1Cedric Richard Hoffman was a man with pride, and he refused live behind prison bars for all his life. His solution, of course, was to force his way out.
His plan was to steal the mage ring and reach the bookstore. He'd figure out the details later. For now, he had to get to the bookstore while the guardians were still unaware.
But something happened. Something that wasn't in his plans happened.
Her name was Rebecca Rudolph.
-o0o-
About a month ago, the Rudolphs acquired valuable property: a corner lot. People expected them to refurbish a building and manage an honorable, distinguishable business, but much to the elite community's surprise, the boring bookstore reopened.
Rebecca Rudolph, its manager, was frowned upon for many reasons. Her reputation among the elite was that she was a stupid daughter who chose to chase after her silly dreams - a weak heiress to the Rudolphs' fortune. The Rudolphs usually avoided speaking of her. Fortunately for her, Raymond Fieldestein was a kind, talented man who knew how to manage success, and they were quickly engaged. It was a hot topic for days on ends, and everyone tried to follow the couple's story.
No one bothered to read into Rebecca's eyes. No one realized how her feelings for her fiancé didn't exist, or how she so wanted to say no, but couldn't.
And then, she had her fateful encounter with Lord Cedric.
-o0o-
The winter approached its end. Spring was almost on the horizon when Lord Cedric managed to trick one of the newer guards into releasing him. The plan was simple enough: pretend to be very ill. Sick prisoners would be allowed out of prison to spend time in the sick bay, as to prevent the spread of diseases. Besides, the current Queen was kind and forgiving.
It was also easy to take advantage of her and her benefits.
Which he just did. The moment the magical prison bars were down, Cedric attacked the guards. All they could do was cling onto their weapons and yell for mercy. What meatbags. They failed to raise the alarm, and now their bodies lay on the floor. Their skills were simply inadequate - typical of the Elyon regime.
Cedric slithered away, ignoring his former comrades' pleas. Phobos was a vain fool who would seize control and power the moment he had the opportunity to do so. Miranda was useless weight and her skills were of little value to him. And Frost… Frost was simply stupid. They would only slow him down.
Without any of them, he found his way to the treasury, grabbed the ring, and made his way back to the rock ball called Earth. He expected the bookshop to be in shambles, but he would find a way to move around without getting detected.
Except that the bookshop was very much in one whole piece, and that it was now owned by a completely different person other than himself.
His gaze fell on her golden eyes. How did a human being acquire such beautiful eyes?
"Yes?" she said.
"…I'm Ce… Rick. Rick Hoffman."
She walked towards him. "Yes, Mr. Hoffman?" Now that she was closer, Cedric saw her eyes to be amber. She immediately averted her gaze.
"Who would you be?" he asked. "I'm the owner of this bookstore."
"…my parents own this lot now. I'm the manager."
Cedric grit his teeth. "I've no time for your tricks. Get out."
"I cannot." She shifted. "We legally own this place. We have papers."
"This is my place. How had I not been informed of this?"
"…that is something I cannot answer. I apologize."
Cedric raised his hand to hit her, but another person - a customer - came in. He immediately excused himself and hid himself behind the farthest shelves.
He still had the keys.
He still had his wits.
He could get her to hand him the place.
-o0o-
Among the people that Rebecca Rudolph expected to meet in her quaint little bookstore, it was not a man claiming to be its previous owner.
He did look the part. Rick Hoffman, however beautiful his face was, dressed like a man who hated interacting with people, and acted like one. She watched him retreat to the bookshelves.
"Who was that?"
Rebecca turned around. "Hello, Isabel." Seeing Isabel always made her smile. "I don't know, either."
"He looks familiar. I wonder if I've seen him."
"Maybe you did."
"So. Do you have my books?"
"Yes. They just arrived. Please wait."
Rebecca left her desk and went down the basement. For several weeks, the place had been in shambles, its owner nowhere in sight. The government was about to seize the property and the businessmen were bidding on it, but schools protested in favor of the bookstore.
Rebecca's parents thought it would be good publicity to buy it and teach her about business at the same time. Like a good daughter, she smiled and said Yes, I will do it, Father, and now she was here, managing a business that didn't sell like hotcakes, but wasn't all that bad either. She got to see her friends, and she got a few more months of freedom.
"So care to tell me what you're doing?"
But it seemed like her days from now on would be annoying.
"Business," Rebecca answered Mr. Hoffman and knelt before a box in search of the reserved books.
"Well, speaking of business, I'd like to take it back."
"What?"
"So take what belongs to you and run along… and if you happen to know about five certain girls, I'd suggest that you avoid them. They are nothing but trouble."
Rebecca turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "How would I know about that?"
"I don't owe you any explanation whatsoever, woman."
SLAP! This was it. Rebecca had to let him know. He was being rude, and he was in no position to ridicule or belittle her.
"You think that hurt?" He had the nerve to laugh, even while holding his bruised cheek.
Annoyed even further, Rebecca grabbed a chair and flailed it at Mr. Hoffman. He shrieked as he dodged. What a pathetic mouse.
He grinned at her, and she knew that horrible grin. It was the sneer that men gave her when they looked down upon her for anything, whether it was her reputation, her interests, or even her femininity. 'You don't scare me!' the sneer said.
Rebecca hurled a spare table towards the insolent man, and he ran up the stairs. She very much hoped he would never come again. Rebecca Rudolph was not some doormat.
-o0o-
Lord Cedric ran away from a human who had no powers or ability to fight against a full-grown naga shapeshifter.
How pathetic.
He ought to be more careful, to never back down from a fight. He still had to take his bookstore and his glory back. He was not some nobody Lord; he was a shapeshifter, a smart, educated man of esteemed lineage. He was a descendant of one of the founding lords alongside King Escanor.
And he ran.
No. He was simply conserving time and energy. He did not need to play with some human who acquired his bookshop so easily. He can still regain everything he lost.
"And you would be?"
One of which is important alliances. Cedric grinned and held out a hand. "Rick Hoffman. The real owner of this bookstore."
The woman opposite him nodded unenthusiastically and took his hand. "I see that you met our Rebecca."
"'Our' Rebecca?" Cedric glanced back at the basement door.
"Rebecca Rudolph, daughter of the high-class Rudolphs." Hm? "I'm Isabel Pilgrim, a friend of hers. We both work for the school paper."
Cedric frowned. "What would a person like her do in a place like this?"
"Personal reasons." Isabel shrugged. "But I don't want to talk about her. I want to talk about you."
Cedric always had a story of his human alias at hand, but he's more interested in the story of his enemies. Isabel seemed like a good ally. "Sure. But you have to tell me all about the Rudolphs in return. All of it."
She smirked. "Vengeance, huh?"
"It makes for a great dessert." Cedric smiled wickedly. "Especially if I return to my meal eaten in my stead."
"Well, I suppose it's just fair." Isabel reached into her bag.
Then another voice chimed in. "Isabel?"
The basement door opened. Isabel shoved something into Cedric's hands and pushed him out the bookstore. Rude!
But, he had the manners to examine his new possession. A calling card, so humans called it. The numbers and titles mattered little to Cedric, all he needed was an address.
Cedric smirked and pocketed it. He would swiftly solve this. He was only against humans, anyway.
-o0o-
That was how they met.
Lord Cedric went his way to bide his time and let Rebecca Rudolph cool her head off.
As for Rebecca, she continued her daily business, wishing for no more nuisances like Mr. Hoffman.
-o0o-
Night came. As she prepared to sleep on her makeshift bed of a couch, Rebecca found Rick Hoffman striding inside as if he owned the place.
"So, do I take it that you live here, too?" he asked with his annoying smirk.
"Yes?" Rebecca grimaced. She was only in her nightgown and a bathrobe, and this man was invading her privacy and time. "I don't know why that's important to you. Get out."
"I heard your parents are rich. High class." He cocked his head. "So what are you doing here?"
"Get out!" She threw a heavy book at his face, but he caught it.
"Don't you even know," Mr. Hoffman skipped towards a blank wall, "How to access my sleeping quarters?"
T-the second floor!
Rebecca gasped as he pressed against a loose brick and the wall slid to reveal a staircase. So maybe he proved himself.
"See?" He grinned. He was still annoying.
