The weekend rolled around, and I decided not to visit the orphanage. I felt like a bug trapped in a web of lies, and the more I had to be around people, the more entangled I became. I really needed this fresh air to help settle my thoughts. Oh…, but I figured as I absentmindedly harvested herbs, I could also try sorting through my thoughts.
I will give Ronak credit. He's been far better since marking me, but the fact still stands that we're complete opposites. Not that I had options anymore… because whether I liked it or not, Ronak was my alpha. It was something that I had to adjust to, even if I didn't like the idea. I guess if you squint hard enough, he's not that bad. All the girls at the academy adored him despite his violent tendencies…, but I honestly think it's because he's second in line for the throne. If he wasn't, I doubt they'd be interested.
I slid my harvesting knife into an aloettle, but its juice splashed out onto the ground. Gosh dang it! This is the second aloettle that I've messed up because I'm not paying attention! It was an incredibly fickle plant. One wrong cut and it will drain all its precious juice out as if to spite you. Even when experienced, it was a difficult thing to do. I can't stand the stuff. Its long, flat branches were spiky, it was difficult to harvest, and the worst part was that it tasted bad. I made the foolish decision to drink it straight once, and I thought I was going to die. It was so bitter.
I let out an annoyed sigh and abandoned this aloettle plant. I'll have to pull my head out of the clouds on the next one. I could go to a different branch and try again, but if you take out too many branches, the plant won't be able to regenerate. Essentially, the plant will die, and I wanted to harvest herbs, not take out an entire ecosystem. Thankfully, this place was littered with aloettle. They probably purposely propagated it because students struggle to harvest it. My first time was a disaster; I got the stuff all over my outfit. Not that I was doing much better today. My shoes will need to be cleaned tonight.
I bent down to a different herb and started carefully selecting leaves to cut off when I heard a rustling behind me. There shouldn't be anything in this forest… the academy purposely keeps this one empty for the herbology and alchemy classes… I slowly turned around, fearing the worst and preparing to erect a shield when Ronak appeared from his travel spell.
"It's just me." I let out a relieved sigh and turned back towards the herb I was harvesting from.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" I told him I had plans to come here, but I didn't think that he'd show up. Didn't he go on and on about how busy he is?
"I had some free time. Just wanted to see how harvesting was going, but it seems you have more aloettle on your feet than in your jar." I angrily puffed up my cheeks and turned to stare at him for a moment before standing.
"I-I can harvest it just fine! I-I was just distracted!" I flinched slightly as Ronak came up behind me and sniffed the top of my head. Wh-why does he always do that?! He messes up my hair and it tickles!! I should swat him away like the fly he is!
Before I could smack him, he grabbed my wrist and brought my arm back against my torso. Big meanie… "I'm aware. Your feelings have been a mess all morning… Not that they aren't most days."
"A-and whose fault is that?!" I snapped. Gosh, and here I was saying he wasn't that bad. I take it back. He's such a meanie!
Ronak let out a long exhale, which only tickled my scalp more. "You make things so much more complicated than they need to be-" Ronak sat up from torturing my head and stared off into the distance for a moment.
"Wh-what? Is someone there-?!" The words died in my mouth as a loud roar echoed around the forest. The sound made shivers run down my whole body. Wh-what was that?
Ronak and I turned just in time to see a massive black panther lunging towards us with an open maw. I put up a shield to block its incoming attack, but Ronak released me and charged forward to meet the beast head-on.
He looked different… I knew from our sparring class that Ronak had some sort of transformation spell because he would occasionally transform his hands for sparring. This was different, though… it was as if more of his body transformed. The swarthy red that usually only engulfed his hands ran all the way up to his elbows, and his black claws glistened in the sun. His feet were no longer feet at all; they were two inky black hooves that dug into the ground as he propelled himself forward. Did he seem… more muscular than usual? Also, it was hard to tell, but he seemed to have dark scaly patches on his skin as well… and… was that a horn on his head? I thought I made that up last time we sparred…
Despite having claws and constantly using them in sparring class, two long, inky black blades appeared in Ronak's outstretched hands. Time felt like it was moving in slow motion as Ronak brought his swords together to defend against the incoming attack.
The massive panther had different plans, though. The moment it saw Ronak, it pivoted and, as its front paws touched the ground, it leapt to the side. The creepy part was that its eyes never left me.
Ronak lunged forward, swinging his dual blades, but the panther simply dodged out of the way as if avoiding a gnat. The panther let out an angry hiss, and its odd split tail came up, revealing barbs. D-did it have four tails?!
Despite Ronak's attempts to land an attack, he only managed to land a couple, and those he did land didn't do much damage. This thing has a dark attribute, doesn't it? I managed to bring myself out of my stupor and readied my hands. I-I wasn't going to go down without a fight.
"No, you need to run!" Ronak snarled as he brought his blades back and dug them into the panther's side. They didn't go deep, but they did manage to do a bit of damage. The panther let out an annoyed howl and swatted at Ronak, but he managed to dodge just in time.
H-he wanted me to leave him behind? "No!" This was just like the lizards he stood no chance against. I raised my hands and let my mana swirl around me for a second before summoning multiple light arrows. I know Ronak didn't like them because they had a tendency to zip past his head, but thanks to my targeted attack spell, they weren't going to hit him.
