I was right...you did seal your powers"the intruder muttered
"Well now you found out letting you live would be my own mistake".She said then swung her blade but it was too late.
He had vanished out of sight.
Mia quickly summoned a tiny flame to lit her bedside candle then she caught a faint wiff of him before he came into view.
Six flamming knives immediately appeared,pointing at his neck before but he faded from sight before they converged on each other.
"You know I can teleport back the way I came but I just want to speak with you".The voice came from her washroom and Mia teleported there but he was gone.
"Then I'll find you and end you"She said.
A soft masculine chuckle erupted from her living room and Mia raced over but there was no one in sight.
She blinked to lock eyes with the same semonio she had seen earlier,the Emperor's Knight.
He stood so close to her their nose were almost touching with his hand slammed into the wall his eyes peering into her eyes before his gaze rested on her oval lips.
"My...my Lord!"Mia stammered,her heart pounding.
For a moment the stare lingered,the Emperor's Knight could hear her heart racing,it was the same when he teased Athena.
Do women's heart beat faster anytime man's body is this close to them.
Mia looked away,averting her gaze.
"My Lord,your proximity to me brings me much discomfort".
"Oh!"Zero took few—not so enough steps backward, to Mia he was still standing too close for a conversation.
Her eyes ran over his soft features and sharp jawline as he stood with his arms hung down his sides,his eyes burning with an eerie desire while they studied her from from head to toe.
What is he?a male prostitute?if there was anything like that...and what was that lustful look.
She cleared her throat before motioning for him to move further away and luckily Zero got her message.
He walked over to her bed and sat quietly on it before crossing his legs.
"How could you tell I sealed my powers?...you must be someone special aren't you"Mia tittled her head as she clicked her tongue"There's something about you I can't just wrap my arms about yet"
Zero grinned widely, exposing a set of sharp fangs.
"Of cos I am special...I am the Emperor's Knight am I not?—"
"Sorcerors are said to have high Mana perceptive abilities —but there is no way you are a sorceror right?".
"I think you should be worried more about your position right now"
Mia raised an inquisitive brow before folding her hands.
"What—are you going to expose me to the emperor?"
"Not if you tell me what's going on...except the Imperial army and Royal Knights the royal palaces don't employ workers with magical abilities...why exactly are you here?"
"I am not a spy or whatnot neither have I any ulterior motive...we saved the emperor's life at polymus and found favour in his sight so he invited us over for a reward...I personally choose to stay back because of the man I loved but unfortunately he was killed before I could make him love me back".
"The man you love?"
Zero's eyes narrowed,his eyes as a strand of hair fell out of place from the bunch falling down the right side of his face.
He didn't know why he felt interested in this man's identity.
"The one previously occupying the position you now hold—Gerald".
"Wait!...you mean you had a one sided attraction for him and remained in Urah just to be with him....yet Gerald loved another instead....the maiden who nursing the imperial crown prince?"
"How did you know?"
"Ju leaked this information to me...when she was shut in the Empress Chamber he was dying to see her everyday...I noticed his absence mindedness so I coaxed his spiritguard into telling me what was wrong".
"Care for tea?"
"I wouldn't mind one without harmful impurities".
Mia nodded before moving over to the only table in the room to pour him a cup of tea.
She walked over to Zero and offered it to him but the Knight's suspicious gaze remained on her face.
"Getsamume tea...Don't worry it's not poisoned"
Zero recieved it,sniffed on it before taking a sip.
"You and Gerald are close?"Mia asked before sitting beside him then take
"Close friends,more like brothers...we grew up together...indeed I am yet to get over his untimely demise".
"Yet to get over his demise yet rather than mourn him,you fight to take over his position not long after his death?"
"Believe me it's not what you think"Zero corrected before clasping the tea cup with both hands.
A moment of silence for what seemed like an eternity crawled into the atmosphere as they stared at each other.
Mia's look had suddenly turned into one of disgust and distrust.
Either she had concluded he was lying about his closeness to Gerald or she was displeased with him for occupying the position he now held shortly after Gerald's demise.
Although they had just met and he wasn't one to disclose details about him to a stranger he felt the need to calm her mood if their conversation was going to go any further.
"Believe me—"
"Believe what?!"Mia snapped, averting her gaze.
"The Emperor orchestrated this.... I got a summon.I was chosen for this position even before I contested for it...A summon is like an imperial decree,refusing was like hanging your own neck down the gallows,an imperial offence deserving of death...but I didn't dare fight and submitted an empty sheet.I was—devastated".
Mia turned towards him,her face had lit up and the look he disliked seeing on her was gone.
"Why would he do that?"
"Alright....the questions end here I will answer further questions on another occasion... perhaps after I am convinced on who you really are".
Mia scoffed.
"Suit yourself".
"Just how much did you love him".
"Very much that I would marry him even if he refuses our union"
Zero let out a soft chuckle,partly concealing his lips with his hand as he did.
He had never been this amused in ages.
It turns out everything about this maiden was interesting and some how, something within him yearned to see more of her.
"And how do you intend to do that?..."
"I would have proposed and even if he rejects my proposal I will have him regardless after I get rid of Carolene,the maiden that stands between us...for only him would my heart darken,I wouldn't mind taking a life...I still loved Gerald dearly even if he never looked at me and although the pay here isn't so bad,since he's gone I would want to go back to polymus...I only remain in Urah to seek revenge on those murderers".
Zero shook his head.
"They had killed the prettiest blonde in the land and ignited the fury of the women who loved him.Indeed Gerald was so goodlooking that every maiden wanted him for herself and Its no surprise that you had fallen for him as well.I can count two maidens out for these guys heads...they just had to mess with the wrong guy"
"I and Carolene?"
"No she would be the third,the second I won't tell—but she's someone you have probably met".
Zero moved closer to Mia then her grabbed her shoulders pulling her close before leaning into her face.
"Don't worry I will take revenge on your behalf and mine...I guarantee it".
His firm voice carried every trace of certainty,as one who knew who his killers and had plans to eliminate them already calculated.
Mia could only stare and hold her breath as she watched the eyes of this dark haired knight peer into hers.
As the candle flickered in the darkness she could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat while his face closed in unto hers,so did memories of the dream she had that night her mind.
The goodlooking unfamiliar black haired knight that had kissed her in her dream.
As his lips drew in and almost met hers,Mia vanished just in time to appear just few paces away and Zero turned in her direction, grazing his lips with his tumb like a that had just missed it's target.
"My Lord I believe this is an unruly hour to be in a maiden's room....forgive my rudeness but I suggest you leave right now".
To her surprise he nodded before backing her.
"Forgive my actions maiden"
"It's Mia—"she corrected.
"Do have a blissful night"he muttered before fading from sight.
What was that just now?
Was he angry because she didn't let him kiss her?who gets angry at that?he just disrespectfully crossed
a boundary,she should be enraged instead.
Mia walked over to her bed,her face twisted into odd contours as her nostrils flared with rage,she picked up her pillow and tossed it at the candle stand, sending it rolling across the floor and beneath the bed.
She made no move to picked them up,just laid there instead her arms and legs stretched out as she stared into the darkness.