Unwanted Help

[Portia's POV]

It has been a long time since I thought I had terrible luck. God might have resented me so much that he did not let me fall in peace. He even rubbed salt into the wound—my wound.

Not enough making me get chased by those damned drunkards; now I hit someone I want to avoid the most in this life.

"Por … tia?" says Kazech with a surprised face. He must not expects will meeting me here, in the slums.

Still, why must he, out of all people?

Besides, what is Kazech doing in a place like this?

If I, of course, bring Kiel with me out from here and not let him die again like in the past. However, I never knew that Kazech ever lay a foot in the slums. I think he is a perfect crown prince who lives behind the palace's fence. He was born, raised, and grew up to be a king. For what reason is a pureblood like him entering the slums?

"Hey, stop right there!"

"Shit," I curse and immediately get up from the prone position. I fell into Kazech's chest, so it did not hurt so much, but I kinda feel bad for him.

Arghhh. Let's think about that later. Now my priority is saving Kiel from those thugs.

"Ezekiel! Let's go!" I approach Kiel, which stands not too far from where I fall. He tries to steady his breathing as his chest heaves up and down after getting tired from running.

However, I lose fast with one of those thugs who successfully pulls Kiel behind and lifts him until his feet are up in the air.

"Argghhhh!" he screams in pain. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"I'll kill you, son of a bitch. After that, I'll kill that girl too. I'll kill all of you with my own hand!" That man goes mad as he pulls something from his waist pocket. It is a dagger!

No! I will not let that happen. Reflexively, I hop forward and push that man with all my strength. He falls backward and hits the other thug who has just come.

Kiel also falls to the ground after the thug loses his grip on Kiel's clothes.

I approach him in a rush. "Are you okay? Ugh, look at those bruises. They're ruthless."

"Um …," Kiel mutters something. He looks at me with his sapphire blue pupils who gleam under the dim sunlight.

"Yes?"

"Who are you?" He asks me with a curious expression, making my hands busy cleaning his clothes from dusts and pebbles stop. "How do you know my name? I don't remember ever meeting you before. Why are you helping until like this?"

Crap, I forget. This is the first time Ezekiel has met me, but I get impulsive because of my emotion. Now, what kind of answer should I give to his question?

"Ah, I just—argh!" Before I could finish my sentence, someone suddenly grabbed my hair from behind. Shit, it is fucking hurt!

"You damned bitch, how dare you to push me like that. Do you really wish to die, huh?"

"Urgh," I hiss, holding back the pain and glaring at the thug behind me. It is difficult to escape his grip because he grabs my long blonde hair so hard. This is why I sometimes hate having long hair. A big weakness for a defenseless girl like me.

"Release her, now."

My eyes turn forward. Kazech stands there with a preparing-to-attack posture. He draws his wooden sword from its sheath; he is still underage, so he does not has the right to use a real sword. He then points the sword at the thug with a menacing expression. "You'll get a problem if hurting that girl."

"Hoooo, look, Dude! There's a hero here!"

"Hahaha! Are you coming to save your sleeping princess, Hero?"

I heave a sigh. Talking with a drunk man will not have a use. They need to be beaten until got faint to shut their filthy mouth. When I roll my eyes to the right, I see something useful there.

'Good. I can use that.'

"Are you drunk?" Kazech wears a disgusted expression on his face and waves his hand in front of his nose because of a strong smell of alcohol coming out from those thugs.

Both drunkards get angry hearing the indirect taunt from Kazech's expression. "You goddamn nobles! You are all the same!"

"Huh?"

"You always looked down at us, people from the slums, as if we were dirty … filthy …, and didn't have a right to live in this world! Are you guys really enjoying things like that, huh? Do you really like trampling people who are already underneath?"

He screams with red eyes because of his rage. Maybe before this incident, he was humiliated by some nobles who made him drink like this.

No problem. Instead, this is good. Because those drunkards focused their rage on Kazech, I could use this moment to find a loophole for escape. I held out my hands secretly to reach the thing on my right side. Ugh, my hands are too short of reaching it.

Ezekiel, who is struggling to get up, sees me reaching for something and stares at me for a while. We exchange glances for a moment.

He instantly catches my intention and crawls towards the things, then moves it with the tip of his finger until it reaches my right leg. I say thanks to him without a voice and only using a lips gesture, then I pick up the dagger that formerly belongs to one of the thugs.

Without any doubt, I grasp the dagger and cut my hair which is still being grabbed by the thug with one hard swing.

SLASH!

I do not bother much with my hair; it will grow again, after all.

Kiel freezes and stares with wide eyes. His mouth opens from shock. He must have been shocked after seeing me cut my hair without thinking too much. "No!"

It is already late. Strands of my blonde hair scattered on the alley road, and my action success in surprise everyone there. It buys me some time to escape. Not waiting for their response, I take Kiel's hand and bring him out of the slums. Kiel does not protest. He just quietly stares at my short hair.

