A/N: Yeah, so I'm sure most of you noticed, but I updated two chapters today!

"Why?" you ask?

Well, I did it just because I could!

When I was writing this part, I realized that it was getting way too long to just be put into one chapter, so I split it into two parts and decided to update both on the same day~

The total word count of the two are 7000-8000 words! Well, some of you guys have been asking for longer or more chapters, so here you go~

Please read the chapter after this one if you have the time~ I hope you enjoy~

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I blinked twice...thrice...four times...

I even rubbed my eyes for a good minute or two...

...and slowly, I reopened them and made sure that I was seeing things properly.

The capital...

...Was it always so empty?

From as far as my eyes could see, there was not a single person in sight.

What happened these past few months?

This whole place looked like a ghost town...

In the past, the capital was so full of people that you could barely walk through the streets without bumping into anyone.

I tugged on my hooded cloak and made sure my face was completely covered.

For some reason, I had a really bad feeling about all of this.

Slowly, I wandered through the streets, taking in the familiar, yet foreign, sights in hopes of finding a person I could talk to.

I knew for a fact that there were people nearby though.

I could sense them...

...they were all in their houses and stores...

...and they were all staring at me.

Through their windows...in the far corners of alleys...people were all looking at me and I could feel it.

Some seemed worried for me...some seemed curious...and others were glaring at me.

I grabbed my sword, which was currently hanging on my back, and moved it in a place where I could easily grab a hold of if I happened to be assaulted.

...Quickly.

...I needed to head to the castle right now...

"...Hey...! You there...young lady...! Come over here...!" I could hear an old lady whisper loudly to me from her home.

She gestured for me to come to her, which I did.

I gave a small nod as a greeting in return.

Finally...someone showed up.

"What is a young lady like you doing outside on the streets at this hour...?? This isn't good...is there someplace you have to go?" she asked me with a look of worry on her face as she looked around the streets cautiously.

"Yes...I do. Is there a reason...why there's no one around?" I asked her.

Slowly but surely, my communication skills were becoming better.

I was still talking much too slow to be considered normal, but at least my sentences made sense.

"Don't you know...? The capital is...not in a good situation right now..." she said to me.

"What happened...?" I asked her.

"Well...a few months ago, the crown prince's fiance went missing. The royal family and the duke are enraged...Even the marquis seemed to be upset..." she said as she kept on nervously glancing over my shoulder to make sure there was no one there.

"That...doesn't explain...why there's no one around..."

"...The king ordered thousands of royal and regular guards to search the nation. Do you know those wealthy Trinity twins? They funded billions of gold for the search."

"That still...doesn't explain..."

"No...the prince's fiance was never found...it would have been fine if they found her body at the least...but they didn't. Even with all those guards and mages searching, they couldn't find her at all. It was as if she vanished."

"...It's been three months...Shouldn't they automatically assume...that she died?" I asked as I tried to make it seem that I wasn't the person in question.

"That's what all the people were thinking as well. But they never stopped the search...the prince refused to accept that she died...and the duke didn't plan on holding a funeral until her death was confirmed."

Without a doubt, they knew that I was still alive.

My life was linked with Ace's.

Assuming that Ace was with them, they would've known my living status based on whether Ace was dead or not.

But that was classified information that only a few people knew.

So, I guess most of the common folk assumed I was dead.

"Why is everyone...hiding then?" I asked the old lady seriously.

"That's because-"

"HEY! YOU, OVER THERE!" I could hear a man yell from a block or two away from me.

I was planning on ignoring the screaming man completely until the old lady in front of me began to pale and tremble in fear.

"What's wrong?" I asked her with obligatory worry.

"I...I-I...I'm so sorry," she squeaked as she ran back into her home and slammed her door in my face.

Was there something wrong?

I turned around to face the man who called out to me and the group of guards behind him.

They had mean faces and looked ready to attack anyone they saw.

I bet...these guards were the reason why the people were scared to walk outside in a big city like this...

"YOU, SUSPICIOUS PERSON. WHAT IS THE REASON YOU'RE HERE?!" one man yelled at me.

What in the world was wrong with him...?

"Is it suspicious to walk in the streets...of a big city like this?" I asked him.

He looked at me strangely and turned around to whisper something in one of his men's ear.

After that, the man that he whispered to nodded and left the group, running away somewhere.

Was he...calling for reinforcements or something?

With one of my hands, I made sure that my sword was hidden somewhere in my cloak.

Clearly, these dudes were suspicious of me for something that I didn't do and shoving my sword in their face wouldn't make me look any more innocent.

"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" he asked me as he gripped his sword's handle threateningly in front of me.

