CHAPTER 41: Beatrice

"Rose, if it was not only of the full pack of people, we might have already there by now." The lady said while still continuing on the road.

"But you know, we already had an earliest time from what we had expected to be. We still had a lot of time."

"Right, Rose?"

The lady turned back to check for his companion who was behind her— the one who was supposed behind her.

Flinch.

"Rose?"

"Rose??" She turned around, but no trace of the man.

Unknowingly, the lady, who was panicking in the main street, was visible to Rose from the roof of the building. He intentionally left the lady to observe her more. "What are you going to do now?"

He thought that he will disappear for a moment and came back in a later time. Then, he will make an excuse that he accidentally lost her. With this plan, he was expecting that the true color of the wicked lady that he knew will make its appearance.

The forgivable and lovable lady that he was playing with for the last few weeks will be gone.

Rose?? Rose? She called him repetitively while looking around. "Where is he?"

The lady stopped looking around and continue to walk again, but halted again.

"It seems the lady had given up already." It was too early as he expected from her, but he still felt contradicting. It was a feeling of disappointment that dwelled inside of him. Then, he saw the lady glanced back to their route from the store.

The lady started to run back from the road which they came from, and called him around. "Rose? Rose, where are you?"

"Madam, have you seen a boy with long brown hair and black mask around?" She asked politely with obvious worries on her face. "He had this red crimsoned eyes."

"I am sorry, but I haven't seen anyone like that—"

"Ah is that so, thank you, Madam."

"But if you are talking about crimson eyes, weren't you talking about the young heir of Duke Aland? It was not a common eye—"

"No. His not the young heir. He has this long brown hair. Anyway. Thank you again."

The lady did not stop looking around for him in the market. She continued asking anyone who comes her way. "Why are you acting like this? You should have whining and burning in anger right now. Just what happened to you?"

****-------****

Zeke swiftly jumped to the roof-to-roof to follow her.

The lady went with a suspicious old man. Zeke could not miss the face of the man when he successfully lured the lady to the back alley. It was a very narrowed road that he sought hard to look from above so he decided to follow them on the ground, which made him lost the track. It was like a dark maze, only the shadows of the building walls scattered in the area. No direct light seeping in.

"Just where did they go?"

The situation was changed. It was his time looking for the woman that only a while ago, seeking for him. He admitted that it was due to his recklessness that the lady was in danger. "If the lady really changed for good... If she acted really sincere all this time?"

The memory of her warm smiles flashed on his mind. He bit his lips. "If anything will happen to her..."

"Ah!"

It was a voice from a man. Nevertheless, he followed his own instinct to go that way. And as he went to the left side, he saw the man seething from the pain on his hand.

"You damned bitch!"

After cursing the lady, the man was about to kick her on the ground, whom Beatrice arms instinctively covered her head.

"Damn you!!" Seeing the situation of the lady, a rage of anger filled up his body. He tremendously kicked the man in his stomach.

"Ack."

The man fell down. The lady, who was on the ground trembling, still able to call his name happily. "Rose!"

Zeke approached the middle aged man, who was still lying on the ground, by his kick. The man still boiling in pain. He was crouching on the ground and holding to his abdomen, where he was kicked greatly. Nevertheless, it did not stop him to kick the man again on its side. The man rolled down the ground. It was a heavy kick.

"Ack. Please... please. Enough." The man started to beg for mercy.

"Please. I am sorry." Cough cough.

He stopped, turned around. It was then he approached her who was tossed on the ground. He held her gently and stood her up.

"Rose..." Beatrice' eyes welled up in tears again.

Flinched.

Seeing the lady was about to cry and his dress covered in dust from the ground, his rage of anger went up again. The man, who was beaten up, was still able to stand up. He turned back again to him, and gave him a big upper cut. It was the time that the man was already knocked out.

"Rose..."

The lady called his given name softly. He turned his back to face her. He carefully perused the lady checking any injury, but thankfully, other than the dust on its dress, there was none. Nevertheless, the tears of the lady back then... "It was all my fault."

["I am sorry for being late, My Lady. Do you feel alright?]

His question was not given attention by the lady. Instead, she carefully examined him.

"Thank God!"

"Thank God?"

"Thank goodness. Nothing bad happened to you, Rose. I am very worried when you were gone." She was crying with relief.

"...!?"

"Please don't disappear like that again."

Zeke' irises widened and his heart was covered with mixed inexplicable emotions: guilt, warm, relief, and so forth. "Why are you being like this? You should not have acting this way."

****-------****

The project escapade by Beatrice ended well. Zeke, who already at his estate, wondering and thinking back the days that he was with the lady.

"She changed so much."

Everything, all his plans came to fail. She really did change.

"Rose."

"Thank goodness. Nothing bad happened to you, Rose. I am very worried when you were gone."

"Please don't disappear like that again."

"Beatrice."