The aching pain in her heart made the restless tears drip down her face once again. Wiping it away, she stumbles to get up from the ground. Walking past him she puts down the ointment on his dresser. "Please use whatever is left of it to treat your wounds." With those words she walked out of his room.
As soon as the door closes, Eric sighs in relief. He was glad to finally get rid of Ruby. He knew that if he didn't open the door, she wouldn't leave him alone. It was best to have her come into his room and be done with it. How he wish she would just disappear. Eric thought to himself that it be best for him to go to the frontline for the next few years. He needed to avoid the growing problem. Especially her. Through the next few years, it will give him enough time to cool off.During those times he will grow stronger and more powerful. When he comes back with victory in hand, then the Emperor won't be able to hold onto him anymore. He will be known as the Prince Regent. He has too. Only then, can he do as he wish. He can annul the engagement with Ruby, and he finally be able to marry his beloved Samantha. The door creaked again. "I told you to leave me alone!" shouted Eric. "Prince Eric," said Simon his right hand man. "What is it?""The Emperor have summoned you.""Oh.""And-" Simon looked at him with weary eyes."What is it?""The Emperor have also summoned the four clans."Eric frowned at the comment. "Do you know why?""It have something to do with the Demon and Fallen Clan.""The previous Emperor already subdue them. So, what's the issue?""I'm not sure."Eric's frown deepened as he thought about the previous emperor. His grandfather, the mighty Theo Thompson who led the war, fought alongside the other clans against the Demon and Fallen clan. Through the one hundred years of battle, he finally chopped off the head of the Demon clan and won the war. Thus, crowning him as the Emperor, and the Dragon Empire was forged.Eric frowned and said, "Tell him I'm busy." "Ah... Prince Eric.""What is it?""The Emperor also summon Miss Samantha Wild as well."Shocked, Eric grabbed his coat and ran out the door. As Ruby was getting ready to leave, she saw Eric running out of his room. He seems to be running to the great hall of the Emperor. Ruby thought, "Where is he going in the middle of the night? Should I follow him? Maybe, I should follow him, in secret." Ruby summons a spell and turn invisible. She quickly followed him closely behind. Eric's pace quickened as he got closer to the palace's hall. When Eric got there, he was out of breath. The four clans were all gathered at the great hall. The three princes were also there. Everyone was staring at him in silence. Comprehending himself he straighten himself up.He looked around and saw Samantha. She looked unharmed and seemed to be well. He nodded in recognition of seeing her.Ruby frowned in annoyance as she saw them exchanging glances. She snuck in through the door before it closed. The Emperor said, "Now that everyone is here, let us start the meeting.""Emperor, today we are calling this meeting for an important detail we have gathered. The Hellhounds have combined forces with the Demon and Fallen Clan. They are gathering at our border as we speak," said a big, muscular, and tall built man. The leader of the clan was, Duke Leon Leopard of the Black Tiger Clan."How certain are you that the Hellhounds have combine forces?""We're pretty positive.""As far as I know, the Hellhounds have hated the Demon and Fallen Clan, so why would they all of a sudden joined forces?""We're not sure neither." "Hmm," frowned the Emperor. "We must send someone to defend the border," said another man. He was small, hunchback, with mustache hanging from both side of his lips. He is bald with small white strokes of hair on his head. Duke Elon Slow of the Green Tortoise Clan. Despite being the youngest of them all, he looks older than the rest of them, "We must win this war, or at least try to prevent it from happening," said Duke Leopard. "Yes. Even after a hundred years we still haven't recovered.""I agree with what Leon and Elon said," commented the leader of the Vermillion Clan, Duke Henry Wild. Samantha's grandfather have red hair with green eyes, he have a serious feature that help him stand out from the crowd. "I was thinking of sending my son, Prince Eric, the best swordsman of the Blue Dragon Clan to the battlefield. He is also the best magician and have the strongest spiritual power of the Southern Border. He will do well in leading the battles. I hope his strategies and combat skills will turn this war victorious."Everyone didn't make a comment as they all knew what the Emperor said was true. Eric was considered to be a genius of this era. At the age of three he was able to wield a sword, by the time he turned