Mom? Dad?

Lela could hardly contain herself; she had never felt fear as much as she did the moment Kimi opened her mouth, saying the things she had suspected and further proving that the red-haired man was someone she never wanted to see again.

"Princess," Kimi had run into Lela's room heaving with tears-stained eyes. The girl was red and shaking uncontrollably.

"What's wrong?" Lela held Kimi in her arms, attempting to wipe the tears from her face, but it only brought more. Lela gave up and wrapped her arms around Kimi's body, offering her comfort. Kimi couldn't talk, she kept heaving and hiccuping, holding on to Lela to forget what she'd just heard and seen.

After a short while, Kimi calmed down, cleaned her face, cleared her throat, and stood up to tell the princess the bad news.

"He is dead. Princess, he is dead. I… I saw his-" Kimi paused, cleared her throat, and tried again.

"I saw his body, his head was not connected to his body," Kimi coughed as she remembered the horrifying sight.

"What are you talking about?" Lela stood up and placed her left hand on Kimi's shoulder to calm her down.

"The guard I told you about, the one who claimed he had seen everything. I went out this morning to get your breakfast and I heard whispers, all the maids and guards were talking about it, about how some guards had found his head and body in the garden." Kimi explained.

Lela's face turned ashen, her hands felt clammy and her shoulders were tight. Her eyes were open but she couldn't see anything, not even Kimi that stood before her. She had suspected it yesterday when Kimi brought up the guard that claimed he saw everything that had happened, she had suspected him to be the same man that the red-haired man killed. It was a feeling she couldn't shake off, and now it was true, it was real; she had witnessed that murder, and new heights of fear had been unlocked.

"Princess, are you okay?" Kimi asked her. It was Kimi's turn to hold the princess. The princess was frozen in place, she wasn't blinking, she wasn't breathing, she just stood there, like a dead body.

"Princess?" Kimi grabbed the princess's shoulders and shook her back to reality.

"I'm fine, I just need to sit," Lela let her head and eyes roam about, looking for the closest thing she could sit on. Kimi guided her to her bed.

"I did not know you would be affected like this," Kimi wiped the sweat from Lela's face. The princess did not know who the guard was, but she was affected by his death. Maybe the realization that she would not get justice is why she was so shocked, Kimi thought.

Lela exhaled. It was the first command her brain had given that her body responded to. She gave a bitter laugh and turned her face away, looking outside her window. That man was more dangerous than she had thought, and she had kissed him. She laughed again.

"I feel very sorry to the guard who was murdered by that man," Lela finally said.

"He must've noticed the guard somehow and decided to kill him," she added, her mind back to the garden, and the guard's head, a stone's throw away from her. She recalled the way his head hung in the air for a few seconds before landing; the way his blood splattered on his killers' clothes. Lela's eyes widened in the realization that the red-haired man had been very close to her, Kimi's cloak. The blood on Kimi's cloak.

"Kimi, where's your black cloak?" Lela rushed. Kimi's eyes narrowed. What did the princess want with her cloak again?

"I promise you that I'm not going out. I left something in it," Lela lied. She had been lying a lot since she woke up. She didn't want to lie, but it was the only thing she thought would save her.

Kimi nodded and handed the cloak to Lela, but Lela didn't know how to look around the cloak for bloodstains while Kimi stood there.

"I'm hungry," It wasn't a lie this time, but Lela only said it because it was the only way Kimi would give her space. Just as Lela had predicted, Kimi slapped her hand over her forehead, got up, and ran out of the room. Immediately Kimi left, Lela checked the cloak for bloodstains, praying and hoping there wouldn't be any bloodstains on it. Luckily, there weren't any stains on it and Lela thought it was the thick material of the cloak that either kept the blood away or absorbed it so it wasn't showing.

A heavy sigh left Lela's lips and she got up, walking over to her balcony which for some reason when she woke up, was hidden by thick white curtains. Lela opened the doors and walked out, the morning wind hitting her face, the view of the garden looking beautiful and peaceful, making her forget for even a split second what had happened there.

Lela watched people; maids, guards, maybe royal officials, and children go about their day with no idea that there was a murderer in the environment. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

Lela sighed again, her eyes trained on the garden and her mind on that red-haired man and what he had done. She could see the man, only that this time his black cloak covered his hair and part of his face, just as his hair covered his face last night. Lela blinked, once, twice, rubbed her eyes, and looked again. The red-haired man was there, leaning against a tree with his sword around his neck, his hair covered and a smirk on his lips, it wasn't her imagination. He was really there.

A wave of different emotions hit Lela and she staggered back, deciding to hide even though the man had already seen her.

"Fuck! Fuck this life!" Lela swore. Immediately, she slapped her hand over her mouth and crouched down, hiding behind the railings. She held her breath as she crawled away from the balcony back into her room, her behind facing the room.

Lela huffed, happy that she got away from the man's gaze, she turned around, still on all fours, and let out a shriek in horror at Kimi's confused face.

"You scared me!" Lela couldn't look Kimi in the eyes, instead, she glanced up to the ceiling, wishing she could disappear. It was at times like these that she needed Fate and Order to summon her, but as seconds passed, Lela knew she wasn't getting any help from them.

Lela looked down to the brown carpet that covered her floors, then she pressed her chest on it, her head looking under her bed.

"I swear it fell here," Lela broke the silence, while Kimi just stood in her place, with a tray of food in her hands watching her.

"My earring fell off," Lela touched her ears on instinct and closed her eyes in shame when she felt her earring there. Kimi followed her movement and blinked.

"Here's your breakfast," Kimi shook her head. She was going to pretend she didn't see the princess act like a mad person. Was she hiding? Who was she hiding from? Kimi shook her head again and placed the tray on the small brown coffee table.

"Your parents are on their way here, I heard Head Maid Magdalena telling some maids. I am sure she will be on her way here to tell you," Kimi said and shortly, there was a knock on the door. It was Head Maid Magdalena.

"Good morning Princess," the older maid bowed. Lela nodded her head as she stuffed bread into her mouth.

"Your parents will be here soon. You're expected to get ready and meet with them and the King and Queen in the royal room," Head Maid Magdalena said. The words sounded like an order and Lela wasn't the one who thought so too; there was a scowl on Kimi's face that said she didn't like Magdalena's tone, but there was nothing she could say or do.

Lela nodded her head as she rolled her eyes, and Head Maid Magdalena went into her closet to pick a dress. She came out with a rose gold dress and dropped it on Lela's bed, then turned to Kimi.

"Rosa and Emili will be here to help you get the princess ready for her meeting with the royals," she said, bowed to Lela, and left the room.

Kimi let out a breath and ran to where Head Maid Magdalena had stood, placed her hands in front of her, the way Magdalena's had been, then cleared her throat, "Rosa and Emili will be here to help you get the princess ready for her meeting with the royals," Kimi imitated, causing Lela to cough out her food in laughter.

An hour later, Lela stood before her floor-length mirror, too shocked at her reflection to say a word. Lela looked beautiful, it was the prettiest she had ever looked, and tears welled up in her eyes at the realization. Lela blinked the tears away, and allowed Kimi and two guards to escort her to the room where the meeting was to be held.

The gold double doors opened and Lela's breath got stuck in her throat as she stared at the two people she hadn't seen in years.

"Mom? Dad?"