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Editing completed 6/7/2017

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Prince Levi Ackerman, royal descendent.

The foreigner's body slumped forward, clearly no longer conscious. Keeping her awake while trying to manage the bleeding is cruel... the pain alone may force her to pass out anyway... seems my presence is required in Eren's palace once again... I'll kick the living shit out of him.

"Start work on stitching those lashes... can you determine how many she received?"

The medic furrowed his brows, peeling down a small white bandage and examining the bloody pattens traced upon her back.

"Hm... it's hard to tell... her burns don't make it easy..."

A low sigh escaped my lips. Estimate, you fuck.

"If I make an educated guess... maybe two or three times?"

I would guess two lashes... her servant uniform was clearly ripped in two places... I'll ask her for the facts when she wakes up.

"I'll carry her. Follow behind me, your stitching skills are necessary for her survival."

The medic clumsily saluted, picking up his leather bag with a stressed sigh. My faith in him has spiked his clearly shit nerves... I slowly leant forward, my left hand taking ahold of her lower legs.

She's light... her back, which I tried desperately to avoid putting any pressure on, resulted in my left hand pressing her head against my chest.

I remained still for a moment, watching her steady breathing. My judgement was correct. I would of done anything to avoid this punishment... her face clearly twisted into one of discomfort. The 'red rose medic' cleared his throat behind me, sensing the unnecessary wait in silence.

"Lead the way, your majesty."

I clicked my tongue- is this a so called 'princess carry?' How ironic. She is nothing like a Princess... but I don't mind... in fact... I don't fucking care. Passing under the marble archway, my shallow footsteps echo'd around the hall.

Guards have been stationed outside the palace, so the usually heavy patrolled corridors... remained ghostly quiet. I rose my black laced boot to the handle, preparing to bust the shit off the wall.

"I-I'll do that for you!"

My considerate medic smiled nervously, lowering the golden handle- holding the wooden door open for me to pass through. I clicked my tongue, muttering words of thanks as I quickly walked towards the neatly made, white medical bed.

"If you could place her on her front... I'll begin my work."

Reluctantly complying with the medic's words, I lowered the foreigner onto her front as a small whine escaped her throat. Clearly the sedation has begun to fade... if I administer anymore she might sleep for longer than the recommended amount of time... she needs to be awake to eat...

"Hurry the fuck up. The sedation is wearing off."

The medic removed a sterile needle and metal wire - neatly rolled into a sealed white package. I averted my gaze at the sight, blood now completely dried to her skin.

To think Eren reopened her trauma like a can of beans... infuriates me. Her silver burns - which were once healed - revealed a soft yellow upon being reopened.

A mess. Just one big bloody mess.

In the corner of my eyes, the reflection of light sparkled off the needle, swiftly entering and leaving her skin... like knitting of some sorts...

I've never seen such an injury to this extent before... blame my sheltered upbringing I guess... her flesh made strange squelching sounds as the guard cut the final wire, nodding his head in approval.

The first slash is all stitched up - now her burns need treatment too... all of her wounds could become infected...

"Start disinfecting."

                                |~~~~|

Something warm graced my lips as a groan of intense pain sounded at the back of my throat. Am I alive? It's all black so I can't tell...

"...she's.... blood loss...- may die you know..."

Is someone talking? I can't make out the sentence... feels like I'm swimming in a lake or something? I'm not underwater right?

"....waking up!"

Waking up? That's a solid 'no' to being in a lake then... my back hurts like hell... a sharp, intense sting travelled teasingly across my shoulders and stopped at my hips. Did something hit me at high speed?

Oh... I remember... lashings. Soon, lights and colours filled my vision, the blackness slowly cleared as a blurred figure stood hovering over me. A fuzzy outline of a golden crown and sparkling red ruby quickly confirmed I was no longer in Eren's palace.

"Wake up."

Why is the Prince here? Why is he with me? After a few seconds, the Prince's features became more clear - striking silver eyes and sharp defined features. 

"I-I'm awake..."

