Lionel sighs as his trusty stead, Midnight, treks through the forest late at night. Hard to believe it's been a month now since he fled the Roselei Kingdom, leaving behind his home, family, allies and everything he's ever known. Tears then start gathering in his fuscia-red eyes as he recalls the reason for his departure...

"Mother... I knew you detested me... But, you would actually attempt to kill your own flesh and blood...?" He thought as his mother's scornful and hatred filled expression forms in his mind then the last words he heard from her.

"You're not my child! You're a devil! There's no possible way I gave birth to you! It's your fault that Charles is dead! You tempted him with your devilish wiles! And I won't let you bring down my precious sons as you did him!" She'd scream and rant swearing he was a demon child who used her body to enter this world.

"Mother... It's not fair... I can't help the way I was born! But, does that really make me a demon...?" He thought, then notices his reflection in a nearby pond as Midnight passes by it. He scowls and pulls his hood further down to hide his face.

"A body that is neither a man nor a woman's... Like a demon from the holy text... Maybe it is true. After all, no one will love something with a body like this... Only Father did, but he's now gone..." He considers as his tears start falling.

With his father's sacrifice to ensure their family's succession to the throne, he now had no one to protect him from his mother's scorn, or murder attempt. He was lucky that his knight, Reinhart, saved then helped him to escape. Now here he was, having fled to another land across the sea, it was the least he could do for his beloved father who wished him to live...

Lionel sniffs, then quickly wipes the tears from his eyes. No, he couldn't cry. While he could never return home, he was still a prince and member of House De Vere, son of Charles De Vere, a master swordsman and equestrian, he can never show weakness, even if no one could see him at the moment.

So far from what he's seen, this nation, the Solaria Empire, was quite different from his own homeland but also prosperous. The people here lived rich lives and while there were those more fortunate than others, under the rule of its current emperor, it was flourishing.

Though what surprised him the most when he came here was the use of magic and also something called aura. He'd only gotten the gist of it, but what little he had witnessed impressed him, especially with these said techniques being what the church of the Roselei Kingdom would consider witchcraft and sacrilege, like the way his body is structured...

Though he doubted any would recognize him in this foreign land, he still kept his face hidden and form concealed with his cloak and leather armor. Aside from the clothes he wore and Midnight, he also retained his sword and the ring his beloved father gave him bearing his family's crest of a blue rose. At the thought of his dad, he felt his heart grow heavy in his chest.

"Father... Did you really just pursue the throne because of my words...? You did say they rang in your ear as you fought against Windsor... but I wanted you to be King because I believed you deserved to be... I never meant for you to be lost like you were!" He thought, recalling his father, Charles's, sacrifice so their family could rule the kingdom and something he once told him.

"Whoever wears the crown is the most powerful in all the land... The head it sits upon will be endowed by glory and his lord's grace and praise." The man had said.

"Indeed Father, but what is the cost of such power and so-called glory...?" Lionel can't help but question. So far, this battle for the throne has led to nothing but misery and the loss of the one person who genuinely loved him. Now he was a runaway royal in a foreign land with nowhere to go or anyone to turn to for help. Well, with his sword training, he could probably become a knight or mercenary.

As the royal swordsman and his stead make their way through the wood, the sound of yelling and battle cries caught the rider's attention. Quickly heading in the direction of the noise and halts when he comes across an expensive-looking carriage surrounded by knights who were fighting what were no doubt bandits. It didn't take a genius to deduce what was going on. Although the knights were holding their own, it was clear they're at a disadvantage in numbers.

Though it didn't involve him, Lionel knew he couldn't just turn his back on this. They were knights protecting their charge, like the ones who served his family, fighting alongside his father and brothers, even himself, in battle. With that in mind, he drew his sword and charged into the fray. In no time at all, the bandits were disposed of, he wasn't called the "Demon of the Battlefield" for nothing. As he turned to the survivors, only to find a bunch of weapons pointed at him.

"Who are you? And why did you help us?" One of the armored men questions. Yeah, he should've expected this kind of reaction. Sighing, he goes to sheath his blade, when he suddenly loses his balance and starts falling from Midnight, noticing his horse's cut straddle, most likely from one of the bandits earlier. He tenses up, anticipating the rough landing, but it never came.

