Alhen’s mind blanked for a second, and he didn’t know what to think.

  Katherina waited patiently for his answer, nervously playing with her fingers and watching him worriedly.

  ‘Contracted assassins? Where did this come from? If what she said is the truth, then it’s one of the worst possible case scenarios that I would rather not experience,’ Alhen thought.

  “What do you mean that you are going to be attacked? What made you reach that conclusion?” he asked.

  Katherina didn’t seem to be joking; her expression was dead serious.

  “My father does not know, but I am certain that the priest has become an ally with the Kingdom of Nurtria. They have sent their assassins; maybe this or the next cycle, they will strike,” she said.

  Alhen frowned; he could feel the sincerity coming from her voice, and she didn’t seem to be lying at all.

  “Very well, let’s take things slowly. When and how did you become aware of this? You have still not answered my question,” he said.

  Katherina sighed and trembled at his question.

  Alhen approached and placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, and that seemed to do the trick.

  Katherina smiled and giggled at his actions, and Alhen raised an eyebrow.

  “Is something funny?” Alhen asked, looking around, not knowing what had made her like this.

  “Thanks for calming me down. I thought it was funny that you had to reach up to touch my shoulder. The height difference is the thing that got me,” she replied, giggling one last time.

  Alhen sighed and shook his head.

  “I am glad that my short stature raised your mood. Now, can we focus, princess?” Alhen asked, saying the first part sarcastically.

  “Yes, I am sorry. I have had a heightened sense of danger since birth; I can feel when something is wrong. That feeling has not ceased since that bastard Leonard prayed for me,” she explained.

  “Why don’t you warn the guards? They are here to protect you after all,” Alhen said.

  “That will not be possible. I do not trust them enough. Even Bernard, my best guard, I have doubts about him. My sense of danger activates around him,” she said.

  Alhen thought about Bernard, a man who seemed keen on protecting the princess, and couldn’t help but wonder whether he might harbor bad intentions toward her, but appearances were deceiving, just as he’d been taught many times.

  ‘If what the princess says is true, she would be taking a big risk telling him about the situation. I don’t know why they haven’t struck yet, but that’s for the best,’ he thought.

  Alhen didn’t have time to finish his train of thought as the princess spoke.

  “My life is on the line, and I am not willing to take any chances. The only thing that I thought of is asking for help from someone unrelated to these politics, and that would be you, son of The Kovesh,” Katherina said.

  Alhen clenched his fists with strength and hid his thoughts about the situation.

  It all screamed bad omen and disaster.

  ‘This is bad, very bad. What can I possibly do in this situation? The princess is relying on me, but the thing she doesn’t know is that I am incapable of helping her due to my lack of skill and strength,’ Alhen thought.

  “Please think of something to do; I do not want to die,” she said sincerely.

  Alhen’s gaze sharpened, and his heartbeat slightly accelerated.

  ‘If the princess dies, then I am next. I don’t think the king would let me go unharmed. I might have a chance if I run away, although there’s almost no chance that I’m winning against trained assassins the way I am right now,’ he thought.

  The princess had calmed down earlier, but her nervousness was starting to come back.

  After a few seconds of contemplation, Alhen sighed and looked at Katherina. She watched his thoughtful face with nervousness, with her hands clasped on her lap.

  “For now, I would say that we stay alert and not do anything. It is either that or we escape, though I doubt that we can do that with all those guards outside. The room doesn’t look like it has any places where we can go out,” he commented.

  “I hate to admit it, but you are right. Let us wait for now and find the perfect opportunity to leave. Protect me, and watch your surroundings; we cannot afford to mess up if we want to live,” she ordered.

  “You don’t have to tell me; I already know,” Alhen said with a sigh.

  Katherina didn’t pay him attention and went to bed.

  “I am going to sleep; keep watch.”

  She went under the covers without changing out of her dress and closed her eyes, leaving a tired Alhen to protect her.

