Chapter Thirty-Two

WHEN I TURNED TO FACE HIM, I FELT SICK all of a sudden. The first thing I saw was his ruby-red eyes, then our gazes found each other, but the second that followed he stared down at my bloody hands and sword and stared back at me. "You again!" He exclaimed. "And stirring up trouble at that." Then he saw the dead male bodies with their genital organ separated from them and the look of disgust on his face was hilarious. "What did they do to deserve such death?"

"Are you stupid or what, Theo?" He got wary when I called him by his name. "Take a good look at this girl and see it for yourself."

And when his ruby-red eyes inspected the girl, he seemed ready to murder someone. At least he has some sense. "They... Did they rape you?" Mikla's above, I take that back. He has no sense at all.

"How can you ask her such a question with such a straight face? Don't you know how to deal with human beings, you brute asshole?" He ignored me as if I hadn't said a word, pissing me off. "What are you to act like this? Five years old? Fucking childish."

He glanced at me, as though he didn't like being called that. "There are more important matters to deal with right now. So, stop being so noisy and annoying. Or I'll do to you what you did to them," I couldn't help but laugh acidly at his words.

"How will you do that if I don't have a penis, asshole?" I exclaimed sarcastically. He seemed frustrated by that question and looked away, focusing on the girl, but not fast enough for me not to catch him blushing. What a weirdo.

She turned to me as if waiting for permission to speak with him and I agreed. "They didn't do it, but it's all thanks to the Miss here. She was the only one who heard my screams and came to my aid. And when they were about to get started, she killed them all," then she turned to me. "As I've said before, Miss, I will be thankful to you until the day I die. Can you tell me your name now?"

Goddess-damn it. I can't say my real name, otherwise, this weirdo will know who I am. And once he will probably realize I was the one who invested in Mr. George's jewelry store, he can't know that I'm my father's daughter. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't do me any good for a dangerous person like him to know my real identity. It might get troublesome for me in the future.

And I cannot afford that. It's complicated, especially since I don't know him at all and I am sure he must be related to Bob.

"Hana." I finally said. "My name is Hana Wildflower."

"A ridiculous surname for a ridiculous person," he mumbled behind me and I took a deep breath not to curse him again in front of the kid... I mean, in front of Sabrina.

But she was the one who stared at him with a disapproving gaze. How adorable.

Even though he ignored her and turned to me, and although I was not looking at him because he was dangerously handsome in the most annoying way possible, I felt his gaze piercing me. "If you want to ask me something, do it straightforwardly!" My voice came out tenser than I intended when I turned to him.

His ruby-red eyes stayed on my golden eyes for what seemed to be a thousand years as if he was trying to decipher a puzzle and I was the puzzle. "How do you know my name, Hana?" I knew he would ask me that.

"I think you must have forgotten to tell the old man that it was a secret because he told me as soon as you disappeared from the shop." He sighed.

"You are a Knight, right? So will you help her solve this mess?" Sabrina asked and he let the smirk take control of his beautiful lips.

"Of course, not. And I'm not a Knight," then he turned his mischievous grin to me and arched his eyebrows. "This has nothing to do with me. You killed them; you deal with it on your own. I'm out of here!"

And just like that, he disappeared outside and his aura vanished from my radar just as fast. Damn, I may dislike him, but I have to admit that he's skilled. Very skilled. And if he isn't a Knight, what is he to be so trained like that? A spy from the Information Guild or maybe an assassin from the Assassin's Guild?

"Hm, you guys' way of flirting is really weird, you know that?" Sabrina spoke, reminding me that she was still with me. "But the chemistry is very present."

That made me roll my eyes annoyed. "There's no chemistry between us. And we aren't flirting," she didn't seem to believe a word I said, so I let the matter go. "Now let's take you to safety and deal with this shit."

"But Miss Hana-"

Well, now that he's away from us, I can use my real name. "Uh, I lied. My name isn't Hana. I just couldn't say it in front of that guy." She didn't seem bothered by it. "Don't be scared, okay?"

"Okay. But why would I?"

"Uh, I'm Natasha Nicholai," she turned pale again. "Please calm down. Let me take care of you first." I held her in my arms and headed out of the alley. "And please, I know you are shocked. But you have to promise me in the name of the Goddess that if you encounter that boy again, you won't tell him who I am."

"I... I... I won't, Your Highness!" Great, now she's shaking.

"Call me, Natasha," she nods, robotically.

That's an expected reaction. Still not comfortable, but expected. How could she ever know that her savior was a Royal Princess? And-

My thoughts stopped when I heard Asher's voice quite far from me, calling my name. Oh, damn it. I forgot that I left without saying anything. They must be worried as fuck. "Pretend to have fainted, Sabrina!"

"W-W-Why?"

"Just trust me, okay?" She nodded and did as I said.

A minute after that, Asher and Kate came into view and ran to me. Thankfully the street we are in is deserted. "What the fuck happened to you? What was that? Why did you leave us like that? Are you out of your-" Yeah, he's worried. "Who's that?"

"What happened to you, Princess? And why are you covered in blood? Why... Why is Kallisto covered in blood?" Here we go...

"Long story cut short. I heard a girl screaming for help. No one seemed to notice it. Not having time to spare, I just ran here. When I found this kid, she was surrounded by five men who were trying to rape her. So, I mutilated all of their reproductive organs and killed them all." I saw when the light in their eyes disappeared and they seemed to fear for the girl in my arms. "Any more questions?"

"How old is she?" Kate questioned. And it was as if she was about to cry out of anger. "Does she have a family?"

"She's apparently turned 13 this year and she's an orphan. Before she fainted, she told me her name was Sabrina and that she doesn't have a surname," and just like that, I saw the thirst for blood on both of them.

Yeah, she's 7 years older than that. But she looks like a kid so it's believable, and it's easier to take care of her like this. It's not like I'll let her keep living on the streets after what happened today. "She's just a kid. Those fucking bastards," well, if Kate's cursing like this, she's indeed pissed off.

"You did well. I'll find a way to clean up here. Our carriage is some meters away from here. Miss Quinlan knows how to guide the carriage, so you go inside with the kid and she'll take you out of here. But we can't let the Grand Duke or anyone else from your family know about this, so let's go to Gwen's place," Gwen? "Something tells me she'll be glad to help you with this, especially if you tell her what happened. Besides," he pointed to my dress tainted with blood, "you definitely cannot go back to Greenhall Castle with this bloody dress. She must have something that will fit you there!" He's really good at this.

He'll be an amazing Captain in the future when he takes up Master's place as the Captain of the Grand Duchy Knights. I'm sure of it.

Before I could say anything, Kate was already bringing me with her, "Let's go, Princess. We have to do all this and you still have to go back to Pierre's Bistro, because the owner said he would be waiting for you."

"Oh, I forgot about him... and about my food." Thinking about it made my stomach growl. "I'll bring some food to Sabrina and Gwen when I'm done with him."

She nodded. With her eyes on our way, Kate focused on getting us out of that damned place and away from people's gaze. And when we arrived at the carriage, she only waited for me to get inside with Sabrina before we were on the road. Kate must be anxious if she had even forgotten the door opened, so I closed it and when I looked down, the girl was staring at me.

"Really, Princess? Thirteen years old?"