"My, my, what do we have here?" A honeyed voice says and Lionel looks up and was stunned, his sword slipping from his grasp and falls blade first, implanting itself in the ground. Holding him bridal style, was the most handsome man he'd ever seen...

With skin as fair as ivory, wavy strands of golden hair that shines like the metal itself and eyes which sparkle like padparadscha sapphires. When he smiled, it was almost like the sun itself was shining from behind him. Unknown to him, the man himself was admiring the beauty in his arms, with his clear alabaster skin, dark hair and fuscia eyes with a reddish tint, making him smirk.

"Well now, who are you? And why did you help me and my knights against those bandits?" The blonde man asks and Lionel blushes upon realizing he was still being held by him and jumps from the man's arms, landing on his feet.

"I meant no disrespect, but as a swordsman I couldn't leave your men to die and you yourself to be accosted by those ruffians." He explains as he brushes himself off then retrieves his sword and re-sheathes it, then heads back over to Midnight, sighing as he picks up the saddle with its cut strap. Looks like he needed to get a new one, unfortunately he didn't have any currency of this nation.

"I see..." The handsome man says with Lionel turning his attention back to him as he felt the other man's eyes studying him. Could...could he tell? No way? "Allow me to introduce myself... I am Alexander Eliseo el Soleil, Emperor of the Solaria Empire." He introduces himself and the black haired man gasped, dropping the saddle. No way... this gorgeous being was the ruler of this nation?

"It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty." Lionel greets with a respectful bow to the sun of the empire... Well, that's what his citizens called him. Apparently it was tradition for the emperor to be referred the sun of the nation.

"Now, who are you? I told you my name, it's only fair you tell me yours. Also, you don't appear to be of the empire, given your clothing." Alexander then inquires and says as he observed the black haired royal.

"Yes, I am..." Lionel hesitates, not sure if he should tell the ruler of this land who he is. It definitely is suspicious for a foreign royal to come without a notice, yet it's probably better he be honest rather than lie...would probably make things worse. "Lionel...Lionel De Vere, of the Roselei Kingdom, but I come as a guest not an invader, I assure you." He introduces himself.

"So, you come from another nation?" One of the knights, a young man with short silvery-grey hair and lilac blue eyes, inquires as he looks over Lionel.

"I've never heard of the Roselei Kingdom before..." The emperor admits with a clearly curious expression.

"It's a kingdom from across the sea actually, located on another continent." Lionel answers and explains.

"I see. Though what is a royal of another kingdom, one Solaria has never interacted with before?" Alexander questions and the runaway royal felt himself tense up, remembering his mother's hate-filled expression.

"It's... It's complicated... Let's just say, I had to get away from someone intending me harm and now I can never go back. But, it's probably for the best..." He explains as best he could without revealing too much.

"I...I hope you don't mind, but I would like to stay in your country. It's beautiful, plus I have seen how your rule has brought it prosperity and I would be honored to be a part of it." He says next while bowing, Alexander looking at him with a calculating eye, before breaking out into a smile.

"Of course. You are welcome to stay." He announces and Lionel was stunned.

"What? Your Majesty...?" The silver haired knight says in surprise and also a questioning tone, the others looking just as shocked.

"I thank yo-Whoooaaa!" Lionel starts to say in joy as he straightens up, but then exclaims in surprise as he's grabbed and pulled towards the blonde man, who takes in him into his arms, wrapping them around the black haired one's waist.

"From now on, Lionel De Vere of the Roselei Kingdom, you are a citizen of Solaria, and your place is now by my side." The emperor of Solaria declares with a smile so bright that it could rival the sun, and somehow Lionel knew that his life would be forever changed...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wait, what? That's it? No, that can't be how in ends. It was just getting good!" Exclaims a girl with short brown hair dressed in a school uniform as she was staring down at her phone, reading her newest favorite story, which just ended.

"'Book...one'? Oh... I see..." She reads the text at the bottom of the page. "Well, it was really good. I can't wait to see what happens next!" She then says in excitement for the next book of the series she's just got into.

The girl in question is Yuuri Ubusuna, and though born as a boy, she has identified as a girl for as long as she could remember. Since young, she's loved all girly things; dresses, accessories, toys, you name it. Unfortunately it wasn't easy as everywhere she went no one understood that... They just didn't understand that while born male, she's a girl at heart.

