Ash was instructed by Kai to escort Soran's sister out and that was the only reason he was actually doing it. He would prefer to be with the prince, even if he didn't have anything to do that walk towards the gate, feeling utterly awkward next to the girl he had seen for the first time. She was awfully quiet too, making things even worse.
She was probably around his age and if he remembered well her name was Olivia, she was Soran's younger sister. Ash told himself and while they walked, barely outside the palace he looked at her with the corner of his blue eyes. She didn't really look like her brother, she had short brown hair that bounced with intense curls every time she walked, her lips full with a beauty mark underneath the left side of her bottom lip. The only thing she had in common with Soran were their pitch black eyes. While her brother looked a bit more outwardly she looked more earthly, she was beautiful of course, like all other pureblood vampires but not in the usual way. She wore a green long dress, her shoulders exposed and when she realized Ash was looking at her she stopped, turning her head to face him.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked the young man and Ash's eyes widened.
"No, no it's nothing." he barely managed to say.
"Your name is Ash right? It's the first time I am seeing you in the palace."
"Yes, I am Kai's guard, I haven't been here for too long." he told her, intentionally leaving out the fact that he was a commoner and even worse an orphan.
"I see, thank you for escorting me out. I wouldn't want to meet those beggars at the gate, they always grab my dress, begging me for money. It is quite unsightly. I wonder why the queen doesn't get them executed." she said as she began walking again, her luxurious carriage, sent by her family waiting just a few meters away, behind the black bars of the enormous gate.
Ash did not follow her though, his feet rooted to the ground he looked at the young girl with a disgusted expression. Olivia realized he was accompanying him after a few steps. She turned around, noticing the change in his expression. "Won't you come along?" she asked.
"You want the poor people to get executed?" Ash asked her, his body tensed as he waited for her answer.
"Maybe not killed but certainly removed, they ruin the image of the palace."
"Oh, forgive them. The poor people who have no food, starve in the streets because of an unjust system you are part of I am sure will feel horrible for ruining your aesthetic." he told her, his words dripping with irony. "It must be such a problem to pass by them every day and have to look their filthy faces while you are decorated like a fucking safe with gold from head to toe. Poor you."
"What did you just say?"
"Didn't you hear me or is it that purebloods have only money and no brains?" he asked her, making her dark eyes widen. She seemed angry, taking a few steps closer and slapping him hard, her handprint remaining on his pale skin.
"How dare you talk to me like that? A mere guard, acting like you are not a part of this. Go along then, feed the poor, I am sure you will be running away after seconds, getting to step in the filthy and infested places that they live." Olivia told him and Ash scoffed, a sardonic smile on his face. He hated purebloods, simply despised them but this woman, this specific girl right here got to his nerves.
"I wouldn't run away, you know why? Because I used to live in those places. And no I am not a part of your rotten system. I only serve Kai and Kai only and that's why I don't care of how I will be talking to a spoiled little princess like you. You're nothing to me, just a sheltered brat who has no idea of the world. You served your purpose with your superior powers, now go along, get in that carriage of your, get home, enjoy a warm meal and your bath while people are doing right outside your rich mansion!" Ash shouted at her, making her take a scared step back. Obviously she wasn't used to such treatment.
"I think you're being too much, people are not starving. My father says that the beggars on the street simply are too lazy to work." she said, making Ash laugh.
"Is that what your father told you darling?" He said, this time he was the one approaching her, grabbing her wrist and dragging her away from the main gate, just a few steps to the side, where a group of homeless children had gathered, right outside the beautiful palace. Their clothes were ripped and dirty while their hair was greasy and filled with lice. They were toddles, some of them barely ten years old and Olivia stared at them in shock. "I bet they are too lazy to work right?" he asked her, pushing her forwards so she could see them better through the bars. "I am very sorry to burst your bubble, or whatever your beloved daddy told you but children, they are not meant to work, they are not meant to get sold and exploited, they are not meant to be tossed in the street or get looked down by people like you. Children deserve to be loved and raised with care, the same way you were raised dear pureblood lady. Do you get it now?"he asked, moving her around by her arm as if she was some kind of bag. She was too stunned to even utter a word, her eyes avoiding the angry vampire who flipped her, pinning her to the wall. "Get a grip of reality."
"I…" Olivia mumbled, her eyes focusing on the carriage and the driver that waited for her. "I have to go." She said, slapping Ash's hand away and grabbing the skirt of her dress, freeing her legs as she ran away.
The young vampire clicked his tongue, made sure that she got into her carriage so he wouldn't be in any trouble and walked away, trying to forget the stupidity of her deluded words.
"Unbelievable.." He mumbled as he stepped back into the palace.