DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. This is a fanfic written for entertainment only.
A/N: Hello. It's been a while. ^^;
Italic words – Thoughts
DAHLIA
- 12 -
The screams and shouts were heard no more inside of the banquet hall when Sunshine Kingdom's knights secured the area – the remaining of the masked attackers-most are the injured ones and barely alive from their wounds-were taken into custody. The remaining were ushered into another hall by the knights – they gasped in horror of the turnabout of the event, murmuring silent prayers of thanks for being alive and even helped-guests who're not badly injured-the knights in assisting the wounded guests. Some of the guests sat beside their loved ones' corpses, refusing the urge of the knights to move to a safer place. They mourned their loss, shaking the lifeless bodies, crying while shouting in irritation at the knights who're standing beside them, complaining why they didn't come earlier; their loved ones might be spared from the blades of the uninvited guests.
Chelsea's heart thumped faster as she watched the blue-masked man pulled out his sword from the orange-masked man's chest and said man stood completely still on his spot, ignoring the blood from his sword dripping onto the red carpet and stared at the unconscious blonde-haired prince next to him. Is he going to make Will his next target? Chelsea bit her lips and fastened her pace towards him.
"Do not think of touching the Prince if you still want to live!" Vaughn who was running beside Chelsea-she was taken aback of how loud his voice was-roared.
The brunette princess took a quick glance at the running knight beside her. She had never thought that Vaughn will come to her rescue. She was surprised for she was sure that the distance between him and her are quite far – how on earth did he moved so fast? And the way he finished his opponent, Chelsea realized, is something she considered to be gruesome compared to other people-which she'd seen in battles-. The fact that Vaughn fight without any hint of hesitation intrigued her – she knows that Knights are professional when it comes to said matter but for Vaughn the skill, speed and efficiency are completely out of the usual league; she'd never feel her body gone cold and how afraid she is just by looking into the eyes of the silver-haired knight as he stared at the split-into-two body of the yellow-masked man sprawled on the ground. She remembered how scared she is feeling the 'aura' of said Sunshine Kingdom's knight. She never had the chance to ask or say anything when Vaughn offered her a hand-the glare he once had was gone-and together they ran towards the falling blonde-haired prince.
The blue-masked man turned to the pair and shrugged at the silver-haired man's threat. He dropped the sword in hand and placed both hands in front of his chest, waving an 'I'm unarmed' sign to the approaching duo. Vaughn pointed his sword the masked man as soon as they reached said man's spot – the tip of his sword is an inch away from the masked man's nose.
"Will!" Chelsea dropped to her knees beside her fiancé, reaching out both hands to him but halted midway as she didn't know where to place them when she saw the soaked-in-blood outfit the prince is wearing. "Oh, Harvest-," she cupped her mouth as she feels the tears filling up her eyes when her eyes landed at the wound inflicted on the prince's chest – the sight choked her breath for some seconds before her eyes moved to study the prince's face once more. "Will! Open your eyes!" she called again. Don't die! Please don't die!
Vaughn spared a look at the two royalties for some seconds before switching back to the blue-masked man in front of him. "You got guts for not running away, you bastard," he growled, tightening his grip in his sword and suppressing himself to not stab the other man. "You have your chance in running away. Why do you not do so?" he asked. Vaughn doesn't really want to know the reason but he thinks it's weird for the blue-masked man to stay rather than escape the hall – he's pretty sure that said man knows the consequences of his-and his comrades-action if he were to be caught by the Knights of Sunshine Kingdom.
"There is no need for me to do so, Sir Vaughn," come the reply from the blue-masked man. "My duties require me to stay in this hall – this is where I am going to stay until I am done with them," he continued.
The silver-haired knight's eyebrow furrowed as he listened to the other man's voice. "That voice…you are…"
The blue-masked man smiled and brought both hands the back of his head, untying the thread which binds the blue mask and his face together. Chelsea's eyes widened in surprise as she looked up to the once-stranger – he was no longer a stranger for she perfectly knows who the man behind the blue mask is.
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"That brilliant plan of yours failed," the man said, his back is still facing the woman in red, exotic dress. "Did you not say that we will be able to kill the prince if we were to launch our attack tonight? Did you not know how many men I have lost in the battle?"
A black-haired man was standing in front of the window of his dimly-lighted private library, gazing down outside of the room the people who are running back and forth the banquet hall of Sunshine Castle. He gritted his teeth as he saw the injured masked-man whom he's ordered to create chaos for the masquerade party held by Sunshine Kingdom's prince himself were caught and brought into the other building at the opposite side of the hall – they're probably being held inside the prison and questioned about the ruckus they've caused. The man knows that none of his men dare to expose the mastermind of the attack but losing wound his pride; he hates losing more than anything.
Said woman sighed as she drew away the drag from her red lips and blew the smoke inside her mouth. Her expression was calm – she didn't feel intimidated at the tone the man-older than her-gave her. "Did I not also say that you cannot put high hope on this plan since no one can predict the outcome of a battle?" she asked back. She pointed the drag in hand towards the man in front of where she was sitting. "My Lord, if we can accurately predict the outcome of a battle, we do not have to go over strategy meetings and whatnot before launching ourselves in a battle. And just so you know, if we can do such thing, you have long secured yourself the seat of the throne you have always wanted," she smirked at her last sentence.
The older figure turned around to face the woman. "Are you trying to imply something?" he asked in an annoyed tone, burning her figure with his fiery glare.
"Take it easy, My Lord," the woman chuckled. "I am merely stating the truth. True that I am fully confident that the plan will be a success, but there seemed to be one-or maybe more-factor that I forgot to put into consideration," she continued as she puffed out another ring of smoke from her drag.