Teachers used to tell her to come to school in the boy's uniform, but eventually gave up and just let her wear the girl's while also becoming indifferent. Though because of those incidents, her classmates were aware of her being born a boy and would either ignore or bully her. In particular this one group of trouble-makers who love to torment her, which is why she always has lunch on the roof, which was typically off-limits to students.

Even her parents were no help... Her mother in particular refused to accept her identity, raving again and again on how Yuuri is her son not daughter, constantly trying to make her be a boy, her dad not any help as he ignores them. Her only escape being reading online stories, typically romance and/or fantasy, including the latest she discovered and just finished binging through...

Sword of the Royal Blue Rose; it tells the story of Lionel De Vere, a member of the royal House of De Vere, in the fictional Roselei Kingdom, which is torn between two royal lines vying for the throne; House De Vere, represented by a blue rose, and House Windsor, represented by a purple rose. The two families having fought over the crown for many decades, said crown being exchanged between them many a times as a result.

Lionel De Vere, of course, is a member of House De Vere and the youngest son of Charles De Vere, whose own father was the previous king, and his wife Eugenia, also the youngest of three brothers; the eldest, Frederick and the middle-sibling, James... Unbeknownst to both his brothers, Lionel hides a great secret... Although called a son of House De Vere, he is in actuality, half-female.

Born with a rare condition that gives him the characteristics of both genders, including bodily parts and functions—which in the modern world is known as intersex—the knowledge of this only known by his parents and personal knight and servant, Reinhart Valentine. Though his father Charles is a kind man who loves all his sons, Eugenia is another story...

As a devout follower of the Roselei Kingdom's church, which believes a demon's body is neither man nor woman, she believes Lionel to be a devil that used her to enter the human world. Causing her to resent the boy and also abuse him, both verbally and emotionally, sometimes even physically, all behind her husband and other sons' back—guess having a bad mom was something they had in common—the only knowing being Reinhart, who can't say a word.

With the only parental love Lionel ever received being from his father, he wished for the man to claim his rightful place as king, and so encouraged Charles to fight and defeat those of Windsor to claim the throne. Motivated by his words belief in him, Charles charged into battle against King Edmund Windsor, alongside all three of his sons, each a master swordsman, Lionel the most exceptional.

Eventually, House De Vere wins the throne, but at the cost of Charles's life, and so Frederick is the one to be crowned king in his place, while James is named Grand Duke. As for Lionel, his disdainful mother blames him for his father's death and even threatens to kill him in order to protect her other two sons from "the devil who destroyed her beloved husband", as she puts it.

Left with no other choice, Lionel is forced to flee his home with Reinhart's assistance. He then boards a boat and leaves his country as well to escape, ending up in a nation with magic called the Solaria Empire. Where in the Roselei Kingdom magic was considered witchcraft done by devil worshippers, in Solaria it's a part of everyday life, then he meets Alexander, ruler of the empire, and it ends...

"This Emperor Alexander seems interesting, I can't wait to see more of him in the upcoming book. It seems like he's taken an interest in Lionel. I wonder where this will go... After everything Lionel's been through, losing his father, threatened by his mother to the point he had to run... He deserves happiness." The girl thinks to herself. "Must be nice..." She says, starting to feel depressed.

Just then, she heard the school bell, signaling lunch was over and she grimaces. There goes her solace... Reluctantly, she stands up while gathering her stuff, and heads back inside the building, only to freeze when she came face-to-face with the P.E. teacher, who always had a chip on his shoulder and in particular didn't like her.

"Oh! Uh, hello Sensei. How can I help you?" Yuuri greets and asks nervously.

"You know the roof is off-limits right, Ubusuna-kun?" the man questions while looking down at her with narrowed eyes, making her gulp. "Ah well, doesn't matter. Starting today the roof door is going to lock." He announces.

"What!?" The girl exclaims with horror. Her one place where she could get peace?

"Yeah... Too many idiots not following the rules." He says as he walks over and proceeds to lock the roof door. "Or maybe it's just you. Now get back to class before it starts." He mocks and says.

Unable to do anything, the girl does as he says and heads down to her classroom, entering it only to receive looks and a lot of back-talk from her fellow classmates as she made her way to her desk. Just as she was about to sit down, she yelped as she found no chair and ended up falling on the ground on her behind.

The sound of her classmates' laughter filled the room and Yuuri looks up to see none other her biggest bully, Yoshida, holding her chair with a malicious grin as he stares her down.