I focused my attention on where the panther was injured and sent my volley of golden arrows flying. A wave of irritation washed over me from Ronak, but I didn't mind. The panther tried jumping out of the way of my arrows, but that wasn't going to help because they just changed trajectory mid-flight.
The panther let out a frustrated cry, but my arrows… barely singed its side. Wh-what? I-I thought… I thought it had a dark attribute?!
"That wasn't an optional request," Ronak yelled. He darted forward, using the panther's confusion to his advantage, but neither of our attacks were doing much. Mine might have done a bit more than Ronak's?
What did he expect me to do, though? The panther wasn't paying him any attention. Its eyes rarely left me. If I turned and ran, it would just follow me… I tried sending another barrage of arrows at it, but they did nothing but stun the panther for a moment.
Ronak, however, used that moment to pivot on his heels and dart over to me. His swords disappeared from his hands, and he easily slid through my shield because he had no hostile intent. I let out a surprised yelp, though, as he bent and tossed me over his shoulder. I couldn't even get a word out before Ronak went racing off into the forest.
"We need to get the fuck out of here! You and I might be strong, but that bastard is out of our damn league. It'll be on our goddamn heels within seconds. Launch arrows at it if you want to fucking live." It did not make me feel very confident hearing the arrogant Ronak express concern.
He was completely right, though. There was a loud roar, and the panther burst out of the undergrowth, completely hellbent on catching up to us. I let out a yelp of fear, but readied my hand. I might have gone a bit overboard with my volley of arrows, but if there was ever a time to waste mana, now felt like the perfect time.
The panther disappeared from sight, and I let out a relieved sigh. "I-I think it's gone."
"No, it's not, dip-shit! Once a nightwalker targets someone, they will continue to hunt them down until either they or their target is killed." Ronak yelled as he continued to run. "They're often used for assassination, but breeding and owning them became illegal about fifty years ago. These days, they're only found in dungeons, floor sixty and below. We need help." Fear coursed through me. W-what? They were that dangerous?!
"Sh-shouldn't we go to the academy?" With as fast as Ronak was running, we could have been on the edge of campus already, and yet he wasn't going in that direction.
"If we go to the academy, our damn secret will be out, and annoying fuck-wits will get in the way. We're going to the Imperial Knights training field. Hopefully, my goddamn uncle is there." His uncle? The emperor? What help would he be?
"Y-you swear a lot more when stressed… It's a bit of a bad habit-!" Despite us being in a panic, Ronak took the time to pinch my butt. Ouch!
"Now is not the fucking time to be worried about such a goddamn idiotic thing!" He pinched me again, and this time I let out a rather loud yelp. The sound did nothing but attract our unpleasant nightwalker right back to us.
It burst through the trees with another loud cry, and I flinched in Ronak's arms. "B-bad kitty!" I grumbled as I attacked it once again. To my horror, it managed to use trees at the last second to dodge most of the arrows I had sent rocketing towards it. "R-Ronak! I-it's learning to dodge!"
"We're almost fucking there! Just keep distracting the goddamn bitch!" H-he really had quite the potty mouth…
A strange idea came to mind, and I held up my hands and blew into them as if I was playing with the kids at the orphanage. The panther didn't even look at my bubbles as it ran right into the middle of them. With a snap of my fingers, all of the bubbles violently exploded, sending gold shrapnel flying at all angles. Instead of condensing the mana, which took time and effort, I simply used as much mana as possible to harden the outsides of my bubbles. I thought it was a genius idea, but all it seemed to do was piss off the panther.
I was blowing through mana like crazy as I sent spell after spell after the panther. I managed to stun it a few more times, but the amount of time between attacks was shortening. "Are we almost there?!" I pulled a mana potion out of my storage and popped the top off while we had a second.
"Yes." Ronak was sweating from the intense exertion he was putting on his body, and by no means was he slow at running. No wonder I can't escape him… Thankfully, I had a strong stomach because I could see someone getting motion sickness from all this jostling.
I peeked in front of us for a second and saw that we were speedily approaching one of the palace's curtain walls. "H-how do you plan on us getting over that?!" There wasn't a gate or anything, and he was full speed running at the dang thing.
"Let me fucking worry about that! You worry about the damn nightwalker trying to kill you!" R-right…
I turned around to see the beast charging at us once again. C-can we not catch a break? I sent a steady stream of arrows at it as I tried to buy us some time for whatever plan Ronak had.
I peeked forward at the wrong time. It looked like we were about to smash right into the wall, so I nervously grabbed Ronak's head. The world around us turned red as we slipped into the ground at the last second. I must have disoriented Ronak because as we popped out the other side, we tumbled along the ground.
"Don't grab my fucking face! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ronak grumbled as he sat up. Huh… now that I got a look at his face, his eyes looked almost cat-like. His pupils had extended vertically, giving him an exotic look. He also didn't have only one horn. There was a stump of another one hidden behind his bangs…
Owie! Ronak was heavy! I had to gasp for air now that he wasn't atop me. "I-it was an accident! I-I thought you were going to run into the wall…" I was scared, and you didn't exactly articulate your plan very well! How was I supposed to know what you were about to do?! I looked around for a moment and noticed that we sorta interrupted a training session. The knights all held their weapons low while staring at us in shock.
