The streets were awfully busy as usual this morning, with people rushing up and down, for either their jobs or their daily needs.

          “Big news! Big news!”

          A man was waving a newspaper in the middle of the street, immediately garnering the attention of many passerby, who looked at the man curiously. He was wearing a bowler, carrying a stack of newspapers in his hand and waving the other excitedly into the air, stumbling to balance himself at the same time.

          “Another raid by the Shadow Rogue that was fortunately ceased due to the Dragoons!”

          Upon hearing the big news, everyone went rushing for the newspapers, fighting for it as the newspaper man grinned elatedly, handing out the newspapers one by one, gratified at his work.

          “Can you believe it? The two infamous people finally encountering one another!”

          “This certainly brightened up my boring day!”

          “Shadow Rogue and the Dragoons? Goodness…”

          “This is so exciting!”

          “Why is everyone obsessed over such a silly news?”

          “Oh, this was the day I’ve been waiting for since forever.”

          Everyone was chatting to one another noisily, walking with the newspaper in their hands down the street. The man wearing the bowler cleared his stack of newspaper within minutes, bowing slightly and walking away, a satisfied smirk on his face.

          Somewhere else in a park, there was a crowds of people there, walking around and enjoying their leisure from their hectic life. However, in the middle of the park, there was a peculiar board in the middle of the massive patch of grass and nobody dared step on that patch of grass at all.

          No one even dared to go near the patch of grass, they avoided it like it was a deadly plague. The wooden board was irregularly shaped, its edges jagged and there were wooden pins stabbed into the board, with some pieces of paper left on them, as if the papers that were stuck to it were torn off.

          It was plain with an odd design, but yet, no one dared to go near it at all.

          ************************************************

          In the same carriage, a disgruntled Kris sat inside, his hand clenching tightly around the forged necklace that was given by the loathsome thief.

          I shouldn’t have been distracted by this stupid necklace.

          “God, I’m such an idiot, how could I’ve fallen for such a foolish trick?”

          The carriage went over stray rock, making Kris bounce out of his chair and hit his head against the roof of the carriage and he yelped out in pain. Irked, especially due to his mood right now, he stuck his head out from the carriage, barking at the driver to be more careful.

          The driver fumbled over his words, apologizing repeatedly to Kris, sounding timid.

          How despicable, Shadow Rogue, to stoop to such a lowly trick.

          Kris loosened his clenched fists, looking at the fake necklace in his hands, an incensed expression on his face.

          “Alright then, if it’s a game of cat and mouse you want, Shadow Rogue, you’ll get it.” He muttered to himself, an enraged smirk tugging at his lips.

          **********************************************

          Tonight, Emi was yet assigned another mission, to infiltrate a house and steal the family heirloom from that house. The owner of the house wasn’t particularly rich, but they weren’t poor either. It was unusual of Emi to steal anything from the middle-class, but there were rumours on the streets, where the owner of the house was boasting arrogantly about his prized family heirloom.

          An amused expression appeared on Emi’s face as she got down from her horse, hiding at the dark alleyway as usual.

          What a silly man, thoughtlessly mouthing out his precious treasure.

          Emi walked out from the alleyway, keeping her head down which was covered by a homburg, to prevent herself from being seen by others as her body is being concealed by a long coat that was wrapped around her tightly. Her hair was hidden inside the hat, making her look like a man, so she wouldn’t get approached by any strange men that has ulterior motives.

          Finally arriving at the house she was assigned to steal from, she was mildly surprised to find the house to be bigger than what she expected. It wasn’t anything close to a mansion though, but it still suggested that the owner of this house certainly isn’t as poor.

          The house was surrounded by a protective fence, which wasn’t hard for Emi to climb over and even though it was decorated by dull colours, it still looked like a cozy house to live in.

          “Foolish man.” Emi sighed, shaking her head as she walked to the back of the house, taking off her homburg and coat, chucking it aside on the floor, so she could disguise herself again later.

          Vaulting over the fence, she quickly noticed an opened window that had a dim light streaming out of it. She took a few steps back before sprinting across the yard, leaping and grabbing onto the ledge of the lower windows. The window has rails on it, which proved to be useful for her as she climbed the window slowly, until she reached the window beside the open window.

