EnglandxReader - CHAINED Ch4

CHAINED
—Magic is everywhere, you just don't realize it was there.

Chapter 4: The Escape

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You sighed, staring out the window of the carriage. Even after getting out of the tower, you still had no clue as to where you were.

The cynical Magician had asked you to come with him that morning. He had said that he needed to go somewhere important, and that he needed you to come help him with something. You finally could get out from his stuffy tower, but it didn't mean you could get anywhere. You were still the hostage and you were on full watch.

You heard the horses neigh and the carriage stopped. You peeked outside. There was a small house on the side, built from bricks and guarded with wooden fence. You stepped out of the carriage, and saw the blonde Wizard already making his way into the house. Not knowing what else to do, you followed him inside.

The aroma of freshly baked bread spread over as soon as the door was opened. You sniffed the delicious smell. It had been a while since you had a decent meal. The guards always gave you the same weird looking bunch of tasteless food, and you were starting to feel sick. You needed to eat healthier foods if you intended to stay with him.

Master Kirkland looked around, and before he was able to do anything, an obnoxiously loud yell was heard from the back of the house, likely the kitchen.

"ARTHUR!"

A young man with sandy blonde hair dashed out of the room. He had a peculiar cowlick sticking out from where his hair parted, which looked a bit out of place. He was wearing an apron, proving that he was the one who was baking the snack.

Arthur—as the other man would address the Dark Wizard—glared at him with a killing intention. He put his hand on his hip, unintentionally flipping his dark cloak. "Stop being so loud, Alfred. I have something to discuss with you."

"Ohh, would you look here?" The younger man, known as Alfred, ignored him, averting his attention to you. "Is this the princess that everybody was talking about a few days ago? Man, you look cuter up close!"

Unable to hide your blush forming on your cheeks, you smiled. "Uh, thanks?"

"Sorry about the trouble he caused there, young lady," he apologized, pointing his thumb to Arthur. "He could be such a heartless brick sometimes. I'm surprised you could stand being with him for days!"

"Alfred! This is urgent!"

"Sorry, duty calls." Alfred winked at you. "And, oh, if you're hungry, I just made something to chow back there in the kitchen. Make yourself at home!"

And with that, he and 'Arthur' disappeared somewhere in the house, leaving you standing there alone. Shrugging, you slipped back to the kitchen and saw a pan of freshly baked muffins there. Lusting for some decent foods, you picked one up and happily started chewing on it.

You took a seat near the window to look outside, a habit that you had developed lately. You nipped on your muffin. It tasted rather nice. It seemed that Alfred was quite a good cook.

You looked around the room and noticed that it was empty and that you were... alone. Sensing a chance to slip away, you mentally planned your escape. Your eyes quickly scanned the room for any signs of presence nearby, but you realized that the guards were all on standby outside. There was practically no one to see you if you escaped from the back. You looked at the window and carefully calculated its height. It wasn't too high, so you could easily jump out of it with a chair or something.

You bit your lip in hesitation. You wanted to escape. The chance was so perfect and everything could even go well, but a sense of worry hit you and you started doubting yourself. Even if you managed to escape, what will you do? You didn't even know where you were, and even if you did return to your country, the Mage would just come back to get you again, with the risk of an even bigger price to pay for your false step.

Your thoughts were cut by Alfred's laugh, followed by Arthur's angry mumbles. You fixed your seating position, acting like nothing just happened. Alfred took a seat opposite of you, and Arthur sat beside him.

"So, how do you like the muffins?" Alfred asked with a flirtatious smirk, noticing that you were still holding the small snack on your hand.

You blushed again, looking down to your lap. It didn't help that he looked rather charming. "It was great. You're a good cook."

"Really? Does that mean I won the girl?"

Your blush intensified as you look at him. "E-Excuse me?!"

Alfred laughed and hit you on the back playfully. "I was just joking! Jeez, I think you're starting to act like Arthur. He takes everything seriously."

"Alfred! Oh, manners, Alfred!"

"...Says the old Dark Mage. Lighten up a bit, Art! She's still young! If you keep acting like that around her, she'll get wrinkles on her face!"

And that was how Alfred earned a smack on the head from the Dark Mage.

Looking at the both of them, you could sense the major difference between the two. Alfred and... Arthur... was like polar opposites. There was a sense of similarity between them, but their aura was nothing even close to each other. Even in your first meeting, you could already tell that Alfred was a cheerful, fun loving guy; while even after days, you still couldn't really describe what the Magician was really like.

