CHAPTER #3

THE GRAVE MISTAKE

“Warm honey-brown eyes filled with conviction, long raven, silky locks, fair complexion, airy and feminine gait, a heavy sword and an anklet…” Sehun, who was standing in front of the mirror in his room briefly turned his attention away from the previously mentioned anklet in his hand and graced Baekhyun – his best friend – with his worthy attention when he registered the amusement in latter’s tone. Byun Baekhyun was one of the most important lords of his Kingdom; extremely rich and well respected. If one might want to look for a person who was most influential after Sehun himself then it would be Baekhyun. He was not only respected for his power and title, but also for his high notch fashion sense. One look of approval from the guy would take you to places and would increase your worth by thousands.

“If I’m not mistaken I just provided you with that information. I don’t see any need for you to repeat it.” He mused and turned his eyes back towards the piece of jewelry which for some reason he can’t stop playing with.

“A sword and an anklet- it is quite…” His best friend continued ignoring his statement, but soon trailed off again probably in search of an appropriate adjective to use; that was the thing with him- he was very prim and proper though, Sehun can’t say anything since he was similar to his best friend in many ways. Placing down the anklet in his hand, Sehun lifted his head up to gaze at the other male in his room. Baekhyun was casually leaning against the wooden figurine in an extremely graceful manner which would have caused many people to be jealous- after all, not many can achieve the perfection with which he carried himself. The young King was sure they wouldn’t have been such fast friends if it wouldn’t have been the case that they knew each other since childhood. That though never stopped Baekhyun from commenting on anyone’s ill sense of fashion; especially Chanyeol’s dysfunctional and Kyungsoo’s always black wardrobe.

“An interesting combination?” He aided with a slight tilt to his lips and reached down to the dirty shirt that he has been wearing during the fight.

“I was going for something like deadly, but interesting might work too.”

“Deadly?” The young King repeated in an inquiring manner.

“Don’t you think so? Anklet used to be the symbol of femininity in old times and sword- it’s an ultimate symbol of strength; those two together is a deadly combination. That girl has some guts. I have to hand that to her.” His best friend explained before nonchalantly pushing his body off the figurine. Sehun hummed under his breath as an acknowledgment to Baekhyun’s statement before pushing the shirt off his shoulders. The red line that was adorning the sensitive skin of his neck was the first thing that caught his attention.

Ah- how can I forget about this?

He thought to himself with another crooked smirk and unconsciously brought his finger up to trace it along the narrow scar which was covered with dried blood.

“You’re right, she does have some guts.” He muttered in a slightly distracted manner and shifted his gaze up to stare at his best friend when he registered the snort that came from him.

“What?” The young King inquired with a raise of his brow and moved away from the mirror to grab his fresh clothes.

“Nothing, I was just wondering- when did you become so interested in the opposite gender?”

“Who said that I’m interested?” Sehun immediately countered back.

“Are you not?” Baekhyun wittily cornered him in a verbal blind alley and looked at him with a sneaky grin. The taller male allowed a throaty chuckle to escape pass his lips when he noticed his predicament and finally turned around to face his companion. In normal circumstances, he would have encountered back with an equally witty jab, but he decided to make an exception for just this once.

“Can you really blame me for being interested? It’s not daily that we encounter a girl like her.”

“True that.” His best friend concurred right away before staring directly into his eyes with a wondering expression on his face.

“You know what, Sehun?” The said male tilted his head as an encouragement for his best friend to continue whatever he was going to say.

“Royal Physician, Mr. Zhang will advise you to stay away from this girl – given she is bad for your health.” There was smirk that was dangerously close to spreading across the shorter male’s face; Sehun could see it pretty clearly.

“Really? I wonder what your advice would be…” The young King humored his best friend with a mischievous tilt to his lips knowing very well that Baekhyun always has something to say.

“I will advise you to find who that girl was.” The smirk that was previously threatening to adorn Baekhyun’s lips was already there in its brightest glory.

“Why am I not surprised to hear that at all?”

“Think about it. We all can really use some spice in our mundane lives.” His best friend continued completely disregarding his jab. A small laugh tumbled past his lips as Sehun slowly made his way towards Baekhyun with an amused expression adorning his face.

“You’re talking as if I’m going to be involved with her romantically.”

“Who knows? It might actually happen if I decide to play cupid.” Baekhyun anticipated with a casual shrug of his shoulders before sending his friend a knowing grin.

“Please don’t. My interest in her is completely based on curiosity. There is nothing remotely romantic about it. Plus, we don’t even know who she is. The chances that we will ever meet her again are few.” Sehun chided him with the roll of his eyes and abruptly turned towards the door of the room when a loud knock bounced off the walls.

