Several hours after they met up in the morning Malty and Rein entered a training yard that Malty used to frequent in her early teens, and just like clockwork, the men under Gustav were there even after three years of not seeing them. Someone recognized the princess and both her and Rein were surrounded by a group of five knights welcoming them. "Long time no see, Ma'am." One of them swept Malty up into a giant bear hug.

The princess, confused, shared a look with her maid, with said maid shrugging. "It really hasn't been that long, has it?" Malty replied, trying to get a grasp of the situation.

The man gently released her with a smile on his face. "Nonsense, three years is more than enough time to be aware of a missing presence." The man then bent the knee bowing his head with the other four doing the same. "You are a celebrated member of this regiment milady. It is not every day that someone would rise up the ranks as you have. Seeing you here after so long a woman grown brings pride." The knight seemed on the verge of tears as the words left his mouth.

"You will need to forgive Eric, princess. He would sometimes worry over your wellbeing." A beautiful woman with light blue hair joined the seven with a disarmingly gentle smile, a sweet youthful voice, and a magic user's wooden staff at her side. The woman seemed to notice something in Rein before looking at Malty. "It's good to see you well?" The statement came out a question before she stroked her chin examining Malty.

Rein seeing that the woman was on to their little game stopped their act before it really started. "You were always the observant one Brooke. And to answer your question I am doing just fine." The princess in disguise made a show to curtsy in her maid uniform before giving the knights present a dazzling grin.

The maid however continued with her performance whilst introducing herself. "My name is Reiner, please call me Rein. I am the first princess' maid and the vice commander under her regiment." Rein gave the knights a graceful bow in her military uniform before Malty got her attention. After having the princess whisper in her ear she turned to the knights. "Is Gustav here? I have much to discuss with him."

The knights looked at each other before turning their heads at the silver-haired princess in a maid costume, her giving them a shooing motion with her hands. They knew what that meant in her short time here, the girl was annoyed, they had offended her in some way and they might now be on her bad side. Thinking it was best since the princess favored the company of maidens over men, the four gentlemen offered the only female among them in sacrifice, Brooke however looked worried as the men pointed her out. "I-I don't know he was here when I first arrived, but I have not seen him in a while."

Rein looked her over still imitating the princess, with her arms crossed under her chest she motioned Brooke closer. When the mage was in arms reach Rein grabbed the young woman's hand and started dragging her out of the training yard. "Trust me, you don't want to be here for what comes next."

Brooke feared what that meant and let herself be spirited away. Malty waited until Rein vacated the area before she returned her hair to its natural red. Eric slowly backed away as the young woman's eyes landed on him. "Eric?" The princess' voice was way too gentle and sweet to be anything good for him. "Where are you going?" There was something close to genuine concern in her tone. "Don't you want to speak with me, like we used to." Now she sounded hurt, and she could tell it ate at him, so she just moved to the killing line. Closing the distance between them Malty put on a sorrowful expression looking up at him in his personal space. "After everything we had spoken about, you would go against your word?"

"Oh Eric what have you done?"

"I did not think that you would be a womanizer."

"Death to the traitor!"

Eric looked at his companions with egg on his face. Looking at the princess she was smiling smugly. She did not expect them to play along but the look of betrayal on his face would have to do. "P-princess?" He questioned

Letting it go, Malty backed up a few steps and she turned around in mock anger. "And to think I lowered myself to dressing as a servant for you, how embarrassing." She looked at the other three and motioned them to follow her, Malty moving to exit herself.

By now they had made a scene for the training knights, Eric was getting dirty looks from them, and some even looked like they were about to murder him. "She was kidding. Come on guys, you know me." It was safe to say no one believed him.

(...)

Some time had passed, and Malty and Rein were now in the court yield of the palace in the middle of the capitol, Castletown. Malty now hated that name, this was their capital and it sounded like it was named by some commoner with no clue as to what a proper name should be. When her younger sister Melty becomes queen she should suggest renaming it, in the worlds of the heroes the city names always had a deeper meaning to the countries or people in ways that did not sound so generic or the regions not named after the ruling family, but she can dwell on that later. Right now she and Rein waited for her mother to grace them with her presence, so they waited.

"I do not know why we switched for this meeting with Queen Mother, Malty, is it not better to be ourselves when we meet with her?" Rein asked the disguised Malty while adjusting the off-the-shoulder green gown that the princess had picked out, her measurements being such that they were slightly bigger than Malty's. In many ways, she was uncomfortable with the current trend in events.

"I thought you would not want to be confronted with my mother as yourself... That night still haunts you and I can see that you fear what will come to light if she would be reminded of you, and your part in it. Like I have said in the past, you are mine now and I won't let anything happen to you, I have even defied death to keep my promise to you."

