Fight or Flight

It’s an in-born reaction of a animals in response to a threat to its life. The body releases hormones such as Adrenaline and Cortisol that changes things in their bodies and giving them a burst of energy to either Fight or high-tail it out of there as fast as they can. But what happens if there is nowhere to run? Do you just stand there and accept your fate? No, you try to fight back.

Right now Karl’s mind was racing faster than ever thanks to the adrenaline pumping throughout his body. Time seemed to slow down as he thought of every possible thing he can do in this situation. While his life wasn’t necessarily in danger he knew that if he didn’t do anything, it would be almost the same as dying.

“Calm down, think, think think .Panicking will get me nowhere and just make things worse.” Karl said himself as assessed the situation as calmly as he can.

The red haired woman in front of him was bawling her eyes out. He knew that this was the divine punishment the woman threatened him with. She was trying to destroy his reputation even before he had one. At this time his reputation was still zero, but this woman was attempting to put him on the negative; and it was working

The people around them, the nobles of the Kingdom, were now whispering to themselves. There is no doubt in his mind that he was being painted as a villain. After all, the woman was letting out a convincing cry of despair.

He had to do something before things get worse. But what should he do?

Should he stand his ground and defend himself? No one’s going to side with him in this situation. The woman who was crying in front of him was beautiful despite her horrible attitude, and naturally she would gain everyone’s sympathy.

“This is absurd, I will be forever painted as some kind of monster who makes women cry” Karl then thought to himself

“Screw this, I will handle this like a professional and I will explain my side as calmly as I can” Karl thought as he started to devise a plan to salvage the situation.

“My next few words are crucial. They need to see that I have no guilt in both my words and actions. Let’s do this. If I can get a PhD in my 20s I can definitely get through this social blunder” Karl was now confident he could turn this around.

But there is this thing called “Murphy’s law”

It is an old saying that states “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”.

In reality time only slowed down in Karl’s mind and because of his intense concentration he completely lost track of time and most importantly he forgot about someone who was with him to the banquet. Suddenly a voiced rang from behind him, a familiar voice that sent shivers down his spine and triggered a memory from a time not so long ago.

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“I am expecting all of you to conduct yourselves properly in front of the locals and to not cause any unnecessary problems. If anyone of you causes any sort of incident you will answer to me and will be punished as I see fit”

It was Nelson.

“What did you do!?”

Karl then turned around and saw Nelson and the others behind him. Karl could feel the cold sweat running down his forehead as the figure of his furious boss was now getting closer and closer. He knew that this time his fate was sealed, everything he says will definitely be used against him. It was better for him to shut up.

“Karl, what the hell did you do?” Nelson asked him in a cold voice

“I-I ate something called a Heart of the Goddess uh it was a flower that tasted very delicious and looked very pretty and then this woman suddenly appeared claiming it was hers and then she started crying and-” Karl replied obviously a mess now. He wasn’t able to maintain his composure in front of the overpowering Nelson.

“You liar!” The woman suddenly shouted, tears still streaming down her cheeks

“I wash I just- huhuahuha” The woman continued to bawl uncontrollably, her words barely comprehensible. If he wasn’t the one being blamed, he would certainly think she is pitiful.

“THIS DAMN WOMAN” Karl said himself trying to hold in his frustration.

Leia, being the motherly figure that she is, approached the woman and tried to calm her down. She even hugged her in an attempt to stifle her crying.

Karl was then given a stern lecture about being a gentleman and just how horrible his actions were. But he also noticed that Nelson was trying his best to get his voiced be heard by the nobles, something Karl found strange.

He then took a little peak at the woman who was now in Leia’s arms, and for a fraction of a second he thought he saw a small smug grin plastered on the woman’s face. But when his attention was fully on the woman, she began crying again. He just can’t catch a break.

As he was being scolded, an elderly man wearing a robe similar to the woman’s approached them. Karl then noticed the woman wore a shocked expression for a fraction of a second.

“Does she know this old man?” Karl thought

“W-what is going on here Burning Rose? Why are you crying?” The Old man said, confusion present in his voice instead of concern.

But before she could reply, Nelson stepped forward and approached the old man.

“Is this woman a companion of yours?” Nelson asked the old man

“Y-yes, did something happen?” The old man replied, still confused.

“It seems that one of my companions upset her, and I deeply apologize for his behaviour” Nelson said apologetically

“U-um Okay, but there’s nothing rea-” The old man said before the he was cut off by the woman who ran up to and hugged him.

Nelson sighed at this scene and continued

“Worry not; I will make sure proper MEASURES will be taken to CORRECT his unacceptable behaviour” Nelson said as he shot a glance at Karl.

At this point Karl just gave up he knew it was all over, he just accepted his fate and be done with it.

The old man then bowed and excused themselves from Nelson and his group.

“Nice going there lady killer” Dr Susan mocked Karl as she walked away

“Don’t worry, the nobles will probably forget about this incident in a month or two, so all is not lost” Steven said with sincerity.

Yamato on the other hand didn’t react

After glancing at him one more time Nelson also started to walk away followed by everyone else. Karl then let out a sigh of defeat and took one last glance at the woman who was walking away behind him.

He then saw that same smug grin again, plastered on the woman’s face as she disappeared into the crowd. A smug self-satisfied grin of someone whose plans were all fulfilled to a T. Karl’s heart was now filled with anger.

“You damn woman! I won’t forget this!” Karl said to himself as he walked away and went to where his companions were headed.