Perry was having a decidedly lousy time today.

 

First, she had to drop all her morning chores and afternoon plans when Miss Mirian suddenly sprang this impromptu task (read: headache) upon her without warning.

 

“Please accompany Lady Joanna to the Royal Palace today, Perry”.

 

 Too bad, Perry didn’t want to associate with the little Lady any more than she could help. But orders were orders. In any case, let it never be said that she did not try to wiggle out of this dilemma first. “I think Lucia would have been a better choice.” Perry had discreetly whispered to Mirian’s ears when no one was looking. “That woman actually gets along with the young Lady now.”

 

She’d even added a shudder for some dramatic effect.

 

Mirian had graced her with one of those ‘this-discussion-ends-now’ stare. “Lady Patricia trusts you with this task, Perry.”

 

‘You don’t have a choice’— went left unsaid.

 

And that was that.

 

And so, like a trustworthy employee, Perry resigned herself to an afternoon of ‘Joanna-sitting' and sheer boredom. Even the pretty flowers of the Royal Garden weren’t pretty enough to lift her mood.

 

The second stroke of bad luck began when her charge, Lady Joanna had this brilliant idea of crawling though the flowering bushes instead of walking straight like a normal human being. To say that Perry was a little confused would be an understatement. But like the good maid she was— she too decided to drop down on all fours and trudge right behind the Lady.

 

To her surprise, Lady Joanna turned around and gave her this intense ‘What the devil are you doing?’ look. The irony was devastating. The maid wanted to protest, but her mistress beat her to it. “Please wait for me there, beside the spring fountain. I will find you when I get back, Perry.”

 

There was nothing left for her to do except nod— so Perry did exactly that, and watched the girl’s rounded arse disappear under the shrubs.

 

The third and final nail on the coffin happened a mere hour and-a-half after that.

 

Because nothing could have prepared the maid for this ear-splitting explosion that blasted the Royal greenhouse off its hinges, and plunged the entire Royal Palace into chaos.

 

Perry withheld a long-suffering sigh of resignation.

 

A panicked and utterly confused mob of people came running from all directions and collided with each other like pinballs. They shouted and struggled and scrambled through the grass as a bigger crowd rushed into the scene, stampeding all over the fallen chaps and tripping face-first into the dirt. Perry watched from a distance, trying to scan the swarm of people for any signs of Lady Joanna, but a niggling suspicion at the back of her mind said that the exercise was futile. Somehow, Perry had the impression that the young noble Lady would never allow herself to mingle with the common folk, emergencies be damned. No, that girl would be staying put in her spot like a very dignified but stubborn mule, arrogantly flipping her hair and waiting for the most important people to come to her rescue.

 

Well, that changes things.

 

If her charge was not going to move a muscle and evacuate the area like a sensible person, Perry had to take it upon herself to drag the pre-pubescent girl back to the carriage, by force if need be. The maid squared her shoulders, lifted her skirt and doggedly marched towards the direction opposite to the frantic crowd.

 

                           -----------------------------------------------

 

 

It was hard navigating through the rubble, especially when you needed to keep an eye out for snooping guards that were milling about the whole place. Perry almost lost a shoe, tripped on a broken pillar, got a face full of soil and smoke in her mouth before she managed to make her way to the other side of the garden. She had kept an ear out to listen to her surroundings—the urgent snatches of conversation from the guards, something about “Prince Emmanuel” and “stranded alone with his fiancée” and “Ice Pavillion” and “Is Sir Shawn there—?”, along with a string of unintelligible words that did not seem useful. It did not take long to deduce her mistress’s location, and Perry hoped that she was not too late.

 

On second thought… if Shawn Wicksman was with them, there was perhaps very little need to worry at all.

 

When Perry finally did reach the Ice pavilion, she wanted to eat her words and take a long dump somewhere in the vicinity. Preferably within the line-of-sight of that damned bodyguard.