“Yixing!” Baekhyun called out delightfully as soon as the other guy stepped into the room. Yixing sent a polite smile in his direction before closing the door behind himself; next, he turned towards Sehun and raised an inquiring brow when he saw the bruise that was lining his neck. You can’t really blame him. It was the first time that the young King has returned from such a fight with a scar.

“I would assume that the rumors are true then.” That was all he said before moving towards the side table to retrieve the medical kit- probably to treat the wound.

“What rumors?” Sehun inquired in an uninterested manner before sitting down on the couch that was set against the terminal wall of the room. He already had an idea what all the deal was about. Chanyeol and Jongin had been with him on the ground. Actually, he would have been surprised if they wouldn’t have run their mouths in front of their other friends.

“Well to quote exactly what Chanyeol said- Guys, you won’t believe, but Sehun just got his royal kicked by a girl.” Baekhyun burst out into a fit of laughter as soon as he heard that which automatically caused the narrator himself to laugh too. Sehun looked at both of them with an unimpressed look before rolling his eyes once again.

“I didn’t get my royal kicked as per se. I just happened to not pay attention. Besides that, she left in the middle of the fight so there was no winner.” He defended himself and picked up the sword that he has discarded on the table previously when he stepped inside.

“Speaking of which when are we going to leave for the next town?” Baekhyun butted in their conversation when he was finally done laughing and smoothed a hand down the coat he was wearing.

“There is a lady down in the lobby who has been eyeing me quite weirdly ever since we arrived here.” He continued before completely shifting his whole attention towards the taller male who was shaking his head in disapproval. They were currently residing at the inn that was specially made for the royal and noble class visitors. Common people were allowed inside these places too, but many only came here for the purpose of intoxication. Lodging at such places was quite expensive so many travelers preferred cheaper inns or pubs.

“We are going to leave as soon as our horses are fed properly. Venzor is not that away. We should reach the pub by the night time. Direct everyone to be ready. The group of maids that we brought along from the castle is going to be changed tomorrow too. Instruct the guards to prepare a small security team to lead them back to the castle.” The young King instructed while taking hold of a satin cloth to wipe the blood off its blade.

“Noted,” This time it was Yixing who spoke up and pointed a finger in the direction of his neck.

“Do you want me to treat it?”

“It’s okay, leave it. Some scars are better if they don’t heal too soon.” Both Yixing and Baekhyun exchanged a look when they registered Sehun’s words, but decided to keep their silence. Sehun can be really vague when he wants to be; they were not going to get anything out of him. He was King for a reason.

“Alright then.”

“When are you going to stop rubbing at that wound?” The man dressed in all black attire and a large cloak questioned his companion; who has been weirdly interested in the wound that he has been given in the competition ground by the infamous female fighter.

“When I lose my interest in that girl,” Came the gruff reply of the male who was sitting in front of him wearing the same attire.

“Your interest in that girl is great and all, Your Highness, but don’t forget why we came to this Kingdom. We have to closely watch the King and his army. We are here to seek his weakness. You can’t lose focus.” The cloaked man advised his King as the latter shook his head with an ominous laughter. There was dark look in his eyes, something extremely detrimental and dangerous.

“Don’t worry about that. I know what to do. Now go and bring me something to drink.” The King waved his companion off with a swat of his hand and turned around to examine the people in the pub. The life in the pub at that time was at the peak. There were more men inside than women, but the opposite gender was not scarce. Most of the people were already beginning to get buzzed by the amount of alcohol that they have consumed already which was not an uncommon occurrence. Life in Venzor has always been like this. They were filled with life and were not particularly attached to their sense of morality. It was labeled as the town of sin and no women of a noble and respectable house visited this place. Venzor was the town which received almost no female travelers since there were no proper inns built. They were forced to stay at the town’s main pub which is always bustling with intimate life.

“Just sit here then. Don’t go around playing with women again. I swear I will kill you, Daeho.” The cloaked man warned him before walking away into the crowd of the pub. Daeho raised his head sluggishly and once again roamed his eyes around the place to locate his first possible target which he found soon. There was a woman dressed in a red silk gown who was looking straight at him with a suggestive smile. The bodice of her dress was pretty low and gave away all the good things that it should have been hiding. There it was- his type of enjoyment. Sitting up straight in his place, Daeho pulled his body off the chair he was sitting on to make his way towards the women but stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed a familiar figure. Shifting his lecherous gaze away from the compliant women, he settled it down on the figure clad in the same black cotton pants and shirts that he has seen in the morning. It was her- the mystery fighter that they have encountered in the morning. It was too easy to recognize her; especially with the mask that was covering her face. She was sitting there alone drinking which gave him the idea that she might be pretty buzzed by now. It was his chance. He can’t believe his luck that he happened to encounter her again and in such a vulnerable position. his lips in interest, h