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Chapter 11

  Later that evening, Shokei and her party are staying at Bloodstrike's hideout. After a long day of fighting against the lizardmen, the party are gathered around a campfire. The cn's territory fgs are burnt in the fire. In addition, food was found in the hideout, and it was mostly fruits. While everyone is feeling comfortable around the fire, Shokei takes note of the newcomer that is part of the party.

  "Hey Rei," Shokei nudged her and asked. "Who's the new person in our group?"

  "Oh him?" Rei points out to the wolfman. "His name is Obsidian."

  "Hmm?" Obsidian hears his name being called and turned to see who was talking.

  "Right! Shokei, this here is Obsidian." Rei tells her. "Obsidian, this here is Shokei."

  "Mmm..." Obsidian gulped down his meal and looks at Shokei. "Aha. You're the one that killed off the leader of Bloodstrike."

  "Oh yeah. That's me." Shokei nodded with a smile. "Thanks to you guys, he was distracted easily when I nailed at him."

  "I see." The wolfman agreed. "A while back, I accidentally attacked your friends, thinking that they were part of the lizardmen."

  "Ehh?" Shokei said with a surprised look.

  "Don't get me wrong! My instincts were wrong, and I do apologize for my actions." Obsidian said to her.

  "I see...but I do accept." Shokei said, accepting his apology.

  "Aside from his mistake, he was a big help in defeating those vile things." Rei said to her. "His heavy sword came in handy for the fight."

  "Hmm." Shokei notices the clothes that Obsidian is wearing. "Why does his outfit look different from us?"

  "He's not from this world he said." Marie responded. "Obsidian is from another world in a different pnet."

  "Really?" Shokei asked. She continues looking at him.

  "Indeed." Obsidian said. "I come from the Pnet Zibato. My home is far from here, but I now reside in a snowy vilge that's far from where I stand."

  "Interesting." Shokei said. "Nice meeting you here."

  "Thanks. It's a long story, but I will tell you another time." said Obsidian.

  "Ahem!!"

  The party were interrupted as they hear Antoinette calling out to everyone.

  "From where we are right now, we are just around the Kingdom of Senwald." Antoinette said to everyone. "To get there, we need to go through Itaea first."

  "Oh yeah," Kichiro said to her. "While we are in Itaea, I have my own pce to stay just in case any of you try to find an inn."

  "That's sounds great! At least we can save ourselves some time this way." Antoinette said.

  "We should rest up here while we can," Rei said, "We got another day of hiking out of this forest."

  "Right. I'm off to bed now." Marie said, yarning and leaving the campfire to a small cabin.

  "I guess we should do the same." said Shokei. "It has been a long day."

  The party went inside the cabin as Obsidian has put out the fire before he went inside. The cabin has bunk beds and the party tucked in for the night. Everyone was asleep.

  In the middle of the night, Shokei wakes up from her sleep Once awake, she looks to see that her party is sleeping peacefully. Then, Shokei noticed that everyone, but Antoinette is not in her bed. Blinking, she quietly gets up and went outside to look for her. From outside, Shokei looks up at the sky and she can see the moon above is shining brightly, allowing her to see her surroundings.

  Where is she? Maybe...she might have stepped out to get some fresh air..., thought Shokei.

  Shokei looks for Antoinette in the forest.

  Somewhere in the forest, not far from the campsite, Antoinette is sitting on a rock. She is gazing at the overview which is on top of a cliff. She views the wilderness of the forest as she stares at the flowing river by herself. The princess has things on her mind now.

  Shokei continues to look out for Antoinette. Why would she step out of the cabin for without telling anyone? Then she has her eyes on someone sitting on a rock at an edge of a cliff. Shokei looks carefully, seeing the princess is right there, between two trees that are near her and an open view. Without disturbing her, Shokei sees her at a distance.

  She's so beautiful...even in the moonlight, she is even more beautiful...

  Within that thought, Shokei blushed unexpectedly. She did not want to ruin the moment of seeing Antoinette there. Just when Shokei was about to turn back to the cabin, she triggered off a noise by breaking a stick from a tree. Antoinette overheard the noise, and she turns to see who it was before that person left her in her sight.

  "Ehh?" the princess turned to see who was there. It did not take her long to find out who it really was. "...Shokei?"

  Shokei gulped. Hearing Antoinette's voice made her step out from hiding.

  "Shokei...is that you?" Antoinette asked, calling out to her.

  "Uhh...yes." Shokei replied, revealing herself from hiding.

  "Oh..." Antoinette said, blinked at her.

  "Is it a bad time for me to disrupt your privacy?" Shokei asked her.

  "No. Not at all." replied Antoinette. "But since you're here, it's best you can just stay with me."

  "Oh, ok."

  Shokei goes over to where the princess is and sits next to her. Together, they both look out at the overview of the forest.

  "Such a nice view from up here." Shokei said.

  "I agree." Antoinette nodded. Her eyes locked at the overview of the forest.

  A few minutes passed as they continue to stare out at the forest.

  "I have something to say to you." Antoinette said to Shokei.

  "What is it?" asked Shokei.

  "I've been doing a lot of thinking tely," Antoinette said. "I...I really don't want to be a princess anymore."

  "Huh?!"

  Shokei gave a look at Antoinette's face. She was surprised to hear this and Antoinette looks back at her.

