A/N: This is not "you/second person" based. It's just the prologue, and it's my way of giving a bit of background info.

Are you listening in on us?

Oh, that's all right. We were just talking about Princess Adriana and Sir Eric. You know the latest gossip, don't you? How Princess Adriana has been gone more than a fortnight and -

You're not from around here, are you? I can tell. So you probably don't know what we're gabbing about, do you? Ha! It's a good first story to tell if you're new to the kingdom. The newest news involving the Princess and Sir Eric don't really have much to do with Agunae (you do know that's how we pronounce it here, don't you? Yes, it's pronounced Agunae), but their history does, a little, I suppose… it's just such an interesting story to tell, I love telling it to new people!

Little Princess Adriana went to school when she was young. It was more like private tutoring than school, for there were only a few other boys in her class… and it was only boys. Being a Princess, though, she was entitled to certain rights that even other noble girls were not entitled to… Let me see if I can remember the names of all the boys in her class: there was Prince Aniem, Prince Lonien, Serno, who was a very rich peasant, Yhedrong, another peasant, but his peasant father was quite well liked in the king's court, Sir Gallon, Sir Smoatspia, who was Eric's cousin, and of course, Eric.

Eric was noble – what was he, a duke's son? I suppose it doesn't matter much now, ha ha. Anyway, they were both noble. They got along so well, and in order to make secret time for each other, Adriana starting skipping out her princess lessons, and Eric, who was apprenticed to be a temple priest, failed to consistently attend his training…

Gossip around the kingdom was that they were engaged to be married when they became of age. How old were they – fifteen? I believe Eric was seventeen and Adriana was fifteen when the new cult of Anada began to seep into the homes of the kingdom. My numbers put it around forty percent, forty percent of the kingdom was practicing Anada when Eric's family was kicked out for practicing it…

Of course, no one knows if Eric's family really practiced it. The rumors, though – yes, the rumors! - the rumors are that Eric was quite skilled in Anada – it's a magical religion, you see – and that the King, Adriana's father, grew fearful of Eric's power. There were also bad prophecies from the King's temple that Eric would grow to be a great political rival…

So Eric was sent to be killed. I need not tell you that he escaped, you could have figured that out – but it was with help from Yhedrong, that well-liked peasant he went to school with. Yhedrong had been a great comfort to Adriana – a little too great, if you understand me – and so when Adriana heard, she was quite devastated. And who would not be?

After the failed attempt to kill Eric, both boys and their families were simply banished from the kingdom. So many families were banished, it's impossible to name them all, and besides, some weren't banished, some just left for fear of being found out, or they just disappeared…

A year later, Adriana forgot Eric, as the idea that he was evil had been forced into her mind. The King brought about evidence of the evil, licentious things he had done (though it is quite possible that the evidence was invented). Adriana took to a new beau, her schoolmate Prince Aniem.

But about two years later, another prophecy came to the King's attention, that Eric would return, more powerful than ever, and he would abduct Princess Adriana. Now, the King's temple was not the most reliable in terms of prophecies, but the King took no chances. Princess Adriana was then sent to live in the temple until Eric was found and successfully killed.

Now, I wouldn't know this, but this cult of Anada – it's magical, yes, but also rumored to be quite dangerous. Their practices are said to be… self-indulgent, let's put it that way – and so it was a special concern to the King that Adriana not fall to the debauchery of Anada…

The King hired many maidens to look after her personally, so that she was never out of sight in the temple…

But I suppose these maidens did not all effectively do their jobs then, eh? If Princess Adriana is still missing… oh, they never did find Eric, you know. I do wonder what happened to that girl! She must be twenty now, and I've seen her before, at the temple. She's quite a beauty. Perhaps Eric has heard of her beauty as well and has started to fulfill the prophecy…