BUTTERFLY

THE LION'S MOUTH

What if the greatest hero of all time realizes that she's actually a villain?

A sickly yellow danced on the walls of the huge hall. As the dots of six dice absorbed the yellow light, a man sat on his throne and took a sip from the goblet in his hand. The color of red wine stained his lips. A faint smile formed on the young man's face. Indeed, it would not have been right to call him a young man. This man, whose existence shone when there was nothing in the universe, was a god of indeterminate age, the founder of existence. His pleasures consisted of gathering clues from the pit of uncertainty as he excitedly watched what was happening in his world. His smile was the excitement of the chaos that was about to unfold.

God was a cruel being. Love, anger, pain, joy, sadness... His favorite emotion of all was revenge. The most powerful emotion man has ever felt, revenge.

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Irine looked at me with mocking eyes, as if she was sucking all my energy. I was uncomfortable and I guess I had to show it. After all, whoever she was, she couldn't talk to me like that. But of course I had to do it without provoking her.

I ignored her, even though her sentence about me still being in one piece caught my attention. I looked at the menu again and while I was trying to decide what to eat, she put her hand on the table and leaned over me. Her blonde hair spilled over the table. I looked at her long, shiny hair out of the corner of my eye.

Irine was definitely a woman with a perfect exterior. I could sense that she was quite strong, but her demeanor was ugly. Of course I had to be careful with her, she was a god woman after all, and I had to be afraid of her. Because as soon as she found out who I was, she would kill me. But I couldn't let her treat me like this.

I looked up and watched her look at me for a while with a small smile on her face. She could touch me at any moment, I had to push her away. If she touched me, it was only a matter of time before she realized that I was not of this world. Besides all that, I had to gently push her away, but I wasn't sure if it would work. She had a different character, ugly and aggressive. Would it help to express my discomfort with her in a proper language?

"You are bothering me, ma'am. I just want to have a quiet meal, please stay away from me." I said, thinking it couldn't hurt to try and this time I didn't smile when I spoke to her. But as I expected, my polite expression of discomfort didn't work, Irine let out a loud laugh and sat down in the chair opposite me. She still had that look of contempt in her eyes. I looked at the wide smile on her face, she crossed her legs and leaned her elbows on the table. It was impossible not to see the sly emotions shining in his eyes.

"I just want to talk, I'm not here to fight, don't worry." She said and looked me up and down. Her bright eyes traveled all over my body as she rested her chin on her hands. But this time her gaze wasn't meant to belittle me, it was like she was checking something out. She seemed a little puzzled and a little curious. Surprised that I was unharmed?

I took a deep breath, closed the menu and put my hands together on the table, looking into her eyes. I felt a slight anxiety and fear, but I didn't want to humiliate myself by showing it. Trying to stay calm, I slowly exhaled the deep breath I had taken. Where had Kize gone and when was he coming back?

"I'm listening." I said, straightening my posture and lifting my chin. The smile on her face hadn't faded, I wasn't sure if she was making fun of me or if she really wanted to have a conversation. I didn't really want to have a conversation with her though.

"Do you know Kize's tattoo?" She asked me and my eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. The black butterfly tattoo on Kize's chest came before my eyes. I felt goosebumps, a butterfly. Was there such a thing as fate or coincidence? I swallowed and kept silent, looking into her eyes, not understanding why Irine was asking this question and not wanting to talk about someone else's privacy.

"It's a simple question, you can answer it." She said with a shrug. "When I get my answer, I promise I'll leave you alone." she continued and my eyebrows furrowed. Yes, it was a simple question, but it wouldn't be right to talk about Kize when he wasn't here. After all, he trusted me and showed me the tattoo on his chest; it would have been outrageous to tell others about it without his knowledge.

With her blonde hair, shapely body and beautiful face, Irine could have been one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Her confidence was reflected even in her posture. But her attitude towards me about Kize and the way she spoke overshadowed all her beauty. Seriously, what exactly was she trying to achieve by asking that question?

"Why do you ask?" I said and I saw the man who had just entered the restaurant with Irine sitting at a table at the end of the hall. I was relieved that he hadn't come here. I was already uncomfortable enough with Irine and I might not be able to stay calm if someone else came to mistreat me.

