Chapter 01
A Scent of Roses

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It really snowed.

She smiled at the white crystallines that fell on her open hands. It was cold, yet beautiful. The ground was slowly turning into a field of pure white snow as the sky darkened even more. But she wasn't bothered at all, and as a matter of fact, she loved watching how the snowy weather slowly covered all colors around her.

"Hey, Missy. Are you alone?"

In an instant, the expression on her face changed as she quickly whipped around to see the source of that rough voice. Her sharp eyes scrutinized the three men in front of her, raising a brow in such obvious confusion. Despite their nasty looks, they didn't seem murderous at all.

"Who are you?" she tried asking, curiously tilting her head to the side, "You don't seem to know who I am. That's good."

The man with chestnut hair evidently frowned at her lack of hostile reaction. "Good?"

"Yeah, I can't afford getting caught now," she simply said, shrugging nonchalantly. "After all, I snuck out of the palace to see the snow."

The three males suddenly froze at what they heard. Realizing who she was, they had instantly taken aback and disposed of their initial plan of robbing her clean. They couldn't possibly risk their lives right here just to take a hold of her damn jewelries.

"Scarlett."

She groaned when she heard her name spoken by that one voice she had been dreading to hear at the moment. Rubbing her freezing hands together for warmth, she turned around to face the nuisance who came to shatter the little piece of freedom she found. "Kotaro, I told you not to follow me."

Hayama Kotaro popped a vein, annoyed. His chest was still rising back and forth, panting heavily, as he tried regaining his usual pattern of breathing. "You know I can't do that, you troublesome princess-sama! Your brother will kill me. Moreover..." the blonde suddenly trailed off, finally able to recover. He narrowed his eyes into a glare as he examined the suspicious-looking men behind his mistress. "Who are these punks?"

The said punks flinched in fear, taking a step back altogether with shaky knees. Hayama Kotaro was one of the strongest knight that served the monarchy. They couldn't possibly take him on. It seemed like they had ran out of luck today for messing with the wrong person.

Scarlett mustered up a soft smile then turned to look at the frightened men. "Your names are...?"

The man with long black hair reluctantly answered. He looked definitely younger than the other two. "W-We're from the slums. W-We don't deserve to be called by our names, A-Akashi-hime."

"Oy, you pig!" Hayama interjected before Scarlett could say something. "My mistress asked you who you are! You have no right to--"

"Kotaro," she warned, instantly silencing the blonde, "I asked them a personal question, they have every right not to answer. Do not address them using such unpleasant names."

"But they're thieves, Scarlett! Can't you tell--"

"I can," she cut him off once again, but this time, her gaze was sharper than usual. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

Hayama took a step back, bringing one knee down to the ground and bowing in utmost apology. "Please forgive me, my lady and mistress. I was just thinking about your safety."

The expression on her face immediately softened up. "Raise your head, Kotaro. It's okay." And when she saw that Hayama was back on his feet again, she reverted her attention to the three men. She stared at them for a moment before she removed the necklace she was wearing. "You can have this one. But you have to promise me that you won't hurt anybody again, okay?"

Needless to say, the thieves were shocked---as well as Hayama who literally dropped his jaw. But seeing no point in refusing, the men chose to accept the blessing she willingly offered with a sincere promise never to injure anybody ever again. For someone as high as her to be the first person who ever saw them equally despite their appearance and stature, it sure felt amazing.

"What the heck was that, Scarlett? Why did you do that?" The blonde never stopped whining the minute they were gone---or more like, the minute his mistress set them free without having to deal with the punishment for their past crimes.

She hummed, shrugging her shoulders. "Why? Was it a bad thing to do? I just helped them, that's all."

"They're criminals. We shouldn't be helping criminals, Scarlett-sama."

She slowly shook her head then looked up at the sky. "When I looked at them, all I could see was desperation. They did look terrible and scary, but I couldn't sense any murderous intent. They're just doing what they do to live and feed their families."

Hayama Kotaro pondered for a minute, then put his hands on his waist and said, "So you just willingly gave them the necklace that your brother gave you so they wouldn't have to steal anyone's belongings anymore, is that it?"

"Precisely," she chirped, but froze at the sudden realization that she literally gave the necklace that her brother bought for her to a group of thieves. "Dammit... Seijuro gave it to me last Christmas... I'm dead..."

He sweatdropped at the sight of his mistress now cringing in regret and misery. "It will be fine, Scarlett. I'm sure he'll understand. After all, what you did was a noble deed."

Scarlett composed herself, sighing exasperatedly before facing Hayama with a discontented look. "Anyway, why are you here, Kotaro? I thought I told you to leave me alone today while Shuzo and Seijuro are gone."

"You did, I didn't listen. Scarlett-sama, it's my duty to protect you so it's only natural for me to be there wherever you are."

She furrowed her brows. "So you think I'm just some helpless princess who can't protect herself? I'm strong, Kotaro."

"I'm aware of that. But it is my greatest honor to be by your side, Hime-sama."

