A hundred years ago, the Sweet Kingdom was besieged by the invading Ant-Tribe. The war raged on for several decades, bringing destruction and chaos to the once-beautiful lands of the kingdom, taking countless lives, and shattering the futures of many.
The Ant-Tribe was ruthless and unstoppable, vowing to devour the entire kingdom until nothing remained.
But their reign of terror was brought to a halt when a certain warrior emerged. He was known as the toughest and strongest candy in the kingdom.
They say that ants would quiver at the sight of this warrior, for he had slain entire armies of ants by himself. Ultimately, it was he who ended the war and secured victory for the Sweet Kingdom.
"I, King Sugar Cube VII, bestow upon you, Sir Tuff Jawbreaker, this caramedal and honor for being the hero that brought victory of the Sweet Kingdom against the Ant-Tribe!" The King announced after he placed the medal on the full-armored warrior.
"Glory upon the Sweet Kingdom!" Tuff announced, lifting his sword as the crowd cheered his name.
Later that glorious day, a feast was held in his honor. All of the people in the kingdom indulged themselves with plenty of food and drinks after enduring years of the horrible war.
The King watched his people enjoy the feast, and beside him was the warrior who was also enjoying the view. "It would be nice if the Princess is here to see this." Tuff uttered.
"Hmph, that strange girl is always plotting something to take the throne." The King sighed and patted the warrior, "How about you go and join them, it is your day after all."
"Sweet! Thank you, your highness." Tuff took off his head piece, the King gasped by the revelation, "You were a woman all along!?"
"Well, yeah. I just got tired of correcting people that I'm actually girl all the time." Tuff chuckled, and gladly joined the feast.
While Tuff was eating and conversing with her fellow comrades at a table, a servant tapped on her shoulder and whispered to her ear, "Excuse me, Sir Reo calls for you at the royal garden."
"Reo!? G-Got it." She was flustered at the sound of that name, all her fellow comrades started teasing her.
"Ohh! Tuff, you lucky bastard. Tryna get some kisses from your honey lips?"
"I'd be damned if we don't see a ring on that finger tomorrow!"
"Hmm~ it would be nice if we can hold another feast for their wedding."
"Shut up guys, Reo and I have just something to discuss." Tuff couldn't stop grinning, she's also having these expectations from her beloved partner after winning the war, "So if y'all can excuse me, I'll be seeing you guys later!"
"Haha, you go girl!" They cheered.
She waved her middle finger at her friends as she got up and ran towards the royal garden. From there, she saw the love of her life, Marquis Van O' Reo Cookie. Tuff can't contain her smile, knowing that this will be the very moment that will finally bind them together.
"Reo—" she was going to walk up to him, but she stops when she noticed that Reo was talking to someone.
"No way!" Reo yelled.
Something didn't feel right, and so Tuff hid herself and continued to listen. Then another voice can be heard speaking to Reo, "But she would bring good reputation to the Cookie Family."
"Do you hear yourself!?—I only agreed to seduce that woman to join the army, and now you're forcing me to marry her!? Can you bear to give away your son to some barbaric woman!?"
"Reo, lower your voice!"
Tuff can guess the other voice belonged to Reo's mother, she was glad to hear that she has her favor. But it greatly bothered her to realize Reo's true feelings.
She looks at the shiny palace walls that reflected her image. The way how Reo described her was indeed true, she does look barbaric.
"Either way! You must marry her!" His mother pressed.
Reo continued to refute, causing Tuff more pain to suffer. When she couldn't take it any longer, she walked away and got onto her Licorstride, leading her further away from the palace.
Tuff spent the whole night in tears, crying her heart out from all the deception and betrayal Reo has done. "So all of it was a lie?" She cried, her tears carried by the wind.
She ended up at the place where she spent most of her life, the battlegrounds. It was no longer loud and dangerous as it used to be, but now it's a wasteland filled with corpses and deafening silence.
She got off her horse and sat on the nearest stump, wiping her face with her bare hands. "Reo, that jerk... I thought what we had was real... but he was just using me right from the start!" She sobbed.
Her sad moment was abruptly disturbed when she heard an unusual sound out there in the wasteland. "H-Huh?" She got up, trying to see which direction this noise came from.