"Where's Toris?" Arthur suddenly asked.

Alfred chomped his muffin in a single bite. "Oh, I sent him back home to take care of other things. Why?"

"And you are alone here? Alfred, that was reckless of you! What if you got attacked or something?!" Arthur snapped at him. He sounded angry, but you could sense a glint of worry in his voice.

"I'm a fully trained warrior, Arthur. You're worrying too much." The younger male smiled, picking up another muffin to chew.

"You git..."

"Anyway..." Alfred sat up straight in his seat, smiling adorably at you. "[Name], right? You'll be staying here with me for a couple of days. Mr. Magic here says he has an important mission to attend to, so I'm appointed to babysit you for now."

You nearly dropped your jaw. "...What?"

"I need to go somewhere," Arthur commented. "While you are here, you will be doing my work that I have taught you yesterday. I will see it finished when I return," he paused. "And don't even think about running away, I will have my guards securing the area."

You glared at him, feeling your anger reaching the top. "What?! But that's not—Ugh... How long are you going to be gone, anyway? Where?" you asked, feeling the rage heat up your face.

He paused, a look of concern was visible on his cold face for a moment. "...That's none of your business. I will leave now."

Arthur stood up from his seat and walked to the door. Alfred gave you a look of sympathy, before standing up and following him to the door.

You sighed. You did get rid of the Magician from you, but now you have to face another problem. You failed to escape, and now you got stuck with another task from him. Your life just couldn't get any better.

Alfred walked back to the kitchen not long after you heard the horses from afar. He sat in front of you and smiled faintly.

"You okay? You don't look great."

You looked at him and frowned. You could tell that he was honestly worried for you, but you still felt sad. The thought of your country being in trouble and your family living in ruins made you almost tear up. You kept them to yourself nonetheless.

"I'm fine."

He looked at you for a moment and leaned back on the chair. "Hey, don't feel too bad. I know it must be hard for you, but Arthur actually isn't that bad of a person. He's just... misunderstood."

His voice was a little different when he said the last sentence. You looked up to find Alfred's face was solemn, and sadness was visible in his usually bright blue eyes. There was definitely something about him that you didn't know of.

Gathering your courage, you managed to ask, "Who is he, exactly? Who are you to him?"

He only looked outside the window nonchalantly, like he didn't hear your question. He turned to smile at you. "Hey, wanna go take a walk in town? I know you must be bored being in his tower all day long for four straight days!"

You carefully studied his sudden change of expression. Was he avoiding your question?

Taking your silence as a yes, he stood up and grabbed your wrist, dragging you out with him rather forcefully.

"...A-Alfred?!"

"I know this really cool place! I bet you'd like it! Come on!" He kept dragging you along. He was forceful, but gentle. His grip wasn't hard enough to hurt you.

Even if you felt rather irritated, you couldn't help but giggle at him. Alfred was such a childish guy. Even if you barely know him at all, you could already feel that you were going to be great friends with him. His company was just pleasant, and it made people felt happy just being around him.

But still, you couldn't get the question out of your mind. Who exactly is Arthur Kirkland? Why is Alfred being so secretive about it? Was it because you were just a stranger, or was it something taboo that you really shouldn't know about?

Somehow, you felt it was the latter. Even if Alfred wasn't going to tell you, you were going to find out about it yourself. He was the one who held you captive, it was just necessary to know who exactly your captor is.

You spent the rest of the day exploring the nearby town with Alfred. Despite having a lot of fun with him, you still couldn't get your mind off the very question.

Sooner or later, you will find out about it.

***

A pile of scrunched paper flew in the air to the trash bin for the tenth time. You sighed in exasperation. Making a summary of constellations in the northern sky in one night is definitely impossible.

It had been two days since Arthur left you at Alfred's place. You hadn't heard anything from him for the past few days. You didn't mind, though. Staying at Alfred's place was definitely much more comfortable than in the tower, not to mention he was a very pleasant company to have around, too.

In the short time, you had become great friends with the young man. He was such a kind and friendly person, and he was easy to talk to. Alfred would sometimes help you with your job as Arthur's assistant, though he would leave you once in a while to do his own business.

You banged your head to the desk. Your hand was already cramped up from writing too much, and your brain felt like it would explode from trying to memorize a thousand stars and constellations. You felt exhausted.

