EMBRACE || a violet evergarden fanfic #1

XVIII

In a matter of a few minutes, we were able to stealthily vault over the gates with ease, and thankfully, without alerting any guards during the process. Along with both Dietfried and I trailed two men, and they were foolish enough to trigger one of the silent booby traps hidden under their foot.

"Get down!" Dietfried hissed and whirled around when a slight click broke the silent air. He leapt over and pushed me off my footing. The both of us fell down to one of the large pits the bomb had created.

I could tell the guards were immediately alerted, because soon, there were yells nearby and footsteps. "Stay low," Dietfried ordered under his breath as the footsteps and voices neared the pit we were hiding in.

"こっち!" I heard them call out to one another, "彼らは遠くにいられない!"

I tried to stay as still as possible to avoid any sudden movement that might alert the guards, but as soon as they moved on to another pit, I wanted to jump out and bring them down, however, Dietfried's actions suggested otherwise.

He pressed himself gently against my body, and I furrowed my brows on how we were only inches apart. He cupped my lips with one hand - the other held my sides to prevent my escape.

We stayed like that for a few more minutes, before he finally pushed himself off of me and to my surprise, snarled, "You're reckless. Do you want to get yourself killed so badly?" His cold, lime-colored eyes stared into mine in fury, "What were you thinking?" He snapped, but made sure his voice was no louder than a whisper.

"That was our one chance -" I snapped back.

"Our one chance in giving the Marchioness a heads-up," He interrupted, "I just lost two good men today. I cannot afford to lose more." He said as he brushed off invisible dust from his uniform.

Is that it? He can't afford to lose more of his men for the sake of his brother's life? I thought. I pressed my lips together ; even had second thoughts of trying to bite them off instead, "Coward," I spoke the words without another thought.

Those words caught him off guard. I could tell because I saw the flash of a different expression across his handsome features.

I drew out my blade from my other sheath, and began to climb out of the pit the two of us were huddled up in. "Violet!" He called out after me, but I ignored him completely.

I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled loudly to grasp the attention of the guards who were still checking out the other pits their bombs had created. They immediately whirled around, their expressions first confused, then it felt like a lightbulb had struck them. Realization.

"Get her!" They called out to one another, and gunshots rang the air.

I stole one glance at the crossbow I held in my hands. Forget trying to stay silent. The crossbow won't do any justice anyway, I thought after looking at the guards' heavy armor.

I pulled out my revolver in one hand, and gripped the blade's hilt tightly in my other.

The revolver only fires 7 bullets at a time, I remembered one of my trainings with Gilbert. So if I wish to reload, it would take time, and here there are twice a dozen guards coming towards me yelling their battle cries.

"Get her -" the guard never got to finish his sentence.

A bullet hit him square in the head. Surely I had not fire that. I whirled around to find Dietfried standing behind me, his hand holding his own revolver was hovering mid-air, his brows furrowed as the body fell in a lifeless heap.

"Leave her alone," His cold voice rang the air, barely loud enough - but already sent shivers crawling down the guards' spine. Even I shivered a little. "軍曹 Uenoyama." He greeted the other man standing beside the lifeless corpse as if they had been friends.

The man Dietfried had mentioned had a funny-looking bushy mustache, and a small pair of faded-hazel looking eyes. He looked old enough to have a wife. Possibly a wife and three children.

"Dietfried Bougainvillea," Uenoyama let out a breath. Were they both shocked to find each other here, facing off as enemies? I wondered.

There was a cold, long-lasting silence afterwards.

Then,

"Now!" Dietfried's order rang through the air.