?

　　I tried to remain calm, to not panic at the situation I was in right now. The curtains of the carriage were down, and I could not see anything outside, but I had a feeling that wherever the carriage was taking me was definitely not back to the palace.

　　The eye-patched man did not say anything else after mentioning Lady Marie’s name. I was not surprised that she would do something like this since she had already threatened me before, but I did not expect her to be so bold as to take me out in public. She must have been watching me as well, knowing that I came on my own carriage instead of sharing one with the others. I started to wonder what they did to the young coachman who was assigned to me.

　　“You look surprisingly calm.” The man said. I could feel his eye looking down at me, eye lingering at my dress.

　　“I do not see the point of panicking now.”

　　“Haha! Do you not have any sense of urgency, princess? You are particularly letting yourself get kidnapped at this point.”

　　“Is this what it is? And here I thought you were just taking me to see Lady Marie.” I smiled, hand clasped together to hide the fact that I was getting nervous, especially since I could see the man’s weapon on his belt.

　　“I wonder if you are pretending to be stupid or if you actually are.”

　　“I could say the same about you. Do you think you will walk away a free man after conspiring against the future empress?” I raised my eyebrow at him.

　　“Ah, that’s the keyword, isn’t it? Future empress. You are not empress yet or more like you will not get to be empress after Lady Marie is done with you.”

　　“It seems that Lady Marie’s ego is outstandingly high that she would tell her plans to mere lackey.”

　　“Now, now, that’s no need to be mean. You should be more aware of your surroundings, Your Highness—be more aware of the kind of situation you are in.”

　　“Tell me, what kind of situation am I in?”

　　“Alone in a carriage with a stranger.” He grinned. “I heard you were an omega, never been with one before.”

　　I tensed at what he was insinuating. “I will have your head if you even try.”

　　The man laughed as though I had told him a joke. “Lady Marie told me to get you to her in one piece, but she didn’t say I have to keep you in pristine condition.” He said with a sly smile.

　　I could feel my stomach twist at the idea and the way he looked down at me with those lustful eyes made me feel nauseous. Maybe he was right, I was underestimating my position here. The man seemed to be a mercenary, and mercenaries would do anything as long as they got paid. They do not care about morals—about right or wrongs.??

　　He reached his hand out and placed it on my knee. I tensed, staring at his large hand. “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue, princess?”

　　“Let go of me.” I said, trying my best to keep my voice steady.

　　“We still have a lot of time alone together; I think we should get to know each other a little bit better.” He said, voice low as his hand moved up my knee, inching towards my thigh. I reached my hand out to touch his, slowly brushing my fingers on the back of his hand. He grinned. “You changed your mind pretty fast. Maybe it is true what they say about omegas.” He commented.

　　“Hm? What do they say about omegas?” I feigned ignorance as my fingers went to his, feeling his calloused hands while slowly pulling his hand off my leg.

　　He leaned forward from his seat, allowing me to touch his hand, to feel every inch of it. “That they are all whores.” He smiled, reaching his other hand to touch me.

　　I smiled and before he could touch me with his other hand, I pulled his little finger back with all my strength only to hear a crack and a snap. It took the man a moment to realise what just happened but soon he screamed out of agony, pushing me away with his other hand.

　　I looked at him as he cradled his injured hand, watching how his little finger was limp and dangled comically. He let out another strained yell and looked up at me with a furious glare. He lunged at me, but I merely rolled over to dodge him. I know I could not escape him due to us being trapped in a carriage together. He tried to come at me again, standing up with his top slightly hunched due to the confined space of the carriage. He was about to grab me, but the carriage then jerked, causing the man’s head to slam against the roof of the carriage.

　　He cried out in agony, and I took the opportunity to kick his knee which caused him to bend over. “You fucking bitch!” he growled.

　　“Maybe next time you’ll keep your hands to yourself.” I commented.

　　“I’ll fucking kill you!” he said, reaching out for his weapon, that was what I was waiting for. Just as he pulled out his dagger, the carriage jerked again, causing him to stumble back whereas I took the opportunity to move forward towards him.

　　My just movement caught him off guard, but I quickly reached out for the dagger and for a moment we struggled for the weapon, me on top of this large man while he was both trying to fend me off as well as catch his bearings. He was positioned in a rather uncomfortable way after all.

　　Due to my advantageous position, I had to think of a way to make him drop the dagger and the first thought was to hurt his face that was not being blocked. I pulled back my arm, elbow tight as I slammed it into his face. He cried out and I could have sworn I heard a crack.

　　His grip on the dagger loosened and I took it from his grip. I held the dagger by the hilt, about to stab him but I did not realise that due to all our struggling, the carriage came to a complete halt. The door was suddenly pulled open and the man who was leaning against the door stumbled back until half of his top half was dangling out the door while I was straddling him, dagger in my hands, ready to stab him in the chest.

　　But my attention went to the person who opened the carriage door. Andrew Wright’s gaze met mine and it quickly turned into pure shock when he saw the state I was in. He backed away and another figure appeared in front me.

　　“How pitiful of you to get overpowered by an omega, Lanzo. I told you not to underestimate her.” her voice called out.

　　“L-Lady Marie—!” the eye-patched man called out.

　　She ignored him and looked at me, her eyes falling down to the dagger I held. “Now, now, Cordelia, it is not very proper of you to be straddling a man like that.”

　　“You should have taught your dog some manners, Lady Marie.” I spat. I looked down at the man, at Lanzo whose entire demeanour had completely shifted. His nose was clearly broken, finger as well and he was a man twice my size and yet I overpowered him. I wanted to be proud, I wanted to boost and yet I could only think of this as a result of my adrenaline kicking in as well as how my nervousness from being taken like this had changed into pure rage.

　　“Let us be civil about this, shall we?” Lady Marie smiled.

　　“What’s stopping me from slicing his throat and stabbing you next?”

　　“Oh my, how boorish. Did your husbands teach you that?” She made a face.

　　I ignored her. “What are you planning here, Lady Marie? What do you even gain from kidnapping me?”

　　“Is it not obvious? You are going to be a distraction. Heh, now, Cordelia, be nice and drop the dagger. I would not want to use force on such a young, fragile little thing,” She smiled sweetly which turned my stomach just from the sight of it. her smile then faded, immediately replaced by a furious look. “But I will not hesitate to hurt you if you do not cooperate.”