Tuff mounted her horse, searching for this tiny crying voice and eventually found the source. "Oh my gosh." She gasped.
The tiny voice that was making all these noise in the middle of this wasteland belonged to a small little creature which Tuff believed to be... a baby ant.
She hesitated, but she can't bear to leave a small child all alone. "T-There, there..." she said, carrying the baby ant and rocking it in her arms.
"Huu, huu..." the baby ant eventually stopped crying as it found comfort in Tuff's arms. This made her smile warmly. "Poor fella, have you been out here by yourself all this time with your..." Tuff stopped talking as she looked around and saw dead ants everywhere.
It was then she realized, in her arms was an ant, an enemy to the kingdom. This child may be innocent, but it may soon take vengeance for its fellow ants. Tuff puts down the baby ant and took her sword, "Gosh, I don't think I have the heart to do this..."
She points the sword at this ant, but then it started crying again. "Uwaaaahhh!"
Tuff sighed and put her sword back in its sheath, "F*ck." She uttered.
And so, the soft hearted Tuff brought the baby ant with her secretly. She spent some time taking care of the baby as a way to distract her from the pain of heartbreak, though she was also enjoying her time taking care of the baby ant.
"Aww. Well, aren't you a sweetheart." Tuff muttered as the baby obediently eats whatever she shove into its mouth. Be it food, utensils, or even a plate, the baby ant would eat it since everything was made out of sugar.
"Mmm... mmm..." the baby ant hummed.
This got Tuff quite excited, "What? Are you trying to say something? Are you going to call me mama? Come on, say ma-ma." She has always been dreaming of having her little family, although Reo ruined that for her, she doesn't mind if this baby ant would fulfill that dream for her.
Suddenly, a knock on her door was heard. Tuff's heart started raising, she knew this would happen sooner or later, especially when she spent her time cooped up in her humble abode. And it'll be big trouble if anyone ever finds out that she's raising a baby ant.
"I'm sorry, my sweet little monster. Please keep quiet." She took the baby ant out the bed and hid her in the closet.
Hoping that everything will run smoothly, she answered the people knocking on her door. "W-Who is it?"
"Took you long enough." And it turned out to be Reo, her forced smile immediately turned into a frown. "Baby, I missed you! I haven't heard from you in a while, how have you been these past few days?" He asked.
She rolled her eyes, seeing through his facade. Though she doesn't have the guts to confront him about the time she overheard his conversation with his mother. Tuff nonchalantly replied, "Y-You know, I'm just reeeally tired after the war and stuff. Maybe you should come back some other ti—"
Reo unexpectedly took her right hand and held it gently as if it were the most fragile thing, "My lady, I terribly miss you. Won't you invite me inside?" He insisted.
Tuff quickly pulled her hand away in disgust, "N-No! Come on, Reo. I'm really tired to deal with you right now."
"How cold of you!" He forced himself inside anyway, Tuff groaned as he take a seat on her couch. "It's unlike you to brush me off, are you seeing other men beside me?—are there other birds flocking in your nest?" He squinted his eyes, putting up a fake dissatisfied expression.
And Tuff couldn't get any more annoyed by this man. "You're one to talk!" She quietly hissed.
"What was that?"
Tuff clenched her fist, trying to remain calm. "Nothing, but I must say, doubting me of cheating is ridiculous... don't you think men would find me rather, i don't know, BARBARIC."
"Indeed—wait, huh!? Whatever do you mean, Tuff?!" Reo had cold sweat rolling over his skin, he pulls on his collar as if was suffocating. "Did you perhaps..." before he can finish asking that question, a faint crying sound was heard.
Both their heads turned to Tuff's room; Reo grimaced while Tuff got nervous. "What's that you got in your room?"
"None of your business!" When Tuff ran to get Reo out of her house, he ordered his knights to go search in Tuff's room. The baby ant was soon discovered, everybody was in shock except for Tuff.
"Don't touch her!" Tuff yelled when one of the guards handed the ant baby to Reo.
They all looked at her with disappointment while Reo had a grin on his face, "Hah! With this, I no longer have to deal with you. Guards, take her away!"
"NOOOO!!!"