Irina Everhart
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I paced back and forth in the training grounds, talking too much, as usual. Erza stood there with that cold, emotionless face of his. Honestly, how could someone be this infuriating? I don't care if he finds me annoying. I just want to live, I thought, not saying it aloud, of course.
The plan was simple: keep Celine close, make her my personal maid. Who else could I trust anyway? I didn't want anyone else, and Noah's objections were meaningless to me. "Celine will be my personal maid," I insisted, practically waving my hands as I talked. "I don't care what Noah thinks. She's the only one I want."
Ezra, though, just kept standing there, unmoved. His face was so annoyingly calm, like I was talking to a wall. Ugh, why is he always like this?
I huffed, pacing back and forth, still talking, trying to get a reaction out of him. "Celine is perfect for the job! She's smart, she's capable, and honestly, I can't trust anyone else. Besides, Noah is just being overprotective. I bet it's because he's still hung up on her or something. But I don't care—"
Before I could finish my sentence, everything happened in a blur. I didn't even notice the arrow flying toward us until Ezra moved faster than I could process. His arm shot out, grabbing me roughly by the waist, pulling me to the ground with him.
The world tilted, and suddenly I was on top of him, my face inches from his. For a moment, I just blinked, trying to understand what had just happened. His hands were firm against my waist, and I could feel the warmth of his body through my dress.
What just—?
But before I could say anything, Ezra shoved me off him, his movements harsh and abrupt. I landed on the ground with a thud, my heart still racing from the sudden rush of adrenaline.
I glared at him, feeling my face flush with anger. How dare he!
"What's wrong with you?" I snapped, pushing myself up to my feet. "You could've just said something! You didn't have to throw me like that!"
He stood up as well, brushing himself off, his face still annoyingly calm. "You're the one who wasn't paying attention," he said dryly. "If I hadn't pulled you, you'd have been hit."
"I was talking! You could've told me there was an arrow!"
He gave me a look, the kind that made me feel like an idiot, and shrugged. "I didn't have time to warn you."
I fumed, pacing again, trying to calm myself down. "Well, if it had been you in my place, I wouldn't have bothered saving you at all," I spat out, my voice dripping with anger. "I would've let the arrow hit you."
"Sure," he said, his voice flat. "Good thing you weren't the one making the decisions then."
I stopped in my tracks, turning to face him. "You're so—so frustrating!" I could feel my fists clenching at my sides, but he just looked at me like he didn't care at all.
"If it bothers you that much, maybe you should stop getting in situations where someone needs to save you," he said, his voice still annoyingly calm, like this whole conversation wasn't even worth his time.
I glared at him, my blood boiling. "You're impossible, Ezra."
He just raised an eyebrow. "And yet here we are."
I opened my mouth to retort, but no words came out. I was too angry to even think straight. How could he be so emotionless? How could he just stand there and act like nothing mattered? It made me want to scream.
But instead, I just crossed my arms and turned away, refusing to let him see how much he was getting under my skin. He wasn't worth it. I don't need him anyway, I thought bitterly.
I just need Celine.