An arrow

His footsteps came to a halt as he glanced at the girl in his arms, his eyebrows rising slightly.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly because of how fast she spoke but the anger in her grey eyes was pretty evident to him, "No!!!" Her voice went another pitch higher, "I won't keep quiet. I will shout here until the walls break down or someone overhears it. The Great Prince of Visteria kills helpless maids unreasonably for his pleasure..." She shouted as loudly as she could, her face flushing out of exasperation.

"Helpless?" Aleister raised an eyebrow, "You're a rebel, my dear moon."

"You..."

Not giving her a chance to say anything, he walked towards his room.

Esme had the urge to hide her face and she did so. She covered her face with her palms. Even if he wanted to kill her, he should leave her with the least bit of dignity. The last thing she wanted was to be witnessed by someone when they are in this compromising position.

As soon she found herself falling on a smooth surface, she slowly removed the palms that were covering her face. "My Lord, don't do this," She mumbled looking at the bed she was sprawled on. She sat up in a flash.

"I'll do this. So what?"

Her head snapped in his direction. "There will be conseq-" She paused when something caught her attention. There was an arrow in his hand which was broken into two pieces.

Because of their position, she failed to notice that he was holding it in his hand earlier, "That..." She pointed her chin towards the arrow, "Was it meant to kill me?" She had heard some sound a second before he came there. Was it this arrow?

"You must have provoked someone other than me," Aleister glanced at the shaft of the arrow that had some intricate markings. He placed it on the bed before squatting.

Only now did she realize how rude she has been to him given his status. If he really wanted, he might have killed her by now. She yelped when he suddenly grabbed her leg.

She tried to pull it back but he placed it on one of his knees. "Stop struggling unless you want a broken bone," He said without looking at her.

Her lips pinched together as she glanced at him confusingly, not knowing what he wanted to do. For a Prince, he did not seem to care about his status while squatting in front of a maid.

"Ah..." Lost in her thoughts, she did not realize when he grabbed her foot and twisted it. For a second, she felt like she was dead. Taking deep breaths, she tilted her head to look at the man who was now standing in front of her.

His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he gazed at her.

She continued looking at him, waiting for what he had to say.

Aleister raised an eyebrow, "You don't want to leave now?"

"Huh?" She blinked as she stood up only to realize that there was no pain in her ankle anymore.

"I'm not stopping you here but you look reluctant to part from me. Are you that eager to serve me for the night?" His voice was laced with mockery.

She came back to her senses. It was her biggest mistake to think good about him for even a second. Her plain white gown twirled when she turned around and walked out of his room.

"She looks better when she is angry," Aleister laughed when she tried to slam the large door with all her might but it won't just budge from its place. In the end, she stomped her feet and ran away.

He found her adorable when she dropped the titles and courtesies and snapped at him.

He settled on the bed before picking up the cracked arrow.

"Come here, Leo."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the white beast walked out of the bath as the sheer curtains glided past his huge body. Leo walked towards his Master before circling in front of him.

"Did you see anyone there?" Aleister patted his head.

The beast growled in a low voice.

A frown graced his handsome face. "There should be someone otherwise where would this arrow come from?" His expressions darkened slightly, "Keep an eye on that hallway."

He did not have any intentions to follow her earlier as he wanted to give her some peace. But little did he expect that she ran in the wrong direction in a hurry to escape from his clutches and ended up in trouble.

Did she think that he was going to let her leave so easily like the first time when they met?

Far away from his lavish room were the servant quarters. And in the innermost corner was the room which was assigned to Esme.

Esme sat on the bed with her legs folded as she glanced at the lantern in front of her in focus, trying to come up with something.

When Arlan disappeared, she thought she just had to come here and look for him. After that, she can take him back with her and leave.

But what happened today changed her beliefs. Surviving in this place was not easy as she thought.

She could have stopped that arrow in time with her instincts but she was not sure whether she would have escaped unscathed after that if...if that man did not come to her rescue.

At the thought of him, Esme lowered her head and glanced at her swollen ankle. The marks were superficial but the pain was long gone from the moment he did something with her feet.

"I don't want to see him anymore..." Esme pouted. She wanted to thank him but he humiliated her on purpose saying that...that she wanted to serve him for the night.

Her face turned a deep shade of red, "He must have injured his head when he was a child..." She fiddled with her fingers.

Releasing a soft sigh, she touched the marks on her ankle and they soon disappeared.

She glanced at her fingers in a daze. How many years has it been since she started awakening such strange powers within her body?

She sighed remembering the night when she was warned about it by the woman dressed in silver.

She was the one who helped her fight the assassins that were out to assassinate Prince Aleister whom she thought was a poor boy.

Ruby. Esme remembered that name very well but after that fateful night when Ruby suggested her to listen to her Aunt, Esme did not get to see her again. That was the first and last time she saw her.

Esme inhaled a deep breath as she glanced out of the window. Her main concern was to look for her brother at any cost but she did not how or where to start?

Should she ask for someone's help? Someone who would be familiar with the way everything worked here. But who?

There was no one she could rely on or nobody whom she could trust.