Tangled By Fate

"We are innocent. They attacked us first!" Veronica instantly defended herself, yet her face reddened out of embarrassment. 

"Yes, we are innocent," Catherine played along.   

"I can see how innocent you are, Mistress and Miss Catherine." Darius stepped forward and strode toward the shopkeeper. With his large hand, he grabbed the collar of the shopkeeper and hoisted him up. His strength was so intense that he didn't break a sweat when he raised the full-grown man with one hand. Then, he crashed him against the wall and declared, "You have made a huge mistake laying your hands on these two women. You have to pay the price." 

The shopkeeper realized that he picked a fight with the wrong people. "Sp-spare me…" he begged for mercy.

Darius grinned. His smile was almost sadistically devilish, as though he was enjoying the shopkeeper's misery. "Too late. The one who will deal with you is the Master of the Magic Tower. You laid hands on his wife, you know."

"W-what?!" The shopkeeper's face was ashen in shock. His body was visibly trembling. "Wh-when did he get married? I didn't hear anything about the Master getting married! This is p-preposterous! Preposterous, I tell you!"

Darius challenged him, "As if shady people like yourself would know about his wedding. Let's go to the Magic Tower and find out."

"Is there any need for Arthur to know about this?" Veronica interrupted.

"He would find out even if we choose not to tell him," Darius answered.

"Oh..." Veronica's mouth was sealed shut, and she didn't know what to say next. The first time she went out without Arthur, she happened to run into trouble. She was afraid that the next time she goes out without Arthur, he might send an army to accompany her. "We should head back." She gestured at her friend.

Catherine could tell that they might face the real boss of the game after going to the castle. She urged, "Let's go back. Oh wait, we have to pick up our things."

Later, Sebastian and Merlin came to the shop. They were startled to see the massacre inside the shop.

"Mistress! Thank goodness you are safe!" A sense of relief rushed over Sebastian's body. "Please don't give me a heart attack like that in the future."

"I'm sorry, Sebastian. We should have listened to you." Veronica was apologetic.

"Hmph! As if I would listen to him." Catherine crossed her arms and proclaimed proudly, "We had everything under control."

Sebastian: "…" He could only glare at her. She was the one who forced him to eat all that spicy food. Because of her, he couldn't properly fulfil the duty which was assigned to him by his master.

Merlin looked around and coughed. "We can see that. I'm so proud to have such a strong Mistress and her friend. There's not a single scratch on you and yet you fought four men. What a relief."

Veronica bashfully replied, "You jest. How did you know we were here? I thought you went to look for us."

Merlin explained, "We did. I was tracking Sebastian and Darius, hoping to get some lead. I suddenly noticed that Darius stopped in one place and didn't move. I contacted Sebastian using a communication device and came here."

"You have a communication device? That's so wonderful!" Veronica beamed with anticipation. "Can I see it?"

Sebastian took out a small round box from his pocket. It was smaller than his palm. He opened it and they saw a blue gem attached to it. "When someone communicates, their face becomes visible, and we can talk just like that. It's like having a face-to-face conversation." 

"This is brilliant. I want one. How can I get it? How much do I have to pay?" Veronica became excited like a child. She just had to have one!

"Ahahaha!" Darius laughed loudly. "Mistress Veronica, you amuse me all the time. You are the Mistress of the Magic Tower. If you need any magical object, you just have to give your orders  to the magicians. They are obliged to carry out your order."

"Okay, I will do that." Veronica understood that she said something stupid. She became quiet.

Merlin: "…" He helplessly gazed at his friend. 'He really doesn't know how to talk to people. Who will teach him?'

Merlin then contacted Arthur. Arthur had finished his work at the palace in a hurry and went to the square to pick up his wife. 

It was already evening. Everybody started to turn on the lights. The streets weren't covered in its usual yellow lights, but instead was embellished by a sea of multicoloured lights. A festive and magical aura was in the atmosphere.

The sun had almost set by then. The sky had a yellowish hue which caused everything beneath the horizon to have a golden tint. The temperature was quite humid, despite the gentle breeze blowing from time to time. Summer in Tybu was indeed a mindblowing season. 

When the carriage arrived, Arthur asked Merlin, "Why did you contact me? Did something happen?"

Merlin greeted him and said, "Your intuition is always correct. I know Sebastian was supposed to contact you. It looks like Mistress Veronica and Miss Catherine faced some trouble. Darius already took four guys that were responsible to the interrogation room. I'll leave the rest to you."

Arthur frowned. His cold eyes swept toward Sebastian before looking at Veronica. "Are you all right?" he asked.

His voice was neither cold nor warm; however, Veronica was relieved to see him. She smiled a little and replied, "I'm okay. Nothing happened to us. Some people disrespected us. So, Catherine and I thought we should teach them a lesson."

Arthur's cold eyes finally were filled with some warmth. The corner of his lips lifted slightly as he told her, "You must have worked hard. Let's go home and rest." He reached out his hand toward Veronica.

"Okay!" Veronica took his hand and got inside the carriage. She never thought she would be this eager to get back to the Magic Tower.

Catherine followed her, while Sebastian put the shopping packages in the carriage before shutting the door.

The carriage had started to move. Arthur's fingers gently brushed over her cheek. "How was your day? Do you like this city?"