  “She sure loves sleeping. Does she do it out of necessity or just because she wants to? Well, there’s nothing much to do here anyway, so it doesn’t matter,” Alhen thought.

  He sighed once more and focused on the door, alert for any signs of a breakthrough or of someone listening in.

  Behind him, he heard the sheets ruffling after a few minutes and heard Katherina’s voice.

  ”Now that I think about it, I don’t believe that they are going to attack for now. Come here, you need all the energy you can get for the next cycle.”

  Alhen turned around and saw Katherina patting the space beside her on the bed.

  For one second, he appeared to be confused; that is, until he realized what she meant.

  “Oh, I couldn’t; just to be sure, I’m going to keep myself awake. I don’t want the assassins to come and kill us just because you thought that they weren’t striking this cycle,” he said.

  Alhen’s caution had reached its peak, and it wasn’t wrong to say that he was starting to become somewhat paranoid about what might happen.

  “You are worried for nothing. I am certain that they will not attack us until the next cycle. Rest assured, I want you to be at your peak when they eventually show up. How are you going to protect me when you are tired?” she commented.

  Alhen couldn’t argue with her, and with nothing to say, he approached the bed and lay down.

  His body didn’t have time to get comfortable before he felt a hand on his chest, lying where his heart was.

  “Your heart is calm,” Katherina commented. “Is it because you have everything planned out? Or is it because you are confident that you will be able to protect me?” she asked.

  Looking to his left, he saw Katherina looking at him with a serious expression.

  “We don’t have time for this. Rest well so your senses are sharp for the next cycle. If what you said is true, then you will need it,” he commented.

  She pouted and looked away, turning her back to him.

  Alhen rolled his eyes, but inside, he was grateful that he had some time to rest.

  Stolen story; please report.

  ‘It isn’t that I’m not nervous; I’m just too tired even to care. Next cycle, we will have to remain constantly aware of any possible threat. No matter what happens, I will protect the princess, and I will keep my life,’ he thought, determined.

  “I am counting on you,” the princess whispered, and Alhen gave a short hum in response.

  It felt strange to sleep with someone beside him after nine years without doing so, but he eventually got used to it and slipped into dreamland.

  An unknown amount of time passed before Alhen opened his eyes.

  Feeling the warmth of Katherina next to him, he sighed.

  ‘What am I doing? I told myself that I would be cautious, but I ended up sleeping in the same bed as the princess. She told me herself that she likes watching people die, and the last cycle could all have been a lie from her,’ Alhen thought.

  Thankfully, nothing happened, but he didn’t want to be taking these kinds of risks again.

  The comfortable feeling of the sheets hugging his body made him feel warm and clouded his mind.

  He hadn’t felt this feeling often since arriving in this world, since his bed was barely comfortable. Now that he lay without having to worry about anything, he allowed himself to relax against his good judgment.

  Just when he was falling into dreamland again, a knock at the door woke him up.

  “Knock! Knock! Knock!”

  Alhen got alerted, getting the revolver from his holster and preparing for confrontation.

  Traces of his earlier state of relaxation were no longer visible in him, and he sat still, listening for anything suspicious.

  Katherina woke up soon after the knock and, realizing what was happening, pushed Alhen off the bed in a hurry.

  He gave her a bad look, and she looked apologetic.

  She forced herself from the bed and fixed her appearance before ordering Alhen to get the door.

  If it were any other time, he would have rolled his eyes, but this wasn’t the time nor the place.

  Alhen approached the entrance with cautious, silent steps. The person on the other side had not announced who he was, and Alhen wasn’t taking any chances.

  He got prepared to use his thuls if necessary, and as he got closer to the door, he activated his blessing, submerging the world in a black, foggy state, and took out his revolver.

  Noticing that nothing seemed to be out of order, he opened the door.

  Leonard’s body came into view, and he looked surprised to find him inside the room. “May I ask why you are inside the room when the princess is getting married this cycle? Where is she?”

