Chapter 14: Scarlett Phoenix

Scarlett woke up with a start. She looked around and found herself sleeping on the wooden bench in one of the rooms of the mercenary guild. Her neck was hurting badly and the pain brought her memories back.

'Damm, I was fighting that brute, then… What happened?'

She clearly remembered fighting Ray and felt her cheeks heating up in excitement when she remembered the fight. She had never felt that much urge to fight someone as she felt with him. It was as if she had found her calling. This is what she wanted all her life– to fight someone without holding back anything.

Although their fight was abrupt and short, she felt liberated for the first time in a while.

She was yanked back to reality when the door to the room opened and Rumi came in carrying a plate with a bowl on it.

"Ah, Miss Sasha, how are you feeling now?"

Rumi asked in worry.

"Urgh, I am fine now, except for this sore neck." She grunted rubbing her neck.

Rumi nodded knowingly and gave her the bowl containing medicinal herbs.

Scarlett took it and drank it without making a fuss, she was used to drinking this soup more than often. After finishing the soup she remembered something and asked excitedly.

"Hey, Rumi! Where did that Ray guy go? Is he here?"

Rumi shook her head.

"No, Miss Sasha. You have been unconscious for 3 hours. He left a long time ago."

"Ohh!"

She raised her eyebrow in surprise then as if remembering something she quickly got off the bench and opened the room's window to look outside.

'Shit!! It's already close to evening, mother will kill me if she finds out.'

She picked up her broken sword which was placed near the bench and opened the room's door to go outside.

Rumi, seeing as Sasha was leaving, wanted to ask something but refrained from doing so.

"Don't worry, I will pay for the repairs."

With that Scarlett left the building in a hurry.

Rumi heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that. At least she could placate her superiors with these arrangements or else she would have lost her job at the guild for all the damage caused on her supervision.

*******

Scarlett quickly made her way towards the Imperial Palace Grounds, she had to be in her room before her mother came to check on her. Her mother would visit her once every week to check in on her and make sure she was taking care of herself.

Scarlett snorted at the notion of her mother checking in on her– her mother just wanted to make sure she hadn't run off anywhere and kept herself pure. After all, she was the seventh princess of the FireBorn empire, so it would be a big scandal if she lost her innocence before marriage.

Her face grimaced when she remembered about marriage. She was betrothed to that recluse from the Clover family, who didn't even have the balls to show his face outside in public. Sometimes she wondered if he really existed or not. It had been more or less three years since they were betrothed but she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him.

She arrived at the gates of the inner walls while thinking about her betrothed. She showed a token to the guards that proved her identity as the guest of the Imperial Family.

After pleading with her Father Emperor many times she had gotten his permission to become a mercenary under a disguise– given that she wouldn't reveal her real identity to anyone under any circumstances.

Her Father Emperor was the only one who knew about her secret– even her mother was kept in the dark. She was sure if her mother was made aware of her being a mercenary she would be locked up in her house within no time.

That's how her mother was– as long as she could recall her mother had always tried to shape her into a proper lady befitting of the Imperial Family.

But Scarlett hated it with passion. She was not made for being a child rearing machine for some douche from one of the noble families. She was always fascinated by the tales of adventures and fantasies she had heard from her caretakers. Above all, she loved fighting. She strongly believed that she would meet her fated one while fighting, just like how she had heard in stories.

From a young age, she would secretly sneak off to train with the soldiers. She never slacked off from cultivating– along with her god given talent she had become the youngest Martial Greatsage in the empire at the age of 22.

She soon arrived at an abandoned shrine situated close to the walls. She entered the shrine and made her way towards the pond that was behind the shrine.

She dived into the pond without hesitation and soon found a tunnel that led somewhere deep inside the palace grounds. After swimming through the tunnel for a while she saw the tunnel getting wider and joining with another artificial pond.

She swam to the top of the pond and arrived inside her courtyard which housed the pond. This pond was built artificially which was surrounded by red maple trees. The tree leaves would fall into the pond whenever the wind blew from the open rooftop causing the entire pond to be covered in red coloured leaves which formed a haunting yet beautiful scenery.