          She let out a breath, stretching out to grab onto the opened window rail, grabbing onto the upper part of it and landing her feet silently into the room. She glanced around, realising that the light was coming from the table that was on the table and on the table, it was a woman dressed in a nightgown, sleeping on the table, using her arms as her headrest.

          How careless, to leave the window open.

          She walked across the room languidly, a habit for her to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible, since she was trained to do so. She pushed the door open, relieved to find that the house was dark, a hint that was telling her that the whole household was asleep.

          A proud man would display his prized possessions to everyone in the house.

          Emi instantly knew it would be out in the open, but the problem was only where he would display it. She moved furtively across the hallway, placing her ear at every door to listen for any movements or sounds. Once she ensured that it was safe, she turned the knob of the door, checking the rooms for anything.

          After a few rooms, Emi grew annoyed, wishing to herself that this would be the last room she had to check. Fortunately, she finally stumbled upon the room that she was looking for. The moonlight provided enough light for her to search the rooms that she was in, thankful that every room had at least a window in it.

          Ah, the room where the owner would proudly display his treasures.

          Emi was carrying a box of matches in her hands, which she hid at the hidden compartment in her shoes that was customized by herself. She lit up the match and looking at the different exquisite items that was only display.

          Some were placed in cupboards, the exterior of the cupboard made of glass that were transparent, whereas, some were just on placed on the tables or in display cases.

          Sergi told me it was a vase, a vase that I would know to steal if I laid my eyes on it.

          Taking a step forward into the room, Emi’s eyes landed in the middle of the room, where a small table was at and on the small table, there was a magnificent vase. It was well-crafted, a mixture of black and white colours, the material smooth and the intricate designs of flowers on it took Emi’s breath away.

          It’s beautiful.

          Emi approached the table, taking the vase from the table and hurriedly made her way to the window, unlocking it. However, before she could jump out from the window, she heard the clicking of the door and someone slowly pushed it open.     

          Flinching in shock, Emi spun around, the vase still in her hands as she heard a gasp.

          “Wh-who is it?” The person stuttered and judging from her voice, she sounded like a young girl.

          Emi didn’t dare move, staring straight at the person, which was really a young girl, probably ten years old. She was dressed in a white fluffy nightgown, holding a candle in front of her.

          “Lady, I’m not sure who you are but…please, that vase…” The girl said innocently, pointing towards the vase in Emi’s hands and Emi glanced back and forth.

          “That vase, it’s precious to my father, since it was personally made by my grandmother.” The girl continued, looking innocently into Emi’s eyes, oblivious to the danger she was in as she bit on her lower lip.

          Emi frowned at her, her hands on the vase tightening.

          “Please…lady, if you need money that desperately, I can give you mine.” The girl implored, frantically digging into her pockets in the nightgown, taking out a few shillings and showing it to Emi.

          “I have more if you need them, I saved them up. I just want the vase, I don’t care if I starve, if...if…I don’t have that vase—father will…” The girl tried to sound firm but she was on the verge on tearing up, biting even harder on her lower lip.

          Seeing the girl begging her like this, a flash of memory crossed Emi’s mind.

          A young Emi panted, looking no older than fifteen years old, her beautiful face was utterly dirty, from the dirt that she had from falling to the ground repeatedly. She looked back, her eyes wide with fear, cautiously looking out for any suspicious activity. She was alone, in an alleyway and it was close to night but she didn’t fear the night, she feared something worse than that.

          Suddenly, a man bolted out from the alleyway, tackling her to the ground and Emi let out a panicked yelp, struggling against the man that was twice her size. He seized the opportunity, snatching the beautiful bracelet from her right wrist.

          “No! No! Please, anything but that bracelet!” Emi begged, but the man held a crazed look on his face, completely focused on the bracelet. The bracelet broke off from her wrist due to his strength and he quickly got up, dashing away.

          “No!” Emi exclaimed, desperately clinging onto the man’s ankles and he just continued dashing, dragging her across the rough stone path. Her bruised skin scraped painfully across the ground, but she didn’t care, she just wanted the bracelet back.

          The man finally let out an enraged yell, kicking her repeatedly until she let go, due to the excruciating pain. The man took advantage of the moment, sprinting away, a gleeful expression on his face as he eyed the bracelet.

          Mother! My mother’s…!

