The Orange haired woman walked down the City Square where the statue of the first king had been sculpted.
"It is Cecile! I wonder how is her day going?"
Sloane decided to approach her.
The woman suddenly vanished among the crowd.
"What?"
She was alarmed by her sudden disappearance.
She began to push through the bustling crowd.
— "She disappeared? Something's off."
Sloane began to worry even more.
"Uhh Excuse me! Have you seen a woman passing by just now?"
The two confused nobles looked at each other.
"Could you please specify her details?"
"Ah. I apologize. She has burnt orange hair."
"What? We are sorry to say. Miss ninety-eight percent of the kingdom only has black or brown hair."
Both of them declared.
"It would be a rare sight to see someone with different hair."
One noble lady said.
" If we saw them we surely would've told you about it."
Sloane lost her patience. She asked many of the others.
"Huh? Orange hair? We wouldn't be too blessed to have such color."
"Haha! In this kingdom, only the blessed royal family has blonde hair. Or rather the rest have black or dark brown hair. I bet she must be some war slave's child."
Sloane gradually lost her temper. She drew her sword in rage at those mocking nobles.
—"They dare to insult someone precious to me? I will let you know your place."
"You dare to insult someone so casually? Without even knowing who they are?"She fumed.
" Ahh!Monster!"One dropped on the ground scared to death.
"Kyaaaa—!"
"Cecile?!"Her ears perked up.
— "I've no time to lose."
She hurried in the direction of the cry as fast as she could. It came from an alley between two stores.
Two burly men with sharp daggers held the poor maid in their grasp.
"Cecile!"Sloane called out.
" Help me! Someone-Ahhh!"
She cried out for help.
"Be quiet you noisy woman. Or we'll slay your neck- Aargh!"
Sloane leaped at those men with her sword slicing them.
"What?"
To her shock, she saw two men were slain at once.
It wasn't her to take the other at the same time.
It was someone else's doing.
Familiar brown hair like caramel covering those sharp eyebrows and those piercing deep blue eyes.
"Elyas?!"
The silent knight stood amongst those robbers that were now considered nothing more than rotten corpses. Carrying the trembling Cecile in his arms he walked towards the dumbfounded girl who held her blood-stained sword tightly.
"I sincerely apologize for abandoning my duty. Your grace."
—"So this is the reason for Elyas's absence,"
"Elyas take her to a safer place. I will clean up from here."
The knight nodded and left.
Meanwhile, the maid and the rest of the knights escorting Sloane came rushing to her in the alley.
"Milady! Are you alright?"
They gasped in fright after seeing the corpses.
"Take care of these two."
"Y-yes at once milady."
The knights set to work."
Sloane glared at those corpses with disgust.
—"How did they enter this place? I need to investigate this matter. Something is not right."