Chapter 20: I'll protect myself anyway but... I want to be protected by you. I want that warmth.

It was a lie!

Cassian held out his hand to me and I gently grabbed onto it as I stepped down with my heavy dress, staring with shock at the building ahead of me.

They said it was a little palace! What a lie!

"How are you feeling?" Cassian murmured as he placed my arm around his. Caeles was by his other side and we three began to walk towards the entrance of the building.

I gave him a confused look. Seeing it, he continued. "You seemed to have developed a sickness to riding in carriages?"

It was true. Although the Arcturus carriages were comfortable, they still were carriages with big wheels pulled by horses on these bumpy paths; someone like me who was more used to the 21st century's modern transports found it extremely hard to adjust to the constant movements. Though according to the book, magic devices that helped better balance carriages would be introduced in a few years... I frowned. Why can't it just be here already?

"You noticed?" I asked Cassian and he gave me an apologetic smile.

"You were looking a little pale, though you seem better now."

While it was true that I had barely held back my lunch, I was also filled with anxiety at having to go to such a big event. A ball definitely has to be different from a garden tea party, and in my last one, I was drenched with hot tea, courtesy of Cassian's admirers. No, how cliché and lame is it that women are fighting other women over a man? This could only be a book.

The Aurore Palace was huge and was lit with glowing mana lamps, looking like something out of a fantasy movie. The centre of the entire building had a huge dome, no doubt that being the ballroom. It had a huge arch for an entrance, with carved doors of mahogany that were left open with soldiers stationed outside. It was a beautiful building; however, my eyes were drawn to something else.

There were marble statues lined up outside by the path, of fairies and people that looked like they were following something with outreached hands. It made me gasp in shock.

"Is he fucking crazy?" I mumbled. Making art of the people who lost their lives and putting it on display like this? Just to show off his bloodline?

"What a bloody lunatic." I heard Caeles curse and looked towards Cassian who was silent, but I flinched when I saw him. Although he hadn't said anything, his eyes that were glaring at the statues seemed like they were glowing. It was for a moment, before he went expressionless. But that was enough for me. I knew from the book that he was the male lead with the silent rage.

And isn't that the most dangerous?

I gulped and my arm holding onto his felt heavy as we climbed up the stairs. We walked through the pillars and the giant arch before reaching the entrance of the ball. When our presence was announced, everybody in the huge ballroom turned to stare at us. After all, we were the most interesting group of people there.

The Aldebaran heir apparent, the youngest person on the way to becoming a sword master, and finally, me: the Ilaria Marquess' mad dog daughter.

For some reason, this thought brought a smirk to the corner of my lips. It was the smile of someone who had already lost hope and had 'whatever now' tattooed onto their heart. I could already see glares directed at me; it wasn't just women. Although most of the people had their eyes on the brothers, their glances of disapproval and hate at me were evident.

Ahh...

I sighed freely and tightened my grip around Cassian's arm. He looked down at me and I gave him the brightest smile I could. "I think I'm finally getting a feel for it."

He furrowed his brows in confusion. A feel for what?

My smile turned into a grin as I looked back ahead of me and we began to walk further in.

A feel for being a villain.

I came here thinking that there was a responsibility on my shoulders; I should act a certain way and be a proper noblewoman. But look at this!

They don't expect such things from me!

How refreshing! They already hate me, so I might as well act like trash. Who's going to stop me? What do I have to lose? Their respect? Hah. They already have none for me!

As soon as we entered the social area, the brothers were crowded. A waiter was passing by with a tray of champagne glasses and I casually swiped one. Cassian and Caeles both gave me surprised looks. But I shrugged and with a wave of my fingers, walked away towards the corner of the ballroom with the musicians.

Might as well enjoy the music, shall we?

As expected, no one approached me; not even Cassian's fans, as they didn't want to show such an image to Cassian who was present today. I exchanged my champagne glass for another full one.

The alcohol of nobles truly is a different class.

I should ask Rezel for it next time. Oh, I wonder if Risor drinks?

I was nodding my head gently to the music now. The musicians saw me and smiled. They were the only ones to do this in this entire room. I smiled back and held up my glass to them in appreciation. Inwardly, I giggled. I felt like some rich lady. I'd always wanted to dress up and drink wine. I was just missing a fur coat now.

Hmm?

I could see shining golden hair making its way towards me. I clenched my fingers, trying to feel something and gave a disappointed tch. Ahh, I don't have any apples on me right now...

Caeles reached me and leaned down to whisper furiously. "The fuck are you planning on doing today? You never used to drink. Your face is all red."

I tilted my head and grinned lazily at him. "Really? I always loved to drink though? Do you want some? Nobles' drinks are really tasty."

Caeles' mouth fell open at my words. He reached out towards my glass to take it away from me and I pulled it back with a glare. "Go steal someone else's drink, Goldie. Shoo."

