HIS PRINCESS | K.TH

Taste of Vodka

AERI

"This— what?"

"I'm fine. That guy came before anything super serious happened, you know." Rin chatters, but all I can see is the huge bruise marking the entire left side of her cheek. "He's really good at fighting. Might make him teach me some—"

Her words slowly fade at my expression.

Those bastards.

I was going to shoot them up in their own beds.

"Whoa, whoa." Rin says, gripping at my sleeve and laughing awkwardly. "I said I'm fine. You're looking a bit too scary there, Aeri."

Then she gives me a playful wink.

"I heard that rich dude was with you in the alley. Did anything happen that I should know about?"

V.

My cheeks burn in a blush. Rin starts hooting, but the reasons are all in the wrong places.

I'd cried. To him, of all people.

I don't know what in the hell had gotten into me then. I'd never shed a single tear in over six years, and just yesterday I had sobbed into his shoulder like I'd been turned back to that foolish thirteen year old girl.

Ridiculous. It was humiliating to even think about it.

"You like him!"

"No, I don't." I hiss, but she doesn't look like she believes me at all as she pokes at my cheek.

"Oh, really? Then why you blushing, Aeri? I've never seen you blush in so long!"

"I'm leaving. Make sure you finish the food."

I can still hear her laughing as I shut the door to her room close. And to think I'd been wondering if I should take her to a hospital with that bruise.

She could laugh just fine, couldn't she?

Now to finish what I'd been keeping in mind since yesterday.

I start from the living room. From there I scour the entire house— from top to bottom, every room, and every door. It takes me longer than I expect, but in the end I find what I'm looking for.

There had been two small cameras. One on the front door, and one on the back.

This was how he had known we had left the house, to go down to the Underground.

I crush both cameras between my fingertips, leaving the pieces scattered in the trash.

_______________________________

V

"Yes, Father."

"I understand."

I shut off the call before he can say anything else. It was his usual— telling me to continue on his company as his only son and heir. To make the legacy last.

What legacy?

His, soaked in blood and the flesh of others?

He had killed Aeri's brother. Killed off the entire class, because they had come up with a product that had been better than his and refused to give him the prototype. He had killed every single student, not leaving a single one behind.

I would make him pay for his sins. But that time wasn't now.

For now I had to wait for him to slip first.