My Ex Saviour

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A tinge of orange decorated the sky as if the clouds were a blank canvas. The girl walked with almost stumbling steps in the palace hallway. This was a common occurrence. Eveline sighed, but couldn't complain for even a second. Being with Miss. Rosa all day in a room that smelled of camphor and piles of books was very torturous.

Miss. Rosa was Eveline's personal teacher who taught her all the knowledge about the Forest Kingdom, where she lived. A crown princess must be educated, have manners, and be graceful. That's what the King and Queen said.

However, Eveline disagreed. She wanted to get out of the prison-like palace walls. Go on an adventure and freely determine her destiny like most people. Actually, the girl had tried to escape from the palace several times secretly, but unfortunately ended up being punished by not being allowed to leave her room for two days. Very evil, right? Of course.

“You’re right. As planned, we will step in and go to the Magic Academy to…” The large door swung open and made a resounding echo. Eveline stood with a smile on her face. The word ‘Magic Academy’ caught her interest.

The King and Queen’s eyes widened. “Eveline, you are very rude. Think about it,” the Queen said coldly. Instantly, the atmosphere turned heavier.

Eveline came to her senses. She immediately lowered her head while lifting her velvet dress a little as an apology. “But, Mother, can I choose my own personal guard and go to the Magic Academy?” Eveline asked, her voice passionate.

“What?!” The Queen approached the girl, “It’s dangerous there, Eveline. Apart from the children of the nobles, there are also witches. Aren’t you afraid?”

Eveline smiled faintly, then shook her head. “There, I will study hard so that I can gain a lot of knowledge. Moreover, my personal guard must also be the same age as me. That way, I can consider him as a friend.”

The girl looked at the King and Queen in turn with pleading eyes. The king sighed softly. If his only child wanted something, he could not refuse him.

The king stepped towards Eveline, then stroked her blonde hair while saying, “Okay. You have to be careful.”

Eveline’s chance to make her dream come true. The next morning, Eveline went to the Magic Academy that the King and Queen had mentioned using a horse-drawn carriage and several knights as guards. Eveline’s cheeks were flushed with joy. On the way, she was amazed when she passed by people passing by. This was the first time in her life, she had seen so many people. The trees also swayed as if welcoming Eveline’s arrival.

Eveline had arrived at the entrance gate of the Magic Academy. The gate towered high with the symbol of two swans facing each other and opened wide shortly after Eveline got out of the carriage. The path greeted her first steps at the Magic Academy. A woman wearing a cone-shaped hat with a sweet smile approached Eveline. It seemed that the principal had come herself to see the girl off.

“Welcome to the Magic Academy, Princess.” Eveline glanced at the badge located on the right side of the woman’s robe. Chloe Evans.

“Just Eveline, Professor?” The statement that sounded like a question made a small laugh escape Professor Evans' mouth. Eveline raised one of her eyebrows.

"Then, come, I'll take you to the girls' dormitory," said Professor Evans, inviting Eveline to walk ahead of him. It turned out that the treatment she received as the crown princess was no different than when she was outside the palace.

Several days had passed since Eveline arrived at the Magic Academy. She became accustomed to magic, potions, history, and other classes. And, of course, she had never studied with Miss. Rosa. The students in the class also welcomed her warmly and often asked various things about the palace. It was only natural that most of them were curious because they came from the wizard race. People who could use magic since birth and lived simply.

However, Eveline noticed a boy in the class for quite some time. A boy with black eyes and hair. She swore she had never found a child with such pale skin. As if he didn't care about his surroundings, he was very quiet. In fact, other students rarely chatted with him. Eveline became curious.

At that time, the air was so cold that Eveline had to wear a jacket. When she blew on the empty space in front of her, a white smoke formed. Whether it was because of the unpleasant weather or because she was near a dense forest that gave off a terrifying aura, Eveline had a bad feeling.

“Your assignment today is to find as many herbs as possible in the forest and bring them here within an hour. Those who succeed will get extra points,” the teacher rubbed her shivering hands, “remember, don’t go too deep!”

In a matter of seconds, the students had scattered all over the forest. So did the girl, who was picking a flower stalk after walking for a few minutes while hugging her body. Eveline would have continued her search, if only her eyes hadn’t caught the boy going further into the forest.

“Why does his behavior seem suspicious?” Eveline asked herself. The boy looked around to the right and left. Eveline had no choice but to follow him silently. Occasionally, he hid behind a tree with a thick trunk and tiptoed silently.

The sound of crows chirping filled the forest. Eveline swallowed hard. Really, the wrinkles on her skin were getting more obvious as the air was much colder than before. No good. The girl was scared.

As her eyes darted around, searching for the boy who had disappeared like dust, a sound caught Eveline's attention. The source of the sound came from the bushes in front of her. She slowly backed away and stopped when her back touched a tree.

This must be a trap. The boy deliberately led Eveline into the forest, then left her. She was the crown princess of a kingdom and of course, had enemies. Eveline's body couldn't move. Both of her legs were frozen.

A wild beast emerged from the bushes. It had a large body with sharp nails. Its breath smelled foul and Eveline's stomach churned as the smell entered her nose. There was no hope. She closed her eyes and resigned herself to her bad fate.

However, instead of feeling excruciating pain, Eveline was fine. The roar of the wild beast and the sound of a sword slash were heard. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

A back was facing Eveline and while her eyes were busy searching for the beast, the Savior turned his head. The sword covered in black blood in his right hand disappeared as if it had never existed. It was the boy.

Tears of sweat wet her cheeks. Unintentionally, she hugged the boy very tightly. The girl felt guilty, but also grateful at the same time. The boy tried to digest the situation and let Eveline cry as much as she could.

“Why are you following me, Eveline? This forest is dangerous.” That’s what he said. Eveline released the hug, then looked at the boy with her eyebrows knitted together.
“You’re acting suspicious!” she whined.
“Ah, I’m looking for a rare herb. It’s a little bit deep in the forest.” Eveline didn’t continue the conversation after knowing the reason.

Then, Eveline and the boy walked side by side towards the outside of the forest silently. An awkward feeling filled both of them and would have lasted a long time if the boy hadn’t made a sound.

“Eveline, you haven’t changed, huh,” the girl’s steps stopped, “still the same as the last time we met.”

This was the first time, Eveline looked at the boy’s face perfectly because he always looked out the window. A flash of memory when the girl was little, filled her head. Where she ran away from the palace and headed towards a strange street with crowds that made her scared. An evil man tried to kidnap her, but a boy stepped on the man’s foot, then took Eveline away. They laughed together as they ran. Then, they spent time in a park eating apples. It was a brief encounter, but Eveline would never forget it.

Eveline’s brown eyes sparkled. “You’re… Noah, right?!” she asked.
“Y-yeah, that’s it.” For some reason, Noah had a bad feeling about this.
“From now on, you’ll be my personal bodyguard!”
“What?”