"I'm trying to understand why you're still intact." My head hurt when she said that. Of course, I couldn't understand why she was acting this way, our characters were quite different from each other. But I felt I had to understand the reason for her questions. Was I in danger when I was with Kize?

"Was I supposed to be hurt?" I said and folded my hands on the table. I needed to have a serious talk with this woman. But she didn't answer my question. I knew from the way she raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes that I had to answer her questions first to get the answer to my question. But her questions were not questions I could answer. So I had to end the communication between us.

"Your attitude and the words you use against me disturb me. Please, don't come to me for no reason." I said in a calm demeanor. Irine tilted her head to the side and smiled. I quickly withdrew my hands as she reached out and touched my hand. My fingertips trembled with the pain that filled my heart. I clasped my hands between my legs and looked at Irine's smiling face with a frown.

"Has Kize f****d you yet?" She said, pursing her lips. Her sarcasm and dirty sentence made me blush. Then she raised her eyebrows and threw her blonde hair back over her shoulder, pretending to think of something.

"You wouldn't be in one piece if he f****d you." When she continued, my head shook. I took my hands out from between my knees and straightened my posture as decisively as I could. For the first time in a long time I felt really angry with someone, how could she use those words! Wasn't she trained in morality even though she was the woman of a god!

"Irine." When we heard a man's voice, we both turned our eyes to the man sitting at the table at the end of the hall. At that moment, I was trying to decide what to say in response to Irine's words. And this man had definitely saved my life by addressing Irine. Because I had no idea how exactly to respond to such sentences.

"Leave her alone." The man said, turning the hat that had been on his head a moment ago in his hand. He put his hand inside the hat and pulled out a card and looked me in the eyes. I was startled to meet his red eyes, bright red, enough to give me goosebumps despite the distance between us. I had seen this man before, the one who gave me directions when I asked for directions to the market. I averted my eyes from him and turned away.

The smile on Irine's face slowly faded. But when she noticed my gaze, she rolled her eyes and smiled wider. "Good luck to you, because you won't live long with this luck." She said and stood up and walked over to him. I unconsciously loosened my clenched hands and looked out the window. I didn't want to think about Irine, this woman was tiring me with her words.

I think it was because it was winter, usually the city was not crowded. Only at noon the market was crowded. But now the sun was shining brightly on the snow. And there weren't many people.

When someone sat down in the chair opposite me, I thought it was Irine and I frowned and looked at the person sitting there. She had spoken enough earlier, what did she want to say again? I took a deep breath when I saw his smiling face. He must have noticed my nervousness and irritation, the smile faded from his face.

"Did I keep you waiting too long, is this anger mine?" He said, puzzled. I quickly corrected my frown. As much as I wanted to ask him where he was going and leave me on my own, I knew it wouldn't be the right thing to do. After all, he could have been busy and I was the one who told him he could go when he asked for permission to leave.

"No, you didn't." I said and tried to smile, my hands were still shaking so I clasped them between my knees to hide it. Kize's eyes narrowed slightly as Irine's boisterous laughter rose. Kize looked out of the corner of his eye at Irine, who was sitting at the table at the end of the hall, talking to the red eyed man, and took a deep breath and,"I see." He said. Of course he understood that it was Irine who was bothering me. Even though I didn't want that. "We can go somewhere else if you want." When he said that, I shook my head from side to side. Leaving here meant running away, scared of Irine.

"No, it's fine here. I've already decided what to eat." I said with a shrug. A crooked smile formed on his face. "Look at this cowardly chicken, you've ruffled your feathers." He said and opened the menu in front of him and started looking at the dishes. My mouth dropped open at what he said. I was not a chicken, and chickens are not cowards. In the world I came from, the strongest army was the army of chickens because they would do their duty at the cost of their own lives. That's why no one wanted to battle chickens.

"Are chickens cowards? And what cowardice have you seen in me, I am a very brave woman." I said in shock. And what was that about ruffling feathers! And seriously, when had I ever acted like a coward? Even though I couldn't help but laugh at what I was thinking, I held my head high and tossed my hair behind my shoulder.

