I am Reborn through Revenge

Meeting Norman

***Marie's POV***

She was tired, exhausted, groaning but yet she was grateful she had been rescued. She wondered if the man that carried her was truly a Prince or perhaps someone else who might have lied about his identity just to save her ass. She didn’t even know who he was or where he was taking her to but yet she felt safer and secure staying with him than she felt in the hands of those two soldiers. At that point, it was the least of her worries to bother where he was taking her to.

She never knew she would make it out alive from that dreadful situation, so why worry?

Madam Alice had always told her that her journey in the palace might not be an easy one. But what if Alice or someone else had told her that it would get to this level? A level of destruction?

What if she had been warned that one day she would stare at her death helplessly, would she have opted out? She never envisaged that something like that would ever happen to her, at least, not that early.

The Prince had been carrying her hurriedly to who-knows-where. They passed different places, houses, unopened markets, and even people whose faces she had never seen before. She relaxed her head on the Prince's shoulders and held him on his chest.

‘If something like this happened this early, then who knows what the future holds for me?' she asked herself, in between thoughts.

“I am sorry to cause you such discomfort, I never intended to,” she apologized. Her voice sounded weak.

“Hush!" he said. "You don’t need to say that. Just save your energy. Besides, we are almost at the doctor’s house. He will tend to your wound.”

What a good man he was, she thought. She admired Anon's generosity and adored the way he spoke; his voice—soft and delicate.

For a moment, she wondered the type of prince he was. A prince that would carry a wounded unknown lady in a public area without minding the cost. It was uncultural, she thought. The thought of it made her blush. She appreciated his humility even though she still had her doubts that the man carrying her was a Prince like he had claimed.

As she laid on his back and rested her head on his shoulders, her hair laid lanky, cascading down to his back. Her arms tightened hard around his neck as though she didn't want to let him go. The smell of his hair made the situation somehow complicated. His head was laced with a nice scent. His hair smelled like lemon mixed with a strong unknown sweet scent that she couldn't get to figure the name out just yet.

They got to a big bungalow— brown of colour. The house had windows high up in the walls which gave the impression it had to be a house designed a long time ago. It had a stylish rooftop, with a sharpened horizon. They came at the door, knocking. But it seemed like the Prince was running out of patience, so he quickly kicked the door open. The Prince ran like he had forgotten he was carrying a human being on his back.

“Is anyone here please?” he asked. Marie could hear Anon's breath beating fast.

Without wasting much time, an old man who might be in his late sixties came out from a back door. He gave them a sparkling and questioning look with his cute small blue eyes. His winter white hair tallied with his gray-white goatee. He didn’t look like a doctor, she guessed.

“Who do we have here?” the old man asked in his broken voice. He leaned closer.

“Sir Norman! I am sorry to come to your place like this.” Anon's body was dripping in sweat. He brought out a hankie from his pocket and wiped it off from his face. “I know I should have visited you more often sir. I sincerely apologize for not coming here like I should.” He bowed.

“You don’t have to be sorry Prince Anon. I have missed you. Who do we have here?”

Prince Anon? Yes, she heard that right. She finally confirmed that who was carrying her on his back was a Prince. Marie wondered what made a whole Prince of Zahrin brought himself down to offer such a kind gesture to her without minding what people would say.

“She needs her wound to be treated. This is the only place that came to my mind,” Anon said. His voice was soft and his eyes looked worried. Marie watched interestingly on every word that came out from the Prince's oil red lips.

“You would have taken her to the royal physician Anon. I don’t do this anymore and besides, I am not a Royal doctor,” Norman replied. His voice, staggering. He sounded as if he was not bothered at all.

Marie looked helplessly. She wished she could help the situation. She was losing her breath and the pains on her knee were so severe. Only if she could at least walk on her feet at the moment, she would just go straight to the place the occasion was taking place or might even go back to madam Alice for her to tend to her wounds herself.

“No, sir! I can’t. Besides everyone’s busy at the moment. Most doctors might be in the royal hall by now. Please, sir, tend to her wound,” Prince Anon begged as he kneeled.

