"My Lady!!!"
The shouts of the knights filled the air. Hearing the groans of pain of the Dukedom's princess coming from the balcony made the atmosphere way more chaotic than it already was. They all know the catastrophe that would befall them if even a single tiny wound makes its way on the precious girl's body.
Luviene was the most distressed of them all. No matter how much he wanted to storm inside the mansion and beat the living daylights out of the filthy criminal, he couldn't take his eyes off the Lady. He was afraid he might not be able to see her in good condition once he shifts his attention away. It was already an embarrassment that they let the prisoner run loose, if Lady Avy gets hurt, they would be ashamed that they wouldn't be able to call themselves knights ever again.
"N-no one move! Or else I will slit this girl's throat!" the criminal shouted. He had his arms wrapped around Avy's shoulder, the sharp blade of a dagger was on her throat, one wrong move, and her blood would spill everywhere like a waterfall.
Luviene frowned deeply. There's nothing he could do but to comply. If only he was near the both of them, he could take the criminal on without endangering Avy's life. But they're at a disadvantage. All they could do was wait for the Duke, hoping that the lady leaves unscathed.
'Just where In the world are you, Warde?'
~~~
"P-please, spare me. Your Grace. I was only forced to lead the rebellion. I swear!" Count Delahim pleaded non-stop. He doesn't want to spend his life holed up inside the prison known for driving prisoners insane. Even the ones with a tough mentality couldn't take it and ended up begging the Duke to be killed.
Out of desperation, a stupid idea entered his mind. He shamelessly crawled towards the Duke and took his hand. He was shaking, chills took over his body. Why is his hand so damn cold? Nevertheless, he started begging pitifully.
"I-I will do anything. I will surrender all the rebels. J-just spare my life, Your Grace. I will dedicate my life to serving you-" but he wasn't able to continue, thanks to the knight pointing their swords at him. He had no choice but to let go or else his head would fly off, if not, he would surely lose one of his limbs.
The Duke slightly grimaced. A hint of disgust and disapproval showed on his face before it went back to its usual stone-cold look. Heavens. He was dirtied by living filth. One of the knights handed him a piece of cloth which he took before wiping his hands clean. Everyone would be amazed how he could still act so prim and proper in that kind of situation. But then again, it was given knowing he came from the bloodline of walking icebergs.
Count Delahim cried on the ground. Pleading to be saved. But none of his pleas seemed to have reached the ears of the Duke.
"As I figured. No one would follow a pathetic man." he stated. "Get this thing out of my sight." he ordered, and just a second later, the count filled the room with his screams. This is why he hates taking part in interrogations. The loud voices of the prisoners give him a headache. Usually, he would've left this kind of job to Rohan, the Warden and the one in charge to make the criminals spill everything using his way of torturing them mentally to the point that they would lose their sanity. But treason is a crime that cannot be taken lightly. May it be a little problem from the far lands away from the capital, or a mere joke made by citizens. They cannot simply let it pass. The Duke had to deal with it personally. How unfortunate.
Duke Alton with a composed expression, watched the man as he was being pulled by the knights out of the room. But then, the doors burst open.
"Your Grace!" a knight, as far as he knows, someone from the squad who arrested the rebels, shouted.
"How shameless can you be?! Barging inside without permission-"
"Let him speak." Lord Alcasser cut the knight's sentence off. He was also surprised by the knight's behavior. But no one is ignorant of the fact that a sign of disrespect is never tolerated in any place held by the Dukedom, he instantly knew something was off.
"I-it's about the Lady."
The old Lord frowned and stood up from his seat.
"She's being held hostage by a rebel who set himself free." that single statement of the knight was enough for the two of the most powerful men in the Empire to storm out of the room.
Screams of the prisoners could be heard, all of them were screeching in agony as the temperature became a lot harsher than before. Even the knights standing on the safe zone couldn't take it and immediately cast spells to protect themselves.