  Alhen ignored him and visibly relaxed, putting the revolver inside his holster.

  Leonard didn’t miss this action, and he calmed down after noting that Alhen didn’t seem to be against the idea of using his thuls against him. Better to keep quiet lest he want to die.

  Alhen stood aside a little to give Leonard a view of the princess behind him, and he saw her standing behind Alhen with her hands clutched to her chest.

  “Make sure to treat my guest right,” she said. “Is Priest Hector ready to see me now?”

  Leonard gave the princess a polite smile before looking at Alhen with disgust and saying, “Follow me.”

  ‘Seriously, what’s this guy’s deal with me?’ Alhen wondered before Leonard guided them to the marriage spot.

  The guards followed them in a protective formation, building a circle around them and surrounding them with their men.

  They ended up in the preaching room, where Priest Hector waited for Katherina with open arms.

  “There you are, my love. I am glad that we are seeing each other again. Oh, how I have longed for this meeting. The wedding is all arranged; we can be married right this instant if that is your wish,” he said with a smile.

  Priest Hector held Katherina’s hand and rubbed his thumb on her skin. He held onto her hand for a bit longer than he should have, and Alhen started to get suspicious of something going on.

  Katherina’s face shifted slightly; it was quick, and he almost missed it, but he was sure that it was something close to disgust.

  He inched his hand closer to his revolver, ready to interfere if necessary.

  At the slightest indication that something was wrong, he would grab Katherina and run.

  ‘The problem is finding a way to escape. All of the princess’s personal guards are here, and there’s only one exit from what I can see,’ he thought.

  At the moment, he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted in case something did truly happen, so he kept his focus on the interaction unfolding in front of him.

  “Priest Hector, I am glad to see you too. I am hoping that this marriage will be fruitful and will solidify the relationship between our kingdoms,” Katherina said.

  “My beautiful wife, forget about that at the moment. We are celebrating a special occasion, and we do not want it to be tainted with politics. I truly love you, and I hope that you feel the same way about me,” Priest Hector answered.

  Without waiting for her response, he snapped his fingers, and a group of musicians entered the church.

  Priest Hector’s gaze was fixed on the entrance of the church where the musicians had entered, and he didn’t get to see the uncomfortable look Katherina had sent his way, this time without being hidden.

  Alhen frowned but calmed down once he remembered what kind of person the princess was.

  ‘Remember, Alhen, you are saving the princess because if you don’t, you will die. She is a member of that insane family and is no doubt a crazy person. If I were someone else, she would order someone to kill me and have fun watching me die,’ Alhen thought.

  He stabilized his breathing and focused right back on the task at hand.

  The musicians held no instruments and sang in unison the moment their feet entered the church, reaching pitches that made it seem as if angels were descending from heaven and manifesting there.

  Alhen, when hearing the beautiful sounds, only became more tense.

  ‘I can’t hear anything due to the loud noise, so I have to be extra careful now. The musicians who just entered don’t seem suspicious, the guards have yet to show any signs of hostility, and Priest Hector hasn’t acted out of line just yet,’ Alhen thought.

  The warning from the princess lingered in his mind; assassins would come, either this cycle or the next, and he would have to protect her.

  Without anyone noticing, he activated his blessing, making sure that his glasses helped to keep it hidden.

  ‘I have to remain aware and careful of how much time I spend in this mode, or else I will lose my remaining eye.’

  Alhen decided to activate and deactivate his blessing at regular intervals so he didn’t exhaust it as fast. He could only hope the wedding would be quick so he wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences.

  His limit seemed to be about ten minutes, give or take, not that he had calculated the time, but still.

  ‘Come on, where are y’all? Hurry up and show up,’ Alhen thought, with his eyes darting around from nervousness.

  If the arrival of the assassins was inevitable, he would rather have them appear now that his blessing was threatening to leave him blind.

  Then, after a few seconds of the musicians singing and moving closer to Priest Hector, Alhen noticed there were no other people besides the musicians.

