SLAP
Anna was on the floor. She could not hear anything or feel anything for a few seconds. Something rang in her ears. The sand crushed under her palm. Her trembling hand brushed her burning cheek.
This person...
'Is he truly blind?'
"I told you to take her away as soon as the prayer was over!" Leonard blared. "What in the world happened?"
Finally, Anna came to her senses. She glanced around where the people ran, and people cried. Her eyes welled due to the pain, yet she could see flames rising from the front side of the chapel.
She realized that the people were dying.
"Th- the saintess talked-" She stuttered.
"That bitch!"
Something crashed into the floor.
"Calm down. will you?" Tommy came into the old storeroom and shouted as he helped Anna to get up. " What are you-!!!... How could you show your martial arts to a mere maid? I apologize instead of him."
"Did they find her?" Leonard asked, ignoring his scolding.
"Yes, without a scratch, she was just shocked. Now you..." He turned to Anna. "You should go to her. She asked for you... Tsk! Cover your face with your hair," Tommy dragged poor Anna without waiting for her to get used to it as Leonard stood where he was.
He was shocked. After a few minutes, he sat on the dirty ground because he felt his legs were giving up. 'I almost killed her' He mumbled. 'I almost...'
Ever since he became the translator for the crown prince, there was no time for him to wait and watch. He was busy with many tasks, even without his sight. To the others, he was blind, but to him, he got his visions right after he went blind.
The whole plan was to eliminate all the parasites in the temple. Leonard would not be this cruel to innocent people if it were not for the princess. She was naive and an easy target for the high priest to maintain. He had to act quickly, getting help from his least favourable human being, the saintess for this moment.
The princess's death was not in their hands.
"I almost killed her," He talked to himself and decided not to move until Tommy came. He expected not to shatter ever since he felt the burning pain of his eyes. The same pain felt again. He found his coat on the floor and bitterly chuckled.
"This is going to be very troublesome,"
Rivienne curled up on her bed, covering herself with a blanket. Her head was killing her. The fear she was feeling was not new. She had experienced it beforehand. Still, she feared that fear.
When she woke up, it was already the middle of the night. It was a short nap, as always. She got ready to go to the library. She did not have to worry since the security tightened after the attack. Whoever planned it could barely kill any innocent man magically.
People were injured severely. Crying toddlers and scared women were everywhere. Priests ran to help people. They were asking for the Saintess's blessing and healing. But she was nowhere to be found.
While Rivienne was helping a woman stuck under a pillar with a bleeding forehead, Daemon appeared out of the blue, grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to the carriage. She scratched his arm, crying, but there was no use.
She checked the bruise near her elbow. She thought that Daemon had broken her arm. She could not see him clearly because she yelled at him to let go of her to help the woman without any conscious. Before a blink, she was in the room and locked up.
"What in the world is going on?" She talked to her reflection.
Her attention caught the blue envelope that Lady Millicent Lysander gave her. Studying the envelope, she went back to the bed.
"... All should burn in hell..." She let herself fall on the bed and glanced up at the ceiling that looked like a battlefield with all the swirl patterns.
But her peace did not last long. Someone barged in, startling Rivienne to death. "We are here to arrest the criminal who attempted to poison the saintess,"
Sir Lance made the way for the imperial knights.
****
The garden filled with blood-red roses was not to be found after the blink of an eye. The twilight began to burn them all into ashes. Fire lines rushed through every petal and thorn as the breeze carried the remains far, far away from there, not leaving a mere trace of their existence. After all, paradise became a mirage of a dessert.
She shot her eyes at once, as her hand was pointed into the air as if she were to grab something. She blinked, taking that time to snap back to the present as she let her hand fall beside her. She realized that she was alone in the bed.
"Again…" She mumbled.
She stared at the swirls on the ceiling by the dim light of the candles, listening to the music like the subtle sound of raindrops thudding on the roof and the window glasses, embers crackling in the fireplace, and the loud silence around the chamber.
They made her mind blank for a moment. The air was warm, yet her naked body under the blanket was shivered. She was embarrassed to call her maid as she ran her hand under the blanket to the floor to grab his shirt.
To stop curling her lips up, she bit the bottom lip and sat straight, though her back was killing her. She touched her lips, chuckling and tried to wear the shirt. And the next second, she was frozen seeing the figure sitting by the window.
"My prince?" Before she did anything in her head, the words got out as she couldn't believe her eyes.
He took a sip from the goblet. Her emerald eyes brightened as she stepped to him, covering herself with his shirt. He was staring at the blooming red roses next to the window glass by the subtle light drawn from the chamber. As always, she could not read his mind or his face. She hoped he was thinking about her when he saw the roses.
She cupped his face, locking her eyes on his lips. She craved them. She craved them so much because she could never taste them until now.
She ran her fingers back of his head, pulling him to her, tilting and parting her lips to have a single touch of his lips with hers, but Ezra placed his head upon her shoulder, continuing to stare at the roses.