I mumbled groggily as the Prince let out a loud, clearly frustrated sigh as he ran his pale hand through is raven hair, glaring fiercely.

"Just what the fuck were you thinking? Arriving at my palace lashed?"

I winced and slowly sat up, brushing strands of hair which stuck to my sweaty skin. I don't think I've ever seen him this angry... I decided to tell the truth; the last time I lied resulted in lashings... I don't think I'll deceive someone ever again.

"I lied... so I could leave Eren's contract..."

Upon hearing my answer the Prince completely froze - either with surprise or... anger. He clenched his fists, looking like he wanted to grab ahold of me, but managed to restrain himself. Definitely anger.

"Lied? I assigned you to Eren in order to avoid this happening... you've gone against my better judgment."

I shuddered under the Prince's furious stare and deep voice. I slowly rose my hand to my throat, talking proving to be rather difficult with my parched throat.

I cast my eyes around the room, quickly spotting a large, water filled glass jug. The Prince's anger clearly overpowered him as he began to yell.

"You stupid brat! You think your actions pleased me? I chose mental pain over physical - to keep you alive - to stop your burns reopening!"

I flinched at the sound of his voice, my head throbbing painfully, but my eyes still remained fixated on the water jug, watching ice cubes float gently in the clear liquid. A small glass even stood next to the jug - adding to the refreshing look of the drink.

"Are you listening to me? You shitty bra-!"

The Prince quickly realised what had earned my full attention, causing me to zone out from his scolding. A low, slightly guilty sigh escaped his lips as he walked towards the jug, pouring out a small glass - he slowly returned to my bedside with a sharp glare.

"Here."

Our fingertips grazed briefly as I bashfully took the glass from his hand, raising the rim to my lips, I quickly gulped the water down. I'll never take clean water for granted ever, ever again. I let a relief filled sigh escape my lips as my head hit the back of my pillow. I've never been so relieved to see the Prince in all my life. I felt the violent air suddenly clear as the Prince sighed in defeat.

I lazily opened one eye, studying the Prince.
He looks so wiped out... no longer calm and collected... the Prince's regal clothes were oddly disheveled and out of place. I also noticed his usually bright silver eyes were dull with black circles underneath. I suspiciously sat up, narrowing my eyes.

"Why do you look like that?"

The Prince sighed loudly, looking completely furious over my simple question.

"Are you completely stupid? You arrived at my palace at one o'clock in the morning, lashed. I then had to organise around the clock medical care, from people who I knew weren't prejudice to foreigners, so they wouldn't sabotage your treatment."

My eyes widened in shock. All that trouble... over a guard who supposedly means nothing on paper - but surely I mean something in real life?

"I see... did you-?"

I cut my sentence short, being to embarrassed to ask for details over the whole ordeal. I sense the incident must of been troubling... yet I feel overcome with happiness that the Prince sacrificed his time and money in order to keep me alive.

" 'Did I' what? If you're about to imply I did something inappropriate, so help me god, I'll kick your ass."

I felt a pink blush spread across my face as I frantically shook my head.

"No! I know you would never! I just wanted to know... if you saw the... injuries, blood, burns... the nasty part."

The Prince took the glass from my hand and returned to the jug for a second time, pouring another glass of water as he sighed loudly.

"Yes. I couldn't of arranged treatment otherwise."

I bowed my head as a tense silence surrounded us. I'd been far too flustered to look up as the Prince held another full glass of water just a little under my nose.

"Drink it. I was told by the doctor you're dehydrated."

Nodding my head, I quickly began to drain the glass of any water, swallowing gently as my headache felt a little better than before.

"I'm sorry to trouble you like that. I didn't want to stay there any longer than necessary."

Prince Levi flinched before leaning against the white washed walls with a curious glare.

"Oh? Why's that?"

I smiled gently, looking down at my lap.

"I only want to serve you."

The Prince visibly stiffened, his eyes widening ever so slightly. Did he misjudge my allegiance to him?

"Hn. When did you discover this information?"

