Ian was waiting for Xander's answer and hani had been watching him, feeling lucky to have been saved.
Xander glared at Ian and he immediately raised his feet to kneed him.
" Ian!!. Watch out!!" Hani yelled and Ian turned to look at her in worry.
Before he knew it...
" Ugh!!!" Ian gasped, holding his private in pain and hani bit her lower lip hardly, her forehead creasing.
Xander tried to run away and she used Ian's sword to hit his feet and he fell briskly on the rock.
He started rolling down the rock carelessly and when all the female noticed he was the one, they all picked their bucket and ran for their lives into different directions.
Thereafter, he dumped into the water.
Ian slowly turned to look at Hani, tho the pain he was feeling had vanished all of a sudden. Hani quickly picked her bucket and looked at him.
" G...Good morning Ian" She said, giving a simple respectful bow.
Ian walked closer to her.
" Nice work with the sword" He said and she gave a chubby smile.
She didn't want to look down there where he was kicked but her eyes kept swaddling around.
" Don't worry, I'm fine" He said as if he knew, and her eyes came calm as she stared at him.
" I'm sorry I was trying to warn you but___
" It's not your fault, hani. At least, you were able to stop him and that's what matters, okay?"
" Okay" She nodded.
" Did he hurt you?" He asked
" He was about to. He only hit my face. Right here" She said, pointing at her cheeks.
He leaned his head sideways, staring at her cheeks as his thumb moved on her skin caressing it fondly.
She kept staring at him, wondering why he looked so breathtaking in that angle.
" Such a fine jawline" Her mind thought excitedly.
He slowly turned his eyes to look at her and she lowered her chin, feeling her heart start to race abnormally.
" It's a bit red" He said.
" I know. But it's fine, it doesn't hurt anymore. I'm fine now" She mumbled.
Xander got out of the water and hani looked over to the scene but Ian hadn't take his eyes off her yet.
" Oh no, Ian. He's back!!" She panicked and grabbed his hand, pulling him away as fast as she could.
Xander crawled out of the water, coughing hardly with red eyes before sitting on the rock.
He took off his boot and saw he had gotten a major injury from the sword and he was bleeding seriously.
He sighed and picked both shoes, throwing it deep and far into the river.
" Hani!!!." He gritted.
****
♡PALACE GARDEN♡
Xora was sitting by the hut shade, taking a coffee when she saw Aurora coming in a haste.
She quickly dismissed her attendant, leaving only salome with her. She sat up, keeping her coffee on the table.
" Aurora. Are you alright?" Her mom asked as soon as she approached her.
Aurora stopped to take a seat.
" I came to tell you something, mom" She said.
" And, what is it?"
Aurora took in a hot sigh before taking out a drug from her purse, showing it to her.
" I want Ian to myself" She said.
Her mom sipped in her drink, looking at the drug suspiciously.
" What do you mean?. And What's that on your hand?"
" This is an initiative drug. I got it from the physician yesterday."
" And You are planning to use it on Ian?"
" He only needs to inhale it. He's been playing hard to get for centuries and as the princess, I'm supposed to get what I want"
Her mom chuckled.
" And he's been ignoring you too?"
" Every f*cking time, mom. Every f*cking time!!" She sighed.
Xora dropped her cup and smiled.
" Okay sweetheart. I understand your plight and I'm ready to help you out. I'm doing this cos I think Ian is a great guy for you"
" Awwn. Really?"
" Yea. Anything for my little princess."
" Oh, that's marvelous!. I'm sure he wouldn't be able to resist me by the time he inhales this drug in front of me. I can't even think of more better excitement" She smiled happily.
Salome slowly smirked as she listened to their conversation.
" Maybe I'd deal with hani later. I must get this drug by all means" She thought wickedly.
***
<
Vivian walked into the palace and when she saw the king, her leg froze at a spot. She wouldn't dare move.
The king passed her by but he suddenly stopped and turned to face her.
" What are you doing in the palace?. Didn't I tell you I hated your presence!" He asked.
" I..I..was about to meet Queen Erica. She needs my attention" She said without raising her chin up.
" There's a Palace back door, you can probably take that route and not here."
" I will, Your highness" She bowed.
" Next time you pass through here, I'll cut those two leg of yours and feed it to my wife's and child corpse" He hissed and she gulped in hardly, shutting her eyes.
" Bag of Idiot!" He spat before walking away.
The other maids passed her by, rolling their eyes at her, even whispering bad rumors about her.
She sighed and started to walk away quickly, going towards Queen Erica's room.
She was about walking towards the corridor when something made her stop near the glass French window.
She looked up and met Ian coming with hani towards the front door of the palace and Vivian remembered that the King was taking that route as well.
" Oh no!!. He'll see them together" She said and turned around to pass through the short cut, The back door.
She got there and saw it was locked.
" Shit!. There's no way out!" She said and picked her hair pin from her strand, using it to open it.
Luckily, it was able to break open. She rushed out and started walking towards their direction in full speed.
Her steps began to retard when she saw Ian talking to the king already. Her heart started racing rapidly.
Ian gave a short bow and the king started to walk away.
She quickly went forward.
" Ian. Where's Hani?" She asked.
" I already told her to take the next route and run back into the palace" He said, looking away.
" You both need to be careful. You keep on making me worried. Knight and maids aren't allowed to walk around like this in the day" She said
" I was only trying to escort her so there's no need to elaborate!" He yelled and Vivian was puzzled.
Ian just breezed a sigh, grinning his lower teeth.
" I already decide not to talk to you for as long as you keep on hiding things away from me. Don't come back begging when I finally choose to move on" He scoffed and turned his back walking away quickly.
Vivian stared at his retreating back as he left. Her eyes brought out hot tears as it slowly dropped on her