Demonic Lycan's Royal Consort

Chapter19: Chance Encounter

She didn't lose her mind. The incoming claw was severed just as the man's hand was about to slap it away, causing double destruction to the beast's body that its skin hit by the man became ruptured.

"I can handle it." She lifted her chin. The tone was slightly arrogant. It was unknown what came over her. The second time she saw him, something was blocked inside her chest.

Then, a tacit understanding and cooperation came just as naturally. The two people's position gradually changed, becoming closer physically; their backs against each other. The attacks of the beasts were solved easily like they were swatting a bunch of mosquitos.

Irene hadn't spoken besides these four words. Nikolas didn't seem like he wanted to talk much either. However, after time passed, she finally opened her mouth and asked. "What are you doing here?"

Nikolas raised one of his eyebrows. They didn't stop warding off the incoming attack just because of the start of this small conversation. "It should be just like what you are doing."

Her little face scrunched, and she coldly snorted. "I should go."

She looked at him with a meaningful gaze, then teleported away, disappearing in front of his eyes without the slightest delay. Thus, the incoming beasts' attack became his to handle alone. As he gazed into the place where she had disappeared, his gaze became deep; two pupils full of swirling emotions.

The teleportation didn't directly send her to the destination. The alarm ringing on her instinct this time reminded her of danger. The cause of that subtle hint of indescribable peril was unknown, but it compelled her to leave Nikolas' presence.

Reyes seemed to be in deep thinking when she quietly entered his cabin. The right hand propped up his chin and his pair of eyes looked ahead without focus.

"You are drooling." The tone was flat as if she was stating a fact.

"What…?" Reyes subconsciously touched the corner of his mouth. When he realized he was tricked, he turned his head toward her with a glare, finding the young woman's eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Running away from home again?" He pursed his lips.

"What is running away from home? You make me sound like I am a child."

"Technically, your age says that you are still a child."

With a roll of her eyes, she gave a mocking laugh. "Right, a bunch of old men."

Reyes sighed and didn't bother to respond any longer. However, when he inadvertently caught the flashes between her eyes, he became alert.

"You…?" The next word blocked in his throat.

"Tell me a way to go back." The tone was no longer light and pleasant. There was a hint of force and pressure.

Reyes sighed deeply again and mourned inside his heart. That old man probably didn't expect her insistence and stubbornness would run so deep.

Silence permeated the whole room. Irene was looking ahead at him unblinkingly, and Reyes acted as if she wasn't there, not giving the slightest response to her question. The deadlock continued for hours, and the psychological pressure nearly sent Reyes to the brink of collapse.

Before he could realize it, Irene was gone when he noticed something wrong. Probably, she hadn't been there since hours ago, just leaving her aura to trick him. However, traces of her temper were still there; the chair and table where she had been sitting had turned to ashes. Something lodged in his throat, feeling his heart blocked.

This little girl wasn't kind, leaving his mind wandering about her evil intention. He was sure about one thing though, that she was in an angry mood.

And he was right. As she jumped through the thick branches of ancient trees, her eyebrows were tightly locked, eyes gloomy. Chaotic thoughts run through her mind.

If she were to choose, she would rather go threaten Stelian than force Reyes. It was just her impulse, and she wasn't expecting any answer. Yet, the failure still dragged her mood down.

When Reyes and she were equally in a stubborn mood, it was like smashing stone against stone.

She picked her way carefully, finding that the exercise of jumping from one tree to another--shaking birds that they flew in a panic-- was actually an activity that calmed her mind down.

Occasionally her hand slashed down, cutting down any small animals conspiring against her. Even those who were staying in the tall trees had their own ferocity and were very territorial.

"Who?" Her chest heaved up and down, the voice slightly hoarse full of bad temper.

As the man showed his tail, she didn't hesitate to swipe her hand toward him. The shadow was so fast that people would think it was several people moving together, but Irene knew it wasn't. Who was so good that his movements were so hard to detect using the naked eye?

She had only known of a person: that man in black, or maybe also Nikolas. However, the occasional flashes of his figure wrapped in black made her instinctively think of that person.

"The lady is very fierce."

A frivolous tone filled with taunting and mocking floated in the forest. The man had evaded her attack with such ease that her eyes narrowed.

Irene didn't hesitate to send a series of attacks, making up her mind to grow her nails later. It would be more convenient to tear her opponents' throats apart with such weapons.

As her mood plunged into the bottom of the well, with nowhere to vent, it was as though a starving hunter had chanced upon a fat rabbit. Her attacks weren't merciful either, each one filled with murderous intention aiming at vital parts.

The man had his speed, and she had her teleportation ability. They fought at various positions; sometimes on the ground, at the branches, or even jumping into the air.

"The lady keeps attacking at vital parts. People would think that we have a grudge before." His voice reverberated in the forest, light and flippant.

"We indeed have a grudge." The tone of his voice, occasional smirks behind the dark mask, or even the contemptuous attitude didn't sit well with her. She didn't know whether this man was the one fighting against her in the Forest of Beasts, as well as the one who broke into the awakening chamber, but she had an instinctive dislike that made her equally at a loss.

Was it about races? She guessed that his race must be a werewolf, a strong one.

Since when did the werewolf race have so many strong figures? In addition, what were they doing in Forest of Beast? It was so close to Blackcourt City that she was worried this city of hers would be affected.

