𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐓

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

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    Adrian rushed forward before (Y/N), one of the foreign men not seeing him coming and being cut down by his blade, letting out a strangled cry as he fell. That snapped her out of her stupor. Pulling her sword out of her scabbard, she immediately moved to help Sofi. Trying to fight off Sofi's attacker whilst also keeping her safe was strenuous, having to resort to running away. Endless streams of both tears and words of thanks flowed from Sofi after (Y/N) had helped her. Making sure she had escaped to somewhere safe, (Y/N) then turned to help the others that were still fighting.

    We shouldn't have been distracted.

    If I had just not gone to wash up none of this would have happened!

    Adrian would have been able to find these bastards earlier and would have been able to be rid of them if he had not waited for me...

    Damn.

Cursing herself internally, she ran to help two of the group's guards who were trying to fight off a couplet of bandits. They were pressed back to back with clear strain in their form, multiple lines of red sliced through their clothes that indicated inflicted wounds from the opposite party. Rushing one of the bandits from behind, she wrapped her arms around his waist and was able to knock him down, stabbing him in the stomach and surprising both him and his comrades. Using that little moment of surprise, the guards were able to kill two more of the bandits before all three were able to team up and take care of the rest.

    "Thank you," the one on the left said, supporting his friend.

    "Of course," she replied, letting the other man use her shoulder for as long as she could let him before making sure they'd get to safety.

    Spotting Adrian, she ran toward him.

    "Your Highness!" She yelled, successfully gaining his attention after he ran his sword through one of the enemy's necks. Flinching at the gruesome display, however used to it, she continued, "Please, sire, we need to leave here immediately."

    "I'm not leaving till every one of them are dead," he growled, his eyes shining with a predatory glint.

    "Too many of our men are wounded," she argued, trying to convince him otherwise.

    He peered down at her, finding that she too was bleeding, one of the blades having caught on her arm and tore through her skin and sleeve, showcasing the deep wound that she didn't so much as glance at.

    "Fine," he sighed, relenting, however striking down another man when he drew too close. "However we need these supplies if we want to survive the journey through Chalar and back."

    "Of course, Your Highness."

    The two immediately set to work in trying to pack tents that weren't burned yet and supplies that weren't destroyed yet either, making sure to creep around larger groups. As they ran into members of their own group, they pawned off any supplies that they could carry to safety, eventually having to abandon the site as the trees around them went up in flames. Just as they were beginning to no longer sense the smoke or heat of the fire or the yells of the bandits still trying to find them, they didn't notice that one had followed them, and that same one was sneaking up behind them until it was too late.

     (Y/N) fell with a cry.

    Howling in pain, clutching her side that now leaked with fresh blood, the enemy having struck her in the same exact spot where she had been struck originally when the Carmella palace was attacked. Striking out with her own sword, she was able to slice the metal through his leg and make him fall. Dragging herself upwards, she stumbled towards where Adrian was, her sword dragging on the ground behind her, her hand clutching at her side and spilling even more quantities of blood.

    "(M/N)!" Adrian shouted in disbelief upon seeing the stage she was in, helping to hold her up as his gaze roved over her wound whilst trying to stifle the bleeding as much as he could. "You'll be okay! Where's the bastard that did this to you?"

    "I'm fine," she answered, grimacing at the pain that welled up from her side from talking, it feeling like fire was flowing through her veins the longer she tried to walk. "We need to get away from here, fast. The longer we stay here, since we'll be slowed down because of me, the greater the chance that we'll be caught and killed."

    She strained herself as she said this.

    Damn...

I feel like I'm gonna pass out.

Sweat dripped down her temple in a cold bead, Adrian gripping her shoulders and trying to hurry her along, inducing nausea and blurry eyesight. More so, she felt as if at any moment, she would drop right then and there.

This isn't good.

If this keeps up... my identity might be compromised.

As if like a switch, she shook her head to rid her mind of the cobwebs that fogged over her thoughts, of this one single idea of being found out and driven away, of this fear that had been with her since childhood and had been beaten into her by her mother—it was what made her keep going.

I need to be helpful.

I need to keep my secret.

I need to keep him safe.

He can't find out my true sex.

    We need to make it out of here alive.

    Adrian practically dragged and carried her out of the camp grounds, his jaw clenching and unclenching with each step, the anger clear as day in his amber hues. He so badly wanted to hurt someone at that moment. He could tell that the one he was holding, the one that was struggling to keep their eyes open, was doing it to alleviate the stress on him. They were still thinking of him even in their pain.

    He ground his teeth together.

(M/N)... you truly are a great friend.

    I will save you.

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