Eden gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as Davin hit the pavement.
The second man laughed. "Not so tough now, huh?"
Davin lifted his head slowly, blood trickling from the corner of his lip. He wiped it with the back of his hand, eyes narrowing.
"Big mistake," he murmured.
"A–are you okay?" Eden asked, her voice small as she bent closer. Guilt pricked her chest when she saw the thin line of blood on his lip.
"I'm fine," Davin said quietly, wiping the blood away with his thumb before standing. His voice carried the calm of someone used to worse. "Step back."
She obeyed, watching him raise a steady hand in front of her like a shield.
"Look," Davin said evenly, eyes never leaving the two men. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Let's all just walk away."
He turned to leave—but a rough hand clamped down on his shoulder.
Eden's breath caught. She saw the man's sneer, the tension coiling in Davin's jaw—just before everything exploded into motion.
Davin spat a faint trace of blood onto the ground and slowly pushed himself up. His eyes, calm moments ago, had turned razor-sharp.
The man who'd hit him grinned, rolling his shoulders. "What now, soldier boy?"
In a blink, Davin moved. He caught the man's arm as the next punch came, twisting it with brutal precision until a loud crack echoed in the air. The thug screamed, dropping to his knees. Before the second man could react, Davin pivoted—one clean elbow strike to the ribs, another to the jaw—and the second attacker stumbled backward, wheezing for air.
Eden stood frozen, her pulse hammering. She'd seen fight scenes in movies, but this was nothing like that. This was real—fast, merciless, controlled.
The first man tried to rise, clutching his broken wrist. Davin grabbed him by the collar, slammed him against the nearby wall, and growled, "You picked the wrong girl."
"Commander—" Eden's voice trembled, caught between fear and awe.
The second man lunged with a switchblade he'd pulled from his pocket. Davin turned, barely glancing before kicking the knife out of his hand. The weapon clattered across the pavement. A moment later, the man was on the ground, winded from a swift knee to the stomach.
Both men lay groaning on the concrete.
Davin exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. "You all right?" His tone softened, almost gentle now.
Eden nodded stiffly, still wide-eyed. "I—I think so."
He crouched to pick up the knife, snapping its blade cleanly before tossing it aside. "This is what I meant, Eden. You think no one knows, but someone always does. News travels fast. Secrets don't stay buried forever."
Eden looked at the two men writhing on the ground. Her chest tightened. "They weren't just random thugs, were they?"
"I doubt it," Davin said grimly. "Too coordinated. Too confident. Someone wanted to scare you—or worse."
He glanced around, scanning the empty street, every muscle still on alert. Then he turned back to her. "We need to go. Now."
She hesitated. "You didn't have to—hurt them."
"If I hadn't, they'd have taken you," he said, meeting her gaze. "This is your world now, Princess—whether you want it or not."
For a moment, neither spoke. The only sound was the distant wail of a siren.
Eden looked down at her trembling hands. The shock of what just happened—and of everything she'd learned that day—crashed over her all at once.
Davin stepped closer, placing a steady hand on her shoulder. "You're safe," he said quietly. "As long as I'm here, no one will touch you."
Something in his tone—firm, certain—made her believe him. For the first time since the revelation, Eden realized the world she thought she knew was gone.
And the man standing beside her wasn't just her mother's assigned bodyguard.
He was her only shield against a danger she was just beginning to understand.
"Are you done contemplating?" Davin asked dryly, finally turning to face her. "Can we go back now?"
Eden only nodded. After what she'd just seen him do, she decided it wasn't wise to provoke him. If he could knock out a man twice his size with a single kick, one flick of his finger might send her to dreamland.
"Let's go," he said, already walking ahead.
"Uh… Commander?" Eden's hesitant voice stopped him. She was still standing where she was.
"What is it?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"Are we… walking back?"
"Yes," he replied simply. "If you want to make it before sunrise, we should start now."
"Well, the thing is—"
"The thing is, you're tired. Am I right?"
"If we can just get a ride back…" she said, rubbing her sore ankle.
"Are you serious?" His brow twitched.
"Do I look like I'm kidding? My feet hurt, and I don't think I can take another step. This is officially the longest walk of my life. I just realized—walking is overrated."
Davin exhaled sharply. "And whose idea was it to walk for hours?"
"You're not very friendly, you know that?"
"Do I have to be?"
"Well, you could try being a little gentler," she muttered.
He sighed again—long and slow—then faced the road, raising a hand as a taxi approached. It screeched to a halt beside them.
"Your Highness," he said with mock solemnity, opening the car door for her.
"Thank you," she said primly as she stepped in, then added, "And stop calling me that."
Davin only shook his head, shutting the door before slipping into the front passenger seat. The driver started the engine, and the car rolled away, leaving behind the quiet street and the strange, unspoken tension between them.