"...Please stop yelling at me...so rudely, sir. My name is...Cordelia..." I said without batting an eye.

The men visibly froze and stared at one another.

The dude, who looked to be their leader, eyed me up and down and scoffed.

"You? You look like a country girl. Perhaps someone from the slums? If you plan on lying, at least make it believable," he chuckled as he rolled his eyes at me.

"I'm not lying..." I said in almost disbelief.

Were these guards just idiots?

They didn't even consider that they were talking to the person in question at all...

If the whole point of these guards were to locate and find me...they were horribly failing their job.

"You're too stupid to be her and you can't even speak properly. Dumb peasants like you should know their place," he said as he tapped his foot multiple times on the ground.

I took a few steps forward to him, took my hand, grabbed his collar, and gave him a slap or two across the face.

"...Which one of us...actually needs to learn their place...? Me...? Or...you?" I asked to him darkly.

The man widened his eyes and me and pushed me away.

"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR??" he yelled.

"I was just...educating a dumb peasant...who doesn't know how to speak properly," I replied calmly.

For a brief moment, he looked extremely offended and gave me a death stare.

"YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO PEACEFULLY FOLLOW US TO THE NEAREST STATION. WE'RE GOING TO NEED TO SEARCH YOU," he said.

"...I refuse," I said as I brushed him aside.

"...You're lucky you're just a dumb woman...It's against my code to harm weak females," he said with his nose turned to the air.

"Hah...Is it your code to be sexist too...?" I spat at him.

He seemed to grow angry at my words and all of a sudden he gave me a dark glare.

"I have now confirmed...From what I can see, you're a highly suspicious person wandering the streets during the mandatory lock-down hours. According to the king's decree, you're to be killed," he said.

...What?

What type of decree is that?

Killed?

For what?

The king wasn't foolish enough to make a decree like that.

Either they were lying, or someone was working behind the scenes.

"I refuse...again..." I sighed.

I turned away from him and started to walk away from them before he suddenly grabbed my shoulder, gripping it as hard as he could with enough strength that would've dislocated anyone's shoulder but mine.

I slightly turned my head to look behind me.

Automatically, I grabbed his arm, and using my grip, I crushed it.

He yelled a bit and pulled himself away from me as he held onto his arm from pain.

He's lucky I didn't break anything.

"Don't grab me...like that..." I growled as I glared at the dude.

He paled from my expression.

Hmm...

...Do I look scary when I glare at people?

"Look...I don't want to fight anyone or anything. I'm tired...very tired. I haven't slept properly for months...so please, just leave me alone," I told them truthfully.

Even if I had grown stronger, that didn't mean I could last a week without a wink of sleep and still have the will to fight.

The man stared back at me, and he reached for his sword.

Ugh...great.

"Answer my questions honestly. Who are you and what is your purpose for being here?!" he asked me shoved his sword right in front of my face.

I didn't flinch.

"My name is Cordelia de Boren Cyllia. My plan is to head...to the castle," I replied.

The guards stared at me in disbelief.

"Take off your coat then and prove it," he said seriously as he reached for my hood.

I swatted his hand away.

For some reason, I absolutely did not want them to take off my hood.

I wasn't sure why though...

"...You're not Lady Cyllia. Lady Cyllia is an angelic woman, even among noblewomen. You, on the other hand, are a violent peasant. We don't even need to confirm your identity," he said as he grabbed my hand.

I immediately grabbed my sheathed sword, using my free hand, and smashed his arm.

He screamed and fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

This time, I made sure that his arm was broken.

I gave him way too many chances, but he didn't listen.

"CAPTURE HER!" he yelled from the ground as he ordered the men behind him to arrest me.

I considered my possibilities carefully for a moment.

If I ran away from them, they'd probably bring every single guard in the entire city to chase me.

It sounded more bothersome than just escaping prison while they weren't looking.

"...Fine. I'll come with you guys...but if you try to kill me...the one dying won't be me. And don't you dare take off my cloak," I said.

Of course, I could have killed them all right here and now, but if news went out that the missing fiance killed a whole squad of guards in cold blood...

...it would cause some serious complications.

And hiding the bodies...would be another nightmare.

The guards confiscated my sword and bound my hands together with rope, gagging my mouth with some sort of cloth.

Eventually, they threw me into a cold prison cell.

Hmm...

They should really upgrade their arrest methods.

It would only take me a second or two to snap the ropes around my arms and bend the metal bars of the cage to escape.

Just as I was about to leave the prison quietly and get my sword back, a guard came to my cell and stared down at me.

"We've just received orders to send you to the palace. We're going to transport you there," he said to me.

