I CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON YOU

Kathy stared at Damian in surprise. She had never thought of leaving the kingdom before but it was also true that she was fed up with the life she was living. She hoped for a better life and had always thought that someday someone will make her life better.

Perhaps this was the time. Perhaps Damian was the answer to her prayers. She smiled happily at him, "I am willing to leave with you anywhere as long as it is better than living here. If I have to work hard on a farm or even as your maid, I am willing to do it. I just want to live as a human being. I want to live without being hated by everyone.

"You will surely get the life that you want" Damian assured her. "I promise you, Kathy.

What will happen is that I will leave alone first thing tomorrow. Since Mason and the princess have agreed to get married, we will be here for a while so, I'll go back home and get everything ready for you, and then I'll be back in two days.

Once I'm back, I will secretly take you out of here without letting anyone know. Take care of yourself for now and don't tell anyone because the people close to you who are using you for their selfish interests might try to stop you from leaving. Just hang in there for two more days and once I'm back, I will take you away from here."

"Thank you so much" Kathy replied. "I don't know what I may have done right to be blessed with someone like you but I'm very grateful to have met you. I'll get the princess's flowers very early tomorrow. I just hope that I'll get the chance to say goodbye to you before you leave."

Damian smiled, "it's okay, I'll still be back so you don't have to trouble yourself. It's getting late now so I think you should go home and rest. You spent the whole day standing and must be very tired.

Also, if possible, try and get something to eat before sleeping, okay?"

Kathy got up and thanked Damian once again, after which they said goodbye to each other.

Kathy went back home happy and hopeful since she knew that it was just a matter of time. She just had to put up with Meela and the princess for two more days and then she would be free and get to live in a different place where no one knew her or treated her like something disgusting that crawled up out of the earth.

When she got home, she saw that there was food in the kitchen and ate a little to make herself feel better. She went to bed early and woke up earlier than usual to go get the princess's flowers.

She didn't want to do anything that would attract Athena's wrath. Since Damian had told her to hang in there, she just wanted to remain in one piece until he got back.

Although Damian had said that it didn't matter, she was still hoping to be back before he left so she could say goodbye to him.

He was now the most important person in her life as she had come to realize that she was going to live a better life with his help.

She ran as fast as her feet could carry her, into the forest and quickly got the princess's flowers. After that, she began running back to the palace in hopes of meeting Damian before he left.

She soon arrived at the palace's premises and stopped to catch her breath. After a few minutes, she got into the compound and looked around but there was no sign of Damian however, Mason was by the corner holding a sword in his hand.

The smile on her face disappeared the moment she saw him and she began walking towards the palace doors. "Stop right there," Mason ordered.

Kathy, however, ignored him and continued walking. He took long strides and was behind her in a few seconds. He held her arm and spun her around so she could face him.

Kathy took a step back as Mason stared at her and he could see the fear in her eyes. He knew that it was because of the first experience he had with her. He could not understand what it was that kept pushing him to her. It was the same even when he first met her, the only difference was that Kathy no longer wanted to be around him. For some reason, the fact that she was ignoring and avoiding him made him feel uncomfortable.

He held her by the wrist and she feared that the princess's flowers were going to get ruined. She tried to free her wrist from his grasp but he wouldn't let go.

"What is going on here" Damian suddenly asked as he came from behind Mason. Mason quickly let go of Kathy's hand while Damian stared at him angrily, "listen, Mason, with all due respect, we both know that you are getting married to princess Athena so please, stick to the choice you have made and stop trying to hurt Kathy."

Mason could not utter a word because he knew that he was in the wrong. He had crossed the line once again and he still could not understand why.

Damian softened his tone and said, "Since we are going to be here for a few weeks, I need to hurry back home and put a few things in order. I'll be back by sunset tomorrow. Please permit me to go and I'm sorry that I will not be here for your engagement ceremony. I certainly won't miss the wedding."

"It's fine" Mason replied. "You can go and come back when you're done. Take care." After speaking, Mason walked back to where he was earlier sitting before.

Kathy smiled at Damian and said, "take care of yourself, and goodbye."

