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By the Way, Have You Noticed?
Now, for a change of pace and setting…
It was night, and the alley was even darker. Citrina began to question the man who had a mark on his cheek in the shape of Dion’s fist. She did this while standing in the shadows. Dion had done the same thing to the other man, but he was still unconscious, so he didn’t have to be questioned.
Her target wasn’t tied down at all, but fear or pain had stopped him from moving his legs. He sat hopelessly on his backside as she came up slowly.
“Okay, I think you know what to do. Let’s hear what you have to say,” she said as she put her face close to his.
The man almost squealed when she smiled. He then gave his unconscious partner an angry look. If they had both stayed awake, they could have flipped a coin to decide who would be questioned.
When Dion saw this, he beamed. “You did get lucky, didn’t you?”
“…What?”
“Well, you’re the only one awake, so I can’t beat you until you’re unconscious. If you were both awake, I could use one of you as an example to get the other to talk.” Dion moved closer and spoke in a whisper. “Wouldn’t you rather be the example? I can wait until your friend gets up.”
The man did squeal this time.
“Dion Alaia, could you please be a little less rude?” Citrina gave a warning while still keeping her smile. “If you scare him too much, it will make the tortur – I mean, questioning less effective.”
She said this in the most charming way. It made the man feel as cold as ice. He was so scared that he didn’t know who this girl was. And how did she stay so calm while standing next to this man who seemed like he liked to cut off heads for fun?
People tend to be afraid of things that aren’t normal, and this girl was just that. The way she made him feel was like running into a stunningly beautiful woman at midnight in the middle of a graveyard. It would be great in a bar. At a cemetery, it made people wet their pants. Sadly, he had already lost his chance. If he had thought about how strange it was for a rich girl to be walking around in a dangerous part of town at night, none of this would have happened. Regret can’t be fixed by looking back, though. Now he had to look at a smiling Citrina, whose voice was getting more and more melodious.
“Tell me, you’re not one of those bad people who specializes in human trafficking or kidnapping, right?”
“Uh, no, I’m not—”
“Tehee, it’s fine. There’s no need to act. Lies will only waste time. Yours and mine. I honestly don’t care if you did those things or not right now. I’m a little curious about what you were going to do to Rina, but I’ll make an exception and ignore that,” she said, holding her fingers to her cheek in a cute way.
After that, her smile went away.
“Right now, I’m thinking about how you can be useful to Rina, and you should be thinking about the same thing. Have you thought of anything?”
She looked up at his face while her head was at the same level as his chest. Her big gray eyes that didn’t blink made him gasp.
“I suggest that you think very, very carefully before answering.”
Her smile came back all of a sudden, and she began to talk in a slow, serious way.
“To help you out, let Rina tell you that Prince Echard was in this area not too long ago, and I’m looking for the people he talked to. If you happen to know anything about them…”
“I-I-I don’t—”
“Because I’m so nice, I’ll even warn you again. ‘I don’t know’ is the last thing I want to hear. If you don’t know, you should tell me who does, or I won’t have any reason to be nice to you anymore.”
The man let out a desperate scream as his face turned white, and she smiled even sweeter.
“Well, now is the time to answer. Do you happen to know the people who talked to Prince Echard?” She asked in a way that showed she was enjoying the conversation a lot.
—
“Hmm… A man with an equestrian accent… I wonder if he’s still hiding somewhere nearby,” Citrina murmured after she was done questioning him. “Most likely not… But, just in case…,”
“Sorry to interrupt, but what do you want me to do with these two?” Dion asked, looking down at the two guys tied together at his feet.
“Hmm, interesting question. I’m not a Sunkland noble, so keeping this capital safe is the last thing on my mind. But Bel is here right now, and I don’t want her to get in trouble, so let’s tell some castle guards,” she said, slapping her palm. “Oh, forget that! What’s your deal with Bel? That’s more important. She talks about you so much that you’d think you were best friends or something.”
Dion’s eyebrows went up.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t understand what you’re saying. I know the girl, but that’s about it.”
That made sense based on what Citrina had learned. Also, Dion Alaia wasn’t exactly the type to trust people. Because of who he is and the fact that Bel’s past is a bit of a secret, he would keep an extra close eye on her. He would never be best friends with her.
All of that was circumstantial proof, though, and she didn’t care about that right now. She heard about it from her friend. For Citrina, there couldn’t be any bigger truth. So, anything Dion said that went against what Bel said could only be wrong, no matter how true it sounded. This made her think that the way he was acting now was very strange.
“Oh, you’re going to act like a fool, huh? That can only mean you’re trying to hide something. What is it? Oh no, don’t tell me…!” She gave him a hard look.
“Dion Alaia,” she said. “You’re the kind of person who likes young women, right? You’re after Bel.”
“Bah ha ha. Oh, come on. Twenty is the limit for me,” he said, dismissing her claim. “It’s said that iron sharpens iron, but people also sharpen each other. I’d rather be whetted by a girl made of steel. After all, crossing a dull blade is no fun. If we’re going to dance, let’s do it on the edge of a knife. Sorry to break it to you, but in that way, I don’t see any difference between you, the princess, and the Greenmoon girl. If you want my love, you’ll have to be much tougher.”
“…Are you sure we’re talking about the same thing? Relationships and love? Why do I get the feeling that you want to cut off someone’s head instead?”
“Hey, isn’t it true that love is love? Who cares what blade it’s told through?”
“…You don’t have many friends, do you?” asked Citrina, horrified.
Dion looked at her, then gave a shrug. “Not very many, but probably more than you, little miss Yellowmoon.”
Citrina’s face went totally blank as soon as he said that. She looked at the ground below her. “I don’t care. I have Bel. That’s enough.”
Dion scratched his head strangely because he knew he had brought up a hard subject for the girl.
“Yeah, I mean, I know what you mean. It’s enough to have one soul mate. Friends, on the other hand, are good to have more of. And you don’t have to hurry, so just take your time finding them. Might as well, now that your family isn’t holding you back,” he said, giving her a sideways look before looking away again.
Citrina gave him a look of surprise.
“Dion Alaia, you sneaky man. Were you trying to hide a heart behind that murder-happy persona the whole time?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, and it also beats. I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve, though.”
“Well, maybe sometimes you should. With kids, being honest goes a long way. And it looks like you’re pretty good with them. Are you sure you don’t want to do something like becoming a teacher?” Citrina said in a teasing tone.
He made a face. “No way. Unless you want to kill me through boredom.”
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“You sure? I think it would work out pretty well for you. Even more so if you do it for Her Highness. Being bored doesn’t last long when she’s around.”
He tried to answer her joke, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. He scrunched up his face and shook his head.
—
Also, did anyone notice that he put one girl on his list of young girls who was definitely over twenty, at least on the inside?