Simon groaned, and a throbbing pain shot through the back of his head.
"Why do you keep meddling in my business?!"
"This isn't only about you! Why are you so reckless!"
"I am not!"
"Then why did you follow him here when this is obviously a suspicious place?!"
Simon could not really remember where he was or what he was doing at the moment. All he hears is the muffled exchange of yells coming from a woman and a man. His vision is a blur, but he tries to get the shape of each silhouette and tries to remember where he is at the moment.
"Can't you just be thankful that I saved you?!"
"Save me from what?! I was clearly managing it on my own!"
Tatiana and Bjorn were both so infuriated with each other. Tatiana can't believe that Bjorn appeared out of nowhere and walloped Simon with the back of his sword. He could have chosen a more peaceful approach than violence. Clearly, nothing bad was happening to Tatiana in the first place.
Bjorn was also angry. He immediately ran here with his horse after hearing from a servant about what Simon was planning to do to the princess, and when he didn't see the princess at the orphanage, he frantically looked for her for a short time. He thought that if he was a little bit too late, Tatiana would have already gotten hurt.
"Ow," Simon groaned and touched the back of his head. Tatiana immediately went down to help him get up.
"What are you doing?!" Bjorn bellowed, "he just tried to assassinate you! He should be killed here and now!"
"Why do you want to keep killing people?!" Tatiana asked. "Can't you see he's hurt because of you? And what assassination? Did you see him hurt me?"
"You're hopeless!"
The princess chose to ignore Bjorn and faced Simon, who still looked like he was trying to figure everything else out. The poor guy did not even know how to wield a weapon and yet he was cornered into doing something that he'd regret for the rest of his life.
"Don't do what she says," Tatiana told him. Simon started to realize where they were and remember what happened. He immediately faced the knight that whacked him from behind and unconsciously stepped back. The guy looked like he was ready to do it again but with the sword's blade.
"Simon, do you understand me?" Tatiana repeated, "Don't you ever do that again, do you understand?"
Simon stayed silent.
"It's not too late for you, "Tatiana told him," which made him perk up. "I won't hate you and I will not punish youâheavily. I will handle the situation, but you should promise me never to stoop that low again."
"Why are you doing this? After everything I did? You're going to let go of this easily?"
"I know, right? You should be beheaded by now just for attempting to harm a royalty, let alone the princess," Bjorn agreed.
Simon can't read the princess. He does not understand what she is planning. All he knew from the rumors was that the princess if a cruel woman who did not care for any living being. But why does the girl in front of her do the opposite? What he did is a heavy sin that should not be ignored easily, but how come the princess tells him that she will forgive him?
He couldn't understand. Books and studies never explain this phenomenon.
"Because you're just a human that did not have any choice. But believe me, you do have choices. You were just too stressed out to even think of other solutions. You probably thought that this was the only way, but it isn't."
"Then-then what should I have done? There was nothing else. We were tired of pretending that we were still wealthy like the others thought. My father went bankrupt and I had to become a scholar to support my family. It was the only thing I could do."
"That's why you went to the queen, thinking she would reward you generously for tainting your hands with blood for her?"
Simon did not answer. Tatiana inhaled a deep breath and patted his back as a friend would.
"You're not evil. You don't even know how to hold a knife properly and you had no intention of killing me. I don't understand why you're trying so hard to put up a brave façade when in reality the result is still the same."
Simon sniffled, feeling ashamed of what he did. He knew that things would never work out, even if he tried. He could never hurt anybody, let alone set the orphanage on fire. Everything just weighed heavily on him for the past few months, and surviving in the capital with just scraps is hard to come by.
"Come here," Tatiana pulled Simon in for a hug and patted his back. Bjorn immediately pulled them away from each other.
Tatiana glared at Bjorn and rolled her eyes at him.
"Let's go home, I'm hungry. I probably won't have any appetite once I go back to the palace," Tatiana complained and rubbed her tummy. Bjorn and Simon immediately knew that it was because of the poisoning incident but chose to remain silent about it.
The three of them arrived at the orphanage, where the people waited for them. Mr. and Mrs. Red was there as well as the people from the clinic.
Emma followed Tatiana on their way to the dining hall. "Where have you been? Did something bad happen? Sir Bjorn looked like something terribly bad had happened when he came and looked for you."
"Simon and I went to check out a bookstore, but it was already closed, Bjorn was just overreacting." Tatiana knew that Emma would not let it slide, so she lied.
"Come, sit down," Tatiana pushed Emma down to the chair, "I'm hungry."
Tatiana glanced at Simon, who looked guilty and unsure about coming back to the orphanage, but as soon as he arrived, Nadia, Faye, and Loyd pushed him and made him sit between them while they talked. A smile crept on her face, knowing fully what she did.
She has no plan to make a big deal out of this incident. As punishment, Simon will work at the orphanage for five years, and he will not be allowed to work for others or enter the academy. It is enough punishment for someone who attempted to assassinate a royalty without the cutting of limbs, hands, or beheading, just as Bjorn suggested. The man was too scary for his own good.
She made Bjorn promise to keep it a secret and also warned Simon on their way here. Simon was scared. Of course, Tatiana did not know what they talked about, but Simon left the conversation looking like he'd seen the afterlife.
"What are you going to do about the queen? Report it to your father?" Bjorn secretly whispered to her. She just realized that they were sitting next to each other.
"I will deal with her in my own way."
"Why not just let her be executed? She won't stop with this."
"I can't hurt Elliot," The princess whispered back. "I'll handle this, don't worry."
"I'm not worried," Bjorn snickered and pulled away. Tatiana was annoyed, but she was also hungry so she only rolled her eyes at him.
Bjorn could not understand how the princess still thinks of others' feelings when she is always being targeted for assassination. Eliminating the enemies is the easiest solution, so why is she still making it hard for herself. The princess is indeed crazy and reckless. She always does things that could put her in danger, yet she still chooses to go with it.
It won't be easy to handle the queen. She climbed on top of the ladder after being a lowly noble servant, a concubine, and then the current queen. She is not as naive as the princess could be.
The feast continued on like nothing ever happened. The house was filled with laughter, cheers, and life. Tatiana learned important lessons while she stayed outside the palace, and she became braver than before.
Providing shelter for the children gave her hope that she could do anything if she tried her best despite all the hardships. Even if she originally did not belong in this world, she is starting to take a liking to it. From now on, she will be able to do things that are beyond her imagination.
She will also fully become an adult in a few months. It's weird to be considered an adult at sixteen, but this is how it works in this book. Also, she's only physically fifteen, but she's already nineteen or twenty years old mentally.
Right now, the first thing she needs to do is think of a plan on how to deal with the queen. She needs to keep her in line so that Simon won't get hurt as well as the others like him.
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END