Chapter 7

Prillance stood to the side of the crowded place. She had been staring only at the direction Ver had gone.

After passing by Ver and Prillance, Prillance saw a woman with black-hair. She also got a glimpse of the expression that flickered across his face at that moment. It wasn’t Cecia, but for Ver, it was the same as seeing Cecia.

Prillance hadn’t seen Cecia yet. But she knew that the woman was not Cecia.

Cecia was constantly described in the novel as a beautiful woman who captivated everyone’s attention.

It was only for a moment, but the woman’s beauty wasn’t enough to catch everyone’s attention. Nevertheless, Ver followed the woman. Prillance wanted to believe that he went after the woman because of his considerate nature, but she knew better than anyone else.

Her heart that had been pounding a while ago was now throbbing terribly. It was a feeling already familiar to her. But Prillance put away her emotions and tried to act as if nothing happened.

If she could run away somewhere, she would have. But if she moved from her position, Ver would surely be looking for her.

The people walking around looked at her as they passed by. And as the gazes grew, she became frightened. It had seemed like a fun place when Ver was around, but now it felt like a dangerous place.

Among them, the man standing opposite her stood out. He was looking at her with loosely focused and clouded eyes.

“Are you lost?”

The man, who had only observed her previously, came.

Just by looking at his large build, he knew he was a strong man. He smiled at her to make him look like a good person, but it made him look even scarier, the way he smiled like a drunk man.

“No. I’m waiting for my companion.”

She composed herself and pretended to not be frightened as she avoided his gaze.

“Then I will look for that person together with you.”

“No. It’s alright.”

She stepped back little by little, avoiding the man’s reach.

“Oh ho, there’s no need to refuse my help.”

Despite repeated rejections, the man approached her without retreating and snatched her thin wrist. When the man held the thin, soft wrist in his hand, he immediately felt the urge to take her away.

Prillance’s body staggered due to the man’s strength.

With her short screams and swaying paper-like body, the man’s strength holding her wrist loosened for a moment. He thought she wouldn’t be able to run away anyway.

Slap!

It was then. Prillance used the self-defense technique she had learned from Ver. Because of the man’s carelessness, she was able to quickly release her arm from his hold. A look of confusion went through the man’s face. Soon his face turned red with anger.

“This woman…!”

Prillance ran away from the man. It was just instinct. Fortunately, her small stature allowed her to quickly pass by people and move faster. But not far away, the man was stumbling along.

The problem was her physical fitness.

The gap that she thought was widening narrowed in an instant. In addition, his terrifying eyes were still directed at her.

Did the woman earlier feel this way as well? Prillance decided to bury the momentary disappointment she felt toward Ver, who had gone to save the woman.

How selfish she had been. It wasn’t until she faced a similar situation that she realized how earnestly the woman must have asked for anyone to help.

‘Anyone please…’

With her eyes, she constantly turned to anyone for help. But people were either turning a blind eye or ignoring her. Unlike her desperate heart, Prillance’s footsteps gradually slowed down.

Just when she thought that the man was getting close and she was about to get caught, she bumped into someone who was rushing from the other side. Her body, which had almost lost its strength, trembled and faltered.

At that time, the person she bumped into clasped her waist and held her in his arms. It was a familiar warm embrace.

“Are you alright?”

Compared to the moment when she faltered for a bit, the sound that followed was a voice she had highly longed for. She felt swept away by her emotions.

She kept trying to deny these feelings, but finally admitted them to herself.

Ver kept the strange man from approaching Prillance. He then sent the troubled man in front of him a murderous intent [1]. The man’s face quickly became white with panic, and soon he became short of breath. There was no room for mercy.

Huff. Huff.

By the time the man’s breath became short, he removed his killing intent. It was because of Prillance. He could feel the strength on his collar. Ver raised his hand to sweep her back, but he couldn’t reach it. He clenched his fist tightly.

“This…Damn it!”

Meanwhile, the man who dropped down slavering screamed and rushed in. There was no way to control the anger of the man whose mind flew as far away as his eyes, which had lost its focus.

However, compared to his loud voice, his attack was poorly coordinated. The man’s staggered steps and loose eyes looked more ridiculous than intimidating.

Ver didn’t want her to see this. Ver gently enveloped Prillance’s back and waist with his hand that had previously fallen short. Then he moved his body lightly to overpower the man with his feet. The man quickly fell down with the light-looking kick. The man groaned as he wrapped his hands around his stomach.

But that only lasted for a short while. The man took a breath and rushed in several times. But Ver has struck him again and again. The man stood up as if he didn’t care – as if he didn’t feel pain. Ver gave more power to his last kick and the man finally collapsed.

He did not know whether it was because of the mood or his continuous blows, but Ver felt the urge to make the man unable to wake up again.

However, he couldn’t. Prillance’s body, still in his arms, was trembling. In the meantime, the man disappeared with a staggering step.

“Sorry.”

Ver whispered after the man had disappeared. He whispered his apologies again and again until she calmed down. It was his fault for leaving her alone.

After a while, she stopped shaking and came out of his arms. Ver thought Prillance would be crying, but there were no tear marks.

“Are you alright?”

“……Is the woman safe?”

There was neither anger nor resentment in her voice. But why did his heart hurt upon seeing this?

“……Yes.“

“Then it’s alright.”

It would have been a lie to say she hadn’t felt bitter about him leaving her for a moment. But she couldn’t just keep leaning on him.

She realized that her life was not much different from the woman who had been running away earlier. In life and in love, people need to find their way on their own. When she thought so, the emotion she felt after seeing Ver disappeared little by little, and she came to her senses.

“You saved two women today.”

She stepped away first, pretending to be alright. But her weak legs did not move like her determined heart. Ver quickly grasped her arm.

“I’m still very weak. But still, I was able to use the self-defense technique I had learned.”

Prillance took a deep, shaky breath and smiled at him. She was pretending to be fine even though she looked as anxious as her faltering legs.

“You can lean on me for a while.”

Before she knew it, Ver stood next to her and held her arm. But she pushed his arm out.

The impacts of someone’s small kindness were solely received by the recipient. It might have been fine before, but not now, not after she had realized her heart.

“I’m fine.”

With a faint smile, Prillance politely refused and unsteadily walked away. Her figure kept trampling on Ver’s eyes.

[1] Is simply the user exuding pure killing intention, and having it affect their opponent, themselves, and others around them, up to the point of paralyzing them with fear.