Vergil's OneShots (DMC Fanfiction)

Hunter, Servant Or Prince? (Part One)

A/N: To make up for the lack of recent updates this month, I will update Part One and Two of this mini-story on the same day.

[Hunter, Servant or Prince? (Part One)]

Lissiana stepped off the caravan only to be greeted by the sight of a bustling market. The sight was both a welcome and a strange one for her, because Lissiana had come from the countryside, where the closest form of a town was a three hour walk. The closest town to her place was almost too small to be a town; they barely managed to have a physician, a general merchant, a tailor and a small area for small-scale trading. Lissiana had grown up learning not to ask for too much, learning to do many chores on her own.

To see the capital town of Visternia splayed out right in front of her was another thing entirely, as civilians shouted over each other, offering goods on display and chattering away noisily. The hustle and bustle of the scene around her was a refreshing start of Lissiana's new life as she took her first step towards the market. She would first do her best to find a place to stay over for the night, find a place to eat, then start looking for a way to enter the castle the next day.

The castle stood at the top of a hill overlooking Visternia and the rest of the country of Vistern. While it was not particularly tall, its strategic location overlooking the horizons also meant that the King could easily see any imminent signs of attack from all around. When the country wasn't in conflict with anyone else, the castle served as a signal of power; a building that overlooked everyone else, a building that people seeking help from the King would go to.

Lissiana supposed that she wasn't much different from those people as she strolled through the busy market, doing her best to stay out of the way of busy merchants and innkeepers loading and unloading their goods from the many caravans, the deals being made along the street with easy talk. The atmosphere was light and enjoyable, and though her father had warned her to be careful of pickpockets or thieves in a big town like Visternia, Lissiana felt as if nothing could happen to her in such a beautiful and lively place.

Her mood was good despite the fact that she had ridden overnight in the caravan from her house to Visternia, and her back and neck were aching from sleeping in an uncomfortable position.

"Miss, you look like you are looking for a place to stay for the night." A hand on her shoulder spun Lissiana around, and she was met with the smiling face of someone who appeared to be dressed in practical innkeeper clothes. Were the people in Visternia all so friendly and eager to help out poor strangers like her? Lissiana had heard from her father that Visternia was a place full of thieves and bandits hiding in corners, but this was a market that Lissiana was currently in. It wasn't possible that this guy wouldn't dare to try anything on her in broad daylight, in the plain sight of so many people, was it?

For now, Lissiana would place a little trust in this friendly man as she smiled back brightly.

"Yes, do you have a place to offer me, good sir?" Lissiana replied politely.

"My, what manners! You must have come from a distinguished family, did you not, Lady?" The smiling man –if possible –only smiled wider.

Really? Lissiana was surprised to be compared to a refined lady. While poor countrywomen like her were generally not supposed to be educated well, Lissiana had things slightly different because her father had actually been a scholar born and bred in Visternia before he eloped with Lissiana's mother to the countryside to enjoy a simple lifestyle with her family. As a result, in the days when the rain stopped them from working on the fields, Lissiana had learnt as much as she could from her father, and then read all the books that he had managed to bring with him at least a hundred times over. Then, because her hunger for knowledge did not stop there, Lissiana had learnt many things herself –particularly on the usage of different herbs and their medicinal properties.