It's already evening when Cecilia from Mahogany Beef Market. The place was her last stop for that night since she was craving for Bulalo and decided to go there. Compared to Leslie's, Mahogany Beef Market was much closer to her hotel so she decided to eat bulalo there. Before she went home, she decided to eat street food since she passed by a street food stall. It was the very first time she ate fishball, tempura, gulaman, and kwek-kwek to which she earlier called it as "egg waffles".

There were so many people walking so she decided not to hail a cab and just walk with the people. She was deeply astonished with the things around her at that moment. She remembered when she was in Eshasea, in times like this, she was accompanied by the royal knights and her childhood friend slash personal bodyguard, Childe. She couldn't enjoy watching the things around her when they usually get out of the palace for official monitoring of the establishments and lands or just make appearances of some sort. Her moves were well calculated and monitored and it was really suffocating for her. It felt like she was inside a golden cage.

But now, she was walking with the people around her even though these people didn't know her or they didn't know each other, they were just giving their smiles at her and even greeting her, much for her to feel so much happiness. She could hear the chatter of people and even the music around them as they walked.

It felt like a breath of fresh air for her. She felt so free roaming around with the city lights embracing her and with the moon shining in the night sky.

Wait, where am I?
Cecilia noticed that the path she was taking went silent. She could barely see people around her, it even felt like there were no people around the place. She remembered that she didn't even pass the said path.

She facepalmed and immediately hit her. Confirmed, she got lost.

I am such an idiot. I didn't even notice that I got lost. Should I go back? She asked herself as she looked around, contemplating her possible decision. Yes, I definitely should. I couldn't find any taxis here.

"Sino ka?!"

Cecilia stopped abruptly the moment she heard a shout from one of the alleys just a few meters away from where she's standing. She could hear people fighting in one of the alleys and she knew it's dangerous for her to listen or even watch but curiosity just hit her hard at that moment and before she could even stop herself, she went to one of the alleys and peeked.

"Who are you?!"

Her eyes immediately widened when she saw two men-the first man she saw was kneeling with both his hands handcuffed and he was also put n a blindfold. The other guy had his whole face covered like a mask with an eerie happy face on it and he was pointing the gun at the former. Cecilia immediately covered her mouth to avoid herself from gasping and screaming.

"You don't need to know who I am, Montemayor."

The sound of the gunshot was ringing on Cecilia's ears. She saw how the man with a blindfold fell to the ground and she could see that the man is bathing in his own blood and dead. She could feel herself trembling and terrified that she backed away and decided to get out of the place. She was about to run when she accidentally stepped on an empty soft drink can and she immediately caught the criminal'sa attention. He turned his head at her and at that moment, she felt much more terrified than ever.

"Who are you?!"

Cecilia hastily stormed out of the place, running as fast as she could. She could even see and hear the killer running after her. In such panic, she fished her phone out of her bag and immediately speed-dialed Childe's number, absentmindedly throwing her bag as she ran.

"Childe, please pick up! Please save me! C'mon, pick up the goddamn phone-ah!" Cecilia tripped herself that she accidentally threw her phone off her hand. She could see the killer still chasing her and even fired a gunshot much for her to flinch and scream. She was left no choice but to abandon her belongings and run as fast as she could to escape the killer.

Fuck it, Cecilia! Because of your fucking curiosity, you'll really get yourself killed!

Someone threatening her life is no new to her. Whether it's from the people who didn't like the monarch or the royal family, or just other nobles who wanted her and her father, the King dead—this is not new to her. Her father escaped a few of his assassination attempts and so did she, thanks to their skilled royal guards and Childe, being the sergeant major and her personal bodyguard, she's still safe and alive.

Now, it's different. There're no royal guards around her nor Childe beside her. Someone is trying to kill her not because she's a threat to the throne by those opportunistic nobles... but because she's an innocent passerby who witnessed a freaking murder!

Bang!

"Ah!" she screamed as she ducked, dodging the bullet from the killer as she kept running as fast as she could. The only thing she could think about at that moment was to escape the place she even took off and threw away her shoes so she could run faster. She screamed once again when the killer made a gunshot once again and luckily, she managed to dodge it once again.

Cecilia squeezed her eyes shut as she kept on panting, running faster as the man kept chasing her. She could feel her whole body trembling in fear and in exhaustion but she didn't surrender and forced herself to the limit of running away just to escape the killer. She bears all the bruises and wounds she got from falling, tripping, and tumbling down while running just to get away from the insane killer who was chasing her.

She needs to get herself out alive. She needs to escape!

Out of nowhere, she saw a man leaning on a black car, smoking a cigarette, and staring at somewhere she didn't know. Thanks to the moon's light and the weak street light, she could see the man a bit. She didn't know the man but that's the only help and hope she could ask to escape the killer who kept chasing her.

She looked behind her and she hissed in an utter panic when she saw the man kept chasing her, aiming his gun at her once again. Without thinking twice, she ran as fast as she could towards the car that she saw.

"Help! Somebody help me! Please help me!" she shouted between her cries and pants.

It seemed like the heavens listened to her and she finally caught the man's attention. He creased his brows in confusion as he stood away from his car. Cecilia could feel herself falling to the ground but the man immediately caught her, scooping her in the process. She couldn't see the man's face anymore because of how thick and blurry her tears were. She could feel herself trembling nonstop as she held onto the man, as if her life depended on it.

"Please, help me! Someone—someone killed a person in the alley—I saw it! He's trying to kill me too! Help—please, help me, I'm begging you! I-I don't want to die! Please help me-" She gasped, she could feel her chest tightening as she tried to breathe and gasp for air.

She couldn't hear anything around her and the only ones she could hear were the distant gunshots and the inaudible noises around her.

Breathe, Cecilia. Breathe! You must not die, you must not die!

"Go to that place, Ryan." That's the only thing Cecilia heard and everything went black.