Still

CHAPTER IV [The Beast, Goddess and Prince Inside the Labyrinth]

Ariadne arrived at the 26th floor with her breathe held. She could again feel the shiver upon seeing Minos's silhouette from outside his office.

"Mr. Minos, Ms. Ariadne is here" his secretary announced as the door opened.

There he was, sitting proudly in his office. That familiar grin he has again flashing, happy to see Ariadne appear in front of him

"Finally! You're here!" he greeted her loudly as if a lion roaring out of his excitement

Ariadne timidly entered his office who can't even look at the man smiling ear to ear.

"What can you say about my office? It's pretty big, right? Come here, let's have a seat" Minos, almost pulling Ariadne, sat in front of her. He wanted to stare at her face and that made Ariadne more uncomfortable.

"Bring us two cups of coffee. Make one of them extra sweet since she prefers that, right?" he, acting as a child excited to boast of his achievements to his mom, ordered his secretary.

"Add one more cup please, no sugar" Ariadne did not even responded to Minos and just spoke to the secretary.

"dark coffee?" Minos asked, confused.

"Theseus prefer it dark" Ariadne explained simply and just like on cue, Theseus entered the office carrying the painting which is not that big and difficult to bring.

"Why is he here?" Minos almost jumped from his seat seeing the owner of the name he had despised since he last came from the gallery.

"I needed someone to help me bring the painting" Ariadne gave a silly excuse which was obviously a lie. She was just too afraid to meet Minos alone.

The secretary returned with three cups of coffee.

"Could you also bring boxes of sweet macaroons from her favorite store nearby" Minos again ordered his secretary.

"No need, please don't. Theseus doesn't really like sweets" Ariadne declined the offer which irritated Minos the most. He just wanted to look out for Ariadne but all she just think of is Theseus. That made him despise Theseus more.

"Mr. Minos, I was also just phoned that you are needed at the conference hall to greet some business partners"

Minos really hated to leave Ariadne with Theseus but he knew he had to.

"I'll be really quick Ariadne" he assured her, "you don't have to come with me, just stay here with them" he told his secretary which Ariadne again declined

"No need to. We will just hang this painting on your wall. Where specifically would you like it to be?" Ariadne asked

"Anywhere you want" Minos replied and left in a hurry to quickly return.

Theseus then stood up to prepare hanging the painting. Ariadne as well started looking around to see where the painting could be placed. Before she knew it, she was already standing beside the glass wall and because of her fear of heights, she took a step backward dizzily. She almost fell, good thing she hit Minos's table and used that as a support. She turned only to see Theseus's profile on the table. Her eyes went blurred upon seeing a red pen stabbed on it and its ink drenching the paper just like blood.

Her legs can no longer hold her up due to shaking badly making her fall on the floor. Tears automatically flowed because of horror.

'Minos was checking Theseus's information. And he clearly hated him' was all in Ariadne's mind as she remembered Minos's hands bathing in blood that was trying to approach her. She quivered more. Theseus saw her and was surprised. He had no idea why Ariadne just started trembling in fear. He worriedly run towards her.

"what happened? Ms. Ariadne?" Theseus kept shaking her body to wake her from her seemingly nightmare with eyes wide open but she doesn't respond, "Ms. Ariadne!"

She looked at him and cried harder. She wasn't able to run away from the labyrinth of fear she had but what scared her more is her dragging him inside as well with him not knowing anything.

The past just kept on repeating with no one even noticing. The three of them, again, connected by a complicated labyrinth that wasn't easy to escape.

Theseus, not knowing what to do at the sight of Ariadne's horrified look, decided to just hug her tight. He tried to make her feel that he was there with her and no need to fear. But of course, Ariadne knew that. And that's what making her this much frightened.