"Run into a wall?! Do you think I'm a fucking idiot?! Like I would run headfirst into a goddamn wall! If that was the plan, I would have fed you to the damn beast and made my escape!" I-I get that he was angry, but he didn't need to yell. He rose to his feet and brushed the dirt off himself, all while yelling at me. The weird part was that as he stood, his features shifted back to normal. F-freaky. Ronak let out an angry huff and dragged me to my feet by my armpits. H-hey! I-I'm not a kitten… "Where is Commander Hemonnet?!" Ronak snapped as he turned on the shocked knights. An angry cry from the nightwalker could be heard on the other side of the wall, and I took a nervous step towards Ronak.
"Lord Ronak! What is the meaning of this?!" A knight wielding a fancy-looking sword made his way through the group and approached. He was quite tall with a slender, muscular build. His hair was ashy blonde, and his eyes were a striking orange, but his glare just wasn't scary after being around Ronak all the time. The nightwalker let out another furious cry, and the knight glanced over to the wall with concern. "Is that… what I think it is?"
"Yes, that's why I didn't haul it to the goddamn academy! Now pull your head out of your ass and ready your fucking troops! We don't have long before it makes it over the wall-" As if to mock us, there was a loud cry from the top of the curtain wall. We all looked up with horror to see the nightwalker staring down at us like insignificant ants. "Fucking hell!" Ronak grabbed my wrist and hauled me through the gawking knights to the opposite side of the training field.
The knights sprung into action as one would hope seasoned knights would. "Unit one to the front! Unit two, ready some bows! Unit three, go summon the commander!" The knight Ronak talked to must have been a general or something because he immediately took command and started shouting orders.
"You are to stay back here. No slinging spells and disrupting the soldiers." Ronak turned and held out his hands, summoning his twin black blades.
"W-wait! Shouldn't you rest? You ran all the way here!" I grabbed onto the back of Ronak's shirt, but he simply snickered.
"What sort of alpha would take a break when their omega is in trouble?" Ronak turned slightly to look at me, and the gaze in his eyes was so gentle. "Be a good omega and let go." I nervously nodded my head and did as he asked.
"A-at least drink these." I pulled two bottles out of my storage. The first was a mana potion, but the second was a potion that I hadn't quite perfected. It was supposed to be a stamina potion, but it didn't quite have the 'umph' that I wanted it to. I had to imagine that his transformation spell drained his mana rather quickly, and the least I could do was give him the energy to keep fighting.
Ronak's sword disappeared from his hand as he accepted the potions. He drank the mana potion first and then the stamina. "We've gotta talk about how sickeningly sweet you make potions after we're done here." R-rude! D-don't stick your tongue out like they're nasty! They taste like berries! "Keep your shield up." Ronak patted my head, handed the now-empty jars back, and brought his sword back out. He turned, and this time I didn't stop him as he ran to join the fray.
The knights had already started their fierce fight with the nightwalker. Despite glancing at me, its attention was actually being diverted, if only slightly. The knights weren't just common foot soldiers either. It seemed that most of them were mixing their own magic in with their attacks. Even though the archers used magic-infused arrows, it was an impressive sight. Ronak didn't hesitate to help out either. As knights attacked and retreated, he'd cover them by sending up plenty of spikes to distract the nightwalker. They weren't making a ton of progress, but far more than Ronak and I had on our own.
Things were going surprisingly well until the nightwalker brought its barbed tail up and shot projectiles through the air. Ronak and a few knights managed to block some of the barbs, but there was a loud cry, and one of the soldiers got flung backwards.
He landed with a crash not too far from me. I-I can't just sit here… going over there shouldn't be too much of a problem, right? I kept my shield up and darted over to the fallen knight. "Are you okay?!" Mmm, the answer to that question was no. No, he was not. He let out a grunt as I tugged him over to lie on his back. He had a barb stabbed deep into his shoulder. It didn't seem to be poisoned, though, so I reached over to pull it out.
"D-don't!" The knight tried to stop me, but I was far faster than him in his injured state. I plucked the barb from his shoulder and tossed it aside. Blood started to pool in his wound, but I pressed my hand against his shoulder and closed my eyes so I could begin working. "Please don't move."
It was incredibly stressful having to work with the nightwalker wreaking havoc in the background, but I had worked in stressful situations before. M-maybe not this stressful…, but still…
His injury would have been bad had it been left untreated, but I was able to heal it up rather quickly. It didn't even pierce any major arteries or bones. He was pretty lucky. When I got done, he popped up off the ground and gave me a surprised look. "W-we have a healer?! We might actually stand a chance!" Before I could say anything, he jumped up and ran back to join the fray. I was going to tell him to rest a minute, but… I guess he's motivated to keep fighting…
I stood and wiped my hands off, but the moment I put away the dirty towel, two other knights went sailing through the air. Gah! I guess I need to pay attention so I don't get assaulted by a flying knight. It would probably hurt me a lot more than it would hurt them.
