Kira thought to get away from the dangerous man; she'd been with him long enough to know his very presence spelled trouble. Her legs wanted to carry her away, but Dae was already by her side. He grabbed her hand and dragged her away; her friends voiced their objection, but one look at Vaughn's dragon, watching them viciously, had them both rooted to the spot. Both girls hugged each other tightly in fear. The palace was so scary these days!
"What are you doing?!" the princess exclaimed and tried to wrench her hand away. Dae was not an ordinary man, so his strength couldn't be compared to hers. He led her to a quiet corner and slammed her back against a wall, causing her to moan in pain.
"What are you planning to do?"
"I don't understand..." Dae held her jaw; though he didn't use much strength, Kira was in pain. She was the only princess in the kingdom, so she was spoilt from an early age. Her skin was white and tender, very easy to bruise.
"Do you know what people are saying about you?" Dae's eyes were dark and scary; even though Kira didn't want to respond, she found herself compelled to.
"The princess is so infatuated with her new boy toy that she chased her favorite consort away yesterday. Now, it seems your plans aren't only to turn me into your bitch but also to ruin my reputation."
"No, that's not true! When did I ever...?" When did she say she wanted Dae in any romantic manner? If possible, she would have liked to stay as far away from him as possible. Dae was famous, and all his millions of fans fell for his good looks, but only Kira knew he was a venomous snake that fed on the weak. A bully! How could she ever like someone so despicable?! The idea itself gave her goosebumps.
Dae, however, didn't know the princess was repulsed by him. He assumed she was scared because he had called her out on her despicable plans to monopolize him. Though he might not have his memories now, he felt he was a very proud person who shouldn't tolerate such a stain to his reputation. He was not going to be this princess's whore, no way! At the moment, he felt like having Storm (his dragon) eat her up and spit out her mangled body! But he knew doing such a thing would lead to his execution.
Kira pushed his hand to the extreme limits! He leaned closer, so their faces were only inches apart. Dae took great satisfaction in seeing the fear in her eyes.
"If you do this again, I'll personally feed you to Storm and have him shit you out in front of all your sluts. Clear?"
"Clear."
Dae smirked in satisfaction; and at that moment, he looked even more like her boss who had tormented her all her life. He pinched her face ruthlessly and left her almost in tears.
Though Dae had clearly been threatening her just now, but to the figure who had been watching them from a distance, it looked a lot like they were having an intimate moment. Moon's eyes turned extremely cold, cold enough that it might even turn the person he was glaring at into a block of ice. He turned around and walked away.
As Dae went away, Bloom and Evelyn were frightened as his dragon took to the skies. At that moment, they felt tempted to leave the palace and never come back.
When Evelyn noticed Kira walking towards them with a solemn expression, she hurriedly held her hand.
"Why is your face like that? What did that beast do to you?"
"He was so scary just now; I thought he might kill you," Bloom chimed in.
Kira shook her head; she didn't want to talk about it.
"Let's just go."
The women understood her fear and didn't push her to say anymore. They continued walking to the gate, though none of them were in a good mood anymore.
***
The Emperor had already assigned someone to protect the princess and her friends while outside the palace. Bloom and Evelyn already suspected they wouldn't be allowed to go out alone; they were not only women living in a world of men but also upper-class noble women, and they even had the princess with them. Due to the very little population of women in the world, some men had never seen women up close before, so they were bound to draw attention. But who knew the Emperor would assign the Regent, General of the Army, to be their escort? They nearly passed out when they saw him.
Only Kira didn't know the identity of the man in armor. He had short, dark hair, a handsome appearance, and a manly aura. There was a kind smile present on his face as he greeted Kira.
"Good day to you, Princess."
"Hello. Will you be taking
[9/29, 12:35 PM] Meta AI: Here is the continuation of the corrected text:
"Good day to you, Princess."
"Hello. Will you be taking us into town?"
"I shall be your protector."
"I doubt we need one. Isn't it just shopping?" She looked back at her friends, who didn't dare say anything in front of the Regent. Prince Snow smiled lightly. "One can never be too safe."
He left them be and went to mount his horse. The women got into the carriage, and they were soon on their way. While Evelyn and Bloom exchanged gossip, the princess wasn't really in the mood to chat. She leaned back against the velvety interior of the ride and thought of ways to get back home.
It took about an hour and a half to get into the Capital City's main Market. This was because the Palace was built at the far end of the kingdom, a strategy to keep the Royal family safe even when the kingdom was under attack. Kira peeked through a small gap between the curtains at the ancient market scene. There were citizens of the Kingdom, all dressed in colorful robes, going about their day. While most of them were men, Kira still spotted a few women in their midst. But these women were with their husbands or had security for protection. Still, they got looked at everywhere they went.
She hadn't wanted to believe it at first, but this was living evidence that the women in the kingdom were indeed few. Very strange. Although the Carriage the King had assigned to them was very average, so as not to draw too much attention, it still had the royal seal engraved on the sides. Coupled with the famous Regent riding his horse alongside the carriage, the commoners were very curious about the identity of the person inside.
The ride soon pulled up in front of a grand building; this was the new Jewelry store built in the capital by a wealthy Gold Merchant. The store attracted the attention of Noble women all over the kingdom due to the rare and exotic jewelries they sold.
The Manager of the Store had already been informed about the princess's visit that day, so the entire store had been cleared of customers in preparation to welcome her. The middle-aged man came to greet the Regent.
"This commoner greets the Prince Regent." He kowtowed.
The Regent, a very casual man, didn't put too much importance on formalities. He gave the man a dismissive wave and unmounted his horse.
"Princess, we have reached our destination."
The door of the carriage was pushed open, and the ladies stepped down one by one. Kira was the last to get down. She accidentally stepped on her dress while climbing down the steps and nearly fell on her face; she would have faced a very embarrassing situation if the Regent hadn't caught her.
"Be careful," he said with a small chuckle.
"T-thanks," Kira steadied herself. She didn't think anything about the way the Regent's hand lingered on her waist before letting go.
"This commoner greets Her Royal Highness, the Princess!"
"Stand up," Kira said awkwardly, unused to being bowed to or treated with such respect.
"Shall we go inside?"
"Of course, Your Highness. Please, come this way."