I could wait for your thoughts about me adding my SugarSonas, but figured...oh what the heck? I'll just add them to the story for fun! It can't be that bad, right?

I hope you all don't mind that and enjoy reading.

ฅ(^-ω•^)ฅ

It's been 10 years since the incident, and Gloyd had grown up. Despite this, he was still as mischievous and energetic as his young self. And while he changed quite a bit appearance wise, the few things that remained the same were the chocolate brown eyes, dark brown hair, bright orange blush, and the long scar on his neck left by The Candy Assassin. He never forgot the glare he saw coming from her hazelnut eyes. He wanted to meet her again, just one more time, but couldn't. Neither Swizzle nor Rancis would let him go back to the Deep Woods to see her, or just be there in general. Although both paladins didn't want to hurt the prince's feelings, they did what they were ordered to do by either the current captain of the Royal Guard, Cloud Snowmallow, or his dad, King Gourdius Orangeboar. Every time he attempted to do so, he was stopped by one of the paladins or Adorabeezle Winterpop, the foreign druid who lived not too far away from the Deep Woods.

Right now, Gloyd was in his room, bored out of his mind. He didn't know what to do. He looked out the window and could see the Deep Woods very clearly. The sight of this dangerous forest brought him memories of what happened way back: the small cat, his encounter with The Candy Assassin, her dagger, the scar…this last part is what he never forgot. He placed his hand on his neck, where the scar was, and sighed. 'I just want to see you again…at least…just one more time…' He thought to himself.

He came out of his daze when he heard a knock on his door. He knew that it was his maid Jubileena as he had learned every person's knocking pattern. "Yeah? Come in!" He shouted.

The door swung open, and sure enough, it was Jubileena Bing-Bing, the kingdom's cheerful and hard-working maid. "I came here with an important message from King Gourdius." She said.

Curious, Gloyd looked at the maid. "And that is?" He raised his eyebrow.

"He expects you to find a special someone and get married!" Jubileena cheered.

Gloyd paused and rephrased what she just said in his head, widening his eyes. "Get married?! Jubileena, no! I'm not ready for that!" He shouted out of panic.

"Oh?" Jubileena covered her mouth.

"If dad's planning to set me with a girly and selfish princess then I won't take it!" He said, angered that he thought about the worst possible outcome.

"That's…not what he said." Jubileena reassured him. "He never planned to set you with any princess, and believes that you should find the woman you love on your own." She explained.

Gloyd sighed in relief. "Okay, good. So he accepts any woman?" He asked.

Jubileena rubbed her collarbone. "Ehhh…any woman BUT The Candy Assassin, or any female assassin in general, and you know why." She sheepishly said.

This mildly disappointed the prince, but he nodded either way, understanding everything the maid explained. "Tell dad that I'll be going to the training area now." He said.

"Sure thing! I think Swizzle and Rancis will be happy to see you there!" Jubileena smiled and left his room.

'Swizzle and Rancis are there? Alright, then. I'm going now!' Gloyd thought to himself with a smile, grabbed his sword and eagerly ran out of his room.

Jubileena entered the throne room, where King Gourdius was, currently reading a book. Taffyta Muttonfudge, the kingdom's royal advisor, saw the maid approaching and stood up. "Have you informed Prince Gloyd yet, Miss Bing-Bing?" She asked.

"I did as I was told to do, Miss Muttonfudge!" Jubileena bowed, smiling.

This caught King Gourdius' attention. He closed the book and looked at Jubileena. "You may stand up, Jubileena." He said, and the maid did what he said. "How did Gloyd react to this message?" He asked.

"Funny thing, Your Majesty. Prince Gloyd thought you would set him with a princess." She shrugged with an awkward smile.

Gourdius frowned. "If I did that, he would be left unhappy. I believe that he should follow his heart and find his special someone."

"I told him that as well!" Jubileena said. "Plus, he won't fall in love with an assassin, right?" She nervously asked.

Taffyta shook her head. "He better not be. King Gourdius may not have asked you to tell him that, but I'm glad you warned him." She smirked. Gourdius didn't show it, but he was happy that the maid did so.

"Speaking of Prince Gloyd, he said that he was leaving to the training area, where Rancis and Swizzle currently are." Jubileena informed.