Not to mention your head hurt a lot from your experiment with the cauldron mixing earlier, which was also a big failure.

The door creaked open, revealing Alfred with a plate of delicious looking meal in his hands. He grinned widely. "Heya! You haven't eaten your dinner, so I thought I'll just bring it here."

The boy put the food on the table beside you, and you smiled back at him. "Thanks, Al! I was kind of hungry, but I still need to finish this crap... We don't know when Master Kirkland is going to come back."

"Need a hand?" He rolled up his sleeves. You politely shook your head. "Nah, you've helped me enough earlier with that, ugh... disgusting... mixture. I've troubled you enough."

"Nothing's ever going to trouble me! Especially not when helping such a fair maiden as yourself! Come on, let me help! You still need to eat your dinner, anyway!"

You only gave him a smile and giggled. How could you say no to that?

By Alfred's helping hand, the work was twice faster to finish. The summary was done right before midnight, and you thanked him before saying goodnight.

You got ready for bed, changing your clothes and washing your face. It was exceptionally silent tonight. You couldn't hear the birds and crickets chorusing in the night sky like usual. Despite your bad feelings, you closed the curtains and blew off the candle on your table and snuggled into your bed.

Just when you were starting to slip into your dream, you were woken up by Alfred suddenly barging into your room. You weren't given a chance to ask, since he quickly grabbed your wrist and pulled you outside.

"Alfred! What's wrong?!"

Alfred dragged you down the stairs and got you out from the backdoor to the woods. He was rushing. "It's Arthur! He's back... and he's severely wounded! We don't have much time; you have to get away with him!"

"W-What?!"

"Quick!" Alfred stopped on his track and pushed you toward a hidden path. "Arthur is down this way. I have a friend there, and he knows a shortcut to the next town. Now go! Hurry up, before they come to get you!"

"Who is—" Sensing the seriousness in his voice, you stopped. You realized that you, and probably Arthur too, might be in danger. You turned around to look at him.

"What about you?"

"Don't worry, they won't catch me. Now go!"

You nodded at him, and started running down the path. "Thanks, Alfred!"

"I'll see you again! Be careful!"

You ran through the dark woods. The only source of lighting you had was the dim moonlight, and it was terribly hard to see. Your eyes darted left and right, searching for a sign of presence somewhere. Your night gown got stuck on a twig, and you desperately tried to let it go. Even if you didn't know who or what were after you, you still felt scared. Alfred's warning rang through your head as you quickly searched for Arthur. You fell down several times, but you quickly stood up and continued your search.

A glimpse of fire caught your attention and you dashed toward the direction. "Hey, anyone there? M-Master Kirkland? Is that you?"

"Princess [Name], we are over here."

Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, your heartbeat fastened. You turned toward the source of the voice and saw a tall man with messy brown hair standing beside an unconscious Arthur. Your natural sense of worry kicked in and you quickly kneeled beside the Magician.

"Oh, dear God, is he alright?!"

"Don't worry," the tall man said. Despite the situation, his voice was rather calm. You could see his turquoise colored eyes glimmered in the faint light of the torch. "I have treated some of his vital wounds. He will be alright for now, but he still needs a proper medical treatment."

You felt a sense of relieve upon hearing that. You looked at him worriedly. His face was scarred with numerous scratches, and there was a large opened gash on his right arm. The clothes on his upper torso were torn up, revealing a painful looking injury across his chest. There were also small wounds on other parts of his body, but they weren't life threatening.

The man kneeled beside you and picked Arthur up, carrying him on his back as he jumped up his dark brown horse. He looked at you with his lifeless looking eyes.

"Can you ride a horse?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good." He pulled a bridle tied on a tree and gave it to you. On the other end of the bridle was a beautiful, strong looking black horse. "You can ride her."

You muttered a quick thanks and jumped up to the horse. The coal black equine let out a surprised sound, but it calmed down after a bit.

"We're heading to Barrel Town, it's southeast from here. It normally takes four to five hours there, but I know a shortcut. We need to hurry, so we might have to race there." He paused to look at you, his face as expressionless as ever. "Are you ready?"

You gave him a certain nod.

"Pardon the rush, Lady [Name]." The man flashed you an encouraging smile and tugged on his bridle. "By the way, my name is Heracles. Heracles Karpusi. It is a pleasure to meet you."

To be continued...