"Come in."
Ruby took a deep breath before walking in. She felt her body tremble underneath her father's gaze, but she stood her ground. Her thoughts were at chaos, and she desperately wanted to leave to save Ivy. Her usually stone-cold expression was slowly cracking, the king noticed and realized something bad must have happened. He lowered his gaze and started to think about what had happened without his notice.
Ruby took another deep breath before stammer, "I-Ivy..."
The king immediately shot up and slammed both his hands down on his desk. His mind thought of two possibilities; one was that Ivy ran away and didn't want to be in the kingdom anymore or two; she was capture by some group. However, the latter seemed unreal since he kept the secret of having Ivy. The king noticed the startled daughter before sitting back down and listened to her.
"Ivy was captured by two of the renowned criminals. One of them was a very muscular male, and another was a bowel wearing hat girl. It seems like the girl can teleport and took Ivy in front of me," Ruby said in a scared voice. She was scared for two reasons: one was her father since he has such high authority, and the other was because Ruby didn't know what those two would try to do on Ivy.
The king went silent before feeling like he was going to explode. He sighed before pulling something on his computer. He watched as a small tracker embedded in Ivy's arm. Ruby tilted her head before walking over and gasping a bit. She was shocked that her father would have set a tracker in Ivy. She wanted to say something of how it was an invasion of secrecy, but at the same time, Ivy was a wildcard.
If they can't contain Ivy to a certain limit, who knows what kind of hell Ivy can create. Especially since her Semblance was never founded, along with her history. However, Ruby is starting to believe Akagi's theory on Ivy's possible connection to the House of Rose.
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Ivy stood in front of Roman and Louis. She stared at the two as she wanted to know why they decided to go after Ruby. She also could feel her anger fuming a bit. Ivy looked away and said, "What do you two want with the princess?"
Louis growled; however, Roman stop him. She stepped behind Ivy and said, "We know you were at our warehouse last night. I have a request, and maybe we can make a deal." She could feel such an ominous aura circulating around the girl. Roman was surprised to handle such a presence, even Cinder's aloof and coldness can barely match this.
Ivy sighed before squatting down. Though it was true, she was out last night, Ivy didn't expect someone to notice her face. Maybe next time she should use a mask instead. Ivy then thought about the deal that Roman was presenting. She didn't like the idea of working with a criminal, let alone two widely known.
"What exactly is this deal?" Ivy spoke with a cold voice.
Roman was slightly shocked at how cold the girl was. From the looks of the girl, she seems around in her late teens. Barely even an adult. Roman shook her head as she reminded herself that this was the same girl who infiltrated the warehouse. Roman cleared her throat and explained the deal, "We're working underneath a certain boss. She kinda a bitch, and I can't stand her. So, all I want you to do is kill or torture her. I just want to be out of my sight. Once you do that...hm...I dunno what my end of the deal would be."
"Turning yourself is always an option or forget about doing crime," Ivy suggested.
"Coming from the number one most wanted criminal in this kingdom," Louis rebutted. He crossed his arms before staring intently at Ivy.
Roman tilted her head before Louis showed a picture of a blurry photo of Ivy. At first, she was confused before noticing multiple similarities, most importantly, her eyes, those enticing eyes. Roman smiled before hearing Ivy says, "If you think you can blackmail me, I doubt it will work that easily. Besides, all I need to know is who this person is."
Roman giggled as she suspected that Ivy could easily read her mind. She wonders if Ivy would be a good businesswoman who is so cold and aloof. Like every most romance novels with an aloof male. She thought before asking, "What made you special that you avoided jail time."
Ivy looked at Roman before looked away. She wasn't actually sure how she avoided jail. In fact, she wholeheartedly thought she would be thrown in a dungeon. Ivy shrugged her shoulders before feeling a weird feeling in her neck, she tried to scratch it, but nothing seemed to satisfy the sensation. Ivy growled before tossing her phone and disappeared.
Roman caught the phone and looked at the leaving message. She read the message before sending Ivy's contact info on her phone before crushing Ivy's device. Louis was slightly surprised before understanding Roman's motives. Roman looked over and held out her hand for Louis, he took it and then both disappeared.
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Ivy reached the Palace, but she made sure it looked like the two did some damage. She threw some mud around and damage her arm. Ivy also made sure that there were a few cuts on her body before she stumbled in the palace front gate. The guard immediately called a medic while helped Ivy to a safe room.
Although Ivy felt terrible for lying to Ruby, she didn't exactly know how to explain the situation. Plus, even if did tell Ruby, something unexpecting might happen. She just doesn't want it to seem like she betrayed Ruby.
Ruby was the first to see Ivy and was shocked to see the damage. However, she was glad to see Ivy and made sure the girl got enough rest. She made sure the doctor knew what he was doing before she excused herself.
After a few hours, Ivy decided to stay at the Palace for the night before returning to the dorms tomorrow. When Ruby asked Ivy what the two criminals wanted, she simply said they wanted to see what kind of weakness Ruby has. Ruby said nothing after that. Ivy left the dinner table earlier and decide to go out for a walk.
Omega appeared on Ivy's shoulder and said, "Why did you lie to her?"
The question was straight forward. There really wasn't a reason to lie, yet why did Ivy lie? Ivy shooked her head, finding a place of quiet and peace. Omega stopped Ivy in her tracks when it saw Ivy ignore its question. Although it didn't express emotions like most AIs, Ivy could easily tell Omega was mad.
"It might be better to care than to tell her. Besides, if she heard that I took a deal with them. I don't even want to think about it," Ivy said in a sad tone. Ivy lay in some grass and looked at the moon. She felt very conflicted at the moment. "Plus, she'll most likely want them in jail. She can't let them Scott free can she."
"This is wrong, Ivy. Just tell her that you and those criminals were talking. Plus, I have a feeling that the reason they want you to get rid of someone is that they know they can trust you," Omega said.
Ivy scoffed at the word Trust. She hated the word and felt even worse when it applied to her. She has trust issues, but mostly it the idea of others who trust her. Ivy has done her fair share of betraying, but the idea of hurting someone because they believed her made her sick. "They should never trust a monster like me, not even a bit. Ruby should just keep her distance from me or else...I don't even want to think about it."
Ivy hugged her knees and stared at the grass. She didn't think she would be able to experience a social life. She was grateful, however, Ivy never once felt like she belongs in society. Ivy closed her eyes and allowed herself to slowly cry.
Little did Ivy know that Omega was recording the conversation. It left Ivy and added an audio file on Ruby's computer. It knew how Ivy felt, but it was doing this for a better future. Besides, Ruby asked Omega to record the whole thing.