Crown in The Mist (ENGLISH)

CHAPTER EIGHT

It felt like I've never seen Carnes for eternity the moment I stepped out of the building. I breathed in the air and sighed. I could smell the smoke from the cars and the smell of the winter -- dark and smoky,  like the heady aroma of burning pinecones in the fireplace. It felt nice to be out after being confined inside that room for how many days.  

Natasha and I decided to walk around. It's much better to walk and enjoy the view of Carnes. I'm just thankful my scarf is big enough to cover half of my face. I wore contacts to cover my brown eyes and a beanie. 

Natasha wore the same. Carnes street is busier this time since Christmas is coming close. Before, I spent Christmas eve and the days before it stealing from the people on the streets. That's what I was planning to do this year. Who would've thought I'd get an instant fiance just a few days before Christmas, a brief moment of having an identity crisis, in a span of a few days, I was betrayed by my childhood friend, and discovering the diamond I stole was actually mine? It was like life just gave me an early Christmas present and was like; Surprise! 

How my life turned a complete hundred eighty degrees! 

"Let's eat first. I know a place where we can have a whole room. We don't need to worry about removing our scarves," Natasha whispered as she walked beside me. Both our hands are deep into the pockets of the overcoat we're wearing. 

We arrived at the restaurant Natasha talks about. She made me go to the room first while she orders the food. I've never been to restaurants like this. Before, I'd eat cheap fast foods or if I have nothing, I starve. That's how my life works. That's how I live. 

Few minutes and the door opened. Natasha came in bristling as she removed her coat and her scarf. "Today's colder than usual," she said as she poured me a drink. I muttered my thanks.

"Thankfully, I wasn't on duty today," she groaned, stretching her arms right after she sat on the couch. 

"You work?" 

She nodded. "I work as a waitress in a small restaurant near the school." 

"That's really nice." 

"Well, I don't want Pierce to be financing my education so I took a scholarship and work part-time as well." 

I can't help but be amazed by how she keeps it together. It's always been my dream to study. I didn't know how to read and write. I would study every night with Aizen and somehow it has improved. And later on, figured how useful it is to know how to read if you're a thief. I could read some words but not really good at it. 

I actually have a bag with bundles of cash I saved from years of stealing. Most of it came from that time when I was still working with a group. And I planned to use it for my education. 

And now that I remembered it, I left it there at the tavern. If the royal guards somehow managed to locate where I was staying, they probably had my whole room searched. But my money is somewhere they wouldn't even think of searching. 

We enjoyed our food while Natasha tells tales about her life as an assassin. It wasn't something I'd consider a pleasant story. She also told me the second eldest, Exene, is going to get married soon. Natasha hasn't met the bride but I can tell she's excited to meet her. 

Me? I don't know. I am the future wife of the Crown Prince but I only see it as an escape. I don't really plan to get friendly with them. And I am certain he also sees this arrangement as a way to get the throne. We're both benefiting from this, anyway. 

"Few days or weeks from now, I think Ares is going to take you to Oregon," she blurted out, munching on her food. 

I almost choked on the soup. "What?" 

"Well, he needs to introduce you to the family. I'm guessing he's going to take you during Exene's wedding." 

"Wait a second--" 

"There's nothing to be scared of. The Queen and the King are really good people. They will understand."

I have no doubt about that. I actually don't care about what their opinion of me. My concern is -- that soon? I know it shouldn't be prolonged especially in my current situation but I still can't believe I am going to be marrying Ares Magnussen. I still need some time to absorb all of it. But a part of me shouts just f**k the worries off and go for it. Another part of me shouts to think about my decision carefully. 

I sighed and I felt Natasha's hand on my back. "Relax. We went out today to at least ease yourself. You've been tensed for the past few days. I understand the frustration of being unable to move because you're wounded." 

That, and the fact that I am the illegitimate child of the King and that I am marrying a future King. I could only sigh inwardly. 

I eyed my arm where I was shot. At least it doesn't hurt now. "It's healing faster than it should. Or are gunshots usually heal this fast?" 

She chuckled. "Well, Laurent is a healer. Her step-sister, Exene's bride, is a healer too who came from Sandovia. You know how crazy Sandovian medicines are." 

I actually have no idea about Sandovian medicine. All I know about this continent is that it's divided into five regions led not by a King or a Queen but by High Lords. And I've heard nasty rumors about High Lords in Sandovia. I don't know whether it's true.

We enjoyed the food and just talked about everything. When we finished eating, we went out and roamed around the busy streets of Carnes. We ate the street foods, bought some local merchandise displayed along the street, examined some highly valuable materials, and just walk around while enjoying the fall of snow to the ground, and feeling the cold winter wind against our cheeks. The trees are left with only branches, topped with snow. But the flowerbeds were not barren of flowers when I saw various colors of winter pansies blooming under the buttery sunlight.  

And then I realized, this is the first time I've actually enjoyed the surroundings, appreciating the view, and not thinking about stealing. Sure, I marveled at the sight of all those expensive things but today, I decided to keep my hands to myself. 

I've noticed a lot of foreigners and some locals both enjoying the winter season in Carnes. I would pull my scarf higher to my nose when we see Royal Guards roaming around. Some are drinking on the stalls beside the street. No one, save for the vendors who called us to buy their products, paid attention to us. 

