Aile then said, "I saved you, so you should repay me by not telling anyone that you were here."

The princess, "It is a good citizen’s duty to protect those that need it!"

Aile was really annoyed now. He carried the princess all the way to here and made sure she was safe, but she will not help him out.

Aile tried to appeal to her in different ways, but she would not yield.

Aile wanted to get back quickly as the town guards would be coming here soon and he did not want to be caught by them.

He thought of how he could convince her and decided to take the blackmailing route as it would give results most quickly. He then thought of all the conversations he had with Sara to get into the mentality of her and find an area that could be used as effective blackmailing.

He remembered that Sara was quite worried once, when she found out that one of the maids was married to someone she did not like. She became worried and mentioned that for a few weeks. She eventually calmed down only when Hazel promised her that nothing like that would happen to her.

Aile said, "If you tell people about today, then I will say that you promised to marry me after I saved you."

She became flustered and then after half a minute she said with a cunning smirk, "I will just swear that I did not. People will believe me."

Aile did not have much more patience as he heard the guards will be coming very soon.

He lifted her veil and kissed her cheek, and he said, "Now if you tell them, then I will say, you agreed to marry me and even gave me a kiss. If you swear, then you would be lying, and people will find out if you lied."

The princess became flustered, and in a confused tone, she said, "You are a bandit, not my saviour!"

Aile then looked at her and asked, "Will you tell them now!"

She did not speak but shook her head agreeing to keep Ailes secret.

Aile knew that this acceptance did not mean much, she could find loopholes, but he hoped that it would act as a deterrence for long enough until her mind became more logical.

He knew that his action was not noble at all, but at the current situation it was the only thing that he could come up with, which could force her to not divulge any thing any time soon.

He then took her hand, and they were about to leave the garden hand in hand.

However, then came the noise of fast footsteps behind them. Aile sighed another annoying person came after him. From behind the bush came the young master who apparently had been following him.

He shouted, "You stop right there!"

Then he noticed how Aile was holding hands with the princess.

He screamed, "I will kill you!"

Aile did not know what happened to him, but his evaluation of the young master lowered. He now knew that the plan to assassinate him was probably not orchestrated by this person in front of him. He was too impulsive and clearly from his tired demeanour he was not a cultivator yet. Which means the force behind him was responsible for the first attempt on his life. This also means that the young master has a powerful-backing.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Aile was debating whether to kill him. Eventually, he decided against that because that would create an investigation not to mention the princess would be a witness. However, he was not planning to let him go effortlessly, either.

Aile tried to agitate him more and said, "You did not need to come all the way here, I am no longer interested in the book!"

Aile looked at his forearm and noticed the dagger that he had just gotten, he decided to use it to torment the young master. He then looked at his pocket that was semi-burnt and found what he was looking for, he had not lost it during the chase. There was a small piece of the hallucinogenic mushroom. He had picked this up from Siren's Song in case he needs it, and now he decided to use it.

He rubbed this mushroom on the blade attached to his forearm until he noticed that it had gotten wettish.

The mushroom would only act when it comes in contact with blood or ingested with a wild plant.

Aile planned to use the knife to stab him and poison him with hallucinations as punishment for his attempts to kill him.

The young master who was fuming from the fact Aile was holding the princess's hand became even madder with Aile's comment, as it stabbed his other sore spot. He had used his connections to get that book, now he did not know where half of it was. He was not even sure if his lackeys could retrieve it.

Aile noticed the young master tremble, and he knew his words had hit the nails on the mark.

Aile then let go of the princess's hand, and in one swift movement, he picked up the soil underneath his feet and then threw it at the young master.

A sort of dusk cloud was formed around the young master.

He used one hand to cover his eyes, and with the other hand, tried to grab him. Aile took this opportunity to cut his extended hand with the knife discreetly and make sure the liquid from the mushroom comes in contact with his blood.

Then he tripped him, making him fall. From the princess's point of view, he just saw Aile throw soil at him then trip him down.

Aile them quickly checked his pockets and found another fire shooting talisman, some money and the first half of the Ingredient Concealing Ruin book. He pocketed them and ran back to the princess. He held her hand and ran towards the exit of the garden.

The princess mutter as they were running away, "You are a rogue bandit. You do not fight honourably, you steal, and you are a lier."

Aile chuckled and replied, "What is wrong with that?"

He did not get back a reply. Only a slight angry humph.

Once they were back into the town, they noticed numerous guards rushing towards the northern garden. Aile and the princess looked at them with the little crowd that had gathered. Soon the guards were gone towards the northern garden.

Aile then let go of her hand and joined the dispersing crowd without saying goodbye and left her there. He knew she was safe now, and he no longer wanted to remain there.

Aile strolled towards Siren's Song. He hoped that she would not remember him. On the way, he went to the same clothes seller shop, where he bought the robe and mask.

There he bought few pieces of clothes resembling his previous casual clothes, as his were damaged in today's incident.

He stealthily changed and arrived at the tavern.

He went to the second floor where he saw a Sara sitting in front of his door. She had a pondering expression, clearly thinking about something. Aile guessed it probably had something to do with meeting his half-brother today.

Aile went and gently tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, Sara!"

"Aile, you are back!" She immediately jumped for a hug.

Then, Aile opened his room and went inside with Sara.

Sara immediately began talking about what happened today with her. Sara and Hazel had gone to meet Sara's half-brother. Once they reached there, they had ended up waiting for a long time before he came.

He was nice for a bit, and Sara apparently did not hate him. Then he asked something from Hazel after she refused he changed. He became rude to Sara and Hazel, making her mad, very mad.

Hazel had endured it for a bit. However, Sara always had a strong personality, and she had ended up slapping him multiple times until she was stopped. She told Aile that his half-brother was not disciplined by her mother.

Hearing her comments made Aile became joyous and laugh. Aile enjoyed her eloquent way of telling the story with many hand gestures. He persisted to relish in the experience of her animated storytelling. After the incident, she and Hazel had gone shopping and bought some stuff to calm down Sara.

Aile got the jest of the story and was not really surprised by it.

He had already predicted this, and that is why he did not let Sara get her hopes high. Aile then had her usual casual talk with Sara. She asked what Aile had done today, and he told her that he looked around the town and found some weird drawings which he reported to the guard. As he knew that those would be found out anyway, thus he did not mind disclosing it. Sara became curious and asked a few questions about it, Aile complied and answered. The atmosphere lightened up.

After a few more minutes, the door of his room was knocked in a hurry.

Knock

Knock

Knock