 

Her charge was bleeding from the forehead and slumping weakly against her pansy-faced fiancé, sporting a badly chopped haircut, a bruised arm, skinned knees, and various other nicks and cuts in the face that was enough to give Lady Patricia a potential heart attack.

 

Prince Emmanuel Grayford stopped in his tracks and gawked at Perry like she was a colourful spectacle standing in the middle of the dirt road.

 

So much for all that flimsy trust.

 

Perry wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable blows dealt to her poor paycheck.

 

Whatever the case was, the maid needed to make sure that she could at least bring Lady Joanna home in one piece. Otherwise, her head will be removed her shoulders before Perry could even spell ‘paycheck’ with her tongue.

 

Sigh. She should have just listened to Mrs. Tabitha’s advice and taken a few days off this week.

 

Time was of essence. The Prince didn’t look like he was going to stop staring at her anytime soon, so Perry decided to take things upon herself. She shuffled forward in measured steps, ignoring Emmanuel’s skittish glances, and gently patted the dazed noble Lady hanging from his arms.

 

“My Lady Joanna? It’s me Perry.”

 

“Perry? Ahhhh, yes! ….You’re here, Perry. You’re the best, Perry.” Came the moaning reply. Emmanuel almost dropped her in shock. His cheeks had turned a pretty shade of pink.

 

“My Lady Joanna.” Perry tried once again, but all that came out from the girl was lopsided smiles and more fumbling words that sounded suspiciously like “Perry, Perry….you’re here at last!” The last word was accompanied by a flurry of kissy noises from the Lady Joanna’s mouth.

 

The damage to her head seemed serious.

 

Perry swiftly put on her business face. “Your Highness Prince Emmanuel. I am most relived to see that you are unharmed. Ever since the explosion was heard, I had been frightfully scared and worried about the whereabouts of my Lady.”

 

Emmanuel von Grayford gave her a look of confusion.

 

Technically, Perry should have first curtsied properly and greeted the Prince as soon as she stood in his presence— her bleeding charge be damned. Such were the cumbersome etiquettes for interacting with the Royalty. But the maid wasn’t in the mood for useless technicalities now, and mercifully, the Prince didn’t look like he cared either.

 

“Wait—!” Emmanuel von Grayford looked like he had a sudden epiphany.  “A-Are you a maid from the Winsten family? Did you— were you the one who accompanied Joanna into the palace today?!”

 

“Yes, Your Highness. Thank you for saving our Lady Joanna. I had been looking everywhere for her, but the chaos in the garden was making it impossible to get very far.” Perry tactfully left out the part where she had to stomp on a guard’s feet or two when they refused to let her leave the shelter prepared for civilians.

 

There was a flash of remorse on the boy prince’s face. “I-I am sorry about her injuries, uhh… Perry. If only I could have reacted faster and caught her when she was kicked… She’s bleeding from a gash in the left arm. Jo— err, Miss Joanna also seemed to have hit her head when she was thrown on the ground, I… think.”

 

Kicked? Thrown?

 

The maid was momentarily stunned at his choice of words, but composed herself in a heartbeat. Years of working in noble families had made sure that very few things in the world could perturb Perry anymore. The ruthless fight going on in a distance behind the Ice pavilion hadn’t escaped her notice either. “I am grateful to His Highness for your concern.” She wanted to add, but decided that it was too much trouble. Flattery won’t get them anywhere now. But efficiency will.

 

“You are too kind, Your Highness. I will take her from here.” Perry gently coaxed the girl out of his arms before Emmanuel could protest, and adjusted her weight against her body. There was indeed a visible gash in Lady Joanna’s left arm, and the maid made a mental note to disinfect it thoroughly later.

 

“Are you sure? Will you be alright—” Emmanuel Grayford began worriedly, but was interrupted midway by a polite cough. Perry saw a soot-covered, bald man glancing between her and the young Prince. She had the feeling that he wasn’t nonplussed at her arrival at all. In fact, he’d been looking positively delighted.

