Bab 23: THE ARGUMENT

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Who are you blaming? You are the one who provoked me. And now you are blaming me? Don't you think you needed to be taught a lesson so that you never do it again?"

Veronica stated, "I believed in you!"

"Did I tell you to trust me?" Arthur questioned her. "You did everything on your own. You have no right to blame others when you suffer because of your actions."

Veronica remarked, "You are the worst person I've ever met!" Tears were streaming from her eyes. Her eyes were blaming him for everything.

Arthur didn't show any reaction. He lectured her, "Princess, all humans are like this. They will take advantage of the weak people. Didn't you meet a guy who almost raped you? Compared to that, this kiss is nothing. You should be happy that that drunk man only tried to rape you. Humans can do worse than that."

"You are insane. What can be worse than rape?" Veronica argued back.

Arthur calmly told her, "Go, walk on your own. Do whatever you want. You will find out what is scarier than getting raped."

"You are so cruel!" Veronica burst into tears and ran away.

"Tsk!" Arthur clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn't mean to be so harsh on her. But, her tears drove him mad. He covered his eyes and took a deep breath. When he uncovered his eyes, she was long gone. 'Since she wanted to have an adventure, she can do whatever she wants."

Veronica ran for a long time. She only stopped when her legs hurt. She was running blindly without noticing where she was. She looked around and found herself in the woods.

She wiped her tears and inhaled sharply. The greenery and the choir of birds and gnats calmed her down. When she cooled her head, she began to think about their conversation.

"You are the one who provoked me. And now you are blaming me?"

"You did everything on your own. You have no right to blame others when you suffer because of your action."

"They will take advantage of the weak people… Humans can do worse than that."

'…Maybe I was too harsh on him,' she pondered. 'He had helped me so much and I told him I hated him. I'm the worst.' She covered her face and sat on the root of a huge tree.

'But he said there are worse things than rape. What I experienced at that place, how can there be anything worse than this?' Just thinking of that night with the drunk man made her shiver.

Only those who have experienced things like that, can understand the true horror.

'What am I going to do now? The sun is setting. I don't know which way to go to the temple...' she put her chin in between her palms as she wondered in a gloomy mood.

'And, he even k-kissed me…' her face reddened from thinking about that. She touched her lips and reminisced about the unique, passionate sensation she had felt. 'It felt good,' she couldn't help but praise his kissing skill.

Instantly she came back to her senses. 'What am I thinking? I shouldn't think about things like that. A girl should be reserved and proper,' she reprimanded herself. Her random thoughts were cut short by a screech by an unknown bird from somewhere in the woods.

The sky was getting darker. She decided to walk in the direction she came from. As she was walking, she heard some rustling and groan.

'Hmm?' she looked around and saw no one. For some reason, the wind seemed to stop blowing. The leaves weren't moving. There shouldn't be any rustling sound of the leaves.

'Did I hear wrong?' Veronica wondered. Once again, she heard rustling sounds. It came from a different direction this time. She turned around to look for it. Darkness was spread over the woods. Even the birds and animals stopped making sounds as if they were waiting for something sinister. She had goosebumps.

'There shouldn't be any g-ghost around here, right?' she pondered.

At that moment, she heard a low groan.

'That's a human voice. Someone must be in danger.' Veronica quickly headed toward the source of the sound.

"Aahh!"

A painful shriek pierced the forest.

Veronica's heart shuddered in fear. After walking a few steps, she halted. Her eyes widened in shock.

Right before her eyes, she saw a group of people wearing black clothes standing next to a helpless man. Those people were wearing the same clothes like the man who she had followed last night.

They gathered in a circle and the helpless man was lying on the ground. His brown clothes were drenched in blood.

Veronica heard one of those men saying, "There is still time. Are you going to spill everything or die?"

The lying man gasped and replied with hatred, "I'd rather die than speak."

The group of men chuckled upon hearing his answer. Their leader said, "We can arrange that." Saying that he used his sword to pierce through that man's heart.

Veronica covered her mouth. Her emerald pupils were shaking. Last night, she saw a dead body and this night, she saw people killing a pitiful man.

How can be humans so cruel? – that thought came to her mind but there was no answer.

That's when she remembered what Arthur told her, "They will take advantage of the weak people… Humans can do worse than that."

'He was right. People are bad. They do worse than raping women. They kill people.' While thinking, she moved backward and stepped on a dry branch.

Crack!

The sound of the broken branch made a loud noise in the quiet place.

The group of men immediately looked toward the origin of the sound. Their eyes met her.

The men began to talk,

"Is that a… girl?"

"What? You never saw a woman before?"

"What's a girl doing in the forest at this time?"

Their leader said, "No matter what she is doing, it's none of our business. She saw us. We have to finish her off so that she cannot speak of today's event to anyone."

Chills ran down Veronica's spine. From their conversation, she realized that since she saw them killing a man, she wouldn't be spared.

She abruptly turned around and began to run. If she stayed there, she would never be able to see the light of day again.

There was no reason to stand there and get herself killed.

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