But this beautiful scenery was disturbed by her sudden arrival. Scarlett made her way towards the high raised platform in the middle of the pond. It was made from blood coloured marble to blend in with the red maple leaves.

She climbed on the platform and circulated her fiery mana to dry herself. Soon the scorching hot aura surrounded her which dried her off and Scarlett pressed her palms together.

"Release."

Her light red hair turned crimson and grew longer to reach her hips and her facial features sharpened giving her a more regal look. It would be hard for anyone to associate this dignified princess with a tomboy mercenary.

Scarlett knew it and she played her role well– always maintaining the picture perfect appearance and personality of an Imperial princess. But she always yearned to be like her other self– the free spirited Sasha.

Alas, that would not happen anytime soon. She had to pretend like a proper lady and plaster a fake smile on her face, talk politely and maintain a friendly relationship with other nobles. Everytime she talked with any two faced nobles she had the urge to smack them across the face and tell them to fuck off.

*knock**knock*

Scarlett quickly went to her bedroom and wore an Imperial robe to cover her mercenary outfit. After hiding her broken sword she entered her courtyard.

"Come in."

She saw one of her maids opening the door to her courtyard and kneeling in front of the pond.

"Your highness, Her Majesty is seeking your audience."

Scarlett scoffed inwardly, her hunch was right. Luckily she had come back just in time.

"Alright, you can leave."

With that she exited her courtyard and entered a guest hall facing her courtyard. As an Imperial princess she was entitled to 2 acres of land inside the Imperial Palace Grounds. She had her personal courtyard where she usually slept and cultivated. She had a guest hall built across the courtyard where she treated her guests.

It is inside this hall where she found a brown haired beautiful woman in a regal dress who bore a striking resemblance to herself. It was the current empress of the FireBorn empire, who was also Scarlett's dear mother, Clara Brownheart.

"Greetings Mother."

Scarlett bowed her head in obedience.

Her mother looked her up and down and nodded in satisfaction.

"Good, it seems you have been taking care of yourself."

Scarlett fought hard to hide the smirk that was threatening to form on her face.

"Ah! Yes mother, I have been using the herbal lotion you sent last time to keep my skin hydrated."

Clara nodded amicably.

"Send a word to one of my servants when you are in need of it, they will bring more of it for you."

"Yes mother, I understand."

She held her daughter's hand and led her to sit on the divan. She felt a small amount of heat waves radiating off of Scarlett.

"Scarlett, you shouldn't spend all your time cultivating. You need to go out and meet with youngsters of other families."

"Yes mother, I understand."

"You need to form your own circle of friends if you want to have some influence in the court, that's why you need to go out and make friends with other nobles."

"Yes mother, I understand."

Clara narrowed her eyes at Scarlett.

"You should run away from the capital and never come back again."

"Yes mother, I understand."

Scarlett's eyes widened when she realised she had been caught. She saw her mother looking at her with a deadpan face. She quickly looked down to avoid making eye contact with her. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes and the situation turned awkward.

"Ahem, I will take my leave, it seems you don't have any time for your mother."

'Ahh! Here comes the emotional blackmail.'

Scarlett groaned inwardly.

"Mother, please forgive me, there has been a lot of things going on in my mind lately, I didn't mean to slight you."

"Hmph, Scarlett Phoenix, you better get your act together quickly. It won't be long before you are married to Raymond."

With one last reminder of her impending doom her mother left the hall.

Just remembering that guy made her anger shoot through the roof. 3 years– it has been 3 bloody years since they were betrothed and not once did he come to meet her. She could only imagine what her life would be like if she ever married him.

'NO! I have to think of something to avoid this marriage. That guy clearly doesn't care about me, why should I marry him?'

Soon there was a fierce glint in her eyes as if she had made a major decision in her life.

'Hmph, I am the descendant of the mighty phoenix. There is no way I am going to spread my legs for some wimp who is too afraid to come out of his home.'

With that she made her way towards her courtyard. That night when she slept holding her broken sword close to her, her dreams were filled with a certain raven haired man she had fought in the day.