Runaway Princess ❦ Judar

8 | Found

Tears flowed freely down her face and memories that she would've given anything to forget swam through her mind: endlessly repeating, unceasingly stabbing at her mind.

Years had gone by since that incident, and it was one of the main reasons it had forced the royal family to keep the youngest princess hidden. Out of sight, out of mind - this was the collective thoughts of the kingdom's inhabitants, and the existence of the princess had almost become forgotten. The fact that only a handful of people knew what the princess looked like could be evidenced by this.

Everyone knew of her powers of death, but hardly anyone knew of her appearance. To them, she was just a princess that lived far away from the main palace, and past the forest of peach trees.

Regret, a feeling unfamiliar to the male magi, overcame him and it saddened him to see the tears making tracks down the girl's cheeks. Seeing her cry was not something that he had wanted. Curiosity had gotten the better of him, and in asking her to recall the past, things had been brought forward once more, causing her to be upset.

Sera had run away from the palace to start a new life, and to not be the hidden princess she once was. In the future, she would be the free princess who roamed the lands and did whatever she wanted.

Now it seemed like they had both made a rash decision, and being out here wasn't necessarily better than being stuck in the palace. And just as these thoughts were passing through Judar's head, a loud bang sounded out in the otherwise quiet room.

A large force had kicked the door open, and the foot behind that force was still outstretched in the air. Attached to that foot was Sera's brother, Kouha: behind him stood Kougyoku and Koumei.

Worry painted their faces, mixed with a hint of anger. They had been searching for their sister for months, and then a few days ago they had gotten wind of her holing up in some inn. Once they had found out the location, they had rushed over, but not before convincing their older brother Kouen to stay in the palace, where he had to continue performing his kingly duties.

Sera spun round at the loud sound and with widened eyes, she started at the sight of her family. "W-what are you guys doing here?"

Fear gripped at her as she took in the sight of her brothers and sister. Were they here to forcefully take her back to the palace?

And sure enough, they were.

"We're here to take you back!" Exploded the petite Kouha. "What were you thinking, running off like that? Do you know how worried we all were?"

"I..." Sera was at a loss for words.

Sera looked back at Judar, hoping he would know what to do in this situation, but he seemed to be as lost as she was. In this situation, neither of them knew what they were to do, or what was going to happen next.