He didn't look at me, although he nodded as if to say, "Yes, that's right." I was careful not to look at them when I heard Irine laughing again. It wasn't very nice for someone to laugh uncomfortably loud in a public place.

"We'll talk about it when we get out." He said thoughtfully, and although I didn't understand what he was saying for a while, I knew he was talking about Irine. I exhaled deeply and nodded, placing a sweet smile on my face. Would it be right to tell him that Irine was bothering me? Or should I ask Kize why she said what she said?

After deciding what to eat, we ordered and there was silence for a short while. Kize was looking out the window, not looking at me for some reason I didn't understand. It was as if his gentle energy had disappeared and been replaced by a dangerous energy. Goosebumps ran down my spine as I felt as if Kize was not the one standing in front of me.

"Een." He said and took his eyes off the window and looked at me. As his energy slowly softened, I took a deep breath and looked into his yellow eyes. He leaned his back against the couch and folded his arms across his chest. "What does your name mean?" He continued and I leaned back against the couch. I think there was a reason he was nervous and he was looking for a topic of conversation so he wouldn't think about it.

"'The One." I said, this name was given to me because I have only one wing. So, Mistress Seli was the one who gave me my name. I've always had Mistress Seli by my side, even in my first cocoon. The Queen was never involved in anything to do with me, even though she was my own mother. She even refused to breastfeed me when she saw that I had only one wing. Rumor has it that I cried incessantly for days because I was starving. My cries echoed off the walls of the palace, but the queen refused to let anyone feed me. Of course, as soon as the Board heard about this, they immediately intervened and forced the queen to breastfeed me. Because they wanted the princess they were going to offer to God to be healthy, not because a starving baby was crying.

But the queen absolutely refused and hired Mistress Seli, whose baby died in childbirth, to mother me. So Mistress Seli is not only my nanny, she is also my wet nurse. It is true that I owe her a lot.

" One huh, your parents must have loved you very much." When he said that, I knew where he was going with it, he was trying to find out about my family and my past. But I had already told him I didn't remember anything?

"Maybe." I murmured, and Kize narrowed his eyes slightly. He had a wry smile on his face. I couldn't tell if he was making fun of me or something else. Did he understand that I was lying? Of course he understood, but when I tried to lie without lying... Oh, I'm so confused!

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked, watching me intently. He was definitely interrogating me. But why did he suddenly bring it up? Had I done something to make him suspect me? He said I had nightmares in the evening, could I have been delirious? Had he arranged this dinner to talk to me?

I averted my eyes and looked around, trying to pretend I was thinking. At that moment I locked eyes with the red eyed man, Irine was playing with a yellow light she was holding in her hand, ordering for the waiter who came to her table. The man twirled the card in his hand between his fingers and raised one eyebrow, as if to say 'come on', was he listening to us? I tore my eyes away from him and looked at Kize who was waiting for an answer.

"I remember a dinner table. I got angry and got up from the table, but no details. When I stood up, I think I fainted because the rest is completely dark." I said, I couldn't lie, if I said I didn't remember anything it would definitely attract attention.

"I remember a dinner table." I mumbled, wondering if he could see my hands shaking. "I remember getting angry and getting up from the table. When I stood up, I think I might have fainted because the rest is completely dark." I said, I couldn't lie, if I said I didn't remember anything I would definitely attract attention, and not only Kize but also the red eyed man was listening to me.

Kize puffed out his chest with a deep breath. He tilted his head slightly to the side. "Your grandmother? Doesn't she say anything about your family?" he said thoughtfully. "We're not related by blood. She doesn't know my family either." I said with a shrug. When I shrugged, his eyes shifted to my shoulders and cleavage for a short time. When I realized this, I blushed involuntarily.

"I want details, Een." When he said that, a waiter placed our food in front of us and hospitably served us. We waited in silence until he had finished and left, while I was thinking about what I could say. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Irine and saw that she and the man were sitting next to each other, chatting. The man immediately looked at me as if he sensed me looking at them. I quickly averted my eyes and looked at the pasta in front of me. It was a shame to look at them all the time, but I was afraid to think about how I would lie when I was looking at Kize. I had a feeling he would figure it out.

