The navy blue cloak that was draped over her shoulders looked more purple when she stood out in the afternoon sun, with the light wind taking over the way it moved along with her movements. At this point, she had forgotten the scorching heat of the summer, and found herself in a desperate need to hide her identity while stepping out.
She turned to face the door again, and then let out a sigh of determination despite her fingers trembling at the thought, that she was finally doing the thing that she had been planning for months now. Her eyes looked towards the metallic gates towards the front of the palace. She had ensured almost no one knew or could keep an eye to her actions as she left.
Henry was upstairs, playing with the cats, not bothering to even look back to who was crossing the hallway in front of his door or who was currently stepping out of the mansion. The entire time that she had stood in front of his doors, she could only hear his laughter and the constant meows as they chased behind a few objects that he threw. She had silently smiled, knowing that at least if she left, she would still remember how his laugh sounded.
Then there was George, who was busy with his work, working on maps and different routes that merchants took. Ever since they had returned, he had been forced to go through the one week worth of letters dedicated to the Imperial family, which even restricted the times he would head out to grab his meals. Occasionally though, he would come around to ask if she was alright, but it was because Lewis would just stick her up on a sort of problem to drag him out of his room for a few minutes.
Finally there was the others, Lewis and the duchess. The servants busy with the cleaning up and daily chores while the mother and son were busy with their time spending together. At this point, the only thing that could drag their attention back to the palace would be the sudden bursting in of a servant and complaining about the mess at Aefia's room. But before she left, she locked the doors, taking even the spare keys during her free time and dreading over the fact that she had caused a problem like that.
She stepped forward finally, feeling that the guards were starting to get suspicious over her slow and hesitant steps. The heat caused her face to turn red within seconds, but she still wanted to endure it for one last time. When she reached towards the gate, one of the guards bowed and spoke in a tone of voice that she had grown used to now. Although she was seen as a person with a high authority, she still felt low and useless most of the time, like her contract had stated, disposable whenever they wanted to.
"It's very warm today... Don't you think it would be a better and safer option to take a transport?" He asked politely while keeping his face to the ground the whole time. "No. I rather walk today, it would feel more familiar like this." She answered back sternly without regretting a single moment of using her authority that way for the first time.
"Well won't you like a company?"
"It's alright. I prefer walking alone... Especially to not grab attention." With that, she stepped out and took a turn towards the marketplace. There was no backward glance, but there was a second thought that had intruded into her mind the last minute when she walked out. Do I really want to do this? What if I should wait a little longer?
She asked herself, but her feet moved to continue her path towards the market, then turning a sudden alley that lead her towards a place where most lower ranking families would stay. It was a hunting ground for theives, because it is also said to be the place where some rich people store her money and fortune, to disguise it from the prying eyes of their jealous family members. But the darker truth lies where they have to accept the kill on themselves while storing away the valuable forever until someone else found it.
She was in fact, the very second, standing at the alley which was practically the main danger area. People got killed here, so many time, that the smell of blood had gotten the nearby citizens evacuated completely, and thus naming it the Killers' street. But to her, the smell was of familiarity by now, from the age of eight, until now, her life was engraved in it. For others, it would be a thing of fear just to stand here, but to her, it may even be the ultimate break away from her current life.
There is it... The specific place that I had come all the way here for...
Her thought circulated back to a second thought again, but she ignored it completely. Her hands covered the door knob in a fluid motion and she swung the door open to where the hitmen had kept a quarter of their own. They were pretty well-known in this area and most people were afraid of them, but those most didn't include her. She had been given missions to silently exterminate them when she was at her uncle's office, so she didn't feel any hint of fear in her when she had to face them straight and directly.
The inside was completely rotten, with the smell of burning and blood, and everywhere she looked, there were weapons hanging off the walls. Wow... Well they are what they suggest then. I think I am in the right place. And since I am here... I guess there is no turning back. She thought to herself while pulling down her hood even further a giant her face, as all the men inside looked towards her direction at once.
"Hey kid! This isn't a place to scammer into while trying to run away from your parents alright! Run and find a new place to stay!" The one to the farthest corner shouted at her direction as he laughed, trying to seem scary. But to their horror, she didn't move or even offer them an easy dealing with her.
"You better not be running away when you step into this. Because once you get your hands bloodied in staging someone's death... You will never return from the trauma." Another added while speaking more calmly.
"Don't worry... It's not like I will use your help into killing someone that you won't want to kill. And I won't be traumatized... I promise." She smiled while her hood kept her face in a shadow. "But the work... Won't be as easy either..."
"How does a kid like you want to kill someone? You have some sort of revenge you want to take? Go do it yourself..." The leader spoke.
"Well I would have done it myself if it were possible that way... But also... Get this... If I want... I can report you to the police if you don't do the work I assign to you." She added while stepping forward.
"Well we work for money... Better pay for the amount before you start discussing who to kill on what date." The leader continued.
