Huffing in anger, she whirled around to Cordelia’s table, her badge glinting in the light. The girl, Janelle, had flames of envy roaring at the other’s beautiful countenance and elegant movements as she limpidly scooped a spoonful of food into her mouth. Seeing that Cordelia only had a few guards, the girl arrogantly demanded the rooms.

“Give me your rooms. I’ll pay double the price.”

A few seconds passed in awkward silence as she didn’t deign to answer, choosing to chew her food instead. Embarrassment colouring her cheeks, Janelle stomped her foot and yelled.

“Answer me! I’m giving you a gracious deal. You should accept it.”

Nearby local patrons shook their head at her arrogance. Truly, outsiders have no decorum. They slightly pitied the other girl but didn’t bother to interrupt as it wasn’t their business.

      “Hm? You are talking to me?”

Cordelia acted surprised as if just noticing that there was someone trying to talk to her. Pride battered and bruised, Janelle gritted her teeth as she ‘benevolently’ offered the deal one more time. But she was rejected. Again.

“No thank you. My guards and I are quite tired you know?”

Is what she said, before wiping her mouth with a tissue after finishing her meal. I suppose she has good tolerance for being a pampered 2nd generation rich kid. Looking at her rapidly changing face was quite amusing for Cordelia, smiling as the girl tried to intimidate her with her position.

“I am the 4th princess of the Huo Kingdom! My family will not let you go if you do not hand over the rooms right now.

      But she is still too arrogant. She gazed at Gregory with hawk-like eyes for just a moment, thoughts brewing in her head. What is he up to? I don’t think I’ve offended him in any way. Sighing at the trouble in front of her, Cordelia stared at Janelle impassively.

“What are you looking at, huh? Merely some noble’s daughter…”

Cordelia smirked sardonically, disappearing in the next moment, and put a perplexed face on.

“Huo Kingdom? What is that?”

A few stifled chuckles sounded in the restaurant and Janelle couldn’t take it anymore.

“Guards! Throw them out!”

Five armoured men stepped forward, leering at the two beautiful girls as they imagined what they would feel like to touch. The air around Kuro turned even chiller and Cordelia’s facade cracked, disgust evident in her face. Like Kuro, her patience had been worn out by this persistently annoying girl.

“Kuro.”

“Yes, Miss.”

      The maid stood up, though it didn’t look that intimidating with her frail appearance and short height. One of the guards, likely the highest-ranked one with the pompous feathers on his helmet, ogled at Kuro.

“Heh, what are you gonna do, little girl? Why don’t you accompany me tonight…  -gurhk!”

She dashed forward with a tight string in between her hands before leaping nimbly into the air, catching the man’s throat on it in the process before landing and pulling forward harshly, bringing him crashing down with his arms fumbling at his neck. His face turned a funny shade of blue before other guards realised what was happening and drew their swords in a panic but it was already too late.

      Kuro dextrously whipped out several more strings but this time with hooks and counterweights, swinging them out in a wide arc before they spun around the closest necks and channelling lightning through the strings. With the guard captain being strangling on her back, she pulled forward even harder, causing him to cascade over her shoulder. At the same time, she pulled the other men forward and they were unable to resist with their subpar skills, eventually crashing with the guard captain and landing on the ground in a heap of bodies. Many were knocked unconscious by the electric shock alone, with the remainders falling in the same way by knocking heads into other soldiers.

      Horrified, the remaining guards took some steps back, the fear that the king of the Huo Kingdom would punish their families the only remaining thing tethering them to their responsibility. Snorting disdainfully, Kuro reached within her clothes and quickly threw out multiple syringes, all of which hit their mark perfectly: their necks. In the next second, they too fell unconscious from the tranquillising agents. All of this was completed in just under 10 seconds with no retaliation or counterattack.

      “Out of respect for this establishment and its owner, I didn't spill any blood, princess. Please leave and stop bothering my mistress.”

Kuro emphasised ‘princess’ before turning around and sitting calmly, sipping some water. At this course of events, everyone was shocked. Appearances can be deceiving, okay?! Gregory narrowed his eyes. He was still unable to glimpse into Cordelia’s power and was still intrigued by such. He did not know whether or not it was a skill or magic tool but that just made him even more curious. 

      In reality, it was just because of Cordelia’s disproportionately high Will stat, allowing her to suppress the mana inside her body from leaking out, and all of the training she did with the Intelligence Department allowed her to subconsciously hide her presence too. Since her Will was so overwhelmingly higher than the other stats, this effect was amplified due to her power being insufficient to push back against it and leak out. 

      “Young Miss.”

A dozen or so soldiers entered the building and greeted their Young Miss, after which the group got up and went up the stairs to their rooms in a civil manner. Cordelia shared a room with Kuro and two female mages who had tagged along with the trip while all of the other rooms were filled by the 4th Squad and the remaining male mages, leaving the restaurant stunned at this turn of events.

      Having just taken a shower, Cordelia wore her pyjamas while meticulously drying her hair with the aid of Kuro. The other two mages had already gone to sleep, so it was only the two of them who were awake.

      Apart from the faint cries of birds from outside the window and gentle breathing of the room’s inhabitants, it was relatively quiet. 

“Miss?”

Only shallow breaths answered her. Kuro smiled silently and carried her mistress to her bed. She might not look like it, but she was still reeling from her training days ago. Even resting during the journey and taking supplements wasn’t enough.

“What a troublesome master.”

Even if Kuro and Walker didn’t interact much, they could both agree that Cordelia Auster was indeed a troublesome child. But they didn’t mind.

❈ ❈ ❈

vaexis

I published this a bit early so I forgot to put this A/N in. I've added in 'dates' at the beginning of significant scene changes with locations varying in specificity depending on the situation and the view I want to portray. I should've done this at the beginning but this gives the story a bit more 'realism' I guess? It also helps me to keep track of the dates.

Have a nice day.