six he was able to conjure up magical powers that his seniors could not. When he was twelve, he was able to handle fully grown monsters and demons. Now at his age, he is able to take on full battles as he is highly skilled in strategy. He was one of the very first to max out his energy level of his spiritual power, the Blue Dragon. Ruby's hand clutch to her chest as she hears that Eric was going to the frontline. It seems that this war was unavoidable. She didn't want him to go. She was feeling uneasy. The Emperor continue to say, "However, I do request that from each clan, bring forth their best man or woman to go with him to war."Ruby sighed in relief as she was happy that he wasn't going to be alone and there will be others to help him and guide him to victory. "Alright," said everyone."I do have a request," said Duke Slow."Go ahead," replied the Emperor."For as long as we know each and every clan have their own special abilities, and very few carry these bloodline. If we happen to find anyone out there who have different abilities or different aspect of energy, let's recruit them as well." "I agree. There are many talents out there we haven't seen yet. So, we should hold a competition every year to see who have potential, skills, magic, spiritual power, and so forth to join the forces of the Southern Border, Dragon Empire," stated Leopard. "Wise choose there. I do agree. The more talents we can recruit the better. There can never be any shortage of men," said the Emperor.They all nodded."Alright, get ready to leave tomorrow," said the Emperor waving his hand at them."Yes, Emperor," said everyone. "Dismissed." "Oh, Emperor, I do have a matter to discuss with you," said Duke Henry."Yes, what is it?" asked the Emperor."As you are well aware the scandalous that happened this afternoon, I want an explanation.""Oh, Emperor, I do have a matter to discuss with you," said Duke Henry."Yes, what is it?" asked the Emperor."As you are well aware of the scandalous that happened this afternoon, I want an explanation.""What is that you want?""I want Prince Eric to be responsible for what he have done to my granddaughter.""Why do you say that?""It takes two to make an affair work. Don't you think so?""What makes you think they were both in it together?""As far as I was told, Prince Eric has claimed to marry my daughter after he lay hands on her. And I was also told it was very hot as well, since they were found with clothes half undone."Ruby recalls Eric and Samantha's little rendezvous. Even if the thunder lashes out her eyes the images of them in the bushes won't wipe away her memories of them embracing each other.The Emperor didn't say anything.With no response, Duke Wild tenses and continues to say, "You are well aware that with this issues, it will stain her reputation. It will ruin my
"Damn, they have been at it for hours," said one of the soldiers patrolling. "Hey, she's a hot babe," replied one of the other soldiers.Covering her face with tears flooding down her cheeks, she ran out of the palace. The next following day Prince Eric woke up with Samantha in his arms. Pushing aside his hungover, he looked at the woman beside him. She was beautiful in his eyes. Then suddenly disappointment hit him as he realized that in a few hours he would be leaving for the frontline. He thought to himself that in the next few years, the person he loved most would be the one whom he misses the most. How Samantha will be in his thoughts all the time. This woman is dear to him, his childhood friend, and his first love. Then in the moment of his thoughts Ruby's face came into mind, but only for a split second and he shook his head that he must be crazy to even imagine her while holding his love in his arms. He looked back at Samantha's sleeping face and gave her a kiss on her foreh
Even though he denied not seeing Ruby, his eyes was searching for her. He wonders why he would do that, especially when he hated the ugly fat girl. A weird feeling overcame him, as he thought of the promise. He doesn't like that hideous girl, so he wouldn't care whether he kept or broke the promise. Broken promise. Ping! An ache came to his heart. He gasped at the sharp pain that suddenly came to him. Shaking off the feeling, he ignored it. As he left the capital that day, an overwhelming feeling of guilt washed over him. As they got further away from the palace and towards the countryside, Eric saw the Forbidden Mountain. He frowns as he wanted to avoid it at all costs."Kevin, make haste towards the west," said Eric."West?" asked Kevin."Yes.""Alright."Oddly enough they walked the whole day and still ended up coming back to the Forbidden Mountain. "What?" asked some of the soldiers."Kevin!" shouted Eric."Yes," replied Kevin in a nervous tone. "What is the meaning of this?""
