I do not own Odin Sphere or any of the characters depicted in this story (with few exceptions). That should be self-explanatory.

Chapter 3: Knight in Shining Armor

"Master Cornelius, it's getting rather late," spoke one of the tremendously built axe knights that attended the prince of Titania during his weekly hunting trips through the Elrit Forest. "Perhaps we should return home, before your father worries."

"Don't be silly," Cornelius responded with a smile, stepping over stray vines and impeding roots with the gracefulness of a dancer. "I'm sure my father enjoyed these trips when he was a child as much as I do. Besides, we haven't even caught anything yet, and we couldn't possibly leave empty-handed."

Cornelius continued into the depths of the forest, treading lightly to avoid being heard. The axe knights following him, however, were having a much difficult time going unnoticed. Each of their steps shook the earth with the force of a small explosion, causing squirrels, deer, and birds to flee the scene with each pace. As they proceeded, Cornelius grew more and more agitated by his run of bad luck.

"Could you be a bit quieter?" he finally asked the two knights behind him. "It's bad enough that my father insisted you wear Titanian colors instead of camouflage. Any creature could spot that shade of gold from a mile away."

The giant soldier looked prepared to apologize when something caught the other knight's attention. His head turned toward the west and his eyes narrowed.

"Master Cornelius, I think I hear something," he whispered, creeping silently through the brush toward a nearby clearing. Cornelius followed just as quietly, starting to make out some kind of sound from somewhere in the distance. Maybe his fatigue was starting to affect his senses, but he could have sworn that it sounded like... crying?

"Wait," Cornelius called out to the axe knight ahead of him, who was ready to hack away at whatever was making the noise with his colossal weapon. The Titanian prince slowly made his way around the massive oak tree separating him from the clearing ahead, and gasped at the sight he saw.

A red-cloaked girl laid on the grass before him, in obvious pain. Cornelius saw the source of it, a nasty snake bite on her left leg, which she was clutching. Immediately taking off his cape, he called out to the knights.

"Roland! Cedric! Give me a hand!" he shouted to his attendants, who quickly hulked over to the scene. Cornelius wrapped the cape tightly around the girl's wounded leg as he got a brief moment to see into her beautiful violet eyes before they closed completely and any sound she had been making was ceased. As Cornelius tilted her head up, the red hood slipped off, revealing her long golden-blonde hair. As much as he wished to just admire the girl's flawless features, he made haste.

"She's fallen unconscious..." Cornelius remarked to the knight beside him. "Please, Cedric, you'll have to carry her. We have to get her back to Titania!"

Cedric reluctantly began to protest. "Master Cornelius, are you sure the king would approve-"

"We can't just LEAVE her here!" Cornelius argued back scooping the girl into his arms. "She's badly hurt and needs medicine! If you won't carry her, then I will."

Defeated, Cedric complied with the prince and carefully hoisted the girl over his broad shoulder. As Roland navigated their way, the trio left the Forest of Elrit, having caught something after all.

Along the way, Cornelius regularly applied a coat of antidote to the cloth he had used to bandage the girl's injury. Concern for her safety began to mix with his curiosity as to what a girl like her was doing in the Elrit Forest all alone. Putting his questions aside, he considered what his father would think, bringing an unknown girl from the forest inside the very Titanian palace.

---

Cornelius and the two knights soon barged through the main entrance of the palace, with the prince's shouting catching everyone's immediate attention.

"I need a doctor up in my bed chambers, right away!" he announced urgently as he raced up the stairs, leading Cedric and Roland to that very room. Throwing open the double doors, he directed Cedric to his bedside.

"Lay her here, Cedric, please," he instructed, the knight marching over and gently resting the girl's body on Cornelius's bed. It wasn't long before several of the royal physicians filed into the room to see what was the matter.

"Let's see, what do we have here?"

"Oh dear, looks to be a snake bite, a nasty one... In Elrit Forest, was she?"

"I think I have just the treatment for that particular poison..."

"Goodness! It's Princess Velvet!"

"Excuse me?" Cornelius suddenly chimed in, his attention diverted to the doctor standing at the foot of the bed. The man adjusted his glasses and stroked his silvery beard as he observed the girl the others were working so hard to treat.

"Yes, that definitely is her," he continued. "Princess Velvet of Valentine. I wonder what she was doing in Elrit Forest... 'Tis a great surprise to see the dear girl here in Titania, in the flesh."

As the four doctors ranted on, three of them reviewing a seemingly endless list of possible treatments and one questioning the girl's whereabouts, Cornelius suddenly found himself grasping tightly onto Velvet's hand. He could not remember when he had started holding on to her, only that it must have felt like the right thing to do at the time.

"You should wait outside, Prince Cornelius," one of the doctors suggested, interrupting his thoughts. Cornelius looked up at the doctor and boldly shook his head.

"No," he answered sternly, "I... I want to stay here. I want to make sure she recovers. And... I want to be here when she wakes up."

The doctor appeared ready to protest until he saw the look in Cornelius's eyes, a sign that he was absolutely serious. Instead, he chuckled and conceded.

"I understand."

Velvet's treatment continued for several days. And not once did Cornelius let go of her.