"Sure..." She answered back while withdrawing a bundle of new money from the inner pockets of her cloak, and slamming it onto the table in front of them. "If you want... I have more..." She added while placing down more, which attracted every single eye from every corners of the room to take a look at the stack of money on the table with a hunger at their eyes.
"We don't go that cheap!" One shouted from the far back. "And we don't take cash from a thief! How does someone as young as you have that much and wonder around to only spend it on some sort of underground business to only kill someone you probably hate?!"
Without listening to what have to say anymore, she slammed down another bundle, cutting off every single vocal noises in the room. "Now... Are you ready to listen and hear me out?" She asked while looking directly at the leader, who was trembling in fear of the girl in front of her.
"Who do we kill?" One asked while standing up and staring at the cash bundle on the table with pure greed. She just stood there and smiled, not even flinching by the fact that she was taking this big of a step and heading towards a direction of no return.
"It's very obvious at this point... It would be Me the one to be killed..."
The entire room fell silent, the sound of the word 'me' echoing back and forth as she clasped her hand behind her back. She felt a wave of satisfaction and denial at the same time, getting her into a loop of confusion inside her own my mind. But that is just when, the leader stood up from his chair and narrowing his eyes at her direction.
"How old are you?" He asked with his voice turning stern and shocked at the same time. "I have never ever intercepted this type of a mission before... Remove the hood from your face. I would have to clarify further that I am not picking up a regretful mission for myself."
She did as he asked, pulling the hood down to reveal her silver and black hair. "My age is fifteen if you ask. But I do have a special request... I am a bit afraid of this thing so I would want the bullet to be shot from a distance and without me knowing about it. It also needs to be sudden, so I don't have time to think again and just expect fate. It needs to be shot directly at the head." She pointed to her scalp while flashing a smile.
"... I can't do this... You are too young." The leader spoke while slumping down at his seat. "Go and get yourself concealed up. Go and have a second thought and then come to confirm or claim back your money. We are not touching it or fulfilling your mission... We may be bad... But we are not that cruel."
"Then I can just take my money back and head to a more gruesome and sinister hitman. I rather die than stand another second in this world." She offered while pulling her hood half over her head, but keeping her face in view. "In truth... I have failed multiple times in my life to reconsider... And I am tired of trying to find a better life. So I rather end it."
The laughter from a few minutes ago had now faded to a new sort of regret and resent. The stack of money on the table was a shimmering gold bar... But none of them wanted to fulfil the mission. Suddenly, one of them from the crowd raised his hand and slammed it on the table. "I will fulfil the mission. I have a family to feed and send to a better place. I can't have them live a life of insults in the slumps... I need the money to make them happy..." He spoke while looking at her direction.
"Well that is great then..." She spoke while clapping her hand once in front of her, in a gesture of pleasure. "Just send a letter to the palace strictly under the name of Aefia Seraphina. I will explain the details later. We will keep this type of communication until the mission has been successful." With that, she bowed in a thank you, and then retreated, while shutting the door behind her. For her, to was a matter put to good hands, but to them, it was a trap of misery over their actions.
The leader grabbed the volunteer by the throat while slamming him to the wall, with an angered face as the others surrounded the leader and the person. "Why did you do that?!" The leader shouted at his face, while tightening his grip. "She is a minor with a life! She has a future! She can pursue a better life if she gets help! Why are you willing to kill the daughter of someone else while you are trying to give your own daughter a good life?! You are destroying one to feed another!" The others joined in a bit by bit.
"Don't you even have a little shame that you chose to take up a mission that even boss rejected first handly?"
"You are some sort of a monster to help in snatching a young life out of her mother's arms! Why would you help in a suicide attempt?! What if she actually has that one part of her that wants her to survive!"
"Don't you have a little bit of human left in your soul? Or did the killing and slaughtering have you gone that insane?!"
"Come on... You should have asked her if she was alright and if she had any sort of problem with her life that she needed help with... What if she was just struggling with her mind to the point she felt like giving up?"
"... I understand that you have your own children to feed... But imagine her dad when he finds out... Imagine you found out your own daughter chose to take her life in the most painful way possible..." The leader finally spoke. "I don't even know what to do with this case anymore... But consider this... Once you are done with his mission... You are fired... That money must be used to run your whole life..."
The volunteer felt the burden settle in, he finally felt guilty as he was let go. But suddenly, one of them shouted from the table's side. "Hey wait! Wasn't there a member of the Imperial family who had silver hair? And that girl was dressed in the most expensive silk cloak that only the Empress wears... I think we messed up!"
"Wait...?" The leader scammered towards the table. "If you recall carefully, when we were spying on the servant we were instructed to kill, the silver-haired Prince was bragging about his favourite being a sister who had dark eyes and half of her hair dark... Like she is!"
"Wait! That is... Isn't that the same girl who executed the Count? So she must really be... Princess Aefia Seraphina Smod... But she just said her first and middle name... That was smart..."
But insteading of giving a mind to the dire situation, the leader stuck his gaze to the volunteer. "Well? ... Look what you have done... This business needs to be diminished to the ground now..."