A few weeks later…
“Is the food ready yet?” Kuroe asked while peeking at the kitchen.
“Not yet Kuroe-san.” Kira replied as she stirred the soup stock. The enticing aroma filled the room.
“Some of the ingredients are not yet here so it may take time to finish the soup.” The duke added while chopping some of the vegetables that they needed to use.
He noticed that Kira took a peek on his work. He smiled as he showed off his skill. Compared to the first time he assisted in cooking, the duke had greatly improved. He managed to chop the vegetables in even shapes as opposed to the crude shapes that he made before.
Kira and Aliester were on kitchen duty that night. The others were task to gather ingredients but they were not back yet.
“What’s taking them so long?” their ninjutsu master grumbled. “I am hungry.”
“We’re sorry, sensei.” Kira apologized as she fetched one of the dishes that she already made. “but wait a bit more. You can have these as appetizers if you like.” The girl offered her some maki.
“Arigato, Kira-chan!” Kuroe gratefully took the food and happily ate a few pieces. “So, why is it that the two of you were the only ones left behind?” she asked narrowing her eyes at the two.
The two froze but decided to act naturally.
“We were tasked to man the kitchen.” Aliester answered in a matter of fact tone.
“Really?” Kuroe drawled out, teasing the two. “I sense that something is blossoming between you two.”
Both of them seemed to have blushed.
“Kuruso-san, Aliester dono and I are tomodachi desu!” Kira was beet red as she tried to deny their mistress’s observation.
Aliester frowned at that. For the past week, the two of them had become close. Kira was curious about the blonde duke while Aliester was interested with the girl who had managed to open up his younger cousin. They had been spending time with each other lately. To the point that Aliester was warned by his companions.
“You have to stop it.” He remembered Blaze’s words.
“Stop what?”
“Stop leading her on. Don’t encourage her further.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you keep on doing that, Kira will fall for you.”
“So what is wrong with that?” the duke’s brows creased.
“Aliester you belonged to another realm while she belonged here. What do you think will happen if we get back to our own realm?” the wizard asked with a stern look.
“She will be left behind...”
“Left behind with a broken heart.” The wizard added.
The duke tried to distance himself from the girl after that. But it seemed that staying away from her was a bit hard. So he just went with the flow and spend time with her.
Kuro narrowed her eyes at the two. With her observant nature, the closeness of the two did not go unnoticed. Smiling, she tried to have fun teasing the girl.
Aliester smiled as watch the exchange between his master and the girl. However, he felt something old. He could not seem to shake the feeling of dread. It is not the uncomfortable feeling that comes with the teasing. It was the feeling that something terrible would happen.
Suddenly, Kuroe tensed up. Eyeing Aliester she cocked her head. “You can sense them too. Get ready. We’ve got company.”
When she said those words, the door burst open and two large men bearing armor with Verbanian crest barged in.
“Finally found you.” One of them gruffly stated.
Aliester grabbed Kira and placed her behind him to protect her from harm. Kuroe was first to attack the nearest knight. The knight drew his sword to parry her blow but the woman was able to land a kick on his chest. The knight crashed through the tables and chairs but he got up and began attacking Kuroe. Using her agility, she was able to dodge the attacks and was able to take down her opponent.
“Attacking a master like me. You are hundred years too early.” She muttered as she grabbed her opponents arm. Using it like a fulcrum, she brought him down and severed his head off.
Kira screamed as she witnessed the beheading of the knight.
Aliester gave Kira a shove and let her hide behind the counter. Aliester then fought the other man which was twice as big as he was. Though his size was a bit of a disadvantage, Aliester attacked first with the knife he used to chop the vegetables.
The man was armed with a long sword but Aliester managed to parry his blows with the shorter weapon. Though bigger and bulkier, the knight was not able to defeat Aliester. With his lessons on stealth, he was able to disarm the knight and finish him off.
“glad I was not wearing a heavy armor.” The duke managed to voice out. “I could move faster than that man in the tin can.”
Suddenly, Kira cried in fright and panic.
When his eyes found her, Aliester froze. Kira was held captive by a third attacker. The duke’s brown eyes widened as he recognized the third person who invaded their dojo and had held Kira as hostage. “Kain!”
“Duke of Alcove, we come to retrieve you and the princess.” The earl said as if in a trance. He made the girl sleep after he gave a karate chop at the back of her neck. “I have already retrieved the princess. Now my lord, it would be best for you to come with us without resisting.”
As those words left his mouth, Kuroe attacked him with her blade but the earl managed to evade her attack. The earl raised his hand to assault Kuroe but instead of his usual wind blades, a thick black mist formed and engulfed the area.
Inhaling the mist, Kuroe fell down the floor. “Poison?” she coughed out blood.
“that is not the princess, you oaf!” he shouted at the earl.
“She has black hair like the princess.” The earl answered. “And she is with you. So she is the princess.”
“Why did you betray us?” Aliester seethed.
“I was not the one who betrayed you. You were the ones who betrayed me.” Kain said with eyes glowing purple.
“he is being controlled.” The duke said under his breath. “I need to snap him out of that trance.”
Gritting his teeth, Aliester tried to attack but failed to do so. Being affected by the mist, he also fell. But before his consciousness faded, he managed to write something on the floor.
