"Knock knock" A knock came from the door. It was the door that led to the study of the captain.
"Come in!" a bold voice responded from inside. Titan walked in and a man was pacing in the room with one of his hands folded on his waist and the other leaning on it as he stroke his chin in deep thought.
It took a while for the captain to finally look at Titan who stood by the door.
"Ah! Your highness. I'm sorry for keeping you standing. Please, do have a seat." he ushered.
Titan sat with her legs crossed and her arm leaning on the armrest. Her expression was calm but cold and one could sense her strong aura from miles away.
Although her expression was calm, the room felt as though the temperature dropped to the barest minimum.
"Your highness, the girl from earlier... We kept her in a very comfortable room and fed her well. Also, no one told the royal family or anyone else about the incident earlier." he narrated.
He was about to lay a complaint of how the girl had a history of being notorious and a swindler but how could he? This was the crown prince of the Lynx clan and he dared not say anything to offend him.
When the king revealed the news of Titan's true identity, he controlled the news and didn't allow it to spread. Even the captain was still oblivious to it.
Titan took a pen and a piece of paper from the table and wrote a single yet threatening sentence. MAKE SURE SHE RETURNS HOME SAFE OR ELSE, ...
The captain nodded and assured him but before Titan could take her leave, she heard someone screaming.
"Help! Help me!!" she recognized that voice and immediately turned to look at the captain with a displeased look. She hadn't even left and this was already happening?
"Um! Your highness, you've misunderstood. I asked my guards to bring her here because you were also coming over. She said you are her future hus... Husband and I thought you'd want to take her along." he explained, whispering the last sentence.
Titan pinched the space between her brow frustratedly as she bent her head backward. Why would she say such things? When did I make her my bride to be?
Titan took the pen and paper but before she could write anything else, the screaming stopped catching her unaware. Did she finally accept her faith?
"Help!" she didn't stop screaming as the two guards stared at her in shock. Why was she being so dramatic and shameless?
After a while, she stopped and gave them a murderous glare. The guards didn't persuade her any further and just matched to the door but before they shut the door one of them spoke.
"Seems she's not interested in seeing her prince charming. We can't possibly force her to come with us." as he said that, he closed the door.
The girl jolted up. Prince charming? Were they talking about her beautiful boyfriend? He's here?
She hurried to the door and began to bang it. "Let me out of here. I don't want to stay here. Um... tell your captain that I accept his order and that I'll leave at once."
The guards exchanged glances and finally one of them opened the door.
"So you want to leave? I thought you didn't."
The girl stared at him being so cocky. Who does he think he is? A general? Hump! This is the Lynx clan and she could move as freely as she could.
She put on a girly expression and acted sober. "So now you don't want me to go?" she pretended to feel wronged.
"You can't treat a girl like this. And an extremely cute one on that note. How can you be like this?" her skin turned pale and she bit her lower lips to enable her tears to roll.
The guards were startled. They were only trying to get an apology from her but now it feels like they'd be the ones to apologize.
The girl continued fake crying for a while before the guard came back to their senses. If their captain heard that they made her cry, they'd be in for it.
"It's okay... You don't need to cry..." one of the guards spoke with a stern voice but instead, she cried even louder.
The other guard punch his duo and reprimanded. "Why are you being like this? That's not how to talk to such a nice girl. Please don't cry..." he spoke in a more gentle voice compared to the former.
"Look... I'll tell you a secret. Your husband to be is with our captain now and he has pleaded your case. He seems to really like you." he tried to change the topic to stop her from crying.
The girl walked out of the room and when she was finally out of the door, she put on a weak look and asked. "So where is he now?" at first, she wanted to jump up for joy when she heard what the guard said but because of her act, she couldn't do so and decided to maintain her composure.
They led her to the captain's study but as soon as they got to the door, she dropped her act and turned to the guard who spoke sternly to her and scoffed. Her entire expression changed to that of a nonchalant person.
The guards stared at her confused. Wasn't she crying just now?
"What?" she asked. "Haven't you seen an act before?" she asked nonchalantly. Both guards stared at her confused.
Did they just get played by this young girl?
"Oh, you don't need to be surprised. I was only... Well, I was only making you see the importance of being nice. It's just a lesson for you." she shrugged then added. "You should thank me. If not, with such attitude you exhibited a while ago, you'll never find a wife. Especially, you." she said pointing to the guard who was rude to her.
"You..." before he could finish, the door cracked open and the girl's expression changed again to a scary cat leaving the guards bewildered.
'She's just like a Cameleon switching from one color to another.'
'Ha! Such a quick-change con artist.'
The door was pulled open from inside and there, was the captain and her so-called 'beautiful husband to be' walking out of the study.
Titan turned to the captain and signaled him that he would take it from here.
The girl stared at Titan with a shy expression but when she looked closely, she realized that something was off about how the captain and other guards reverenced him.
Titan turned and looked at the girl then, took her hand, and exited the premises leaving All of the guards staring at the love birds, dumbstruck.
'Sigh... Seems she was right after all... I need to be more gentle if I want to ever find a girl.' The mean guy thought to himself.
After they exited the place, Titan let go of the girl's hand and placed her hands behind her back just like an old general.
Titan was silent for a long time and this made the girl uncomfortable.
'Did he believe what they said about me being a swindler? Is that why he doesn't want to say anything? Sigh... What a pretty boy too bad I'm not going to give up on you so easily.' She thought.
Titan halted in her steps and took out her refill pen and a paper. This habit of hers would never change. She then wrote.
WHO EXACTLY ARE YOU?
When the girl saw what was written and the serious expression on Titan's face, she knew it wasn't the time to mess around, and she knew that Titan was talking about what happened a few hours back.
"Silly you... I'm just a village girl who likes to save pretty boys." she lied. She had never been interested in saving anyone and the only person she had ever thought about was herself.
Titan could hear the slight difference in the rate at which the girl's heart was beating and knew that she was lying. Her expression darkened and her brow raised but the girl still acted obliviously.
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
The girl hesitated for a second before smiling widely and leaning close to Titan's ear. "Well, you can call me Nuna. Or better still, girlfriend."
Titan who thought that she wanted to keep her identity a secret, took a few steps backward then pinched the space between her brow.
SINCE YOU CAN'T BE SINCERE, ILL JUST LEAVE YOU BE. BESIDES, I OWE YOU NOTHING. YOU SAVED ME ONCE AND I'VE ALSO RETURNED THE FAVOR.
Titan tore out the piece of paper and handed it over to her as a souvenir before turning to leave. When the girl saw the content, she immediately chased after Titan.
"Wait! Wait!" Titan halted and turned to look at her with her right brow raised.
She moved closer to Titan and spoke.
"You want to know my name right? Then I'll tell you. It's Riveria."