Austin was in a foul mood.
He was so close to killing that woman decked in black. She was obviously worn out and he would have caught her if not for the interference. The father-daughter pair crashed into him, then repeatedly fell over themselves when trying to get off him in a haste. Their clamouring kept him down and gave the assassin a chance to flee.
Fed up, he grabbed the back of their collars and threw them off of him like a pair of rag dolls, then chased down the escapee. The father-daughter pair still wanted to follow him, claiming that they wanted to help. While Austin ran past his men, he glared meaningfully at them. Understanding the unspoken order, his men stepped in to restrain the pair.
He chased her all the way to the rundown house, where she seemingly disappeared into thin air. His guts told him that the truth was likely as he guessed. /Prove me wrong. Please, let me be wrong./ He thought to himself while he turned the house inside out i
The entire ride to Austin's mansion was silent. There was only the clip clopping of horse hooves, the rickety sound of the moving bandwagon, and the chirping of crickets. The atmosphere felt incredibly heavy.Most of the men hopped off their bandwagons along the way back to Austin's mansion. In a bandwagon of their own, Eva sat beside Austin. Opposite them were more men who were in charge of keeping watch over her parents, while her parents laid unconscious on the floor of the bandwagon.The sky was already dark by the time they reached back.While the drivers returned the bandwagons to the person who supplied them, the four people in charge of Eva's parents brought them to the basement of the west wing that had been prepared to hold them. Austin continued to hold Eva by her elbow and brought her to the second level of the central wing and into a room to the right of the staircase. Nobody, including his dumbfounded butler, understood Austin's intentions or
It was one of the rare nights that Austin spent his time staring at the thank you note that Eva gave him four months ago.After spending a considerable amount of time away from her, he felt more ready to make the decision. He was not sure if he would stop having a soft spot for Eva, but it did not feel right to pursue a future with her. Something told him that choosing his parents was the right decision to make. All the plans he had with regards to getting to know her better and preparing for a possible future with her went down the drain.He slowly crumpled the paper in his hands to signify the end of his affections for her. While he did so, he felt like he was crushing his own heart. Tears trickled down his face as he put his head down on his folded arms that rested on the table.He did not know when he fell asleep, but he did.In his dreams, he saw Eva dressed in the same black garments that she wore on the evening that he caught her family. She was al
Eva felt like she cried for a very long while before she finally calmed down. Her nose was completely blocked, her eyes felt puffy and sore, and she felt completely drained. She had really cried with everything she had./Damn it... I must look unsightly now.../She kept her face angled down while she leaned back and away from Austin. So, she was met with the mess on Austin's shirt that she was responsible for. /Oh, god./She kept her head hanging low in embarrassment and wiped whatever was remaining on her face with her long sleeves.Austin looked down but could only see the back of her head. Realising that she would not look up at him anytime soon, he lightly rested his head against hers. He did not remember exactly how or when but some time while they were crying in each other's arms, they shifted into a more comfortable position. He now sat with his legs apart and bent, with Eva between his legs, and her forehead against his sho
The sun was setting by the time Austin woke up. Having remembered that he had not yet settled the issue with the servants, he left the room with the intention to do so. However, Edwin happened to be at the foot of the stairs and caught him there."Your grace, dinner's ready.""I'll have it later."Suddenly, Edwin bowed down low, making Austin stop in his tracks once more. "Sir, please let me handle the servants."Austin frowned. "Why?""All these would not have happened if I had not been careless. Let me atone for my mistakes. Please."While Austin looked at him contemplatively, Edwin asked once more. "Please have dinner with the miss while I handle the servants."Austin was bought over by the idea but he did not want to let it show. "She's awake?""Yes, I checked on her earlier, so I've also made her dinner. I was just about to call her down for dinner.""I'll call her then. I have business with her anyway.""Tha
The new butler of Esmeralda's estate received Austin and Eva at the front gate."Austin?" Esmeralda appeared at the doorway to the sitting room on the first level. There was no cheer or liveliness in her tone. Her eyes were dull. There were dark circles around her eyes. It was obvious that she was still mourning her parents death. After a short pause, Esmeralda acknowledged Eva's presence as well. "Eva."Esmeralda took in a measured breath. "This is rare. What brought the both of you here?" She asked with a small smile."Sorry that I did not turn up at your parents' funeral... I should have known better than anyone else that you'd need support the most at this time."Esmeralda shook her head while she sat down with them. "Don't mention it. You and Eva were having it rough too, isn't it? While the both of you had to deal with things by yourself, at least I have Dylan here with me. He helped me settle and rebuild everything while I was down and out."
After Saddie did as promised, Dylan hesitantly voiced what had been bugging him since Esmeralda's question to Saddie. "Austin... You DO love Esmeralda, right?"Everyone looked at Dylan either weirdly or in surprise, while Austin frowned at suddenly being called out only to be asked something like that. "What?""It doesn't sound like Esmeralda is sure of your love. After all that she's been through, I'd like to give her a peace of mind, if possible." He sounded a little timid but his eyes showed his determination.Austin felt irritation bubbling up inside him. Somehow, he did not like all this talk about his feelings and engagement with Eva right behind him listening to it all. Before he could say anything, Esmeralda jumped in to pull Austin to the side. "Austin, Austin, I have to speak to you."Once they were both standing apart from everyone else, Esmeralda pulled him down lower by his arm so that she could whisper into his ear. "What do you honestly thi
Within the palace grounds, Austin's entourage stood before the royal couple who remained seated on their raised platform. The two guards handed Eva's parents over to the royal guards.Since her parents knew that they were on their way to their deaths, they acted boldly and tried hard to drag another down with them. "It seems our daughter will be let off.""They must have liked her smarts. Didn't we experience it ourselves when she tried to advise us in our schemes? ""I didn't know that simply not staining your hands in blood makes you less guilty of something."However, they were met with silence. Even a cricket's chirping would be heard in the large room of people. Somehow, this made them look, sound, and feel stupid. They turned red in the face and gritted their teeth."Well done, Austin, you've caught the murderers and avenged your parents." The old king with wrinkles and a head full of grey hair commended him."Perhaps I'll
Days after days passed.Now that Eva was Austin's bodyguard, she followed him around wherever he went, along with his other bodyguards. Since Eva stayed the closest to Austin, it did not interfere with or change the way the other bodyguards functioned. They were the kind that kept a small distance from Austin, ensuring that no one entered a certain perimeter behind him.Eva found that her job as his bodyguard was pretty easy.Her mornings started earlier than everyone else's. She would wake up just before dawn broke to practice her marital arts, play with the weaponry at her disposal, practice shooting, then experiment with whatever she could before it was lunchtime.When Austin incidentally found out that she had been waking up early to practice, he woke up early to practice as well. After he had caught her parents, he began neglecting his physical training regime. Now that the fire was lit again, he resumed his daily sparring sessions with his bodyguard