“Brother.” [Lisa]
When Dreck returned to the ballroom, he was first greeted by Lisa.
“Did you escort Ava to her room?” [Lisa]
His younger sister asked while smiling sweetly as if she was making small chat, but her brother understood that she was worried about the half-elf.
“Correct. She should be resting at the moment.” [Dreck]
“You get to spend time with Ava while I had to deal with Lennan. How unfair.” [Lisa]
The princess’ smile faded a bit as she jokingly complained with a hand on her cheek.
“It must have been rough, but he’s not someone you can’t handle. Speaking of which, where is he?” [Dreck]
“I’m not sure. I saw him leave a while ago. Perhaps there was urgent business he had to attend to.” [Lisa]
“… He left?” [Dreck]
Dreck looked back towards the entrance from where he had entered.
“… It couldn’t be…!” [Dreck]
A bad feeling suddenly attacked him.
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“They say that when a man and a woman are alone together, they can wholeheartedly unmask and reveal their true selves.” [Lennan]
Lennan said as he lovingly stared at Ava with his eyes full of desires.
“How about it? Would you like to see what I hide behind my mask?” [Lennan]
The platinum blonde-haired man alluringly whispered so as he brought his beautiful face closer to hers.
“No. Get off.” [Ava]
Currently, he was inside Ava’s room, on her bed with the half-elf underneath him. Both of her hands were restricted on top of her head as he pinned them down by the wrists with his left. Moreover, his right knee was between her legs that were half-exposed. After the prince, Dreck, left, Lennan made sure that no one was around before entering her room. Then, without saying a word, he approached her with his well-practiced charming smile and pushed her down on the bed.
“Not even a peek?” [Lennan]
“No. Get off.” [Ava]
Right about now, any woman would be blushing and falling for his beautiful features, even if they wished to resist him. However, the half-elf showed absolutely no sign of being swayed by his charms and mechanically refused his advances with an impassive voice. There were no pink cheeks or misty eyes. She just stared at him with a sleepy-looking expression that felt rather cold and emotionless. But, instead of being discouraged, Lennan only became more interested in her. In fact, her rejections served to fan a fire inside him, one that was never lit before.
“… You truly are a rare, thorny and beautiful flower.” [Lennan]
He said as she had the gall to yawn in his face. His right hand caressed her cheek as his knee travelled up between her legs, lifting up her skirt to her thighs. As he did so, despite her sleepy expression, Ava was fervently trying to resist. However, the platinum blonde-haired man had a strong grip on her hands, even as he appeared lax. Moreover, when she tried to knee him in the groin, Lennan swiftly entangled his legs with hers and prevented them from moving.
“It would be a waste to let Dreck have you. So… Let’s unmask, and know each other better.” [Lennan]
Making up his mind, Lennan moved in to steal a kiss, but stopped short from doing so when alarms went off in his head. Following his instincts, he rolled away and jumped off the bed before looking at his attacker. Having entered the room without being noticed, Dreck was crouching over Ava, his right fist thrusted out towards Lennan.
“Just what do you think you’re doing to my personal maid?” [Dreck]
The prince asked in a low, chilling voice as he stood up, glossing over the fact that his preemptive strike missed its mark. However, it didn’t mean that he was calm. In fact, the brown-haired man was absolutely enraged as he murderously glared at his cousin.
“… As you can see, we were having an intimate moment.” [Lennan]
Lennan said after a pause, swallowing the bud of fear that rose up in his throat and putting on a fake smile. It was the first time he had seen Dreck so furious and he keenly understood that if the man had a sword earlier, he would have tried to stab him instead of throwing a punch.
“Lennan, I knew you liked to play with fire, but I didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to fight royalty.” [Dreck]
“That’s a false accusation. Though we never see eye to eye, my loyalty towards this country and her rulers is genuine.” [Lennan]
“Then how do you explain your earlier actions?” [Dreck]
“As I’ve told you, I was merely trying to have an intimate moment with an exotic flower, not steal a servant from this castle. If you’d like, I can apologize to her for any misgivings I may or may not have caused.” [Lennan]
Lennan said as he put a hand to his chest and bowed.
“What a gentleman you are. For a second, I thought I saw a low life bandit that was trying to violate a helpless girl. I suppose I was wrong. It really looked like you were taking great joy in tormenting her to satisfy your vulgar thirst, but it must have been my imagination.” [Dreck]
Dreck’s sarcastic comments and poorly masked insults took the smile off his face. The two men glared at each other with Ava and the bed between them.
“Leave this castle. That’s an order.” [Dreck]
“Are you expelling the son of the duke of Landstrall from the castle over a maid?” [Lennan]
“Can I take that answer to mean you defy the authority of the Troyas royal family?” [Dreck]
“…” [Lennan]
After several seconds that felt like minutes with the room suffocated by a tense, heavy silence, Lennan slowly bowed to Dreck.
