Chapter Sixty-Seven: Barbie movies

Clair's memories of Lady Blair Bradberry:

Lady Blair placed down her tea and asked, "So how does it feel to be a new member of House Yves? Did you meet-"

Clair, who was sitting down on the other end of the table with an aloof expression, closed her eyes and took a deep breath in.

This had been going on for only 25 minutes, and 33 seconds counting the moment she stepped inside the mansion. It was driving her insane.

All she could hear from the blonde-haired, woman with hazel eyes was the following: "Blah blah blah blah blah blah."

Yes, exactly that.

She picked up her tea and took a sip of it elegantly. "Lady Blair, if you don't shut that pretty mouth of yours I will have no choice but to use the loose thread of your dress to sew it shut."

...

From that day on, Lady Blair never bothered Clair again until 3 years later.

Of course, Clair was now more aware of how badly she had traumatized the poor girl, but it was too late to regret it.

"It's an invitation from Lady Blair." The servant informed them.

Her brother who was walking down the stairs, her father in front of her on the sofa, and she who was eating cookies all said at once, "Not it!"

The servants looked at them in disbelief.

"Rock, paper scissors it is." Their young lord announced.

Clair rolled her eyes, and they did as he said.

"Actually, the invitation is for Miss Yves only."

"Oh, heck no. I will not, I refuse to meet that gossiping snake!" Clair stood up, and she ran up the stairs to lock herself up in her room and ran away from her father and brother's persuasion.

…..

Present:

"I have a similar experience but unlike you, I did not threaten to get rid of her ability to speak," James emphasized.

Clair pouted. "She was just really annoying."

"She was annoying to you? Imagine me!"

…..

James's memories of Lady Blair Bradberry:

"Your highness, it's an honor to have you here."

"Though you are very consistent with social events, you never really let people know about you. Tell me, what is your favorite color? Food? Place on earth? Do you prefer the city or the outskirts? Maybe the farm setting! I heard waking up is the best thing in the countryside. They had amazing afternoons as well."

"Did you know I won last year's horse riding competition? We could go horse riding if you'd like. I have this horse my uncle gifted me, his name is James as well! Just like you haha."

James could see himself cringe.

"Lady Blair, I have an emergency please excuse me." James ignored her persistent attempts to keep him in her house and just bolted out of her residence into his car and headed back home.

....

Present:

"Yikes, poor you."

Adriana patted his head.

"Ahem* We should pick something to watch." James cleared his throat when they were awkwardly in that position.

"Right." Clair faked a cough, and she started telling him why each movie he offered to watch sucked.

"I think we should watch barbie instead." She suggested.

"What is it too girly for you?" She asked, looking at his disapproving face.

"No, I just don't find the show entertaining."

"Oh, I agree. I meant the movies. They are awesome!"

"I agree. We should watch those instead. But which one?"

"Hmm, I say we do Rapunzel."

"What about the Barbie of Swan Lake instead?" He offered.

"Ah, yes, that one. Let's play that one instead."

Clair and James excitedly and discussed the barbie movie as it was the most normal thing in the world.

James never expected to have this kind of relationship with this woman, and they were just getting started. He could tell they would grow closer because of how well they clicked.

She might not be an assassin anymore, but she was still the most dangerous woman in this world no—literally.

He didn't know how she trained, but when he was still a soldier, he would analyze her every kill. He had realized she didn't waste her time on hand in hand combat, and neither did she do kills from a long distance. She was like a thief in the night. She came in with quiet steps and took what she needed, not leaving a single trace.

Exactly like that, she killed her target swiftly. No signs of struggle were seen at each crime scene.

At first, he thought the organization she worked for had their assassins carve As into their targets, but he was wrong. He found out the assassination Ainara worked for her organization was clean and quick. The ones she marked with As and took her sweet time on were personal kills.

A few months after that realization he came across another piece of interesting news. A the assassin had literally exterminated the organization she worked for.

She killed every last founder, and assassin relating to them. The building in which they worked had bodies in every corner, and all the evidence of their crimes was left in a detailed organized manner.

It was as if Ainara had done it on purpose. Many said the organization had betrayed her and so she took her revenge.

From then on she went solo, and nobody dared to cross her path.

That is when he followed her and captured her that one day.

He had caught up with her as soon as he realized she was after something, no she was after someone. But she was leaving clues as to if she was waiting for someone to notice and come catch her.

He was curious about this and many other things. She was just too good at what she did, and he wanted to know more.

Still, he followed their silent agreement to not talk about their past.

It was simply not appropriate since she had a new life, identity and she was happier.

Yes, he was a general technically protecting his own kingdom in disguise, and he should have killed her when he got the chance. Not that he always saw the good in people, but he just knew there was more to her than a cold-blooded killer.

She never did things for pleasure or the fun of it. No matter how much she pretended, she could never fool him.

That day she jumped off the bridge. He knew it clearly. The life of an assassin was miserable, and she wanted out as soon as she was in, but because of whom she was after she would not give up.

It shocked him when she had jumped off that bridge. What had happened to the predictions he had and how to capture her?

Did she find who she was looking for? Was this her plan all along?

Soon enough, the credits started rolling, and the movie had ended.

"How did you grow fond of barbie movies?" She asked with amusement and placed a gummy bear in her mouth.

"My grandfather, just like me when he was younger, got into the military and went up as many ranks as he could before he claimed his crown. Just like him, his father before, and so on. It became like a family tradition. This was to help us understand our country better, and that is why I'm also a businessman in disguise." He started explaining humoring to her.

He took notice of how she always wanted straightforward replies in things she wasn't interested in, but she narrowed her eyes a bit and that signaled her interest. And she wanted detailed and extra info along the lines, just to fill in her curiosity.

"Anyway, I disobeyed a few orders and was sent to this camp. They had a cabin and found nothing but some DVDs. I had to spend the entire weekend there to 'reflect' and it was between a long documentary or a barbie movie. I chose the ladder and they are entertaining." He finished.

"That's just cool cus I have a similar story!" Clair's eyes lit up.