Determined to wipe that grin off his face, Rebecca reached for hid face and squeezed his cheeks as hard as she could.
"Ooouuurrrch!"
"Fiend!" Now that his guard was down, she dragged him by his collar and tossed him outside. "Don't ever come back here!"
Mr. Hoffman was such a cocky, rude man, and he was definitely banned from this place.
The morning after, Rebecca made sure to lock the bookstore properly. She had classes today. Her work for the day should allow her to be back in about 8 or 9 hours.
…
Cedric considered it a minor setback.
It had been easy to steal someone else's sleeping quarters for the night, but it was more challenging to reacquire his own.
But, no matter. Rebecca Rudolph left, and it was time for him to take it back - his hideout, and his power.
He immediately unlocked his bookshop - fortunately enough, the lock was unchanged and his key still fit. Upon entering, he inspected every crook and cranny to rid everything of her trace.
Funnily enough, she hadn't moved much. His secret compartments and doors, all intact. Save for the front desk, the couch, and a small section in the basement, it was as if he'd never left. The atmosphere was all the same.
He grinned. He acquired it so easily. Humans were so gullible.
Cedric thought of contacting Isabel again, to get rid of her. He no longer needed someone like her.
Speaking of disposals, Rebecca Rudolph also needed to disappear. She was his biggest threat besides the guardians. She knew about his existence; she saw him cower away. Having her around would only dishonor his reputation.
Cedric kept the bookstore closed, casted a spell over the locks, and boiled tea as he browsed through his magical books. He was crafty enough to smuggle his precious selection of readings into the human world.
As he read through the pages, golden eyes came to mind. Yes. He would not have to deal with them again.
-o0o-
"LET ME IN!"
The first thing Rebecca Rudolph wanted to know was how Rick Hoffman managed to get inside her bookstore before she did and even change the locks. The nerve of this man! He sneered at her, mocking her behind the windows.
"LET ME IN, YOU BASTARD!"
Rebecca wanted to call the police very badly, but she did not need help. She could do this. She could do this by herself. She could do this by herself!
Frustrated, she began to punch against the glass. His eyes widened. Hah! That scared him, didn't it? Didn't it? She punched again. Again. And again.
It stung. Something was hurting. So what? That arrogant man was frozen in shock, wasn't he? Wasn't he?!
CRASH!
Her fist broke through, and she fell onto him, her legs tripping. Now, now… he had nowhere to go. He lay below her. She grabbed him by his collar.
"Bastard!" she growled. "Get out… get out of here!"
"…no."
The nerve of this man! Shrieking, Rebecca punched him. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right…
He still held his defiant stare. Why? Why did he persist?!
"Leave… you idiot… leave…"
"No…"
…
Lord Cedric did not expect any of tonight's events.
Rebecca Rudolph came back, punched the glass window open, and began punching him. And now, she was crying on his shoulder while (softly) beating his chest.
She was full of surprises. She confused him. She was an even more complicated human than any of the guardians. She did not possess inhuman strength or any magic.
Strangely enough, she piqued his interest.
He needed her cooperation to make his grand plans work. She was too stubborn, too defiant, even if she was weak right now. If he killed her off, she'd simply rise back from the dead. If he folded her to another planet, she'd find her way back to Heatherfield.
…Lord Cedric, terrified of a single human being far weaker and tactless than the rebel leader or his passling ally.
No. He was simply making a wager and adjusting all his plans. She would be his spy, his frontliner. He could not let her control him. She could keep the bookshop, but she had to do something for him.
"I wish to make a deal," he finally said.
She didn't respond.
"Miss Rudolph. A deal. You get to keep the bookstore."
She continued to whimper in his arms.
"…get up."
Nothing.
"Rebecca Rudolph, get off me."
Nothing.
"…REBECCA!"
He grabbed her ridiculous tear-strained face as he rolled them over. She yelped. Now, that was a reaction. "W-why don't you just leave?!" Her golden eyes, ever so defiant.
Cedric sighed. "That is why I am proposing a fair deal between the two of us. You get to keep the bookstore; I get to keep my living quarters at the very least. I only have my keys and my old documents—" Forged documents. "—to prove the fact that I was its former owner, and no money to my name. Please."
"…I just want you to leave…"
"Why?"
"…please leave…"
Now, it was getting ridiculous. He had to make her stop crying, somehow.
He stood. "Fine. See? I'm about to leave. I'm going upstairs, and I will close the passage so neither of us has to interact with each other."
She looked away from him. Cedric turned around - but he had to take one last look.
Rebecca Rudolph lay on the floor, crying. Her fists were bloodied, skin cut with glass. The window was shattered, and pale dusk light fell upon her.
Beautiful. Poetic. She was broken.
And it tugged at him. Guilt. He was feeling some sort of guilt, a desire to take responsibility and clean it up.
Cedric scowled. This was very uncharacteristic of him.
But he hoisted Rebecca Rudolph into his arms and carried her upstairs. He cleaned her wounds with magic, and he placed a glamour on the broken pane.
He had no idea why he agreed to this, but now, that meant she was his accomplice.
He just had to make her agree.
…
Rebecca lay on a large, soft bed.
She was weak, and she had unveiled her facade before Mr. Hoffman. How pathetic.
She refused to watch him treat her. She didn't need treatment; she needed him to leave.
Why did she always have to be the loser? Why did she always had to get the shorter end of the stick?
Rebecca sobbed. She wished she hadn't met this man.
"…Rebecca. It's dinnertime. Would soup be preferable?"
She glanced at him through her tears. What did it matter? She already lost.
"Listen. I don't understand you. Talk. Don't you want something from me?!"
She did. But it was futile. Her attempts at getting him to leave through diplomacy had been thwarted.
"…alright. You're not satisfied with the deal, aren't you? Well. You can sleep here. You can move your own possessions and keep them somewhere on this floor. Just let me stay here as I please."
No. She wanted him out of the building and out of her life.
And he shrieked. Hissed. Roared.
She was sure he was simply trying to terrify her. The worse thing was that something more terrifying would arrive soon.
And she hated it. She truly abhorred it.
-o0o-
That was how they made enemies of each other.
They fought over the bookstore, and they were not going to rid of each other.
They clashed.
-o0o-
What else could he do but compromise?
Lord Cedric was lucky to remain uncaught, but he had no assurance it would be that way. He had no time, either, to continuously play tug-of-war with Rebecca Rudolph.
And she liked to ruin a lot his plans.
He noticed that the classics that usually lined the storefront were moved to the back, and that the romance novels that he so hated were moved from the farthest shelves to the very front. Clearly, it would not do, and it offended him to know that these trashy nonsense stories were being patronized.
"It sells?" Rebecca explained. So what? "Besides, I like romance." Oh, joy.
"You're terrible. The classics are called classic for the reason that they are timeless," he argued, "Hence, they deserve to be on the front, and you will put them on the front."
"No." The nerve of this woman. "They don't sell."
"Or perhaps, your boring and tactless self drives my customers away."
"Your customers?"
"My customers. My store."
And he got slapped for that.
"Typical Rebecca."
Cedric met with Isabel Pilgrim simply for this. Sabotaging Rebecca Rudolph's reputation would eventually amount to him gaining back his store. But, what infuriates him even more was how Isabel simply laughed at everything, even when they were meeting rather dangerously in the café just across the bookstore.
"I don't care if it's typical of her. She's rude, she doesn't listen to me at all, and she dares offend me by putting out those trashy romance novels ahead of the timeless classics!"
"So you want her to stop doing that?"
"Preferably." Cedric groaned. "…but now that I think of it, that wouldn't be Rebecca Rudolph now, right?"
Isabel nodded. "Ever asked yourself why she does that?"
"…right, she likes romance novels. How could the literary genius Rick Hoffman forget that?"
"Uh-huh." Isabel pushed her notes towards him. "And why would literary genius Rick Hoffman only ever speak about Rebecca Rudolph, when he came here to the cafe near my office to talk about himself?"
Cedric winced at the sight of the notes. The page was mostly blank, even if he'd been talking for the past hour or so.
"I won't tell Rebecca about this, cross my heart, but could you oh-so-kindly set your feud aside and tell me what I want to know?"
Why did Cedric think Isabel would be an ally, again? Yes. It was time to cut off ties with her. "I've told you everything there is to know."
