Bodyguard's Love

Chapter 1

Years passed by and winter approached again in Auvrovaria. The trees had lost all their beautiful green and orange leaves, and the sky that was once blue and sunny gave way to gray clouds.

The empire had become a very safe place to live in, if not the safest in the whole world, thanks to the Imperial Army that was doing everything it could to preserve peace and serenity.

The guards took care of daily tasks such as the surveillance of the cities' borders and the merchandises that come in and go out, stopping robbers and thiefs and preserving the citizens' safety.

As for the Imperial Knights, they took care of difficult missions such as chasing and killing the monsters and demons that remained or hunting down the s-ranked criminals and getting rid of them.

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At the palace, in the courtyard and near the stables, the head butler whose name was Roger Gardner, patiently awaited the return of the princess from her horse ride in the forest which was a part of her royal lessons.

Roger was one of the palace's oldest servants. A very loyal man that was diligent and very serious in his work while having a nice and friendly personality. He even served the late emperor and empress, Arthur's parents.

After a few minutes of waiting, he saw in the distance, the silhouette of a galloping horse. The princess was finally back. He stood up from the stone bench to join her and offer her help to get off the horse.

"Good morning, Your Highness," he greeted, bowing to her before taking her hand to help her get down.

"Good morning, Gardner," she replied in a happy, sweet voice.

Looking at her, the butler couldn't help but notice the blatant resemblance she had with her mother, the late empress Isadora. She had the same smile, the same porcelain white skin and pretty big chocolate brown eyes. Her hair, instead, was long and black in color, just like her father's, slightly wavy at the ends and was pulled back into a nice high ponytail.

The young girl had truly inherited the beauty of her parents. She was dressed in a pretty riding outfit consisting of a sky blue sweater with white pants and a pair of black boots.

"Your Highness, Duke Lobelia came back today with his daughter."

"Uncle Angus is back?! Already?!" she asked in surprise.

"Yes, Your Highness. He went to see His Majesty in his office. As for Lady Lobelia, she is waiting for you in your salon to have tea together."

"Thank you, Gardner. Tell her that I'll join her in a few minutes. And ask for the servants to prepare a bath for me," she ordered with a small smile.

"As you wish, Your Highness," he replied, bowing before leaving to his duties.

Luana took the reins of her horse to bring it back to the stables.

"You did a good job today, Piper. I'm proud of you. You deserved your little treat," she praised, giving some sugar cubes to the animal and patting its head gently.

After that, she went up to her room to take a quick bath and change her clothes.

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Once entering the salon, the young princess was welcomed in her best friend's arms who threw herself on her to hug her tightly.

"Lulu... I missed you so much, my dear..." whispered the young lady.

"Azu... I missed you too, sweetie..." she replied, hugging her back before pulling away to look at her face.

"It's been so long since we last saw each other," started Azusa with a sad expression.