Taking in the situation, it seemed like one of the knights had a broken leg that was bent at a disgusting angle, while the other had major slash marks across his thighs. I decided to prioritize the bleeding knight since it seemed like his artery was hit. Blood was gushing out with every beat of his heart, and I knew he only had moments to live at this rate. I didn't hesitate at all as I ran to him and pressed my hands down onto his cuts. I winced a bit as the warm sticky blood of a person coated my hands, but I closed my eyes and focused on healing his femoral artery.
"You need to retreat. You've lost too much blood." My regular vision returned to my eyes, and I watched as the knight panted for air. He nodded his head, and I hoped he actually took my advice instead of running back into the fray.
It was rather hard to ignore the nightwalker's eyes following me as I moved over to the knight with a broken leg. R-Ronak wasn't wrong when he said that they target someone until either they're dead or you are. Talk about stressful. "I need to set your leg into place." The knight nodded his head and only cried out a little as I bent his leg back into place. After healing it, I checked him over, and he had a few cracked ribs, so I took care of those, too.
"Amazing! A goddess has graced the battlefield." He gave me a wink as he stood and readied himself for round two. He's lucky Ronak didn't see that. He got mad over a child holding my hand. He'd probably end your life for winking at me. Also… why did people call me a goddess?! I-I'm a guy!
The nightwalker had taken significant damage, but I was worried that this battle was taking too long. People's energy was bound to start dropping from the intensity of the battle, and more injuries were going to happen. I might have healing magic, but I wasn't a seasoned battle mage. The mental exhaustion of being targeted and having to run for our lives was starting to wear on me.
"Why have you brought such a beast to my training grounds, Ronak?!" I flinched as a booming voice echoed around the training grounds. I glanced up at the curtain wall to see a man holding a stupidly massive blade. It had to be about the size of his own body. How he managed to wave it around like it weighed nothing was absurd to me. Upon further inspection, he looked to be an older gentleman. His black hair had started to get some peppering through it, but don't get me wrong. This guy was probably more muscular than Ronak. Despite his angry tone, his red-orange eyes seemed to be filled with excitement. Th-the commander loved battle… didn't he? Also… he looks a little like Ronak…
Within seconds, the commander whipped his blade forward and jumped from the wall. He must have been using a type of magic paired with his weapon because his weapon glowed a dark orange color as it dug into the nightwalker's pelt. We looked like annoying flies buzzing around compared to the damage that the commander dealt in one blow. His massive sword dug into the nightwalker like a hot knife through butter. All the knights retreated as the nightwalker let out a dreadful cry.
To my horror, its eyes honed in on me. It wasn't giving up… was it? The nightwalker reared back and lunged at me as if desperate to finish the job. I should have run. I should have darted off or thrown some spells at it, but I faltered. Its sheer desire to kill overwhelmed me with fear, and I fell onto my butt. The hard impact jolted a little bit of sense into me, and I created multiple barriers around myself, but I was worried that it was too late. My arms came up as if shielding my face was going to make the nightwalker go away, but I guess if I was going to die, I didn't want to witness it.
Time was moving slowly again, or my brain was too scared to process things quickly. A strong set of arms wrapped around me as Ronak gripped me in a hug. I peeked through my arms to see Ronak desperately shielding me, but to my horror, the nightwalker was making quick work of my shields. One by one, the nightwalker's claws dug into my shields and shattered them like they were flimsy glass. As its paw smashed into the last shield, I heard a horrifying cracking sound. N-no! It extended its claws as I tried sending more mana to the spell, but it was clear who was stronger as the sound of shattering glass rang out.
Ronak let out a loud, anguished hissing sound as the nightwalker's claws dug into his back, and his face contorted in pain. Blood splattered on the ground as the nightwalker whipped its paw through the air, and Ronak slightly collapsed forward onto me. "R-Ronak!?!" I screamed. N-no! N-not like this!
I thought that was going to be the end of both of us as the nightwalker started to lunge forward once again. Before it could jump, the commander's blade struck the nightwalker's neck with a loud squelching snap sound. The commander's blade glowed red-orange for a minute before digging down further into the nightwalker's neck. The nightwalker let out a horrendous sound before dropping to the ground with a thud. Its spinal cord, probably severed.
I wasn't sure what was more overwhelming: the sound of my heart beating like crazy, the pain spilling into my senses from Ronak, or the weight of Ronak leaning against me. "You damn fool. Why would you go to such lengths to protect this one?" The commander stood next to the nightwalker and glared at us, but I didn't even pay attention.
"R-Ronak! Ronak! I-it's going to be okay!" I reached my arms around him as best as I could and tried to focus despite the tears streaming down my face. I-I had to save him! I needed to save him! My mana swelled around me, making the air shimmer a brilliant gold. I felt my mana draining, but I never cast a spell. H-huh?
Ronak gasped for air as his senses returned to him, but his arms didn't let me go. They held me tight and even gave me an additional squeeze as the pain faded. E-everything's fine now. Everything is going to be fine… My bottom lip quivered as all my feelings rushed forward.
"Mmm, a little light wielder. That's surprising, I didn't know one attended the academy." The commander grunted and turned towards his men. "Get the knights to clean this up." He whipped his blade through the air, causing the nightwalker's blood to fling off of it before it faded away just like Ronak's weapons did.
Ronak managed to release me, but he grabbed my tear-stained face and forced me to look up at him. "Are you okay?!" He asked in a gruff voice.
