Chapter 5
A Silent Battle
Goldie made her way to her father's room. A few soldiers, clad in the royal guard's diamond armor, called out to the princess.
"Princess Goldendale, are you looking for your father?"
With her nose held high, Goldie put her hands on her hips and nodded.
"Yes, I must speak with daddy right away!"
One of the soldiers pointed to the window.
"Right now, King Arnold is outside on the training grounds. He should be almost finished."
The petite princess rushed to the window. She stood on her tippy toes and admired her father.
With a great sword in hand, he sparred with his fellow knights. Effortlessly, he bested them using his quick moves learned from years of being a Kingsman. With brash brown hair greying at the ends, and a rocky exterior, this massive beast of a man was like a lion among cubs.
Goldie admired him and watched in awe. His short brown hair waved in the wind as he moved as fast as sound, defeating his opponents one by one. The princess couldn't even see her father move at times, but he easily bested the novice knights.
"Work harder, train more. We'll need all of you soon enough! I need you all to be strong for the days ahead!"
Goldie listened from the window above. She was unsure about what her father was talking about. The princess didn't know of anything that was happening soon regarding the soldiers. But then again, she was the princess and need not know of such matters.
"King Arnold?"
A soldier questioned. The King stood tall.
"Regarding the rumors of Kingdom of Venalesa... I will address it more in the upcoming speech."
Like a lion, he roared.
"I need strong men and women! Train hard, my soldiers!"
The soldiers rallied around their king.
"Yes, King Arnold!"
Goldie adored her father, and seeing his people have those same emotions warmed her heart. The princess knew that all her worries would be considered if she asked him who that mysterious woman trapped in the Grimoire of Reason was.
"Daddy, I have a question to ask you."
The man in front of her was hefty. A great swordsman and leader of the Kingsman, and it showed. He stood away from the mirror, put his robe on, and towered over the little Goldie.
"Yes, my little pumpkin-pumpkin?"
"I'm not a little pumpkin-pumpkin! I-I have matured passed that, Daddy!"
As much as Goldie loved being called "pumpkin," she refused to be treated as a child.
"Yes, yes. Now, what was your question, pumpkin?"
Annoyed, the bratty Goldie kicked about. She stopped, realizing she didn't have much time to act out. Cutting to the chase, she stood tall.
"Daddy, I must know… who is Madalyn Manansala?"
With a cross of his arms, the father who once was there was gone in an instant. His tone turned stern, and he ordered in a low growl.
"How did you learn of that name, Goldie?"
Goldie's father was the type to never punish his daughter. He never raised his voice to her or even sternly spoke to her. The shift in who she knew caused her legs to shake. Realizing this approach wasn't the best, it was too late to back down.
"I-I found her name in…."
She had to come up with a lie, and the only way she could was to associate this woman with… her mom.
"I found her name in… mommy's belongings."
He closed his eyes.
"You've been inside the Grimoire of Reason, haven't you, Goldie?"
He read through her lies like the sharp, keen hunter he was. Goldie wasn't good at lying, but to be figured out instantly made her slump her shoulders. She lowered her head and confessed.
"Yes… I… I fell inside the Grimoire of Reason by accident."
Her father nodded.
"I'll have the book removed from the treasury. Don't worry about Madalyn. You need not know who she is."
"She called herself the Overlord! Is that true?"
Goldie asked.
"If that's what she calls herself, then so be it. Madalyn is, as she says… the Overlord. And that's why you should never mention her again."
If what her father was saying was true, that would be for the best. Goldie always listened to the wisdom of her excellent dad. However, the truth of who she was still bothered the curious child.
"But… Madalyn sounded like she cared for mommy. I… I just want to know… who is Madalyn?"
Her father embraced her daughter.
"It's okay, dear. I know you miss your mom. Annastella was a beautiful, wonderful person who loved you so much. I miss her too."
The princess's legs began to buckle under her father's embrace. The warmth she was engulfed in brought her back to a simple time. One where she didn't have to worry about royalty. She was a child who only adored the love of her mother and father. Mother was always sickly, tired too. But she held firm and made Goldie into a special girl.
This was the life she missed. Not the constant teachings of adulthood.
"Daddy… I missed Mommy."
"I know, sweetheart."
A sweetness engulfed her. Goldie would give up everything to return to a simple time when she had no worries.
"I'll have the guards remove the Grimoire from the treasury. You don't have to worry about anything anymore, alright princess?"
His tender voice resonated within Goldie. Excitedly, she looked into his eyes. They both shared those incredible brimstone eyes.
"Daddy?"
"I know you've been stressing about becoming the heir. You don't need to worry about any of that, Goldie."
Enamored by her father's words, Goldie looked up at the powerful man in front of her. Her eyes shined as her father took away what was constantly on her mind.
The responsibility she never wanted.
The fear of everything that came with the life she never chose.
Goldie would love to be a child in her perfect world forever. She was caressed and loved by her father and mother until the end. How the golden child wished that it was possible never to worry about adulthood.
"It's okay. You don't have to worry anymore, Goldie."
Those were the words she'd always wanted to hear.
The confirmation was that she would be taken care of and not have to deal with the poor people in the city or other countries.
