《I Just Want To Live》

Chapter 14

Livio soon took refuge in an empty resting room with a still passed out Gion. The bloody scene he witnessed still shook him, and he needed time to think. He tried alerting the other guards who stood in the shadows to protect the other princes.

And to his dismay, they were out of commission as well. Quentin, Alexis's personal guard, was the only one who evaded from being attacked by the assassins. Fortunately, the other guards were only unconscious and some injured. At least they weren't dead.

According to Quentin, he found many assassins that were out cold and stuffed inside closets, cupboards, and anywhere that had a lock and could fit a body. When Livio heard that, the image Ailana all bloody, wounded, and fighting off the assassins crossed his mind.

Could it be that she alone was the one taking out the assassins? Practically protecting all of them, he wondered.

On que, the door of the room slowly opened, making Livio jump up and tackle the person who came in. But to his surprise, it was Ailana, who dodged his attack.

She's been beaten and battered enough for tonight. She would really appreciate it if she didn't need to take another blow. Thank you very much.

"A-Ailana?" Livio stuttered, seeing her walk in, slightly swaying left and right, and sat on the sofa opposite of where Gion was laying. What's more, her dress was clean. No cuts, no teared fabric, and especially no blood.

"I think that was the last of them..."

And from there, she began recanting how her night went. From how Gion almost became the first body to drop to her altercation with the first assassin to protecting Alexis and the prince and princesses all night and everything that came later.

As for why her dress is clean, well, she brought a spare just in case and changed after making sure there were no more assassins. At least she thinks there aren't any anymore.

"You're saying that you're the one who's been running around fighting the assassins?" Livio asked in disbelief, to which she only nodded tiredly. Fighting off assassins the entire night drained her.

Although she had a tolerance to poison, the poison in her system that came from their weapons still had an effect on her body. She knew it would flush out eventually. Until then, however, she's going to be in constant pain for a while.

"So not only was Gion targeted, but the other princes as well?"

"Yeah. That's why I'm so roughed up tonight. I don't know what they wish to achieve with their death, but I wasn't about to let bodies start dropping either."

"But you took them out alone? How is that even possible?"

"...Livio, I'll let you in on a secret." Ailana began, her silver eyes locked in on his. He could tell that she was tired. Yet there was something else to it. Not just physical exhaustion, but a mental one as well.

"For a majority of my life, I didn't know the vice principal was my father. The same goes for him. We only found out about each other's existence over a year ago. My mother died when I was eight, and in between all that, my childhood was neither happy nor easy. And that's all I'm going to tell you."

"....I understand." Was his answer. He could only imagine the life she led that caused her to develop such high and strong combat skills as well as a tolerance to poison. Even he wasn't that skilled.

"And Livio?"

"Hm."

"Can you keep what I did tonight a secret?... Even from Gion? I don't want them to look at me differently." Ailana pleaded with a bittersweet smile. He understood where she came from. She alone took down what could be a small army of assassins tonight. Many would think of her as dangerous and end up fearing her. He considered accepting her request, even if it meant keeping it from Gion. But there was something he needed to ask first.