"What nonse—"
The noble man exclaimed as he turned his head back to Iris but when he did, Iris was nowhere to be seen from her last position. The noble man could only stare at the air appalled while the maids and priests were freaking out by her sudden disappearance.
"Where did she go?"
Hearing his question, the maids were not able to answer immediately as they were also dumbfounded. But when the nobleman swiftly turned his attention to them with wide eyes, expecting an answer, the maids including the priest flinched fearing what would happen afterward as they could only give their honest answers.
"I have no idea, my lord…"
"I didn't see where she ran to…"
"I was looking out for the bear…"
They all muttered with a low tone of voice. With those answers, the nobleman couldn't help but feel infuriated. "How useless. Find her! Immediately!"
He ordered loudly which made his servants scatter around in utter panic, leaving the high priest and nobleman alone in the vast garden beside the flowing river.
—-----
The sun is starting to set as the sky has changed into a bright orange. Iris could feel the soft breeze starting to get colder as the night continued to go deeper. Iris hugged herself as she found herself lost in this unfamiliar place with no one to ask for help.
"The hell am I?" "Ugh, seriously this skirt is so annoying…" Iris grumbled as her fancy skirt was caught by a twig.
Out of spite, she pulled the skirt roughly, leading it to tear significantly. Creating a slit on the side of her long skirt. Iris can only groan as she can feel her luck slowly running out.
She knew that a lot of people must be looking for her upon seeing that she is supposed to be the daughter of that stern nobleman. That is why she needs to hurry. Running away won't solve the problem. And Iris knew that. She needs to find a way to survive in this new world. Maybe this is a new opportunity for her to start a new life.
As Iris was running away, she found herself once again lost in what looked like an abandoned woodland. The area is not that dense and it looked pretty safe to spend the night in. As she ventured deeper to find a perfect spot, Iris could hear a loud man's voice in the distance making a racket.
Because of that, Iris couldn't help but be alert. Maybe it was one of the men that was looking for her. Iris instantly rushed to hide behind a big tree, peeking discreetly at the direction of the commotion.
"Help! Is anyone out there?! Please help me!!" A man in what seems to be in his early 30's wearing a black ragged cloak was clinging for his dear life on one of the tree branches. His face was full of terror. Tears and snots are running down on his face.
Just what made him so scared out of his wits that he climbed that high on a tree branch? And the answer is down below him.
Iris shifted her line of sight down and upon seeing the thing that made that man shake in fear, Iris facepalmed.
It was a stray dog with a stick on his mouth. His tail was wagging in excitement as he looked up at the man with enthusiasm. It seemed like the dog just wanted to play with the man.
Iris decided to step in the foolish looking scene and helped the poor man. The stranger looked like a harmless person, just seeing his appearance and state. And if he tries to do anything funny, Iris knows that she could definitely take down that man.
"What the hell are you doing up there?" Iris questioned the man with a weary tone and look on her face.
She couldn't understand how this dog could scare him this much. Nevertheless, each person has a different phobia.
Upon seeing another person's presence, the man smiled in relief as he stared down at Iris."As you can see, that dog is trying to hurt me!"
He responded frantically as he pointed at the harmless brown dog. Iris looked momentarily at the excited dog with the same weary expression and shifted her line of sight back at the man on the tree.
"Uhh, no. It's clearly just trying to play with you." Iris responded calmly with a baffled tone of voice. How could he not see that the dog was just seeking affection from him?
The man shook his head desperately as he clung onto the thick branch even more. "I beg of you. Get that thing away from meee!!"
He pleaded with a very evident distressed tone. His voice even echoed in the area causing Iris to plug her finger in her ears. To stop the man from attracting more people and wildlife, Iris chose to settle it at once.
"Hayst, fine." She muttered under her breath as she lightly shook her head. Hearing that answer, the man couldn't help but cry in happiness seeing Iris trying to help him.
Iris went to the nearby bushes, picking up the appropriate thickness of its small branch. She then calmly and confidently approached the excited animal.
Iris swung her hand holding the stick back as she was about to throw it. The adorable and harmless dog only wanted to play. And so, that is what Iris will exactly do.
"Here boy, catch!" Iris commanded the dog as she threw it farther than she imagined. The dog's ear immediately went up as he barked excitedly at Iris before running away at full speed, leaving Iris and the man alone.
Iris then looked up as he stared at the man with a weary expression and tone of voice. Just how long was he there? She asked herself.
"You can come down now. I'm pretty sure that it won't be back shortly." Iris assured the man who was still clinging to the tree with her hands on her hips.
The man then took a second as he stretched his head in the direction where the dog ran off to. After confirming that the dog was indeed far from them, the man slowly climbed down the tree. As he planted his feet on the ground, his knees gave up on him seeing as he collapsed down on his knee with a hand on the tree to support himself. It looked like he was still pretty shaken up by the whole thing.
"F-finally… Thank you, kind stranger." The weak looking man then thanked Iris with a shaking tone of voice WIth a hand on his chest, he tried to calm himself. It looked like he was up there for quite some time now. Now Iris felt bad for him.
Curious, Iris then raised a question at the man as she squatted down on the ground without a care that it's very unlady-like. "Pardon me for asking, but why are you so scared of a dog?"
She asked as her expression changed into a look of interest. Iris had a prior conclusion that maybe he was bitten by a feral dog when he was a child. That's why he is that scared of dogs.
"Well, let's just say that I have a bad history with those kind of ferocious animals…" He responded with a miserable look on his face as if he remembered something he always wanted to forget. Shivers went into his spines afterward, seeing that he shaked uncomfortably.
With that downcasting response, Iris then completely swatted down on the ground, making herself comfortable as she said in an exhausted tone of voice. "Eh. At least you are not being chased."
She said as she ruffled the back of her head. Making her shoulder length hair even more messed up than it already was.
The man then raised his line of sight to Iris as he asked with a sympathetic smile on his face., "Rough day too, huh?" he asked with a sympathetic tone and expression as he glanced at Iris.
Hearing that, Iris couldn't help but vent to someone she barely knew. She then groaned before answering.
"No shit. I don't know where the heck I am. My stomach is growling and my feet fucking hurt from these damn heels!" She grumbled as she took off the two inch heels she was wearing the entire time.
Upon seeing how red and used her poor feet are, out of spite, she threw the shoe not far from where she was sitting. She will still need that later so she decided to not just mindlessly throw it somewhere far away. It would be a pain for her to walk in one show in the dark and cold forest. Both of them awkwardly stare at the lonely shoe that was in the distance.