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"Madam. I'm warning you." Alaric looked at the smiling Xie with a terrified expression. His voice was shaking. From Xie's viewpoint, he could even see the boy's body trembling.

Alaric really hated those slimy-looking things, with many hands/tentacles/legs, especially octopuses. Octopus was the bane of his life!

Due to them, he wouldn't dare step into a beach in fear of, unfortunately, encountering his nemesis. They had created a deep psychological shadow on him.

And, the one madam held was, by far, the biggest among the rest! Look at its beaded eyes that looked at him with resentment! (A/N: Probably his imagination.)

Xie might look gentle on the outside, but on the inside, he was crooked. Not too severe, but he had the mild sadistic tendency to inflict pain(Not to the point of injuring anyone, only love to watch their scared and terrifying expression) on the small-looking people like his servant, Alaric. Perhaps, it was due to his living environment? After all, he had spent ten years in an apocalyptic world. Or was he a sadist by nature?

Xie deliberately stepped forward with the wriggling octopus and barely maintained his innocent facade.

But everyone knew he was up to no good, including Alaric. You knew what this man was thinking about by looking at his face!

His suspicious smile erupted into a teasing grin. His eyes slanted into a crescent shape with the transparent hint of mischief within those emerald orbs.

"Alaric, look at what I found. Isn't it cute?" He showed off with the sea creature. "Can we bring this home as a pet?"

Alaric wanted to retort back. Which part of that thing seemed cute to you?!

It was disgusting! The skin was slimy and sticky, and it had too many...ugh, many legs! If you become careless, that thing would spurt his weapon toward you, the formidable ink shot!

"Put it back!" Alaric hissed. His hackles rose. Right now, he gave the impression of an angry kitten with its tail staying erected up to the air. "If you don't...if you don't..." He slowly withdrew his steps, anytime he would bolt out if anything amiss ever happened to him.

"What will you do?" Xie smirked.

Alaric's cheeks bulged up. His face was red to the point of dripping blood. Tears pooled up in the rim of his eyes, and his body shook like a rattle. He clearly suppressed his anger and fear. As if his stuttering words were not convincing enough, with his leg shaking like a rattle, who wouldn't have the slightest thought of bullying the boy? His heart tickled incessantly by his crying face every single time.

"Madam..." Alaric sniffed. Tears had pooled inside the rim of his eyes. "You...you had changed! You liked to bully me!"

Xie, still smiling, had managed to decrease the distance between them in a blink of an eye.

He grabbed Alaric's hand and put it on the octopus's head that wriggled around Xie's arm.

Alaric was dumbfounded. He looked at the squirming creature and then toward his hand. Then, he looked at his unfeeling madam. He repeated this action until Xie became dizzy.

Xie shook his head. He was the dumb one who kept up with Alaric's spontaneous reaction.

"The texture was not that bad. Right? It is only an octopus. What are you so afraid of, Alaric? I'm here."

A moment or two passed by, and Alaric's panic shriek resounded across the busy and lively bazaar.

Alaric ran off while still in tears and kept cursing Xie under his breath.

Isaac signaled Richard to follow the boy. If something happened to him, Xie would be sad. Well, even if Xie was the reason for this cumbersome problem anyway.

Xie could only stare at Alaric's departing back. He ran too fast, and in a mere second, his silhouette had disappeared. Xie had lost Alaric into the crowd.

"..." Somehow, he was kind of dazing off. "Oh!" He had realized it too late, though. "Alaric...!"

Before he could run after him, Isaac grabbed his arm.

"What? I need to run after him. If he gets lost-"

"Calm down. Ric had run after him."

Xie ceased his struggle almost instantly.

"Oh, thank goodness." He mumbled.

Isaac grabbed the octopus with enough force to crumple its head into a kneaded dough. He looked down on the squeamish little thing with evil intention.

The wriggling octopus felt a sense of crisis. Thus, it released Xie's hand immediately. Since it had perceived danger, it shot a black, sticky liquid in the air, and propelled by the force of the ink shot, it slumped back into the aquarium and swam away, hiding in between the fake coral and lush of seaweed.

Spurt! Like a drizzle, the black ink came down onto them.

Xie: "..." He checked his supposedly new outfit, which had changed color to black. His clean face got stained with ink. Xie looked at Isaac, and the man was also unable to escape this predicament.

He was also in the same state as Xie, messy and dirty.

His stylish-looking hair got disheveled. His handsome face got smeared with black ink.

Isaac looked at his dirty self. He brushed his wet hair that dripped with black liquid to the back of his head, showing off his smooth forehead. He laughed at their misfortune. It was partially to ease the guilt from Xie's heart.

Another part? He was amused by this rare occurrence that happened once in his lifetime.

It was like Xie was the magnet of trouble. Anything was possible to happen.

Who has the shittiest luck amongst all people on the earth to get shot by an octopus? Also, in the middle of a lively bazaar? Well, such things were possible for them.

"Look like we need to take another trip to the toilet?" He gestured toward their dirty clothes.

