Atropa Belladonna

~~~二~~~

"Focus on yourself," she continued while gently removing his hand from her wrist, "I don't trust your situation at all."

With a huff, the male flicked his sleeves back and took a seat, setting his sword down on the table as the woman in black made her way up to the second floor of the tea house.

"You know, you really are one strange girl," the noiret commented as he handed the necklace back to the woman with the addition of the purple crystal hanging down from the bottom of the cloud, "First, you walk around such a shady place wearing such luxurious clothing."

"Second, you went with a stranger and gambled for more than an hour and even trusted him with the Imperial Crest," he continued, the female's eyes flicking up to him as she fixed the chain around her neck, "And now you show up here with the Crown Prince."

"I'm just now realizing you are that Bai Diān Qié," the man concluded as she took up her usual posture and put some space between them, "the daughter of the general who won the war twelve years ago."

"Of course it would be me, who else would name their daughter after something as ominous as Deadly Nightshade?" the ravenette retorted as she cracked her neck.

"Now I believe it's my turn to ask you you are, Wūyā," she continued, honey-golden eyes narrowing as the male let out sigh and scratched the back of his neck.

"I suppose all assassins are quiet perceptive, aren't they?" he chuckled, taking a step forward only for the female to reach for her right hip where her sword was holstered.

"Listen, I'll explain everything to you later, but I need you to play along for now," the male whispered as his eyes flicked from side to side to make sure no one else was listening in.

"And let you harm the Crown Prince?" the nineteen-year-old scoffed removing the hilt from it's holster and directed it at him without the blade, "I think the fuck not."

"Diān Qié, I swear on my honor as a man that I'm not here to harm anyone," the traveller spoke with a small grin, "I just wanted to test something out."

Once again she saw no signs of lying in his body language, so the female let out a sigh and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Following the male's quick movements, she let him hold her arms behind her back and bring a knife up to her throat as he whispered, "Make this believable."

"Now!" he called while dragging the ravenette over to the balcony, causing multiple patrons to leap up from their seats and draw hidden weapons as they surrounded the male in white.

In response, he immediately stood up and grabbed his scabbard, but did not yet draw his blade as he looked up the balcony to see the strange male holding onto the woman who just looked indifferent about the whole situation.

"Your Highness, I'm glad to see you could make it!" the noiret chirped with a large grin, "I didn't see when you arrive in Dulaman, so I was getting a bit worried."

"Who are you?" Zhang growled as he reached for the hilt of his weapon only for the stranger to step back and press his blade to the female's neck.

"No need to be hasty, Your Highness," the man chuckled, slowly taking steps back until he stood over the entrance of the tea house, "I'll tell you."

"That is," he continued with a smug smirk as the royal's grip tightened on his scabbard, eyes practically boring holes into his figure, "If you can catch me first."

With his last statement, the traveller suddenly sweeped the female off her feet and jumped down to the ground floor before dashing out of the tea house as the bandits all charged at the prince.