"I heard that the matters at the borders were looking quite grim." another Knight whispers to his comrade as they were wiping the edges of their swords. 

The other fellow sighs, "grim? I heard it was a total hell! Burning fires, blood, monsters that never seemed to end. I've heard that the Crown Prince has taken charge to neutralize the damage."

"The Crown Prince is too soft! Of course he had fought in wars but they should have sent Captain Thrain instead!" the other knight says as he gets up from his seat, all heated from the topic of this conversation.

"Why must Captain Thrain walk around behind her royal highness, Princess (y/n) when he could be doing a great honor by dealing with those monsters at the borders!" 

The Captain who was passing by the training grounds, happened to overhear this conversation. However, he only scoffed at their conversation before walking back towards the Princess's palace. 

The Crown Prince had taken him out from war due to the extend of damage he had caused to his own body. He had pushed his limits, carrying the weight of the fallen knight's legacies and the burden of killing.

Serving the Princess was a fresh breath of air as he got to experience being at ease after years of training and activities in the battlefield. The Crown Prince knew of this and intentionally placed him as (y/n)'s bodyguard.

As he walked away from the conversation, a maid had called out for him. He turns around to the direction of the voice and finds the maid out of breath, as if she had ran through the entire garden in one go.

"Sir Thrain! Thank goodness you're here." she says in short of breath, trying to pull words together. 

"Is there something the matter?" He inquires the maid, who appeared panic struck. 

"The Princess!" The maid says as she hold her chest to take a proper breath. 

"The Princess has been missing since today morning!" 

It was quite strange. The Princess who was supposed to go visit her father, The King, had suddenly disappeared from her palace. 

The news of the Princess missing was all what the Captain had heard before he grabbed his sword and began scouting through every corner of the huge palace. 

He believed that as a Knight he had failed his job as the Princess was now missing. He would fail even harder should there come any harm under her way.

"Princess (y/n)." he shouts loudly as he walks through the garden and stops in his tracks, panting heavily as he looks around, breaking a sweat. Panic was coursing through every vein of his body as he recalled the Crown Prince's trust. The Prince had trusted him to take care of the Princess.

"My lady!" He shouts before he runs through the maze of the well decorated palace gardens.

EARLIER

"I wonder how that child would feel about this. Is it right of us to do so?" The queen asks as she looks over at her husband, The King who was drinking his tea from a porcelain cup. He places the teacup down onto the saucer as he sighed.

"I don't think she have a favorable say in this matter. She wouldn't even like this conversation." The King says as he pauses. 

The queen looks at him with a frown, "Is there no other way to convince the Argan Dukedom? Riches, wealth, gems, jewels and so many other rare artifacts! Yet, they would like a marriage alliance with the Royal family?"  she asks in an angry tone.

The King sighs and held the Queen's hand in an attempt to  calm her down. "There is nothing we can do dear." The King spoke in a low tone.

"As much as I love our children, the necessities of this Nation always comes first. Without the Dukedom's help, I don't think it will be possible for us to defend our Nation from the attacks of the Abyss. Our military has sustained enough damage already." 

The Queen sighed heavily as the King let go of her hand and looked at her, "The Eldest Argan son is said to be quite the romantic and caring, I'm sure he will take good care of our (y/n)." 

Although the Queen was strictly against the arranged marriage, she knew there was no other go. As the Princess's mother, she only wanted her daughter to find true love to spend the rest of their lives, but as the Queen of Khaen'riah, she knew it was necessary to procure reinforcements to keep dangers at the bay.

"A marriage?" the two parents heard the voice of their daughter at the entrance of the greenhouse as she looks at them in astonishment and disbelief in her eyes. (Y/n) takes a step in front of them and greets them with a curtsy. 

The King and the Queen got up from their seats, startled by the sudden arrival of their daughter, though it was expected for her to arrive soon. They couldn't utter a word back as if cat had caught their tongues.  

"Ah, my dear daughter (y/n)!" the King says in a joyful tone as pulls out a seat for (y/n) to sit down, gesturing her to sit down. 

"How has your debutante practice been going on my dear?" The Queen subtly tries changing the topic however, (y/n) stood still in her place as she clenched her fists tight. The words she had heard a few minutes ago echoed her ears as panic slowly set in her veins.

"A marriage with the Dukedom of Argan? Are you two out of your minds! I haven't even debuted  in the Noble society yet!" (y/n) raises her voice a little as she takes a step back and looks at the two in anger. 

"(Y/n) listen- It was just a proposal!" The Queen tries explaining however, she was immediately cut off by (y/n). 

"No, your majesties! I will marry who I want to and when I want to! If you insist that I wed some person that I've barely known for a day, that too right after I am introduced to the Society,  I'd rather runaway and live in some other country!" 

(Y/n) was upset from this conversation. In fact she even bit her inner lip in anger as she turned around and found herself running out of the greenhouse, ignoring her parents from behind, who were desperately calling for her.

Marriage was the last thing she wanted. She wanted to be someone independent and enjoy the simplicity of life with someone she would love. She never wanted to be a pawn in a political sphere. 

Moreover, she had just for the first time ever experienced romantic affections and desire for another person. She didn't want to let go of such feelings for a cold political marriage.

a/n : reminder this fic is angst not fluff !! (by that i mean no good ending guarantee)