Voyage Of The Villainess

A narration of a young man's with a husky voice resounded.

["Twelve years ago, the newly seated emperor of Hacien started his conquest to unite the whole continent into one nation under his rule. Chaos fell down within lands. Kingdom after kingdom fell under the clutches of the empire. Like the blazing sun high above the skies, the empire stood firm unwavering. No one could defeat the empire and those who went against them only met their doom."]

["War rages on until only last two kingdoms that remained firm, were the Gendever and Zolas or known both as Ge-Zo countries."] 

The story went on about how the battle between the kingdoms occurred. Malaya wanted to yawn but stopped herself when she saw how Dorris was attentively listening to it.  'It seems Dorris is also having a great time. She is really a little sister, I need to look out for.' Malaya returned her gaze to the stage.

["But in the end, these lands were only left with thousands of bodies of soldiers, small villages got afflicted and ended up in its ruin."]

["In the desolate land that served as a witness to the deaths of thousands of soldiers, one could see a man kept crawling." ]

['It can't end like this.' The man said.]

[His body was pierced with multiple arrows. Five on his back, two on his right thigh, and one on his left leg. How could he still be alive despite that condition, it must be his sheer determination to reach what he was aiming to reach.] 

['I could still hold it.' He kept crawling and crawling. His hazel eyes were already hazy but it was only fixated on one thing.]

["Al-most there..." He croaked. But just an inch to his goal, his body wouldn't move anymore. 'I'll raise the proud flag of the Gendever...' His hand kept stretching but in the end, it fall down, "...once again."]

["A-re a-re, the proud general of the Gendever has reduced to this state."]

[The man heard a voice of a woman. But he couldn't move or raise his head anymore. Even his vision was all hazy and blurry.]

["The Empire is really cruel for having this excellent general end up like this. Don't worry, you are lucky that I see you here."]

[All the man could hear was gibberish but he couldn't care less now. This was now his end. His eyes became much heavier, with all the force he still have, he tried to raise his head to take one last glance at the thing he desperately wanted to reach. The lime flag with four white four-pointed stars, that had a burn on its edges. The flag of his own kingdom he swore his life to protect but failed in the end.]

["And that's where the new real terror begins. The fallen general had been cursed and said to become a demon. In the middle of the night, he hunted down people and eats their flesh like a ferocious wild beast. He broke down every last bit of the bone of his victim to suck out their blood.]

The last puppet that appeared was that of a tall dark puppet with a black horse. Then surrounding it were puppets with ruined body parts showing red-colored cotton inside.

[It is said that he was doing this to be more powerful enough to overturn the empire. Everyone should be extra careful when one venture on the streets during the night to not fall victim to him. But if it happened you were outside in the night and heard a hoof sound of a horse approaching then it was too late for you to escape now. For the fallen general has arrived."] The curtain closed and the people gave a lot of round of applause.

'Ah...That went quite the horror in the end.' Malaya turned towards Dorris to see how she was doing. But to her surprise instead of seeing a happy or frightened face, it was different.

"Dorris, are you alright?" Dorris was clutching her head as if she was in pain. "Dorris!" Malaya shook Dorris' shoulder's a little.

"Ah! Milady!" Dorris yelped as if she just awoke to her trance right now. "What's with that look on your face?" She looked puzzled at Malaya. 

"You look like, you're having some sort of headache."

"Ah! That Milady!" Dorris chuckled. "I was just trying to comprehend the show." 

Malaya released a deep sigh. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Dorris nodded her head firmly. "Let's go now to that shop!" She pulled Malaya again with great enthusiasm to a certain jewelry store.

"Young Ladies! Welcome!" An old woman said with a gentle smile on her face greeted them.

"Is it alright if we take a look?" Dorris asked.

"Of course. Take your time young ladies." The old woman replied. Dorris started to look among the accessories that were displayed.  While Malaya just observed. It's not that she needed accessories anyway when in fact she already had plenty of those.

"Grandma, I would take five of these!" Dorris grinned as she pointed bracelet that was all similarly blue and there were two blue gemstones attached to it. 

"Oh, what a great choice, young lady." The old woman started to wrap the chain bracelets. 

"Wait, don't wrap the other one. Milady..." Dorris turned towards Malaya. "This one is for you." 

Surprised, by Dorris' gestures, Malaya replied back with a smile. "Thank you, Dorris." She accepted the chain bracelet and wore it to her left wrist. 'Hmm...it would be too bad if I'm the only one who will receive a gift." Malaya turned towards the old woman. "I'll also want to buy this," she said as she picked a silver hair clip with tiny beads formed into a white flower attached to it.

"Please accept this as well," Malaya said as she handed Dorris the hairclip.

"Milady, you don't have..."

"I insist," Malaya gently put the hair clip to Dorris. "Now you look like a chocolate cake with an icing." 

"Milady!" Dorris pouted.

"Kidding.' Malaya burst out laughing. "Let's go back now, or we don't want to get caught by that fallen general." 

Malaya and Dorris paid for the items they bought. After a few strolling around, the two returned back to the inn before the sun completely set off. Tired with their strolling today, after dinner and cleaning themselves, both of them instantly fall asleep with their smile on their faces.

And this was exactly what Rein saw as soon as he reappeared in their room. He just sighed when he saw how the place was messy. The bedsheets were in disarray due to the sleeping position of the two.

He fixed their positions and placed the mantle to them so they won't get cold. 

"It seems both of you have a fun day." He took a seat on the nearby chair. "While me," a frown formed to his tired face as well. " I have nothing to do but work, work and work." 

"Hah. It can't be helped since I accept this job." Rein stood up and went out of the room of the two. "The preparations are all done now but I got the feeling that tomorrow will be a new tiring day for me."

When Rein entered his room, a glittering accessory caught his line of sight. As he walked closer to it, it was a blue chain bracelet and a silver pocket watch. There was a letter on it. 'To Rein. Thank you for your hard work.'

"Those two, seriously." Unbeknownst to him, a smile escape his lips as he touched the two items..  " I should rest as well while I'll still can."