But what if I had been forced to give up everything I was blessed with here? I’m sure it would have felt absolutely horrifying.

Admittedly, while I spent a lot of my life looking at people. I also never spent a lot of time properly interacting with them outside the internet.

I felt a twinge of shame.

Who was I… A bedridden lunatic with no life-experience whatsoever to tell her how to think. I didn’t know what happened to her, and I was being arrogant to the point of lecturing her at her worst moment…

Ahhhh… I’m really a pretty trashy person… Aren’t I?

“I’m… sorry. Uh… My circumstances are a bit… odd. I’m a bit bad at dealing with people…” I admitted quietly.

A cold silence filled the room, but then… something about her words clicked in my head a bit.

“Did the woman you mentioned have golden hair and… emerald green eyes?” I suddenly perked up.

The clatter of her armor was noticeable. I had hit the nail on the head.

“Y-you too were…?” The woman in armor began to speak shakily.

“Well… I didn’t get anything done to my loved ones… But I got exiled alright!” I pointed at my arm with a playful grin… Then realizing the gesture was probably very unwarranted, so I did my best to calm down.

“That wretch…” The bitterness in the voice of the knight was so shamelessly present it sent chills down my spine. “Tell me… what happened!”

“Y-yeah sure… But can we maybe stop your bleeding first?”

After a bit of convincing, she finally yielded to the idea of me treating her wound. I wasn’t some kind of medical professional, but I knew the basics from having spent most of my past life in a hospital. I found some worn out first-aid supplies in the pantry, but nothing to stop the bleeding with. We had to resort to cauterizing it, which the knight didn’t even flinch at.

I couldn’t help but think she was pretty cool.

“So, long story short. There was this golden girl. I don’t know her name, but she really didn’t like me. It had something to do with the crown prince being too good for me? Apparently, I bullied her or something… and so I needed to be exiled for my crimes.” I began summing my situation up.

“My experience with her had extremely shallow reasoning behind what led to my current situation as well…” The female knight commented.

“Well, yeah. I honestly don’t really know what she was on about. My memories… are a bit weird.” I stumbled awkwardly. “But either way! All in all, I got falsely accused of something and then exiled!” I chirped cheerily, then realizing my energy levels needed to be toned down a bit for the kind of story I was telling.

I couldn’t see her face much, but the hatred burning in her eyes through the visor of the helmet was more than apparent. Honestly, I don’t know if bloodlust is really a thing people can sense, but if it could be sensed, this must have been what it felt like. This woman hated the golden-haired princess more than anything in the world. That much was clear. With a clatter, my attention was pulled back to her, as she took her helmet off.

A visage nothing short of a classical beauty. She had a perfectly sculpted, almost princely face and sky-blue eyes marred with tiredness. Her expression was cold and dry, like all the joy of life had left her, which her dark brown hair accentuated due to the shadows it cast upon her visage.

“My name is Amelia fil Sectoris. I was the captain of the royal guard of the kingdom of Rachasia…” The woman began to speak after a moment of silence.

Amelia went over her story to me, and I feel it might be easier to understand her if I quoted her word for word instead of simply summarizing what she went through.

So, here on follows a story from her perspective.

“I was the leader of an honorable group of knights to the kingdom of Rachasia.” Amelia began narrating.

I spent the entirety of my life dedicating myself to becoming a shield for my country.

All of my youth was spent enjoying heroic and most certainly exaggerated stories of knighthood my father told me. He wasn’t particularly successful as a knight himself, but he certainly was a good storyteller.

The longer I listened, the faster I grew completely enamored with the idea of becoming a paladin myself.

I started training at a very young age. My father told me that I’d have to work harder than anybody else to be allowed to be a knight, because it wasn’t common for women to be allowed into the holy order.

While my father’s concern over my dreams of knighthood was well-founded, he never in his life told me I shouldn’t become one. His methods of encouragement were strict, but it was all simply out of fear of others belittling me for being a female knight. It was his way of supporting my goals, while also giving me the strength and pride to stand tall next to any other knight, and I love him for it.

At the age of eighteen, I swore my paladin oath, which lead to me being blessed by a Goddess and I officially became a knight.

With my father’s tales of honor in mind, I worked my hardest to uphold that image of a knight in how I came across to the people. I wished to become a hero my father could be proud of.

This caused me to rapidly rise in ranks, until I was at the head of the royal guard and the holy order of knights before even realizing it.

It was a duty of high honor. The king himself appointed the role to me in a very extravagant ceremony. I remember it being one of the happiest days of my life… This however, all happened a good few years ago.

“Amelia. I have a special task for you.” The king himself approached me one day. He was a man of a very tall stature, towering upwards to two meters in height. He wore a beautiful red cape with fur lining, and of course, a heavily decorated crown on his head.

The king was aged, but a very understanding and warm gentleness was always present behind all the wrinkles.

            “Your Highness. It’s an honor. How may I be of service?”

