Red Princess

When the dark of the night had already taken over, despite the early evening hour, Namagi was walking outside of the palace in search of Maren. Since the latter had subtly snuck away from her sister's ongoing birthday party for unknown reasons, she had figured she'd set out to look for him before Amaragi would notice. 

Although she still had to wonder why he'd disappear so suddenly.

She felt the freezing cold air upon her skin, sending small but involuntary shivers down her spine every so often. However, as she crossed the training grounds, her attention was drawn to the sounds of a sword clashing against one of the training dummies. Nobody would usually be out here at this hour… 

… and when she checked, she certainly saw the person she had been looking for, not having taken note of her presence yet. 

Maren was breathing heavily, his sword pointed at the training dummy in a battle stance as he paused for a small moment, albeit upon closer inspection, she noticed that he was actually wearing a small smile upon his lips. 

Their last sparring match replayed in her mind, and it wasn't long until both curiosity as well as confusion swept through her head. She thought he didn't enjoy fighting…? 

As much as she would have liked to linger for a while to watch his progress, she was worried that he might actually catch a cold outside if he continued like this any longer. Thus, she made her presence known by openly stepping upon the training grounds, effectively gaining his attention. 

"Here you are. Amaragi would be quite upset when she notices that you simply snuck away, you know?" Maren turned around with a small amount of surprise in his eyes, but it soon turned into a little bit of guilt. 

"I know, I'm sorry… but I just couldn't help it, all of a sudden, I felt this… rush within me. I just had to step outside for a moment." Namagi crossed her arms slightly with a light raise of an eyebrow. 

"And train excessively in the freezing night air? You're going to catch a cold, and my sister would be doubly concerned… however, now that you are already here, I have to wonder. I thought you disliked fighting." for a while, silence reigned between them in which Maren simply regarded the blade in his hand, slowly brushing a finger along its hilt. 

"That's exactly it. I don't know if I can explain it… but after today, I simply felt different all of a sudden." even though she listened to each word intently, Namagi tilted her head ever so slightly, signalling for him to elaborate. 

"... you know, whenever I look at her, I feel something that I have never felt before. When she is happy, when she smiles, it is almost… infectious. I would never want that to go away. And whenever I think about that while holding a blade in my hand, it suddenly feels a lot different… it finally feels as though there is a purpose in doing so." slowly but surely, Namagi's arms lowered down to her sides, regarding him with an unreadable expression in her eyes. 

"I want to do it now. I want to improve my skills if it means that I can use it whenever I have to in order to protect her as well. If only to repay her for everything that she has done for me!" he gripped the hilt of his blade tightly, and it was almost as if a spark reflected in his eyes. 

One that ignited a fierce determination. 

Again, a long moment of silence seemed to pass between them, one in which Namagi almost blankly regarded him. 

At least until suddenly, the edge of her lips curled upwards into a barely visible smile. 

"... well then…" Maren perked up slightly once he witnessed that Namagi had drawn her saber from her back, circling it once before she pointed it towards him in a challenging manner. 

"... would you care about a rematch? Whether or not my sister would approve, but I have seen the way you move now. I believe that you have finally found the purpose you were so desperately looking for, and if so, I would be honored to see it for myself." she gripped the hilt of her saber tightly, and her eyes were filled with an open challenge. 

One that did not remain unanswered, and with a slight glance upon her saber, Maren returned her fierce gaze with his own, intent to use all of the determination that was coursing through him.

With that, both of them made their first move at the same time, the metallic clash of their blades sounding through the dark of the night the moment they met. 

And this time, there was no holding back.

AN: !glossary update

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