Yor saw red.

The assassins stood no chance. One only had the time to shout her moniker before a sharp dagger struck his head. The others managed to dodge, but not for long. Yor came down on them like a wrathful demon, intent on inflicting the pain they had caused her family a thousandfold.

"W-what is the Thorn Princess doing here?!" One of them shrieked in terror as he fired shots in retaliation. However, Yor was unstoppable as she ignored the bullet that hit her shoulder to quickly close in on him. A slash forced the hitman to parry it with his gun, only for it to split into two hopelessly. "Get away from me—AAAAHH!"

The last assassin watched his colleague being cut down so swiftly in awe and fear. He gulped when Yor turned to him, her signature daggers gleaming with blood and her eyes glaring menacingly red. He knew he had little hope in surviving should he fight against Garden's Thorn Princess head on, which was why he decided to pacify her.

"Nice to meet you, Thorn Princess," he said calmly, hands raised to prove his unwillingness to fight. "We are agents of Zoa. I did not expect to see—W-wait, hear me out first!"

Yor had no intention to do so. She kicked his arms, which were crossed in defense, and a loud crack of broken bones resounded in the alleyway. The man howled, scrambling backwards to escape her fury.

"Why are you doing this to us?!" the agent of Zoa cried out, barely missing the dagger thrown at his face by a hair's breadth. "We are from Zoa! Don't you understand that interfering with our mission and especially killing Zoa's agents mean war against us?!"

"I. Don't. Care," Yor hissed and lunged. The man screamed once more when one of his legs was cut off. "You hurt my family. My dog. My daughter. And especially my husband!"

"Y-your what?" He stuttered in confusion. But a glance at the man lying still a couple of steps from them shed light on her strange accusation. "You—The Thorn Princess is collaborating with Westalis' Twilight?!"

Yor didn't answer; she chose to decapitate him instead. The chattery man quickly went silent, his headless body collapsing to the ground with a dull thud. Yor exhaled sharply, forcing herself to calm down, because while she wished to torture these scums more, her family came first.

"Anya! Loid!" She called for them and dashed towards where her daughter and her husband were. Her heart pounded fiercely in her chest as dread filled her, upon finding Loid alarmingly still.

"M-Mama, please w-wake Papa up," Anya sobbed uncontrollably, shaking her father's shoulder in a futile attempt to rouse him. "Papa w-won't—Papa—Anya, Anya's s-s-sorry…"

Yor kneeled in front of him and checked his pulse. She let out a shuddering breath in relief.

"...He's alive," she whispered and held his hand on her forehead, squeezing it softly. It was cold, but she could feel his pulse. "He's alive, Anya."

Anya looked up at her, glassy eyes blinking in puzzlement. "B-but why isn't Papa w-waking up, then?"

"Because he's hurt and he has to sleep," Yor explained gently, sliding her arms under his back and knees before lifting him up. He was heavy, but he was nothing compared to the car she had to lift up before. She shifted, careful not to jostle him too much, before turning to her daughter. "We should hurry back home and treat him. Please hug my neck, Anya. You're also hurt and it's faster for me to run."

Anya nodded and obediently did as she was told. Yor straightened up, made her way to a nearby dumpster where the injured Bond was, before urging him to climb on her back.

"Hold on tight," Yor said, before setting off for their home.

.

.

.

Twilight.

She wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but due to the nature of her true job she had at least heard of Westalis' legendary spy. He was a master of disguise and was a man of many talents, which made him perfect for the most difficult undercover operations. His exceptional abilities as well as the amount of intelligence he had gathered in the past decade had made him a target with one of the highest bounties in Ostania.

Twilight was a spy. A man of many faces. An expert liar. Her husband, Loid Forger.

And Yor had suspected that all along.