I pass through Kazech without a doubt. That man was also shocked when seeing my reckless action.

'Cutting her own hair to escape? What a brave and careless action. Isn't hair a crown for a girl?'

"Shit, they're escaping! Chase them!"

"You're not going anywhere." Kazech is back from his thought and stands in the middle of the alley, blocking the path for those thugs so they cannot chase Kiel and me. He looks down at the blonde strands and heaves a sigh. He mutters with a low voice, "You're too reckless, Portia."

After that, Kazech points his sword forward, giving those thugs a menacing look. "Don't try to dodge."

Leaving Kazech, I success enter the main road. I turn my head behind to see if those thugs are still chasing us, but we seem to have escaped from them since there are no signs of their presence. Kazech might have beaten them with his upholding justice nature. Yeah, he always like that, thinking he should establish the law first even though it might be detrimental to other people.

Whatever it is, I consider myself lucky because I can escape from that dangerous place without bruises.

Oops! I almost forgot that Kiel is also severely injured!

I drag him to the bench on the roadside and make him sit there. Then I sit beside him while looking at his condition. It is so bad; his condition, I mean. From his toe, arm, until his face is full of cuts and bruises. I could not imagine how painful it was.

While thinking about Kiel's bad wounds, that boy suddenly held out his hand and pulled me from my thought. He touches my hair which has now become short shoulder length. "Why … why are you doing that? Why are you going that far for me?"

I blink. "Huh? Oh, you mean cutting my hair to escape?"

He nods with a gloomy expression.

Oh, look at him now. Does he feel guilty because I cut my hair to bring him out of that place?

What a softie guy. He really cares and does not like seeing other people in trouble, even though he struggles with his problem. That is why I feel comfortable befriending him.

"It's no big deal. It's just some strands of hair. They will grow again later." I wave my short hair behind with a confident smile. "Anyway, you need to see a doctor. Your wounds will get an infection if not treated properly."

He looks down at his wounds. "I … am okay. I get used to this."

"Huh? How can you say such terrible things like that!" I scream at him, making Kiel shriek from shock. Did he get used to being wounded? My little heart will never accept that. I get this second chance to save all the important peoples I failed to protect in my first life. I will not let Kiel talk about a horrifying thing like that again. "Listen to me, Kiel. You must be curious why I know you, right?"

He nods again.

"Well, I once met you in the past; you'll not remember that because it happened long … long ago. So, looking at you suffering like this makes me feel miserable because I couldn't just sit without doing anything.

"Emm, just consider me a stranger who offers you a chance to get a better life! If you take this chance, you will get a place to sleep and a job to earn money! How about that?

"A-ahhh, you don't need to answer the offer right now. I know it is too sudden for you. You can answer me when you're ready. My priority now is to bring you to the doctor and treat all your wounds."

I bite my lips hard after finish talking.

Sorry, Kiel, I do not have other choices and make up this lie.

That boy keeps silent for a while. Hmmm, I do not remember that Kiel had a quiet demeanor like this because even though he was a shy and calm person, Kiel really liked to talk about everything to me in the past. Ah! Maybe he does not trust me yet.

No problem, it is normal. Perfectly normal.

It will be a problem if he trusts me one hundred percent without thinking too much—

"Alright, I want."

"Eh?" I blink in surprise. "Are you sure? Don't you want to think about it for a while? It is a huge decision to make."

Kiel tilts his head in confusement. "Are you asking me to refuse the offer?"

"No! It's not my intention! I mean … people take some time to think since it is a decision that involves their future. I think you need time too. However, I really don't expect you to refuse!"

Do I say it right now?

Ugh, I am terrible at talking to other people. They always misinterpreted my intention because I often twisted my tongue due to nervousness.

"Then I will take that." He says it once more with a smile on his face. I know that he takes it seriously. It is strange. Even though it goes as well as my plan, it is still odd.

I scratch my neck with a confused expression.

"Uh, alright. Then let's go to the nearest healer's place and treat your wounds—"

"Lady Portiaaaaaa!" I flinch as I hear someone screaming my name from behind. Stenov runs towards my place with a crying face. "Huft … huft … finally I found you! Lady Portia, you need to go to the palace and attend the lunch with the Queen now—wait, who is this shabby-looking kid, Lady?"

Shit. I forget the lunch invitation. However, now I get a brilliant idea.

I get up from the bench and hold Kiel's hand. "Alright, I'll go to the palace. But, he'll also go there with me."

Stenov seems confused. He can not guesses his lady's mind. "B-But Lady, where you get that boy—"

"That's my business, Stenov. Stop asking useless questions and take us to the carriage. I'll put all the blame on you if I'm late to the palace because of your questions." Stenov puts on a surprised expression and hurries to show the road. He must be afraid of being fired from his job.

"T-This way, Lady Portia."