Just as the assassin went into plunge his daggers into Shin, Akito made his move and rushed towards the assassin – as agile as a cat. Akito rushed forward at his fastest speed, with his own set of daggers pointed at the assassin’s back…

Akito only had one thought on his mind, ‘save him’. Maybe it was because he was so focused on saving Shin that he did not notice that the strange gleam in the assassin’s eye nor did he notice the slightly crooked smile on the assassin’s face. The assassin had been expecting ‘someone’ to make an appearance when he attempted to kill Shin.

No, he already had a hunch that the princess may be in the room and that she may not have escaped. There were plenty of clues, but Shin’s acting had been too convincing. However, the assassin mistakenly believed that this was due to the fact he was under a hypnotic control. Afterall, wasn’t he was just an ordinary boy? Why would someone who doesn’t even belong to the Murim or have a shred of ki in him, be so willing to sacrifice himself for a girl whom he just met today? It made no sense other than the explanation – this was a ploy and the child was under the princess’ hypnotic control. Although, the rouse of using a child of the ordinary world could be considered despicable, weren’t the little girls circumstances a bit too desperate? The assassin understood his target well, although the girl could act dishonourably she would never let someone as powerless as Shin take the fall from her.

Everything turned out as the assassin had expected it would, the moment he went into kill Shin, ‘someone’ made their appearance. Only, it wasn’t the person the assassin was expecting.

When Akito was less than an arm’s length away from the assassin, the assassin turned around in a flash – his posture went from ‘about to stab Shin’ to ‘kill the person attempting to stab me in the back’. It was only for the tiniest fraction of a second, the assassin’s eyes were wide opened as he realized the one attacking him was the bodyguard boy and not the princess. Why is he alive? Did he not take the poison?

The surprise and afterthoughts lasted for less than a fraction of second. The assassin decided to quickly change his tact from kill to subdue. He did not understand why Akito survived but he could not act rashly when something unexpected happened. Maybe his entry into the institution was detected earlier and the princess snuck away? In that case it made sense to keep Akito alive and question him. Akito could also serve as a bait for the princess or even life insurance as ticket to leave Japan. No it was best if Akito was alive – that however did not mean Akito needed to be ‘abled’.

The assassin raised his knee up and smacked Akito right into the face. All this happened in a mere second and Akito went flying in the opposite direction. Akito's eyes were filled with disbelief as he flew across the room.

'We are done for...'