 

“The Lady is in good hands with her maid, My Prince.” The man gestured at them. “We should be getting out of here, right now. One can never know when the intruders might find an opening to ambush us again!”

 

Emmanuel looked conflicted for a heartbeat. “….I think should stay back with Shawn, Gail.”

 

“No!” The bald man, Gail, blurted out far too quickly. Then as if remembering himself, he shuffled back and stared at the Prince with beseeching eyes. “He is currently engaged with his opponent and in no shape to protect you, My Prince. You will be left vulnerable if more intruders find you now. At least, you’ll be much safer with Sir Rylbert!”

 

Perry decided that she’d dawdled long enough.

 

“I will be taking my leave, Your Highness.” She a sent quick nod at the boy Prince, who looked torn between following her and staying rooted to his spot. “The Winsten carriage is waiting outside the Palace gates. We have someone who is well-versed in medicine and can provide basic first aid to the injured Lady.” Nero is a man with a myriad of talents— Perry will have him take a look at Lady Joanna. As things stand, the maid wasn’t willing to stay back in the Royal Palace longer than strictly necessary.

 

She wrapped her charge’s uninjured hand around her shoulder and took off along a narrow trail littered with wreckage. She had memorized the direction on her way to this place.

 

Emmanuel could only stare at the back of the retreating maid.

 

‘How is it that she’s sprinting away so fast with an injured person practically draped over her shoulder?!’ The boy shivered. The staff of the Winsten family were something else, weren’t they?

 

Gail reached back and desperately tugged at his shirt. “Your Highness, this way!”

 

Emmanuel shot a worried look at the still fighting Shawn, and then wordlessly followed Gail in the opposite direction of Perry.

 

                                      -------------------------------------

 

Joe was feeling delirious. And lightheaded. And strangely out of place. Her left arm stung as if it was encased in both ice and fire at the same time. She felt lethargic and weak. And did she mention delirious?

 

“Perry! Oh Perry!” The girl moaned quietly, head lolling to the side. Somehow, the visage of her stoic maid seemed like the only solid thing in this world. “It huuuurts, Perry. It’s stinging all over my skin, Perry. Make it stop— dammit! Perry, are you listening to me?”

 

Perry eased her hold on Joe’s arm and promptly slapped her across the face.

 

The noble Lady’s eyes flew open with shock. “Bwah—?! Wha—”

 

“The nerve of this woman…!” Lady Joanna was screeching. That shrill voice sent Joe crashing back to reality.

 

“P-Perry, what are you—”

 

Perry bowed once before gently lowering Joe down on the grass. “Please forgive this transgression, milady. You were dazed and acting hysterical.” The second part was a lie, but Perry did not feel an ounce of guilt. “I had to snap you out of that, since we need to get out of here as fast as we can. We do not know where the intruders could be hiding in the garden.”

 

She did not want to die here babysitting a spoiled noble Lady. There were so many things she needed to do before death claimed her life.

“O-ooh, my bad.” Joe felt the sting of slap on her cheek, her head clearing away a little. She tried to clamber back on her feet, but a sudden surge of pain in her left arm sent the girl reeling back down in the ground.

 

Truthfully, she did not blame Perry. If Joe was in her shoes, she wouldn’t want to drag around a burdensome ass in this dangerous place either.

 

Perry gave her a strange look, and then crouched beside Joe. “Your left arm is bleeding from a sizable wound. The shock you’re feeling is more likely to be due to the force of the impact. It’s going to hurt a lot later. You’re lucky that this shoulder hasn’t been dislocated, Lady Joanna.”

 

Lucky? Joe wanted to laugh. If she was lucky then she wouldn’t have toppled into this world in the first place.

 

“Hold out your arm, I will clean the wound as best as I can for now.” Perry produced a cup from somewhere and filled it with water from the nearby bird bath. “We will have to do with a makeshift sling for your arm right now. Do not jostle it around too much before we reach the Winsten manor and have the physician to get a look at it.”

