Crown in The Mist (ENGLISH)

CHAPTER SIX

His brows were furrowed as he looked at me as if I said the stupidest thing ever. My only passage to the Black Market is Aizen.  I don't think I can sell this on the Black Market now. I think my bounty is higher than the price of this diamond.

"And why should I buy that?" He crossed his arms.

 "Because it's part of the deal now." I tried crossing my arms too but it was no use. "You don't buy this and you won't have a wife to show to your father." I gave him a saccharine smile, just to piss him off.

 I heard Pierce whistled. "It's scary to imagine what you two would do if you get along. And Laurent, she seems like your type of woman." The one called Laurent didn't say anything but he looked at me from head to foot and grimaced. What the hell?

 "Unimaginable things," Natasha said as she winked at me. I gave her a small smile. Something about her is different. The way she holds herself, even the way she walks is very calculated – guarded. She looked like someone who doesn't need a weapon to fight off the bad guys.

 "400,000 Quird," the Crown Prince said.

 "450,000 Quird.”

 "We have a deal." He sauntered close and offered his hand. I gave him a smirk as I took it for a handshake. I don't know how much bounty they put on my head this time. But since they don't know I am Shadow, perhaps I have another bounty on my head for being the daughter of the King. Such twisted fate.

 "That's the most unique wedding proposal I've ever seen." Pierce smirked at his brother's direction. The latter only gave him a glare and he made a gesture of zipping his mouth.

 "Why don't you two just fake the marriage and after Ares gets his throne, you two go on your separate ways?" Natasha suggested and it was actually a good idea. I don't have to bear an heir for him. I looked at Ares and he wasn't even amazed by it.

 But Pierce laughed. "That won't work with Father. He just announced a few days ago how he knew all along about the fake marriage of Exene and Laurent's sister, Liliana. But they ended up marrying each other, anyway."

 My hope shattered into pieces.

 "So we have no choice but to make it real," Ares said and looked at me and the Lazuli Diamond.

 "Pierce, Laurent, we need to go somewhere. Make some arrangements so my transaction buying a stolen item is untraceable." He emphasized saying the last sentence.

 "That’s easy," Pierce said before he kissed his fiancé full on the lips. I felt my cheeks getting hot as I saw them kissing. Ares, on the hand, was just looking at them blankly and then to his watch. He looked like he’s used watching this kind of thing.

 "Where should we go?" Pierce asked as he wore his coat.

 "I know someone," Laurent said.

 I looked at them, confused. Ares took the diamond out of my hand. "Of course we need to have this graded to know it's real," he said as if answering my confusion. “Four hundred and fifty thousand Quird is a very generous price for such cheap stone.”

 I scoffed. "Suit yourself." I waved my hand and he just eyed me.

 "Natasha will be here with you." He looked at Natasha. "You don't have any classes tonight, do you?"

 "I ditched all my classes for tonight when that i***t came and brought havoc to my school." She glared at Pierce and the latter just grinned.

 "We'll be back. And Natasha, if she attempts to escape, let her be." He grinned in my direction as if saying I couldn't escape even if I want to because I don't have any other choice but to stick with his proposal because it's the best choice I have.

 And I cursed him inside my mind because he's right. I don't have anywhere to go. I don't have any place to hide. Did the Queen announce me being an illegitimate child?

 Funny how I became a criminal not because I m a thief but because I am a daughter of the King.

 I mean, how did they know I am the illegitimate daughter of the King? Did my mother left my birth certificate somewhere and the Queen found it? Did my mother know someone before who reported it to the Queen? It would be more acceptable for me to be arrested for being a thief but for something like this... how sure are they I am what they're looking for? And even if it's true, why kill me? How is this my fault? I don't even have any interest in the throne. Hell, I can't even run my own life, and they'd think I'd be interested in running a whole goddamn nation? 

 "Does it hurt a lot still?"

 I was pulled from my thoughts when Natasha called my attention. I am already sitting on a chair while she stood in front of me, holding the bandages and a brown paper bag.

 "It does." I moved around a lot earlier and now I can see a patch of blood on my arm and leg.

 She grimaced at the state of my wounds. I looked at my arm where I was hit by a baseball bat. It's starting to turn into a nasty purple.

 "I brought you some extra clothes. Let's get you changed. Can you do it yourself?"

