My name belongs to me only

Erica's point of view part 2

We had embarked on our journey to Glath, even the head maid, Layla, had already left before us, although she had helped with packing Jake's equipment and clothes, fully knowing that we might stay for the night at Glath, due to how far it is.

Ever since the journey began, Jake and I haven't spoken a word to each other, it's already been four hours since we haven't said anything, and I am beginning to get tired of waiting for him to end the silence. It's times like this that make me wish he was like Seth.

I mean he can be very silly or stupid. He is both silly and stupid, now that I think about it, at least he tries to communicate with others, whether they want to listen to him or not.

'I am the one responsible for this uncomfortable situation between us. I should break the silence after all, since it's my fault, all right here goes nothing."

She had fully committed to it.

"Jake."

"Erica."

"I am sorry for being inconsiderate."

"I deeply apologize for trying to see things from your point of view."

They both spoke up at the same time without even realizing it, when they noticed it, they started to chuckle about it together, just like they did when they were kids.

"We-"

"Broke-"

"Our-"

"Silence-"

"Together."

"Together, please stop that, it's getting annoying."

Erica giggled while taking a glance at her best friend's frustrated face. She continued to mimic Jake's words before he could finish them.

"Erica?"

"Yes."

"If you don't stop copying me, I will."

"Do what? Jakey boy," She teasingly cut him off, while using his nickname. He hated the name with passion, knowing full well she was taunting him, and he wasn't going to show it.

"I am going to ban you from using soul risme and your missions for a month."

She grunted at his words with annoyance. She refused to do that, but that was exactly what Jake wanted her to do. He pushed her further.

"I am also going to tell Christa about you and Liza, not inviting her out of last week's girl's night out and game week."

"Yeah, right, as if she is going to listen to you. Wait, how do you know about girl's night out and game week?"

She questioned Jake, who was picking up light pink roses for Liza. He looked back at her, and she finally understood why he knew.

"It was Liza, wasn't it? How could I be so stupid to have let you take care of her when she was drunk?"

She blamed herself for making such a stupid decision which led to her being blackmailed by her best friend, who was simply enjoying her shouting and badmouthing herself relentlessly without her taking a break until she was left breathless, unlike Jake, who was refreshing himself with water from the canned bottle, swallowing her pride. She asked him with an anxious and dehydrated tone, which Jake had simply ignored as he continued to drink the remaining water, while taking sneak glances at her pale face, how he loved how frustrated she was. He really loved Karma. After all, karma is good or bad to everyone, it's just how one does things and lives for their life.

He later gave her the canned bottle. She grabbed it swiftly while glaring at him, as she drank the water, while he returned with an amused expression on his face. While she felt more than refreshed, she threw the bottle back to Jake, who had caught it with little effort.

"You have won the battle, yet you haven't even seen the war."

"So you're following the words of your ancestor, the same ones that made you have to see the undead every single day of your life, since you were born."

"At least my ancestor didn't get himself cursed by his best friend after killing her husband."

"That's a low blow, Erica, even for you."

She countered his words and continued to fight with him, until they noticed a sight of a little green-haired girl being chained by her wrist and ankle, while being whipped by her two escorts, more like captivates.

Erica and Jake had increased their sight with liume to get a better image of the captivates, noticing the black-haired male whose name was King.

An international slave trader, known for his countless number of crossbreeds, who were used for their rare frist and extraordinary risme abilities, harvesting their organs for experimentation by illegal fristers and liumers, had recently been missing for the past six months, only for him to appear right in front of the desert with a new prey and his partner in crime, Jade.

Jade is similar to King in trade, but unlike King, Jade does more transporting both illegal and legal goods, provided by the secret nobles, which makes her untouchable to the law, which makes her the perfect partner for King, signaling each other as they had approached their targets undetected presence, but the little girl had managed to notice their presences, but kept it to herself.

"Did something happen, little one? Did you catch something that interests you?"

King grabbed her tiny cheek while squeezing it, as she withstood the pain, until King was hit by an incoming stone.

"I promise to stop toying with the child, but can you please stop throwing stones at me, Jade?"

"It wasn't me, King, neither was it the child. You must be imagining things from being in the desert for so long."

"But I swear, I am sure the girl could sense something. After all, fopes are known for their sensing and tracking abilities."

"I have a request that I want you to fulfil."

"What is it?"

"Stop being paranoid, it's just me, you and a girl in the desert, okay?"

"But you have to listen uummp-"

He was cut off by a black gloved hand, covering his mouth, preventing him from screaming or shouting for help from Jade.

"Now I want you to listen carefully, Victor Stane, the hidden prince of Cirano."

He paled at the words spoken by the black-cloaked individual, looking back in pure fear, he was relieved when he noticed who he was.

"Brother-in-law Jake, thank Urani, it wasn't someone else entirely different."

Victor Stane, the youngest prince of Cirano, the younger brother of Victoria Stane, who was the first princess of Cirano, the fianceé of Felix Alaric, who was the second son of the Alaric Dukedom, is barely known by the nobles or commoners. Victor was rarely seen by the royals of the four Kingdoms of Umend. He helps with the eradication of slave traders in disguise. His current disguise is King, the uncatchable and mysterious trader. His current mission is to assassinate a family who had kidnapped the legitimate daughter of the Alaric family. He had already killed the family, while taking the girl into custody and also trying to bait Jade and capture in the process.

"So I assume you have taken Lucia from the kidnappers, who altered her appearance to seem like a demon and a dragon to my sister."

"Affirmative Jake."

"Anything else I need to know about?"

"Yes actually."

"What is it?"

"I found some evidence of physical and emotional abuse of her."

"Anything else you would like to report?"

"No."

"Good."

"King, sorry I mean Victor, thank you very much."

Victor had been sent on a mission by Jake to rescue his half sister from a group of bandits, who had been using her rare gift risme for their own benefit rather than requesting ransom, slowly brainwashing and changing her memories over the past three years, when he noticed them when on a secret visit with the King of Glath, Clover Furlorn to discuss the next raid of Glathonies and how to prevent it.