Once Upon a Tale

Chapter 25: Truces

"Let's enter a truce. I will not love you and you will not hurt me."
~Vivek Anand~

"W-what?" I gasped, not believing what I just heard.

The sorcerer turned around and tried to get closer to me as I stumbled over my feet to get away from him as quickly as I could.

"Don't try to run away, darling." The sorcerer warned but I was too focused on trying to flee this place unscathed.

All of a sudden, my feet stopped on their own, gluing me to the ground. The sorcerer's white eyes glowed in the darkness of the room as he strolled towards my frozen form.

He's manipulating my body!

He was about to reach for my face when someone lunged at him out of nowhere, emerging from the shadows.

"Touch her and I'll kill you." Seokjin threatened, his dagger threateningly piercing through Namjoon's neck.

The attack seemed to take effect on the sorcerer as I felt my body no longer restrained making me hold unto a nearby desk for support.

"So you're the huntsman." The sorcerer muttered, his eyes scrutinizing the man who have him in a not so friendly position.

The sorcerer wrapped his hand around the small weapon that's threatening his life and gently pushed it away, making the huntsman put the dagger down and move away from him, standing right infront of me as if to shield me from any sign of danger coming from the man opposite him.

The sorcerer stood straight, dusting his clothes. "You don't need to worry about me, huntsman. I'm her ally." The sorcerer emphasized.

"I wouldn't harm her earlier. I just want to make you get out of your hiding place." The sorcerer explained, smiling with his dimples out. "Although, I didn't appreciate that you invited yourself inside my chamber without permission, I am amazed of your fast reflexes."

The huntsman, however, stayed silent. He was still not facing me making me wonder of his reaction while the sorcerer continue to blabber about his small scheme.

The sorcerer walked closer to the two of us and stopped a feet away. He held eye contact with the huntsman. "I hope I could trust you as much as I trust Y/N."

The sorcerer then turned away from us and walked towards the painting he was staring at earlier and placed his hand on it.

Surprisingly, the painting shrink and became a cylindrical container. The rose also changed it's form and became a heart. A beating heart.

The sorcerer held it delicately, as if the thing he's holding was so fragile and he's afraid to destroy it. He walked towards the huntsman and I, showing the container that contains the beating heart.

"This is Taehyung's heart." The sorcerer stated the obvious.

Carefully pushing the huntsman aside, I faced the sorcerer, a confused look plastered on my face.

"If you have Taehyung's heart all along, why didn't you just give it back to him? Why would you hide it in here?"

The sorcerer's thick lips formed a thin line as they pressed them together. "It's not that easy. If it was, I should've gave it to him a long time ago."

"What stops you from doing so?" The huntsman asked and the sorcerer looked a bit dismayed.

Namjoon locked gazes with me and spoke in a monotone. "Do you think that woman would put me in the care of something so precious without ensuring it's safety?"