𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍 ↷ scaramouche x reader

CHAPTER FIVE . 試練と苦難

"Just who the hell do you think you are...?!" You heard your fiancé hollered angrily at the hooded attacker.

Scaramouche readied himself for another barrage that seemingly never came as the attacker set down the bow and quickly fled the scene. The fiery arrows had been expertly shot at the oil lamps atop the staircase causing them to explode.

Heat flared against your skin as your vision was clouded by the smoke and debris. Violent coughs escaped you, your lungs filled with the thick smog. Desperately, you gasped and heaved for air. Your eyes flickered from side to side, trying to assess your next move yet the excruciating pain pounding at the back of your mind did not ease in the process of attempting to think straight. Your mind tried to salvage the situation at hand; first the murder of your adoptive father and now an attempt on your life. These were coincidences pointed towards something far more sinister.

Suddenly, you felt a hand seize around your left arm which caused you to tense. The smog was too caliginous to make anything out thus you couldn't rule out the possibility that whomever was holding you could be a potential enemy. Instincts screamed at you to react but your mind felt groggy and your thoughts were slow. Estranged and delirious, you attempted to pry the hand away though your efforts proved fatuous.

"Stay still!" Scaramouche scolded, his grasp tightened around your arm as another wave of heat washed over the two of you. Hysteria settled in as your mind began to clear up from the fog of cephalalgia. "Wenling— Where's Wenling?!"

Scaramouche scowled, shaking his head at you. "Are you seriously worried about your maid right now?! That man tried to kill you!"

"Where the hell is Wenling, Scaramouche?! Archons— Tell me!" You hollered, trying to pry away from his fiancé's iron hold upon you.

"She is not my priority, your life comes first! You're my goddamn fiancé! She's just a maid, she's replaceable!"

Had it not been the fact that the two of you were stuck in this situation of life and death, you would've found his words rather uncharacteristically sweet of him in calling you 'irreplaceable' however your mind was occupied with more pressing matters at the moment.

You snatched at the fabric of his shirt; pulling him closer to you. "She's not just my maid! She is  my friend!"

Slowly, the dust cloud begins to lift; revealing the wreckage of the foyer with the staircase utterly destroyed and the decor shattered.

Claret; you saw red dripping from the wreckage, the scent of blood filled your nose.

Surges of pure terror hit you as the veracity of the situation began to unravel before your eyes. Tremors of agonizing truth rippled through your body as you began to realize what had happened in the eclipsed mist. A scream of dismay escaped your lips; full of distress, stifled with grief as your vocal chords ripped out the scream of horror. Adrenaline rushed through as you tore away from your fiancé's grasp and stumbled over to the gathering pool of vermillion in the debris.

"Wenling!" You shrieked, immediately rushing towards your maid laying within the pool of crimson. Blood soaked your clothes as you hulled her into your lap, seeing the bloodied wound upon her temple and chest. A piece of glass had been stabbed into her abdomen, causing her clothes to be drenched in blood. The sound of your heart thrummed loudly as the worse-case scenarios flicked through your mind.

"Y-Young Master... You're... alright... W-What a relief..." Wenling's soft voice was hoarse, weak. Tears threatened to fall from your eyes upon seeing her wrecked state; the blood, the wound, the weak smile on her face as she attempted to assure you even in such a condition.

"S-Stop! Don't say anything! This is an order, Wenling!" You yelled, bringing your right arm close to your face, using your teeth to rip the fabric of the sleeve apart. You used the strip of fabric to bandage her wound; frantically scanning her body for any more injuries— the glass shard stuck within her however, you knew by removing the glass, there was a chance of damaging her organs.