Marie’s lips dropped in surprise. She couldn’t utter a word. She was shocked at what the Prince did. She wondered what she did to deserve such sacrifice from a tall handsome Prince of Zahrin. She admired his tenacity and was wowed by his simplicity.

“C'mon!” Norman stressed the word. “Get up! Get up!” he gestured with his hand. He dragged the Prince on his cloth and made him stand on his feet. “I don’t need all these apologies, you are a Prince for God’s sake.”

Exactly! He was a Prince and that was exactly what came to Marie's mind. She wondered why a Prince would behave like he was a servant. Not like he had been with a Prince before but she was sure that Prince Anon behaved differently from the Princes she read from books.

Norman decided to help her. He brought a piece of long white fabric and soaked it in a bowl of a liquid substance he brought from his room. He tied it around her knee and gave her some liquid herbs to drink. He also soaked a piece of smaller fabric in clean water and used it to clean her wounds and some removable bloodstains on her body.

“You will be alright. You just need to rest your head here while you allow the drugs to take effects on your body.” Norman gently caressed her hair.

“Yeah. He is correct. You just need to relax. If you are hungry, I could get you something to eat. Okay?” Marie looked at Anon with surprise. Anon's voice was like the panacea she needed. It gladdened her heart just looking at him speak. What a beautiful caring heart he has, she adored him intimately.

“Thank you all. You have done a lot for me.” Marie uttered, she was delighted.

“I will leave the both of you to talk. I want to head back to what I was doing. I will be back in a while to check up on you. But I promise you, the herb I gave you will certainly heal those wounds real quick. It does magic,” Norman said as he caressed her hair again. “I will see you later Anon,” he added.

“Thank you, Norman! I owe you one.” Anon said, his face beamed. His dreamy eyes flickered across his face.

“You owe me nothing you pretty boy.” Norman sounded unflattered. He gently walked away from the room, holding the bowel of herbs.

“Believe me, Norman is good. He has an extraordinary talent.” Anon smiled.

“I can see that.” Marie smiled back.

“Hope you are getting better?” Prince Anon asked, looking worried.

“Of course. Thank you so much. I owe you my life.”

“You owe me nothing. I would have done the same for anyone who needed my help.”

“Not everyone would have done that believe me,” Marie chipped in.

He smiled, flattening his almond-shaped eye into a dim. Marie had never seen anything like it. If not, for one thing, she really wished she could stare at them all day while she lies on the bed waiting for the herb to heal her wounds.

There’s this assuring look from the Prince.

“It’s nothing believe me. Besides, if I didn’t intervene, those soldiers would have hurt you.”

“Hurt me? No, they would have had me killed.”

“Oh! Yeah! They would have killed you. What were you doing there by the way? What brought you here in the first place?” Prince Anon asked inquiringly.

“I came to the fort because of the big ceremony. I heard that there is an open offer for girls that would love to serve in the palace. I came as a volunteer. I happened to run into the hands of those guards when I was walking towards the city walls admiring it. I was arrested then after.”

“So you are saying that you are not a spy?”

“A spy? No! I am not.” Her face brightened.

“Okay. What’s your name?”

“My name?” Marie murmured. He looked at the Prince’s charming eyes, she didn’t feel like there was a need to lie to him. Considering he had helped her and saved her from death, she thought it would be better she tells him what he needs to know.

“My name is Ve… I mean my name is Marie.”

“Marie? The name is not common here. Are you from Zahrin?” Anon's question sounded uneasy for her not to answer. She looked into those bright eyes, she lost the words from her lips. At the very least, the Prince deserved the truth but not yet, she concluded.

“Yes. I am originally from Zahrin.”

“Hmm!” he sulked in his lips and nodded his head. It seemed as if he knew she lied but Marie wasn’t sure.

Marie frowned but she grinned quickly as she tried to give him a convincing look.

“Sorry to ask. Is your name Anon?” she changed the topic, she couldn’t take the heat of the question the Prince was asking her at the moment.

“Yes. You can call me Anon, and you don’t need to apologize for asking me a question,” Anon answered simply.

Marie stared at him. She couldn’t believe that a Prince could have such a simple character. She couldn’t help the smile on her face. She was blushing to look at the Prince's dreamy eyes.