"And that doesn't include how you feel about Rebecca." What? "You're… fond of her. In a bad way."
"I'm enemies with her and I have to speak of her in great horrible detail, if that's what you mean."
"True. But you're still very fond of her. She… piques your interest, doesn't she?"
Cedric leaned forward. Isabel's grin was very mischievous and knowing. "Do you mean to tell me she's crazier than how I already see her?"
"Yep."
"That sounds utterly terrible."
"And utterly hilarious." Isabel sipped from her cup. "I think you should get to know her more."
This was bogus.
-o0o-
"I think you should annoy him more."
"I should, but I don't know how."
Rebecca sighed. Rick Hoffman loved to torture her, but she hadn't been able to get back at him.
"Read him romance novels at night," Isabel suggested, "Force him to watch romance movies. Anything romance-related."
"Why?"
"I thought that would help."
"…I don't think it would work."
"It will. Trust me a little more, alright?"
"No, it's not that! It's just…"
"You can't let him beat you, right?"
Rebecca nodded. Right. She had to get back at him. She had to try, even if it sounded ridiculous.
So, with a few movies in hand and an excited smile, she begged Rick Hoffman to let her watch on his unused television set. The man didn't even know how to operate it, and yet he protested against having her use it.
"We're… neighbors. Housemates, even." Rebecca hoped she sounded convincing. "We should do things like this more often."
"You're scowling, you know." Oops.
"S-so what?"
"You have an ulterior motive!"
"So do you, don't you?!"
They lunged for each other, but Rebecca was determined to take her own pride back. They wrestled on the floor for a moment, but hah, she was the stronger, more experienced fighter. With Rick Hoffman groaning on the floor and his arms in her hold, she declared, "I win!"
He gave her a disgusted head shake. "ONE. I'll only go through one of these things, but you have to let me go afterwards."
Rebecca grinned. One of them lasted for two hours thirty.
Then, Rick Hoffman already fell asleep one hour into the movie.
Now what?
With him so defenseless and so deep in slumber, Rebecca leaned closer to inspect his Caucasian features. Pity, she wouldn't be able to look at his eyes, but she hated looking at eyes, anyway. His eyelashes were long and thin. His cheekbones prominent and big, what sturdy cheekbones. They frame his cute nose rather nicely. Though tempted to trace her finger along his soft-looking lips, she reached for his hair instead.
Surprising for a man to grow his hair to such a length, but she didn't find it odd. Long hair suited a man like him. She wondered how he kept it healthy despite its length and the amount of stress he dealt with. She found herself comparing her own shoulder-length hair to his.
She didn't mind the difference.
What she did mind was that this handsome man was so horrible.
"Horrible, horrible man you are…"
Rebecca turned to the TV and turned everything off. She placed her blanket over Rick's body and proceeded to his bedroom. Ugh. It reeked of his cologne.
-o0o-
When Cedric awoke, he had been fighting nightmares and he thought he woke up in one. He had fallen asleep on the couch with a rather gentle-smelling, pink frilly blanket. Luckily, it was just the lounge of his living quarters.
But this blanket was Rebecca's.
…what?
Confused, he opened every room to find her. All he found was a note in his bedroom. 'You fell asleep on the couch. I went to sleep on your bed.'
She was such a peculiar being. Cedric thought she'd tell Earth authorities, but she was surprisingly very calm about the matter. Had she no sense of danger? Did she not know that he could take advantage of her at any time he pleased? No, she knew, but she was dealing with him in her own pace.
He liked this challenge. Rebecca Rudolph was someone who needed neither magic nor outside help to take him on. A human who, by simply being herself, could face Lord Cedric in battle. True, this wasn't a duel in a battlefield, but this was one of his favorite battles - mind games.
He had to admit: she amused him.
He no longer wished to get rid of her, but instead, he wished to observe her. She was an anomaly in the human world, one not like the others. It wasn't just the way she refused to look at people in the eye, or how she'd keep punching things when she was so frustrated, or how she'd insist on calling his bookstore hers. It was something else, something akin to the glow of her amber eyes the first and last time he looked into them.
The case of Rebecca Rudolph.
He still had to know about her family, and how she came here. There were only two people to ask, and only one of them answered.
And speaking of counting people, he had to be conspicuous. None of the guardians should learn he was here.
He should give both Isabel and Rebecca a talk.
It was always easy to exchange information with Isabel. Call her and she'd be in the nearby café in a flash.
"What can I do? News attract me and I attract news."
"Yes. About that." Cedric grinned. "I will now talk about myself."
"Sure. As long as they're not Rebecca-related."
So he spun his tale.
It was different from the ones he'd told before, even the one he told Elyon. It was truer to his own story. In this tale, he was a businessman hiding from his enemies who wanted him dead, and he had unfinished business in Heatherfield, which was why he came back.
"So you risk yourself coming back here." Isabel nodded as she wrote a great deal on her notes. "Why do you insist on acquiring the bookstore back from the Rudolphs? A smart man like yourself would've wanted to disappear in, say, bigger cities like Midgale."
"I left my precious possessions in my bookstore."
"Can't you just ask Rebecca politely?"
"I cannot trust her with this information."
"But with a nobody journalist, you can?"
"Tch." Cedric clicked his tongue. "Exactly. Nobody will believe everything you say."
"That's another way to put it, I guess?"
"Listen." Cedric lowered his voice to a whisper. "No one can know Rick Hoffman is back in Heatherfield, got it? I get you your story, but you get it on my terms."
"Sure thing…"
Isabel didn't sound convinced.
She was like Rebecca, except boring and not so persistent. Cedric thought he could really get rid of Isabel Pilgrim.
"But what about this? I get to mention your bookstore and your name, but you get Rebecca's story?"
Cedric furrowed his brow. What a tempting offer.
-o0o-
Rebecca sat very still, as she was expected to. Today was not a day to play around; it was a day to meet with her parents. Again.
She disliked it. Things like these remind her of her role and her worth, or rather, the lack of her worth.
She hated weakness.
"The Master shall be here shortly," announced the chauffeur. The wait suffocated her.
There were only two things they would call her presence over - fulfilling her role and making appearances, or when she'd done something to tarnish their reputation. She hoped that it wasn't the latter. Rebecca played with her pen. Hoping, hoping.
And then, footsteps. They belonged to only one person - her father. She swallowed.
"Rebecca," came his stern voice.
She stood from her seat and bowed. Her eyes kept to the floor, kept on the spot her father's shoes rested. Be a good daughter, Rebecca, don't upset your parents, who work so hard to give you a good life.
"So what is this frivolousness I hear of?" he asked. She didn't need to raise her head; she knew why he was here. "Some man you're hitting it off with."
It wasn't my fault.
"There are no pictures of you together, but there are pictures of him."
Photographs flied about and landed on the floor. Rick Hoffman. His face wasn't visible in any of the pictures as far as she could tell. Why? Why were people following her and her private life?
"Mind telling me who this is, Rebecca? Mind telling me why I have to receive these pictures from an acquaintance?"
"…he claims to be the previous owner of this bookstore." Rebecca could feel the lump in her throat forming.
"And that is why, my dear, we tell you to let go of this worthless antique bookstore." Her father sighed. "It's a bad investment, just like your journalism major. I don't see the worth of such things in a fast and modern world where we have to uphold our honor. There is no money in either of those fields. How will you survive?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Don't forget. You only have three months left of this foolishness; be thankful for your mother's mercy. Once you finish this year of journalism, you will leave it, and you will leave your school. Next year, you will enter a business major in my alma mater."
Rebecca's heart sank.
"Of course, don't forget: your engagement is about to be fulfilled. In one month, Mr. Fieldestein will return from his tour to focus on your prenuptial preparations. Two months after that is your marriage. Understood?"
Rebecca nodded and smiled, like a good daughter did. "Yes."
"Good."
All good. At the least, it was only a warning. She was still safe, but this was precisely why she needed to kick Rick Hoffman out of the bookstore. She didn't need any threat to her last remaining days of freedom.
-o0o-
Cedric entered an alleyway and double-folded back to his living quarters.
How many times did he see, heard of, read of this story before? Oh, right. Phobos. He too had a similar life, did he not?
