"Sorry, but that seat is already taken." She answered curtly, looking at the blonde-haired youth.

"Yes, our friend has just gone to place our orders for tonight!" Cole chimed in, gathering up his courage from Mary's words.

Hearing this, the boy frowned then gave a slight, imperceptible nod towards his bald, muscled henchmen. The man, understanding the request, gave a loud boisterous guffaw, masking his intention as he gave a strong hit on Cole's back in the guise of a 'friendly' pat.

Cole was almost thrown off the chair under the strong blow, barely able to hold himself straight and not hit the table helplessly.

"Ahahaha! Boy, you sure are funny!" he bellowed amidst his laughter.

Still, while he wore his armor, the single blow from the man gave him pain similar to if he was hit by a powerful blunt object. He coughed in response, spitting up small droplets of blood on the table.

Seeing the expected result, the blonde-haired youth smirked inwardly, while projecting a sympathetic expression on the outside. He had a worried look on his face, as he leaned closer to Cole.

"Hey brother, are you alright? Are you sick? You don't look so good, you should check yourself out in the bathroom!" He looked at the still-standing members of his group, signaling with his eyes to take him away. Two of the closest out of the five standing immediately nodded with a grin on their faces that they quickly covered with a sympathetic look, as they approached the coughing boy.

"Hey little brother, come, let us help you!"

However, Cole whilst still continuing his coughing hit, slapped their hands away. Then raising his right hand in the air, he spoke between coughs.

"I… *cough* don't need your *cough* *cough* help! *cough* I am fine!"

Mary could clearly see the hidden motive behind the large bald man's earlier action. It was done deliberately, she could see the cruelty flashing through his eyes for a moment as his gaze met with the blonde guy's. Whatever their intention was, it was surely bad, and with the lustful gazes aimed at her, it wasn't that difficult to guess what their goal was.

She glanced towards the counter, but due to the big crowd, she couldn't make out Aiden's figure at all. She could only sigh, trying to think up something else before their dinner would turn even worse than it already is.

She gave a cold, contemptuous look towards the blondie and spoke with an agitated tone.

"What are you guys doing?! Why did that big gorilla hit my friend? Who invited you guys here?! Go bother someone else!"

Being called with such terms angered the bald man. His face contorted, and he was about to jump up and yell at the girl, threatening and most likely scaring the living hell out of her, when he was immediately silenced as the blonde young man raised his left palm, motioning him to calm down and sit in silence.

He then turned towards the girl, meeting her contemptuous gaze with his most charming one that he could muster. Although he was slightly annoyed at the attitude of this girl, he couldn't show it to her. This wasn't the first time they did something like this, he had plenty of experience in how to deal with situations such as these.

They met with similar feisty women before, and in the end, they all danced to their tune, leaving their men behind and went with them. Tonight will be the same, she could act tough now, but it will just make this whole 'hunt' all the more pleasurable later!

"Do not be so mad little lady, my friend did not mean to cause any harm. Right, Ben?" He looked at the bald guy with a friendly smile.

"Yes, bo-" He was about to blurt out the usual response, but reminded by his leader's stare, he quickly changed his wording. "I mean, yeah, I am sorry. It was just so… funny, I couldn't help myself. I only wanted to be friendly, nothing else!"

Nodding at his henchmen's response, he turned back at Mary donning the same charming smile that seemingly had zero effect on this girl. While this annoyed him to no end, increasing his frustration by the minute, he still held it all in and remained calm and collected on the outside.

"See miss? We all apologize if we offended you both! Here, let me fix my friend's mistake by ordering some drinks for you. I know you have dinner coming, but at the very least, let me offer you this much!"

As he talked, he kept slowly inching closer to the girl. Once he was at a suitable distance, his right arm began to slowly slither through the backrest of the chair. As if a snake approaching its prey, it slowly reached the edges of his chair and invaded the neighboring Mary's chair's backrest. Reaching the halfway area, it abruptly stopped in its 'hunt', remaining still, not to alert the 'prey'.

"I said it before, we have someone who has already gone ahead to place our orders. He will be back shortly and will want his seat back. Please leave us alone." Mary firmly stated, hoping that they would just listen otherwise Aiden would really misunderstand the situation!

"Who cares about a servant? Our boss granted you his precious time and attention, you should be happy to be granted this favor!" One of the standing guys closest to the blonde youth spoke up with an annoyed face and slightly angered tone.

"Yeah do not be so cold, you should be jumping with joy!" Another one chimed in.

The blonde youth simply raised his right index finger into the air, and that seemed to be enough to scare the group surrounding them into silence. Looking over at their frightened faces as they all nervously looked at the ground, Mary started to have a clearer picture of this group of people in front of her.

She was an attendant at the guild for over a year now, she had heard many tales and stories about the nightlife of the city. The blonde-haired playboy was the leader, and the rest was his henchmen that played their pre-assigned roles. She could feel their hungry, lustful gazes from the moment they first approached them, she was clear that whatever they came for couldn't be good.

"I will ask you again, please leave us be. You don't want to be here when our friend comes back."

Closing in on his internal boiling point from the frustration, the blonde youth had an increasingly harder time to keep his emotions and his smile in check.

A few seconds passed in silence before he could speak up and continue with his friendly act.

"Don't be like this miss, we only wish to join you tonight. Look around, the place is full, where could we possibly go?"

Meanwhile, as the coughing fit finally stopped and he didn't spit up any more blood, he spoke with a weak, frail tone.

"You guys… you guys should leave on your own free will before our friend comes back and throws you out…" Although his voice was akin to a whisper, the entire group could hear it. Angered by the threat contained in his words, the bald man looked at the boy with a baleful expression. Raising his right palm in the air ready to swipe down at his back once more, he roared.

"Are you threatening us, boy? Watch your words very carefully, or my next slap wouldn't be an accidental one! Nobody will care if you meet your maker here!"

The rest of the group that was standing also had a scary, menacing look on their faces, as they stared at the boy. The three closest also slowly reached for their blades hanging by the side of their belts.

They did not launch into an attack but kept looking at the boy menacingly, awaiting their leader's command. The blonde youth raised his left palm in the air, halting all attacks, and while still keeping up with his 'friendly' smile, he spoke, asking Mary one last time.

"Your friend seems to be awfully rude to us, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back my agitated friend at this rate. I would like to ask you again, would you be willing to spend the rest of the evening with us? If you agree, my friends would be able to calm down, otherwise, I'm afraid, something bad could happen."

Mary was startled by the sudden development. She was thinking about what she could do. For some reason, she had a blind trust in Aiden, she was sure he could handle the situation with ease. The problem was she didn't know how to grab his attention and call for help so that he could hear it but it would not cause harm to Cole who was already surrounded by the group. The big guy's hand hanging above his head like the scythe of the reaper.

However, suddenly a crisp, familiar voice came from behind, causing Mary to immediately blush and reveal the first smile since the group sat down uninvited, invading their dinner.

"Blondie, you are sitting on my seat. Get up."