31

Margaret, from the future, but now she's in the past:

*****

A swarming of people... in the middle of the road. The road was not concrete and was full of mud.

My eyes flew to Erox before I would go back and cast my glances at the people who were indeed not bluffing, due to how busy they were in their lives. They had no care for anyone as long as they could do what they needed to do in their daily lives.

"Do you know that the princess was almost caught? I heard that news from one of the soldiers' wives. But luckily, she escaped."

"Are you sure? God, I was praying for the safety of the princess. I know that she was innocent. She couldn't kill her parents. For sure, she was just framed by someone. I know the princess personally. She helped our family for many years, so I know that she would not do things like that.”

That was what I heard from the two women gossiping in a very low voice.

I turned around to take a glance at Erox. He shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he didn't want to talk about it. Maybe for now, because there were still a lot of people around us who might hear us.

"I told you I was not lying," Erox said.

I was about to protest again when, all of a sudden, the people panicked and found a place to hide.

Erox grabbed my hand and pulled me somewhere.

"What the heck, Erox, what the hell are you doing?”

He shushed me, then pointed in a direction not far away. So I took a glance at it.

I saw a group of soldiers and a man in front. He had a scar on his face like an X, in his right cheek. Enough to catch attention. He seemed like a scary type of man. A huge man, though I admit he was pretty handsome if it weren't for his face.

"That was an assassin of the palace. I'm sure that he was commanded to search for you. I mean for the princess. And since you look exactly the same, you didn't want to be seen by him. He would surely kill you in an instance."

"Are you scaring me? You really think that I believe you now?"

Erox looked at me in disbelief. Then sighed.

"Okay, if you didn't believe me, come on, I will bring you to him. So we would know if I was telling the truth or not."

Erox grabs my hand. I instantly stopped him. "Damn, I thought that you liked me. Why would you easily do this?"

Erox smiled. "I was just joking, alright. If they kill you, I will be dead too for helping you hide. I think we must go now. We have to hide from them if we want to live longer. Then after that, we could plan our next move."

I follow Erox in silence, though my feet are starting to swell.

"Come, I piggyback you." Erox suddenly said that, then knelt down so I could reach his back.

The longer I stay in this place, the more it sinks into my head that all of this is real. I'm no longer on time. Where everything is easy. I'm at the point where even reaching someone's home would be very hard due to long distances and no car to use.

"I'm sorry that you have to experience all of this stuff. I hope that I can send you back to your world. But I don't have any idea how," Erox said while walking with me on his back.

I wonder because it seems like my weight is not bothering him. I'm pretty sure I'm heavy enough to carry. But for him, my body is just nothing compared to a sack of rice.

Once again, we reach the creepy old house.

Erox asked, "Are you hungry? I think I'm going to cook something for you. But first, I have to leave you for a while to get some food. Yet promise me that you won't go anywhere, okay? Please be safe. You have seen what is outside, right? And I hope you know how dangerous it is for you to just walk around."

I sighed.

"Yes, I know. Though I really don't get why on earth I reached this place, I guess I don't have a choice. If I want to live until I can come back to my world, I have to stay alive.”

Erox taps my head, then gives me a light kiss through my forehead.

"I'm going to go before the night eats the daylight."

"Promise me that you will come back for me, huh?" I said in mistrust, that maybe he was just acting, and at the end, I would be left alone in this place where no single soul I know except him.

"Do you think that I have the guts to leave you?" Erox said.

"I told you that I like you, right? Do you know that I didn't like any girl in my life the way I liked you? Trust me, Margaret, I will come back to you. Why? Because this is the first time I felt at home. With you, I feel at home. So stop thinking negatively and trust me. I'm General Erox Lander, Andrews, and I promise to always come back to you, Margaret.”

I feel my cheeks are now red as a tomato due to the cheesy thing this man in front of me is saying. But I have to calm myself down.

I couldn't believe that I could fall for that kind of word. And to Erox, damn!

But that man is not Erox, as you know. He is a damn hot general in this place. So he's different.

Erox left and left her alone. She sat properly on the wooden chair.

She held her head while thinking about everything. Slowly, all of this stuff sinks in. Yet I still couldn't believe that this kind of thing would happen to her.