𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

─ 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐈

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

AZALEA WAS ALWAYS TOLD she had issues letting people into her life, just like her mother and just like her father, it ran in the family. Even from a young age, Azalea only trusted her mother and herself out of everyone around her and never let anyone else into her life. According to some of the household staff, after her father had walked away her mother began trusting people less and less and many presumed it would lead to her daughter doing the same thing. Her mother would trust only a select few of the household staff to watch over Azalea and do things for her. It was not meant to be rude or offending, it was just something her mother had grown to do, so naturally, the staff came to accept it.

It was only to be expected that Azalea herself were to inherit flaws as well. The more she matured the more evident they became, and even in her youth, she had begun forming those very flaws. Yet sometimes they proved not to be only negative, they helped protect her and her emotions. If there was no one to hurt her she would not get hurt, it was simple logic and sense. Then again, she lived rather far away from the capital, so there would be no reason to worry about anyone new coming into her life. After all, as far as Azalea and Gabrielle knew, everyone had forgotten that the manor existed out on the far outskirts.

Yet that was clearly not the case, as, at the moment, there in front of Azalea stood two strangers. One of them happened to be a relatively tall man wearing a military uniform and the other an equally as towering male, yet this one seemed to be almost a mere child. They both looked beaten and out of breath, a look of despair and desperation was evident in their eyes. It wasn't long before the silence was interrupted by a distant commotion of noise. The noise sounded as if it were a group of people running towards her.

The more mature looking man glanced back behind him, and almost immediately his shoulders tensed up. His breath became quick, and the panic radiating off the two began seeping its way into Azalea. An overarching sense of danger glossed over the night sky, leaving no time for introductions or proper questions. Hand still grasped tightly around the doorknob, Azalea watched the two men glimpse at one another then at her, and then over their shoulder.

"Miss, please, we only request shelter for the night," The taller man pleaded, emphasizing the word please, his tone was broken and almost sorrowful.

Azalea made eye contact with him, to at least show she heard what he said. The distant noises grew closer and closer every minute that went by, and it was visible how panicked the two men were over this. Perhaps they were running from the capital guards? Were they thieves, criminals, murderers? Azalea knew nothing of these men and therefore had no reason to give them any help, yet a part of her felt as if she owed it to them. They looked so beaten, their shoulders hung low and their eyes showed desperation. A sense of pity fell over Azalea, at the bottom of her heart she knew she had to help them in some way possible.

If they were criminals then they would have most likely already have hurt her or forced their way into her home. However, there was no time to spare, the noises came closer than before and at this point, Azalea could hear faint shouting and curses being thrown into the air. It seemed to be a crowd of people running towards her house. In a blur of thought, Azalea shut the door behind her and glanced at the two men,