 

The maid’s methodical way of barking out instructions was strangely soothing in this chaos, Joe decided.

 

It was exactly what she needed right now.

 

                            ------------------------------------------

 

They were about seventy or eighty steps away from their starting point when she felt the first stirrings of trouble in her gut.

 

“The boy— Niel, y’know?” Joe almost tripped over her shoes. It was a familiar voice inside her head, the one she hadn’t heard in quite a while. It was wavering, as if the owner of the voice couldn’t quite decide what needed to be said. “He is in danger.”

 

Joe half stumbled, half wobbled into a halt before her mind could even process that sentence. ‘He’s in danger?! How the hell do you even know that?!’

 

She hadn’t noticed Perry cursing quietly and running back towards her. The maid’s face was contorted into barely controlled fury. “What do you think you’re doing, Lady Joanna? Do you want to get killed?”

 

“Wait, Perry.” Joe shushed the maid and concentrated on the voice of the villainess. “Please wait a moment!”

 

“If that’s an order— I’m not listening, milady. We have wasted enough time—”

 

“I’m begging you here, give me a second!”

 

Perry huffed and crossed her arms. Joe would have marvelled at the exquisite range of emotions she’d seen on Perry’s face in the past half-an-hour alone, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

 

“I have relieved this day many times in the past loops.” Lady Joanna was saying, her voice thick with a strange emotion. “The day when I was first introduced to Prince Emmanuel— I can never forget that. However, none of those previous loops had an explosion like this. This incident is unprecedented. Something major is changing in this timeline.”

 

‘Well, no shit something’s changing.’ Joe had to physically restrain the sarcasm from leaking into her thoughts. ‘You aren’t you anymore, remember? The fact that I’ve taken your place and the fact that I’ve already met Niel before this day means that a lot of things are going to diverge from their original path, my Lady!’

 

“Yes, the events will undoubtedly diverge from here on out, but not to the extent of having a disastrous explosion in the Royal Palace grounds! It has been— what, barely a month since you have arrived in this world? You barely met Niel one day ago! I’ve had so many opportunities to try doing things differently in my previous loops, Joe. Trust me, these changes are not supposed to appear so drastically in such a short time!”

 

‘I don’t know, my Lady…. What is even your basis for thinking that Niel might be in danger?’

 

“It’s not what, but who.” The villainess replied unsteadily. “I am familiar with almost ninety nine percent of the Palace staff. I knew all of the people who had worked in that greenhouse in the past. Trust me— that man, Gail— he isn’t one of them. I have never seen him in any of the previous loops before.”

 

Joe frowned at her answer. 'You also did not know the Witch of the West, either. Besides, there’s every chance that there might have been new recruits in the later loops that you were not aware of, isn’t it?'

 

“Wrong. The palace staff hardly changes through the loops. You do realize that these people need all sorts of clearance to work for the Royal family of Triciella, right? They cannot just pick anyone from the streets and recruit them straight away. Getting to work into the Palace is almost impossible unless you have the right sort of connections. Did you never think of that?”

 

No, truthfully— Joe hadn’t.

 

“I have known these people all my life, Joe.” Lady Joanna murmured. “Just because I dislike commoners, it doesn’t mean that I am ignorant of my surroundings. The Palace security is a matter of grave importance. Those that serve in the military have strict protocols even in case of emergencies. There’s no way that Sir Rylbert, Captain of the order of Royal Knights— would ask a mere gardener to escort Prince Emmanuel in this situation. Not with all the men-at-arms and palace guards stationed around the garden.”

 

It wasn’t often that the villainess sounded very knowledgeable and logical at the same time. Joe was becoming more and more aware of the gnawing fear in her heart. If her gut feelings squirmed strangely weird before, they were full-on blaring like a fire alarm right now.