"Wh-why did you do that?!" Big tears welled in the corners of my eyes before bursting out. I let out a sad wail, and Ronak pulled me back into his arms. "Y-you almost died! I-I was so s-scared!" As I blubbered, Ronak pulled me with him as he plopped down onto his butt. No amount of head pats would console me, though. All the emotions that I had pent up were gushing out, many tears at a time.
There was a loud tongue click, and I heard the commander grumble, "Since when the hell do you care about others? Holy shit, look at your back, you've gone and done something stupid."
"Shut up." Ronak snarled back at him.
"Is that any way to treat your uncle after he came to save your ass?" The commander snarled back.
He let out a sigh and pulled my wet face up to look at him. "Calm down, neither of us died." I took a long, shaky inhale as I tried to stop the tears, but I made little progress until a comforting scent hit my nose. I snuggled against Ronak, only letting out a sad whimper as I continued working to calm down.
"Does your father know about this?" The commander, or I guess Ronak's uncle, wagged his finger at us. He looked incredibly uncomfortable as he stared at the two of us.
"No. I expect you to keep your damn mouth shut." Ronak gently rubbed circles around my back, which I greatly appreciated. It was incredibly soothing after everything that had happened. I didn't enjoy all the bewildered stares we were getting, though. Was it that odd for me to want my alpha's comfort?
"I didn't think you'd ever fucking take a damn omega." Now that I was paying attention to their conversation… H-he sounds just like Ronak… I guess this is probably where he learned it from. They seem close… I think. At least, Ronak isn't violently snarling at him. "This event seems rather targeted." The commander turned away from us and kicked the paw of the dead nightwalker. "Seems like some jackass wanted your omega dead. Who knows about your little folly?" A shiver ran down my spine. S-someone wanted me dead? B-but why? I-I've never done anything to upset anyone!
Ronak gently patted my head as if to distract me. "Don't refer to my decisions as folly. We both know who controls a vast majority of the market and flow of information under my father's nose." M-maybe I should take that back. Based on the glares they're sharing, maybe they're not as close as I thought… Was everyone in their family this intimidating? "That is the question, though. Little to no one knows. It would probably be more successful to track down who's still breeding illegal nightwalkers in our empire." I was having a difficult time following Ronak's conversation. I-I guess I didn't know Ronak all that well… I never even tried to get to know him either…
"You should report to the emperor about what has transpired here so he doesn't think you hauled a nightwalker into the palace grounds for nefarious reasons." The commander smirked as Ronak's face soured. D-does he not get along with the emperor either?
"I have other business to take care of. You go report to him what happened."
"Can't. I'll be overseeing the damn cleanup of the fucking mess you caused." He kicked the nightwalker's paw again, which caused Ronak to snarl. Overseeing? More like watching… I glanced over to the knights, who were clearly doing all the work by getting a cart ready. They were probably going to have the beast broken down into usable parts.
Ronak's annoyed snarl slowly turned into a mischievous stare. "It was trying to kill us. Can we have its corpse?"
"What purpose would you have with it? I don't think any of the parts would be useful for you." His uncle crossed his arms and gave Ronak a suspicious glare. I was even confused. Wh-why would Ronak want this thing's corpse? It's nothing, but a reminder of it trying to kill us.
Ronak patted the top of my head. "I've got quite the little potion brewer on my hands, and I'm sure he'll find something interesting to do with the ingredients." Umm… I-I know I've given you a few potions, but to refer to me as your little potion brewer was odd… I-I just happen to share…
The commander looked even more puzzled as he looked between the two of us. W-was there something I wasn't understanding because I was confused too. "This corpse would go to waste in his hands. Besides, don't you owe us for bringing a dangerous beast here to injure my knights? Someone needs to pay for treatment." I-I didn't even want the thing! D-don't glare at me like that! I-it's freaky!
"I believe I'm the one to decide if it's wasteful or not, and besides, you don't even have any injured knights." Ronak had quite the sly grin as the commander glanced about.
The knight from earlier stepped forward and saluted the commander. "Sir, besides some bumps and bruises, the only major wounds that occurred were healed by this young lady." Ack! I-I know I shamelessly cried and clung onto Ronak, but that didn't mean I was a lady…
Ronak snickered so hard that he leaned over to catch his breath with his nose in my hair. "Heh, young lady," Ronak mumbled with a smirk on his face. He grabbed my chin and pulled my face up to stare at it. I didn't exactly like being called a girl, but I don't see why Ronak was drawing attention to it. "I guess, but it's probably because your bow fell out."
"S-stop it!" I squealed. My face was turning pink as Ronak stared at me. I-I didn't even realize that my ribbon came out. It was probably due to all the jostling and chaos.
"Did I say something wrong?" The knight asked. His eyebrows were practically touching; he had them furrowed so tightly.
"There aren't any ladies present at the moment." Ronak snickered as he released my chin. Th-thank's Ronak… Now everyone was giving us strange stares again… "So, can we have it? You don't have any medical treatments to pay for."
"Fine, but I want part of the pelt once it's been broken down. I am the one who killed it after all." I didn't appreciate the commander's judgmental gaze. He already didn't seem to like me, and now he really didn't seem to like me.