Rein scoffed at the princess as they reached a gazebo in the center of the courtyard having a chair pulled out for her. Sitting down Rein watched the princess move to a set up cart with a tea set ready for them, moving with elegance and grace pouring the young maid a cup. "You have improved Malty." She complimented the teen doing her best impersonation of her.

"Hush." The princess said while setting the cup in front of her companion. "Of course, I have, who do you think you are complimenting? This among others is child's play for the likes of myself." Malty spoke, taking a place behind Rein. "This is my favorite brew..." She started as Rein examined the liquid in the cup. "It's good for your nerves, drink and relax dear Reiner. Whatever my mother wants with us can't be as vile as you are imagining."

"but..."

"My apologies, Rein. Though you are in your right, I can not have you breaking down on me, at least not a while yet." Malty said as she moved to be directly behind Rein and started a massage of the older woman's shoulders. "You are one of the two people that I will lower myself to this degree."

Rein laughed to herself mostly thinking the princess' words over. While she doesn't believe that to be true she had been around Malty long enough to know that her words just now were not a lie. Thinking back to their childhood Rein was pleased that Malty had taken her words to heart, it made sense in the context of their many conversations she would be in irritating company once the princess had chosen a groom, as of now the future king-consort. Malty would not bow to anyone or anything else, she used the times when she was in the presence of the king-consort and the woman had to fight her very instinct to present herself as the princess would as reference. She did not know why but Malty seemed to have flipped the roles of her parents in the past decade they had known each other though. A deep breath later Rein relaxed into the princess' touch as she continued to work her magic on Rein's shoulders.

Several minutes passed and the image of Mirellia Q Melromarc entered both of the young women's vision, Rein felt Malty's hands tense up on her shoulders but continued her service shortly after. She had finished her first serving earlier but waited for the queen to arrive before asking for another from the princess. Mirellia was upon them when Malty stopped, the young princess took Rein's empty cup before moving to the cart again. She refilled Rein's cup and moved to fill a second cup with a click of her tongue getting the queen's attention. "Would you like some as well your grace?" Malty asked her mother deep in her servant play.

The oldest of the three laughed, and Rein noticed that there was something warm and inviting about it, the same as Melty Malty's sister. In this moment she couldn't help but smile as the queen addressed her daughter. "That would be lovely dear daughter, though I dislike you calling me that I am eager to finally taste your favorite blend." The woman answered by taking her seat across from Rein with the help of her bewildered maid. "As amusing as it sounds for you to play servant, I want you to join us. The role is not befitting of the current crown princess, and you both owe me an explanation of your dealings starting with you Reiner. Why are you pretending to pick a fight with lord Idol of all people."

Rein shrunk in her seat prompting Malty to answer in her stead. "That man is under my investigation, as Rein must've said Lord Seaetto's region has suffered most from the first wave and lord Idol seems to profit in his absence." Malty spoke quickly explaining her provocation of Idol Rabier. She went into detail of his perverse actions towards the demi-human children that he had captured in the region knowing full well that her cousins lived in the same village as the raccoon girl she would like at her side. She knew what conclusion her mother would draw from this information and the tradition that royals have after a successful coup and she bent the information just enough for it to sound like this was a targeted attack from the three heroes church using the racial tensions that were manufactured by the king in his hate of anything related to the shield, and it worked. She could see the anger boil in her mother's eyes with Malty patting herself on the back for a job well done.

"So what of little Eclair? Why stand for her so openly?" Mirellia asked, motioning for her servant to get Malty a chair.

Malty gently placed a cup in front of her mother before sitting in the chair that her mother's maid procured for her, confused at the smile and quick thank you she got in return. "We are going to be using my regiment to act as bodyguards for her until such a time that she can be instated as the Lady of the Seaetto region as cover for an operation to free all of the demi-humans sold into slavery. As well as an official investigation into Lord Idol's part in the slave trade so we can rid our enemy of a crucial piece."

Mirellia thought it over, the plan was sound and she was sure that Malty would report to her every step of the way as she had been ever since joining her guard three years ago. She smiled while taking a sip of her tea. She had her part to play in all of this as well, Mirellia introduced a bill that stifled the three heroes' church's power with the advent of a law that outright banned the segregation of the demi-humans while also reinforcing the freedom of religion making sure that the church will not have a monopoly on the face. This was in the hope that over time the populace would warm to the idea of a united Melromarc without division. "It seems to me that you have a plan in action for our goal, I am pleased. Now enough of this unpleasantness, tell me dear girl what brings you back into our company?" She asked Rein who shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

Rein quickly explained a half-truth. She was here to help Malty with her plans of much she did not say to the queen. Rein explained to Mirellia the promise she had made to the queen's son a decade prior, the promise to her betrothed to look after the late prince's sisters after his end, and the commitment she had made to Malty as her right hand in her regiment in place of something as a person of the gender she could not do for the young princess herself, though she kept that last part to herself. Mirellia was in shock at the revelations, she could only do one thing, and that was embrace the young woman. The queen knew that what Rein had said was not the full truth and it did not matter, what mattered was that this young woman had returned to them to keep a part of her late son alive and she was committed to serving her daughters. The former princess-to-be was in her eyes a missing member of their family and she was glad to have her back. "I am so glad, dear girl. I don't know where you had disappeared to all of these years but it warms my heart to have you back."

