Chapter 1

With one final tug, the knot slipped into place, creating an inescapable prison attached to a giant, white beast whose head stood above most men despite walking on all fours. This beast was none other than the pet of the World’s Greatest Saint, Freydis Eisbar.

“Now none of you will be going anywhere.” Freydis’s voice sounded shockingly light, yet still carried better and had a much stronger sense of stern-ness than most of their drill sergeants. To put it bluntly, it was the kind of harsh voice one would expect from a battle hardened knightess forced to retire due to the severity of her injuries and, just like the rest of her, seemed completely unaffected by the blistering snowfall and shrieking wind.

“What are you going to do with us, you monster!” One of the soldiers shouted, his voice barely carrying through the wind.

“Monster?” The soldiers couldn’t tell if it was confusion or anger in her voice, but one thing was clear: she heard them perfectly. “You’re captain felt like you four were dragging the rest of them down so I’m taking you back south.”

“If that was the cast, you wouldn’t need to tie us up, we know how to ride.”

“A horse, You know how to ride a horse through plains and over hills. Someone of your skill level riding a bear I personally trained through a mild Northland’s blizzard like this with four others is suicide.” She said removing 2, nearly human-sized cuts of deer meet from one of four much smaller packs strapped to her bear.

“It can’t be that much different can it? How unskilled does she think we are?” This time, the soldier whispered so he could be certain he wouldn’t be heard over the wind.

“Incredibly unskilled, fragile as well.” She tossed the meat to her bear as she slung her legs into a seated position near the bear’s neck. “Alright Silver, I know you can make it to Hildale before sunfall, but let’s see if you can beat your record.”

“Hil-Hildale! Before sunfall! Are you insane?! It took us weeks to get out here.” Another soldier shouted.

“I’m confident Silver here can do it faster, just haven’t tried yet.”

“Raahrh.” Silver roared in agreement having nearly inhaled the pieces of meat.

“Attaboy.” She pet Silver’s head encouragingly.

“Ahhrahh.” The bear growled in anticipation before firing off from its seated position as though it were a cannon firing straight toward hell.

***

Bright light shone in through the windows, illuminating the spitting image of a throne room. From the vibrant, red drapes with golden fringes guarded by halberd wielding men fully clad in crest emblazoned plate armor to a cartoonishly long crimson rug flanked on both sides by perfectly polished stone, all leading directly toward a gold-lined ruby throne.

Despite how common the sight had become to Elysa, it still elicited a sense of awe as she gracefully approached the throne with her escort, the prince.

The throne, of course, was not empty. An older man who looked and likely was in his mid to late forties sat in it with unperturbed confidence. His blonde hair and regal, draconic horns denoted him as a member of the Waldbrand family, specifically King Ignis the Twelfth.

Rhythmic tapping sounded from the gold plating as the fingers of his hardened steel gauntlets collided with it. His plate armor coated body displayed an eerie readiness Elysa had long since accepted as normal here.

“It is a pleasure to meet with you King Ignis.” Elysa curtsied as her companion bowed.

Though she was dressed in the blazer and dress shirt reminiscent of the “post-secondary (as Elysa called it)” royal academy’s formal attire, her short, frilly skirt which exposed her legs was far too casual for an audience with the king, something even he had come to accept as normal for her.

“Whatever reason you have for coming here, do keep in mind that even though you are the saint, I am still a… very… busy man.” The king spoke, raising his hand slightly to signal the pair to raise their heads. There was a superficial coldness to his voice, the kind donned solely to live up to a title or namesake.

Elysa nodded in confirmation. “I shall keep things brief then.” She sighed as the final act of preparing her speech. “I am certain you have heard of that brute Freydis assaulting one and possibly more of our brave soldiers. And while they were so close to Nachsudon as well. It is a real shame they will never get to see it.” Her hands covered her face in a feigned display of sorrow as she spoke. Even though she was completely justified in hitting that pervert, this is still something I can use against her to further paint her as the violent beast she is. Elysa thought.

“If I recall your… entourage… was encouraged to engage in similar acts when you first attended the Royal Academy.” The king rested his chin on one of his gauntlets. “It had even been directed at an individual who had been far less… aggressive… in his approach, and the actions taken had been far more punitive as well.” His eyes narrowed then returned to their usual passively alert state as he let out a sigh.

Elysa gulped.

“You already got your wish when I authorized her attendance invitation at this ‘post secondary’ Royal Academy you suggested. Go ahead and continue with your plan and let me know if there are more pressing or actionable concerns involving this erroneously dubbed ‘world’s greatest saint.’” His gauntlet fell to the throne with a resounding clank.

“As you wish my liege.” She curtsied again.

“Dismissed.”

***

As Elysa and the Prince left the throne room, large, stone doors glided shut behind them. The two knights on either side stood so still, one would not be mistaken for thinking they were statues.

The pair waited until they were out of earshot before Prince Ignis spoke. “I don’t know what you expected.” 

“That is what I expected, but I figured it was worth a shot anyway.” Elysa’s smile was bright enough to light up the room.

“He seems to be tiring of this.”

“And that is why this is my last time. I just had to tell him enough to make sure he would be very aware of who she really is.”

“Have you never heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?”

“I didn’t just hear of it, I enhanced it, remember. The whole world has surely become acquainted with its wisdom due to my efforts.”

The prince stared ahead for a moment. But what comes next?  He thought. “I am aware, I mention it because I believe you may have run afoul of that message.”

“I know how far I can push things before doing such a thing.” Elysa folded her arms and turned away.

“The seeds of doubt in Freydis have already been sown, I fear with this last meeting you may have begun to sow those same seeds for your own abilities.” Just move on to something new already.

“I said I wouldn’t do it again, didn’t I?” She faced Prince Ignis again and pouted.

The prince lifted her chin up with his hand and leaned over, forcing their faces to be right next to each other's.

Elysa blushed.

The prince smirked. “You’ve always been cute when you get like this.”

Her mind was racing. “Sh… shut up.” The others are great and all, but this is why I’ve always liked him the most.

As the two stood together, it was plain to see how one could derive beauty from the disparity between the two. She was born a commoner; He, the first-born Prince of a wealthy nation. His golden locks and sky colored eyes served as the perfect contrast to her own muted brown eyes and charcoal hair. His face was pretty and elegant while hers was plain and unremarkable as though she were supposed to be some blank slate.

And as for his horns, well… She grabbed his horns, pulling his head closer, latching onto his lips with her own.

And now to see the finale, the pinnacle of what makes him my one true fave. Her eyes spoke for her.

The prince jolted upright, covering his face with his hand while turning away. “D- doing that in public is in poor form. You could have at least warned me Elysa.”

She nearly erupted into a fit of excited stomping and squee-ing at how adorably he acted in that moment, stopping herself only by covering her mouth and lowering her head.

Despite both being in their twenties, any onlooker would've assumed they were teenagers after witnessing their display.

“What’s wrong with you two?” A large man with rusty hair and two pointy ears atop his head asked. His fluffy, disheveled looking tail stood at attention, telling Elysa what his accusing eyes already did.

“Nooothing.” Elysa’s innocent smile shone once again.

“Not being able to tell suits you well, Ulfir. There seems to have been something highly improper going on.” Another man, one with blue raspberry hair and rounder ears, said while pushing his glasses into his face. The tip of his slender tail betrayed his emotions as it flicked erratically.

“I already said it was nothing guys.” Elysa hurried past them towards the exit. “Come on, don’t you want to help me prepare to greet my fellow saint, Freydis.” She looked back at the trio with a smile.