"Where is Avy?" the Duke asked the knight who informed them about the current situation who could barely keep up with them.
"Th-third floor. Balcony."
~~~
"If I see someone coming near us, I will kill this girl!! Open the gates and let me out!!" the rebel threatened all of the people present on the scene. His hand was shaking but he kept the blade on Avy's neck.
"Hey mister. What's your problem?" Avy was holding the man's arm, cautious that he might suddenly go crazy and slash her throat out of nowhere. They were still on the balcony, no one dared to move from where they were standing.
"I-I would never stay in this place. Your demon of a father dragged us here. This is all his fault." the man replied in a shaky voice.
"Then stop being a coward and deal with him instead of using me." she said with a short chuckle as if she's not minding the danger she was in even though mentally, she's already searching her brain on how she could escape from the man's grasps.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" said the rebel, pressing the blade harder on her neck that blood dripped from it.
Damn. Her wound was just healing after being almost assassinated, and now, another bastard is testing her patience.
"I can help you escape, Avy. But I will be risking our secret. I will let you pick." Ares stated. Of course, he can't let his host die, especially when she became his only hope to get out of the suffocating cage that trapped him for hundreds of years. He doesn't know how long will it take for another unique human who can handle his power to appear once again.
'No. I can get out of this.' she responded
Only a few know about it, but she actually learned from her uncle who's a crazy martial arts enthusiast. She's been with him all her life and witnessed so many kinds of fighting styles. And of course, most of them are too much for her weak body to handle. But as much as she's incapable of winning fights, she's also prideful enough to despise losing any of them. She hated being on the ground and tapping to surrender. She hated physical activities but she took the loss as humiliation, hence she paid attention to her uncle.
"You're already seven! Old enough to learn to defend yourself." the seven-year-old Annie stood in front of her Uncle Lorenzo with an unhappy look on her face.
"I'd rather read books." she said.
"Is reading fun?" Lorenzo asked her crouching down to her level.
"Being dumb is not." little Annie answered with a straight face that she got from her Dad, she thought acting like his is way nicer than acting like her Mom. Her mom is always surrounded by people. She doesn't like crowds.
Her uncle chuckled. "Being dumb will not kill you, you know?"
"I know that. You even lived past twenty, uncle." she retorted back causing the older man to laugh out loud like a crazy person. His niece never fails to amuse him. She's only a child but she already knows so much.
"How about this? I will give you the limited edition book I bought from Europe, in exchange, you will learn from me." he told her with a smile. "Deal?"
With no hesitation, Annie answered. "Deal." she said. If she can benefit from it, then why not? How hard can it be?
"Great." Lorenzo stood up and looked at the people inside his training center. There are many of them trying out different kinds of martial arts.
"But first. Pick one martial art you want to learn. You can point at any of the people here." he said.
"That one." Annie pointed at the two people a couple of meters to their left.
Lorenzo nodded his head slowly. "That's a great pick. But why?" he asked.
"Because the other person is a lot smaller, but he's not losing." she replied.
"Then let's go for that."
'Krav Maga'
It is a martial art that most street fighters use to eliminate multiple weapon-wielding opponents. Learned by special forces for defense purposes. It was the first martial arts that Annie learned from her uncle and one of the few ones she really took seriously. Even though she watched different kinds of fighting styles all her life, she was only able to execute two smoothly and the other one is this martial art.
She knew she could do it. She's confident about her skills, but she can't say the same to her new body. It's way too fragile and soft, like a typical pampered rich lady, a body of an aristocrat who never tired themselves their whole life. She knew for a fact that the body she's currently occupying is far worse than normal since the original Avy always stayed inside her room. Locking herself up.
But she doesn't have a choice. A couple of minutes felt like hours, she had to get out of it as soon as possible. She took a deep breath and spoke.
"You know mister, let me give you an advice." she said. She could already feel her neck being numb because of the knife.
"Q-quiet! Do you want to die that badly?!" the man hissed.