  "How come you made this decision?" Shokei asked her, taking a breather.

  "Let me put it this way." Antoinette said. "All throughout my life as a princess, it was pure hell for me. I cannot stand being a princess anymore. Why, you should ask? Because I grew sick and tired of it. I can't take it anymore. After everything I went through in my st, I just wish I let go of my role as a princess and...and start off fresh living life as a normal girl."

  "Even if you say that, you are still born and raised as a princess." Shokei tells her.

  "Hell with that!" Antoinette said angrily. The expression shows that she means it in her own words. "There's no such thing as 'real' father, who used to be King in Senwald. Now I got a fake bastard that treats me like horse manure. I can't bear to live life with an ungrateful being as he is not human to my eyes."

  "Rex..." Shokei tells her, trying to tone her voice down.

  "No Shokei, I can't..." she refused. "I get...I just get that sometimes. I mean, I have told you parts about me. Everything else...uhhhh, ugh! I'm sorry, you don't know what type of person I am."

  Shokei wanted to say something, but she paused. She keeps quiet and allows the princess to get a hold of herself. The princess takes deep breaths and cools off. While she does this, Shokei takes her time to think about this conversation that she got herself into now.

  Talk about a princess that has a rough life, Shokei thought. I am curious how she managed to flee her Kingdom? Why go through the trouble of escaping and getting lost out in the wilderness. A long while back, she mentioned bits on how she got to explore out of her kingdom...I should get to the truth from this princess.

  "Shokei..."

  "Huh? Yes?" Shokei asked and her thoughts disrupted, focusing on the princess.

  "I want to talk to you about something else." Antoinette said.

  "What's that?" she asked.

  "...about that kiss from st night...," said Antoinette.

  "What about it?" asked Shokei.

  "...Do you think..." Antoinette looks up to her and asked. "Do you think it's weird for me to like you?"

  Shokei eyes widened a bit. Startled, she could not believe why the princess would ask such a question.

  "O...k, this is interesting..." Shokei said, feeling blushed in disbelief. "Why do you like me?"

  "Well, it's..." the princess, trying to find her words, expined. "...it's that, well, the kiss...it's that I really like you a lot, and I was allowing you to know more about me and my personal life. You're the only one that can understand me and my experiences as a princess."

  "I got that, but you are not giving me a good reason." Shokei said to her.

  Antoinette sighed.

  "Look, you got to be real with me Antoinette." Shokei said in a serious tone. "You cannot be afraid to admit something to me unless you're being realistic. I will ask you again. Why do you like me?"

  Antoinette thinks about what Shokei has to say to her for a minute.

  "Just tell me. Nobody can hear us from here." Shokei said with encouragement. "This is private just between us."

  "All right. I'll say it. It's just that..." Antoinette begins to say words from her innocent mouth.

  Shokei waits for the response, hoping for the truth.

  "...it's just that nobody likes me." The princess admitted. "Everything that happened to me in the past and all those horrific experiences with the retionships that I got myself into, I hated it. I hated it all. I feel as if I will be the loneliness princess that will never be accepted or be loved by anyone. I hated myself more than anything, even if I have been made into this world that I live on. I hate it, I hate it, I HATE IT!!"

  This confession that the princess broke down brought her into tears. Antoinette feels heartbroken as if she cannot accept who she is as a being. Shokei sees the princess cry in tears. She watched as Antoinette is all pained up inside. The past haunts her more in memories from Senwald. Shokei takes a moment back when she was heroic to protect the princess to when she kissed her on that night. Her moment on saving the princess felt as if she was the grand prize. Shokei did recalled the moment the princess slept next to her, thinking that she needed someone to sleep with. Thinking about all this, she gets the princess's attention.

  "Hey..." Shokei calls out to Antoinette, getting her attention.

  Antoinette stopped crying and wiped her tears from her eyes.

  "I understand of all you went through." Shokei said to her. "So, did I. I went through the pain and suffering from my past. Even though I may not recall my memory that much, I did had moments when I felt helpless and rejected."

  Antoinette listened.

  "Just as I said before, we do have something in common." Shokei said to her.

  Antoinette stopped crying and wiped her tears. She stares at Shokei's face and Shokei looks into her, seeing her face as if her wounds are about to heal. Antoinette is calming down and breaths slowly to get her mindset focused.

  From there, Shokei sense a strange feeling between her and the princess. She views Antoinette beautifully as the moonlight is right on her. Antoinette stares at Shokei deeply, seeing how someone like Shokei means more than anything. From the moment Antoinette had her kiss back at the cell now brings a different perspective. The two moves in close and again they kissed passionately. Closing their eyes, the kiss was met, and it sted longer. The embrace made their inside tingle as soon as they felt one another. The kiss breaks up after it was held for a minute.

  "I must admit princess that you look beautiful," Shokei said in a confession. "I have never seen a beautiful face that is shining on someone like you."

  Antoinette smiled. The pain that was inside of her has been lifted.

  "I must admit that you are attractive," Antoinette confessed. "And I have never met a beautiful person that would never leave me in my sight."

  The two girls stared at each other for a minute. Then, Shokei decided on what to do next.

  "Come with me." Shokei said.

  The two smiled and together, they continued their romantic moment for each other in the forest.

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