No Longer Allowed to Tarnish Her

"This place is going to blow. Jump before we reach the bottom." Silvano kicked the panel, and the elevator suddenly dropped as if the steel rope holding it broke. Elijah couldn't help but scream when he felt how the car slid without any resistance.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Successive explosions rang out around, but Elijah was still scared for his life as the numbers got to G very fast. He was asked to jump, but wouldn't that break every bone on his body? It was better for him to lie down.

"Jump!" Silvano yelled, and Elijah still did what he said. His voice rang out like a command Elijah couldn't break. It didn't even matter if Elijah would die from it. It was just that he didn't.

When he jumped, he felt how someone grabbed him around the waist and kept him suspended. The whole car was wrecked from underneath, but only the air of the blast reached him. Before he could react, he was dropped from the height. Ah, no, the person who held him got down as well.

Silvano then proceeded to carry Elijah in his arms as if it was not awkward. After all, Elijah was even older than him, not to mention almost naked. However, the other person didn't care and kicked the elevator doors off the frame. He then ran off to the back exit of the building. When they left the place, Elijah could see how the entire building was on fire.

"What did you do? What was that thing?" Elijah asked as he watched the building over Silvano's shoulder. "How did you know it was there with me?"

"Oh, I followed you home to make sure you'll reach your house alive. With all those reports of wild animals attacking at night, I can't leave you on your own." Silvano laughed darkly as he walked into an alley. When they got deep enough, the fire's light and the sirens couldn't even reach them anymore.

Elijah would ask something, but he felt how Silvano threw him to the ground. He rolled from the impact, groaning at the pain. "Hey, what was that about?"

Silvano walked closer and into the faint light of the moon overhead. He smiled coldly at Elijah. "Boss, why are you sleeping with Fiona? Where's Keagan?"

"Why does that concern you?" Elijah sat up and motioned to get to his feet, but Silvano kicked him down again. When Elijah wanted to growl, he saw how the gun from earlier was now aiming at his face. "…she left. I don't know where she went. It's over between us… she said."

"Oh…" Silvano dropped his smile and just glared at Elijah. "This is really such a shame. I thought you'd be able to hold onto her until she awakens herself. No matter. You're more worthless than I thought. I shouldn't have wasted so much just to keep you alive just now."

"What are you saying?" Elijah screamed, but Silvano clicked on the hammer. "Silvano—"

The supposed kind best friend turned his nose up. "The Stag has decided. You are no longer allowed to tarnish the flesh of the princess."

Elijah twitched, hearing a familiar word he heard earlier as well. They kept on talking about a princess… Did they mean Keagan? If it was her, then he could still fight for his life. He shot his hands up to block the gun's sight of his face. "Wait, I'll look for—!"

Bang!

Without resistance, Elijah's body met the cold ground. The words were still in his throat, and his mind was still trying to revolve for more ideas. It was just that his eyes closed, and everything else rested. It was just so disappointing to die in an alley while only wearing a bath towel.

As if he hadn't shot the man he had been hanging out with for years, Silvano slipped the gun back inside his jacket and took out his phone. He dialed a number embedded in his mind and stared at the dark sky as if looking for something else. "The human lost his privilege. I'll have to locate the princess again. Don't worry, she won't get that far on her own. We made sure of that."

["The building will attract a lot of humans. Make sure you leave that place first before looking around."] The person on the other end of the line sighed. ["Just when I thought we could watch her all her life. We should hurry before the others step in."]

"I know." Silvano walked off and pulled up his hood as he exited the alley. He then took out another grenade from the bag and threw it nonchalantly at the alley. "I'm sorry for making you clean up such a big mess. The Horses are at it."

["Low-intelligence creatures like them are on her tail, too, huh…"] The other person just hummed. ["Let's regroup for now, Silvano. I have a feeling we're not the only ones watching her from a distance."]

…

At the Pineberry Estate…

As soon as the scenery sank in, Keagan felt incredibly afraid. The fire was eating their floor, and there was no way Elijah would be out at this time. She felt how her fingers trembled and dropped the bowl, but her mind was only focused on one thing.

Crash! The sound broke her out of her trance. She ran off as fast as she could toward the main door. However, she felt how someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. Keagan gasped and spun to see how Wren stopped her. She didn't even notice how Wren was able to catch her that fast.

"I need to find Elijah! That's our building!" Keagan grabbed Wren's hand and tried to pry it off her wrist. "Please let me leave!"

"I don't understand." Wren didn't flinch from Keagan's struggle. Her eyes were even so dark as if she was discouraging Keagan from going. "He doesn't love you anymore. You don't have to worry about him at all. Even if you went, he wouldn't take you back."

Keagan stopped moving and stared at the madam. She then pursed her lips. "It's not about love. Whether he lost his feelings for me or not, I can't just stand here and not see that he's safe. He still helped me greatly before. If he needs someone, I want to be there to return the favor. If I don't go… I have a feeling that… I will be abandoned, too, when something happens to me."

At those words, Wren tightened her grip. It didn't make sense for someone to help others just because they wanted someone else to help them in the future. After all, there was no guarantee that the same people would reach out again. Keagan couldn't help someone—she couldn't even help herself. 

It was just that… 'Wren, if I don't help them now, then… why do I deserve to be helped in the future?'