I stared back at the dude with a bit of surprise.

Either way, I guess I was going to end up at the castle.

...Did the royal family learn that I was here or something?

My mouth was gagged, so I couldn't really say anything, but I nodded in reply.

"Alright, let's get you out of here," he said as he opened my cell door and led me out.

They blindfolded me with some cloth and led me out to a carriage where I would uncomfortably sit in.

I wonder why they blindfolded me...

...Were they afraid that I'd attack them or something?

Well, I could sense my surroundings perfectly fine even without my eyes.

To be honest, I could 'see' better with my eyes closed.

"Haha...This is karma for what you did earlier on the street, stupid woman. Once the king gets a sight of you, you're dead," the man who was sitting on the opposite side of the carriage from me laughed.

The only thing I could think in my head was just how disgusting this man was.

After half an hour or so of sitting in the carriage, I was finally allowed to get out, and the guard who was mocking me on the whole trip here led me out and kicked me up the horribly long staircase to the castle doors.

It had been so long since I had last been here that I forgot how stupidly long the staircase was.

Whoever carved and made the steps for this thing deserved a promotion.

I walked up the stairway calmly, with my back straight and using the posture that had been permanently ingrained in me during my time as a noble.

The guard by my side roughly dragged me through various hallways and such.

I felt a little sick.

Once again, my vision was taken away and I was wandering through enclosed corridors.

It felt exactly like how I was in the caves.

I hated this feeling.

But I reminded myself over and over again that I was fine and that I had already escaped.

...It was all fine.

The guard opened a door in front of me and pulled me into the room, tossing me onto the ground and forcing me to kneel.

I could hear the loud authoritative footsteps of someone else walk into the room and sit down on what I assumed to be a throne in front of me.

"...My father is too busy to deal with trivial matters like these. I will be the one to attend to this meeting," said someone with an extremely cold voice in front of me.

I couldn't recognize their voice.

...I wonder who it is.

"I warmly greet your highness...My prince, it is a pleasure to be in your presence," the guard said with the highest respect as he also knelt beside me.

I froze.

...Florence...?

"You're wasting my time. I don't need the guards to keep playing around. If you find another impostor, just kill them. There's no need for you to bring them to me," Florence said without any mercy in his voice.

His presence...his cold voice...

...I couldn't...

...I couldn't even...recognize him.

Even with my eyes blindfolded...I knew he wasn't the same.

Just a few months ago...the man in front of me was full of mischief and was laughing sadistically at my embarrassment.

"That was what our squad was planning on doing, your highness...but we deemed this woman a bit...difficult. She broke our leader's arm, claiming that she needed to visit the castle," the guard beside me said.

"The leader of your squadron couldn't beat an unarmed civilian?" he asked.

"N-No...she was armed...we confiscated her sword..." the guard stuttered.

Was this really Florence?

It seemed as if though the reaper came and took away his soul.

"Tell your leader that he'll be replaced from his position. He should have been more cautious. I do not need a guard who can't do his job," Florence groaned.

"B-But-"

"There's no excuse. He was weak and she was stronger. I can't have a guard who underestimates his opponent. Strip him of his role by sundown."

"Y-Yes, your highness," the guard replied.

There was silence in the room as I could feel Florence's gaze land on me.

"You...Who sent you here?" Florence asked me in a tone he never used on me before.

I didn't reply.

I didn't know how to reply.

My mouth was gagged, but that didn't matter.

Everything that had happened so far had left me speechless.

"Do you know how many others came before me, claiming that they were my missing fiance? Spies from enemy factions, daughters of those greedy aristocrats, and those disgusting girls who thought they could steal my heart...So, which one are you...?" he asked me impatiently.

I was trying to come up with a way to respond, but he didn't give me enough time to formulate a sentence.

"Those women...who wore wigs and contacts...dyed their hair...used illusion magic to disguise themselves...Do you know what I did to them all?" he asked me.

I wanted to say something, but my mouth was gagged.

"I beheaded them all in the town square," Florence chuckled without too much humor in his voice.

He wasn't joking.

I could tell.

Me...

I was the girl that literally the entire country was looking for...!

But my mouth was gagged and it wasn't really the right moment in the conversation to suddenly snap the ropes binding my hands together and say: "Hello, I'm back."

"So tell me...What should I do to you?" Florence asked me as his voice sent shivers down my spine.

It was cold...

So cold...

...What happened to this place...?

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A/N: Tada! Yeah, this is the end of the first part! The world is turning upside-down, isn't it~?

Well, there's still another part after this one, so please take a look at it! I hope you enjoy~

I'd like to thank my readers/voters/commenters again! You guys are always sweet~

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2979