Hidden Worlds: The Sheltered Princess

Case 1.8 - Hidden Worlds

Nora looked down, smiling at me.

"How's Cassia doing?" I added a few more questions, "Is she safe? Where is she now?"

For a while, Nora did nothing but stayed quiet and looked at me with that calm smile on her face. It felt rather irritating when I knew she could answer every single question I throw at her and yet...

She's not answering me.

"Answer me!" I demanded, trying my best not to plead at her. If I did, she'd end up teasing me and brushing everything off. She had always claimed that I was her assistant. If she was keeping things from me, the possibility of her lying was also there. "Nora."

A few minutes had passed and this was getting somewhat frustrating.

I have to know.

I glared at her as my brows knit together. I reached my arms out to her neck, ready to strangle her in frustration only to stop midway.

Why did I stop? I was ready to strike her.

Then again, why did I get frustrated in the first place?

Normally, the normal me — or me before all of this went down — would just shrug it off when she doesn't want to answer a question I throw at her.

But now, with these questions concerning someone else, was I that self-centered back then?

She didn't flinch. Not one bit.

She looked at my trembling hands then back at my face — instead of reacting, she had this intrigued look on her face.

"It's been a while," finally, Nora spoke, "since you've made such an expression with that face," she added, "a decade or two, perhaps?"

That stopped me. "What?"

"Who is Cassia to you?" Nora asked nonchalantly, direct to the point as she always was. "I see her as the rumored Sheltered Princess, shouldn't you too? Rumors are simple and short-lived lies that people soon forget."

She knew that wasn't the case for me.

"Let me rephrase that," Nora cleared her throat, "what did Cassia do to you?"

What did she do to make me feel again?

What did she do to make me doubt the reality I was in?

No.

"I'm the one asking questions here!" I raised my voice as the temperature of my fingertips flew up, igniting in front of her face.

Nora chuckled, unfazed. "You're still so soft, you couldn't even bring yourself to burn my delicate face." she said without even moving her head back after what I did. She just kept looking down at me as the flames danced around my fingertips, ignoring Nora's face because they couldn't reach her, "Or perhaps, are you scared of what would happen if you challenge me?" she added.

As eager as I was in finding everything out, I was scared.

The sword is always pointed down.

Those who know more and possess more power loom over the meek and passive. The arrogant will be silenced.

Part of me believed that Nora wasn't truly bad; she wasn't good either. More like, she does everything just to keep her amused.

"I guess there's no use leaving you unanswered or for stalling you any longer," Nora sighed. "But yes, to put it frankly, I'm not telling you everything," she answered, but her tone was aloof, "to be specific, I'm not telling you everything you once knew. Well, not yet anyway."