"Is there room?" Ronak asked me. H-huh? Oh…
"I guess so…" Was there even a limit to that spell? I had so much stuff in there, and it barely used mana.
"Load it up with the other ones." There was a bit of confusion brewing amongst the group of knights, and I didn't blame them. Ronak's explanations never made sense unless you had the full context of what was happening.
"O-okay…" I sat up in his lap with a hiccup and held my hands out. A beautifully intricate golden rune appeared below the nightwalker's corpse, and it slowly sunk into my storage to be with the other monster corpses. Yuck, I-I was tired of carrying around a bunch of dead things. The knights gasped in awe as the monster's corpse completely disappeared from sight. They were probably grateful they didn't have to haul it anywhere. It was probably insanely heavy.
"Healing spells and now a storage spell. Ronak, you goddamn bastard, are you trying to keep such a valuable citizen to yourself?" The commander folded his arms and stared down at me like I was some sort of prized beast. Eep! S-stop! You're as creepy as the nightwalker!
Ronak protectively pulled me back into his arms and glowered at his uncle. "He is my omega, of course, I'm keeping him to myself."
"He could be an incredibly useful asset to our special ops knights or even the dungeon delving brigade-" Ronak let out an angry growl, causing his uncle to stop rambling.
"Micha can choose what he wants to do by himself. He doesn't need you influencing him." He says I can choose what I want to do, but… can I? If Ronak takes the title of duke, then I would have to assume the role of duchess… If anything, I felt a little robbed of my future… "Shouldn't you be reporting to the emperor by now? It would be a shame if you keep him waiting." Ronak snarled. W-was that his master plan? Collect the corpse so his uncle was available to see the emperor?
"Oh, good, we can go together now." The commander smiled, but it was creepy. Completely cold and shiver-worthy. He stepped closer to Ronak and grabbed him by his tattered collar. Ronak let out a pissed off growl as his uncle started hauling him off. Wh-what? Despite Ronak's thrashing and snarling about his uncle easily dragged Ronak away from me. I sat there feeling a bit startled for a moment. Wh-what do I do? D-do I follow? I-I didn't like Ronak being ripped off of me…
I felt a little too exposed without him. There were too many eyes watching. I let out a little distressed whimper and followed after my pissed off alpha. Th-this is so embarrassing…
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"Release me! I'll walk!" Ronak complained as he tried to pull his uncle's hand off his collar. At least Ronak had made it to his feet and was stumbling along beside his uncle instead of being dragged, but… j-just how strong was his uncle? S-scary…
"If you try to fucking escape, I'll have all the damn knights hunt you down as a fun activity." Th-that didn't sound fun… for either party, actually… The commander snarled, making me flinch, and released Ronak, who quickly approached my side. I couldn't help but nestle against him. I wasn't exactly sure what was happening, and I felt incredibly uncomfortable walking through the palace covered in dirt and blood while following after my alpha, who was going bananas. I felt like a sad puppy desperate for its parents.
Here I was thinking that Ronak's estate was fancy. This place made his look almost average. The columns and arches were probably gilded with real gold, and the marble floors were shined to perfection. Even the knights standing guard along the halls wore far more elaborate armor than those who worked on the palace grounds. I didn't even dare compare this place to my family's estate; they were worlds apart, and it almost felt rude to think of them in a similar way.
We approached an opulent set of doors, and the commander approached the attendant working at the desk. Once hearing what the commander had to say, they quickly darted inside the doors. I nervously fidgeted next to Ronak. I-I was really going to meet the emperor looking like this? I-I mean, Ronak didn't look much better with his shredded shirt, but… he was at least the emperor's nephew… I was just some omega that Ronak made a mistake with…
"Stop worrying. If this uncle hasn't sent you running for the hills, I doubt the emperor will. He's… annoying…" H-huh? W-was that any way of talking about the emperor?! I get that he's your uncle, but there's a line somewhere, and I feel like you crossed it! "Just kneel beside me and don't raise your head until we're permitted to." I nodded my head, but couldn't bring myself to let go of Ronak's torn-up shirt. He let out an exasperated sigh and wrapped his arm around me. "You're worrying about nothing."
"Good gods, I didn't know you had a caring bone in your damn spiteful body." The commander snarled while staring at us. He totally made me want to run for the hills, but I was too occupied with hiding behind Ronak.
"I'm… trying to be a good alpha." His uncle let out a rather rude grunt and looked away from us. Ronak was… definitely different around me than he used to be. He seemed a lot less scary than he did when I first spared with him. I didn't feel completely comfortable with him, but in this uncomfortable scenario, there was no one else for me to rely on. W-was Ronak blushing a little?
The doors opened, and we were ushered into what seemed to be a royal meeting hall. There were assembly hall desks on either side of the center walkway. I would assume that, during normal circumstances that they would be filled to the brim with noblemen and advisors to the crown, but right now they sat eerily empty. I made the mistake of glancing up, but quickly returned my attention to the plush red carpet.
Sitting at the end of the grand hall was no one else but the emperor on his throne. Beside him were a few attendants and knights, but other than that, the room was empty. Did he have it cleared out just because we were here?