"It is rare for you to admit your mistake."
"That is because I rarely make any. Tonight's event is an exception though. I never thought that I will see him here in this kingdom…and that he is the one who turn the table of the event, of the perfectly planned plan of mine. Due to the short notice of this battle's execution, I-really regret this-forgot to ask you the list of the guests who will be present at the ball –," the woman said as she bit the tip of her drag a little. Her eyes glinted mischievously as she stared at the older man's. "That silver-haired knight who worked directly under Prince William; I do not think I catch his name. Who did you say he is again?"
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The King and Queen have retreated to their chamber after the doctors assured them-the doctors had trouble persuading the rulers as the Queen insisted to stay by her son's side-that although the wound inflicted on their son is a severe one, he is still alive – they promised to do their best to save the prince. Chelsea feels sorry for the Queen when she saw Her Majesty nearly fainted at the sight of Will when she saw him being carried into his room all bloody and messy. If it's not for the King who was standing next to her and calmed her down, Chelsea is sure that the Queen will experience more than just losing consciousness after seeing the condition of her beloved son. After the departure of the King and Queen, the maids left as well-at the request of the doctors-and there are only three people left-those who the doctors failed to persuade-waiting on the corridor outside of the blonde-haired prince's chamber.
Chelsea stared anxiously at the door of Will's room. It was shut tight – the doctors and nurses are the only people inside aside of the prince's unconscious body. The remaining people-who are still lingering on the corridor outside of Will's room-were told not to enter before they're finished treating the wounded prince. Her intertwining fingers tightened themselves against each other as she pressed them more onto her chest, repeating once again words of prayer inside her mind. She opened her eyes and the same, still-closed door greeted her sight. Her eyes started to water as she recalled the scene where Will's body being carried away and the blood of pool he was lying on. She bit her lips and told herself not to cry; now is not the time to show her weak side to other people. Wanting to distract herself from her teary eyes, she glanced around the corridor – her eyes automatically landed on a figure standing not far from her.
Vaughn was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes locked on the same door Chelsea's been staring at previously. He pursed his lips together and even though Chelsea is sure that he can feel her eyes on him, he never made any movement to look back at her. The brunette princess sighed; he must still been mad at her butler. It was hard enough for her to stop the fight between the two men that almost started when said knight grip the collar of the butler's shirt and now she finds it even harder to fathom the still-unknown reasons Will asked Mark to not interfere to whatever it is that befalls him inside the hall. Sure, Mark haven't yet explain the reasons, what kind of task he was doing-without Chelsea knowing and permission-and why Will gave such strange order to him.
Chelsea switched her gaze to the blonde-haired butler standing on her left side. The butler was leaning against the wall and just like Vaughn, his eyes are focused on the door of the Sunshine Kingdom's Prince's room. He, however, unlike Vaughn held a calm expression – Chelsea can't tell whether her butler worried about the well-being of the Prince or not or that he is confident that the prince will be fine and will soon regained his consciousness back. The brunette princess got a lot of questions she wanted to ask her butler but not a single word escape her mouth every time she opened it to speak. The only sound that she can manage is a squeak; a tiny squeak that reminded her of the sound the mice back at the basement of her castle in Sunny Kingdom made. She made no further attempt to speak – she knows that even if she did Mark will probably avoid answering the questions she's going to throw him about his secret tasks. Perhaps if I wait Mark will tell me all about it. For now I should just focus on Will's condition…and prepare myself to stop the fight between Mark and Vaughn if they're trying to get involved in one… Nodding to herself at her determination, the brunette princess once again return to stare at the door but stopped from doing so when she heard the click-clack sounds of someone's heels coming near. Turning her head to the direction of the sound, completely forgetting what she was about to do earlier, Chelsea was greeted by a young, black-haired woman's figure.
"Salutations, Princess Chelsea," the woman curtsied as she stood right in front of the brunette princess. "I am sorry for the unfortunate event that occurred at the ball today. You must have been shocked and scared experiencing all those battles with the uninvited masked-men."
Chelsea blinked her eyes in confusion, not saying anything back in reply and forgot to return the politeness the young black-haired woman gave her earlier. Said black-haired young woman noticed this and smiled at her, shaking her head a little.
"I understand that you are confused seeing me – this is our first time meeting each other, is it not?" she added and continued smiling. She glanced at her left, at the brunette princess's butler and nodded her head at him; the butler replied her with the same gesture. "Forgive my rudeness for not coming to greet you on the day you come to Sunshine Kingdom – I have important matters to attend to and they are requested by Will himself."
"Will?" Chelsea cocked an eyebrow, both confused at the familiarity her butler showed the newcomer and at the words spoken by her.
Noticing the puzzled look the Sunny Kingdom's Princess had plastered on her face, the young woman gave out a light chuckle. "Please, there is no need to be alarmed and all – I am by no chance siding with the attackers that attacked you tonight," she said and threw her glance at the door of Will's chamber. "It is sad that our prediction came true and that Will had fall victim in tonight's event."
"W-what?" the brunette princess asked, narrowing both eyebrows and giving the young woman a skeptical look. "What is this plan, prediction you are talking about? How are you related to this event and Will's injury?" This woman seemed to know a lot about Will and tonight's chaos. "W-who exactly are you?"
Chelsea's last question was answered not by the young woman or Mark – the silver-haired knight-Chelsea never noticed when he moved to her side-was the one who provided her the answer to the identity of the newcomer.
"Lady Sabrina, why are you here?"
A/N: More characters thrown into the story – this is going to be long. ^^; Thank you for the support and kind messages, everyone. I hope you enjoy reading this part as well!
