Demonic Lycan's Royal Consort

Chapter 17: Nikolas

"Is this yours?" The deep voice sounded again, awakening her from the sudden shock.

Irene's pupils constricted, looking at the man wearing a slightly torn shirt, revealing his toned arm muscle. Instead of giving him a ragged look, it amplified the sense of attractive wildness.

"What?" Her hoarse voice sounded, and a frown marred her forehead. This man's face was akin to a Greek sculpture; perfect and fascinating with sharp and prominent features. However, it wasn't enough to make her lose her mind.

She vigilantly glanced around, making sure that it wasn't the second assassination. Then, her gaze fell on the thing on his hand, the sight that had sent her into a shock.

It was a piece of bloody red meat, and the quantity wasn't small. If she wasn't wrong, it must have been the flesh of the white-furred werewolf earlier.

The man motioned to her hand, then to her face. "If it's yours, I will leave it here."

He put down the bloody meat and then turned around, walking away.

Irene's mouth couldn't help but twitch. With a squint of her eyes, she promptly concluded that this man wasn't someone of her race, which meant that he could only be a werewolf. How could he keep such an indifferent guise, and even calmly handed her the meat of his fellow race?

It was inexplicable.

When her eyes fell on the lump of meat on the rock, her stomach squirmed in disgust. It wasn't because of the violent picture, but due to who it was when the person was still alive.

Leaving the meat behind, she found a small creek. The blood on her hands and clothes were mixed; the werewolves' and also hers. Plunging into the water, she tried to wash clean, scratching the dried blood sticking onto her skin and staining her clothes.

Inadvertently, her eyes fell onto the place where the man had disappeared. Shaking her head, she looked around her surroundings more, grasping the situation she was in. As per her knowledge, survival heavily relied on the terrain; the existence of food, and how a person managed to use an area to their own advantage.

The wet head glanced up at the tall rockery, where the water had come from. Above there, where the peak had been blurry because of fog, she saw how deep this cliff was. She had indeed ascended the mountain.

Retracting her gaze, she no longer thought about such matters. The movement of her hands continued, rubbing on her body and clothes. There was that man, so she was unable to take off her clothes for convenience.

As her hand touched the reddish wound, feeling it stung. The poison was still rampaging in her body, fighting the vampire bloodline. She admitted that she had underestimated the toxicity of this poison; this kind of thing wasn't something a little figure could get his hands on.

Therefore, the mastermind behind her mother's accident must have been a quite powerful figure with a background. As the poison and the bloodline continued to use her body as a battlefield, she was overcome by weakness.

The two feet trudged ashore, stinging with each step she took. It was nothing; the most troublesome was this uncomfortable feeling of weakness. So, she should search for shelter and rest there to recover her energy.

When her eyes had swept around before, she thought she had seen the mouth of a cave. After getting up from the water, she walked normally, unflinching at the gnawing pain on her feet.

As she got closer, the nose sniffed some scent in the air. Gradually, she could see a small fire inside the cave. Beside it, the man who had come to return that werewolf meat was sitting peacefully.

"You are here." He said, his voice pleasant. The reddish-orange fire illuminated his flawless countenance, making it even more fascinating.

"Yeah." The succinct reply came out, slightly cold.

"Sit down." He offered, tossing the trunk of wood for her right beside the fire. Irene didn't refuse either. She had always believed her instinct, which said this man had no malice toward her. For now, at least.

"You didn't bring your game?" This man was roasting a rabbit. There were at least sixteen of them; what a huge appetite.

Her lips instantly pursed, feeling rather speechless. "Are you not uncomfortable seeing someone eating flesh and blood of your own race?"

The man nonchalantly shrugged. "Only the victor has a say."

A momentary trace took over her, and she nodded in agreement. "That's true."

The wet hair was sticking to her forehead, and the clothes felt like it was hugging her skin. If she were a human, perhaps she should have sensed the coldness. However, such feelings no longer had any association with her.

"Do you have a prejudice against werewolves?"

There was an indescribable evil tone.

Were we going to talk about philosophy here? Such thought passed her mind. However, she still replied honestly. "That depends. If that werewolf is an enemy, naturally, I have a prejudice. Wait no, it's not just a prejudice…"

Her eyebrows twisted together, and her small face was full of pondering. Then, she talked about it seriously. "The person's life should be a living hell, burned until not even the bones are left. Likewise, if they didn't have any enmity with me, I wouldn't pay any attention."