"You should stop." Avy told him calmly.
"Wh-what?"
"Haven't you heard about it? The Duke only sees his children as comrades. Killing me wouldn't bring him despair." she started. "Sure, it would hurt his reputation. But if I die here, you will be given a heavier punishment."
"Who knows. They might even hand you over to that man." she glanced at him. "The one who drives prisoners insane. I heard he tortures them nonstop and toys them until they die a horrible death. If you stain the Duke's reputation, he would surely be pissed and make your life here even harder. So go ahead and kill me." she told him. Of course, she doesn't know if any of it was true, she just made that up after witnessing the scene that happened a while ago.
Her goal was to crush his hope of getting out of there alive.
"You think you can leave here? I don't think so Mister."
"Can you see those knights scattered around?"
"Pretty sure it's already reported to the Duke."
"What are you gonna do now?"
"I don't really mind being killed."
"I'm certain you've heard rumors about me. So go ahead and do me a favor."
"It won't benefit you, mister. You'll die with me."
"Your death will not be painless as mine. Or at least it wouldn't be as quick."
"Yours will be slow."
"You have no chance Mister."
Avy felt the man quiver, in fear maybe? In anger? But one thing's for sure. He was driven off the edge. The last bit of rationality he had has been swept away by her words. His grip loosened and he started talking nonsense.
"N-no. No. I will leave here. I have to leave. I can't stay. I'll be tortured."
"No way Mister. I thought we will die together? No fair. Just slit my throat and you will soon follow." her mocking tone didn't help but rather made the man more anxious. He's stressing himself out more.
"Kill me now Mister. Kill me."
"Just slide the blade."
"Slit my throat."
"Kill me now."
She laughed and laughed until all the man could hear was her voice. She knew he was already on his last straw. He no longer could hold on to himself. He just needs a little push and bam.
"Stop... I'm going to die... I'm going to die... I can't escape... It's over..."
The knights below couldn't hear what they were talking about because they were conversing as if they were just whispering. Except for a few, of course, their senses as knights were sharpened by experience that it was already on the level of impossible. They were able to hear Avy's statement loud and clear.
"My lady..." Luviene muttered. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was not sure if she was just saying that given the situation, but her words felt so real. He couldn't shake off the thoughts that it was what she really feels.
A couple of moments later, they witnessed the most unexpected.
Avy banged the back of her head on the man's chin as hard as she could that the man groaned in pain. He lost his grip on her giving her a chance to grab his arm and twist it.
"AHH!!" the rebel screamed that made Avy's ear ring. She punched his throat with all her strength, stopping him from squeaking like a pig being butchered before kneeing him on the gut. He curled in pain, making it easier for Avy to twist his arm behind his back and pin him to the ground. She successfully took the knife away.
"This is how you use a knife, Mister." she stated and stabbed both of the rebel's legs. It was cruel. But she's not that strong to be able to hold him for long. She had to make sure he wouldn't be able to stand up and grab her again.
Even though it would be painful to be stabbed two times, Avy only heard whimpers from the criminal. She must've crushed his vocal cords earlier when she punched his throat. Well, that's given. His voice was annoying anyways.
"Avy..." speaking of voices, a chilling voice interrupted her thoughts. And she knew exactly who it was right away.
She raised her head, only to see her Father and Grandfather, followed by a knight, standing in front of the Balcony, even though it was just a faint expression, she could see that they were surprised.
"I–"
"Why are you still standing there? Get this criminal away from the lady, now!" Lord Alcasser commanded the knight. Avy was still sitting on the man's back, and for some reason, she couldn't feel her legs.
She couldn't feel her legs?
Come to think of it. She felt her neck going numb a while ago. Could it be...?
Oh fuck.
"Para..lyzing p-poison..."
*clank*
*thud*
She dropped the knife on the floor before her body finally gave out. And at the same time, she watched as her world was engulfed with darkness. The last thing she saw was the face of her father as he lifted her up in his arms.