"As long as Swizzle and Rancis are there, I'll allow that. I trust them to keep Gloyd out of trouble and not venture into the Deep Woods." Gourdius said, relieved.

In the training area, Swizzle and Rancis were fighting each other, getting themselves ready for any attack. And they weren't alone. There were 4 other fighters: Corrina Milkery, a confident and boisterous warrior, Cindy and Cinder Cotton, a pair of ranger siblings, one's bubbly and joyful, the other's cool and laid-back. And of course, Cloud Snowmallow, the current captain of the Royal Guard with an iron mask. He was watching over the fighters as they were training, smiling to himself from how determined they were to become stronger in order to keep the kingdom safe.

The 2 paladins paused when they heard the fence gate opening, and were surprised when it was Gloyd that entered the training area. "Hey, guys!" The prince waved.

The other 3 fighters stopped and looked at Gloyd. "Well, if it isn't the rebellious prince." Corrina smirked.

"Hi, Gloyd!" Cindy waved.

Cloud approached Gloyd with the usual iron face, which intimidated the prince. "What brought you here?" He asked calmly.

"Just wanted to see how Swizz and Rancis are doing." Gloyd grinned cheekily.

"Right here, dude!" Swizzle waved. "Came to train with us?" He smirked.

Gloyd pulled out his sword and jumped. "Yes!"

Cloud had a tiny smirk on his face. "Well, then. Will you be okay to train with Corrina?" He asked.

"Sure!" Gloyd shrugged.

"Awesome!" Corrina lifted her hand up in a fist. "I got a training partner!" She grinned.

In the forest, Snowanna approached the cabin and knocked on the door, waiting for her friend to respond. Not even a minute had passed and the druid swung the door open, surprised to see her. "Ah! Snowanna! Good to see you!" She greeted the bard and stepped aside to let her in.

"What's up, girl? How's Slushy?" Snowanna asked as she placed her guitar near the entrance.

"Slushy is as good as ever. I'm quite surprised that you're worried about her." Adorabeezle said.

Snowanna shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?"

Just then, Slushy came in, holding a tray of tea set on her tail and barked to get the druid's attention. She looked at the fox and smiled. "Thank you, Slushy." She grabbed the tea set and placed it on the table. She looked at Snowanna. "Why don't you sit down for a cup of tea?" She suggested.

Snowanna nodded and sat down as Adorabeezle filled the cups with tea. The druid then sat down and proceeded to drink it.

The bard looked at the hot drink, took a sip of it and hummed. "It's so good. Girl, what did you put in here?" She asked.

"Nothing. Well, except for a chamomile flower." Adorabeezle giggled. "Chamomile tea helps you relieve the stress, after all, and since I know how much you love taking walks in the forests, I thought you would like it." She explained.

Snowanna giggled along. "So tell me, Breezy. Has the prince done any trouble recently?" She started.

"What?" Adorabeezle looked at the bard.

"For example, have you or Slushy seen him walk past your cabin to the Deep Woods?" She asked.

Adorabeezle and Slushy looked at each other. The fox shook her head and the druid looked back at Snowanna. "No. Not since the incident." She sighed.

"What incident?" The bard asked.

Adorabeezle took a deep breath. She knew that this would be serious. "Well, have you ever wondered how he got the scar on his neck?" She started.

Snowanna shook her head. "Never have."

"Then here's what happened." Snowanna looked at the druid. "10 years ago, before you came, he wandered into the Deep Woods. Slushy told me that she saw him walk past the cabin…"

In the alchemy lab, Minty just finished another research and was currently looking for anything familiar that she hasn't touched yet. She opened one of the drawers, and found a dagger inside. At first, she didn't recognize it, but when so got a closer look at it, something hit her head.

The alchemist grabbed the 'stick' to reveal a dagger. "It's a dagger." She showed the dagger to the boys.

She just remembered that she kept this dagger in her lab for 10 years, and hasn't found the right time to research it. "You know what? I'll start now." She muttered to herself and was about to place it on the table when someone knocked on the door. She jumped and spun around to face the door, hiding the dagger behind her back.

It swung open, and a surprised Jubileena was there. "Ah! I didn't mean to disturb you on your researches, Minty!" She stuttered and bowed down.

