"Perfect!"
"I know I am."
"I was referring to your timing."
"Uh, thanks?"
Wait. That sounded off. Shouldn't she be the one thanking him?
It could be said that the young man's appearance was timely, and if Cass did not know any better, she would have thought all of this was some kind of scheme. With his help, she smoothly left the inner part of the town. She could not help but close her eyes and let out a bitter sigh.
Where would the future bring her?
Before that, where should she stay tonight? Is she even capable of surviving alone?
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes with renewed fervor in them. Worrying would not change anything. She would return! She would get back what is hers!
"So, you're Aren?" she tentatively asked. She thought hard where she had heard the name, but came up with nothing.
"That's me," came his flippant reply.
"You're not from Gaelsworth."
"Yeah?"
She narrowed her eyes. With the imminent war, it is hard for outsiders to reach this town, let alone being allowed inside the residences of the officials. "Are you a spy from the Desolate lands?"
If Cass was sober, she would have facepalmed at how stupid her question was.
Aren laughed. "I beg your pardon. With this handsome face, you think I'm a barbarian? I'm from the House of Hann. I don't know, have you heard of it?"
Hann... There are no local officials in Gaelsworth bearing the name Hann...
Wait. Was that not the family of the Minister of the West from the capital? Then, he is a descendant of the second nobility?
Before she could open her mouth to ask the young man driving the car, he beat her to the punch. "By the way, how are you planning to pay me? I saved your pretty little ass from a night in prison, yeah?"
"How much?" She felt around the bulge in her pocket. Good, there's still money to spare.
"How about dinner?"
Her mood soured. Young masters from the capital have the worsts of reputations. She raised a perfectly arched brow. "How about stopping the car right now?"
"How about no?"
Cass rolled her eyes. She should have known there is no free lunch in this world. With the cheeky and perverted grin on his face, Aren was begging to be slapped.
Really, where are the respectable people when you need one?
"How about I scream bloody rape?" she threatened. "How about I tell the guards I'm being abducted?"
"Would they believe you?"
Cass quickly pulled out a small dagger from a hidden pocket, and she waved it near her neck. She might be a lady of noble birth, but she was raised in a family with a military background. The House of Vega is currently in charge of the town's finances, but her brothers are both soldiers. Her maternal uncle is a commander. As a person living in the borders, she was taught how to hurt and be hurt.
"Fine, fine, fine." Aren immediately stopped the car in front of an inn. "A gentleman never argues with a lady."
"Where's the gentleman? I don't see one," she retorted. She flipped the dagger back into the hidden pocket inside her sleeve and threw a pouch with a few silver coins in it to the young man. "Here's my thanks."
The young man reeked of playboy. He might have saved her, but she would only be continuously harassed by him if she stayed a second longer.
"I'm rich, you know." Aren idly played with the pouch.
"I did not say you are not." She nimbly climbed out of the car. "Helping me out is a transaction. That pouch is my payment."
"How about dinner together?"
"It's already past midnight."
"Midnight snack then?" Aren naughtily wagged his brows. Cass slammed the doors on his face and marched towards the inn. She could hear him following behind her. "Come on. Just one meal? You did not even tell me your name."
"Cassandra Vega," she threw out carelessly, another bitter smile spreading across her face. Just a week ago, that name would have brought countless praises from the people of Gaelsworth. Now, it was barely worth a pebble. She was barely hanging onto it.
"Vega? Cassandra?" The grinning Aren walked to her left, such that they entered the inn side by side. "Are you the niece of Commander Alejandro Vega? The one he calls Kitty Cassie? Well, well, how small our world is. I just had a drink with him a week ago! Since we are acquaintances, we must celebrate it with a meal!"
Cass froze.
Did he say... wait, what?
"You know me?"
Aren beamed triumphantly at her stunned expression. With a proud harrumph, he pulled her to a table and signaled the innkeeper for some wine and food.
"The Fairy of the Borders, youngest scholar of Gaelsworth and one of the best fighters of its younger generation, Lady Cassandra from the House of Vega. If I were not to know you, I would have shamed my title as a playboy, I mean, third young master of Hann, yeah?"
There was a resounding slap.