Lord Cedric had not expected that his archnemesis lived such a sad life, and he hated it. He gained an edge against someone like Rebecca, even if unfairly, but he hated it. She, out of all people on Earth, had no right to be so sad. He had to have dreamed up that conversation with Isabel.
He lay on his bed. If he left, it would give Rebecca some very much needed peace, Isabel said.
…bah! Why did he even care for his archnemesis? Who was she, anyway? He reached for his magic books. He had guardians to defeat on his own. Yes.
…he had been drawn to her because he, admittedly, was lonely. The reverse was same for her. They were doing nothing but licking each other's wounds. Disgusting.
He needed to move. There should be somewhere else he could plan in peace.
Cedric packed his books and what other few trinkets and possessions he had. If he stayed, he'd only turn insane.
As he prepared to leave, Rebecca arrived.
Silence.
Tension.
"Finally." "Be grateful."
They both wished for this.
Cedric passed by her.
"Bastard."
"Bitch."
She grabbed him and then—
POW!
"OUCH!"
"Serves you just right!"
Rebecca had punched him right on the nose.
"Fuck you!" He lunged for her.
"Fuck you too!"
They wrestled. Grabbed and tossed and punched and kicked. They crashed into tables and chairs. Everything hurt and everything was a blur, but Rebecca. The tigress. She wanted a fight, she'd get it. Bloody, bruised, and with fierce eyes that sparked golden.
"Fuck you and everything you stand for!" she yelled.
Lord Cedric, however, always had that one trick up his sleeve that Rebecca didn't.
He roared and he grew in size. The spark in her eyes was swallowed by his shadow. She backed against the wall.
"Sssscared now?" he asked, rearing before her with a smirk. His real form was such a sight before her, wasn't it?
"No," so she said, but she had swallowed. "I… I can still fight!"
"I'd like to sssee you try!"
Try she did, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. She kicked about, but her strength had waned.
He laughed, triumphant. "I'd like to go now, Missss Rudolph."
Sobbing. Squeaking.
Fuck. He hadn't meant for this.
"Y-you know what?!" she growled through her tears, "I just had a nice idea! It'll be good… good for you and me! Just, just perfect, you know what?!"
"Stop crying!"
"Just kill me already! Kill me, k-kill me, so that, so that I could be free! For, for life! I would be free! Forever!"
Cedric shifted back to his real form and let her go. "You're stronger than this!"
"No! No I'm not!" She slid down the floor.
"You are! Stop crying, you pathetic fuck!"
"I'm weak, you monster! I'm just a weakling and I can't do anything about it! I, I wasn't born a normal child, and I didn't grow up a normal child! I'm the weird bitch! The pretentious fucker with the disease that doesn't exist!"
Isabel hadn't told him everything.
"Just… just kill me… I can't stand this anymore."
Cedric massaged his temples. He hated this nemesis of his, and he could never understand her, no matter how much he tried. What now?
He waited for her to get up. She didn't. He sighed and took her into his arms.
"Kill me," she whimpered, but he wasn't going to give her the pleasure of death.
Instead, he lay her onto his bed. If his former allies would see him, his reputation would forever be tarnished.
"Why?" Rebecca cried. Damn, he was tired of hearing her sob.
"I'm not human," Cedric said, "I'm a naga shapeshifter. Part man, part snake."
She grimaced. "Why…"
"Anyway, I come from Meridian, and if it's your delight to know, I've been branded as a criminal."
She turned away from him. Cedric rolled his eyes and continued anyways.
-o0o-
That was how they learned of each other's stories, stories that will continue to revolve around their heads.
-o0o-
Rebecca woke from a fantastical dream in a medieval world filled with magic. Rick's story had to be some trick. It was too good to be true—no. He knocked her out in their fist fight and left her in his bed. No, this was no longer his bed, but hers.
Groggy and aching all over, she forced herself to get off and get her day started. She just didn't expect to see a green scaly tail to slither by as she walked about Rick Hoffman's living quarters…
Alarmed, she took a vase next to her and prepared to kill the trespassing snake.
"Rebecca Rudolph, only daughter of the Rudolphsss."
Wait. That voice, it couldn't be. Rebecca held the vase higher. She was so going to kill this snake, alright!
"Just so you know, you're the only non-magical being from Earth to be granted full awareness that I am not human at all."
She followed the tail. Fucker. He'd get it, for sure. She'll deck him and she'll throw him out for good.
When she reached him in a reading room of sort, he was sprawled about, reading an ornate-looking manuscript. He lazily gazed at her and turned back to his readings.
"Put that down. You're ridiculousss."
"Stop dragging out your s's, you dick."
"…it's Cedric."
"…what?"
"My name. It's Cedric. I am Lord Cedric."
The nerve of this man! Rebecca threw the vase at him, but he merely tossed it aside. But, finally, she had his full attention. The first victory of the day.
"You look like shit," he said.
"And you don't." Rebecca placed her hands on her hips. "You're so unfair."
"Snakes don't bruise, darling."
"Don't call me that."
"Why? Don't your favorite novels and shows do the same? The man, talking so sweetly to his beloved?"
"Stop."
"…listen, I learned about you from your friend."
Rebecca froze. Why? Why was she betrayed?
"Don't cry!"
She merely stood still as Rick — ugh, no, Cedric — turned back to his human self and wrapped his arms around her. "…a lot…a lot's—"
"Breathe."
She couldn't.
"Breathe with me."
In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.
She calmed.
It must've been a solid five minutes or so before she realized she owed him gratitude. Embarrassing.
"Continuing, I learned about you from your friend. It's unfair, so I told you my own story on my own."
The wild story about an evil prince, a scheming mage, and five amazing girls who could do everything she couldn't… so it wasn't a dream at all. Rebecca scowled. "I wish you just left me alone."
"Do you want me to go?"
Rebecca stared at him. She hated, hated, hated admitting weakness.
-o0o-
"…no."
This victory did not feel great for Lord Cedric. "In that case, we suffer together. You and I… we're the same."
"We're not."
"We hate each other. But we don't want to leave each other."
"We do."
"I wonder why." Now that he thought of it, he was more at peace, and yet, rather shaken by her presence. "You don't terrify me at all, but I reckon you could kill me any time you want."
"…I feel the same." Rebecca squirmed in his arms. "Now let me go. I'm good now."
"No more of your favorite male lovers' hugs?"
Had he not moved away, she would've hit him. "Stop comparing yourselves to any of them."
"Oh, so you do wish to have a romance like that?"
She sighed. "If it pleases you to know," she said, "I haven't been in love at all."
"Good for you." Cedric frowned. "I've been, and if it so, so pleases you to know, they're both failed romances." Ones he walked away from when he saw there was nothing for him in the relationship.
"I can see why."
"Neither of them were like you."
He didn't mean to say it like that, but it was said and done. He watched Rebecca's face flush, her eyes widened and her pupils gleaming golden. To be fair, she was rather lovely. Her hair was a beautiful black and its volume against her shoulder made it look so darned soft, soft like… like a cat's fur. Her lips full, her nose long and small at the tip. Her body was light in his arms, but she was probably fit - else, how would she be physically able to keep up with him in a fist fight?
She shoved a hand to his face. "S-stop looking at me."
He clasped her hand. "I can look at you whenever I damn please."
"I hate people's eyes."
"…well fine, if you're not looking, I'll look whenever I damn please."
"Fuck you."
"Back to you."
An unfamiliar, electronic sound beeped. Rebecca's hand slipped away from his fingers and she hastily left.
What a peculiar woman.
But before she could go downstairs, she returned. "Thanks to you I look horrible and now I can't face any customer."
"Then stay here and patch yourself up. I'll deal with the bookstore."
"No. People are suspecting me of having an affair behind my fiance's back."
"…then come here and I'll help you patch yourself up."
"Why should I trust you?"
Because you have no one else, thought Cedric as he reached for the medical kit.
"I don't need your help," so she insisted, but he knew better. He was the one who gave her these injuries; he too had the right to help them heal.
"I hate you."
"The feeling is mutual."
As he was applying some healing balm on her lip, an idea came to mind. She mentioned never falling in love before.
"What if," he said, "what if I give you your first kiss?"
Her cheeks glowed again. "Bastard."