 

'Aargh, dammit! If he knew that, why on earth did that idiot Niel follow him in the first place?!'

 

“I wouldn’t know, Joe. The boy Prince called Emmanuel von Grayford in this world seems to be vastly different than the Emmanuel I knew from my previous lives.”

 

Of course, you wouldn’t. Joe thought sullenly. That brat might have been born as Prince Emmanuel of Triciella, but deep down he was just the dumbass Niel.

 

“Are you done spacing out, milady?” If looks could kill, Joe wasn’t sure if she would be dead by now or be eternally damned in the ninth level of Hell. Perry was glaring at Joe as if she wanted to burn a hole through her head by sheer will alone.

 

Where had that aloof, apathetic maid gone?

 

Joe shuffled her feet, feeling terribly foolish all of a sudden. “Uhh, Perry?”

 

“I’m listening, milady.”

 

“I need to go back.” Joe felt like someone had shoved sandpaper down her throat. “There’s something very wrong about this whole incident. I think Ni— err, Prince Emmanuel might be in danger.”

 

Perry levelled her mistress with a look she reserved for reckless idiots. “And what do you want me to do, milady?”

 

……Talk me out of this foolish thing that I’m inevitably about to say.

 

Dammit Joe! Don’t you have any balls?!

 

“I need to go back and help him, Perry. That man named Gail cannot be trusted!” She blurted out before her courage could fail her. “His bodyguard is no longer around to protect him from enemies! The prince is in danger!”

 

“I refuse, Lady Joanna. What we need to do now is to look to for the palace security. And Nero. Besides, the prince has other guards. He is royalty. Someone will certainly notice him missing— if he goes missing— and they will spare no possible manpower to find him.”

 

“B-But… by then, it might be too late—!”

 

And she was the only who knew which way they went, dammit! Joe remembered Gail desperately pointing at a direction opposite to the magnificent building of the Royal Palace. Now that she remembered that little detail, it sent alarm bells ringing in her head.

 

Perry took an intimidating step forward and leaned into Joe’s personal space, far too close for comfort. “Let me put it this way, milady.” Her voice was eerily calm. “Do you really think that a mere maid and a 13 years old girl with one broken arm stand a chance against any enemy right now?”

 

Joe clamped her mouth shut.

 

“I will answer that question for you, my Lady. No, we do not.”

 

Of course… just what had she been thinking?

 

Sometimes, Joe hated how coldly logical Perry could be in every situation. And sometimes, she hated how she couldn’t bring herself to be the same.

 

The maid turned away from her with a tone of finality, seemingly satisfied with the end of the conversation. “Let us make haste, Lady Joanna. I know that you’re worried, but if we must help him— the best course of action would be to look for the Palace security first. Whoever that ‘Gail’ is, the Royal Guards can deal with him. It is not our place to interfere.  Prince Emmanuel is not your responsibility.”

 

….Right.

 

Responsibility.

 

Joe slowly stumbled after Perry, her heart in chaos and mind numb. Perry was right. Screw that, Perry was always right. It is not as if there has been any concrete proof against Gail. No— it’s all based on pure speculation. Lady Joanna was probably overthinking it. And besides, Niel was the second Prince of Triciella. He was Royalty. There was no dearth of brave men and women among the royal guards who would gladly jump in to save him. As far as the video game world was concerned— he was invincible.

 

He is the video game’s famous Prince Emmanuel von Grayford.

 

Going back now would be foolish.

 

He will be alright even if—

 

“You know…” Came the faceless voice from the villainess. “If you are going to beat yourself up yourself to this extent, you might as well die doing something foolish.”

 

Be rational. Joe scolded herself. He had his sword with him. He has that swordsmanship training every day. He can save himself. He will be fine. And why am I thinking about this again—?

 

Niel’s grinning face sprang up unbidden in her mind.

