All the ruckus and panic only served to make my mood worse.
The staff was hurriedly taking out the customers while the capital guards entered the building and closed the zone around the corpse.
One of the butlers that previously attended us practically begged us to leave. Unfortunately for him, Verónica wouldn´t have it.
"Miss, please, you have to leave, we can´t risk the security of our clients!"
"You don´t have to worry about my security, I can take care of myself just fine, and I also have him to watch my back"
"Huh?"
Following her finger, the butler found himself trapped in my bad temperament. I knew that my expression wasn´t the most gentle since his skin became pale.
I didn´t have the patience to wait for them to negotiate, so I stepped closer to the man and grabbed his shoulder.
"... Listen bud, do us a favor..."
"E-Even if you seem strong, I-I can´t let you stay, Ple-please leave at-"
Cutting his words with my grip, I destroyed the distance between my mouth and his ear. Then, I whispered into his ear a gentle warning with the most encouraging of my smiles.
"Shut the fuck up and disappear before I turn you in the second corpse of tonight"
"!!"
The butler began to sweat uncontrollably, his body was shaking and his eyes filled with the purest of fears.
A second after, he bowed and left the building, I was able to see how he got in one of the carts filled with other staff members and abandoned his duties to preserve his life.
Once alone, Verónica stared at me with quite the furious intent. I averted my face and felt how the cold sweat began to drench my back.
"... You and I will have a long conversation after this, got it?"
"... Yes, ma'am..."
Her tone was colder than an iceberg, and her eyes were as sharp as a knife.
Great move you moron...
Just when we were about to help with the evacuation, the scream of an old man gathered the attention of everyone.
"Step aside! Your highness, the prince Nicholas Winright Asphyxia, is coming through!"
"...What?..."
I couldn´t hide my reaction, this event was not something I had prepared for.
From a snail-like line of stairs that connected with a second private floor, a group of heavily armored soldiers came down intimidating everyone with their presence. Right in the center of their formation, a young man accompanied by a pair of maids and a butler could be seen.
What is he doing here?! No... Wait a second now...
Then it hit me.
A simple but critical fact that I almost let slip because of its minimal impact.
My mind rushed into work mode when everyone except Véronica bowed to the figure walking toward us.
"Do not stop just to greet me, continue with the evacuation!"
With those words, the peace regained its vigor, but now that his existence was right here right now, it rushed the actions of everyone, especially the soldiers.
Before I could keep my train of thoughts, his gaze landed on us, a second after we were surrounded by the royal guards.
"... Verónica, I didn´t know you would be here tonight"
His voice was as young as ours, but it had the soothingness of an adult, probably because of his royal education.
"Good evening, your highness. Seems like casualties truly happen, how sad it had to be right now"
Verónica wasn´t affected by his figure, how could she when the man before us was an old acquaintance of her?
I already knew it from the original story, but seeing the prince in person truly helped to complete my image of his handsome self.
Blonde hair and blue eyes; his body was well-trained, giving him extra points in handsomeness when the fancy clothes embracing his body shined thanks to all the gold pieces decorating him.
The flag of the kingdom; whose symbol was a crowned heart pierced by two swords was resting on his shoulder and hiding the weapon hanging on his hip.
His facial features were subtle as if god had molded him to be perfectly attractive to the human being. The only concerning thing was his lack of expression and his dead staring. It somehow gave him a mysterious aura, but it also make it quite difficult to have a conversation; or any kind of interaction with him.
It feels as if he´s always looking down on you.
Pitying you from his high status.
"Tch..."
I suddenly feel the urge to punch him...
"And who this might be? Seems too well dressed to be your escort"
Feeling my stare; and maybe my thoughts, I finally got a bit of his attention. I didn´t want to cause problems for Verónica with my attitude, so I bowed and awaited his permission to speak as any other plebeian would.
"He is a branch member of our family"
With a confident, yet, subtle smile, she placed her hand on my shoulder as she spoke.
"Dominique, introduce yourself"
"Yes, my lady"
With the command given to me, I stood up with my eyes closed; looking directly into the eyes of royalty is considered an offense worthy of a couple of years in prison.
Something I don´t need for now.
"I am Dominique Foe Yatra, it is an honor to meet you, your highness"
"The Yatra? That is the lowest family branch of the Fotiadis, what is someone like you doing with the daughter of the duke?"
As to remind me of my low status, the butler behind Nicholas took a step closer to me. I was able to feel his disgusted look on me even when mine were closed.
"I am free to be with whoever I want, or perhaps you have a problem with that, butler?"
"N-Not at all, miss Verónica..."
Once again, the convincing aura of my master saved the situation...
"Haaah... You may look at me directly, Dominique, I came here as another customer, not as the prince"
"Your highness!?"
