Chapter 6
“…Pathetic.”
While I was desperately searching for him, Khalid was loitering around a place like this?
I took a step back, brushing my neatly waved hair over one shoulder.
Seriously, what could Father possibly find appealing about a man like that?
Does he want so badly to see his daughter become the Crown Princess?
The inferiority complex he harbors about his status—it’s starting to feel repulsive.
“I know it’s painful for you too. How could I not? But His Highness just lost his only brother.
He must be devastated. Go and comfort him, will you?”
Right before I left the mansion, Father had clasped my hands tightly and said those words.
But what comfort? Comfort who?
Turns out, I was the one who needed comforting. I clicked my tongue softly, resigned to leaving the tavern.
I didn’t like disobeying my father, but this place was definitely not somewhere I should have come.
Still, what sort of scolding would I get if I just turned back like this?
Honestly, I just wanted to run away. Anywhere that might hold memories of Izar would do.
I was tired of this life, constantly swept up by Father’s demands and expectations.
“Hehe, where you off to in such a rush, hmm? What a cute little lady.”
Just as I reached for the tavern door—
A strong stench of alcohol hit me, and a filthy hand yanked my waist with brute force.
Laura, startled, jumped up in alarm and shouted.
“L-Let go of her this instant!”
“Oh? I don’t think I will. Damn, up close your skin’s even nicer. You’re real fine, aren’t you, missy?”
“I said, let go! Are you asking to lose a hand?!”
Laura stamped her feet, enraged. The man clinging to me grinned with a gap-toothed mouth and signaled with his eyes.
Another man beside him, coughing up phlegm, chuckled and grabbed Laura’s arms tightly, keeping her from flailing.
“Mouthy little sparrow. Talking about cutting off arms? Hah! How about you sit on my lap and pour me a drink, sweetheart!”
Perhaps being drunk truly made people lose all sense.
I was clearly dressed in a way that screamed danger if provoked, but clearly they couldn’t see it.
I took a deep breath and tried to find a calm, rational way out of this.
But the moment that bloodshot-eyed man started threatening Laura, my patience snapped.
“Ugh, you reek. Absolutely filthy…”
“Oi, Rinok, did you hear that? This bitch just said—Agh!”
Crash!
I twisted my torso and snatched up a nearby wine bottle.
Without hesitation, I smashed it hard against the man’s forehead.
The nearly empty bottle shattered with a sharp crack.
The tavern fell silent, as if a wave had crashed through the room.
The man’s grip weakened instantly, and I slipped away from his grasp in a flash.
A bit of leftover wine dripped down my wrist.
“Agh! That hurt, damn it! It hurts like hell!”
“H-Hey! Are you okay? Hey!”
The lace trim on my sleeve was stained a dark purple.
I shook off my wrist and turned my eyes to Laura, who was still struggling against the man called Rinok.
She was clearly no match for his brute strength.
“You crazy bitch! I’ll kill you today!”
The man who’d held me was rolling on the floor, while Rinok had both of Laura’s wrists pinned with one hand, the other fumbling with his waistband.
But he soon froze in terror.
Because I was pointing the barrel of a gun straight at his forehead.
I asked, calm and cold:
“You think you’ll kill me faster than I can kill you?”
“P-Please… Please don’t…”
“That’s something I might consider—if you let go of my maid.”
“I’ll let go! I’ll let go, okay?!”
The man’s face had gone pale.
The cute pearl-studded pistol I held seemed to have sobered him up fast.
I adjusted my grip and flicked my gaze toward Laura, signaling for him to release her.
“B-But how do I know you won’t shoot me the second I let go?”
“Well, if I did… I guess you’d just be dead. Nothing else to do about it.”
Around us, the other drunken men murmured nervously.
Perhaps hearing their words, the terrified man clung to Laura even harder.
“A-Ah… Miss… hic…”
Tears rolled down Laura’s cheeks. The man’s jaw trembled as he huffed heavily.
I shut my eyes for a brief second and opened them again. I had no more options left.
I had never shot anyone at this range before…
“Now, now. That’s enough.”
It was then. I hadn’t noticed—too focused on what was in front of me.
Khalid had somehow made his way to my side.
His tall shadow loomed over me. I tilted my eyes up to look at him.
His pale blue eyes regarded me with a strange expression.
“Rinok. Let the lady go.”
“B-But the gun…!”
The man stammered incoherently, trembling.
I slowly lowered my pistol. Only then did he release Laura.
He backed away in a frenzy, and Laura bolted into my arms, crying like a child.
“Khalid, you—”
I comforted Laura with one hand while keeping the gun steady in the other.
But before I could finish speaking, Khalid lunged.
He grabbed the man by the collar, and with a tightly clenched fist, veins bulging across his hand, slammed his punch into the man’s face.
Thud!
“Gahk!”
“Still got those filthy habits, huh, Rinok? Didn’t I warn you last time? If I ever saw you like this again, I’d break your limbs?”
“Kh—ghk…”
Khalid asked innocently, dark brows furrowed.
But there was no answer—the man was already unconscious, drooling on the floor.
Two blackened teeth rolled out of his mouth as he coughed up blood.
“If you’re that desperate for affection, try hugging each other instead. Didn’t I say that before?”
Khalid marched over and stood in front of the man.
The pitiful drunk trembled in fear, looking up at him.
But Khalid showed no mercy. He bent down again and grabbed Rinok by the collar.
“If I ever see you pull this kind of filth in front of me again…”
He clicked his tongue and shook off his hand.
Was that all?
I was about to be disappointed—until he snapped his wrist and gave the man a resounding slap across the face.
Smack!
The man’s nose erupted in blood. He looked to have finally passed out.
“Tch. Totally killed the mood.”
Khalid flung the man aside like a sack of grain, wiping the blood off his palm in distaste.
Fighting bare-handed seemed to make him even more dangerous than with a wooden sword.
If not for his angelic face, I’d have mistaken him for some kind of brute beast.
“It’s okay now, Laura. I’m sorry.”
“Miss… that was awful…”
“I won’t ever bring you to a place like this again. I promise.”
As I soothed Laura, who was still crying uncontrollably, Khalid turned toward me.
His eyes flicked between my face and the pistol in my hand still resting on Laura’s back.
“Huh…”
He looked at me with those icy blue eyes, one corner of his mouth twitching up in a smirk.
But before I could react, the smile vanished without a trace.
“Come with me, Renata.”
His cold gaze swept past me. With a quiet murmur, Khalid turned and pushed open the tavern door.
His broad back, clad in a dust-stained shirt, filled my vision as he stepped out.
He leaned against a high wall at the alley’s end, waiting.
“Renata. Renata Carnelutti. What are you, some wild, untamed colt?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind that. What the hell are you doing in a place like this?”
What a hypocrite.
I stared right back at him, meeting his intense gaze—his face drawn tight with anger for some reason I couldn’t understand.