 

No— he didn’t have his sword with him right now. He hadn’t had the time to pick it up. That dumb, dumb, dumbass had prioritized picking her sorry ass before picking up his sword like a level-headed warrior. It was still lying uselessly against the pillar of the Ice Pavilion.

 

But that doesn’t matter. Niel was safe, wasn’t he? He knew Gail…even he wouldn’t be so stupid as to follow a suspicious person into the woods.

 

Yes, he was safe…. The clinically logical part of her mind reminded her. He is supposed to end up living happily ever after with the game’s heroine, that brat.

 There’s no way he is going to go down before .…

 

“Weren’t you the one who told me that fate will inevitably diverge?” Lady Joanna’s voice smoothly cut down her rationality like a knife. “Weren’t you the one claiming that things will change? Weren’t you the most cautious one, Joe?”

 

It will be fine. I’m stupid. It will be fine. I’m stupid. It will be fine. I am—

 

If there was a God or Goddess overlooking everything in this world, they must have been laughing their heads off at Joe’s stupidity right now.

 

She looked up at the sky once. ‘Happy to have provided you with some entertainment, I guess?’

 

Joe dropkicked all of the very, very logical thoughts out of her mind and turned around to march back towards the way they had come from.

 

“Lady Joanna?” She heard Perry’s call behind her. Her ears were ringing. “Milady Joanna! Where are you going?!”

 

“To find Emmanuel.” Joe did not stop. Her left arm jostled and stung, but she paid it no heed. “You can go back. I will cover for you if mother asks.”

 

“Stop—! Milady!” Perry’s footsteps were getting closer now. There was no way Joe could outrun the maid. Will Perry strike her on the neck and carry her back unconscious if she struggled too much? Like they always show in the movies?

 

“The prince’s safety is not your responsibility!”

 

“Yeah?” Joe whirled around, suddenly furious. “Well, he is my fiancé. Which means I should be concerned about his safety! Which means his business is my business as well! Which means I will be going be back now to find him, thank you very much!”

 

The maid grabbed her by the right arm. “The logical thing to do now—” She began hastily.

 

“The logic can go screw itself!” Joe snatched away her arm. If Niel got kidnapped or mortally injured today due to her ignorance, she can never forgive herself. “He is just a kid, Perry! Do you want a kid to suffer just because some asshats have a bone to pick with his family?!”

 

Perry suddenly halted in her struggle.

 

Joe was fully expecting her to say something like, “You are a kid as well.”— but the reply never came. The maid had gone eerily silent.

 

“Well?” Joe did not have time for Perry’s internal dilemma, however logical they might sound at the moment. When the maid showed no signs of moving or even speaking, she decided to drop the matter and sprint after Niel and Gail. There were more pressing concerns at hand.

 

“You should go find someone from the Palace guards, Perry. If you don’t want that, just return back to the carriage and wait for me.” Joe told the woman. “If anyone else asks— tell them that what had happened, and say that everything you’ve done till this moment is on my orders and mine alone. Well…Nero will probably understand if you tell him the truth.”

 

She fervently hoped he would.

 

Joe turned her back and began to walk away, when a hand shot out and snatched her uninjured wrist in a death grip. It was so fast that the girl almost staggered in her steps, caught herself in time, and glared back indignantly at the owner of the offending hand. It was a very ashen-faced Perry.

 

‘What now—?!’ Joe thought, her frustration mounting, and open her mouth to argue again. Perry’s sharp voice beat her to it.

 

“I am coming with you.” The maid was looking anywhere but Joe’s face, her tone carefully brusque and her expression anything but.

 

“I know, I know that it’s dangerous…. That it’s not my duty, and that you need to keep me safe, and… wait— what?!”

 

Perry let out what could only be described as a sigh of utter defeat.

 

“I am coming with you, Lady Joanna. If you will not rest until you have found His Highness Lord Emmanuel, then so be it. I am coming with you.” She reiterated, staring at her mistress’s gaping face. “But you must promise me that we shall retreat and return back the moment Prince Emmanuel’s safety is guaranteed. And that we do not dawdle in the Palace grounds longer than necessary.”