"What? You mean FAT! Or even better, SCAR! What happened to your face? It used to just be pimples, then it became scars!" He jabbed his index finger at her head and with a push she fell backward. She fell and scrapped her hands on the ground as she was trying to brace for her fall. Her hands were bleeding and she felt like crying."For her, you will push me, call me names, humiliate me, and make me bleed." Eric saw what he did to her, and he brushed his hand through his hair. He looked at her hands and saw that they were really bleeding. Without sympathy he said with annoyance, "Get out." "What if I don't want to. What if I want to spend the night here with you?" asked Ruby hugging herself on the floor."What?""You heard me.""If you don't get out of here, I will personally drag you out myself.""Why won't you be with me tonight, the same as you spent last night with her.""How-how did you know?" asked Eric, shocked and surprised."Rumors tend to spread very quick.""I guess it did
"I will make you change your mind one day.""How? When you got nothing compared to Samantha.""I'm Ruby Scarlet. I'm ten times better than Samantha. No. I'm a million times better than her." Eric pushed her away from him. Annoyed that this argument is getting nowhere. “You need to leave." Eric looked at her with agitation.“Why?” asked Ruby with tears falling from her eyes.“You know why. You don’t need me to tell you the reason.” Eric turned away from her. "You're judging me before you know me, you're hating me before you got to understand me, you're despising me before you know the truth. How are you so mean? How did I even fell in love with a jerk like you!""I never asked you to fall in love with me,” said Eric whipping around to look at her. "How do I tell that to my aching heart?” asked Ruby clutching her chest. "I don't give a f*ck what happens to you and that trash heart of yours," smirk Eric. "I'm your true love, Prince Eric.""Stop saying that!" Eric was boiling with ra
Eric felt uneasy at her words. He looked at the shards of pieces on the ground and saw blood. He was startled. He couldn’t understand why he should be bothered, for he shouldn’t even care. For he finally got rid of her. Finally, she will stop pestering him. That’s what he always wanted. Or so he thought. But what is this aching feeling. Ruby looked at the bright moon. Trying to grasp it with her hand she whispers, “How beautiful you are, that no matter how cruel the world is, you still shine.” Like the moon’s light there is still a way for her to shine no matter how people looked down on her. She looked into the night sky, and she saw the shimmering stars. Something seemed to be sparkling at her from the sky. Tears of hope were clouding her blue eyes. “That’s right like those glittering lights, I will also illuminate,” she whispers into the wind. Even if the whole entire universe goes against her, she will not bend or break. She will uphold the righteous that no one did for her. S
Ruby trudged onto the path that leads to her home. She looked up at the weary path. Tears now dried on her face, and her back was covered in blood. Feeling the oozing of the blood dripping down to her waist, she can feel the broken pieces dig deeper into her flesh with every movement she was making. She was numb from the pain in her back and the tingling sensation in her heart was now gone. Ruby knew that there was only one thing left to do, and that was to let Eric go. Knowing that once it's done, only time can mend her broken heart. Looking up at the enchanting peach blossom tree she stared at it with tears wielding up again in her eyes. Kneeling down before the peach blossom tree she said, "Grandmother Willow please teach me how to unbind the red string." Grandmother Willow who was asleep, woke up yawning. When her visions came to, she saw Ruby bleeding and stains of tears on her face. She saw the pain her granddaughter was in. For this was also her last straw with this stupid pr
Eric was puzzled and thought to himself, was it a dream or was it a hallucination. He looked at his table and opened the drawer. In there he saw the two broken pieces of the ointment jar. "No, it can't be. It must be because I feel guilty for hurting her that I just dreamt of her. It's nothing else," he said to himself. He was restless that he couldn't sleep that night. His heart felt unsteady as if he lost something important. Ruby returned back to her home and lay in front of the river. She was exhausted. Even with her eyes closed she couldn't sleep.Grandmother Willow's tree branches pivoted to lift her chin up to her and said, "What's bothering you?""How do you know I'm not asleep," asked Ruby."You're frowning.""I just can't sleep.""Ruby, dear...""Yes, Grandmother Willow," said Ruby looking up at her."I think it's time you hear the truth about me.""You sure?""Yes.""Have you ever read about the Northern Border's great beauty?""I have, but there were only words. Not a sin