It was also very difficult to think or relax when I was surrounded by so much bad energy. Especially when I was being asked questions like this. Ah, everyone I met in this world, except Grandma, had a terrible energy. It was as if they were all filled with evil.

"I mean, I don't remember anything except that table. The rest is all darkness. When I opened my eyes, I was in the forest. That's where I met Grandma, and she took me in." I said and put the spaghetti around my fork. Kize mumbled as if thinking. I purposely didn't look at him, pretending to be interested in my food. "When did this happen?" I didn't answer for a short while because my mouth was full. "About a year ago, I think." I said and wiped my mouth with a napkin. "You mean during the war?" Kize asked, raising his eyebrows. Shut up, please!

I nodded. "Yes, grandma thinks that I might have fallen into the hands of human traffickers during the war and escaped." I said calmly. I was lying, yes, but I had repeated this conversation with grandma so many times that even I sometimes thought it was the truth. But still, I was shaking all over.

Kize nodded and ate the meat in front of him. We ate in silence for a short while. It scared me that he asked questions, but I was even more scared when he remained silent. Could it be that he realized I was lying and didn't want to talk to a liar anymore?

"Does it make sense to you that the traders kidnapped you?" He asked me as he put his fork down on the edge of his empty plate. I shook my head, that wry smile back on his face. He could definitely tell I was lying! "When Grandma found me, I was injured and I was wearing a man's clothes as if someone wanted to hide me." I said and we waited for the waiter to come to our table and finish taking our empty plates. In the meantime I had time to calm down and think.

Kize was thinking about what I told him. I could tell by the pensive look in his eyes, but what exactly was he thinking? That I was a good liar or a bad liar? "Is there a scar?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. I was briefly surprised by his question. It was strange that instead of asking what kind of wound I got, he asked if I had a scar.

"No. I mean, my wounds were not cuts like that, my bone was broken according to grandmother. I might have fallen somewhere." I shrugged again. "No. I mean, my wounds were not cuts like that, my bone was broken according to your grandmother. I might have fallen somewhere." I shrugged again.

Yes, I could have fallen somewhere, and for some reason this seemed very convincing to me. A tree branch appeared in front of my eyes, moving away from me, and a small pang went through my heart.

"If you want, I can look for your family, Een." My eyes widened when he said that. I raised my hands involuntarily. No, I didn't expect him to say something like that, even though it was ridiculous to expect him to say something like that.

"Not right now." I said quickly. Respecting my choice, I hoped he wouldn't pursue it and took a deep breath. "I mean, like I said, I don't want to think about it right now." Kize looked at my trembling fingers out of the corner of his eye.

"Your table manners, your walk and even your smile give the impression that you are a noble person." He said, half laughing. I swallowed, pretending that what he said was ridiculous, and waved my hand, letting out a short laugh to prove that I actually found what he said funny.

"Maybe I could be a servant of a noble family, Mr. Kize, after all, servants learn a lot by living with them." I said laughing. He put his hand on the back of his neck and pretended to scratch it. It was as if he was making fun of me, but I didn't let it bother me.

"I can research it if you want. If it's bad, I won't tell you, if it's good, you'd better remember it anyway." He said and reached out and grabbed my hand that was on the table. My hands were cold from the stress and his warm hands helped me relax a little. I looked at him with a grateful smile. Here I was lying one lie after another and he was coming up with ideas to help me.

But of course I couldn't accept that. If he investigated, he might find out that what I was saying was a lie, that I didn't even exist in this world until a few months ago. "It's not necessary right now, but if I want to, I'll come to you first." I said smiling. He smiled back and glanced at my cleavage. His gesture distracted me from the stress I was under and made me feel embarrassed. I was both embarrassed and excited that a man could look at my body so freely.

"It's good that you met your grandmother." He said thoughtfully. It was as if he was undecided whether to believe what I was telling him. Or he might have already made that decision and was playing games with me.

