"What?" Zero gasped in surprise the moment he heard what the princess had said. No, he couldn't believe it, the princess had chosen Zephyr to be her personal bodyguard, which means that he would be higher in rank than Zero.
He couldn't believe this, he didn't even want this! Because he knew what was going to happen to him once Zephyr was given that position and was in the same castle as him. They would fight nonstop.
Blair frowned in confusion, "Any problem chief?" she asked with a raised brow.
Zero looked around him to find the royals glaring down at him and he chuckled, to wipe off the awkward atmosphere. "No your highness," he lied.
"I mean... Yes... You chose a good one" He managed to gulp down the spit in his throat, and his eyes darted toward Zephyr but the guy wasn't looking at him, his gaze was on the Princess.
Blair nodded in agreement, she spun on her heels to face the king and bowed, "Your majesty, he is my choice" She spoke, referring to Zephyr who was on his knees.
The King glanced at the fellow that was kneeling, seeing the tattered cloth and scattered hair, the king couldn't be less pleased with him. Moreover, he was still looking better than the others.
"Fine then, you are all dismissed" the king ordered. And everyone retreated to their various refuges.
Once they were retreating, zero moved to discuss something with the princess along the corridor. Getting to where she was, he greeted her with respect and offered to take care of Zephyr.
"There's no need to bother yourself about this minor thing, chief, I can do this on my own" Blair opposed. She wouldn't have to but because of the way Zephyr was being treated by zero earlier, didn't make her want to leave him in the hands of Zero.
"But your highness" Zeo cried out while glancing at Zephyr who was the least bothered by everything that was happening. He had his thoughts in his head and he was seemingly not with them at the moment although his body was present. "He can be very dangerous" Zero whispered.
"As I have said earlier, I can handle this on my own" she reiterated her words, her voice stern.
Zero realized that the princess's patience with him was running out and it wouldn't take long before she dismissed him. He brought out a cuff from his back pocket and passed it to the princess.
"Your highness, I'm all about your safety, please use this on him" He proposed once again with pleading eyes.
Blair glared down at the cuffs, "They wouldn't be needed" she stated firmly. With that, she grabbed hold of Zephyr's hand and turned to the direction of her chamber.
Zero could only sigh. He regretted treating the new bodyguard earlier but there was nothing he could do to change the situation.
***
When Blair and Zephyr arrived at the chamber, they were greeted by the maids who were working there. "Your highness" they bowed politely and Blair acknowledged their greeting with a smile.
"You are all dismissed"
The maids nodded in understanding, they quickly stood up and marched out of the room to create space for the princess and her new bodyguard. When they left, Zephyr yanked his hand away from her, earning the surprise of the princess.
"Are you hurting?" she inquired in concern as she moved to check his hand but he quickly withdrew it and looked away from her.
"Oh" Blair chuckled softly, her small giggle penetrated zephyr's ears and caused his organs to malfunction for a while... What was wrong with him for crying out loud?
"Are you shy?" Another question came from her to him and he narrowed his eyes to the side, unsure of how to respond to her. "You are" Smiling, she tapped his cheek lightly.
Zephyr glared at her, his face twisting into a scowl and his eyebrows pulled together. The princess realized her mistake and she quickly apologized to him, it wouldn't be good if they started as enemies. "I'm sorry if you didn't like that, I'm Blair, the third princess. Nice to meet you... Your name?"
Zephyr didn't answer her as his eyes narrowed to look at the window. All he wanted right now was to get out of there and obtain the explanations of why he was in the forest, captured, and brought here. What was he even doing there in the first place?
Blair followed his train of sight and her eyes narrowed, 'What are you thinking about' she pondered as she silently watched him, the next minute, she saw him leaping away from her and heading toward the window. Blair wanted to warn him of the dangers but she was too late, to be precise, he was faster and she was slower.
Immediately, he reached the window, wanting to leap off, an invisible red net appeared and threw him back with the same force that he wanted to use to leap off. Zephyr's back hit the wall, causing some little rocks to fall.
"oops" Blair mused. She was running to help him but he had gotten up already and dusted his body like nothing had happened to him. Again, she was slow!
"What's that thing?" He asked her, his eyes directed to the window. The net had cleared off and the window appeared normal.
"It's a sort of protection, the king requested the famous witch to cast a spell around it so there wouldn't be any form of a sneak attack on me" Blair explained softly, "As you can see, I'm just a weak omega that's incapable of protecting myself, that's why I needed someone to protect me"
'You have quite a lot of gutsiness to be saying that out' That was the look Zephyr gave her and Blair was once again stunned by him.
"Your duty is to ensure that I'm safe and my duty is to treat those people beneath me well, trust me, I'll also protect you from the likes of Zero" The princess rolled her eyes... "I hope we would have a pleasant cooperation" She smiled at him while bringing out her hand.
"I'm not doing this" Zephyr thought as he eyed her hand. He wasn't here to ask for more trouble for himself, all he wanted were answers and he needed them now. He was desperate to have those answers, he even needed to know who he was. Yes, that's how severe his injury was.
"Now, what's your name?" The princess asked as she withdrew her hand with an awkward smile. Something was off with this man in front of her and she needed to know what it was.