Ronak kneeled, bringing me with him like a baby bird under his wing. Ah, the carpet was as plush as I thought it would be. W-we were totally getting it dirty! Gah! The emperor is going to remember me by a bloody dirt stain on his carpet! "Seems like someone brought a terrible gift to the palace." A loud, confident voice filled the air, followed by a chuckle. "And what is this? My arrogant and haughty nephew enters my throne room with a blushing face and a pretty girl? Have I finally lost my senses, or do my eyes deceive me?" Another warm chuckle filled the air, and the feeling of annoyance washed over me from Ronak. "You may lift your heads simply because I wish to see this funny display a bit better." Ronak's glare was as sharp as ever, but I was pretty nervous about raising my head. H-he even called me a girl! Was it these new clothes that I was wearing? I-I knew I shouldn't have worn them! They got completely ruined! "I asked you to raise your head. Don't make me ask multiple times." I let out a little yelp and glanced up at the emperor.
He looked incredibly similar to the commander, except his hair was a tad bit grayer. Even their eyes were pretty similar, except I'd say the emperor's were a bit more red and the commander's a bit more orange. I guess that made sense because they were brothers… He was surprisingly muscular, but had a pleasant smile unlike Ronak and the commander, who were grimacing. H-how were these two grumpies related to the emperor?
I-I wish we had a chance to change. Even the attendant at the emperor's side was dressed better than we were. Especially Ronak, his shirt was a shredded bloody mess, and his gold bond mark was on complete display for everyone to see. I-I think mine was hidden still, but it's not like it mattered anymore. It was pretty obvious who Ronak's omega was.
"Who are you?" The emperor tilted his head to the side, and I thought his crown would fall off, but it didn't… How peculiar… I guess it wasn't as heavy as it looked. It had what looked to be sword tips pointing out the base, which was adorned with jewels. I couldn't imagine that it was sharp since the emperor interacts with it often, but it was impressive nonetheless.
Ronak poked me in the side, and I let out a little gasp. I-I was so stressed that I was easily distracted by dumb things. I rose to my wobbly feet and tried giving the best bow possible. "Th-the honor is mine, Your Highness. I am, but Lord Verchiel's s-son." N-not a girl… The emperor rubbed his chin as if trying to figure out who my father was. I didn't blame him at all; we were only a little noble family who lived out in the middle of nowhere.
"A boy, huh…" The emperor looked at Ronak, who was silently seething in annoyance. "I believe your family serves Viscount Ausout Terrowin, am I correct?"
Honestly, I was shocked that he knew. "Y-yes, Your Highness."
"What business does my nephew have with a lord's son?" Wh-why am I getting all the questions? I-I wanted to burst into tears again and hide behind Ronak.
"Umm, w-well… H-he… w-we…" I-I don't know! It's confusing!
"Enough. You're stressing Micha out." Ronak snapped as he pulled me back down beside him. "You have damn eyes. Don't force answers out of Micha just because you want to watch someone squirm, you sick bastard."
"Oh? I don't remember asking him that difficult a question. Since you're all riled up, would you care to explain?" The emperor's smile didn't fade at all. If anything, he looked amused as he rested his head on his curled fist.
Ronak's gaze darted away, and a wave of embarrassment passed over me from him. "He's my omega. I… bonded with him… by force."
The emperor sat up and inhaled sharply through his teeth. "Yikes, you know our empire doesn't look fondly at forced bonds." He clicked his teeth, and the smile on his face wavered. "When did this occur? Did you go into a rut during the dungeon?"
Ronak was still avoiding the emperor's gaze, but to my surprise, Ronak's cheeks turned a bit pink. "Maybe…, but this happened last weekend…" Not just the emperor, but the commander turned to give Ronak scathing glares.
"So this was a decision made on your part… While completely sane… I thought better of you, Ronak. That's quite the stain to put on your reputation. Especially if he resents you for it." The emperor's eyes slowly turned back to me. I-I wanted to bury my face into the carpet. D-don't look at me with pity… "My nephew can be a bit… unpleasant."
"I-I know…" I mumbled dejectedly. Ronak whipped over to stare at me for a second before turning away again. Did he seem hurt by my response?
The emperor returned his head to his curled fist, but he wasn't grinning like before. He almost seemed… irritated. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, Ronak?"
"No… I don't regret what I did, and I'd even do it again." H-he would? B-but why? What did he see in me that he liked so much? I-it couldn't just be pheromone-based, right? Gah! He confused me so much!
"How fascinating. After searching the entire empire and even outside of the empire for you, an omega, you found your own. I didn't think you'd find anyone that you're interested in. I thought you had a deep-seated hatred for omegas or something. You were so adverse to the idea of getting married. Now look at you."
"It was even more fucking startling to see him be kind." The commander grumbled under his breath.
"Oh? My grumpy nephew knows how to be kind and gentle to an omega? How novel." The grin on the emperor's face slightly returned as he sat up again. "I'll stop giving you a hard time for now, Ronak, but don't be surprised when the road ahead of you is bumpy. You not only forcibly marked him, but he's a lord's son and an omega at that. Essentially, he's a titleless noble and you're a future duke. People aren't going to look the other way. The worst part is, it won't be you who bears the brunt of things. You have done nothing but place a burden upon Micha's shoulders. Now the question is, will you help him shoulder it or will you make him bear the entire weight-"
"Shut up!" Snapped Ronak as he dug his fingers into the carpet. Gone was Ronak's embarrassment. It was replaced by pure hatred and annoyance. "Micha will bear no burdens! I'll see to that myself!"
