Vows and Bullets
Chapter 168 - 4th Week of September (Part 2)

Chapter 168: 4th Week of September (Part 2)

Please DON’T READ this Chapter yet. I will update this 4th week of September!

Good news! My hands have healed now and I’m catching up on writing my missed Chapters. My apologies for all the delays. I will replace this Chapter with the real one soon, don’t worry, and upload a new one for the next day. I really apologize once again.

In the meantime, please enjoy the continuation of the story below titled "The King’s Beloved". This is the revised version I am planning to submit for paperback publication. Hopefully, I get a chance someday.

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(Part 31 - Continuation...)

"Rania, wait! Where are you going?" Luna flew towards her and tried to stop her. "Don’t go in that direction. The lupus’ area is there. We were blown away by a strong wind earlier so we ended up in their territory."

"Oh, Luna. Thank you for telling me," she smiled at her. At least the little sprites were easy to talk to, was what she thought. "Hey, do you know anywhere I can stay for the night?"

The sprites looked towards each other.

"We’d love to help you but... you’re too big. You won’t fit in our houses," one of the sprites answered her.

"Right. Then, can you shrink me for a few hours?"

They shook their heads in unison.

"We used up our spiritual energy for the day. Sorry."

"I see. That’s okay. Maybe, I can stay above the tree. I’m a good climber."

"No! Don’t do that!" Luna disagreed, waving her hands animatedly. "There are other creatures that live in trees. They might attack you, too!"

Rania sighed. "Oh no. In that case, I’ll just stay in the pavilion near this forest." The pavilion was still a risky place but it seemed that the forest posed a greater threat.

"Why are you hiding when you can roam freely?" the masked man butted in.

He was a few meters away from her by then since Rania walked away from him, trying to avoid him. Still, he followed her with his eyes, sternly observing her like some peculiarity on display.

"Human maidens are brought into the palace to be a consort of the king, right? Isn’t being with the king a good thing? Why do you need to hide?"

Unsure what got into her but Rania suddenly felt annoyance rise within her. He didn’t know what he was asking. He’s too blunt with his questions. Things like those shouldn’t be asked especially if they’re not even close. If a stranger says they were hiding, it’s decent not to probe further since hiding only meant bad things—either someone was seeking protection from a bad guy, or they are the bad guy. And in her case, she was the former. But either way, both were sensitive topics he shouldn’t even be asking!

Rania bit her lips and tried to explain in the most calm way possible for her.

"I’m hiding exactly because of that. I don’t want to be his consort or queen or any kind of plaything to anyone! Tonight, I’m the first one to be scheduled for the king’s night visit and I—not in the whole wide world do I want to be—yes, I’d rather die than to be with him and most of all, spend my first night with him!"

Her voice started to get louder and tears could be seen in the corner of her eyes as her body trembled just at the mere thought of what she was saying. Embracing herself, she tried her best to calm down.

"Haah... I... I don’t even want to be touched by him. He’s the one who ordered to kill many from my race," she said under her breath. Before she knew it, she was already crying. "Who in their right mind would want to spend time with such a person? Let alone see him or be touched by him? I’m not some girl with Stockholm syndrome."

Poor Rania. Her fear finally crept in and settled, making her knees fall down to the ground. She tried her best to strengthen herself from the moment she escaped Meracus up to when she met the sprites and ran away from the lupus. But remembering the horrible truth, she couldn’t help but feel weak now that her strength reached its limit.

"Sniff... sniff," Rania sobbed. She wasn’t even sure why she’s telling all that to an eccentric man and to a Magi at that. "Just... just leave me alone, please."

"The king ordered to kill humans? Why?" he asked again, as if he didn’t hear what she just said.

"I don’t know!" alas, she lashed out at him. "They said they wanted our planet or something. Shouldn’t you know? You’re one of them!"

"I am a Magi but I never talked to any of them," the masked man shrugged. "If you really need a place to hide, you can hide in the pavilion. They won’t be able to see you there."

"Huh? That’s impossible. They can see me there. There’s only a tall hedge separating the pavilion to the pathway where the knights roam at night."

"I told you, there’s a barrier there. They won’t see you. They can’t pass the barrier."

"And I told you, there is no barrier! I just passed there a moment ago and there was nothing. I’m a human! If there was a barrier, how can I pass? I don’t have magic."

"I know. That’s why I said it’s interesting."

"Ugh. This conversation is getting nowhere."

"Are you angry?"

"Seriously?!"

Rania didn’t know what to say anymore. It was like they were both speaking in different languages. The sprites were left speechless watching their argument. Luna especially, was irritated by what’s happening so she decided to intervene.

"Ehem! Ehem! Excuse me, both of you!" Luna stepped in between Rania and the masked man. "First, please stop arguing!"

"We’re not—"

"Ssshhh! To be honest mister, you are so socially awkward and hard to talk to. You need to learn some serious conversation etiquette. Are you a pure introvert who lived under the cave for a long, long time?"

"Uhh... No. Not a cave."

"See? That’s what I mean. Anyway—Rania! Relax. Don’t get too agitated by him. I’m not sure if you’re angry because he’s hard to talk to or because he’s a Magi and if it’s the latter, it means you’re prejudiced and I can understand that given the things that happened to you but—I just want to tell you, he is telling the truth."