"It's alright, Jubileena. I just finished a research before you came and was about to start a new one." Jubileena stood up and sighed in relief. "What brought you here, anyway?" The alchemist asked.

"I want to see how you've been doing. You're not tired, are you?"

Minty scoffed at the question. "Me? Tired? I'm an alchemist. I don't get tired." She said confidently.

Jubileena only looked at her with suspicion. "Well, okay. Maybe a bit tired." She admitted. "But that's nothing to worry about, trust me."

The maid could only let out a long hum at the response and tilted her head to the side. "Are you hiding something?" She asked.

Minty flinched. "No! I'm not…" She trailed off before sighing in defeat. "I mean yes. I am hiding something…"

Jubileena looked at the alchemist as she pulled out the dagger. She gasped. "Is that a dagger? Where did you find it?" She asked.

"It is a dagger. I found it in the Deep Woods 10 years ago and kept it in my lab since then. Couldn't find a perfect time to research it until…now." Minty explained.

"I see. So you found this dagger…" Jubileena paused. "In the Deep Woods?! B-but it's forbidden to go in there! Assassins are hiding in there!" She stammered.

"I know. I know. But I didn't go in there because I was curious. I went there because I had to save someone." Minty reassured.

"Okay. Apologies for misunderstanding." Jubileena sighed.

Minty shook her head with a smile. "No worries. Oh, and while you're here, I'd love to show you the data I've collected about this dagger so far. If you're not busy, that is." She said.

The maid shrugged. "I'm not busy, so I might as well hear the data."

The alchemist smiled wider and sat down towards her desk, and opened the collected data. Jubileena just followed her. "Here's what I know about it so far. First, it's most definitely a custom made dagger, as there's no record of any assassin we know of using such weapon, except for one. Speaking of which, I'm 100% sure that this dagger is used by The Candy Assassin." She explained.

"Uh-huh." Jubileena nodded.

"And…well…that's pretty much it. I need to do a lot of research on this dagger, you know." Minty sighed.

Jubileena nodded again and stood up. "Then I won't disturb you. Good luck with your research." She smiled and was about to leave when she looked at the alchemist again. "By the way. Is there anything you'd like me to bring?" She asked.

"Hmm…I guess a cup of cocoa would do nicely." Minty hummed.

"I'll get it as soon as I can." The maid bowed and left the alchemy lab.

Minty nodded and the moment the door closed, she looked back at the dagger. Memories of finding Gloyd in the Deep Woods came back to her. She shook her head, and placed the dagger on the pedestal. She figured that this was going to be one of, if not the hardest research yet.

"…And then I healed him, in my cabin. But since my healing magic is weaker than the cleric's…"

Snowanna was silent the whole time when Adorabeezle told her what happened. "Oh my…" Is all what escaped her mouth.

"Shocking, right?" The druid looked at the bard. "Which I why I'll tell you this. Whenever you see him in the forest, know that he's not alone."

Snowanna tilted her head. "Not alone, you say?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Yes. One of the kingdom's paladins, or both, will be with him. The king is worried that he might sneak into the Deep Woods again." Adorabeezle explained.

"Hmm. I'd love to see these paladins sometime." Snowanna hummed.

The druid shrugged and picked up the tea set and stood up. "Well, maybe today you'll get to meet them, along with the prince. Anyways, I actually had quite some fun talking to you, Snowanna."

"Ey, no problem, girl. I'm glad to keep you company!" Snowanna smiled and grabbed her guitar.

Adorabeezle nodded with a smile as the bard left the cabin. Slushy took the tray and barked to call in 5 other animals: a blue jay bird, a white cat, 2 rabbits and a Siberian Husky. She was going to insist on doing this herself, but decided to accept her animal friends' help anyway.

While wandering in the forest, Snowanna thought about the whole event Adorabeezle told her about. Curiosity filled her head. She still knew little about the kingdom, being a travelling bard and all. She decided to shake it off for now and relax. She found a tree stump and sat down on it, and started playing her acoustic guitar. The relaxing melody filled the forest, and a few birds flew towards the bard, enjoying the music. She was going to stay here for a while, unless…something would change in this day's routine.

ฅ(^3w3^)ฅ

Chapter 1 done! What do y'all think?

Leave a review (or PM me) if you got anything to say.

This was Sugarii speaking. Peace out!