The speed slowed down until he stood with his figure fully exposed in front of her, tall with wide shoulders.

His eyes visibly dilated, and a pair of deep black pools narrowed. After throwing away his playful attitude, his serious manner surprised Irene. She had decided that this man wasn't that person having an irrevocable grudge against her, but now what was with his attitude?

In fact, she was just testing him on impulse. She hadn't expected that when he became serious, the dangerous aura surrounding him would be so dreadful, full of evil and oppression.

"I wonder what I have done to offend such a strong lady like you?" His playful nature was back, returning to his previous flippant attitude.

Such an easygoing person, but was indescribably dangerous, was the most troublesome enemy. They were the type that hid a knife under a kind smile or stabbed quietly in the back when one wasn't paying attention.

However, his attitude only annoyed her.

Ignoring his question, she flew upwards, her figure sending out yet another attack. The man sprung up, surprisingly intending to meet her attack head-on.

Irene put more force on her right hand, the left hand preparing for another ball of force. The two people's attack met head-on in the air, rebounded each other and they flew backward. She used this momentum to bounce her body, the right foot hitting the thick trunk of a tree.

The direction was where the man had fallen back on. He had nearly hit on dense towering trees, yet the agile movement saved him.

She wanted to use this chance to make a sneak attack, but the man didn't seem easy to deal with. He immediately noticed the force behind her small hand, thereby forcing himself to move quickly to slap the direction force away from him.

"This lady seems to be familiar with me. With such a grudge, we should have met somewhere?"

The slap had caused slight numbness on the back of her hand. It wasn't outrageous to hurt an opponent in a fight, but it was certainly outrageous that you held the opponent's hand and forced them to look at you in his eyes.

That was what he exactly did.

"It was not so gentlemanly of me. So, I apologize. May I know the lady's name?"

Only then she realized that her action was inappropriate to attack any figure passing by her. She wasn't like this before, and it was probably the influence of that person which made her paranoid. With a frown, she pulled her hand away from him, surprised that the tight grip was easily solved. Looking at his eyes, she knew he did it on purpose.

He was quite strong that the small confrontation didn't hurt him at all, but she thought that she still needed to make some compensation.

"Here, I should be the one apologizing for the improper behavior." She threw a bottle of medicine. It was created by Reyes, so the effects were undoubtedly better than the handiwork of any alchemist in the Astral Continent.

Even though she was sorry, she didn't intend to tell him her name.

"The lady didn't tell me her name." He repeated, catching the medicine in his hand with a content look.

Irene shot him an indifferent look. It was annoying to be called "the lady" over and over again, but her vigilance remained high. There was an indescribable urge to tell him her name just to shut him up, but she was very unwilling to give up. Just as she was about to teleport away, she heard him asking again.

"There should be someone similar to me--"

The sentence was cut off from earshot as her figure completely disappeared.

"-- that you would mistake me for him. I wonder, who is the person that could make the indifferent you to be so distraught to the point of mistaking me as someone else?"

The light and frivolous tone were gone, replaced with endless gloominess.

***

Meanwhile, at the Blackcourt City where Irene was absent, Stefan called his most trusted attendant, the one who was willing to serve him even if his noble title had gone. However, he knew that it was attributed to the duke. His title was no longer there, but his connection to noble circles did.

"Go, check about the princess."

"The princess is sleeping, My Lord." The attendant replied naturally.

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure, My Lord. She is still undergoing her transformation right now. Possibly, her body is also still weak."

"Have you found her whereabouts ever since she entered this continent?" Stefan looked at him straight in the eye.

The hesitation flashing in the attendant's eyes displeased him.

"We are still in the middle of the investigation. Pardon me, My Lord." The attendant had a panicked look in his eyes, the gaze darting to the surroundings not daring to meet the eyes of the man in front of him.

Suppressing the building anger in his chest, Stefan said stiffly with gritted teeth, "Get out."

A lot of privileges were lost once he was stripped of his noble title. How would he not hold a grudge? The order he had given to the attendant naturally had a purpose.

At this moment, Irene had not returned to Blackcourt City. She was still lingering on the Forest of Beasts. After that encounter with the black-masked man, she still felt somewhat uncomfortable. Unexpectedly, she would meet another scumbag so soon.

This time, she was sure that it was the man who had broken through the awakening chamber last time. Even so, the tiredness had beaten the grudge. She could settle things later because she needed to urgently go to the palace. If she didn't come back soon, people would naturally turn suspicious.

However, before leaving, she couldn't help but mock him. Making a motion with her finger, pointing from his head to toe contemptuously. "Such common goods that duplicate are found everywhere."

After that, she disappeared under the confused gaze of the man that had gradually morphed into an exploding volcano.

At this moment, when Irene was picking her way to the palace, she was unaware of the surging undercurrents. Besides in Stefan's place, another conversation with her as the topic was also ongoing.

The figure was in the shape of a silhouette, hard to tell whether it was a man or a woman. Meanwhile, across the table, another figure sat down with a leg on top of another, languidly.

"The little princess seems to be possessing greater strength than we thought. Is it really red blood?" The figure expressed doubts.

The other party was silent at first, then the neutral voice belonging neither to a man nor woman said. "Dormancy…? It should be possible."

"It makes sense. Let's observe a while longer."