REGALLY BLOND. armin arlert

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001 ;

ARRIVAL OF A
PROTECTOR

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eight
years later ;

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HE WALKED LEISURELY THROUGH the corridor where his room was located, eyeing the magnificent garden that lay before the palace through the windows. His lips were pressed on a tight line and his eyebrows were intensely furrowed as if he was pondering about something largely unfathomable. That was him—always with a heated debate with his own self. His younger brother, Prince Reiner, would often tease him about it, albeit he didn't really seem concerned.

Oh, he must have a lot of things in his mind, was what most people would say if they saw him like this. He rarely looked approachable, always resorting to cold stares and stoic glances if he could. The word 'happy' didn't seem to exist in his personal dictionary, or if it did, he disliked the thought of it existing.

But he wasn't always like this. When he was much younger, he was very generous in giving smiles to everyone, even the maids. He was even dubbed as the Jolly Prince for his unfaltering grins. Things changed, of course, when Prince Zeke was assassinated.

The tragedy was painful for the whole royal family, yet to him, it was a whole new level of torment. He had seen it all—from the blood splatter from his older brother's head, to how he fell on the ground, lifeless and in dire need of medics. His eyes had never left his brother's figure the moment he stepped on the stage with him, up until his final moments. It was hard to erase in his head, that even if eight years have passed, he could still remember everything that had happened that day down to the smallest detail; the smell of blood in the air, the panic the assassination had caused to the crowd... everything.

It was a nightmare.

"Armin," a voice went from behind him, his feet immediately halting upon hearing his name being called. "Have you heard?"

Armin glanced over his shoulder, his eyes still not breaking contact with the scenery out the window. "Heard what, Annie?" he snapped in a low-pitched voice that sounded very uninterested with what his older sister has to say. "If it's another one of those pesky stories you have about your suitors, then leave me be." He turned his head back around sharply, continuing his leisurely walk down the hall.

An earsplitting laugh came out of Annie's mouth, causing him to flinch in response, although not enough to stop him for walking away. "You've finally earned yourself your personal bodyguard. That means you can stop being lonely and quit talking to yourself while locked up inside your room. Aren't you happy?"

The prince paused for a moment, turning to actually shoot the princess a deadpanned expression. "I don't care," he simply muttered as he shrugged. "Now leave me alone, please." He turned around once more, this time walking very quickly so she would be unable to follow anything else. Sadly for him, he was still able to get an earshot of Annie's response.

"I heard your bodyguard is from a noble family, too. So don't get any thoughts of trying to get rid of her."

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ON YOUR WAY TO the Reiss Palace, you had been studying the letter that was sent to you a week ago. In fact, you've read it so many times that you knew every word by heart. It was sent officially by the king himself, congratulating you on being chosen as a main royal bodyguard of the heir to the throne. You were honestly hesitant at first to being Prince Armin's bodyguard and you'd have to constantly remind yourself that you became a bodyguard in the first place to protect the next royal in line. Of course, that dream had been long ago, right when you were expecting Princess Annie to be the heir to the throne. No one had expected it would be the second eldest child—or the third if you considered Zeke Reiss.