Tangled By Fate

"I heard from Catherine that you came here. Did you fight?" 

"He is mad. He has completely become insane."

Ovior was so mad that he couldn't control his emotions. 

"He has gone mad long before. It is just the outcome." Darius sighed. It was the first time he seemed depressed. 

Ovior pinched in between his eyebrows and then glanced at Zinnia. He inquired, "Where is Ironin?"

Zinnia replied, "He never came back. I think he is still looking for Veronica."

"..." Without a word, Darius stared at his glasses friend. 

Ovior fixed his golden glasses and raised an eyebrow. "And why would he do that?"

Zinnia sighed. "We don't know for sure since he never tells us anything. I think he believes Veronica is still alive and so, he is looking for her."

"Is he doing this just for Arthur or does he have another reason?" Ovior paused to mull over his own question. "Don't tell me he likes her?"

"How can that be? Ironin, in love with a girl, a woman who is married to his friend? Impossible." Zinnia brushed it off.

"As long as you are right about that. She did have a thing for making people fall for her innocence," Ovior commented.

Darius remarked, "You mention her as if she is dead."

Ovior raised an eyebrow. "Is she not? If not, show me the proof. A person knowing of no magic or martial arts jumped off the cliff and her body wasn't found. You want me to believe she is alive - that's a false hope, Darius."

"No news is good news, Ovior. Although none of us think she is alive, at least for our friend, let's just hope she is alive and will come back soon."

Darius didn't stand there anymore. The atmosphere was too toxic. His chest was throbbing. 

Zinnia worriedly glanced at Ovior and patted his shoulder in consolation. She too couldn't believe that fragile girl could live after falling from that cliff.

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Two months passed by in the blink of an eye. Veronica had gotten better with a bow and arrows. Unfortunately, she couldn't beat anyone with a sword.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Two swords clashed.

Veronica glared at her opponent.

'I swear I won't lose this time. I have to give the final blow,' she thought.

"Too slow," Urulas declared from the sideline.

Veronica's eyes widened when she heard him. Before she could take a step back, she stumbled and fell to the ground.

In a moment, a sharp point was aimed at her left eye.

"Dead." Her opponent stared at her expressionlessly.

After the pointed sword was moved away, Veronica stood up. She put down the sword and brushed her pants.

"This is so unfair. It's a sword fight. Not a leg fight. Why did you kick my leg? You deliberately tripped me."

She couldn't help but complain. Her ego couldn't accept this defeat.

Her opponent stated, "You lose."

"!!!" Veronica's face turned red in anger.

Urulas helplessly sighed. "Miss Ver, everything is fair in love and war. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

"This isn't a war!" Veronica retorted, unable to accept this fact.

"It's a fight. I'm teaching you that. Your opponent won't always be one person, or there might be the case they won't fight honorably. If you face that, with your attitude,  you will die in no time. Aren't you fighting to live? Then try to live."

His words were merciless. He didn't want to give her any false hope. 

After lecturing her, Urulas looked at his men who were ready to fight one on one with Veronica.

He told them, "Today's class is dismissed. Prepare for lunch."

"No! I want another round," Veronica proposed while wiping sweat from her forehead.

Urulas said, "With the mindset you have now, you won't be able to win."

"Are you sure?" Veronica tried to provoke him. "Maybe you are just afraid that you will lose."

"If you want to be beaten up so much, be my guest." Urulas shrugged.

On his mark, one by one his men fought against Veronica.

She was no match for these trained elvish soldiers. She was being trained for two months whereas they were being trained for two human generations.

How could she fight them with her hot head?

Gradually, she slowed down. She was losing her energy. The heat wasn't helping her either.

Noticing that she was in the condition of passing out, her current opponent slapped her ass with his sword.

For Veronica, it was humiliating. She was furious. When she went to attack him, she realized that her sword wasn't in her hand.

With a single blow, her opponent tossed her sword somewhere.

Since she had no weapon in her hand, the match was over. She lost.

Nonetheless, she didn't care. She glared at her opponent who put down his sword.

"How dare you slap my butt! You are dead!"

She jumped on him. She used both her hands and legs to fight off.

Others enjoyed the show. In two months, they got quite close with this blessed child who looked livelier and more humane than the blessed children they have heard of and imagined.

Urulas shook his head. He knew something like this could happen. It wasn't the first time.

"Prepare for lunch," he ordered his men.

Later at night, Veronica went to the small pond. She wanted to take a bath.

Taking off her clothes, she dived in the cool water. It was so hot today that she was sweating all day. Her body was burning too.

The cool water of the pond made her think that she was in heaven.

After swimming for some time, she wiped her body and wore a new shirt. Later, she washed her clothes and was ready to go to her camp.

At that time, she heard a rustling sound. Her senses became alert. She closed her eyes and using her ears and sense, she tried to figure where she heard the sound coming from.

At night, many carnivore animals could come to the water source to drink water. She didn't want to be eaten by them in case she made a mistake.

She didn't hear anything afterward.. Lowering her guard, she turned around and her heart jumped.