Neron had taken Lady Feyrne's advice to take a stroll around the palace. The woman was strict when it comes to her doves. It didn't matter if it was King or a peasant. If she says she won't let you have her girls anymore then she was going to do it.
"Coldhearted-" The young king paused when he noticed a movement.
Someone was crawling towards the fountain. He hid behind one of the trees and watched. He waited for the right time to attack the assassin or thief. Whichever one it was.
Commoners were not allowed to step into this part of the palace, and everyone knew that. It was an unspoken rule to stay away from the fountain particularly when the king was in the palace. Neron had made this rule because it was the only place he could sit alone without being bothered.
It was when a petite figure dashed towards the fountain twirling around and playing with water did Neron realize that his opponent wasn't an assassin but a lost bird. He watched from where he was, how the girl splashed the water in the air and giggled about it.
The King arched his brows quizzically when the girl got rid of her dress just to dip herself inside water.
"Is she stupid?" he pondered. Dancing naked outside. "Does she think she owns the place?" Neron mouthed to himself. Even as a king who owned the entire palace, he'd never made use of his freewill as the girl did.
Neron twitched his lip; he turned around to leave. It wasn't of used to stop the girl who was stupid enough to bath outside and dance about it.
Other than being caught by the king, the girl had bigger fish to fry. And having shame and awareness topped the list.
He hadn't gone far when, from the corner of his eye, he noticed something about the girl's dance. Neron paused, fully interested in whatever this strange girl had going on. He crossed his arms on his chest and observed with curiosity. The dance was strangely familiar.
The carefree expression that was on her face earlier was gone and replaced with melancholy. Her eyes stared desperately into distance as if searching for something that had no place in the world.
Neron hummed, the girl looked young. Too young to be weighed by such sadness. And for her to have a dance left in her means she once had faith, but the world had failed her.
A lonely swan, giving its last dance before death comes. That was it. The scenery she reminded Neron of.
When she waltzed towards the edge of the fountain, Neron knew immediately what her next thought was. The girl was letting go of pain and accepting whatever after life has to offer.
"Go on..." Neron mouthed, but she hesitated. The girl still had something holding her back from leaving. He had been there and knew that feeling.
"Do it." His leg moved towards her.
Izrina had been so engulfed in her impulsive decision to jump that she didn't notice when someone came to stand behind her. Until the wind blew Neron's robe and it touched her calf. She bent down to rub her leg but missed a step.
"Idiot." Neron moved his hand before he could think and he pulled her back to stand on the edge. The girl tightened her grip on his wrist. For someone who wanted to take her life, she was holding on too strong.
Neron saw the girl, and he could tell she didn't want to die. She needed a reason not to feel guilty for staying alive.
"T-thank you." Izrina shivered. The cold of fear and fountain water was threatening to freeze her from inside.
Neron's eyes shifted from her pale face to her trembling lips. And a sadistic urge to scare her filled his senses. "If you hear a voice in your head that says die...then, by all means, kill yourself."
"Huh?"
Neron let go of her hand with a twisted grin. "Then the voice will silence itself." He pushed her chest.
"Noooo!!!!!" Izrina's brains almost popped out of her head with her shriek. She scratched the air, hoping to get a hold of something, but she didn't fall.
Neron grabbed her hand and this time when he pulled her up, he grabbed her waist so both her feet will touch the ground leaving the edge. "There you go, stupid." He let go of her waist.
Izrina recoiled, wrapping her body with her hands. Adrenaline now gave her headache and made her incoherent in speech. She could only dart her eyes around after surviving a near death she put herself in.
"Are you an attention seeker?" Neron asked, dropping his hands on his waist. "If you wanted to die, why not do it in your house? Why, in my palace, and barely covered. Not that I mind." He noticed the girl's eyes lacked focus. He snapped his fingers in her face trying to get her attention.
"Excuse me, Brubles." Neron waved his hand in her face.
Izrina jerked when she remembered she was still in the presence of the king. She tried to use her hair to cover her face.
Neron sneered, "Is your face worth more than your body?" He pointed down at her wet dress, that left her almost naked.
"Oh!" Izrina gasped, using her hand to cover her breasts and thighs. The movement of trying to hide made her look stupid.
Neron didn't try to stop or help. He allowed her. "You know if you had jumped everyone would have seen whatever it is you are hiding now....so what exactly do you want...dignity or death?"
"I... achoo!" Izrina sneezed.
Neron nodded, "You are still young, Girl. You have your prime years ahead of you, and... taking your own life because of hardship isn't the easy way out. It is only a fool's paradise." He walked away from her face and towards the edge. Staring down at it, Neron smirked.
Izrina turned along with him, she needed to read his lips. She was too afraid to pay rapt attention, and her racing heart made it impossible for her.
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood." He paused. He felt his right hand shaking. Neron dipped it into his trouser pocket. "Including death...."
Izrina mouthed the last word he said and nodded. Reading a person's lips was a task quite difficult especially when she was recovering from fear.
"Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. Do you catch my meaning?" Neron turned without warning, so his face was a breath away from Izrina's face.
Izrina gulped audibly, she reached for her hair again, using it to hide her face. Her eyes shifting from side to side, avoiding the King's intent gaze.
"Have we met before? I doubt I have...but it seems you know me well since you keep trying to hide." Neron narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And why do you keep looking at my mouth?"
Izrina raised her eyes, "Its be-"
Neron impatiently straightened up. With a tired yawn, "Name?"
"Rina." She replied without stuttering this time. Izrina wanted nothing else but for this king to walk away and let her be. That wasn't possible, was it?
Neron sniffled. "Hmm...is that really your name?" He grabbed her hand. "Don't lie to me...it doesn't end well."
Izrina tried to pull away, but he won't let go. Bringing her wrist closer to his nose. He sniffed. "Sweet honeysuckle."
Pervert! Izrina screamed in her mind, waiting just for this man to let her go.
Neron sized her up. A smile slowly gracing his lips. "Hmmm...you look easy to fuck..."
"Fu-?" Izrina has never heard those words before, but something told her it was wrong. Very wrong because of the sinister grin plastered on his face.
"What Brubles? Have you never been...." Neron stopped talking suddenly, almost as if he noticed something. "You are not from Zephyrus, are you?"
Izrina held her breath. She has been caught. She was going to get Cora and Spinola in trouble all because of her carelessness.
"How had I not noticed it earlier....who are you?" Neron reached for her hand, this time pulling her to his chest and raising her hand above her head.
"Who sent you here?"
Izrina pressed her eyes shut to think. Her body being pressed against the sturdy chest of this beast king she should be avoiding wasn't part of her tarot card reading, but here she was. Against all Spinola's lamentations.
The stance would have looked seductive and rather lewd for a bystander if Izrina didn't have a small dagger below her stomach waiting for a wrong move to have her gutted.
Izrina opened her eyes, staring back at the king. Maybe this was how her life was going to end. It was better because she didn't have to bring down innocent souls with her.
"Trust me, you want to think before you speak to me. Brubles..."
And why am I Brubles? Izrina wanted to ask if she had been blessed with nine lives, but she chose a safer option. Stay mute. It was better than speaking out of place.
"Keeping mute, I see. " Neron smacked his tongue. "Bye....Brub-"
"Your Majesty."
Cora walked in with a guard running behind him trying to stop him from going further.