Scarlett didn't say anything anymore and only took a deep breath to calm herself. There was really no reason for her to get mad. Hayama was just doing his job as a knight who offered his life to protect her forever and as a friend who gave her his complete loyalty.

"Thank you, Kotaro," she started sincerely, caressing his cheek, "For staying by my side all this time."

Embarrassed, the blonde could only blush under her gentle touch. He removed his coat then wrapped it around her shivering body. "Let's go home."

Scarlett nodded her head. "Okay."

***

Akashi Seijuro was nothing sort of shocked when he learned that his twin sister had ran away from the palace again. Hayama Kotaro called him just a little while ago and all he could ever do was massage his temples while taking in everything that the blonde was saying. About thirteen palace guards were injured and two were sent to the hospital due to broken bones.

What a mischievous princess...

"Just let her be, Akashi," Nijimura Shuzo tried to calm the redhead down, smiling in amusement, "It's kind of amazing how she was able to get past all those guards."

"You know Scarlett's strength, Nijimura-san. They can't stop her that easily."

The older male nodded his head in agreement. "I know. After all, Scarlett is my wife."

Akashi's lips twisted into a lopsided smirk. "Ever regret marrying my sister? She's a handful."

"No," Nijimura said, "I love Scarlett. Even though she probably doesn't feel the same."

He didn't respond to that and only focused his eyesight to the person who just came in to the room: Midorima Shintaro.

"We need to go back to Teiko right now-nanodayo."

"Midorima, what are you saying? Did something happen?" Nijimura immediately asked with a fierce frown, setting the book he was reading down to the table.

"We received word that a planned kidnapping will take action today-nanodayo. It seems that they've been plotting this ever since the news about this trip was released to the media."

Akashi's eyes grew wide. "Don't tell me..."

"Scarlett," Nijimura growled, clenching his fists. He stood up from his seat then fished his phone out of his pocket, dialing a number. When his call was answered, he immediately spoke, "Murasakibara? You need to get to Scarlett right away."

The other male stayed quiet for a while before he ground his teeth together upon realizing who's behind all this. They had to go back to Teiko if they wanted to keep his sister safe. Scarlett was strong and the addition of Hayama Kotaro was indeed enough to finish off any foe. But not this one,

..not The Midnight Phantom.

***

Teiko was supposed to be a wealthy country with substantial economic growth. But there were still hundreds of beggars on the streets and crimes were still everywhere. It didn't make sense at all.

Taking a stroll around town before going back home, Scarlett was seeing the real thing today for the first time. She had always thought that the government had taken care of this problem, but she was wrong.

What the heck was her father doing all this time, then?

"Scarlett, there's a problem."

She turned to Hayama, then gasped when she saw what he was talking about. They were being surrounded. And by the looks of it, these people weren't like the thieves they encountered earlier. These people were strong.

"Get behind me," Hayama whispered, readying his gun, "They're not thieves. They're rebels who want to overthrow your father."

She partly nodded her head, gulping thickly when a cold metal was suddenly pressed against the back of her head coupled with the sound of a gun being cocked. Hayama hissed then swiftly turned around, raising his gun as well, pointing it to whoever was pointing a gun on her head.

Footsteps were heard and there came an amused whistle. "Don't pull the trigger if you still want your life, Kise."

"I wasn't planning to, Aominecchi. I'm just bullying this wannabe knight in shining armor."

"What do you want from me?" she asked calmly, trying to analyze the situation. She held Hayama's arm when she heard him hiss once again.

"Nothing really," another voice answered. It was nearly inaudible that it barely reached her ears. From his light footsteps, she could tell that he was walking towards them. But as he got closer and closer, the smell of fully bloomed roses got stronger. "Lower your gun, Kise-kun."

At that point, Scarlett finally turned around just in time to see the blonde guy lower his gun while taking a step away. She scanned her eyes around, balling her fists when she realized who these people really were. There was only one group of rebels who wore masks whenever they took action: Shadow. And their leader...

"Midnight Phantom," she mumbled subconsciously, staring hard at the masked man who stood right in front of her. What made him so different from all the others was his hardly felt presence and the strange scent of roses he gave off. It was winter, yet this guy smelt like spring.

Hayama redirected his gun and pointed it to the infamous thief instead. "I won't let you lay a finger on her!"

The phantom smirked, ignoring Hayama, and promptly took a few locks of her long hair then brought it to his lips. "I never thought you're this lovely in person."

Scarlett gasped, freezing on her spot. "W-What are you..."

"You fucking...!" Hayama seethed, jaw tensing and shoulders shaking. He wanted to pull the trigger, but he didn't want to endanger Scarlett. There were at least twenty more of them around, all equipped with guns as well.

But in the short moment of silence that surrounded them, a loud gunshot roared. The snowy ground was soon painted in red as Hayama Kotaro fell on his knees, groaning.

"Kotaro," Scarlett uttered in horror. Before she could rush to his side, however, an arm grabbed her and a heavy blow to her nape rendered her unconscious.

"Get the car ready, Aomine-kun. We'll take her to the base."