Her father told her that she was free from responsibilities threatening her simple life. This was the answer Goldie was searching for, and all she needed to do was come back home and get away from the Overlord, Madalyn.
"Daddy, I… I don't want to be the heir of Nora. I-I want… I want to be a princess forever. I-Is that okay?"
The want of what she desired was spoken aloud…
All the golden child ever wanted to be a princess and nothing more.
Eyes beaming with joy, Goldie walked out of her father's room. A few guards approached and entered after her. They are likely tasked to move the Grimoire of Reason to a safer location.
"King Arnold..."
A knight spoke from outside of the doorway. Goldie stood a ways from them, curiously wondering what they were talking about.
"Yes, what is it? I'm preparing for the address."
Her father said.
"Our men have caught a servant that we suspect is from the Kingdom of Venalesa, our neighbors..."
Concerned, Goldie listened in... but she couldn't hear them anymore as they shut the door. The princess thought about how her life would have to be if she had to be... in her father's position.
"I... would never want to lead over people. To think... father has to constantly deal with that."
With a sigh of relief, Goldie stepped away from adult life's bustle. She ventured down the sparkling hallway full of riches, wonders, her kingdom, and her home. Her father's reassuring words resonated in her childish heart...
"Thank you, daddy!"
With a light hop, the princess beamed.
"Hehe. Thank you, Daddy!"
Goldie skipped her way down the halls; her freedom was here. She could live within the palace and never have to take control of the Kingdom of Nora. Goldie was given a chance to properly mourn her mother, so it didn't hurt as much when the princess reached her room. The fear of opening that door from before was gone, so she stepped inside.
Her mother's sweet, tender smell still resonated with the walls. A light peach melted in her nose, causing the feelings to well up within her. However, Goldie was a little stronger now, unlike before her time within the Grimoire of Reason. Casually she walked around, remembering fond memories of her mother.
"I… miss you, mom."
She would never find out what Madalyn was to her mother… but that didn't matter. Goldie got her answers. She would be free to live, play, and enjoy her life without the responsibilities of her mother and father weighing on her. Calmly, she walked about when she saw something beautiful sitting on her mother's nightstand.
"Oh?"
This reminded her of something…
It took her a moment, but she recalled what was. It was the choker that Madalyn wore. It had the same ocean blue.
"This… was mother's gem. This… was the gift she wanted me to have?"
Occasionally Goldie would see her mother wear this at night. Around the times before bed. It was so beautiful that she always wondered why her mother never wore it in public. Those memories were causing Goldie to feel entrapped once again. The princess shook her head and walked to the mirror.
"Don't worry, mother…."
Goldie whispered.
"Your child will be okay from today on. She will always be… a princess."
Goldie looked at the nightstand with the mirror on it. There was a white piece of paper, clear like before. Instead of running out this time, Goldie put on the beautiful jewelry…
"Huh?"
Her eyes began to shake as if a tremor was happening in her head. Her eyes glared down at the blank piece of paper, and it was…
Black…
Black with writing…
The Seven Deadly Sins.
Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.
The fall of mankind. But one sin rose from the page, like when water bubbles in a pot. It seared its name on Goldie's body and churned her stomach.
"Pride and Gluttony…"
Those words escaped the golden child's mouth. The conceit of being the princess… and they want to have everything before her. As if these two words were written with a girl named Goldie Kingsman in mind. As if the gods molded her to be as gluttonous as the deadly sin depicted.
"That's not me."
Her pride refused to let her be… the "w" word. The forbidden word in her vocabulary.
Angered, Goldie hit the page to the floor and stepped on it. She lifted her nose to the ceiling and stomped towards the door. Before she reached the knob, the side closet she had opened a few days ago was ajar.
"Oh?"
She stepped inside and what shocked her were more pages. But they weren't blank like before. They were full of black, cold writing.
The fog in her mind was starting to lift. Goldie was given the world, yet she wanted something else. She wanted a world with no responsibilities. Her desires were met. But the battle inside her was raging. Something internal was battling, telling her that something wasn't written…
And it finally sank in as soon as she read the page on the top. The one that stood out to her shook her bones to the core.
The Overlord has never left this world…
"Overlord?"
As if a spell broke, freeing her mind, her reason set in. Her body was being weighed down by force, too strong for her. The princess's head began to spin as laughter set in her mind.
("You can have everything. Just… remove the jewels.")
A voice spoke to her tender heart. The spirit was in her dead mother's gentle manner. The thirst for having everything she ever dreamed of was as simple as taking off this piece of jewelry. To live in a blissful world where she was a princess and nothing more. Everything that Goldie wanted… was there as long as she removed this strange choker. Her tiny fingers gripped the collar. Slowly, she began removing the beautiful jewel from her thin neck…
"S-Sacrifice? You have no idea what the word entails!"
Madalyn's voice echoed in her heart, warning against the demonic spirits attempting to consume her.
"Ahh… ahh…"
The princess fell to the ground and began kicking violently. It felt like someone put a noose around her neck, trying their best to strangle her. The pages around her, full of dark and horrid writings, all had painful words. Goldie's eyes began to strain as her breathing became labored.
We failed.
Everything is wrong.
We were tricked.
This world will be consumed soon.
People… mankind will die.
There's nothing we can do…
Madalyn, I'm sorry…