Aselia woke up the next morning from a blissful sleep. She was astonished that even with the strange events of yesterday which didn’t make much sense to her and the heartbreaking conversation she had with Jaguar, she had a relatively peaceful night.

Her mind went to the stranger with silver hair and she did wonder if he was real or was just a fragment of her mind. The way he had held her, made a blush appear on her cheeks. She was going to find out who he was. But for now, she needed to find Jaguar.

Climbing out of bed, she made herself presentable and stepped out of her room to find him. A guard was stationed outside her room. Seeing her, he respectfully stated:

"My lady! Prince Casmian has instructed me to guide you to his study as soon as you wake up."

This confused her, why was Casmian summoning her instead of Kamian? Usually, he was up before him.

"I want to meet Prince Kamian first. Kindly, guide me to his room."

The guard seemed reluctant at her demand so he solemnly stated.

"I am afraid, those were not my instructions."

"I don’t care about your instructions," Aselia was feeling irked by now, so she began to walk in the other direction. He had told her, his room was nearby.

The guard hastily followed, clearly baffled.

"My lady!!!"

"Prince Kamian’s room," Aselia glared at him, shutting him up.

"This one," he pointed to the room with a black door. Aselia approached it and knocked. Silence followed.

She knocked again.

"Who is it?" Jaguar’s sleepy and irritated voice sounded from inside. Knowing he was awake, she opened the door and entered his softly lit room, leaving the guard flabbergasted. Once the door closed, he ran back to inform Prince Casmian.

Jaguar was just leaving his bed, he was shirtless, but what horrified her was his condition. His hand and head had been bandaged and his face was swollen with purple patches as if he had been repeatedly punched.

He lifted his eyes and scrutinized the intruder while trying to think straight. Aselia’s hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened but the shock came from his words:

"Who are you? And what are you doing in my room?"

"What are you talking about? What happened to you?" Aselia narrowed her eyes at him and pointed to his bandages.

Jaguar shifted his gaze from her to his bandaged hand, he had no recollection of what had happened. He raked his mind but came up with nothing. His head throbbed with an immeasurable amount of pain. He clutched it with his good hand and stared at his broken one.

"I don’t know, it’s all a blur."

"Did you get into a fight?" Aselia asked, taking a step towards him. She was worried that he might have fought with the mysterious man from last night.

------------

Meanwhile, Casmian was informed by the guard that Aselia was up and went to visit Kamian. Xiran was sitting with Casmian, waiting for this to happen. An evil smile played on his lips, he knew he was about to enjoy the show. He hadn’t slept a wink and earlier when Aselia began to stir, he had quietly left her room and went to Casmian.

"I want to hear how this is going to unfold. Let’s give them some time," Xiran got up and winked at Casmian.

"You are evil," Casmian shook his head at him, knowing too well how this will end.

"I am when it comes down to people I love," with those words he made his way to Jaguar’s room. Casmian followed. Both of them stood outside to hear what conversation was taking place inside.

They heard Jaguar’s rigid voice: "What fight? And who sent you?"

Aselia’s mouth hung open when he didn’t seem to recognise her and kept asking the same question.

"Tell me you are joking. Did you hit your head so bad that you have forgotten me?"

Jaguar got up from his bed at her words and pranced towards her, the confusion evident on his face and yet he seemed annoyed by her presence.

"Look, lady. I don’t know who you are. Maybe, it’s Cikalius playing tricks with me again. If you are one of his whores, I recommend you leave right now. Because I am in a bad mood," his gaze which always held respect and warmth for Aselia had a certain amount of disgust as it roamed on her.

"Wrong choice of words, here comes the slap," Xiran amusedly predicted what was about to happen.

Jaguar had dug his own grave with his words and Aselia was about to bury him six feet under.

~Thwack~

The sound resonated inside the room and reached Xiran who had his right leg angling against the wall and his sturdy arms crossed against his puffing chest. A coy smile played on his thin lips.

"It feels so good to have someone else be the object of her wrath," he muttered to Casmian, who was preparing himself to enter and deal with the ever-escalating situation inside.

"You are not helping, instead you are gloating. I am going in before they murder each other," a perplexed Casmian said.

"Good luck! I am going to get some sleep, clean up your mess Casmian," Xiran waved with his nimble fingers, knowing too well, Aselia was about to give them hell. Only thinking about it brought him immeasurable peace and satisfaction.

Casmian opened the door and Aselia’s cursing could be clearly heard. He cautiously entered.

"I had no clue you would be this level of pathetic. If that’s your revenge plan then let me tell you it’s a shitty one," Aselia had her hands balled into fists as if ready to punch Jaguar next. She was visibly shaking from the anger that was rippling through her.

While Jaguar stood stunned two feet away from her, his good hand on his cheek where she had slapped him for the profanities he had uttered. Rage was the most prominent emotion his eyes held at that moment.

"My lady! Kamian! If I may interrupt and clear the confusion," Casmian solemnly spoke nearing them with careful steps. The atmosphere was not friendly and he could sense their agitation and anger.

Both of them turned to him with questionable eyes and he sighed.