The King's Beloved

Tik … Tok … Tik … Tok …

The sound of the clock was deafening for Zeid's ears. He remained there, sitting beside the window of his bedroom, with eyes fixed on the bodyguards located below. They were wearing black suits and roamed around the whole mansion especially near his bedroom. He was under house arrest. His mother knew very well what he was thinking and she decided to lock him in the house if it meant his safety.

But Zeid didn't give up. He was desperate to get out and nothing - even the wish of his mother, will stop him from escaping in that place called home.

Day after day, he kept on memorizing their patterns, schedule of changing shifts, habits, what they carried and everything else he could observe or notice. He looked for a loophole in their systematic operating procedures. He waited like a lion waited for its prey.

On the 4th day, he already memorized everything and everyone and planned out his escape. Coming from a rich family, Zeid's house was like that of a hotel, thus, it has different sets of alarms for security and safety. He used that fact to his advantage.

As soon as the clock struck 12, Zeid got up and went to the bathroom where he kept the things he gathered from the last couple of days. From the cabinet, he pulled out a basin, a disinfectant spray, a canister of sugar, and a small bottle with some liquid inside it.

"Sodium chlorate, sugar, and sulfuric acid," Zeid mumbled to himself. He put them all inside the basin, and with a slight smirk, he went out of the bathroom and walked towards his bedroom. Then, he looked at the direction of the fire alarm, placed a chair directly beneath it and placed the basin on top of the chair.

He poured all the chemicals one by one on the basin. And as he started mixing them, a slight reaction could be seen from the chemicals. After pouring the last ingredient he needed, he stepped far away from the basin. He grabbed his coat and wore it, and covered his neck and nose with a black shawl that hung from his dresser.

BOOOM!

Fire suddenly sparked from the basin and caused a huge amount of smoke to pile up, reaching the fire alarm.

One …

Two …

Three ....

RRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

The fire alarm rang wild and alerted everyone in the mansion. The bodyguards who were outside came rushing towards Zeid's bedroom. Only a few were left to remain in their position. The maids and other servants woke up due to the noise and started to evacuate as part of safety precautions.

While they were all busy dealing with the fire plus their missing young master, Zeid used this chance to blend in the background and escape. He used a rope to rappel himself down - from the balcony to the garden below. Then, he hid behind the series of trees using the shadows to his advantage. One by one, he would jump from one tree to the other, careful not to be seen by the remaining guards, until he reached the main gate - a gigantic electronic gate operated from the guard's house near the entrance - this was his last obstacle.

Zeid kept looking on his silver watch, waiting for something. And indeed, after a few minutes, it arrived - a firetruck. Before he set up the fire in his room, he already called them using the phone in his bedroom. The guard located at the guard house had no choice but to let the fire truck inside since no one was answering his questions about the fire and his CCTV were indeed showing a pile of smoke inside Zeid's bedroom. As the firetruck drove inside, Zeid walked fast outside the gate and slipped into the darkness.

And thus, Zeid was able to make his grand escape.

After escaping, Zeid went to the city below, towards the restricted area, and went inside a place that looked like a pub. He brought cash with him, and a couple of untraceable cards linked to an anonymous account. It's been a while since he had a use for these kinds of cards - he mainly used them before when he was still on his rebellious phase.

Breathing heavily, he walked passed a group of friends drinking, people dancing, and sat in front of the bartender.

"Oh, Zeid my boy! How ya' doin?" a drunk man greeted him and leaned on his shoulders. "It's been a while, huh?"

Zeid sighed and rolled his eyes towards the drunk man. "Get off me".

"Tsss, so feisty! You gotta enjoy it! All these Magi roaming around doing what they want - for all we know our planet might be destroyed any moment. So why sulk? Let's live and enjoy till our deaths!" The drunk man preached with his up and down intonation and a bit of a hiccup here and there.

"I'm not here to enjoy, I'm here to hire someone" Zeid irritably responded. Then, he looked at the barista and showed him a black card with a symbol of a chameleon that blended in the background. Unless you tilt it slightly towards the light, you wouldn't see it there.

The bartender understood immediately what that card was and led Zeid into a secret room behind the bar station. Upon entering, Zeid covered half of his face, from the nose to the neck with the black shawl he had. Only his green eyes were recognizable in the dark. Inside the secret room, a man wearing black cloak awaited him.

"If it isn't Zeid, the young master of the Ardor Conglomerate!" the man greeted him cheerfully after Zeid sat down in front of him.

"Enough with the small talks," Zeid brushed him off. "I need a group of assassins. As many as you can get. And I want Nedge in it, too".

The man whistled. "Oooh, you're piping hot. What happened? And when you said Nedge, you mean 'THE Nedge'? The greatest assassin of all time?"

"Yes, HIM and all of them".

"I know you can definitely afford them but … what are you planning? We can hire thousands of top grade assassins for you but - what for?" the man shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm going to save someone … and I'll definitely do it - whatever it takes".

Zeid's once passionate and gentle eyes were now filled with malice and a thirst for blood.

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