"You haven't had any fulfilling relationships, I suppose. Lucky for you, you met me."
"…fuck you. Do what you want."
Cedric raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless, he leaned in.
"Wait, I change my mind!"
Just as expected. She wouldn't go down with a fight.
-o0o-
Rebecca turned her head away. What was she thinking?! And right after her talk with her father…
But, thankfully, Cedric didn't follow up on it. He returned to his task wordlessly.
"…I somehow remember fighting with you before, and yet, you didn't need to do this." Rebecca pouted.
"Well, if I keep using my magic, I'll exhaust myself."
This snake. "Fuck you."
"Heh."
Even so, Rebecca had to admit that his touch was firm and spread fire on her skin. No, it was only because she didn't have someone to touch and be touched by on a regular basis like the other girls in love. She wasn't even in love.
"What's your favorite romantic story?" Cedric asked her with an unexpectedly soft voice.
"Romeo and Juliet," she answered.
"Shakespeare, huh?"
"No. Just that one." Rebecca bit her lip and tasted bitter salve. "Juliet found that she could make a choice, but her father didn't like her choice." Like me.
"Did you wish it ended differently?"
Absolutely. "It would be nice if it did."
"Juliet escapes with her beau as planned."
"Yes."
"But what about the adults?"
"…they don't follow. Nobody follows them, because they would realize they were foolish."
"Hmmm." Cedric tucked her hair behind her ear. Don't read into it, don't read into it… "A fantastical story to imagine, don't you think?"
"I won't ever reach that kind of happy ending, but I like to think that I would still have a happy ending, even if by a different convention."
"Something better than ending up dead, huh?"
"…no, something better than living as a walking corpse with no mind of her own." The doorbell rang again. People were getting impatient. "I better get downstairs."
Rebecca hated herself for ever daring to expect something out of Cedric. He had to end up as a memory of her frivolous youth, back when she was allowed to have silly dreams! And, besides, he didn't really like her; the same goes the other way. He was a horrible, horrible man.
She was relieved to know that it was simply the delivery man. She made an excuse of being in the bathroom as she signed on the papers. She grabbed the package immediately and closed the bookstore again.
Another gift from Raymond. Another dress she wouldn't be able to wear, at all.
She immediately brought the box down to the basement to join its 30 something other companions. Rebecca wished this would stop; similarly, she wished Cedric would stop playing around her, too.
It was obvious that they only wanted to be around each other because they were the same amounts of lonely, confused, and discontent. Yes, it was time to admit it. She was lonely, and she liked having Cedric around. It was her, sneering at her parents, challenging the world to try and take her will from her. His existence in her bookshop proved it. He was an anomaly that worked with her and against her. She hated that second part.
She still needed to talk to Isabel. Rebecca didn't understand her friend sometimes.
Too tired to process more thoughts, Rebecca kept the bookstore closed for the day.
-o0o-
Then, while Cedric was poking around the basement for (hopefully) more of his magic books, he stumbled about 40 boxes of dresses. 'From your cherished Raymond,' it was signed.
Ah, yes. Rebecca Rudolph was rich and engaged. Right. He wondered; she could afford servants, guards… bodyguards, and yet he saw no sign of them around her.
"I better ask," he decided as he went through the boxes, admiring the beauty and quality of the fabrics. Cedric now longed to be back in Meridian and wear his best robes and tunics.
A silly thought formed in his mind when he found an exquisitely blue dress. He lifted it and examined its shape and form - loose. Free sizing.
Churning down the shame, he took his shirt off and put the dress on.
He admired it. Though the hem ended way too shortly above his knees, it fit rather nicely.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Cedric turned around to find a very confused Rebecca gazing at him. "Before you assume anything, I'm bisexual, and I wear whatever I want."
"…as far I can tell, I'm gray-sexual."
"What does that mean?"
"Asexual, but willing to be intimate with people I have a deep relationship with."
"You humans come up with such complicated terms and meanings to give names to everything." Cedric approached her. "So how do I look?"
"Nice, I guess." She 'guesses?' "I don't wear them at all, so I don't really mind." Rebecca shrugged. "You're very weird for an escaped convict."
"But you don't report me to authorities."
"Because nobody will believe Rebecca Rudolph's words."
He snorts. "What is with this society's fascination about Rebecca Rudolph?"
"They treat me like Cassandra of Troy." Cassandra, who refused to let a god defile her purity, hence she was punished by having people not believe anything she said. "I thought of speaking falsehoods, but Father preferred I rather not speak at all."
Cedric nodded. Another idea came to mind. "Tomorrow night," he said, "Let me take you somewhere."
Rebecca tipped her head. Cute. "…where?" She resembled a cat. Adorable.
"I'll let your friend choose."
She frowned. "Isabel will only push me towards clubs and parties and I hate it."
"I assume because of the noise."
"And the people staring at me." Right. She hated eyes. "And the lights. They make me feel dizzy."
"Then we'll simply walk around Heatherfield with your friends."
"And the people?"
"You don't come with me as Rebecca Rudolph." Cedric smiled. "Just like I'm not coming as either Lord Cedric or Rick Hoffman."
Rebecca eyed him from head to toe to head. She was now staring at him, rather willingly. She smiled. "You're coming with me as a woman?"
"A very tall one." Cedric didn't mind. It was a necessary shame to take if he didn't want to be caught. Besides, he needed to see if the guardians were still actively looking for him. "So, come with me as someone else."
She smiled - for the first time since he came here, he reckoned - and nodded. "I'll think about that."
-o0o-
"I think he asked me out."
In the middle of their lunch break, Rebecca watched Isabel's brow raise.
"Isn't that great?"
"No."
"You tell me so with a big stupid grin on your face." Isabel chuckled. "So what didn't you two do? You punched each other - did he even apologize?"
"…not yet…"
"Rude! Anyway, you punched each other, you had verbal arguments, you opened up to each other, you almost kissed each other…"
"We're not dating." As much as Rebecca was more or less pleased with the turn of events, she had a harsh reality to face. "But he wanted to ask your opinion on where to take me. I didn't like it, so he said we'll just go around Heatherfield."
"Alright. What if the team goes with you?"
Rebecca pursed her lips. "With Josh, Majid, and you? That… actually, that's good."
"You can count on us."
"Can I count on you to…" Rebecca shook her head. "Can you do me a huge favor, since you shared my story without my consent last time?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"I need a different identity. Cedric isn't coming as himself."
"Then as who? 'Rick'?"
"No, as a woman."
Isabel nodded. "Your boyfriend is a weird man."
Rebecca felt cold air on her arms. "D-don't call him that."
"So what kind of identity are you going at?"
"I'm not sure yet."
"Wanna try wearing a tube top?"
"That's a little too extreme, isn't it?"
"You also get to wear a leather jacket and leather gloves."
Rebecca laughed. "…that sounds… rebellious."
"Just perfect for a rebel like you."
"Hey!"
She's never dared to do anything like this. What if someone recognizes her? What if her father sees her? And, why was she planning to do such things with an alien, magical ex-criminal? This was the most bizarre thing Rebecca Rudolph could do.
"So, are you going to commit for tonight?" Isabel asked.
"I think…" Rebecca stood corrected. Her palms and soles went cold and sweaty. Her heart beat. She grinned. "Yes. Yes! I want to."
Rebellious Rebecca. She liked the sound of that. No wonder her partner would be a criminal.
She and the team planned. Not tonight, for Cedric had not been informed, but tomorrow night. Isabel would help Cedric lead the group around. Majid would take pictures and document the thing. Josh was the lookout.
Rebecca fiddled about on the search engine for outfit ideas. She would wear a red tube top and denims. And boots. And the jacket and the gloves. Silver accessories.
"So what's about this guy again?" asked Josh, "And why is he crossdressing?"
"He found Rebecca's unused dresses, apparently," answered Isabel.
"Maybe we should take Becca shopping for her own dresses," Majid suggested. "What do you say, Becca?"
As much as Rebecca liked it, people might say things. "…only when the need arises."
"If you had bodyguards, this would never happen, right?" Josh said.
"Yeah…" Rebecca bit her lip.
Isabel piped, "Bodyguards for Rebecca Rudolph? Who needs incompetent, money-hungry, untrustworthy bodyguards to look out for our dear Becca when we have ourselves?"