"I might have used all my luck in life there." I said laughing. When he laughed too, the tense atmosphere between us seemed to dissipate. It was fun to joke and laugh with Kize, but I wanted to get away from him when he questioned me. Of course, I was nervous that my life would be in danger if he found out who I was.

"So," I said, tossing back the hair that had fallen over my shoulder, "...where are you from, Mr. Kize, do you live alone?" I said to change the subject. I had no plans to mention his family, of course, I didn't want to remind him of bad things, but it was in my interest to change the subject. "Yes, I live alone most of the time." A wicked smile formed on my face when he said that. I could have completely lightened the mood by making fun of him.

"You sleep in the forest, you live alone and you eat meat all the time. It sounds like we're talking about a bear." I said, pursing my lips as if thinking. His eyebrows furrowed. He squeezed my fingers gently as the smile faded from his face. "I want to remind you that there will be a price for all this." He said, looking at me seriously. "This man is threatening me, anyone, help!" I said dramatically. He laughed and came closer to the table and looked me in the eyes.

"The penalty for insulting the right hand of God is a hand. Choose, which one will you give?" My eyes widened. I looked into his eyes for a while to see if he was serious, but he looked quite serious. "Is there really such a penalty?" I said in shock. His yellow eyes lit up as he nodded his head in the affirmative. I placed a smile on my face that I thought looked cute. I put my hands on my cheeks and approached his face, blinking my eyes.

"Mr. Kize, have I ever told you what a handsome and powerful gentleman you are?"He laughed and leaned back against the seat. "It's too late now, Mrs. Een, they say the last regret is useless." When he said that, I pretended to think and pursed my lips. "Forgive me." I said and put my hands together and bowed my head.

"Mr. Kize, have I ever told you what a handsome and strong gentleman you are?" I said, taking my hands off my cheeks and making a small heart with my fingers. He looked at my lips for a short while as a smile replaced the seriousness on his face and he pulled back and leaned his back against the couch. "It's too late now, Mrs. Een, they say the last regret is useless." My smile faded when he said that. I think he was mocking me.

"Forgive me." I said and put my hands together and bowed my head. All the tension was gone as he didn't continue with the questions he had just asked me and I was enjoying this sweet conversation between us. "If you agree to be my slave today, I will forgive you." When he said that, I looked up and looked at his face and the sly smile on his face gave me goosebumps. It was as if he was talking about a slave in a different sense, but I didn't understand what he meant. "Slave?" I said with a grimace. He nodded his head in a serious manner. I was confused.

What do you mean slave?

At that moment I met Irine's eyes staring straight at me, the wine glass in her hand held aloft, as if she had stopped in the middle of taking a sip. She frowned and shook her head from side to side as if to say 'don't'. I felt goosebumps on my skin. After shrugging, she turned to the man next to her and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. What was this gesture, was she listening to us?

When I looked at Kize, I noticed that his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, but when he noticed my gaze, he immediately straightened them. Had he noticed Irine's movement? Am I too paranoid? "What exactly is slavery like?" I asked him, and he smiled widely.

I knew from the books I'd read that slaves, like servants, could do anything, but they didn't have the option of not doing it. So they couldn't leave their place of work even if they wanted to, they had to do whatever their owners told them to do. It was definitely the worst situation a person could be in. But I didn't think that was the kind of slavery Kize wanted me to be.

"So you will do whatever I say." He said smiling. I smiled back, but it was more of a nervous smile. Did he really want me to be his slave? But what could he want from me?

I held out my right hand to him and closed my eyes. "I like this hand, but you can have it." I said laughing. I felt his warm lips as he took my wrist and lifted it. I opened my eyes to see him kissing my wrist. A warm and sweet energy spread from his lips and enveloped my whole body, causing me to flinch. Yes, it was all a joke between us, Irine just made me nervous by looking at me like that. Otherwise Kize didn't really want me to be a slave.

"Shall we go and walk around the city?" He said after parting his lips from my wrist. I could feel my face flushing, and I definitely wanted to see the city. When I nodded in the affirmative, we got up from the table together. The servants brought my coat and my bag. I took them both in my hand and we headed for the stairs. I didn't want to wear a coat when the sun was shining outside and it was quite warm, unlike lately. It was a great chance for a first date.