I could see Caeles' clenching his jaw and he reminded me of those models. I wonder how that sharp jaw feels? Will I get cut? I reached my hand out towards his face when-

BOOM!

I stumbled ahead into Caeles' chest and he caught me before both our eyes snapped towards an area of the ballroom. There were screams everywhere as people began to run.

"Monsters!"

"The monsters from the forest are attacking!"

Caeles left me and immediately ran towards the source of the chaos. A part of the ballroom's wall had been broken down and horrendous looking creatures were streaming in, breaking apart the decorations and statues in their way as they let out terrifying growls. It was more than enough to immediately get me sober.

"I fucking knew it!" I screamed to myself with frustration. "These fucking main leads!"

When the Arcturus brothers are to be knighted, their accomplishments will be announced for the public. Just for the sake of this one announcement. Just for that. That one-line dialogue in the book. Do you know what that accomplishment was?

The brothers who saved the nobles from the monsters in The Battle of The Forest of Allure.

"Oh, I fucking hate this book world!" I cried out as I ran with the crowd.

"Everybody evacuate! Head to the gardens! This way!"

The Battle of The Forest of Allure had begun.

We all headed towards the vast gardens outside. I could see the monsters making their way from between the trees of the forest that was behind the Aurore Palace.

"T-there are too many!" I heard someone gasp beside me. We had gathered in a large crowd outside. Many people tried to leave to the carriages and the overflow had caused accidents, obstructing the road; the only exit was now blocked. Others had teleported with their beads; some had begun to fight each other for them. I step back as I watched all this chaos ensue around me, meanwhile ahead of us all...

Caeles was walking towards the monsters. His hand was glowing red, before a bright light extended out, turning into the shape of a sword. I gasped at this.

"The Sword of Fire..."

The Commander's of Sorin's legendary Sword of Fire that could cut through anything with its intense heat.

"He already achieved this strand...?" I stared in awe as he continued to walk fearlessly towards the monsters with a glowing sword of flames.

The nobles had to surrender our weapons before we stepped into the ballroom; until the weapons could be distributed to us within this chaos, this meant that now we only had elementals with offensive strand powers to protect us. Nobody had their swords.

Except the Arcturus brothers, who had turned their elements into their weapons.

A blue-ish white glow attracted my eyes and I turned to look at Cassian who had a huge spear of ice in his hand, the head of which looked like a sharp icicle. He threw it forward and it twisted in the air before piercing a monster. Cassian opened his palm again and created a sharp ice sword that glistened in the light.

These two brothers had already begun to cut down and defeat the monsters as people around me continued to run around in fear. My heart was pumping loudly in my chest. Nothing is going to happen to these people, I thought as I tightly gripped my dress. Nothing will happen to them but me...!

I was the one in real danger. Everybody else will be protected by the male leads. I saw Cassian create a shield of ice as a monster threw a punch at another fire elemental noble. The ice cracked but it's didn't break; that's how strong this over-powered main lead already was at the age of 17. Meanwhile, I grow two plants and cough up blood.

"Water elementals with shape manipulation strands! Gather immediately!" Everybody turned towards the source of this loud commanding voice; everybody turned to look at Caeles. He stood there in front of us with his sword, his eyes piercing towards the chaotic nobles. His strong tone silenced us all immediately.

I stared at this boy with wide eyes. This was the boy I fight with and insult every day. Right now, as he stared at us with glowing tanzanite eyes, and that menacing golden sword in his hand, he didn't even look like someone I could possibly know.

"Water elementals, use the water from the fountains and direct it towards the coming fleet of monsters. Electric elementals, infuse electricity into the water. Head towards the forest! Electrocute the monsters before they reach us!"

It was a simple order. No one dared disobey; not even the cowards. Water and electric elementals separated from the chaotic crowd and made their way towards the fountains, as if they were hypnotized. That was the power of the command of the future Commander of the Sorin Empire. I could feel it right now. For a moment, I thought Caeles' eyes met mine, and I couldn't breathe due to that powerful gaze for that moment before he turned around and headed back towards the monsters.

The brothers looked like legends from books as they dodged and cut through the monsters. I saw from the side as water from the fountains flowed up into the air before being hit with bursts of electricity. This sparkling water was then thrown towards the monsters, and created a barrier that stopped further monsters from approaching. I watched Cassian create countless ice arrows and aim them towards the attacking fleet of monsters as well.

This book world had two types of monsters: ones that were rational and lived in peace until disturbed, and the others were like these mutants; ones that only seek to destroy anything that moves.

They really are winning...

Cassian and Caeles were leading the nobles against the monsters and they were defeating them. It was amazing to see. Cassian threw another spear and created another shield to protect a noble girl who was fighting along.

"Ugh!" Someone's elbow pressed against my side, making me fall backward to the ground. I bit my lip in pain.

"Brother!" "Lord Cassian!"

