Tangled By Fate

Ironin listened to her words with his lips tightly sealed. 

"Your faith in Arthur is completely gone," he remarked. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

Veronica covered her face with her knees. 

"I know and there is nothing I can do about it." Her voice was full of helplessness.

"I want to trust him. I want to believe he loves me, but I can't. Every time I want to believe, I remember that scene. It hurts so much, Ironin. I just can't…"

Her throat tightened and her eyes tears threatened to fall but she shut her eyes. Her pants dried her tears. 

She gulped and continued, "As long as I don't think of him and anyone I know, I feel better. That's why I don't want to face them. I know if I meet, it will be all over.

"I'm scared. I'm scared of ending everything and I'm scared of being tied up with him. I'm confused and I don't know if I should go forward or backward.

"So, I wanted you to forget that I'm alive. But it's too late to run away, isn't it? I have to stop Arthur from doing anything foolish."

Ironin's eyes slightly lit up with hope.

"Are you coming with me then? I've brought a magic stone to teleport us–"

Veronica cut in, "No, I have another plan. Before leaving Tybu, I went to a resort in the hilly area with Catherine. Can you ask her to meet me there in a week?"

Ironin's purple eyes dimmed. "Don't you want to meet Arthur?"

Veronica responded with a sigh, "I will, but first, I want to meet my friend."

"Why don't you come with me?" Ironin suggested.

"I have something else to do before that. We will make a plan. After all, I'm heading to Tybu. Do you have other magic stones to teleport?"

"No, but I can share the one I have or I can ask Merlin to help you..." 

"No, I have a group of people with me. I don't want them to know I'm associating with the people from the Magic Tower."

Veronica didn't want to share everything. Just like she didn't want the elves to know her relationship with the Magic Tower, she didn't want the Magic Tower about the elves.

She thought, 'No one knows when someone will use me for their advantage.' 

Ironin pondered, "Those people who are a mile away in the camp? I've seen them before seeing you here. They aren't normal people. I've seen their cautious movement. Who are they?"

Veronica flatly answered, "They are people who promised to serve me from now on and they are training me."

"Training you?" Ironin recalled how she tried to kick him. 

'Her strength increased and her hands are skinny but tougher,' he thought to himself.

"To fight. I'm learning how to fight," she confessed.

Ironin wasn't surprised. "Why do you suddenly want to fight? To protect yourself?"

"Sometimes you have to fight to get your point across."

"…You have changed a lot." Ironin finally admitted. She was very different before.

"This earth is well experienced. Just get out of your shelter and you will see. The world is terrible, and you will fall in love with it."

The corner of Ironin's lips stretched. "You learned so much in such a short period."

Inwardly, he was glad that she was out of her shelter and learned things that she couldn't learn if she was always protected by them.

The night of the forest was lively. The sound of gnats, whistling wind, rustling leaves, animals snarling, and their careful movements- everything kept the forest alive.

Ironin didn't want to go. He wished to stay here longer. 

It was still like a dream. They hardly talked to each other before but tonight, she said so much, it was unbelievable. 

However, Veronica was already sleepy. She stood up. "I'll leave first and tell my men. See you in a week."

She gave him a nod, took her clothes, and left. Standing behind, Ironin stared at her.

----------------

Urulas heard footsteps and looked in her direction. "You are late."

Veronica hung her wet clothes "I had things to do. Did you wait for me?"

Urulas replied, "Yes, you were late. I was worried and went to check up on you. I've seen you talking to an unknown person. Who is he?"

'Did he hear what we were talking about?' Veronica wondered. Even so, her answer was brief. 

"An acquaintance. He brought a piece of urgent news about my friend. I guess we have to go to Tybu within a week."

Urulas frowned. "Even if we fly, we need at least two weeks to reach there."

He was curious about her acquaintance, but he held back. She didn't like to open up about her personal matters and he respected that.

Veronica suggested, "We can use a magic stone to teleport."

Urulas rubbed his cheek. "Hmm, there should be a magician in the next town. We can buy it from there. It'll take three days to reach there."

"Fair enough. Let's head to the town tomorrow," Veronica concluded.

"As you wish," he agreed.

Three days later, they reached the town. After having lunch together, Veronica and Urulas went to the magician's store.

"Foreign customers! What do you need?" The magician excitedly greeted them.

Urulas stayed quiet as he didn't know the language of the country. With his body and face all covered, he acted as Veronica's bodyguard.

Veronica stepped forward and asked, "I'd like to have a magic stone that is used to teleport people."

"Teleport… hmm… how many people do you want to teleport?" the magician inquired. 

"Teleport eight people at least," she answered. 

Elves are seven in number. Including her, it was a group of eight people.

The magician observed their clothes and then finally said, "You need a powerful magic stone for that, mam. It will cost you three gold coins."

Urulas slowly reached out for his sword. His lips were tightly sealed.

Veronica stole a glance at him before turning toward the magician.

"You should pick someone else to cheat. Also, I forgot to mention that we won't be giving you any gold coins.. If you want, we can give you an object in return. How about that?"