Everyone laughed.
"Until someone like Mr. Grumpy Bookkeep—" Majid turned towards Rebecca. "Would swoop in to whisk you away."
"Hey!" Rebecca pouted and blushed.
"But think about it. There had been no one before for you. Not even Josh."
"Man, get over that." Josh shook his head. "I already have someone else."
"Yeah, yeah. But it's an example."
"There are dozen other people you could use as examples! Like, that guy at the party."
Rebecca snorted. That was hilarious. She basically scared the guy away when she decked Ambros Dale right on the nose.
"He's married, remember? His wife came to drag him away from the carnage. Try again."
"Um, let me think." Josh pursed his lips in thought. "How about that guy, Lake? The martial artist with five medals."
Rebecca laughed. She beat him. He was weak, and it turned out his five medals were from his childhood.
"Better. But he lacks credentials."
"Why? What's Grumpy McGrumperface do?"
"He said," Isabel answered, "He was a linguist. And a businessman who did plenty of odd jobs. He's pretty mysterious and only shows up when it matters. In short: I think he's a conman."
Rebecca rolled her eyes. Well, Cedric was a shapeshifter AND a lord, erm… maybe an earl. 'Conman' suited his human facade well.
"Why are all your suitors weird?"
"Except for Josh, of course."
"I don't know," Rebecca said with a smile. "But if he IS my suitor…" Her smile faded. It's still too soon to decide.
"…we should instill some sense into the guy," Majid announced.
"Agreed." Josh nodded.
"He can't give you a life built on lies!" Isabel added. "A life lying to others? Rebecca, you're a journalist. You're dedicated to the truth!"
Rebecca loved her friends, appreciated them. However, she'd really, really rather live a life lying to others. She sighed, rather deeply, trying her best not to get upset. It was for the best. It was the most convenient thing to do for now.
She bowed her head. "Yeah…"
-o0o-
Cedric still couldn't believe what he did or what he said the other day. He couldn't believe how the day after that, he was simply wasting his time playing what-if's in his head and trying to find what could've been a better response to the situation, and how later that day, Rebecca said she wanted to go out… but tonight.
Tonight.
In a span of a week since they last fought, Cedric hadn't thought up of a proper plan for exacting revenge or acquiring more power, but he had formulated an elaborate plan on how to give Rebecca a satisfying night.
At the present, they had her friends over to help with the preparations.
"Do you know how to use lipstick?" Majid, of African descent, asked.
"More or less," Cedric answered, "But why is this important?"
"Duh, you should try to look the part. You're coming along as a woman, right?"
Cedric scowled. "Give me that."
He smeared the substance across his lips with his pointer finger. Josh, Rebecca's other Caucasian friend, shook his head disapprovingly as he tied some of Cedric's hair into a braid. Tch.
"Hush, you two," Isabel barked.
Cedric glanced towards the women's direction, then back at the men by his sides. Now that he was observing everyone, he thought that he was being rather silly. Lord Cedric, wearing clothes tailored for a respectable, rich woman, and using cosmetics. This was beyond ridiculous already.
"Alright. All done."
Cedric turned towards Isabel again to complain, but the ability to form words escaped him.
Rebecca.
She looked different. It was so different from the reserved ensemble of a simple long-sleeved shirt and a long skirt. She too wore cosmetics, courtesy of Isabel's craft, mostly to hide away from prying eyes.
Cedric liked it. The tight outfit made her look so… rebellious.
"Stunning," he murmured.
"You look great!" "Pictures! I want 20 pictures of you, right now!"
As her friends cooed over her, Cedric only gazed at her. Rebecca still hadn't noticed him. Annoyed at the lack of attention he received, he grumbled.
"Alright, squadron, let's all pose for a picture."
At Isabel's announcement, Rebecca turned to him. For a moment all he could do was stare.
"What're you two standing there for?" Josh called. "Sit here!"
Both Cedric and Rebecca were to sit on the couch. Behind them, Isabel, Josh, and Majid would stand. Majid was currently adjusting the device for taking pictures.
Rebecca whispered in Cedric's ear, "You're recommended to look away from the camera."
"…why?" He whispered back.
"Lights."
Alright. So Cedric opted to stare at Rebecca's face while smirking.
White light flashed accompanied with a mechanical noise - the white flash was probably what she warned him about. Yes, it was blinding; yes, he appreciated her kind gesture.
After laughing at the silly picture - yes, it was very silly and very ridiculous, not only because of how he and Rebecca looked like, but also thanks to her friends' stupid faces - off they went to explore the many places in Heatherfield.
Rebecca gasped and giggled in awe as various landmarks were pointed out for her. True, a lot of places were already closed, but the night bazaar was still ongoing and the streetlamps still lighting up the many signboards and roads. Cedric couldn't help but smile when she smiled. In her eyes, he saw a child experiencing a whole new magical world.
"It's so amazing," she'd blurt out every now and then. "Amazing!"
Cedric would then think, 'Just like you,' and he'd tell himself, 'Why do I feel that way?'
And in his thoughts, he finally remembered one important thing.
Opportunity came when Rebecca's friends ran inside a bar to get them some drinks. Cedric hated people, and Rebecca hated loud music and the rowdy crowd, and the two of them were left standing outside.
"So," Cedric started, "You could smile like that."
Rebecca squirmed. "Well… yes."
"…can you forgive me?"
Silence.
Cedric frowned as he tried to search for better words. "You… I can't say your name while we're out here. But I'd like you to know that… that I feel like I've been unfair to you." He began to pace. "You're brave. You're remarkable. I can't describe what I feel when I see you. It's annoying. It's inconvenient. But I don't know why I still insist on staying in the bookshop, by your side, when I know there would be better places for me to be."
He turned to her and she, she was trembling. Her glistening eyes glared at him while biting her lip.
He was going to make her cry. Over an apology.
"…you're embarrassing," she croaked out.
He pouted. "What, do you think this isn't utterly embarrassing for a man of my status?" Cedric lowered his voice to a whisper. "I am a Lord; I am literally one of the highest-ranking nobles of my land! And I am a smart, learned man! But you make me feel stupid, like I was young and foolish and my status and my identity never mattered at all!"
SLAP!
At his words, realization hit him. So did a palm.
"This… this apology…" Rebecca sobbed, "Took you way too long. Way too long! All this time, all this time I thought I… I thought I had gone mad to ever dare think that you forgot about the matter! I thought I had gone mad having some stupid feelings for you, you horrible man, you criminal, you… you snake!"
Nevertheless, she embraced him, still weeping. Cedric let her so, her tears soaking the exquisite blue dress he wore. He didn't mind; he no longer minded her many eccentricities and strange antics.
For he loved her. Dear Imdahl, he loved her, she who saw beyond him and into his heart.
A chance like this happens only once in a lifetime. He would be a fool not to take it.
-o0o-
Rebecca remembered crying herself to sleep. She remembered telling her friends to shut up, downing a glass of some bittersweet juice or whatever, then nothing besides the crying.
"You're awake."
Cedric sat next to her, rid of his (well, her) dress and his makeup, only donned in his pants.
Beautiful, she had to admit. He was beautiful.
"Sleep a little more," he whispered, "It's still dark outside."
She shook her head.
"…well, in that case, should I tell you a story?"
She shook her head again and smiled.
"Alright."
He looked away and reached for a glass on the bedside table. Oh. She lied in his bed, in his room. She took a whiff - it smelled of him, of dust and earth and antiques and that stupid cologne and, and alcohol. He poured himself a drink. A drink at this hour… she supposed it wasn't weird.
"Aren't you scared of me?"
She shook her head once more.
"I could do something to you." He drank. "This might already be part of it. I might be feeding you illusions."
Rebecca shook her head again, her smile fading. That was terrible of him, this horrible, horrible man.
He smiled, though. "Sorry, I… you… you amaze me, you know? It still feels like a dream."
Rebecca pouted. If he felt like that, then how did she feel? He undermined things, didn't he know?
She moved closer to him and pulled the sheets away. She was still clothed anyway. Nothing bad will happen.
He watched her, and he watched her rather closely. That's right.
"So…" He hesitated.
Please don't. Rebecca nodded.