 

Joe opened her mouth, blinked owlishly, and closed it again. To think that she’d managed to convince Perry of all people— this day will inevitably go down in the history books as the most bizarre chapter of Joanna Winsten’s life.

 

“Milady?”

 

Joe Winsten cracked a small smile at her maid.

 

“Understood. You have my word, Perry.”

 

 

----------------------------------------

 

 

The readers might not have caught onto it, but Perry was not alone in her hardship today. Shawn Wicksman was currently having a lousy time as well.

 

Not because of his opponent, mind you— the only thing the guy had going for him was his speed, and Shawn knew plenty of ways to deal with idiots who relied solely on speed. The guy was wearing a black mask which hid half of his face, and a tight black body suit which covered his arms, shoulders, and went all the way to his thick neck.

 

Shawn was itching to take that mask off his face and sock him in the eye.

 

The masked man was swift and agile despite his burly build. He had clearly been trained in the proper ways of swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat. Had it been any other circumstance, Shawn would have taken a moment to appreciate those elegant moves. His own movements were crude and unorthodox, like a sloppy mish-mash of copied techniques. It couldn’t be helped. ‘Shawn the Wicked’ had picked up his crude swordsmanship skills secondhand, and it did not change no matter how much Sir Rylbert had tried to polish his skills afterwards.

 

Old habits die hard.

 

Truth to be told, Shawn just wanted to slice the masked man into half and run after Prince Emmanuel. He had a bad feeling in his gut. He always had that bad feeling whenever that man— Gail– was in the vicinity. That man’s smile felt fake and slimy, and Shawn wished he had never taken his eyes off from the surroundings. His bodyguard senses were tingling, telling him to forget about the fight and run after Emmanuel.

 

The problem was his opponent's strange movements.

 

The masked man was just as slimy and twice as skilled at evading his attacks. He hopped away like a jackrabbit whenever Shawn slashed too close for comfort, and quickly dashed around to strike at the bodyguard’s blind spot instead. His attacks were easy to block, very predictable and by-the-book, but Shawn found his constant evasiveness irritating like a mosquito buzzing around in the summer.

 

It was beginning to tire him out.

 

He spun around on his heels and made a wide swing with his sword. As predicted, the masked man jumped back to a safer distance. Instead of going after him, Shawn quickly dashed in the opposite direction, away from the Ice pavilion. He couldn’t waste time exchanging blows with this masked weirdo when the Prince was nowhere to be seen. He needed to find his master before finding the intruders. He needed to make sure that Prince Emmanuel was safe and sound.

 

A body sprinted forward and swiftly blocked his exit before Shawn could take another step. The masked man was leering at him, hopping from one foot to another. “And where d’you think you’re running off to, Mr. bodyguard? Worried for your young Master?” He readied his sword but kept well out of Shawn’s striking range. The voice sounded strangely familiar. “I did not think that the famed ‘Shawn the Wicked’ would turn out to be so pathetic.”

 

Annoyance flared up in Shawn’s chest. His opponent’s ploy was getting more and more clear. The masked man obviously knew that he was outmatched by Shawn, and yet he still kept insisting on getting in his way. He was skilled at evading and sucked at offense, and yet he circled back to goad and attack Shawn whenever the latter had tried to leave. It was as if he was purposefully trying to keep him from leaving the Ice Pavillion.

 

“What are you worrying about, you loyal dog?” The masked man was saying, his tone dripping with venom. “The Prince is long gone from this place. Running after him would be quite futile. I am your opponent right now. It’s best if you do not look away from me, lest you lose a limb or two. Don’t fret your precious little head over that Prince Emmanuel. He is probably being escorted away to ‘safety’ even as we speak— while the dogs of nobility like you will risk your life in the battlefield in their place, ain’t that right?”

 

Shawn Wicksman blinked.

