#f!hero

In a body much too numb to be her own, the hero watched her mother rush toward her, face pale, clutching her housecoat tight to her frame.

“Oh, sweetie.” First a touch to the livid bruise on her cheek, and then another to the wound on her shoulder, her arm. “What h—”

“Dad sent in more reinforcements than I expected tonight.” A wince as her mother attended to her shoulder injury, with antiseptic and Band-Aid she couldn’t recall her fetching. Must be the concussion. “It took me a little longer than usual to fend them all off.”

Meaning: she’d absolutely gotten her ass handed to her. It was a miracle the mask hadn’t torn off, exposing her identity to her father—otherwise known as the city’s most infamous villain.

Although, there was a moment when—

“I can’t take this.”

The hero looked up. Her mother’s eyes had gone glassy, hands suspended halfway through dressing up her once-bloodied arm.

“You know I can’t take watching the both of you go at it like this. I can barely handle deceiving your father every d—”

The antagonist and the protagonist, waltzing.

Not really-

____________

The protagonist flicks her dark fan with a white dove chain dangling on the edge. Her eyes observes the antagonist's move while he talks with different ladies on the other side of the ballroom. She cannot believe that her very own rival who tried to kill her yesterday was here, enjoying the party with an annoying smirk dancing dangerously on their red lips.

They are in the middle of the enormous banquet. The king hosted it after the birth of the new crown prince of the empire, and they are sure that some houses are already planning to choose who to support. Since there are currently two princes at this moment and the other one is a son of the concubine. She speculates the houses against the king would support the concubine's child and use them for their own malicious goal.

They embedded the throne in gold like the golden hair of the king and the crown prince. Tables covered the hall, and they gathered musicians on the side of the throne. The musicians are playing their hearts out, and beautiful melodies rang to their ears. Soft and nothing is off-pitch like you always expect from musician prodigies.

She stepped forward to the servant, her silky white dress flowing behind her back as she gave them a gorgeous smile. Her eyes switch between the glass of liquid and her rival, who is talking to a lady. Her heart clenches as she watches them laughing, his smile never leaving his lips, then she grasps the lady’s hand and kisses it. Is it okay if she says she wants to slap that woman in the face right now, and take his hand?

Oh, she doesn't love him. She hates him. Of course, her hatred is the source of fire inside her. Was it a lie?

She strolled to the nearest table and puts her elbow to it and holds her chin. There is no way she’ll just observe him like he is an entity of the god. Probably, if she puts her mind into it, but for now. Too impossible.

A beautiful woman who swooned every man in the country with her own beauty is what the people of this country call her. Yet she can’t even swoon at the only man who wants to kill her. Instead of kidnapping her and locking her behind a cottage in the woods, never showing her beauty to the world. The antagonist wants her dead, and drips of blood leave her lifeless body as he relishes every moment of her left anguish towards him. He doesn’t want her or her body, but he yearns for her screams of help and pleads to stop.

Such a sadistic behind a pretty face. The protagonist grabs a glass of champagne, the bubbly water burning her throat as she takes a sip. Still looking at the antagonist with hatred in her shimmering diamond eyes, behind that diamond is hot fuelling fury yet to be extinguished. She flinches and wanders her eyes to a random person when he glances in her direction.

And she saw the Duke of House Pentagon stroking their curvy and well-kept mustache and bit their lips, trying to seduce her. For god’s sake, there are many people to look at in this enormous ballroom, but her eyes betray her and glances at the worst man possible. The duke excuses himself to the people talking around him, and he walked to where she is. She must be paranoid. He can’t be planning to talk to her, right?

Her feet stepped backward while she tries to think of potential routes to escape this encounter. A hand touches her shoulder, and a sturdy structure or perhaps body met her back. She turned her head and saw him.

“Need my help?” he asked, and his dark pupils met her glowing ones. She nods without even thinking about anything as a new song plays. A smirk curled up on his lips and the duke stared at them with a disgusted expression on his face. He turned with a sound of a huff, making the antagonist puff out a low laugh from what he witnessed. She narrowed her eyes and pushed him, not enough to make him stumble to the floor, which she’ll be glad about.

“Not a thank you, princess?” the antagonist sneered. If someone could pay her a treasure of gold to punch him in front of this crowd, then she’ll not hesitate and do it. That annoying smile on his face is enough for her to feel rage erupt from her chest. When will that smirk even go away? Such a bastard.

“No, thanks,” she replied, but it surprised her after he offered his hand to her for a dance. Reject him, reject him, is what she wants to do. But the crowd staring at her with those dark eyes pressures her to take his hand and let him take her in the middle of the banquet for a dance. By this time, all she wants is to be swallowed deep in the ground because there is nothing to fight for if her own pride is shattered merely in his hands.

They curtsy, and he guided her hands to his shoulder, then grabs her waist gently. The waltz started playing as they began dancing to the music. The desperation to step on his foot was high enough that she could compare it to the tree behind their backyard. Please trip, please trip, is what she is whispering in her mind while he gave him a smile. Is that a way of saying, ‘that’ll never happen?’.

“Darling, don’t look at me like that. Is this perhaps your grudge from yesterday?” the antagonist said, leaning near to her ears. Every woman would faint if a handsome person did this to them. However, this gorgeous and angel-looking guy tried to kill her yesterday, so no thanks.

“Perhaps,” he twirled her and snatched her waist to his grasp. Not letting her far away and be stolen by another man in this routine. Her dress flows with her curves and her hair dances in the air. Giving the both of them an alluring image from the audience, yet they don’t know that these two are spitting fire to each other. Like dragons playing on fire.

“Still cannot accept that your daddy wants you dead?”

“You are lying,”

“I fail none of my mission, so take this like I am helping…” he paused, a hint of amusement twinkled in his eyes after she stepped on his foot with eyes glaring daggers at him. “Darling, you see everyone in this room is dying tonight…”

“So?”

“The reason? Because your cool daddy wants your head. Really selfish, don’t you think?” he gripped her shoulder, both of them stopped dancing while the audience stares at them, confused.

“Be a good girl and grab the knife in my breast pocket…” Screams echoed in the air as people falls one by one. The once peaceful ceremony was now in total commotion as he whispered in her ears, “Kill him, and all of this will be over.”

“How can I trust you?” she raises her eyebrow as she takes out the knife from his pocket. She throws it in the air and catches it in the holder, the tip of the knife pointed near his neck.

If her crush noticed, he didn’t say anything as he brushed past her. She reddened with mixed emotions.