Jade paced up and down in the office, her mind fixated on the actions of the mercenary earlier. She was still fuming from what had happened, yet her mind was in turmoil.What in the world just happened?She rubbed her temple and stared up at the rafters above her. “Senior Jade, are you fine?” A junior officer passing by inquired. She faced him for a bit, smiling pretentiously. Her cherry lips and rosy cheeks distracted him for a moment. “I’m okay. I just need a break from things.”He appeared concerned. “Was it that man earlier? I heard things were getting out of hand.”She felt a blush coming over her cheeks. It was the first time a man had come so close to touching her, but she detested the man with all her heart! Still, he was the only one who had defeated her, though it made her embarrassed, and she had such use for his skills. The mission they would head out on wasn’t a normal one.“I don’t wish to talk about it,” she turned away so that her junior wouldn’t notice the flush on
Jade finished demonstrating the details of the trip, pointing to the map unrolled before them. She paid extreme attention to the details, not missing every one of the fifteen territories where the civilians had noticed a demonic presence in the area. She had noted down the behaviours and tendencies of these creatures, plus the measures that they needed to take.The way Chad was acting when faced with the information she just presented irked her even more. He sat down on the floor, coolly watching her, without a single tinge of seriousness on his visage. But getting furious at him was meaningless. He would end up infuriating her with something new.She turned to Sky instead and questioned him.“Are you clear about what we have to do?”Sky smiled foolishly. “As my brother said, we will keep you safe, Madame!”Jade glared daggers at him for a few seconds before walking away and heading into a room. She seized a porcelain cup lying on a table nearby, accompanied by a teapot and poured her
Chad sat on the stiff bed in the mercenaries’ quarters, huddled under a blanket in the chilly night. Even after two nights had passed, he couldn’t erase that image of Sky and Jade in the flower garden from his mind.After leaving the palace, he had to put up with the living conditions of a beggar and the fact that his savings wouldn’t last them a long time. For Sky, he was indifferent, and obviously, he had encountered exposure to living in worse conditions. But for Chad, this was the cost of his freedom. Such conditions didn’t improve since they arrived at the island city. Aside from what remained of his savings, he had his boat. But even with that, what could he do? He couldn’t use it for sleep or to fill his stomach. When their stored food was depleted, the only resort was for them to find a job outside.The harsh working conditions didn’t bother Sky, but it was him, as a prince, that struggled with working like a commoner. He realised how spoiled he had been, and compared his bud
Jade Gold closed the door after her, trying not to be daunted by the pounding in her chest. This man she claimed to detest so much turned out to have that impact on her. But why him?Sitting cross-legged on her wooden bed, she calmed herself and attempted to sift through the confusing emotions in her mind. She was Jade Gold, future Imperial Advisor and currently the only female Imperial Guard.She couldn’t allow her emotions to take over her like that! He was that boorish mercenary Roc Chadwick! Even when Jade encountered colleagues of the opposite sex daily, to the extent that she went through some accidental touching, she hadn’t reacted like that!The problem probably lay in Roc Chadwick. And after the mission, she had to get him out of her life, or he would mess it up! ‘Jade, don’t fret. You have your engagement with Levi Stanson,’ she reminded herself. This Levi was indeed a mystery. She hoped he was how she had imagined him to be: sexy, muscular and appetising to the eye. They w
No, she yelled in her mind. She couldn’t meet with her doom just yet, for she was just nineteen! She still had a lot to achieve in her life, and she couldn’t die just like that. ‘Please, almighty goddess Miyu, please, let me escape this,’ she prayed silently.In answer to her prayers, two hands appeared in front of her eyes, and Jade thought she was seeing things. She sensed someone lifting her to safety and passed out, dazed. Unlike anyone else, Jade didn’t fall into a deep slumber even when she was out cold. She saw images that were part of her life or her so-called past life. Visions even came to her out of the blue, sometimes at night, when she was supposedly sleeping, or randomly, like how she had just seen when she was drifting in the water earlier.This was a part of her that nobody else could fathom, so she quit telling anyone else, lest it frightened them like how it petrified that maid in her home during her childhood days. The maid had even fled the night after that. Sh
The morning was there before they knew it. Chad dressed in the mercenary robes that the Guard had presented them with, a splendidly tailored outer robe of the darkest brocade. Sky’s robe was no inferior: he wore a suit of dark blue, looking just as magnificent. Compared to the farmhand he was before, he appeared to shine.Chad washed his face with a basin of hot water as he contemplated what had happened the night before. As a prince with many consorts and a concubine he had never met, he had many women at his service, a different one in his bed every night, but he had heeded none of them any special attention like he did with Jade Gold.He couldn’t forget the fragrance on her slim body, nor her petite waist as he held her that night, almost having her for himself. He had been so close.What had happened to her for her to forget him? Had he never had that big an impression on her? He was sure she would have at least remembered his face when they spent a night of intimacy at the rapist
The rest of the day passed smoothly, and the two friends listened to an account of the island’s history directly from King Greyson, most of which Chad was not oblivious to, and Sky was finding difficulty understanding because of his dense nature. Jade involuntarily stared towards Chad’s way, but inhibited herself from further stares when Chad became aware.It didn’t occur to her why Chad’s eyes were a little downcast, though he appeared normal this morning when he arrived at the meeting hall. Jade decided it wasn’t her concern, and she had more worries on her mind to fret about. Greyson had cleared those doubts in her mind and, like he said, it was up to her to decide about her marriage and her discomfort about going on the mission.Other than her, Greyson had nobody he could trust and was capable enough to go on the mission. Because Xima’s eyes and ears were all over the island, he had no choice but to entrust such a severe task to his old friend, and he believed in her. Greyson also
Two days laterJade looked back at the Guard's office as it gradually vanished from sight. She and Chad were in a horse carriage, where Sky, sitting outside on the horse, manoeuvred through the thick woods. The city, also named Tribute, was in the island's heart.Their first destination was Faepool, a village closest to the city. It would take about five days for them to reach Faepool, and in between points of travel, they had to recuperate as much as they could.Before this, Jade had thought of her task as just exterminating evil. But it was her first time encountering these demons which the Shaman had defined as 'hideous creatures of a foreign race, with different colours'. It brought up her memory of the vision she had seen just before she almost drowned in the bath chamber. The Shaman had, like Greyson, kept everything for the last before coming clean to her.A part of her felt betrayed. But she understood they had their reasons for their actions. She had considered Greyson her co