“… No.” [Lennan]
He said emotionlessly.
“Then show yourself out.” [Dreck]
“… As you wish, my prince.” [Lennan]
The young man made his way out of the room, but not before glancing at the half-elf for a moment.
“Ava, are you ok?” [Dreck]
Once he was gone, Dreck slightly relaxed his expression and worriedly spoke to Ava.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“I’m fine.” [Ava]
She casually said as she got off the bed.
“I had a bad feeling when I returned to the ballroom and was told that Lennan disappeared shortly after we left. I’m glad I made it in time.” [Dreck]
Dreck explained as he went and stood in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. There was a note of relief in his voice once he confirmed that nothing happened to Ava. Still, he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking, nor could he stop his desire to hug her.
“… What are you doing?” [Ava]
So he did.
“Thank goodness you’re alright.” [Dreck]
He whispered so as he pulled her into his arms.
“I leave you for just one second and look what happens. First at the forest. Now here. Why do you always scare me so?” [Dreck]
The young man tightly hugged the girl who was smaller than him, as if afraid that the warmth he felt from her body would disappear if he let go.
“Hey, wait. I can’t support-.” [Ava]
But, because he was leaning his weight on her, the two ended up falling on top of the bed. Staring at the half-elf’s face from up close, Dreck became spellbound. He knew that he should apologize, that he should quickly get off her. Yet, his body refused to move. Once again, it was now just the two of them in the room. He was in the same situation as Lennan, lying on the bed with Ava underneath him. Thinking about it, the girl he loved was nearly stolen by another man just a second ago. Moreover, he was a huge pervert who chased after every girl he saw as if it was a sport.
“(… I…)” [Dreck]
Dreck’s mannish instincts were roused up and screaming at him. He shouldn’t worry about his duties as the prince of a kingdom.
“(… I can’t…)” [Dreck]
They were telling him to stop wasting time, to drop whatever plans he had of confessing to her in the near future and to prevent any man from taking her right now.
“(I can’t… Risk losing her due to a mistake…)” [Dreck]
They were telling him to take her right now.
“Ava… I…” [Dreck]
Before he knew it, Dreck was slowly closing the distance between their faces, aiming for her soft, red lips.
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“What. The. Hell.” [Ava]
Ava, who had hurriedly returned because of a bad feeling, was looking at what was happening inside her room from the window. Normally, such a feat would be impossible. However, using her Shadow Puppets, she managed to make her way around the castle’s grounds without being detected and was currently hanging outside the walls.
Her room was on the third floor, but she was using the Shadow Puppet of someone whom she had met in Sanctuary Academy to peer inside through the window. It was Goro, the powerful dragon, whom she had sparred and lost to many times. Incidentally, she also rejected his confession. Using the young man’s strength, she managed to scale the wall by clinging to his back as he did the actual climbing.
“(How did that happen? And what am I wearing?)” [Ava]
Peering through the window, Ava had seen how Lennan pushed her Shadow Puppet down on the bed only to be chased away by Dreck. Then, it was the prince’s turn to push her down and it didn’t look like he was planning on getting off of her fake self.
“(At worst, I thought my Shadow Puppet would anger someone and get killed… But this actually feels way worst.)” [Ava]
The half-elf had experimented multiple times with her ability to create copies of people whom she had strengthened. She confirmed that they wouldn’t disappear unless she dismissed them and that they could follow instructions quite well. However, she never showed them to anybody and did it all secretly in her room. As such, it was the first time that she had let her Shadow Puppet act on her behalf for so long. Despite knowing that it could behave like her and having given it multiple orders to follow, she knew that her look-alike wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t alive and it didn’t know how she would react in every situation.
But, she didn’t think it would be so obedient.
“(I know I said to avoid attracting attention and not piss people off as much as possible, but why the hell are you literally letting others push you around!? What happened to my order about defending yourself!? Punch him! It’s too late if they’ve already got you pinned down!)” [Ava]
Although Ava was complaining inwardly while spying from the window, she couldn’t do so forever. Before her eyes, Dreck was closing in on her Shadow Puppet’s face, aiming for a kiss.
“(Damn it, Dreck! I’ll get you for this!)” [Ava]
Ava silently swore before shooting a ball of black smoke from her left hand downward. It expanded and turned into a darker version of a handsome elf that she was familiar with. It was her former Observer, Elyon, who possessed the ability to generate wind. The new Shadow Puppet wrapped itself with powerful currents of air that greatly slowed down its descent.
“Break the window then dismiss.” [Ava]
The half-elf whispered to the fake Goro before letting go and dropping onto the shadowy back of Elyon below her. Following her order of descending to the ground, the two slowly reached the earth. Meanwhile, the Shadow Puppet of the young dragon punched a hole in the window before disappearing into smoke.
“What?!” [Dreck]
The loud sound instantly put Dreck on alert and he looked towards the broken window.