"So, if… if I lay over you like this…" Cedric did as he said. He lowered himself onto her, inch by inch until their bodies touching slightly. Yes. Like that. That's good. "Will you let me?"
Rebecca reached for his face and caressed it. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, and she was sure she wasn't dreaming it all up.
She nodded.
"Will you let me kiss you, despite everything?"
Cedric smelled like alcohol. Rebecca was also sure he was still sober, despite.
She nodded.
"Will you let me love you?"
His face was red. She's sure it's not because of the alcohol.
She grinned and nodded.
Their lips touched briefly. Soft and very… precious, so to say. Cedric was perhaps way too gentle, but she still felt some spark in her chest, akin to the emotion that romance novels spoke of.
She nodded again. Go on.
Cedric captured her lips rather hungrily. He nipped and nudged and pulled and pushed. Her arms wrapped around his warm back to pull him closer. Then only her clothes were between their chests now.
It was warm. It was… euphoric. She felt so… high.
She giggled as he trailed kisses on her jawline and down to her neck, down to her collarbones.
Then the world stopped when he whispered, "Rebecca… I love you."
She trembled. She couldn't stop her tears. She must've forgotten to breathe. She so longed for such words, said to her with much sincerity and earnest, without her feeling so incomplete and lacking.
Rebecca felt soft kisses to her forehead and heard very soft cooing. She held onto Cedric as tight as she could. How she wished for this night to never end.
-o0o-
That was how they fell in love. Love, so wonderful, and so… beautiful. It might've taken them a longer, roundabout way, but they were now in their destination.
They no longer wanted things to change.
-o0o-
They surprised themselves the next morning.
They woke up in the same bed, and they laughed.
"How are you?" Cedric asked her.
"…good morning," Rebecca said.
Cedric kissed her forehead and reached his scaly arm to the ceiling. "You're right, it's a good, beautiful morning to wake up to."
"Mmm…"
Rebecca scooted closer to him.
"…so, care to tell me why, exactly, you are in an arranged marriage?"
She pouted. "Well…"
Cedric took her hand and kissed it. "I want to know every inch of you, every corner of your mind." He smiled. "Please?"
"If, if you tell me something in return."
"Like what?"
"Like if, if you were in a relationship before."
Cedric smirked. "Well, yes, why? Two, in fact."
Rebecca groaned, obviously annoyed.
"Neither was as crazy or as… bizarre, as wild, as fun, as… as beautiful as this one I have with you. And, I promise, really, that one, it's true. I… I haven't felt anything like this before. I've never really felt this excited or… scared."
"Why are you scared?"
"Because of the circumstances."
Rebecca gazed up at him and leaned forward to kiss him. "Promise me you won't ever want to do this with anyone else at all?"
"I promise." Cedric kissed back. "So, will you tell me now about your circumstances?"
Silence.
She sighed as her eyes fixed on the ceiling. "The Rudolphs… the Rudolphs are bankrupt."
"…was this building meant to try and compromise for the lost wealth?"
"Yes." Rebecca sighed again and reached out. "But I didn't want to go down in history as some naive girl who simply said yes to her parents. I told them I'd make it work. I told them… I told them it's to do my part for the family. It's not true. I just… I just wanted to be myself even for a little while."
Cedric reached for her hand and brought it against his broad chest. "What about your education?"
"I chose that, too, back when we still had finances. But we had a bad year with business, a very bad year… We couldn't afford more losses than necessary. Our chauffeur, he's our all-around driver, servant, mechanic, name it, he does it, because he's too loyal and he's the only other person who knows this. And, and that's why… that's why…" Rebecca started crying. "That's why… I had to be engaged."
Cedric held her tightly. "We'll have a plan."
"I don't know, Cedric. I don't know…"
"I'll take care of you. I'll take you away." He glanced at the Mage ring on his finger. "We'll run away if we have to."
Rebecca nuzzled her face against his neck. "…where?"
"Anywhere far, far from everything that hurts us."
"Mmm… in one of those bizarre other worlds you once spoke of to me?"
"Yes."
She trailed kisses along his jaw, up to his lips. "…okay."
He wiped the last tear from her eye. "I love you, Rebecca."
"I love you too. Cedric."
-o0o-
It'd been a few days since.
Cedric prepared to make a bargain. He prepared himself for the inevitable: he would surrender himself to Meridian and beg the Queen to give him a lighter sentence. He would pay for the damages he caused to the kingdom instead, and think about the jail time later. The guardians would blame him and insult him for everything that happened thus far, but he would allow it. He would allow such humiliation to clean himself, so that he could be with Rebecca without shame.
He would also tell the Queen to spare him the rest of his wealth, so he could pay the dowry and save Rebecca from her misery.
Reality hit him in the face when the rebel leader found him and did the same.
"So you were here all along, you serpent!" the boy cried.
Instead of fighting, Cedric ran. Fuck. His plans, all ruined. Not yet. He hadn't told Rebecca yet!
"Leave me alone!" he yelled back.
"Come back here!"
"Going somewhere, Snakeman?"
Cedric stumbled back when the guardians appeared on the other end of the alley. "Y-you… you can't appear in public like this."
"The Regents of Earth helped," the Keeper of the Heart said with a wink. Tch. "Surrender now and we'll make it easy for you."
Cedric glanced around. With both ways blocked, he threw his body at the rebel leader. Shock encasing the boy, Cedric took the chance to run. He begged his legs to not give out.
Alas! The guardians were much faster, and having caught him in surprise again, they restrained him with thick vines.
"Let me go!" he demanded and snarled. "I have unfinished business!"
"Sorry, pal," said the rebel leader, "Everything with you here is finished."
"You don't understand!" Cedric squirmed. "This isn't for me or the prince!"
"Yeah, yeah…"
"Come on!" The Keeper opened a fold. No… "Let's put him back right where he belongs!"
"NO!"
With one final squirm, Cedric transformed to his real self and roared, breaking free from the vines and slithering away as quickly as he could. He had to get to Rebecca. Now.
He did a poor job of dodging the guardian's attacks, but he only bore through the pain. He knew blood was trickling down his scales now, but he couldn't care. Rebecca. He had to get to Rebecca. She had to know everything.
Then, he happened upon her standing in the middle of a street.
"Rebecca!"
"Girls! Now!"
Cedric only had enough time to wrap his arms around her.
And then, pain.
…
Rebecca heard screaming before a heavy weight fell on her.
Scaly, green, and big.
"Cedric?!" she cried, "Cedric, Cedric, oh Cedric!"
She squirmed as she watched blood gush out of his wound. Who would've hurt him? Why was this happening?!
"Cedric, g-get up… get up… please!"
"We got him!"
A group of uniformed girls and a boy came to view.
"Please help him!" Rebecca begged, cradling Cedric's head.
The group hesitated. Why?!
"Please!" Rebecca pleaded once more as tears began falling from her eyes. "Please…"
"Um, Lady," said a girl, "He's not exactly savable material."
"He's a criminal," added another, "We have to put him back to—"
"I know that damn well," Rebecca spat, "And I hate myself for that. I hate him for that. But… but…!"
Cedric stirred. Rebecca gave a cry and held him closer to her.
"Don't move, you idiot!"
He still moved. "…guardians… please… save her."
"I'm not going without you!" Rebecca insisted. "I'm not going anywhere without you… please…"
She sobbed. She hated the world. She hated that it refused to work in her favor, that nothing and no one she loved would be hers forever.
"…will you promise you'll cooperate?" the boy asked, earning gasps of shock and protests from the girls.
"Yes," Cedric answered, "Anything. For… for her."
Rebecca shook her head. "No, no, no, no! No, Cedric, Cedric please, no, no…!"
"What in the world happened here?" asked yet another girl. "Hey, don't tell me… THE Lord Cedric fell in love with some… some stranger on this planet?"
"I'm not some stranger!" Rebecca shook her head again. "I'm Rebecca Rudolph… I'm… I'm Rebecca… I'm, I'm…!" The daughter of the almost-ruined Rudolphs. The fiancée of Raymond Fieldestein. The aspiring journalist. The current owner of Ye Olde Bookshop. Nothing good came to mind.
She felt Cedric's cool palm against her face. "Shhh, shhh… everything will be fine…"
"We'll take you to the bookshop," the boy decided, "In return, you will answer all of our questions. And no funny business from either of you."