          Emi thought, tears springing into her eyes as she pushed herself up from the floor, bruises all over her arms and legs, her skin red and some parts of it were even bleeding. She limped slowly, hopelessly chasing after the man who was already long gone.

          “I have money, take my money instead! Please, the bracelet—give it back!” She let out an anguished cry, her trembling hands taking the last shillings she had left.

          She kneeled onto the ground, offering the shillings into the empty air in front of her, her hands red and bruised.

          “Bracelet…the bracelet…” She uttered weakly, a tear rolling down her face.

          “Mother…” She sobbed, still kneeling on the ground and wretched look on her face. Eventually, she knew that the man wasn’t coming back and she let out a loud wail, dropping the shillings on the floor as she used her hands to lay her head on the floor as she cried.

           Why…?

          What have I done to deserve this?

          Emi stumbled back, the wave of emotions hitting her overwhelmed her and she let out a pained gasp, blinking her eyes rapidly. The young girl was doing the same thing that she did, kneeling on the ground and begging her to take the money instead.

          “Take my money instead! Please, just give back that vase!” The young girl cried, the candle that she placed on the floor beside her showed a tear trickling down her face. An image of her bruised and young self, appeared in her eyes.

          “Oh god.” Emi whispered out, placing a trembling hand over . Suddenly, she felt something tugging at her fingers and she looked to the side, seeing her young self from that day, gazing at her with an earnest expression.

          “Don’t let her end up like me.” Her younger version said to her.

          But…

          The world abandoned me, why should I help them back?

          “She’s just a little girl trying to keep what’s precious to her, like you were in the past.” Her younger version argued back.

          Emi’s lower lips trembled as she bit on her lip and she glanced back at the girl, who was sobbing pitifully now. Hesitantly, Emi placed the vase on the ground, taking a step back. The young girl looked up from her tears, sniffing as her teary eyes brightened up.

          “Here.” Emi muttered weakly, her voice trembling.

          The young girl stood up, her knees red but she just dashed forward, a smile on her face.

          “Thank you! Lady, thank you so much! Here, take this! Father told me how hard living is, but I hope this helps you out a little!” The young girl had a wide smile on her face, shoving her shillings into one of Emi’s pouches.

          Emi watched her trot away to the door with the vase in one of her arms, picking up the candle in the other. 

          “Lady, I don’t know how hard you have lived but I hope your life gets better!” The little girl said cheerfully to her, still sniffling, bowing and quickly exiting the room.

          Emi looked back at her younger version, who still stood beside her and she had a small smile on her face before she dissipated into thin air. Jumping out from the window, Emi did a shoulder roll to lessen the impact of the fall and sprinted to the fence, vaulting over the fence.

          Dressing up back in her disguise, an unreadable expression was on her face as she walked to the streets, heading into the same alleyway where she left Luna at. Luna neighed once she saw her master and approached her, Emi just forced a smile on her face, leaning against Luna for support.

          “Luna, it hurts.” Emi whispered into her mane, hugging her horse and the tears that she was holding back started to flow out slowly.

          This despicable world that abandoned me, I shouldn’t be bothered to even help or save anyone.

          But, imagining someone ending up like me hurts so terribly yet, it makes me glad to know they feel my pain.

          “I wish I never even existed.” Emi sobbed sorrowfully, Luna sensing her misery and rubbing herself against her master.

          My existence itself…is a curse.

          For the first time in five years, Emi cried, like she did over eight years ago on the streets, bruised and bleeding all over.

          Freedom, that is the only thing I wish for.

          Freedom from this miserable life, freedom to do whatever I wish for before I die.

          ************************************************

          Meanwhile, during the time where Emi went to the back to the base, an unknown man strolled into the deserted park, where the mysterious bulletin board was at.

          The unknown man was concealed from head to toe and he took the wooden pin out from the board, the small piece of paper stuck to it drifted down gently to the grass. He pushed the wooden pin into the bulletin board, along with a piece of paper on it and glanced around discreetly before proceeding to walk off.

          The gas lamp that lit up the park shone on the piece of paper and on it, there was something written.

          Request.

          Find the Shadow Rogue and bring her to me, alive.

          M.

I made myself sigh continuously throughout the chapter, hahaha...I just wish I could give Emi a hug D: