16

After catching her gaze, Damien then walked straight towards Ariel. His eyes now carefully fixed on her. He entirely ignored Elle, who had been trying to report all manner of slander against Ariel.

He intended to punish her for staring at them and out of her place. When he got closer to Ariel, the only punishment that went through his mind at that moment for her, was the usual humiliating and torturing mistreatments he always gave her in public. But, as he stopped in front of her, Elle rushed, clinging back to him as she kept telling her lies.

"Can you believe this wretched peasant had the audacity to hit me on my face yesterday, only because I was trying to correct her? What sort of maid is she anyway!" Elle screamed into Damien's ears.

"She did?" Damien quickly inquired from Elle, who clung to his shoulders, following each step he took. Without looking towards her direction, his eyes remained fixed only on Ariel.

Ariel, who seemed surprised now by the accusations tagged to her name, stood quietly and still. Her eyes remained locked to him too. As she stared into his eyes, she somehow hoped to find remorse in them, but all she got was the look of hate and resentment. Then, she looked away and bowed her head down to look at her feet, as her superiors decided her punishment. Why would he even believe me over her? She thought.

Quickly replying to Damien's question, "Yes, she did! She is rude and evil," Elle said to Damien, trying her best to convince him.

Ariel caught Damien's gaze once more, but then, she saw that it was filled with rage and directed towards her. Seeing that there was no hope for her, she attempted to defend herself against her alleged crimes, but just when she was about speaking out, she was abruptly cut off by the swift sound of his giant sword, unsheathing from the fancy leather sheath strapped around his waist.

As Damien fiercely pulled out his sword on hearing what she had allegedly done, his swift reaction caught the attention of everyone in the dining hall and brought them to mute also, as they watched with keen interest.

"You will surely die for what you have done!" He barked at her, directing the pointy edge of the sharp and shiny blade towards her.

Elle beamed with joy at the sight of the long sword, pointing threateningly at Ariel, the maid she had always resented. Although Elle knew Damien hated the maid even more than she did, or at least she had thought so, she used to find herself getting jealous whenever he stared at the maid.

"Yes, kill her and be done with her and her murderous bloodline!" Elle called out excitedly from behind Damien.

Stepping closer to Ariel, he raised the sword to her chest. "You must die!" He swore, somehow reassuring Elle of his intent.

"Lies! Everything she has said to you, are all lies. I never hit her, I swear to you!" Ariel, now panicking at the sight of the blade pointing at her, suddenly spoke out in defence, with her head still bowed and looking down on the dining floor.

"Tell him the truth, you little, lying cunt. You slapped me yesterday." Elle called out to Ariel from behind Damien.

Damien was rather taken aback by Ariel's sudden response to him. Normally, none of the maids would dare talk back to him, not even Elle, but this little brat of a girl, had spoken back to him and without fear.

He wondered what gave her such courage. He immediately felt the urge to end her life with a single swing of his sword right there. She was shaking now, as she continued to plead her innocence, but he would have none of it. He was determined to make her pay for her crimes.

"You dare deny what you did?" He said to her, lowering the arm he was holding the sword with.

Ariel remained silent, thinking of what could happen to her next. Though shaking with fear, she resolved within her that if it eventually came to her dying, it would at least give her an escape, bringing all the humiliations and maltreatments she had faced all her life, to a long but happy end.

Ruthless as Damien was, he was tempted to listen to the prompting request of his ex-girlfriend and end the matter there, but he had hesitated first at the thought of it. Now enraged, he decided he would end the issue right there and take her head off her body. Perhaps, not to satisfy the nudging desires of Elle, but certainly because it would do justice in avenging his family.

He swung the sword to his left in front of her, cutting the air in her face, and she shrieked with fear. Then, in another instant, he swung it back towards her to his right and, this time, aimed directly at her head. He hesitated just as the blade touched her small, fragile neck. Almost immediately, he withdrew the blade and sheathed it back, just as swiftly, as he had unveiled the mighty weapon earlier. That caused another wave of surprise in the audience inside the dining hall. For a second, they had thought that he was going to cut her head off, but then, he had returned the blade to its sheath and was stepping away from her.