"Blooming heck!"
A strong, thick voice made Lily turn in an instant to look. She saw three men seated on a bench whilst drinking alcohol as they spoke to each other, very loudly.
"Are you telling me that the king is getting married tomorrow?!" one said loudly again.
"HAH! I'll believe' em when I see' em.."
King?..... Lily wondered who they were gossiping about, curiosity took the best of her as she moved a bit closer to them.
"I'm telling you mate! The king is choosing a bride at the moon harvest gathering tomorrow..."
"Which means we get to see the great king tomorrow? What an honor!"
"Heck yeah!"
"No you mugs. Only Alphas and nobles are allowed to visit the king tomorrow while we celebrate our festival here in our homes," one said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh.…" The other sighed in disappointment.
Lily had heard about the king from her father before, but she didn't really know much. All she knew was that he was the great and cruel king who had been ruling the empire for a thousand years now, they say he's as cold-hearted just as he is powerful. Was he choosing a bride tomorrow, at the gathering? No wonder the people were acting strange, who wouldn't? The king would finally be choosing a bri-
"Hey you!"
Lily snapped back to reality to find the three men glaring right at her.
She slowly began taking steps back, and just as she turned and was about to run away, a large hand gripped her own.
She gasped, turning around to meet the muscular one among them who held her hand tightly.
"Do you think... it's nice to stand there and listen to other people having conversations?" he asked angrily at her face, his strong breath hitting her nostrils.
"I-I'm so sorry, I-I was just-"
Suddenly the man paused, before leaning his face closer and squinting his eyes at her, as if trying to figure out why she looked so familiar, untill his gaze widened and he grinned maliciously.
"Oh! Well look at what we have here. Aren't you the little cursed redhead?" He asked loudly, squinting his eyes even more as he leaned closer again. Which also made Lily lean back, feeling uncomfortable by the weird look in his eyes, as well the other two behind him.
"Oh right, she is..." They confirmed.
"My! My! Look how gorgeous you've turned out to be! It's a shame no man would want you. Right mates?" He asked.
"Yeah, cause she's a beauty!" The other two stupidly answered back, making him frown in annoyance.
"No….you idiots, cause she's cursed!"
The two then nodded their heads, "oh right. That too..."
The muscular man -who seemed to have forgotten the belief to never touch the cursed redhead hands- shook his head, before he leaned to the girl again.
"But don't worry my dear-" shining his decayed teeth as he grinned with lust evident in his eyes. "We can take care of you-"
"P-Please let me go!" Lily begged. She looked around to see people already gathering to watch. However, none of them looked like they were ready to help her, they only whispered and murmured endlessly.
"Look! It's the redhead!"
"Poor man, he has touched the hands of a cursed soul, bad luck awaits him!"
"I heard her red hair serves as a symbol of blood, and wherever she goes, she will cause blood to flow!"
"Goodness! Why did they even allow her out?!"
Lily's heart began pounding in fear as she saw the disgust and hatred in their eyes. Frightened, she tried yanking her hand from the man's tight grip.
"Please! Let me go!"
But the men simply laughed, until their laughter was cut short when the muscular man suddenly groaned in pain just as he felt a kick in his groin.
He looked at the girl with his eyes widened as he had not expected her to do that. He suddenly became more angry, glaring at her deadly that it made Lily shiver.
Heavens, why did she think that would work??
"YOU FILTHY B*TCH!" He lifted his hand to hit her on the face and Lily closed her eyes.
But all of a sudden, a strong hand held his, preventing it from hitting her face.
When Lily opened her eyes, she was surprised to meet Adrian in front of her, holding the man's hand tightly whilst glaring at him hard. Adrian's eyes were burning with rage, that it scared the men themselves.
"Y-Young master Adrian! What are you doing here, saving this cursed witch?" The muscular man said as he immediately recognized him to be the son of the Alpha.
Adrian's eyes burned, yet his voice remained calm and gentle as usual. "Call her that one more time," he threatened.
Lily eyes went wide, watching him in silence as well as the people. They had never seen the son of the Alpha, who was always calm and cheerful looking so mad and scary before. Even the men could feel the dominant aura of an Alpha radiate off him, they knew they had to step down and submit.
The men lowered their eyes in defeat and it was until then Adrian let him go. He turned to Lily who was silent the whole time and reached for her face.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
The people were yet again shocked at the certain level of worry and warmth in his voice. They wondered why he was so gentle and caring towards the cursed female.
Lily softly shook her head that she was fine and Adrian sighed in relief, before instantly took hold of her hand and leading her away from the market.
By the time got home, it was slowly becoming night.
Lily thanked him for taking her out today, but Adrian smiled and leaned forward as he lifted his hand and caressed the side of her face so softly.
He leaned closer to her face as he looked into her eyes and her heart did a flutter. She had no idea how or why he was so eager for tomorrow to come.
He seemed like he wanted to tell her something but he was nervous. And Lily's heart raced as she looked into his brown eyes and anticipated what he wanted to say.
"Lily..." he breathed.
"Lily I…."
Before he could finish his words, a stern voice came from behind and made her freeze.
"Adrian…"
They both turned to see Alpha Jederek standing by the door and staring at them sternly.
"Come with me, now."