My Only Person

Lilium and Chrysanthemum

(The above-used image does not belong to me. The credit goes to the rightful owner.)

*Trigger warning. Contains death description.

My book has a lot of scenes of abuse and death and although, I have never put trigger warnings before, I would like to start doing it from this chapter onwards. Let me know how I can improve it.

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Clarissa's POV

My target is getting close to the King and working faithfully by his side to extract information. I plot many ways but my target strayed from my sight every time I thought it was achievable. Yes, I was disappointed because it was taking time and time is what I am short of right now, however, I continued to gamble on proxies to reach my target.

I am sure the words I spoke to the King yesterday must still be on his mind and before too long, he will call me in and either keep me close or remove me from the pack with some fake evidence. When I made that request of being the princess's guard, I knew what kind of risk I was exposing myself to.

I continued to carry out my duties as usual. I escorted Lady Isabella to the dining room and stood at the corner with the captain. We acknowledged each other before going back to protecting our 'targets'.

For a moment, my gaze flickered from Lady Isabella to Princess Angelique and just as everyone informed me, she looked absolutely fine. I shifted my gaze to Lady Isabella and never looked back at the princess again as she smiled and talked merrily with her father while eating her favourite dessert.

Days went by and I was busy setting-up the analytics team. Thankfully, the Royal Delta knew what he was doing so the establishment of the building, equipment, and personnel finished in no time.

One afternoon I was walking back from a training session when I involuntarily stopped by the garden upon seeing a small hunched back in the field. Without smelling or looking at the face I could tell out who it was. For a moment, my heart tightened thinking she might be crying again, but when her side profile came into view, I noticed there were no tears, so I decided to go back on my way, however, a loud voice halted me.

I looked back at the princess who called out to me. "Commander Madam!"

I stood blank in the same spot while she made her way towards me after confirming I had stopped. This might be the first time she had asked for me first and was approaching me willingly.

As she came closer, I noticed mud and grass sticking onto the end of her skirt, her shoes soiled, and leaves and flower petals dangling through her dishevelled hair. When she stopped before me, she grinned. I tilted my head as I plainly looked at her unblemished smile which stood out amongst her dirty cheeks. It seemed as if she had smudged mud on her face just like chocolate cream from the banquet.

She kept looking up at me with her sincere smile and twinkling eyes as if she wanted to tell me something. It made me recall the last time when I held her as she cried from these very eyes until they had become red and swollen. At that time, she wanted me to go away, but now that I was walking away, she stopped me.

Curious, I got onto my knees so that I can be of the same height as her. I removed a handkerchief from my coat and requested while gesturing towards her face, "Do you mind?"

She blushed, embarrassed, and her eyes casted down before nodding wordlessly. My face remained emotionless but those actions pulled a string at my heart.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

I wiped her face carefully before removing the petals from her hair which she didn't know were there in the first place. Then I tried to save her skirt and shoes as much as I could, but she held my arm with her left hand and said sheepishly, "Stop, please."