Right now, we're just a few kilometers away from the Capital and we wouldn't risk going there as Royal guards will be flocking that area. So we stayed on the streets. There are many guards here too but with these many people, I don't think I would stand out. I don't think we would stand out.

I looked at Natasha when she stopped walking. When I look at her eyes, it was alert, wary. "Natasha?" 

She looked to the side and continued walking, holding my elbow. I heard her mutter a silent curse.

"What's wrong?"

She adjusted the scarf on her mouth. "I can feel somebody following us," she said as her pace became faster. My heart thundered. That fast? I discreetly looked around, watching the Royal guards. They don't seem to be paying attention to us. If not the royal guards, who? Natasha turned to an alleyway and I stopped her. 

"I know a place we could hide as we can't possibly go back to the suite right now," she mumbled and walked faster. She's right. We shouldn't go back there yet or they'll know about Ares' involvement and that would be bad. She just nodded and I led the way, running as fast as I can, ignoring the slight pain that shot through my leg. Natasha's face was dark as we ran and her movements were swift and precise as we navigate our way through the narrow alley. 

It's almost noon and there would be little people in that tavern right now. After all, I already paid the tavern owner a month's worth of rent. And if he decides to deny me or sell me out, I might break his nose or Natasha could use her gun. 

"This way!" I said and we turned right. We stopped running and took a deep breath as we slowly approached the tavern door. I was right. There were no people inside as I can't hear the rowdy singing. Natasha opened the door and the reek of alcohol greeted us. She locked the door behind us. 

"Welcome--" 

The owner didn't finish his sentence when he recognized me the moment I removed my scarf. The glass he was holding fell from his grasp and it touched the floor. He paled and was about to reach the telephone but Natasha pointed a gun in his direction. The owner backed a few steps away, raising his arms.

Natasha c****d her gun. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." 

"Who are you? Get out of my tavern!" he screamed. Natasha walked closer to the counter and sat there. Placing her gun on the table as she poured herself a glass of whiskey.

"We're here to negotiate," Natasha said as she crossed her legs and sipped on her glass. She looked at me and nodded her head. I looked at the owner, his face still pale as a paper, as he looked at me then to Natasha. 

"What do you want?" he said, his voice shaking as he clutched on a clean white rug tightly. 

"Did the royal guards searched this place?" I asked and he nodded. He reached for something and tossed me the bag of money I gave him a week ago. 

"Take your money and leave this place," he said as he looked at Natasha and the gun on the table. He then gulped when he met Natasha's eyes. I can't help but wonder how convenient it would be to have Natasha if you want to threaten or scare someone. 

I sighed inwardly. I'm guessing the belongings I left here were already taken. But the most important one is hidden somewhere here. 

"What do you want me to do, Rain?" Natasha said while her eyes are still fixed on the man. 

"Just keep scaring him," I said and walked towards the shelves on the left side of the room. Shoving the books and the glasses, I found what I was looking for. I inserted my finger on the crevice and pulled it revealing bundles of money in a plastic bag. 

"Whoa," I heard Natasha whistled. 

"Yeah," I said and looked at the money. I chose the right place to hide it. 

I looked at the man on the counter. "Old man, what time do your customers come?" 

"An hour from now," he answered. He's sweating a lot. 

And Natasha might have pitied the man when she said, "Relax. I told you we came to negotiate." 

"We have an hour to stay here, Nat." 

She gulped down the alcohol. "That's okay. I think we lost them too. We can stay here for a few minutes and we can go." 

I just nodded. She looked at the old man. "You can continue what you were doing now. But if you do something funny..." Natasha touched her gun. "You know what will happen."  Her voice was deep and cold.

The old man just nodded and went back to cleaning the glasses though his hands were shaking. 

"Who do you think they are?" Natasha asked me and honestly, I didn't feel anyone following us at all. But Natasha immediately felt something different.

I shook my head. "I have no idea." The only people I know who are after me are the Royal Guards. Aside from that, I can't think of anyone. Aizen might be dead by now or someone found him and got him treated. If that is the case, the next time we see each other, I will kill him for real. 

We stayed there for several minutes. I went to the counter and placed my palm on the counter. "This never happened. You never saw us. Today's an ordinary day and you'll have your customers in less than an hour." He's still trembling while holding a glass. 

"You're a smart man. You know what happens if you tell anyone what happened here today," I continued and I heard Natasha c****d her gun and the old man gulped. 

"100,000 Quird as a p*****t for the broken glass." I winked at him as I gave him the bag of money he tossed to me earlier and a few Quird from the plastic bag. 

We went out of the back door and to the suite hotel, we stayed at. Thankfully, nobody's following us anymore. She walked me to my door before she went home. And when I went inside the room, Ares was waiting by the chair near the window, legs crossed and sipping his tea. And I won't deny he looked so good just sitting there and I wondered how the world could be so unfair. He's a Prince, he's rich, and he has the looks. He has everything. 

He looked at me, putting his teacup down gently, and folded his hands on top of his leg. He looked so elegant, so rich, and most importantly, he looked pissed. 

"You took your time," he started. "So, how was your little trip, hm?" 

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