"Apples, apples."
"Big and red, new and fresh, only for one silver coin."
""Apples, apples."
A girl wearing a thin green dress was walking around holding a big bucket filled with apples. Even though it seemed heavy, the girl carried it around with a bright smile on her face.
She was Lila, just turned 18, a beautiful chubby face that turned red like apples when she blushed. Her fine curves could make any man in Flower Field village resist less—that was also a reason her apples usually sold out so quickly.
Her mother was at home sick due to an unknown illness, and her father, determined to find a cure, had left for the Dark Forest and still hadn't returned. To help her mother, she came close to the South Gate because it was nearer to the local market where many villagers sold things. They didn't give a damn about the gate, maybe because they were used to it or just needed to gather coins.
"Usually this time around there are so many people… so why is it I don't see many lately, hmph." she muttered to herself.
The sun was at the highest point of the day. She was tired, sweat came down from her forehead, and she quickly wiped it off.
"Awhh, it's so hot, and I only sold five apples. There are still a lot left." she turned around.
The South Gate was guarded by two soldiers wearing large silver plate armor, and very large swords tied to their waists. One soldier was clearly drinking— a bottle of rum was hanging beside his sword—while the other was half asleep.
Lila got close to the gate. "Hey, hey, what do you think you're doing?" The half-asleep soldier suddenly woke and asked roughly, looking at Lila with a grumpy face.
"Hey there, mister, would you care for an apple? It's only gonna cost you one coin." Lila hurriedly said with a scared and humble voice.
"Huh, apple? Yeah, we'll take some. We'll take a lot. Hey Ralph, we are quite hungry, right?" The soldier looked at the drunken one and said with a smile on the corner of his face, showing a hint of a trickery rat.
"Hehe, of course, we need lots of apples." Just as the drunken soldier finished the sentence, the bucket of apples was snatched away instantly.
"Wha—what, what are you doing?" Lila was surprised by the scene and yelled.
"You… you need to pay for that."
"Pay? Why would we need to pay for this? We are soldiers. We protect this village, so we can take whatever we want, when we want." The soldier beside the drunken one said in a loud and intimidating tone.
"But, but my mom… we need the money. She's waiting for me." Tears came from her delicate soft face.
"Sweetie, if you need to earn coins so badly, how about you let us have some fun with you? We'll surely make your time worth it, hehe, right?" The drunken soldier came closer to her.
"Get away from me!"
Slap!
Lila slapped his face suddenly out of confusion.
"You damn bitch, you dare?!" The soldier screamed in pain and humiliation. Both of them got closer to Lila.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Lila backed away apologizing, her face dripping with tears like water.
"No, we let things get out of hand. Come here."
Whoosh.
A soldier pulled Lila down to the ground, her sweet and delicate face hitting the ground hard.
A cloud of dust splattered.
"Aw, ahh, no, no, no."
Blood came flowing from her head. She was on the ground covered in sand and dust. Lila couldn't endure the pain anymore, even her tears had reached the limit.
"This should teach you for messing with us soldiers."
They laughed, looking at Lila who was on the ground, bleeding and bruised all over her soft body.
One or two people saw this, but no one did anything. They looked away and kept going. No one dared offend a soldier.
Still crying, Lila screamed, "Just because you're soldiers, you can't do this!"
"Oh, we haven't even started yet." Both soldiers' expressions were filled with lust and laughter.
Her delicate face was covered in blood and dust. If people who knew her before saw her now, they might not even recognize her.
"Isn't there anyone who can help me? Unfair, so unfair… no one, not even one person, will stand up for me. Is this how my life ends?" Lila thought. Her tears had dried up but still fell, mixed with blood.
"Mother, my dear mother… I promised you that I was going to come home and bring you your favorite bread. Mother, I'm sorry… I think your Lila isn't going to make it home."
Lila slowly closed her eyes. Her life was full of misfortune: her mother sick since she was 14, her father lost in the Dark Forest. She had thought about dying, but leaving her mother like this was something she could never do. But it all came to this moment. She screamed in her heart.
"Haha, let's take her." A soldier tried to grab her.
Woooosh.
A wooden sword came down through the air, fast like lightning, hitting the soldier's face.
Bang!
"Aww, my eyeee!" the soldier screamed in pain, cursing and jumping back.
Lila opened her eyes. A boy with very dark hair, darker than most people, and blue eyes that shined brightly stood there. He wore a dark blue dress, and his skin was white as snow.
Bright sun rays lit his face, as if the sun itself had chosen to gift them to him. How could anything be this beautiful?
"Picking on a little girl? You guys really call yourselves soldiers?"
Damien said loudly, his eyes calm like still water, not even a hint of fear. Sun rays fell on his face—it looked mesmerizing, almost like an angel fallen from heaven itself.