The rose... is he going to make me bring that up? If I misconstrued things... I'll look like the biggest idiot on the entire planet. I lowered my voice, almost to a whisper.

"I saw the rose in your tuxedo pocket..."

The Prince flashed a faint smirk before stepping away from the wall with a satisfied glint within his steel eyes.

"The rose was encouragement. I'm glad that stupid brain of yours worked it out."

I felt warmer than usual, albeit the warmth of my blush or my high temperature from being unconscious for so long.

"How long have I been asleep for?"

The Prince rose his wrist, glancing down at his expensive watch.

"Two days... the time is five o'clock right now, in case you're wondering, not that I'll let you move around today anyway - just rest."

I nodded my head, feeling even warmer than before. It's so hot... especially around my back...

"Go the fuck to sleep. I'm late for a meeting."

|~~~~|

A day and a half past and the Prince hasn't visited me since I awoke injured inside his palace. I felt perfectly content though... so far, I think he's forgotten about the whole 'contract lying escape technique'

I thanked my lucky stars on the daily Prince Levi didn't assign me a punishment that evening.

"You're looking oddly relaxed."

I winced at the small sting of my healing stitches but nodded my head enthusiastically.

"I am."

The Prince glared fiercely, yet smirked at the same time. I sensed this was one of his most frightening expressions. I immediately froze -but my carefree response meant it was already too late. I've fallen deep into the Prince's vocal trap.

"Strange. If I remember correctly, you lied to get out of Eren's contract while blatantly disregarding my authority - just to return back to my palace and annoy me."

I visibly flinched, sensing the Prince was paying no games. There's absolutely no way of avoiding or distracting him from giving me a punishment this time.

"Then you deceived me from giving you a punishment, hoping I'd forget about it?"

I lowered my head, avoiding his completely lifeless stare as the Prince stepped closer to my bedside, his hand grabbing ahold of my hair and tilting my head backwards.

"Look at me. Look at your future king."

Completely frozen in place, my eyes flickered to his crown. I parted my lips in attempts of defending myself, but he leant closer, our noses almost touching, our lips almost together.

I raised my hand onto his shoulder, attempting to further the distance, only he smirked and pushed himself forward. Our lips quickly met, slowly deepening into a heated kiss.

"Mm!"

My brain immediately voiced my panic and concern over what exactly was happening, but the distraction of the Prince's thumb grazing my chin deepened the passion onto a new level, causing my mind to forget the shock.

"Nn~"

After a few seconds of our lips touching and moving together, his tongue prodded my top lip, demanding I open my mouth, but I forcefully shook my head. His hand, which had been messily holding my hair, angrily pulled my head back, causing my mouth to open in complaint over the sting of my roots.

"Nnf~!"

Prince Levi's tongue met mine in a heated battle, swirling his muscle inside my mouth and grazing warm places deep within my soul. Something sticky travelled down my chin, which I quickly realised was saliva from our once gentle - now forceful, intense kiss. I expected him to stop, but he didn't. I raised my sleeve to my chin, wiping away the wetness.

The Prince's tongue slowly left my mouth but continued the kiss from before. It's so hot... so warm... I can't breath. I pulled away, my body not being able to manage without the much needed breath of air.

I quickly turned my head to the side - to stop him from trying again. My arm instinctively rose above my lips, shielding my pink blush and shaking figure.

"You're horrible at kissing. I think those are the punishments I'll give you from now on."

I panted softly, deeply inhaling the warm air around me, the Prince however, remained completely composed - no sign of being out of breath.

He's completely collected... I can't read his emotion behind his steel, blank eyes. I averted my gaze, furrowing my brows in confusion as I lowered my arm from my face, attempting to recover from his majesty's actions.

"T-Taking advantage of servants is cruel."

I quickly remarked, only the Prince loudly clicked his tongue, turning on his heel to leave. He didn't answer me...

"Remember what I said. I expect you to guard me tomorrow evening- I have people I wish to speak to."

I lowered my head, wiping my slightly swollen lips across my orange sleeve with a confused frown.

"Yes, your majesty."

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