"Sorry, buddy, must have pulled it out too far." He mockingly apologizes before walking back over to his group, who high-five him, apparently thinking his joke was funny. Yuuri sighs as she gets up and pulls her chair closer and sits down, just as the teacher came in and class resumed for the day.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Time passed and classes soon finished, Yuuri hurryingly packing up her stuff and heads out of the school building, making her way home. However, as she walked she got the feeling someone was following her. Nervously she looks, only to find Yoshida and his goons behind her a few feet away.

"Sissy Ubusuna, Sissy Ubusuna, he dresses like a girl~... Sissy Ubusuna, Sissy Ubusuna, he acts like a princess~..." They sang in a taunting manner and start to run towards Yuuri, who immediately breaks into a run herself. She pants as she rushes as fast as she could until reaching her house and heads inside, finally safe from her bullies.

Yuuri pants, trying to catch her breath from the hair raising experience she just had, unfortunately it wasn't over yet as home also came with problems. She nervously swallows and walks further into the house, after having taken off her shoes. Thankfully, she doesn't see either her mother, her father though was on the couch watching TV.

"I guess Mom's out at the moment." She concludes and makes her way to her bedroom, the only safe place in the house, not acknowledging her dad, as he never did with her. As soon as her door was closed, she felt she could let go.

The poor girl sniffs as she leans against the door and slides down into a crouching position, her knees held up to her chest with her wrapping her arms around them, then proceeds to break down crying, glad her mother wasn't here to see.

"You're a boy. Boys shouldn't cry. When are you going to stop doing this to me and act as a man?" The woman would say. Damn... No matter how many times Yuuri tried to tell her, she wouldn't listen. More like she refused to listen.

After some time, Yuuri finishes crying and stands up, putting her school bag on her desk then lays down on her bed, bringing out her phone and looks over her newest favorite online series.

"It's a shame for the book to end, but at least the story will continue. Maybe it already has..." She says to herself then looks it up to see if the second book was out yet. "Coming out in a week...? Wait, there's a preview!" She finds and reads what it says.

"So Lionel is now living at the Royal Palace of the Solaria Empire and is being employed as a knight? Ohh, sounds interesting. I can't wait to see where this goes." The brunette says in excitement.

"Though first, I'd like to change out of my uniform." She decides as she gets up and puts her phone down, then walks over to her closet. However, upon opening it, she finds none of her clothes, none of her "girl clothes", that is. "What the—?" She asks then gets a bad feeling and checks to find her makeup missing too.

"No... No, don't tell me..." Yuuri says to herself as realization hits her. Just then, she hears the front door open and someone walks in. "Mom!" She calls, running out her room to meet her mother who just returned from the grocery store. "Where are my clothes and makeup!?" She demands and the older woman sighs.

"I got rid of them." She replies and Yuuri gasped.

"What? Why!? I saved up so much for all that stuff." She asks, devastated. Her mom groaning then turns to face her child.

"Yuuri, I've put up with this for too long. It's time you give up this phase and act like a boy as you were born." She states with a stern tone.

"But, it's not a phase! I keep telling you! I'm a girl!" Yuuri says then feels a hard impact on her cheek. She freezes before reaching up and touches her stinging cheek, then looks up to see her mother's hand raised, having slapped her across the face with a cold-furious expression.

"Enough! You are a boy! Act like it! Do you even realize how much you're embarrassing me and your father!?" The woman exclaims and Yuuri was stunned.

"Embarrassing...? Is that all you care about!?" The brunette girl asks, feeling her heart breaking, then turns to her dad still on the couch. "D-Dad...?" She asks him and the man sighs, not even turning to look at his daughter.

"Your mother's right. It's time you give this up." He states and the poor girl feels her last shred of hope fade away. Her sadness then gives way to anger.

"I hate both of you! I wish you weren't my parents!" Yuuri yells then runs out of the house in tears. She runs as far as she can before stopping in her tracks and bends over, panting from exhaustion. "Why me? What did I do to deserve this...? It's not like I can help how I was born..." She thought as tears flow from her eyes.

"Hey look, its Sissy Ubusuna~!" A familiar voice says and the girl flinches.

"Oh no..." She thinks and turns to see Yoshida and his gang behind her. She straightens up and slowly backs away from fear.

