The Crown Prince In Hiding

“Hey, Fury… my little lizard.”

Their bodies collided so hard that Casca was pushed back a step. The towering woman and the much smaller young man crashed into each other and embraced like the world held nothing but the two of them.

The words hero and heroine—they carried a certain sacredness.

But at Luminus, whether one was man or woman… it didn’t matter in the eyes of God. Who you were meant nothing. You were beneath Him. We were beneath Him. Everyone equal. Nothing above anything else. Just “us” and the God watching from above.

So for every generation of Luminus’s warriors, they never had a gendered suffix. Not “hero,” not “heroine.”

There was only one name they answered to:

IRON CROSS

A five-bar knight. A woman warrior called the Iron Cross, who wielded the sword of God to strike down demonkind.

Casca Saint-Maximin… had arrived.

She didn’t need to say a word. And she had intended to be the one to play hard to get. But when his very real wife appeared without warning like this, Prince Fury forgot every single petty plan for revenge. All of it. He’d give it all up just to be with her again.

He buried his face into her shoulder, inhaling the floral, sun-warmed scent she carried. He shut his eyes tight and just held her—tight enough never to let go.

“Missed me that much, huh~?”

Casca tousled his hair.

Then she took his body in her arms, marveling at it like a new discovery.

“This your human form? Oh my goodness, why are you so tiny?! What happened??”

She cupped his cheeks, squished them like dough, pulled his eyes wide, even pinched his tongue to inspect it.

“But hey, this looks a lot more ‘human’ now. Makes that thousand-ton crystal loss worth it.”

“Why’d you run away from me, Casca?”

Dan clutched her arms, pulling her down close. His eyes brimmed with hurt, frustration, longing… everything Nora had never seen in him before—she saw now.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was?! I couldn’t sleep!!”

“I told you, didn’t I? That I was going to disappear without notice.”

“That’s not okay!”

“Is it really worth getting this mad about?”

“I am mad at you, Casca!!”

He squeezed her arm so hard she winced.

“What if something happened to you?! You always do whatever you want!!!”

“Ow! Fury—stop squeezing, it hurts!”

“That’s the bare minimum.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry…”

“Why’d you even do this…? I don’t get it.”

“For this.”

She relaxed his grip, lifted his chin to meet her eyes.

“...Look at you. You look way better now. You’ve been curled up in that lair for ten years. Did you forget?”

Then she leaned in and planted a deep kiss on his cheek.

Mwah.

Nora looked away.

“I’d rather be hated if it means bringing you back to life.”

“You didn’t have to go that far… You’re so unreasonable.”

“Even if I gave you a reason, you’d just find an excuse to ignore it anyway. But I’m so happy you came out this far… really, I am…”

“Swear on my father’s name—don’t let this happen a second time.”

“Heehee~”

She looked up with a mischievous glint in her eye, still holding him.

“Princess Nora.”

“Miss Casca.”

Nora placed her hands together and bowed deeply.

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Raven told me all about you… I was truly shocked. I never imagined it would be you. Not even for a second.”

“I didn’t think it would be them either,” Nora replied with a smile.

“Thank you, deeply, for looking after my husband all this time.”

“It was Mr. Fury who protected me, actually.”

Of course, Casca already knew everything—about Iskaryx, the whole hidden plot. And she was very proud of what Fury had done.

“You’ve been following us since the Garden, haven’t you? Lamar warned me you were coming.”

Dan wrapped an arm around Casca’s waist, speaking while looking up at her.

“You stalked us so well it’s scary, Casca.”

“As soon as I saw your handsome new form up on that stage, I locked in. Easy target.”

No need to say more. Everyone knew what Casca could do. A task like that? Child’s play.

“So you saw us eating, too?”

“And getting grilled in a royal interview, right?”

Nora: startled

“The lady was curious. No harm in sharing anyway.”

“Oh, I’m not upset. I didn’t say a thing, did I?”

Mwah.

“Being human makes your skin way softer and squishier.”

Mwah. Mwah. Mwah.

“Casca, stop. Princess Nora is right here.”

“It’s quite all right. I’m the one intruding on your time.”

“Don’t worry, Nora. I won’t be interrupting you anymore.”

Dan waved a hand.

He’d found his fiancée.

Mission complete.

Now that the main quest was over, his purpose for being here had ended.

Time to go home. Back to Diablo.

And live happily ever after.

Thanks for reading.

[FIN—]

“HEY. HOLD ON NOW.”

…?

Dan turned his head.

“What? I found you, didn’t I? Let’s go.”

“Oh no you don’t.”

Casca pointed her finger right at Dan.

“I came to you! You didn’t search for me! Our story didn’t even get the chance to begin, and now it’s completely messed up!”

By script, Casca was supposed to show up at the very end, even better in the last panel of the story—to tie the tale together beautifully, share some poignant message like ‘See? The value of life lies in the journey’ or something like that.

But now?

“Derailed?! Completely?! What are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about? Are you seriously asking that, Fury?! The person who was supposed to come with you was Dominic!!! Why isn’t he here?! Why didn’t you bring him, huh?!”

“And what’s wrong with not bringing Dominic?!”

“EVERYTHING!”

Casca grabbed Dan’s collar and hoisted him clean off the ground—shocking Nora to the core.

Because the Casca she knew… was a calm, collected paladin-saint.

“You have hundreds of followers and you picked her?! Have you lost your mind?! Where is that bitch?!”

“That Bitch is right here.”

BOOM.

A figure stepped out with packed bags in hand.

Zeedee Lamb. Standing tall. Oozing killer intent. The air thick with death.

Her bloodlust clashed directly with Casca Saint-Maximin’s, equal in force.

Dan closed his eyes.

Here we go…

Casca stared at Freya’s new body, voice, and attitude. She didn’t even need to see the tentacles—she knew.

She gently released Dan and walked toward Freya, eyeing her head to toe.

“Well… figures. You really are a rotting old mutt.”

That was Casca’s first line to Freya.

“What’re you here for, huh? The lovers are playing tag—no room for outsiders.”

“Who? Who’s ‘outsider’? Hm?”

Zeedee glanced around, searching for anyone named ‘outsider’—but found no one.

“His Highness personally picked me. From hundreds. Chose me over Dominic. Got it, Miss Fiancée?”

Casca’s face twisted in disbelief.

“Fury… What does she mean? Why didn’t you listen to Everton?”

“Why should I?”

“…What?”

Casca turned back.

“Wasn’t Everton the one who picked Dominic for you?!”

“I re-assigned Dominic to something more meaningful.”

“WHAAAAAT?!”

Casca stormed back and yanked Dan off the ground again.

“And Everton didn’t object?!”

“Not really?”

Her eyes went wide. She turned pale.

“Wait a second… What did you bribe Everton with…?”

(Echoes of Everton’s voice)

“Three ancient grimoires wouldn’t be too bad, brother.”

“Hold on, hold on… I think I get it now…”

A wicked grin began forming in her mind—Everton’s smirk, the grin of a Demon who just wanted to watch the world burn.

Even Casca had been played.

She had her answer.

Everything… everything tied back to one person.

Everton.

Casca had tried to sneak out of Diablo without telling anyone. She’d asked Everton to assign Dominic as Fury’s travel partner to kickstart his journey.

But Fury… had requested to swap Dominic for Freya.

And Everton didn’t protest—on purpose.

He let it happen.

Just for the fun of it.

And now, flames of fury ignited around Casca. Her golden aura erupted—hair lifting as wild energy surged.

Even the forest creatures turned and fled.