 

“I am His Highness’s bodyguard. I need to find him. He might be in danger right now.”

 

His opponent scoffed. “Bodyguard, not his nanny. Is this what you should be worrying about right now, Shawn Wicksman? Don’t you have that famed Captain Rylbert Hawkins in your ranks? Your little princeling might have already reached the army barracks and tucked himself away safely behind the wall of soldiers.”

 

Ahh, so that’s how it is.

 

“…. I see.” The bodyguard (nanny?) drawled, way too calmly for the masked man’s comfort. “Well, that’s certainly makes things easier for me.”

 

His opponent halted in his movements. “Easier? Easier?! Are you an idiot?!” 

 

Shawn slowly relaxed in his stance, dusting his shirt and cracking his joints leisurely. Somehow, he seemed twice as menacing right now. “Indeed, it does.  How else would you know that the Prince is heading towards the army barracks? As far as I know, Captain Hawkins is not there right now. In fact, I know exactly where he is, y’see?”

 

“Don’t screw around with me.” The masked man snapped back, but Shawn could hear the barest hint nervousness in his voice. “Are you trying to buy time for yourself, you stupid dog?!”

 

The aforementioned ‘stupid dog’ sighed.

  

“It’s so glaringly obvious that I’m almost mad at myself for not noticing. The fact that you’re so confident about Prince Emmanuel’s whereabouts means you have an accomplice doing your dirty work for you. I reckon that I know who it is too— judging by the way he was acting. It’s‘Gail’ isn’t it?”

 

“What’re you talking about, you idjit?!” The masked man sneered. One could practically hear the gears turning in his head. “D’you think you can simply walk out of here and run to your Prince’s rescue? Hah, fat chance!”

 

“It means…” Shawn twirled his sword lazily as he sauntered towards his opponent. The masked man was too confused to notice the bloodlust in air. “That I have no longer need to keep you alive for interrogation.”

 

I was worried that we’d lose our lead if I killed this guy right away. But now I have found another lead. All I need to do is make that ‘Gail’ talk.

 

There’s no point in dilly-dallying around anymore.

 

The masked man took a hesitating step back. He yelped in terror when his opponent practically vanished from his line-of-sight, only to reappear inches away from his face in a frightening speed. Shawn’s expression was livid— it was in that moment when the masked man got his first and final glimpse of ‘Shawn, the Wicked’ – the demon of Triciella’s battlefield.

 

He swung his blade wildly, clambering away to put some distance between himself and the bodyguard. “W-Wait a second! I didn’t—”

 

Shawn’s longsword slashed diagonally across his chest before he could even finish that sentence.

 

It was over in the blink of an eye.

 

The bodyguard crouched down to pull away his opponent’s mask, who flailed in the ground like a fish out of water, gurgling from the blood in his mouth.

 

It was a man with a short-cropped hair, a mole beneath his lips and eyebrows curved upwards at the end. The face was one he was familiar with.

 

“Lawrence, huh?” Shawn smirked. “So all that drivel about you getting caught up in the blast and going missing was a lie. A perfect one too, since no one would know where to look.”

 

His bloodied opponent tried to crawl with his fingers, only to have his palm pierced straight through by Shawn’s longsword. He let out a gurgling cry of agony.

 

“Would you be so kind as to tell me the names of your other accomplices, Mr. Lawrence?”

 

The man, Lawrence, was struggling to speak. “Y-You—!” He coughed another mouthful of blood. “You— all along— g-going easy on me— in the fight— ”

 

“Of course.” The bodyguard drawled. “You’re a spy, aren’t you? You spent years working in the Royal Palace with a fake profile so you could watch my movements and evade them— but you do not know the most important thing?”

 

The dying vision of Lawrence was a deceptively innocent smile on the face of ‘Shawn the Wicked’.

 

“I just had to go easy on you, Mr. Lawrence. Because I am not very good at keeping my opponents alive otherwise.”