 I was tempted to say no because my arm hurts like hell but I accepted the bag of clothes and went to the bathroom. Changing clothes was torture but I did it slowly, clamping my lips every once in a while as I try to insert my hands on the sleeves. Thankfully, it was a shirt and a long skirt and it was easy to wear. Using my other hand, I washed my face, carefully avoiding the plaster on my temple. And then I look at myself in the mirror.

 For just one day, my life changed. Sure, being a thief, hunted by the royal guards is fun and all but not until they tell you you're the King's illegitimate child and that the Queen wants to erase your existence in this world. With that bit of news, I don't think anything can surprise me more than how that news surprised me. I mean, I got most of my features from my mother, including the hair. I don't look anything like the late King at all. And I didn't have that sort of weird feeling you feel when you see someone you don't know who's connected to you in a familial way. If that's true, I didn't feel anything similar to that feeling at all. I didn't care about the King or any of the Royals in Carnes for that matter. My mom told me she used to work in the Palace as a servant and she would tell me there's nothing special with them. They're just people with bigger responsibilities. They also fight, get sad, and get happy even with the smallest things.

 And now that I think about it, I remember my mom saying those things with a certain glint in her eyes. And maybe as she tells me those things, the King was on her mind.

 I took a deep breath as I stared at myself in the mirror, contemplating the life decisions I've made so far. Stealing the Lazuli, stealing from the Crown Prince, trusting Aizen, agreeing to a loveless marriage to the Crown Prince from another kingdom. There's nothing any worse than this, right?

 I was pulled from my thoughts when someone knocked on the bathroom door.

 "Rainia? Are you okay there?" Natasha called. I immediately wiped my face with a towel and opened the door. Worry is etched across her face, then she looked at the clothes I’m wearing.

 "I'm fine. And just call me Rain," I said as she helped me walk to the bed.

 When I settled on the bed, I looked at her. "You're studying here?"

 "Yeah. I'm in my last year now. Master's Degree," she said as she looked outside the window. At one glance, people would think she's just ordinary. Except for the fact that she's gorgeous, you can't think of anything different about her. But I see her differently. Her posture, her wariness, and the way she observes quietly. This woman is something more and not just a mere Prince's fiancé.

 She poured two cups of tea and handed me one. She sat opposite me and sipped on it.

 "Are you and Pierce the same?" I asked before I could even stop myself.  

 She raised her brow. “The same?” she asked and sipped on her tea.

 I made a gun sign on my hand and made a shooting gesture. “You know, with the guns and all.”

 “Oh,” she said and chuckled. “How do you say so?”

 "I just observed. Your stance, the way you walk so quietly, and the weapons carefully hidden in your clothes," I said and gulped when she put the teacup down. As a thief, I have very sharp eyes. I could tell which pockets you put your wallet in. I could tell even the slightest bulge on your coat. And Natasha, she has a knife strapped on both her legs and a gun behind her, concealed by her leather jacket.

"You're quite an observer, then." She looked at me and the moment our eyes met, I knew I was right.

"I was an assassin," she said.

"Was?"

"I stopped years ago when my brother died. Pierce found me to help him on a mission and the rest is history." She smiled as if recalling a distant memory. Then she looked at me.

"I heard you are a thief," she said and crossed her legs.

I shrugged. "I guess I could say 'was a thief'."

She nodded. "You're a good observer yet you still stole from Ares.”

"That was something I really regret doing." I covered my face with my hand. She just chuckled and sipped on her tea.

"Some mistakes make history," she merely said before we both settled in comfortable silence.

 History, huh. What history did I possibly make stealing from the Crown Prince?

We both finished our second cup when Pierce and Ares arrived. The moment they entered, Ares tossed the diamond in my direction. And Pierce put some food on the table.

"There's gold leaf on the side," he said as he walked to the chair and lounged himself.

Gold leaf? So Aizen wasn't making it up?

"Aizen told me about it but I thought he just made it all up to make me come to his apartment and kill me." 

 "Well yeah, apparently your killer friend was telling the truth. It's very thin that it's almost unnoticeable," Pierce said as he leaned on to the nearest wall.

 "So you don't want to buy it?" I asked looking at Ares who was sipping on his tea.

 "I had the gold leaf removed and you might want to reconsider selling that."

My brows furrowed and when I turn the pendant, I gasped with what I saw. It was too small and unnoticeable but when I looked closer, I can clearly see what's written on it.

 Aizen was right. It is indeed a name.

 "Maria Eleanor Robynn. Is that someone related to you?"

 I stared at the diamond pendant and its gold frame. I gulped looking at the piece of jewelry.

 "Yes. She's my mother."