen Anastasia moved like lightning.
Her blade flashed once.
Then again.
One assassin fell.
Then another.
Within moments...
the remaining attackers realized they had no chance.
None escaped.
Silence returned to the palace.
Anastasia slowly lowered her sword.
Blood dripped from its edge.
She looked toward the captain of the royal guard.
"Double the palace watch."
"No one enters."
"No one leaves."
"This..."
Her eyes turned toward the distant palace where Flora had disappeared.
"...must never happen again."
The captain bowed deeply.
"At once, Your Majesty."
Far above...
hidden within the darkening sky...
someone else had already witnessed everything.
And quietly...
carried news of the Blood of Peace to places far beyond Lumivale.
...CHAPTER 108ENDS...