Irene didn't know if it was an illusion just now. She thought she saw his eyes flash with assurance and what seemed to be a relief.

A comment just escaped her mouth like that. "You are such a strange person."

"Such a person is more memorable." The response came just as quickly.

Her mind couldn't help but fall into a slight daze. It had been a while since she had such a conversation where she didn't need to put on a certain appearance or be cold and sarcastic. In her memory, she seemed to have such days before.

It was so far away, so long ago that it was beyond her reach.

"You are different from other vampires." He commented, breaking her reverie.

With a glance, she folded her hand across her chest, getting closer to the fire. The right hand supported the chin. "We are even then, a pair of strange people encountering one another."

Then, she muttered in a fake surprise. "You know that I am a vampire?"

"You have also known that I am a werewolf. Don't underestimate other people's intelligence too much."

The tone was kind; the first impression she had of this man. Inexplicably, she knew he wasn't such a person. There was a dormant dangerous aura permeating around his body. A testament he should not be provoked.

Well, it wasn't like she was going to develop further contact with this man, right?

She was much more relaxed but had never let her guard down. Judging from the small scar on his hand, this man seemed to be injured. Perhaps, he had a bigger scar somewhere in a more concealed place. She had this premonition that if he were to reveal his power, although he was injured, it would be multiple times more devastating than the white-furred werewolf.

"There was a sound of something falling from above. I never thought that it would be a person. You are quite robust." He tossed her a roasted rabbit, which she caught with ease. The slight embarrassment painted her face when she realized that this man had been the one helping her since she came here.

Listening to his words, she rolled her eyes. "It's great that I didn't fall to my death."

"Encountering enemies?"

She shrugged without saying anything.

Strange silence took over.

"It's not poisoned. You can eat it." It seemed that he had misunderstood her silence.

"Thanks." She muttered and bit on the leg first, wincing a little bit when the tasteless thing hit her tongue. She had been human for a long time and thus forgot she couldn't taste anything without Reyes' handiwork.

"Is it not tasty?"

"Vampires can't taste things." She replied, unconsciously revealing a sullen tone.

"Then, why are you wincing?" The expression on the man was full of curiosity, with a hint of a little teasing.

"I was a human. Just remembered I have lost this gift from God."

"You were a human?"

"Ask one more thing, and I will have to suspect that you are a disguised assassin sent to finish me off." She deadpanned, frowning a little.

The man just shrugged. "Unexpectedly, you can be fierce."

He lowered his head. If one looked at his eyes, one would see tumultuous storms raging there.

Irene fell into a lapse of reminiscence. Everything in this cave seemed to conspire to evoke the serenity she once had and lost. Until a moment later that she realized the man had gone silent.

Thinking about it for a moment, she said to him, "What can I do to repay you?"

"Repay me?" The corner of his lips curled, and an inexplicable smile appeared.

"As long as it's not outrageous and still within my means." She added, despising that evil smile a little. "I don't like owing favors."

"It's just a small favor. Don't be so rigid." He chuckled pleasantly.

"Well…" She still stared at him.

"Tell me your name."

"Excuse me…?"

"You can tell me your name, and we are even."

Her eyes were full of doubts and suspicion. She suddenly had the urge to joke. "For what? You wouldn't be naming a voodoo doll with my name and stabbing needles into it, would you?"

"That's a good suggestion." His eyes twinkled.

"It's Irene." She hesitated about telling him her full name, and finally decided against it. After all, the surname Hildegard solely belonged to the vampire royal family.

"That's a nice name."

"You are so perfunctory."

"Nikolas."

"Nikolas?"

"That's my name. It sounds rather good coming out of your mouth." There was a hint of teasing in his tone.

She found that since she had come out of the royal palace, he was the only one who dared to openly make fun of her! Rolling her eyes, she sighed. Usually, people would be deterred just by looking at her cold and unapproachable countenance.

The two injured people lived in the cave in a strange harmonious manner for the next few days. She had even offered to bandage his wound on the shoulder, whose blood she just managed to catch the scent of only a few days later. However, he refused her straightaway.

She didn't think much of it. After all, she could help with other things like catching fish or rabbits in the forest. Although human food was unnecessary, even tasted rather bland, she liked the feeling of it.

"By the way, there seems to be something from your race out there."

One morning, after she nearly recovered her strength, she heard this sentence. Lifting her head, her eyes meet his deep ones.

She suddenly had a bad guess. "What is it?"

"It's outside the cave."

After she took a look, her face instantly darkened.