“We have a visitor from a neighboring country. A princess at that.” The king smiled in his ever-warm manner while stroking his immaculate white beard. “I feel she might be a lot more comfortable being escorted around by another young lady.” He continued.

Without a moment’s rest, I replied. “Very well!”

“W-well now! You’re always so ready for work…!” The king somehow had a curious custom of chuckling a lot at my work ethic.

“Is this an issue, your Highness?” I replied firmly.

“N-no…! I simply… thought maybe you can use this as an opportunity to relax a bit… and possibly make a friend?” His social awkwardness in situations such as this one was a part of his charm, if I may be so bold to comment on it.

I was slightly shaken by his words. “A… friend, your Highness?”

“Well…! The royal guard is fully comprised of men. I thought maybe… You could use some female company occasionally…!” Describing His Highness in such a manner causes me to feel he was behaving like a nosy grandfather… Mind you, I might be recollecting his exact wording wrong.

“Your Highness…!” I couldn’t help but let out a minute chuckle. He truly was a kind ruler. I never truly thought about my situation from his perspective, so it was rather endearing to see him so troubled over my happiness in such a manner.

“Her name is Claire. She’s young and dainty. I feel it would show our best hospitality to assign my pride and joy to keep her safe!” The king regained his composure.

I distinctly recall grinning at him a bit as I agreed to go along with his plans.

In hindsight, I somehow never found it strange how the king never specified what kingdom this ‘Claire’ was from. A neighboring country? It was unusually vague. I somehow never found out her surname either… 

Sooner than later, the princess arrived in our Rachasia.

She was welcomed with warm open arms, and her bubbly and carefree personality rapidly made her a favorite among not only the men, but also the women in the kingdom. Not to downplay her beauty, of course. Her golden wavy hair always bounced around as she danced along the streets with me. I recall feeling almost as if a character had leaped out of the stories my father told me in my youth whenever she was present.

Somehow, she seemed to have an aura of inherent positivity. Everyone around her was always upbeat and friendly.

“H-here you go, your Highness…!” A known ruffian offered the girl a flower. All I could do was stare flabbergasted, for I had never seen him so docile.

“Thank you, Ralf! I hope you didn’t steal again!” The girl curtsied and smiled warmly at the man, who shook his head vehemently.

I eventually met up with Claire as Ralf the ruffian walked away, looking like a smitten young lady despite being a sizeable bald man of pure muscle. “W-what manner of spell did you cast on him…?!”

“Hahahahah!” Claire laughed carefreely and slapped my back, only to yelp as the cold steel of my plating was most likely a bit less soft of a surface to lay her hands upon, than she had expected.

“I would graciously recommend for you to avoid doing that in the future, for the wellbeing of your own hand.” I chuckled and watched the royalty of positivity caress her aching palm.

“Mmmh… W-well, with a bit of love, even the scariest people turn into adorable kittens.” Claire’s words only made sense in the context of herself. Had anyone else said this, I would have certainly called them a naïve dreamer.

“Love, is it?” I cocked an eyebrow. “You sure seem to have plenty of it coming your way!” I teased her over her sheer popularity with the opposite sex.

“Eeeeh?! Don’t tease me, Ameliaaa!” She squealed in feigned anger and began venting her frustrations out on my armor, only to instantly regret it afterward. 

“Hahahahaha!” I laughed and gently grabbed her hands to stop her from hurting them more.

“Mmmmgh!” The girl continued her acting of disdain toward me. “You love me too! Even though you tease me!” The false distaste changed into a triumphant smirk.

“I do. We’re friends, after all.” I countered her sulking with a gentle smile.

She seemed unusually shocked by the reply, growing a bit red and then fanning herself. “Uhuh! So, you should treat me nicer!” She had a bizarre manner of sulking, which involved puffing one’s cheeks with air. I simply poked at said cheeks, causing her to burst out giggling.

“Forgive me. I feel a bit out of character in doing something like this as well… But I somehow cannot help it.” Somehow, her nonsensical antics put a smile on my face as well.

“Well. It’s okay, I guess. I mean, I am happy you were assigned to me. I feel a lot more comfortable having you around. It makes me feel safe.” A few further quiet mumbles ensued.

“Hahaha! I’m sure you’d be safe even if I was far away, with how many knights and men are head over heels for you! You got enough admirers to probably kill a demon!”

“EEEHHH!! B-but!! I like you the best!” She hugged onto my arm firmly.

Somehow, I couldn’t help but tease her more. “I’m honored… But I am married.”

“Y-YOU KNOW I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAAAAT! AMELIA YOU MEANIEEE!” She squealed with the usual playful fury as we kept walking.

Speaking of the men I mentioned just a moment ago, there really were plenty of admirers for the Princess. Similarly, to Ralf’s flower, Claire was showered with gifts from left to right and center. Rachasia was a monogamous society, and yet somehow nobody ever found it odd how Claire was clearly and openly loved by so many men. Admittedly, she never showed particular favoritism towards anyone, so her relationship status was always vague.