She waved at him and he waved back before walking away, while she turned around and took the flowers straight to princess Athena's room.

Mason watched Kathy as she walked into the palace with the flowers. He was sure something was wrong with him but what was it? He looked at her until she disappeared from his sight and decided that he was going to find a solution to his problem before he ended up making a fool of himself in public. Now he needed a sparring partner to let off steam, where was Jackson?

Kathy took the flowers into the princess's room. When she saw that she was still sleeping, she heaved a sigh of relief. At least she had jumped a big hurdle today. She stood by the princess's bed and waited for her to wake up.

When the princess opened her eyes and saw Kathy, she ignored her greetings and quickly ran to her window to open it. She saw Mason and Jackson practicing with their swords and could not help but fall more in love with Mason.

She kept staring at him until he turned and smiled at her. Jackson saw that Mason and the princess were staring at each other so he went to the side and decided to rest.

"Bring the flowers to me," the princess said, without turning to look at Kathy.

Kathy quickly ran to her and gave her the bunch of flowers. As she turned to take the flowers from Kathy, Athena recalled what happened between Mason and Kathy last night. She was tempted to slap her but because both Mason and Jackson were staring at her, she held herself back and smiled at Kathy as she took the flowers from her.

Kathy was very shocked because the princess had never smiled at her. "You can go back home for now," the princess said, dismissing her, and Kathy's heart jumped for joy.

Without wasting any time, she left the palace as quickly as possible and went back home while daydreaming about her new life in Damian's house.

Athena smelled the flowers before throwing them on the floor while Mason couldn't help but wonder why she looked so graceful. Mason finally turned his eyes away from her and called Jackson back so they could resume their training.

Meanwhile, Athena quickly washed up and changed into a beautiful dress. She wanted to observe what Mason was doing up close so she went out through the back door and walked toward where Mason and Jackson were.

She stopped walking the moment she heard the conversation Mason was having with Jackson and couldn't believe her ears.

"I really don't know what is happening to me," Mason said to Jackson. "Something keeps attracting me to Kathy but I can't figure out what it is. You remember what happened in the forest when I kissed her. I wasn't in control of my actions at that time too.

Everything is just so confusing and I find myself drawing closer to her by the day. Don't get me wrong, I love the princess and I'm sure of that but whenever I see Kathy, there's this feeling in my heart that I can't explain. It's just so confusing."

Jackson shook his head, "what's there to be confused about? Being given the princess as a wife is a privilege so many will kill for. I know Kathy is the first girl you ever kissed but even at that, she is so ugly so, I just can't understand you.

Do not let the princess hear this and don't you even dare hurt her because I will not forgive you."

Athena suddenly clutched her chest in fear, she ran back into the palace and ordered one of the maids, "go get Meela for me, right away."

As she waited for Meela to arrive, Athena paced up and down her room. The fact that Mason had already kissed Athena was really scary. She could not sit still and do nothing. The moment Meela arrived, Athena sent all the maids out and locked the door.

She held Meela's hands and led her to the bed as she spoke with tears in her eyes, "my worst fear is about to happen. I overheard Mason and Jackson speaking just now.

Mason has already kissed Kathy and he said that he cannot control himself when he is around her. He is attracted to her. What am I going to do? I cannot bear to lose Mason to Kathy."

"Calm down" Meela replied. "There's just one solution to this problem. We have to kill Kathy. It's too risky for her to be alive. We don't know what will happen with Mason and the witch had warned me that Kathy should not be allowed to leave the kingdom but now she is grown and can leave without our notice. If that happens you will lose Mason for sure."

Athena stared at Meela in surprise, "is that the only solution? I mean, I know she is a maid but can we just kill her like that and get away with it?"

"Don't worry about that" Meela replied. "Your engagement is tonight and the occasion will be the best opportunity to set her up. I have a plan and we are going to carry it out in such a way that no one will point fingers at you and everyone will hate Kathy even after her death, trust me."

Athena heaved a sigh of relief and hugged Meela. "Thank you so much, I know I can always count on you, mum."