Still mine - Your little secret II

XVI - "Safe"

Y/N's POV

"He's acting like a goddamn prick, what did I do to him?" I cursed to myself as I walked through the jungles of Sumeru with no trace of human existence. "Damn it, I can't do this anymore." I felt something inside me collapse, my chest contracted and the wound on my leg gaped, the stitches were open.

I broke down under the pain that weighed on me both externally and internally. Tears streamed down my face and I doubled over, wailing in pain. He had left me alone, he tricked and betrayed me. I've never been hurt as badly by a man as by Ajax, maybe that's because he didn't let other men get close to me. He manipulated me all along.

As much as I wanted to hate him, I couldn't. He was the only one who was there for me in these 6 years, my father was missing and my mother never had time. It drove me crazy that he had to betray me like that.
I should hate him, was he the one who killed my mother? No, he would never do such a thing right?

Whether he would ever change? Surely there will be deaths here in Sumeru too if he doesn't contain his jealousy.

"Hey are you ok?" I startled and held out the blade of my sword to the person who pulled me out of my thoughts. "Woah, slow down before you hurt anyone else around here." He climbed down from the log he was sitting on and slowly pushed my sword aside.

A young man, not much taller than me, with black hair about shoulder length. "I heard you cry and the smell of blood is in the air..." His large fox ears cocked slightly and he held out his hand to me, but when I hesitated to take his hand, he introduced himself. "I'm forest watcher Tighnari."

"Y/N." I deliberately only introduced myself by my first name, I was afraid that I was wanted for murder here too. "Very delighted." He said when I decided to take his hand.

Tighnari carefully helped me to get up and sat me on the trunk whereupon he knelt in front of me and looked at me with wide eyes. "May I?" After I nodded, he carefully pulled my long black dress up to the wound and looked at me in shock. "Did you sew it up yourself?"

"I had no other choice, after that I forgot to let someone professional look over it." He sighed and rose. "I may have to take you to sumeru city. How did you get here in the first place?"

I scratched the back of my neck, laughing nervously. "You could say that I've been abandoned." I stood up and gritted my teeth tightly as a searing pain shot through my leg. "Caution!" Tighnari held me up and sighed again. "A little while ago a Snezhnayan carriage drove through Gandharva Village. Tell me, do you have something to do with the royal family?"

He didn't get an answer from me to this question, so he pinched his nose. "It's alright, if you don't want to talk, I understand. Please wait here a moment I'll be right back." He smiled warmly as if he really wanted to help me. I haven't seen that for a long time. Nodding, I sat back down on the log and patiently awaited Tighnari's return.

After a while he came back with a big round creature, I think this animal was called Sumpter Beast. A saddle was stretched on it's back, the young forest watcher waved to me with a grin.

"Here I thought maybe this is easier." I was convinced to give this young man a little trust and smiled at him gratefully as he helped me onto the animal. "Thank you Tighnari."

He smiled softly and led the Sumpter Beast to Gandharva Village. "Tell me, that collar you wear..." I swallowed. "I don't want to be prying and I don't care what you've done, but you are no vision bearer, so why would such a collar be necessary?"

"What makes you think that?" I found myself getting nervous, dangling from my hip was a vision-like gemstone, it looked exactly like a cryo vision except it wasn't glowing. "That pebble on your hip isn't real. Normal people would never realise." he murmured in a slightly mocking tone. "I wear it as an adornment so as not to draw attention. And how do you know what that dollar is?" I folded my arms and hissed, not wanting to talk about it any further.

"Well well sorry Y/N, but here that dollar gets used pretty much too." He smiled shyly at me, probably the situation made him a little uncomfortable because I was a bit snappy. A short time later we reached the village where I was immediately treated professionally by a girl named Collei. The wound was stitched up by Tighnari, however.

"Thank you for taking me in." I whispered, dizzy from the unbearable pain I felt during the treatment. "Of course, now rest." Tighnari gently stroked my hair as he waited for me to close my eyes and fall asleep peacefully.