"Princess Gwenneth! I'm glad I found you! Are you alright?"
Gwen could clearly see the figure who spoke those words. A young man in silver armor that contrasted with his black hair. He rode at the front of the incoming group on a steed that looked as impressive as him. The young man was Prince Edward of the Cantiaci Kingdom.
Prince Edward noticed Gwen was only looking at him. Therefore, he quickly shouted at the knights behind him.
"Men!! Protect the princess!!"
Immediately after, the Cantianci knights moved in between the princess and the group of men in black clothes. The sudden intervention of the former caused the latter to stop in their tracks.
Prince Edward pointed his finger at the black clothed group with an angry expression appearing on his face. "You marauders! How dare you have the audacity to attack the princess!!?"
Upon hearing the prince's shout, the black clothed men unexpectedly turned around and left the place in a sudden manner. Seeing them running with their tails tucked into their bottoms, Prince Edward got off his horse and bowed to Gwen.
With a dazzling smile on his face, Prince Edward said, "Don't worry anymore, princess. You're safe now."
At the moment, Gwen was heaving a sigh of relief. She was glad the chasers were gone. However, she certainly knew she wasn't out of danger yet. The man in front of her, the one who was currently directing a bright smile at her, definitely could not be trusted.
Knowing there were only the two of them, while there were two dozen Cantiaci knights surrounding her, Gwen decided to take action to prevent the man from getting what he wanted.
"Thank you very much, Prince Edward, for your assistance." Gwen said with a polite smile attitude, the kind a royalty would use when meeting other royalty. There was no other sign than sincere gratitude for the prince's timely help.
"You're certainly welcome, my lady." Prince Edward answered with his smile getting wider.
After that, he stretched out his hand towards Gwen.
"Please, my lady. I heard there were hundreds of them. Thus, you should come with me right away. I will escort you to a safe place."
Gwen shook her head at Prince Edward's offer.
"There's no need for you to do so, my prince. I have to return to my men, I'm sure they are in a precarious situation at the moment."
Upon hearing Gwen's rejection, Prince Edward unexpectedly still kept his smile. He calmly waved his hand before speaking, as if he got everything under his control.
"You don't have to worry, my lady. I will send my men to them. Ah! How about this? They can go with Sir Yvain here to finish off the remaining marauders and save your men at the same time. As for you, my lady, you are much safer here with me."
Hearing this actually made Gwen feel disgusted at the man, instead of relieved. At first, she wasn't really sure. But the moment she heard those words, Gwen was ninety percent sure this was all his ploy.
Did he really thought she would be so stupid to obey such words?
Even so, Gwen didn't want to confront him about her suspicion. After all, doing that would only endanger her current situation. Hence, she suppressed the anger inside and said with a smile, "My prince, let me see my men first. I'm really worried about them."
Instead of answering her question, Prince Edward surprisingly let out a laughter, loud one.
"Hahaha! Princess, you... You really are hard to deal with, aren't you? What do you have to pretend and make this harder than it should?"
Hearing this, Sir Yvain immediately raised his sword and inched closer to Gwen. On the other hand, Prince Edward motioned his hand and the Cantianci knights instantly switched their stance.
Seeing these dozens of knights brandishing their weapons towards the two of them, Gwen's face turned pale.
"Why are you doing this, Edward?! I thought we were friends!"
As if he heard the most ridiculous thing in the world, Edward frowned.
"Huh? I never wanted to become your friend, 'my lady'." Edward said with a mocking tone. He looked over to the direction where Lioness Kingdom was. "What I want is your Lioness throne."
The anger inside her exploded as Gwen shouted, "You will never get it!!"
Edward laughed even harder.
"HAHAHA! I don't know if you are ignorant or plain stupid, but you are definitely blind, princess! The Lioness isn't even yours anymore!"
Gwen's face changed when she heard that.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Just come with me, princess and I will tell you everything. Be my queen and I promise to take good care of you!" Edward said with a wide smirk.
"Never! Especially to a lowly person like you!" Gwen said as she gripped her sword harder.
"Just give up, princess. Look around you. You have nowhere to run."
"No! I will not surrender, not without a fight!"
Gwen raised her sword, while Yvain set himself in the most optimal position.
"Hahaha… Princess, I knew this wasn't going to be easy. That's why I came prepared." Edward said with a mysterious smile. He blew a whistle and those black clothed men came back.
All of them took out the cover that hid their faces.
Gwen and Yvain were startled to see the faces of Cantiaci Kingdom's two golden knights among them.
"Sir Rendi?! Sir Afton?! What is the meaning of this?" Yvain shouted at the two.
"It's nothing personal, Yvain. We are just following the order of the prince." Answered Sir Rendi, a middle-aged man with complementary sideburns and a beard.
The two golden knights got off their horses and made their way toward Yvain and Gwen. Meanwhile, the Cantianci knights had raised their swords, ready to attack at a moment's notice.
Gwen turned towards Edward, who still kept his annoying smirk. Her expression was serious.
"Don't do this, Edward! This would mean war between our two kingdoms!"
Alas, Edward ignored her words and came up with his own.
"Last chance, princess. Come with me quietly and we can avoid more unnecessary death. Think about how many lives would be lost in the war if it really happened."
Before Gwen could open her mouth, Yvain spoke first.
"Don't listen to him, Your Highness! I will protect you!"
Realizing he was rejected once again, Edward raised his hand. In an instant, the two golden knights jumped at Yvain.
Clank!! Clank!! Clank!!
Continuous sound of metal clashing with each other resounded in the air.
Unexpectedly, Yvain was still able to handle the two together, albeit with difficulty. But it was clear the man was busy and had no chance to help Gwen. Thus, Edward could casually make his way towards her.
"Don't you dare get any closer, Edward!!" Gwen threatened as she pointed her sword at the approaching scoundrel.
"Hahaha! Princess, I heard you learn sword fighting as well. Come spar with me! If you win I will let you go!" Edward said, with unbridled confidence.
Realizing all roads were blocked, Gwen thrusted her sword at Edward without any hesitation.
"Hahaha, feisty! I like you even more, princess."
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Clank!! Clank!!
A series of metal clashes happened between the two of them. Gwen tried her best to land a strike on Edward, but the latter seemed to have an easy time blocking and parrying her advances. It was obvious Edward, who was also a silver knight, was the better fighter.
He was just playing around with her.
Swissh!
Gwen was careless and Edward managed to cut a part of her long golden hair. He picked it up and shockingly started sniffing it.
"Aah... You indeed smell really good!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Hysterical laughter was coming out of Edward, causing all heads to turn at him for a moment.
It was exactly at this moment that a dagger suddenly planted itself on his shoulder, causing Edward to scream like a girl.
A figure, who was obviously the culprit, traversed the air and landed next to the still shocked Gwen.
"I am sorry, princess. I apologize for my late arrival."
Gwen couldn't believe what she saw when she looked at the figure who saved her.
"Lanzo!"