"You are not crossed with me?" Rein asked, leaning into the embrace.

"Why would I be?" The queen responded with a hint of confusion.

"It was my fault, he would be still here if it wasn't for me." The young woman responded, trying and failing to keep her tears from falling.

"I do not blame you." Mirellia looked at Malty from the corner of her eye who looked upset, surely playing that day over in her head. The three of them were playmates when they were young with Rein and Malty finding it paramount that they were inseparable, a major reason she wanted Rein to be betrothed to Malty before she found out that the young woman was indeed female. "Reiner I see you as one of my own, there is no way I could blame you for that accident." Now feeling that the mood had been dampened she moved to change the subject. "With you here Reiner I hope you would be a better influence on my Malty."

"Hey, what is that suppose t-" Malty was dragged to her feet by her mother, who adjusted so she could add the teen to the embrace.

"I mean nothing by it, my dear girl." Mirellia held both women close with an arm wrapped around each. "I will be leaving soon for Siltvelt to discuss which of the four heroes will be summoned here in Melromarc. In that time I will be leaving the country with Melty for her safety after her ceremony to become the next crown princess. When I am gone I want you two to protect each other, and if anything happens to both me and Melty I want you to succeed me, Malty. Do not let any of our enemies win." She said, burying both their heads into her shoulders.

(...)

In another time and place a young man awoke from his slumber, with a yarn he stretched his arms tiredly getting up from bed. "What a weird dream." The boy in his late teens said while recalling a cliff face overlooking the sea while a girl with short brown hair, animal ears, and a hood came to fetch him. He walked over to a computer that displayed a map of an MMO before he closed it and logged off after receiving a message referring to him as Naofumi Iwatani. Naofumi had trouble with the whole system of using his given name first, but studying abroad had made him more prepared to give his first name first, he was currently a seventeen-year-old high school student living in the States with his aunt. Today was a Saturday which meant that he did not have school, but he did have a major project due soon, and as much as he wanted to live out his otaku life he needed reference material. He moved to a window adjacent to his bed and computer desk to see if the weather had cleared up from the storm the night before. Naofumi winced as he was nearly blinded by sunlight after not seeing any sun for days. "Sunny day, huh?" He commented as he closed his curtains to resume the low light condition of his borrowed room.

Leaving the comfort of said room he walked down the hallway and down the stairs of the home he shared with his aunt. After a quick look, he found that he was home alone and could not get a ride from her to the nearest library. Although public transport was available for him he found it cheaper to just ask his aunt, but she was nowhere to be found he had no choice.

A thirty-minute ride on the city bus later he found himself in the library. He quickly moved to the section where he could find what he was looking for, Naofumi was doing an assignment on the second world war and the Otto-Greek empire's involvement in it, looking for something on the kingdom's myths. He found something interesting on the top shelf of a section of nonfiction from the time and went to pull the book out. Whether bad luck or misfortune Naofumi had pulled out more than one setting a chain of books to each fall on his head, among them was a book with a gold round shield embroidered with letters in a foreign language and a pair of wings as well as a green gem decorated it's surface displayed on the white background that was its cover. He picked up the book reading the title in his head. 'Aegis: Tale of Apocalyptic Catastrophe, what the hell?' He thought, looking the book over and opening it to begin reading. The book looked to be a light novel of some kind.

(...)

"To save the world from these events, four heroes will be summoned from another world. Each of the four will wield a characteristic weapon: a sword, a spear, a bow, or a shield."

(...)

"Huh, I am pretty sure a shield is more like armor than a weapon." The boy spoke while flipping through the book's pages. "What an interesting concept, but where's the heroine?" He asked, stopping on an image of a redheaded woman in a nightgown seductively posed looking out the window at the night's sky. "I don't think it's this princess, she seems kind of slutty." Naofumi said, continuing to flip through the pages.

'I wonder, young champion, how you would react meeting her this time around. Will she change your opinion of her I wonder.'

"Huh... Each of the heroes seems impressive and pretty cool." He continued his previous action. "I guess all four of them are the MCs. Each of the heroes gets a spotlight, and even the Shield hero gets his time to shine. It should be a good read." He spoke, stopping at a series of blank pages. "Huh?" He vocalized, turning to see blank page after blank page. A blinding light then took over his vision.