A Love Beyond Time

The Prince and the Lady

Well....hello everyone! I'm finally back! My most sincere apologies for the terribly long delay in updates. Real life has been hectic and I was taken rather ill for the past couple of months, which totally drained me of all energy, mood, and inspirations. But I truly, truly hope all my dear readers are still staying with me..please?

Anyway, here's the latest chapter and do enjoy! Love you all deep deep <3

Is the one swipe a babe's throat with his sword in the name of justice

A monster?

Is the one who protects his own with fervent passion and determined ruthlessness

A savage beast?

What defines a monster?

What makes a savage beast?

Who is the one to truly judge?

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The Valley—eastern region

Dawn was a misty shimmer that turned dewdrops into perfect pearls of sparkling iridescence and showered tender spring leaves with a soft mauve glow. The fields spread as far as the eye could see, like rolls and rolls of fine silk that shone a rich emerald.

Within this spread of emerald silk, Saito stirred slowly, his thick brows scrunching over lightly twitching eyelids where the curtained darkness was delicately sprinkled with lilac glitters.

And hissed as the delicate glitters turned into harsh, bright glimmers. He blinked repeatedly, thick lashes fluttering in quick succession like a moth's wings. In between flutters, his bleary eyes made out a wide expanse of brilliant lilac-orange peppered with puffy white and delineated with the shadowed silhouette of towering cliffs. He frowned momentarily, wondering what that lilac-orange and white was.

After more fluttering and frowning and wondering, he finally realized that it was the dawn sky and he was sprawled flat on his back.

While hugging a large wine jug—devoid of its contents—to his chest the way he might hug a lover after a night of passionate tryst.

Staring blankly at the jug, he tried to recall what exactly happened the previous night. However, his brain was currently swathed within a thick cloud of fuzz, which rendered all coherency, rationality, and mind-body coordination impossible.

Hence, Saito continued to sprawl on the ground, arms around the jug and eyes staring dumbly at the bright sky.

Then, a low rumble drifted to his ears, and he tensed. The sound was coming from his right, from that massive boulder slightly at the edge of his peripheral vision. Saito's first thought was that the boulder had somehow come to life during the night. Then, his second thought was that it was attempting to communicate with him and that naturally led to his third thought, which was to wonder what it wanted to tell him.

Fortunately, some semblance of the previously impossible rationality returned to his still mostly fuzzy mind, and he bolted upright.

An Intruder! There was an intruder hiding behind that damned boulder, someone who had managed to slip past the security barriers and his formidable self into the Valley. Some bloody bastard who wanted to hurt Yu-Hu.

Not on my watch, arsehole, he snarled inside his mind and looked around for his sword, only to find himself in the middle of a wide field with absolutely nothing. Well, except for the wine jug still in his arms.

So, the formidable Saito clutched his not-very-formidable weapon, steadied his very wobbly and definitely not formidable limbs, and crawled closer to the boulder. With gritted teeth, he pulled up, peered over, lifted the jug over his head, and prepared to do what had to be done.