“Take the duke and the princess.” Kain commanded the two remaining men who were with him. “Then prepare to return to Verbana.”
The first man took Kira first and went out of the house with the earl. The last one heaved Aliester on his shoulder and began trudging outside.
Though a bit weakened and paralyzed, Kuroe urged her body to move. Using a tanto blade, she stabbed her right arm to feel the pain. That was what she needed to get up.
With the rush of adrenaline she ran towards the last man who was carrying Aliester. She gave him a side sweep and brought him down.
“Impossible.” The earl muttered as he eyed the woman who was trying to revive the duke. “the mist had poison. So she shouldn’t be able to move.”
“I’ve been poison trained since I was small. This is nothing.” Kuroe gritted as she half-carried, half-supported the unconscious duke on her back. With her free hand, she released four small balls into the air. Once it reached the ground, the balls erupted and smoke clouded the area.
The earl cast a spell to clear the smoke but the woman and the duke was nowhere to be seen. “They got away.”
“My lord, the portal is going to close. We must hurry.” His companion reminded. Left with no choice, Kain turned to leave without the duke in his custody.
Unbeknownst to the earl, the two did not get far away from the area. Kuroe just managed to hide the duke and herself behind a thick canopy of bushes. Once the earl and his men left, Kuroe made her move.
“We were able to get away.” Kuroe panted as she laid the unconscious duke on the base of the tree. “But I wasn’t able to save Kira-chan. What in the heaven’s name will I tell her parents?”
Shaking her head, Kuroe calmed her nerves and tried to wake the duke. “Aliester wake up.” She tried a couple of times but he wouldn’t budge.
Giving up, the woman tried to get up and find water but suddenly she threw up blood. “I need the antidote.” She coughed. “This poison is much stronger than the ones that I had trained with.”
She would have found an antidote but her strength left her and she fell down the ground unconscious.
Meanwhile at the Convenience store…
“we are late!” Innocia exclaimed as she dragged the knight and the king by their collars. “Kuroe will have our heads. She never liked late dinners!”
“It is all Daxton’s fault.” Like a child caught by a teacher doing something naughty, the king pointed his finger at the knight.
“What?” the knight grumbled as he got away from Innocia’s grip. “Why is it always me? I did not do anything wrong.”
“If you hadn’t flirted with those ladies we would have left the store earlier.” Conrad reasoned out after Innocia released him.
“I was just talking to those ladies because you were taking your time buying the ingredients. If you have called my attention, I would have stopped and go with you.” He bit back. “Why are you blaming me? His majesty was also busy ogling at the models huge plasma TV by the convenience store.”
“I never knew that his majesty had fetish with women’s lingerie.” A bit scandalized, Innocia commented.
The king’s face flushed beet red. “I was not. I just found it weird to see women who were scantily clad and walking in public as if it was nothing.”
The two would have continued bickering but the wizard cut them off. “You are both at fault. So stop your childish banter.”
“Blaze you should take the blame too.” The knight said. “if you had run faster, we would have arrived at the store earlier.”
“What?” the wizard snapped. “You made me run and you three people were riding bikes. I tried my best running as fast as I can. But of course I have arrived later than you guys did.”
“It was part of your training.” The knight bit back.
Before he could retort, Blaze tensed up. “What was with that strong surged of mana?” he muttered while shivering at the force.
“What’s wrong?”
“What happened Blaze?”
Came the simultaneous questions.
“We need to hurry. Something is wrong.” The wizard said. “I got a feeling that something bad had happened in the dojo.”
They took the two bikes that they have used. The knight pedalled while the wizard sat at the back.
“Are you going to be one pedalling your majesty?” The girl asked the king as she held the bike. “Or should I let you ride at the back?”
“I think I can manage to pedal this time.” He replied as he took his seat. The girl sat on the backseat and held onto his waist. Conrad felt his blood rush to his face at the contact but forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand.
The four of them hurried home and discovered that the place was in disarray.
“remnants of a fight.” The girl said under her breath before calling out. “Aliester, Kuroe, Kira!”
They tried to look for the duke and their mistress until they found them unconscious under a nearby tree.
“Kuroe..” the girl roused her mistress. Her eyes widened at the blood that dribbled on her mouth. “Poison!” she blurted out as she examined her mistress. “It is Alnwick poison.” The girl said after a few minutes of testing the substance.
“But that poison can only be found and made in Verbana.” Daxton said as he and the king carried the unconscious duke.
“Can you make an antidote?” the king asked while eyeing the duke and their mistress.
Without any hint of hesitation, the princess answered. “If the ingredients are complete then I can.”
“You know how to make the antidote Innocia?” Daxton asked with uncertainty.
“I have been trained to make poison and their antidote.” She answered.
“But how? You are a princess…”
“She bullied the apothecary master to allow her to study poisons and antidotes.” The wizard answered before waving his hand. A book appeared out of thin air. Opening the book, he took out several cards.
“Materialize.” The wizard uttered and the cards transformed into the herbs needed by the princess to make the antidote.
“we need to make this as fast as we can.” The wizard reminded the girl. “The poison spread quite quickly and the most that we have will only be an hour or two.”
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