Rebecca nodded. All she wanted was for Cedric to heal, to be saved. With a large wound such as this, how would they be able to drag him back to the bookstore?
Just then, winged figures descended from above. Rebecca was sure they were not human, but with directions from the red-haired girl in the group, they carried Cedric. Rebecca, herself, was carried along by the girls. Upset as she was, she kept silent all throughout, but listened to their conversations.
They were Cedric's enemies. She didn't like it at all.
-o0o-
Back at the bookstore, Cedric allowed herself to be treated by his beloved.
"So what about you two?" the rebel brat asked, "Are you… lovers?"
Rebecca nodded.
"In that short a time?"
So what?
"That's ridiculous."
"BAH!" Cedric spat, "As if you didn't experience it yourself, you brats."
That earned protests of anger from the brats, even from the animals. Bah.
"I-it's inconceivable of you, snake, to do the thing!" their leader exclaimed.
"Well! Seems like nothing's impossible."
"So what on earth are you planning?"
"We," said Cedric, sighing, "We… I was going to tell the queen to give me a lighter sentence and allow me to part with some of my riches to pay a necessary dowry."
Rebecca whined behind him. He gave her a worried glance.
"You're a jerk, you know that?"
"Yeah. Do you think Elyon will forgive you?"
"No. But I, I got her involved." Cedric turned to Rebecca, caressing her cheek with his tail. "And I'm… I… she… I'm atoning for this. For getting her in this mess."
Rebecca shook her head. "Cedric…" she tearfully said, and he pulled her into his arms, hiding her face from the guardians.
"This is so revolting."
"I can't believe this."
"This is all a lie, isn't it?"
"Guardians." Cedric crushed the table next to him with a swat of his coils. "This. Is not. About. Me."
The rebel brat scowled. "And you want us to help you take responsibility for her? You're pretty selfish, Cedric."
"You're right. And the moment I am at my most selfless, I still am selfish."
The boy sighed and turned to Rebecca. "Um, lady… a few words?"
Rebecca shook her head. As expected. Always a stubborn one.
"Aww, man, come on! Cooperate here!"
She shook her head again. Cedric snarled at his enemies.
"You did something to her, didn't you, Cedric?"
"Nothing much. This is her decision. She chose not to entertain you. Respect it."
"Geez," said the guardians' leader, "Please don't be so difficult, Ma'am!"
"SHUT UP!"
Rebecca's shrill cry brought silence among the brats. Cedric held her even tighter. She didn't have to go through this. She'd been an accidental casualty, an extraneous factor nobody considered.
Then, the rebel boy sighed. "Fine. You can go."
The guardians gasped and protested. The cat familiar voiced out much of his annoyance.
"H-hey, listen you guys!" the boy continued, "I hate to agree with Cedric, but, we have to take responsibility for this, too. I know it isn't convenient for us, but—"
"But it isn't our fault she got involved!" said his only other male companion, the boy's pet rodent snarling along.
"But it will be our fault if she finds a way into Meridian and gets herself killed trying to find this… this ridiculous snake."
"Well, shit."
Cedric smiled at them. "Thank you very much." He'd never forget this one act of kindness his enemies spared him, or how Rebecca finally took an angry, 'why-did-you-make-this-hard-for-us' look at them with pouty lips and a red face.
-o0o-
That night, Rebecca readied their luggage. The teens sat in the bookstore; she and Cedric were packing hastily. Clothes, essentials, a few priced books, money…
Rebecca stared at the silly picture of her and Cedric and her friends. She packed that, too.
Rebecca stared at her phone. She kissed it. She hadn't been able to say goodbye to her parents or her friends.
"Won't you tell your parents, or even your friends?" Cedric asked.
"I can't."
"Don't you want to leave them a message? You humans have the technology to do that, don't you?"
"I…" She didn't think of that, but she couldn't muster the courage to do it. "I can't."
"Do you want me to write a message in your stead?"
Rebecca nodded and Cedric went to work.
She tried to imagine herself coming up with words. She couldn't. All she did was weep, regret and sorrow washing over her. Her friends, her very loyal friends, who defended her and walked with her down the path she wanted to take. Her parents, who had been caring in their own right, even if they dismissed a lot of her likes and dislikes. She couldn't imagine leaving them like this.
"Rebecca?"
Rebecca fell to her knees and wept. Cedric's warmth enveloped her, but that did little to stop her tears.
She was leaving the pretentious heiress life she had, but at what cost?
"I… I love them, Cedric," she cried, "I love my friends… I love my family…"
Cedric held her tighter, tighter. It only reminded her of her sin (or her would-be sin).
"If they love you, they will understand you."
The world almost came to a halt. The pieces of the puzzle fell in place.
Rebecca cried even more.
She hoped everyone would eventually understand.
It was nighttime when Cedric finished the message that she eventually decided to mail instead. A little while later, Rebecca finally closed the bookstore and entrusted the keys to girls' leader, the redhead.
"You're really young…" Rebecca noted, glancing at each of them. Too young to get involved in bizarre affairs.
"And you're… you're… you're just a stranger to all of these. It's a long, freaky story," the redhead explained.
"And you," the more muscular boy said, pointing to Cedric, "You're not totally off the hook, you fiend. We'll find you, and we'll take you back to the prison, in due time."
"I won't forget that." Cedric smirked. "I know that… things might be ephemeral for us, but see, you brats, this is the only chance that this woman right here has."
Rebecca pouted and dug an elbow into his side. "D-don't listen to him!"
"Well, we have to catch the midnight train."
Rebecca clutched her pouch. They had so little to take with them: just books, and clothes, and essentials. She'd expected both of them to pack a little more what they did.
"Um…" She handed her letters to the redhead. Her and Cedric's letters. "Could you mail these for me?"
"Sure thing."
Rebecca smiled. She gazed at the bookstore and ran her hands along its wall. She would miss it.
"Ah. One more thing." Cedric waved his hand over the display window… and it reduced into a mess.
Rebecca stared and stared and stared, then her face flushed. Oh, no.
"Do you remember this, love?"
Surrounded by a group of confused (or amused?) teenagers, Rebecca punched Cedric (again). It felt really good.
-o0o-
Two train tickets to Midgale. Two suitcases and a small pouch. A man and a woman.
They boarded the train. Sure, the path they took was undoubtedly the more convenient one. Their sins would catch up to them, and they would pay retribution, they were aware. They clasped their hands together. Life was too short to make amends with people they cared little for, or the people who never really cared for them.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Tears rolled down Rebecca's cheeks. Cedric wiped them away.
"Everything will be fine. I promise you. I'll take care of you, remember?"
"I remember. I will remember. I promise. But, in turn, please… be my family."
"Yes, Rebecca. I will."
"Thank you, thank you so much, Cedric…"
In each other's embrace, they rested. The scenery before their eyes changed.
They would finally see a beautiful dawn. Soon.
-o0o-
Kandrakar. The Oracle observed the couple. He turned to the Council and announced, "We will leave them be."
It was controversial.
"They will pay when time comes. We cannot waste our efforts on small threats."
The guardians and the Regents of Earth were upset. Queen Elyon was very upset. Caleb was so utterly upset at himself he resigned from being Commander of the Royal Guard.
"He looked happy," he confessed, "I didn't have the heart to capture him that day. I let him go. It's the first time I saw him be so sincere. I just couldn't do it."
Back in Heatherfield, the Rudolphs disowned Rebecca. Her name continued to be a uttered among the press, until finally, Raymond Fieldestein came back from his slump and was found with a lovely girl he called Mel.
Ye Olde Bookshop was demolished, and a beautiful cafe was built on the lot. The cafe across it lost business and had to close up. Schools tried to call for another bookstore, in vain. The Rudolphs found a steadier flow of income, but they would not regain their lavish wealth. The elite avoided speaking of them. At the least, they did not fall to poverty.
Isabel and her team documented the loss of Ye Olde and how it meant for a lot of people. None of her friends ever dared to write about Rebecca. The press came for them, but they kept their lips shut. They burned all the evidence.
A few months later, Isabel received a postcard from Midgale that made her smile. "Rebecca Hoffman, huh…" she muttered, tracing the wedding photo.
