Her lips twitched.
That was how Salim knew that she was awake but pretending to be still unconscious. She made him want to tease her, besides it was also because Salim needed to gain information from her. Everything went as he wished of course. So here they were now, facing each other.
Her face was deathly pale. Fear was crystal clear in her eyes. Her gestures told Salim that she saw them as a threat.
'Why do people in this so-called modern era fantasize about killing each other or being killed?', he thought.
Drawing away his focus from that girl, Salim looked at Behram. Both were the reasons why he thought so. One thought that they were about to commit murder. One thought when she was about to be killed.
"A-are you going to kill me?" she asked in a trembling voice. Her pair of black eyes stared at him.
Salim looked at her. She was scared but still curious. Salim found that this was funny.
'How old is she? She is like a child', Salim wondered.
Then he tried to get the answer by observing her. At first, it was by her physical appearance. Before long, Salim processed what he saw.
'She looks like 15 year old physically', he thought. But he felt awkward about it. He was sure that the girl was older than she looked physically.
Salim then tried to observe again through her way of thinking. But even this one didn't work. That girl asked something ridiculous again to him.
"A-are you the mafia? O-or a gangster?" her voice was stuck in her throat when asked about it.
Salim's laughter almost exploded from hearing it. Really, that girl seemed ridiculous to him. But he refrained from laughing. She might consider him as a psychopath if Salim laughed at her while she was full of fear.
"Do we look like one of them?" Salim asked back.
She narrowed her eyes and stared at Salim suspiciously. Her hands pulled the blanket over her body.
All her gestures, of course, didn't miss from Salim's observation. Then Salim changed his position while looking at that girl. From smothering, Salim used his right hand to support his chin.
She turned her face away from him. In a whisper, she spoke to herself, "Why did he even ask me back?"
"I can hear you," Salim responded.
That girl turned her head to him quickly. Her pair of round eyes looked furiously at Salim.
"Then pretend that you didn't hear me!" she replied Salim annoyed.
Salim raised his eyebrow. He didn't expect to get such a reply from that foreign girl. The corners of his lips twitched in amusement.
"Miss, please watch your etiquette!" Behram warned her. He was standing by Salim's side quietly. He only reacted because he thought that that girl was already very disrespectful to his master who was in fact a prince of the Ottoman Empire.
"It's you guys who must pay attention to your attitude! You're the ones who enter other people's homes illegally, you're also the ones who talk about attitude! How ridiculous!" she nagged. Her fear suddenly disappeared and turned into annoyance.
Her eyes were staring at Behram. Seeing her, Salim knew that her anger hadn't been resolved towards Behram. Salim was supposed to mediate the situation but for some reason, he really wanted to know what would happen next. So he just kept quiet and didn't respond.
"Also, as an old man, you should be on the right path and behave well! Do you wish for a tight grave, huh?" her voice sounded defiant.
Hearing her words, Salim put his hand to cover his mouth. He laughed silently behind his palm. As for Behram, his eyes widened. He was shocked by the level of that girl's insolence. But Behram was wise enough not to be provoked by replying to her. Instead, he released his frustration by grumbling to himself, "How could you bring an underage girl like her here? That disobedient child...!"
"I'm not an underage, Sir," that girl responded, offended. "I'm 20 year old and a tenant here," she emphasized the word 'tenant'. "If in case you think that I live together with Yıldıray," she added.
'20 year old but like a 15 year old one', Salim commented inwardly.
Behram was about to say something to that girl. But Salim raised his hand immediately, asking Behram to shut his mouth.
"What's your name?" Salim asked.
"Why do you want to know my name? Aren't you the one who is supposed to introduce yourself? This is my house!" said the girl sharply.
"Miss!" Behram warned again.
"Behram, calm down," Salim held his servant.
Behram closed his mouth. The man followed his master's instructions though with a heavy heart. He didn't expect to meet someone as terrible as Yıldıray.
'Like one Yıldıray isn't enough, now there's a female version of him!', Behram thought.
"Ok, we do as your wish. I'm Salim and this--" Salim's introduction was cut.
That girl clapped her hands. Cutting off his words, "You guys are the son and father that Yıldıray told me?"
Salim was silent. How would he answer if that girl jumped out of bed quickly? He saw her take a small glass bottle from the table. Then she walked to him.
"He said I should hand this over to you guys," she handed Salim the bottle.
Salim accepted. He was about to speak but she was already ahead of him.
"All right. I already gave you what you wanted. You don't have to kill me and please pretend like we never met before. You guys can go now!"
Of course, no one moved from that place. Both of them were silent like statues whose eyes were directed at that girl. Hence, the girl repelled the two away once more. This time with a louder and more forceful voice.
"So why are you guys still here?" she asked impatiently.
"Where should I go? This is my house," Salim replied
That girl was dumbfounded to hear it.
***
'What did he say? My house?'
"Your... house?" Arsia asked again. She was unsure of herself and surprised too.
That blond-haired man nodded. He seemed relaxed even with all the unrest happening there at the moment.
"Is this house doesn't belong to Yıldıray?" Arsia was trying to understand their situation.
Actually, she was worried when she asked. She shall know the answer well but she also didn't want to hear it. It felt like she already knew what the answer was and it wasn't something she wanted to hear.
That man nodded again. His attitude really disturbed her and scraped her patience which actually no longer there.
"Are you suddenly dumb? Say something and don't just nod!" shout Arsia that felt irritated by him.
"What do you want me to say? Don't you already know the answer?" finally he talked. His pair of chartreuse green eyes stared straight at Arsia. "But if you want to hear it from me, fine. Yıldıray fooled you."
Arsia was frozen in her place. That man was right that she already knows the answer. But hearing it voiced like this still made her shocked.
"How do I know that you're not lying?" Arsia defended. Actually, she just tried to save the rest of her pride.
Then he walked passing her. From the desk drawer in that room, he took a folder.
"Original," he said, showing Arsia a certificate of the house's ownership.
Arsia observes it closely. There was a photograph of him affixed to the upper right side of the certificate along with the stamp and signature of the relevant institution indicating its authenticity.
Arsia shocked. She closed her eyes. At this moment she really felt like a moron. As if she who was just fooled by Yıldıray wasn't poor enough, then she humiliated herself in front of those men.
"Hey, are you sleeping?" he called her.
Arsia opened her eyelids slightly. She peeked at him only to close her eyes again but this time tighter than before. Then Arsia turned her body and ran to the bed. There she turned herself upside down and used a blanket to hide herself.
"Hey," he called back.
Being afraid that he would throw her out, Arsia spoke hurriedly, "I won't get out of this house. I can't get out now!"
The sound of his footsteps was heard approaching her. Under the covers, Arsia became even more uneasy.
"What's your name?" he asked as soon as he reached the side of the bed.
"A-Arsia," Arsia strumbled.
"Hmm, Arsia from Persian which means someone worthy of the throne," he said in a thoughtful tone of voice.
'Huh? Why is he talking about the meaning of my name?', Arsia didn't understand. But she was silent. Rather than responding to his words, it was better for her to use her energy to think about her fate after this and as much as possible not to irritate him.
Arsia waited anxiously for what the man will say next. While waiting, she thought about the worst possibility she would face. What if that blonde man kicked her out? Arsia had already handed over her rent to Yıldıray and she had no money left to rent another flat. And her monthly wouldn't be enough to rent the new one without roommates.
Arsia took her breath away. Then she heard the voice of the true owner of the house.
"Get out of there, Arsia. We'll talk about it in a manner," he said in a calm voice but coerced.