Breaking Down

As soon as Arthur opened the door to his apartment, Kathrina almost felt like her heart had stopped beating. She tangled her fingers together, trying to calm her nerves. Soon after, she began to second-guess her choice.

What she said was done on the spur of the moment. She did not even know why she had agreed to come with him. She had been preoccupied with thoughts of her family. Then suddenly, she was already on her way into Arthur's unit. Although it was not her first time, she still felt anxious about it.

Arthur made room for her by opening the door wider. He waited patiently for her to take a step forward with a wry grin on his face. His hand went into the front of his mouth to conceal the small smile from her.

'How cute,' He thought.

After what felt like an eternity, Kathrina finally moved closer to where he was standing. Even though she was hesitant, she decided to venture into his territory instead of backing off.

Arthur bent down and placed a pair of slippers in front of her. But, unlike before, he put the small size ones.

Kathrina wears the slippers without uttering anything. Yet, she couldn't help but wonder if Arthur had prepared the slippers specifically for her or if they belonged to someone else.

As if he could sense the train of her thought, Arthur suddenly said, "I prepare it for you."

The answer Arthur gave her made Kathrina's heart skip a beat; it beat faster into a beautiful rhythm. She lowered her head, looking at the slippers, appreciating the little thing from Arthur.

"You make it sound as if you are certain I would be visiting you again."

"Oh, I'm even certain that we will be living together," Arthur spoke his thoughts as if what he had said was not a big deal.

Kathrina's pupils enlarged at his words. How could he even say those words while maintaining a level of composure?

"Be careful, Arthur. You will get hurt if you fall." She said with the most neutral tone,

Arthur's reply came as soon as Kathrina was done speaking, "We will fall together, so it's okay."

'How the hell did he have an answer for everything I said.' She uttered in her head; it honestly made her irritated.

Kathrina discovered that it was easy for Arthur to aggravate her feelings at any given moment. Even the smallest thing could make her exasperated. It was as if he brought the inner child side of her that she tried so hard to stash away.

"Stop thinking about me." Arthur interrupted Kathrina from her daydreaming.

"Don't accuse me of something I did not do."

"Okay, okay, Princess."

Kathrina's body began to tremble so violently as soon as she heard the term Princess that she almost stumbled on her steps, but Arthur had caught her body in time.

'You are so pretty, Princess'

Those phrases played through her head—playing again and over again till it caused her to feel lightheaded. The voice was unfamiliar; she had never heard it before. Yet, she knew that whoever owned it harbored malice intentions towards her.

As soon as Arthur felt that Kathrina's body was so rigid, he tightened his grip on her body even further. Yet it seemed as though she was not taking in anything that was going on around her. Like she was in a trance.

'You should remember that I'm the only one who can love you the most in the world, Princess.'

Kathrina felt tears stroll down her cheeks as those words entered her senses. The tone of the voice was gentle, but the reaction it elicited from her was one of total revulsion.

'Always remember, Princess. Don't forget me, or I'll be sad.'

Kathrina felt a hand brushing her cheeks tenderly to wipe her tears. The warmth and solace she experienced from the touch caused her to lean on it. She had to escape from the dark and cold place. And the contact was akin to her savior.

"Help me," Kathrina pleaded while tears continued to stream down her face.

"Shhh, you are okay. I'm with you." Arthur kept whispering words in Kathrina's ear, hoping it could give her peace. It broke him to see her go through such excruciating pain.

Arthur witnessed the transformation in her stare from nothingness to dread, and suddenly it was filled with sadness. His heart throbbed painfully when her tears fell, and her mouth mouthing help with no sound.

He moved in closer and touched both sides of her face, which caused their eyes to remain at the same level. "Give me your eyes. Look at me." He instructed Kathrina, but the latter was utterly unable to hear what he was saying. "I'm with you, love. Please look at me." He begged while still stroking her cheeks.

Kathrina could sense the warmth in her body increased gradually, but it was not enough. She still felt cold.

'Don't, please.'

Kathrina's knees gave way as she heard her voice instead of the stranger's. She was experiencing nothing but sheer horror at this very moment. She tried her best to let out a piercing scream, but nothing came out of her mouth. It was a similar situation when people drowned; they were screaming but ended up in a void.

Kathrina fought desperately to escape from Arthur's embrace, but the more she moved, the more tightly he held on to her. It was as if he wanted to engulf her in his arms and keep her there forever.

"You are safe with me," Arthur repeated those words while trying to hold her body. He felt her throwing a punch in his chest multiple times, but he did not care. If it gave her peace, she could hurt him as much as she wanted.

"Let go of me, please."

Her broken voice almost drove him insane. Arthur vowed that he would track down whoever had caused terror like this. First, he would hunt them down and take his time killing them. Then, he would give them a very painful death.

"I'll keep you save, so please look at me."

Kathrina blinked multiple times in response to the gentle touch on her temple. She was already crying uncontrollably, but seeing Arthur hold her made her cry even harder.

Both of them were sitting on the floor, with Arthur holding both her hands while giving her a gentle pat on her back.

"Hey," Arthur said with palpable relief in his voice. His palms cupped her face, making their faces only an inch apart. "Don't cry.

Like in most cases, when others told you to stop crying, you felt an overwhelming urge to cry even more. And Kathrina did exactly that. She broke down in front of Arthur, not caring about anything else.

He had managed to make her comfortable that she willingly put her walls down and revealed her most vulnerable state to him.