  ‘I didn’t think about it before, but don’t typical weddings like this have more people?’ he frowned.

  ‘Priest Hector is supposed to be an important person; his marriage to the princess will make the kingdom's allies, but no matter where I look, the church shouldn’t be this empty.’ Looking around, he noticed that they were practically alone.

  ‘I don’t like this one bit.’

  “Bring out the slaves!” Priest Hector shouted.

  Two slaves, this time dressed, appeared with the same women from the marriage preparations and escorted them closer to the scene.

  Priest Hector didn’t take his eyes off Katherina, feeling her body up and down with his eyes.

  If Katherina felt uncomfortable, she didn’t show it, maintaining a perfect smile.

  The slaves were carried beside them, and the women presented Katherina and Priest Hector with daggers.

  Katherina and Priest Hector chanted in unison something unintelligible in an unknown language, making Alhen confused.

  Apparently, the chant was well known, as everyone in the church besides him participated. He stayed quiet and observed his surroundings.

  The chant came to an end, and as soon as it did, Katherina stabbed her slave in the stomach, and Priest Hector stabbed his slave in the heart.

  Collapsing to the floor, the slaves didn’t utter a word.

  No cry of pain, no surprised shout, only dead silence.

  It would take Alhen a while to get used to such a sight, but at least now he wasn’t so surprised.

  As they bled on the floor, Priest Hector placed his left arm on Katherina’s shoulder, making her visibly shudder, but he didn’t seem to mind.

  Priest Hector soon released his grip and got down on his knees.

  He took out a bracelet from his robe and offered it to Katherina, who hesitated for a second before taking it.

  Holding her hands tightly, he said, “Katherina, will you be my wife?” He had a wide smile, and Alhen got ready to intercept him in case things got heated.

  “Y-yes,” Katherina said with an audible tremble.

  Priest Hector then stood, slid the bracelet onto her arm, and slowly leaned forward, maintaining eye contact with the princess throughout.

  Alhen hesitated; did he prevent the kiss? It would surely cause a ruckus, and there was no knowing what would happen after that.

  Alhen gritted his teeth and ultimately made a choice.

  ‘I don’t owe her anything. I am doing this to save my own skin. As long as she is not attacked, I will not make a move,’ Alhen decided.

  He prepared for the inevitable and activated his blessing after having it down for a few seconds.

  That’s when he noticed that Katherina’s head had disappeared, and blood messily spread across the ground.

  He widened his eyes before rushing forward.

  A hand shot out, grabbed his arm with familiar strength, and stopped him.

  “Where do you think you are going?” Bernard asked with a firm tone.

  Alhen didn’t process his words, ignoring him completely.

  “Princess! Duck!” He screamed.

  Alhen saw her eyes visibly widen before following through with his warning.

  Something flew past her head at high speed, landing on the ground, cracking it, and leaving a mess.

  Had she been a second slower, her head would have already flown off to the other side of the church.

  Turning around, Alhen activated his sign and punched a confused and shocked Bernard in the face.

  Alhen was sure that Bernard had barely processed the punch, but maybe out of surprise, he released his grip on him just enough so he could rush towards the princess.

  He took her by the hand and ran to the exit before another sharp object landed where the princess had stood a second ago.

  The guards quickly reacted, rushing to the princess’s aid, but there was a problem.

  Blood dripped to the ground as multiple of the princess’s personal guards were stabbed by other guards, who all had a frown on their faces.

  Some of the princess's loyal guards had survived, however, and a great fight ensued.

  Hector slapped himself several times as he watched the retreating figure of the princess being held in the hand by a boy.

  ‘How did he know?’ He wondered, gritting his teeth.

  “Catch him! Bring the boy back to me alive, and kill the princess!”

  Bernard saw their retreating figure without moving a step and smiled wickedly in their direction.

  “Hunting them is going to be fun,” he muttered under his breath.

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