Tangled By Fate

"Ahh!" Catherine bumped into someone and hurt her arm. She held her arm and turned around to glare at the culprit; however, before she could say something, she cringed.

The person she bumped into was a huge, bulky man who seemed to be glaring at her. His slightly tanned face was growing red. Yet this red tint to his skin was not out of embarrassment, but out of fury - even a fool could understand that much.

Veronica noticed his reaction and was ready to apologize.

However, before she could, someone stepped forward and blocked her view.

Catherine's blonde hair came to her view.

"Hey, you! Can't you see where you are going? Were you looking at the sky while walking? Or are you blind?" Catherine's voice was stern. She looked extremely serious.

Veronica: "…"

Sebastian: "…" Judging by the man's facial expression, he wanted to butt in, but it seemed impossible to do that now. 'Why did she have to make it worse?' he wondered.

The big buy was going to explode but he was taken aback by her anger. He pointed out, "Woman, it was you who bumped into me."

"What?! You dare talk back to me!" Catherine flared up. "You insolent guy, I'll beat you to death! That way, you might learn some manners!"

She strode forward but before she could reach him, she halted. It seemed like her friend was holding her back from behind. "Ver, what are you doing? Let go of my hand. Today, I must teach this insolent, ill mannered guy a lesson, or he's going to bully innocent women again."

Veronica: "…" She looked down at her hand. Catherine was holding her wrist tightly. Even if she wanted to pull back her hand, she couldn't; her friend wouldn't let go.

'Why is she making me the culprit when I'm the victim?' she wondered.

Sebastian: "…" He wanted to facepalm. 'She could just apologize. Now, everyone is looking,' he thought.

The sturdy guy stepped backward after seeing Catherine's murderous gaze. He also noticed that people around them were gathering up. If he created a scene here, people would think that he was bullying the girl. Here, no one could bully the weak.

He nervously looked around. Before Catherine could say anything, he turned around and hurriedly left.

Catherine gave a triumphant laugh. "See? That's how you defend yourself. Ver, you must learn everything from me."

Veronica helplessly shook her head. She was relieved that the situation didn't escalate too much. "Yeah, right. Now let go of my hand. If you wanted to hit him so badly, why did you hold my hand?"

Catherine shrugged. "Because he did nothing wrong. Why would I hit him and then get myself into deeper trouble? Didn't you see that guy? I could never win against him!"

"Then, why did you quarrel with him? Wasn't it you who bumped into him? An apology should be enough." Veronica was still confused about her friend's behavior.

"Are you kidding me? Didn't you look at his face? It was that kind of face that would pull you down if you were to show your weakness. If you gave him an inch, he would take it a mile. He could drag you to a slave trader or take you to the brothel," Catherine explained, sounding very experienced. 

"Why would he do that?" Veronica was flabbergasted.

Catherine grabbed her friend's shoulders. "Listen Ver - people are still harmed by others even if they have no enemies. Some people will hurt others because of their own selfish reasons. I've seen that happen many times - strong people deliberately bumping into the weak and then acting harshly. Then they act like they were the victim. That's why I took the lead first. Now, the problem is solved, let's go!"

Sebastian agreed with her. "Now that you mentioned it, I think it's true. Although nothing like that happens here, it happens in other places. I've seen weak men getting beat up by the strong ones. I think it was great that we tried talking to them first to show that we were mad. Now they won't dare bully again, hopefully."

He thought in his mind, 'I knew that she had some brain inside her head when she started to work for Ovior, but I never thought she was that quick witted.' He smiled when he recalled how this tiny girl dealt with that big guy.

Veronica was dragged by her friend. "I didn't know something like this would happen. Cathy is so knowledgeable!" She praised her friend. "Next time, I will do that too."

"That's my friend. As long as I'm with you, you can leave it to me," Catherine proudly declared. She looked ahead and suggested, "Why don't we go to that dollhouse?" She pointed at a beautifully decorated shop. 

"Sure! I would love to see some dolls," Veronica agreed.

The three of them looked around the town, ate some snacks, and bought some souvenirs. Of course, after their long day out, they were slowly becoming tired. Even still, that didn't stop them from continuing to walk around.

"Let's go to an antique shop!" Veronica suggested.

"Sure, it looks fancy. I think we will get lots of items there." Catherine's eyes sparkled, as she was a sucker for vintage items. She earned some money from Ovior and decided to buy some antique products.

"That won't be a good idea," Sebastian interrupted. "Why don't we go to another shop? I will take you to an antique shop I know."

"Sure," Veronica nodded. The moment he looked away, she glanced at her friend. They exchanged glances and mischievously grinned.

Sebastian took them to a family shop. It seemed like he also liked to collect antiques. The girls liked some products there and bought some souvenirs for Ovior, Arthur, Sebastian, Merlin, and Darius. However, their minds were still on the show they wanted to go to.

While he wasn't looking, Catherine bought some spicy snacks. The girls pretended to eat the snacks while they forced Sebastian to eat everything.

Catherine told him, "We shouldn't waste food when people die of hunger. Why don't you finish them for us, Sir Sebastian?"

Sebastian could usually handle spicy food, but this snack started to make his stomach give him a hard time. While he had to rush into a public toilet, he left the two friends in the shop.

The plan was a success. The girls giggled and went to the antique shop they wanted to go to. The shop was indeed fancy from both the outside and the inside. 

"Greetings! How may I help you?" the shop owner welcomed them warmly.

"We're going to look around first. If we find something we would like to buy, we will let you know," Veronica replied.

"Sure. Please look around as much as you want." The shopkeeper smiled at them in a friendly manner. 

The girls collected some items and asked the shopkeeper about the price.

The shopkeeper observed the items and then looked at their hands full of packages. "They are only fifty gold coins.

"Gold coins?!" Catherine exclaimed in surprise.