AN: Sorry for starting a new story like this. I haven't forgotten about my other one, it's just this plot bunny kind of attacked me, biting on and not letting go. I had to get it down. Anyways, why are Zero and Dio still not on the character list?

Prologue: Once there was a princess

Zero was very bad at being a princess. Though the people's opinion of their country's only heir varied heavily, this everyone agreed upon. She was almost always silent, only uttering one or two words at a time, and soft spoken when she did. Worse, no one had ever seen her whole face or heard her real voice. She spoke only with a voice-changing magic veiled about her, and had worn a small, metallic mask ever since she was just a little girl. She seemed to have no opinion of much anything, from politics to more personal topics, such as romance and possibly finding a husband to be their future king, as she was now at marital age. Though nobody would really mind if she didn't find a king; all they really needed was the queen, after all.

Another thing everyone agreed upon was that she would most likely marry her royal guard. He was a kind young man with eyes the color of the sky and navy blue hair to match. He was four years the princess' elder, and had been assigned as the princess' personal servant at the young age of five. Now, seventeen years later, he remained faithful to her side, and the two had grown extremely close. It was said that he was the only one who had ever seen the princess' face, knew the sound of her voice and the shape of her eyes. It was even said that they slept in the same room. Even Zero's mother, the current queen, thought it highly likely that the princess would marry her guard. This didn't bother them at all, for they are not like us. Status does not matter as much as honor and loyalty, and the royal guard exemplified both.

However, not a single person in the kingdom could deny that the guard's heart was already held in the hands of a flame-haired swordswoman, whose fiery spirit and burning passion had captured the knight's heart.

Thus being, when it came to the romantic affairs of their beloved princess, the country could only wait with bated breath.