“Get off me!” [Shadow Ava]
At the same time, Ava’s Shadow Puppet pushed him off of her and stood up while grumbling.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” [Shadow Ava]
“… Sorry.” [Dreck]
Dreck apologized while smiling bitterly. With the window suddenly breaking and his senses on alert, his passionate emotions that were burning because of Lennan cooled down, allowing him to think clearly.
“(That was unbecoming of me. Am I actually… Afraid?)” [Dreck]
As someone of the royal family, he couldn’t lose himself in the heat of the moment. There was a proper order of events and procedures that he had to follow, especially since he wanted to make a half-elf of unknown origins his spouse.
“(I can’t believe Lennan shook me up this much.)” [Dreck]
However, in his panic, he rushed towards the end. Furthermore, seeing another man embracing Ava on top of a bed, the perfect prince felt intense jealousy for the first time, which made him lose control.
“(Love is more difficult than I thought. But, now is not the time for that.)” [Dreck]
“The window suddenly broke. I wonder why.” [Dreck]
“Don’t know. Maybe someone threw a rock.” [Ava]
“If someone actually threw a rock at the castle, then it would be like asking for a fight.” [Dreck]
Dreck approached the window and examined the hole as well as the broken pieces littering the floor. Then, he looked outside, trying to find anything or anyone suspicious. However, he was on the third floor, so it wasn’t like he would just find someone standing right outside. Moreover, it was too dark to really see anything except vague forms and shadows.
“No rocks. Nothing. For now, let’s get you to a new room. Then, I’ll investigate this case.” [Dreck]
The prince said as he narrowed his eyes, suspicious of the event that had just transpired and wondering if it was an intruder that meant them harm. If the target was himself, then he would simply deal with it as usual. However, if they were targeting was Ava, then he would use all in his power to eradicate them.
----------------------------------------
“(Security really sucks. Is it because there’s a ball tonight with a bunch of people coming over? Shouldn’t they increase the security in that case?)” [Ava]
Walking down the streets at night was Ava, still wearing a dark green dress with a grey cloak and a hood covering her body. On her back was a bag containing various supplies that she had managed to buy.
“(Or maybe this city of humans didn’t plan for wall-scaling dragons and elves that can fly using the wind… Or me that can summon a small force at will right next to their castle.)”
Having slipped out of the castle’s grounds using her Shadow Puppets that possessed the abilities of the dragon, Goro, and the elf, Elyon, the half-elf had decided to leave the city.
“(Not how I planned on leaving, but staying there any longer would be bad. I can seriously feel the danger.)” [Ava]
Ava thought as she shuddered internally, recalling how her substitute got assaulted twice in less than five minutes. Moreover, the first time was by some guy she had just met. The second time was by the prince of the country whom she was working for as a personal maid. Seeing them succumb to their lust, she knew that it was only a matter of time before things turned bad for her.
“(Damn it, this is why you don’t turn into a beautiful girl. Maybe I should have been a goblin instead… Though I’d probably lose it every week… And get slain by some goblin, killer, guy.)” [Ava]
While grumbling in her mind, Ava recalled how useful the Shadow Puppets of Goro and Elyon were and congratulated herself on getting them when she could back in Sanctuary Academy. On the other hand, using her Shadow Puppet to act in her place proved to be a bad idea.
“(Guess I’ll let my body double handle the rest and never come back here. It should buy me some time and I’ve already told it what to do in case it gets discovered. Still… I’ll probably regret leaving it behind… I really don’t want to one day hear that it got married… Life sure felt a lot easier before.)” [Ava]
While thinking so, the half-elf remembered the days where she could just leisurely spend time locked in a room. Then, she was forced to enroll in Sanctuary Academy and she remembered the red-haired boy as well as the brown-haired harpy that used to hang out with her. The faces of the orange-haired therianthrope and the silent ogre also showed up in her mind.
“(Wonder how they’re doing.)” [Ava]
Ava thought, feeling a bit nostalgic as she looked back on her life in that school for all races.
At that moment, a carriage of elegant design passed by her and soon sped away.
“Hmm?” [Lennan]
The passenger, Lennan, noticed the hooded girl walking alone at night and narrowed his eyes, looking puzzled.
“Was that the half-elf?” [Lennan]
He couldn’t help but mutter so since he saw her black hair under her hood. Also, he thought that her facial features, which he had caught a glimpse of, resembled those of the maid he had tried to embrace.
“(… No, that’s impossible. There’s no way she could have sneaked out of the castle. Right about now, she’s probably becoming Dreck’s possession. Damn my cousin. It just had to be now of all times that he’s finally taken an interest in the flowers around him.)” [Lennan]
Sadly, though he had stumbled upon the truth, the beautiful young man didn’t notice because he was bitter about losing the half-elf to Dreck. So, Lennan pushed his thoughts about those two to the back of his mind, opting to relax in his carriage instead of wallowing in his loss.