"Hush, Sebastian, there are more important matters than etiquette right now, don´t you agree, miss Fotiadis?"
"Indeed, I´m glad your highness is aware of that"
"Hrgh..."
The aged butler beside Nicholas finally shut his mouth. I felt his curses as I dared to see his lord as any other human being would, but I don´t have the time, nor the patience to deal with that now.
Even though he was expressionless, I managed to notice a bit of irritation emanating from the exchange he just had with his butler. Nevertheless, that feeling changed to a faint surprise when our eyes met.
Maybe this prince is simpler than I thought? Or maybe I am well accustomed to a personality like his?
I still need more time to find an answer.
"... Including your hair and skin, those eyes of yours are quite unique. Where are you from, Dominique?"
Before answering I turned to Verónica for a second, it was after she nodded that I opened my mouth once again.
"Now I live here as another common resident sir, but I can´t tell you the name of my birthland since I don´t even know it. So I beg you to forgive me, but I can´t give you a straight answer"
Nichola´s eyes gained a glimpse of light for a second, It was easy to perceive his curiosity.
He´s like a child that just found a new toy...
"Hmph, to think the Fotiadis would adopt a stray dog out of nowhere, the duke´s lineage is getting more and more corrupted"
Decapitating the nice mood that we hardly build, Sebastian had to illustrate us with another of his very clever comments. Both Verónica and I were already tired of him, so we stayed silent.
The prince, however...
"Sebastian, I believe I told you to stay quiet..."
The room began to feel colder, even my breath became visible in a matter of seconds.
This power...
Above Nicholas, 5 swords made of ice floated menacingly to the butler, his flesh gained the blue tonality of terror when his neck was grabbed by the hand of the prince.
"What worth is there in a servant that does not follow the orders of his master? You think you have the right to step before me as my superior?"
The noble image of recently was nowhere to be seen, now the person in front of me was hardly human.
He was more like an ice-blooded machine.
Sebastian tried to plead for his life, but the ice suffocating his throat made the action impossible. Looking at the maids and the royal guards, I noticed that they were either too scared or too indifferent to help the old man.
It´ll be bad for Veronica´s reputation if she intervenes so...
"Hey"
Using the shadows under everyone´s feet I caught the floating swords, then, with mana embracing my body as armor, I grabbed Nichola´s shoulder, and forced him to look at me.
"That´s enough, you´re gonna kill him if you don´t let him go"
...
...
...
The whole scenario was invaded by a heavy silence, no one could believe that a stray like me had the guts to speak like that to the next king of the kingdom, much less touch him and go against him.
Nicholas and I stared at each other for a couple of seconds, his eyes filled with amazement as the light slowly returned to them.
"... Yes... You´re right..."
With that answer, the ice disappeared and the atmosphere regained its normal temperature.
Sebastian was able to breathe again and the guards were practically finished with the evacuation.
"Seems like our help wasn´t needed after all..." Said Verónica sighing in deception.
Told you...
"My lord, your cart awaits you"
Conveniently for all of us, the cart of Nicholas arrived. As expected of the royalty it was heavily guarded by several knights and powerful creatures.
"Ah, yes... Verónica, Dominique, would you like me to take you home?"
"Thank you, your majesty, but we´re fine, my soldiers are already here"
Right behind Nichola´s soldiers, the force of the Fotiadis prepared our vehicle.
"I see... Then, I wish you both a safe trip"
"You too"
Nicholas and his people left, Verónica and I did the same and went to our cart. On our way there I heard the voices of several guards talking about my actions toward the prince.
"Looks like you´ll become even more popular in the capital"
"... Not like I wanted that..."
"Then you shouldn´t have done that"
"..."
I helped Verónica to enter the cart, I stayed outside with Twilight, who was being given to me along with my weapons by a knight.
"Are you going somewhere?" Asked Verónica popping out her head from the window.
"Yeah... I need to make sure of something real fast..."
"I see... Do you need some soldiers?"
"No, It´ll be better if it´s just me"
Nichola´s cart had left, I had to catch up to them before it was too late.
I hopped up in Twilight´s back, but I got closer to Verónica before our chase.
"You have to return before tomorrow, and don´t do anything I wouldn´t"
Her expression was a combination of serenity and concern, I felt my chest warming up with the view.
"Haha, sure thing, my lady"
"We´re set! Let´s go!"
The cart began to move, so Twilight did the same but in a different direction.
"Dominique!"
Just before leaving, Verónica called out to me, forcing me to jump out of Twilight into the cart´s door.
"Yes?"
Muack.
"!!!!"
"Be careful"
"Woah?!"
With the heat on my left cheek, and a hand pushing me away, my mission to guard the prince started.
"That is so unfair..."
"Grreo..."