In the distance, I heard Caeles and others crying out Cassian's name and my eyes snapped towards him. I thought I saw him looking in my direction with a frown right when a monster attacked him; Caeles cut the monster's hand off before it reached Cassian but it had managed to scratch Cassian's arm. Caeles glared at his brother. "Focus here! Right now!"

Cassian winced and nodded. I could hear nobles' worried voices. I was one of them.

"What the fuck is he doing?" I muttered, unable to take my eyes off of him, a strong pain within my chest. "He's supposed to be an OP so what's he doing getting hurt like that?"

But I couldn't worry about Cassian for much longer. I heard a growl behind me. The pain in my chest only continued to grow as my heart throbbed harder.

Don't tell me...

I tried to stand up quickly, but only tripped on the hem of my long and heavy dress and fell back to the ground. I tried again and got on my knees and turned around.

There stood a monster baring its teeth at me. It was smaller than the others and somehow had gotten through the defence the noble elementals had created.

Of course...

It just had to get through the defence and it just had to make its way towards me.

The only one who wasn't going to receive the main leads' shield.

Contrary to my sarcastic thoughts, my hands were shaking and I was finding it hard to breathe with the fear. The fear that one hit from this thing would have me in pieces.

Just as it looked like it was going to run towards me, I quickly held up my hand. I had already been in a similar situation to this before.

Only the scale wasn't this big...

Numerous Ara rose stems flew towards the sky from the ground and wrapped themselves around the monster.

It surprised me because they were much bigger than I had expected. The monster struggled against them and only got further tangled in them, hurting itself with the sharp dagger like thorns.

Is this the elemental's blessing?

The red stone on the tip of my ear was heating up. A corner of my lip tilted up. What a fucking great gift!

The monster ripped off a stem, and my joy was short-lived as the fear came back. I grit my teeth and held out my other hand. I made an upward line with it and immediately, sharp leaves with red edges made their way up. They climbed up the twisted rose stems and sizzled against the monster's skin.

I'm so fucking glad I touched those bloody leaves...

But it still wasn't enough. The monster continued to struggle with no signs of stopping, although it had slowed down. I grew more and more stems and leaves. I did it like my life depended on it. Because it probably did. My heart continued to beat faster; so hard that my chest was in pain. I could taste blood in my mouth again.

As I kept doing this, I hadn't seen the silver haired boy who had extended his palm out in my direction at the very moment the monster had appeared; nor did I see the golden sword that was aimed at the monster from behind me. Me taking care of the monster by myself had surprised them and they stopped in their tracks; however, they didn't know that I was paying a price for protecting myself.

As soon as they realized that I had begun to gasp for breath, they got back to their senses. A glowing shield of ice was created in front of me as a golden sword cut through the monster that had aimed for me.

I fell to the ground, my vision flickering between darkness and light.

Cassian with a bloodied arm made his way towards me through the parting crowd. A noble tried to gently pick me up.

"Move." A familiar voice pierced through the air. "I will carry her."

The noble removed his hands from my arm and I was gently picked up.

I know these arms...

I blinked my eyes open and closed multiple times. My vision was blurry but...

It was his blonde hair.

"Hey... Goldie."

I tried to speak but began to cough.

"Did I survive?"

Caeles didn't reply but I felt his muscles clench. Cassian was holding on tightly to my hand. I could see his now bloodied clothes from the time he was cut.

"You survived." Cassian's soft voice made me relax.

"Good. Come fucking faster next time."

I went to sleep wrapped in Caeles' arms as Cassian tightly held onto my hand.

Your power is ice... so why is your hand so warm?

And what's with this guy? He hates me but he's holding me so gently.

These fucking annoying main leads.

Protect me too.

You should protect me too.

***

Yes, this still is a romance novel.

No one said we can't have a little action along with love.

I also thought a lot about whether I should say this, but I thought, ah screw it.

I wanted to say that my characters aren't perfect. You've seen some of Nora's imperfections; you know of Eleonora and you've seen a bit of Cassian as well. But none of them are perfect and you will come to see all their dirty, disgusting parts soon enough. It's too early to pity Eleonora from the book and it's too early to hate Cassian, and it's too early to give up on Risor. Nora mustn't be the only person who gets the benefit of being understood by you. This book is just beginning, honestly and and you'll come to know each character on a deeper level.

The boundaries that stop characters from acting out too far in other romance stories don't apply much in my novel. These lines don't exist. Or perhaps they do, but they are crossed and broken anyway; whichever's most fitting or pleasurable. I am tired of being stopped.

There's a reason why I made Nora the villain. It's so that you wouldn't have any expectations from the start of her being pure-hearted and staying rationally in line all the time; villains don't do that. She's not a perfect heroine who was just put in a villain's body. I am planning on developing her as the most realistic person I can. We all have shadows and personas. She's someone who's more influenced with her shadow. But of course, it doesn't get terrible to the point of no return. Just trust her lol.

And... I hope you enjoy this...!