The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion

Hearing the sound of the thumping heart, Raeliana looked up at the red eyes staring down at her. As she made to utter his name without thinking, Adam put a finger to her lips as if to shush her.

As Raeliana’s legs gave out and staggered, Adam wrapped his hand around her shoulders and supported her.

I’m safe…

Since meeting Adam, or since hearing the nickname “Black­ blooded Reaper” to be exact, she had only worried for her own life and had never thought there would come a day that she would be glad to see him.

Confirming that Raeliana had calmed down, Adam turned his head to the right. Then without even a twitch of movement, he waited quietly like a predator.

Why?

Raeliana tensed up and turned her head to follow Adam’s gaze. Soon, a rustling sound came across from the bushes right nearby.

Holding her tightly by the shoulders, Adam whipped out his sword and dashed to the side.

In a blur of movement, Raeliana could not do anything but let herself be pulled by Adam with her eyes wide open.

Clang.

At that moment, the sound of swords clashing was heard, and a dagger flew far away at Adam’s quick movements.

It was only after everything was settled that she managed to breathe out.

I, I thought I was teleporting.

Everything happened so quickly that it felt like Adam was using magic.

Holding onto her racing heart, Raeliana looked forward. Adam holding was standing there with a sword as black as ink and at the end of it was a man holding both of his hands up.

“My, my.”

Langston spoke in an exaggerated tone in submission.

“To see that Adam Taylor. I also participated in that war. Should I say I’m honored?”

“I will finish him…”

Adam, who had been keeping his mouth shut, spoke.

A trail of blood was dripping from Langston’s neck and Adam had his sword at Langston’s neck as if he was waiting for the order.

Is he waiting for my orders?

Raeliana clamped her mouth shut. As far as she knows, Adam could easily ‘finish’ the man without issues.

She did not think for long.

“Sir Adam… please…”

Langston cut Raeliana’s words short. “My name is Jake Langston.”

What was this, out of the blue? Raeliana turned her head toward Langston.

Despite feeling the sword digging into his neck, Langston did not stop talking.

“27 years old. As I said before, my little sister is dead. My single mother lives alone in the estate, full of debt. That debt probably can’t be repaid even if we sell the land and the title. My mother who has never worked a day in her life as a noble will probably have to work till the day she dies. If I get caught now, I’ll probably get life in prison at most? I’m a noble so at least I’ll avoid the death penalty. It’s not a ‘I’ll die either way’ kind of situation. If you kill me now, missy, you’ll remember me forever, unlike that murderer. Oh and my mother too.”

“Don’t call Sir Adam a murderer.”

“Missy, that’s not what’s important, is it?”

Raeliana grimaced.

As infuriating as it was, the man was right. Even if she ordered his death out of anger, that mole on his face would haunt her every night.

Though playing with conscience never worked on him, it worked charmingly on her.

Life was not easy.

Tsk. Raeliana clicked her tongue silently and glared at him. Langston lightly shrugged his shoulders.

That bastard.

Raeliana narrowed her eyes.

She was furious enough to pull that nasty man’s shoulders out of their sockets so he could never shrug so smugly again, but telling herself that she could get her revenge later, she calmed herself down.

In any case, she did not want to order Adam to kill anyone.

“Sir Adam… can you capture that man alive?”

Adam’s mouth remained shut but when Raeliana asked again, he nodded once.

Seeing her hesitate for a moment, Langston calmed his pounding heart and sighed in relief.

Just a little more and they would have reached the meeting point with the client. He had thought they had left no trace by using the magic scroll. He did not expect them to catch up so fast.

Langston sneaked a glance inside his coat.

Using this could even put myself in danger.

Feeling the cold sword on his neck with a twinge of pain, Langston gulped.

But I have no choice…

Glaring at Langston, Adam drew back his sword by an inch. He was going to knock the man out in a nonfatal way.

Then, Langston threw a vial from inside his coat to Adam.

“…?”

Puzzled, Adam twisted his wrist to cut through the vial but a few drops of the black liquid splashed on his hand as the glass broke.

Checking what had happened, Langston’s mole creased in a smile.

Though Adam pointed his sword at him once more with a cold expression, the tremble under his feet stopped him.