Xie scratched his face in shame. It was because of him that they ended up in this situation.

"I'm sorry." He was embarrassed. He looked down and saw the mess he had created. Including this time, he had changed his clothes twice already.

Isaac was the one who sponsored the clothes. Rather than fetched Xie's outfits from inside the car, he bought them instead. After all, it was a hassle to walk back and fro.

Alas. The offered clothes got dirty due to Xie's unnecessary concern for things that would happen in the future.

"Luckily, your baggage went untouched by the dirty ink." Shaking his head, indicating that he didn't mind, Isaac then looked at the row of bags on the ground that stuck together in some inconspicuous corner of the stall that sold corndog. "I will ask the stall owner to look after our stuff temporarily. You can go to the toilet first. I will bring you clean clothes later."

"You...keep the receipt. I will reimburse those clothes later."

"It's okay. I am glad that I can offer some help."

"But...they must be expensive." Xie checked his shirt. Its material was so soft and smooth like silk.

"Not really. Please don't concern yourself over such a cheap shirt."

Cheap? Please don't make a joke. He was sure that this shirt was worth more than that.

Xie walked toward the public toilet. He already familiarized himself with the rest area. So, he knew where to go without getting himself lost.

Xie initially pulled such a stunt because he wanted to cure Alaric's phobia. But, what he anticipated was clearly different from what reality showed him. He thought he could help Alaric, but he made chaos instead.

Xie sighed.

There will be one time when Alaric drown in the sea due to his phobia. He went to the sea for something, and the boat sank.

He can swim and was an expert at that. But due to his phobia, he was helpless.

While he was trying to save himself, Alaric had encountered another misfortune.

They did say that misfortune never comes singly.

Alaric got attacked by a herd of octopuses. They wrapped their tentacles around him and dragged him into the sea. Feeling scared, with his whole body going stiff, immobilizing the entire time, Alaric cannot escape from his imminent death.

His corpse was found the following day in a miserable state. The body was bloated and battered.

One of the reasons the cannon fodder, Xie Winchester, killed himself was due to the death of his beloved servant. He has been treated the boy as his own brother and accepted him as his own family. Losing Alaric drove Xie to the brink of madness. Depression and extreme grief had led him to his early death.

As for him, the current Xie? What did he feel toward Alaric?

Xie didn't want him to die. He never wanted to witness such a day come true. He would never allow that.

Alaric was like his brother and the one who offered him the sense of security as his family. The first person who treated him sincerely upon his arrival into this world. Such a child, to be left dead just because he was a minor character, Xie would never allow fate to dictate anything as cruel as that.

His wish coincided with the original's wish. They resonated and turned into a belief. Whatever happens, they must prevent that innocent's child's death at all cost.

Xie hoped, at that time, he could prevent Alaric's drowning scene and save the boy from his death. That's the only thing he could do to appease the restlessness within the original Xie's soul.

----------

Mini Theater.

Alaric: Stupid, madam! (Sobbing behind a stall) Silly Xie Winchester! I hate him! I hate him!!

Richard: You even dare to curse the prince? (Looked on the boy who crouched behind a stall. Tears stained his adorable-looking face. His heart inexplicably thumped.) Are you okay? Did you hate squid that much? (Already crouched down beside Alaric and brushed the tears away from his face)

Alaric: (Sobbed even louder than before) I hate that slimy thing! I rather have a face-off with a tiger than a squid!

Richard: (Put his arm around Alaric's shoulder and hugged him) Alright. Alright. Don't cry. You made me sad if you didn't stop crying soon. (Took out a handkerchief and gently wiped Alaric's face) Next time, if Prince Xie teased you again, I will help you out.

Alaric: How?

Richard: I heard he hate snake with passion. Maybe I will slip one or two snakes inside his room and take revenge for you? Then, he would never dare to tease you again in the future.

Alaric: (Glared at Richard) You cannot do that! (His tone was angry) You cannot bully my madam!

Richard: (Smirked) Why? He teased you with something you hated, and all I did was teased him back with something he feared. It was fair and square. Right?

Alaric: (Gloomy) But...but madam might get spooked out. What if he faints again and becomes even weirder than the current him? Or, what if he never wakes up? I did hear that if someone gets stimulated heavily by something, they shut down.

Richard: You can never enact your revenge, silly boy if you wavered like this.

Alaric: (Pouted) It's okay. Right now, I'm sure madam got saddled by his guilt. After this, he would never repeat his mistake ever again.

Richard: (Ruffled Alaric's head) Should we go back?

Alaric: After an hour. Let him drown in his guilty feeling for a while.

Richard: If it is like that, let us tour around first before we go back? (He stood up, dusted his pants, and beguilingly smiled at him, still offered his hand for him to take) Let's go?

Alaric: (Stared at the outstretched hand. He involuntarily let out a chuckle) Sure.

Alaric's small hand got engulfed inside Richard's. They interlocked their fingers and exchanged a shy smile.

Richard: (Said in a confident tone) Let's go, my lady.

Alaric: (Snorted) Who's a lady?!