"If you say so." The emperor seemed rather skeptical as he brushed off Ronak's irritation. Mmm, now my stomach is in knots… Wh-why did he have to point all that out? Wasn't I stressed enough as it was? "Anyways, back to the main topic. What became of the nightwalker?"
The commander cleared his throat and spoke up. "It has been taken care of. Thankfully, the two of them reached the knight's training grounds before it caught up to them. The knights did a valiant job keeping it at bay until I arrived."
"How many casualties did we incur?" The emperor strummed his fingers across his knee as he waited for an answer.
"None, Your Highness."
The emperor raised an eyebrow and stared at his brother in confusion. "Those were knights equipped with training gear only. Plus, I was told they were Squadron B. Don't they have little to no experience with killing monsters?"
"There were injuries, but it seems that this one has amazing abilities that will blossom into an incredible asset for our empire." He waved his hand in my direction, and I flinched. Wh-why were you drawing the emperor's attention back to me?
"Oh? Do tell." The emperor's gaze wasn't as scary as Ronak's or the commander's, but that didn't mean I liked it. Ah… I had ended up leaning against Ronak as the two spoke… D-do I sit up? M-my legs feel a bit like jelly…
"I-I wield light magic… Your Highness." Gah! I almost forgot to properly address him! This was too much! C-can I just hide behind Ronak?
"Oh, right… I should have connected the dots. You're our scholarship student… Continue." C-continue? Wh-what was there to continue? A-and stop staring at me! I-I can't take it! The emperor noticed my hesitation and prompted me again. "What abilities do you possess?" Oh, is that what he wanted to know?
"I-I can wield all three branches of light magic… I-I can heal most broken wounds- Ah! I-I mean broken bones and wounds!" I nervously stared at the carpet and tried to focus, but I felt like I was going to be sick. Ronak's pheromones gently tickled my nose, and I looked over at his soft gaze. "I-I can't quite heal poisons, paralysis, or diseases yet, but I've learned to brew potions to make up for that… R-Ronak says I'm not half bad at it…"
"Mmm, that's quite the compliment to receive from him." I-it was?
"I-I can make shields that block incoming attacks… to an extent…" My gaze wandered to Ronak's torn-up shirt. "I also have multiple combat spells… Oh, a-and I have a storage spell…" I'm sure there was more I could say, but I didn't want to ramble on in front of the emperor. I was already making an embarrassment of myself.
"My, my. Ronak, you cad. Are you intentionally stealing away my hidden gem?" The emperor's gaze returned to Ronak, and I felt a little relieved. "Light magic is rare enough, and he can use all three branches? I can't believe you ran and marked him. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"I already told you I don't have any regrets. I'd do everything in my power to steal him from you if things worked out differently." I looked over to Ronak, who was giving me a strange look. H-he was making it pretty clear that he had feelings for me… despite the fact that they seemed to be rather… possessive…
The emperor snickered, and a smirk played in the corners of his lips. "You sound like a lovesick fool." Ronak only managed to grunt in response. L-love?! R-Ronak didn't actually think he l-loved me… did he?! Surely, not… "I never know what you're up to. It's a good thing you have no interest in the throne. My poor children wouldn't stand a chance." Oh yeah… Ronak did mention that he was second in line for the throne… I believe the emperor has a son and a daughter. That would make them first and third.
Ronak bristled the moment the throne was brought up. "Elyas is more than fitting to take the throne. Like you said, I have no interest in internal affairs."
"Hmm, that's a pity. You'd make a fine emperor if you could control your fits of anger." Did he… just disregard his own children in favor of Ronak? "Have you figured out who sent a nightwalker to kill your omega yet?"
Ronak glared at the emperor, and a massive wave of irritation washed over me. "I haven't had a chance to start an investigation because I was dragged here by a brute." Ronak looked like an angry cat glaring between his two uncles, who seemed a bit too smug about irritating him. "Are you done with your trifling questions?! I have things that need to be attended to." He snapped. I-I can kinda see why he said that he found the emperor annoying… It was like the emperor was intentionally poking Ronak with a sharp stick to get a reaction out of him.
"I expect to be informed by tomorrow who's brave enough to keep nightwalkers in my empire." Wh-what?! H-he expected Ronak to do what now? Th-that was such a short deadline! I-it was already midday! How did he expect Ronak to accomplish that?!
"I'll have their head on a pike by tomorrow morning." Ronak snarled. C-creepy… Wh-why did you have to say it like that? Ronak stood, hauling me with him. I didn't even have a chance to bow or say goodbye! The emperor is going to think I'm rude! R-Ronak! I glanced behind us to see the emperor stifling his laughter. Gah! Ronak!
Once outside the throne room, Ronak glanced over to me. "I know you're not going to enjoy it, but until we find out who tried sending a nightwalker after you, you're staying with me. You're not to leave my sight."
"O-okay." I wasn't going to resist. I was terrified of the idea of being alone. I didn't even want to leave his side at the moment because I was so scared. I'll have to trust that Ronak has a plan, whatever it might be.