"Where you going, Sissy Ubusuna~? What are you even doing out here without your shoes? Did Mommy and Daddy kick you out~?" Yoshida taunts, the others laughing and Yuuri felt anger rise up in her once more.

"Go away, Yoshida. I'm not in the mood." She says and turns to walk away, only to be grabbed by her classmate, who turns her towards himself.

"What? You think you're better than us? Yeah right! You're nothing but a sissy! You're no man!" He says with an angry tone and Yuuri felt something in her snap.

"I'm not!" She yells then feels herself be pushed and she starts falling backwards.

"Oh my god!" One of the boys exclaim, just as the Trans girl sees lights coming at her along with the sound of a horn, then feels something hit her and it goes dark...

"What...happened...?" Yuuri thought as her senses slowly return to her, finding herself looking up at the evening sky but feeling strangely numb.

"There's been an accident! Someone call an ambulance! Hurry!" She hears a worried voice exclaim, confusing her.

"An accident...? Ambulance...?" Yuuri thinks, her fuzzy mind trying to make sense of what was going on. "Oh, I must've gotten hit by a car... So I'm dying..." She realizes, a bunch of blurs forming above her.

"I guess I don't have to live this life anymore... That's actually a relief. Maybe I'll be reborn... If I do, then I wish only to be loved for who I am... Is that too much to ask...?" With that last, her world goes black.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next thing she knew, she was surrounded by white, a faint cry heard in the distance, which slowly got closer and closer until a loud wailing filled the silence, as the whiteness fades away.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. It's a girl." A female voice says.

"Huh? Who is that? And what is that crying?" Yuuri thought in confusion as her vision was still blurry and she couldn't tell what was going on.

"B-bring her... to me..." A tired sounding voice says in-between pants and she feels herself floating before she next felt herself being embraced. At this point, she opens her eyes and looks up to see a man with sweaty pale skin plus longish black hair and fuscia-red eyes, which were looking down at her with adoration.

"My, baby girl..." The man says softly as he starts sniffling, eyes filling with tears of what appeared to be joy and she felt herself being hugged, the cries subsiding.

"...'Baby, girl'? Is he talking to me?" Yuuri wonders and it was then realized he was a lot bigger than her, then she noticed her strangely small hands and chubby arms. "Wait a minute... Am I baby!? No way, have I really been reborn!?" She thought in surprise. "Hang on, who is this guy? Wait, he seems familiar..." The now baby girl then thought.

"Lionel!" A voice exclaims and she and the man turn to see another man, this one with bright blonde hair and light pink eyes dressed in a royal attire and also looking like he just ran a marathon.

"Glory be to the Golden Sun of Solaria, Emperor Alexander Eliseo de Soleil." A woman in a white gown greets with a bow, along with two dressed like maids.

"Alex... You made it... She's here..." The black haired man, Lionel, says while panting in between breaths and also reclines against the pillows propped up behind him.

"She...? It's a girl!?" The blonde says in excitement and rushes over, looking down at her, a smile forming on his handsome. "Hello there sweetie, I'm your dad." He greets her in a gentle voice.

"My, Dad...?" She thought and curiously reaches up for the man, Alex, who chuckles softly as he takes hold of her little hand.

"She's precious..." He says with tears forming in his padparadscha-like eyes.

"Indeed she is... A perfect princess." Lionel then says, tears flowing from his own.

"Hang on... That woman called this man Emperor Alexander Eliseo de Soleil, and the Golden Sun of Solaria...? As in the same Emperor Alexander of the Solaria Empire from Sword of the Royal Blue Rose... And Lionel, as in Lionel De Vere!? No way! Have I somehow been reborn in the novel!?" She slowly puts together, her eyes widening in realization/shock.

"What shall you name her, Empress?" The woman in white then asks.

"'Empress'? Does she mean Lionel? Since when is he an empress...? And princess, they're talking about me right?" The newborn girl thought.

"Aurora... Her name is Aurora Rosetta el Soleil." Lionel declares, lovingly.

"What a perfect name for the crown princess and heiress to the throne of the Solaria Empire." Alexander says in agreement with the same loving expression.

"I'm the princess of the Solaria Empire!? No way, this is real. Not only have I been reborn, but I'm now the daughter of Lionel and Alexander from my favorite novel! I didn't even know they go together!" Yuuri, now Aurora, thinks in surprise. One thing was for sure, this new life promises to be interesting...