Rrrumble.

With a great noise, earth shook and the ground began to crack.

“Man, this must be a big one.”

Maintaining his balance despite the splitting ground, Langston curled up his lips into a smile.

The ground was rising up like a hill and began to approach them.

Adam grabbed Raeliana’s wrist and put her behind him while Raeliana stared aghast up at the monster revealing itself.

What is that…

The thing slowly showed its round face, its bloodshot eyes gleaming, revealing an enormous body as tall as a three story building. The monster snorted, creating a thick cloud of dust around them.

As Adam blocked Raeliana completely and moved a step, the thing fixed its gaze on him.

Raeliana nervously gulped.

Langston on the other hand could barely hold back his laughter.

It was a Starved Mountain Demon. The monster that lies asleep beneath the mountains but raises its head once every century to find food, destroying everything in its path.

Though the monster was rarely found in the wild, perhaps it awoke from the landslide not too long ago.

Even Adam Taylor would have a hard time dealing with it.

Langston’s last card was a potion usually used by assassins which even a small amount produced a smell sweet enough to lure every monster nearby.

The monster will keep chasing Adam, and Langston only had to take his exit during the commotion.

The Starved Mountain Demon thrashed its tail on the ground.

Adam picked up Raeliana and ran. As Langston watched them run, he slowly backed away before he completely turned around to take off.

Though Adam’s eyes chased Langston for a moment, he soon looked back to where he was running.

He could not leave Raeliana at this moment. He could feel other tremors from a distance.

Despite the regular hunts, the place was naturally infested with monsters due to the abundance of mana.

Monsters other than this Starved Mountain Demon were probably heading this way.

The Starved Mountain Demon bared its sharp teeth. Adam deftly blocked the teeth with his sword and shifted to the side.

As if she was in a trance, Raeliana watched his movements with a surprised look on her face.

He’s incredible.

It was her first time seeing his sword in action. Adam easily blocked the enormous monster’s attack with just one hand.

Clang, clang, clang.

Sounds of sword clashing filled the grounds.

Adam was taking steps back while blocking the Starved Mountain Demon’s protruding attacks.

Letting herself be led by his hand, Raeliana turned around for a moment and found them approaching a dead end.

Oh god.

“Sir Adam, it’s a sheer cliff behind us!”

Raeliana shouted as Adam’s sword began to glow red.

Adam’s sword laced with mana sliced through the monster’s teeth while he carried Raeliana and slid to the side.

The teeth missed them by a hair.

Eeeek.

Raeliana felt cold sweat down her back. If he were a second slower, the teeth would have sliced through her sides.

Adam glanced behind him with Raeliana still in his arms. Then, as if he had realized something, he nodded his head slightly.

Suddenly, he let go of Raeliana’s body. As Raeliana made to pull herself together on the ground, she felt a push on her chest sending her body backward.

Raeliana’s feet flew into the air.

“Huh…?”

With only a confused exclamation, Raeliana saw that Adam’s face was gradually moving away.

Why?

Her silent question received no answers.

Behind Adam she saw the Starved Mountain Demon with its mouth wide open. Behind it were a horde of other monsters rushing toward him.

Adam…!

She had to shout at him for him to run away, but her mouth had frozen shut. Raeliana stretched out her hands into the empty space without even managing to let out a scream.

She felt her insides lurch downward. It felt as if her heart was falling to the ground.

A familiar memory flashed in front of her. The smiling face of the man who had pushed her off the roof overlapped her vision.

This again.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

That’s when it happened.

Thump.

“…?”

Huh?

Raeliana was taken aback even to the point of embarrassment by the fact that the supposedly long fall had already stopped and that it did not hurt at all.

What happened?

She slightly opened her tightly closed eyes. A cloud of dust surrounded her.

The first thing that came to her vision was the jet black hair that seemed to absorb all the light.

Raeliana blinked her eyes once.

The smooth jaw line and golden eyes.

Her mouth slowly hung open.

That being held Raeliana tightly by her back and legs to prevent the fall and was breathing heavily.

Staring at his face blankly, Raeliana moved her lips.

“Noah?”

Noah grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into his arms. His sighing voice smeared into her ears.

“Raeliana…”