"You haven't utilized your powers in a long time." Edoso continued. "But be cautious; they're still on the hunt for people like us."
"I know. Unfortunately, we might have been of great assistance to the royalties at this time of crisis, but they despise us." I responded.
"You're the only one who has a connection with them. Our entire organization despises them." Edoso admitted.
"I have no connection with them. We exclusively work together on business." I argued.
"Business? Such that they trusted you with their daughter?" Edoso inquired.
"They definitely trust you; you could never argue you're simply business associates." He continued.
With these charges, I could see where he was going. I was not prepared for this.
"Will they feel pity on you and let you go if they find out what you are?" He inquired.
He said it right there!
Some words that I despised hearing the most.
"I told you, as I always do, that we are nothing more than business associates. I don't expect anything from them if they find out who I am in the future." Trying to emphasize my point as much as possible.
"I'm pretty sure once they turn against you, you'll be disappointed in them because I'm certain you're expecting something from them, like a positive reaction, once they get to know what you are." he huffed.
"That makes no sense!" As I looked at where Charmaine and Jin stood, I remarked.
"Tell me, why are you assisting them at all? Why do you even have their daughter with you if you don't expect anything from them?" Edoso inquired.
"I have no expectations from the royal family." I made a remark. Why does he keep asking these questions? What proof did he need to see that I required nothing from the royal family regarding my hidden life?
"Can you disconnect it?" He inquired, turning his head to face me. His face contorted in disgust and hatred, which I was sure was directed at me.
"You took in the royal daughter so that if they found out, you could use her to your advantage and live while the rest of us are persecuted!" He just blurted it out.
What?! Excuse me?
What exactly did he say? Did I hear him right?
Was he openly accusing me of attempting to use Charmaine to threaten the royalties into sparing my life if they discovered my secret?
Of all the things I expected someone to think of me, this was the least likely.
When someone accused me of using Charmaine, the only thing I could agree on was that I used her to get money from royalties through payment.
They were paying me in rich gold, and I needed a lot of gold to free the person I loved the most from slavery.
I've been saving for years, making and burning candles to earn more money, living a filthy life to save more, and this old man here was saying such nonsense?
I couldn't care less about my life; the only person I cared about and wanted to see so badly, the only person I would give my life for, was this particular person who had me in a pickle.
"I'm not going to argue with you, Edoso. We've come a long way, and I don't want our friendship to be shattered over a minor disagreement." I tried to be as calm as possible through my response.
We needed each other to survive in this village, and we needed each other to survive in this kingdom. We'd become enemies if we started fighting and quarreling right now, which was not in my plans.
Now that I had the princess with me, I needed more allies than enemies. It wasn't about me right now, but about this little girl in my care.
"Let's talk when your mind has calmed down." Before walking away, I made a remark to Edoso.
"Charmaine, we have places to be." I made the remark after the magic trick they were watching ended and a new one began.
"Do we have to leave?" Looking up at me, she inquired. Jin's gaze was also fixed on me.
"We can't stay here all day." I responded. "We have errands to run."
She stomped her little foot and turned away from me.
'Spoilt little brat!' I thought to myself regarding her reaction.
I sighed and looked around at the people who had been drawn by the fake magicians in the center of the crowd.
Maybe having magic wasn't such a bad thing after all. I could also start doing silly magic tricks and no one would know whether or not I was a genuine witch, and in that way, I'd make more money.
"Can you leave her alone?" Jin inquired. His gaze was still fixed on me, and when I turned to face him, our eyes met and locked for several seconds.
"Why? So you can tell her lies about how bad I am?" I inquired.
"What? Why would you think of something like that?" He inquired.
"Wasn't it just a half-hour ago that you accused me of being a bad person? Who knows what you could do to make her hate me even more?" I inquired.
"Look, I'm not trying to hurt any of you. Why don't we go to that eat inn and get something to eat?" He inquired, and I turned away, uninterested.
"I will pay." He offered, forcing me to look at him once more.
"Charlotte, hurry up." He continued as he yanked on my arm, drawing me closer to him.
I quickly pushed him away and began walking towards the nearest eatery I could see. I didn't trust him, but Charmaine would never come with me by herself, with that current attitude of hers.
I had to work with her in some way, but she would pay for it. Someone had to teach her that sometimes, one never gets their way in life. One should never do whatever they want, thinking that there will be no consequences.
There will always be repercussions for actions taken, and she had to learn all of this.