Vows and Bullets
Chapter 167 - 4th Week of September (Part 1)

Chapter 167: 4th Week of September (Part 1)

Please DON’T READ this Chapter yet. I will update this 4th week of September!

Good news! My hands have healed now and I’m catching up on writing my missed Chapters. My apologies for all the delays. I will replace this Chapter with the real one soon, don’t worry, and upload a new one for the next day. I really apologize once again.

In the meantime, please enjoy the continuation of the story below titled "The King’s Beloved". This is the revised version I am planning to submit for paperback publication. Hopefully, I get a chance someday.

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(Part 30 - Continuation...)

"GRRRRAH!"

The lupus lunged towards Rania and the sprites. Its heavy footsteps and loud howl alerted everyone. Panicking, they ran for their lives once more.

"W-what happened?! W-why did he suddenly turn back?" Luna asked the other sprites.

"I don’t know. I’m sure we managed to hit it."

"What are we going to do? We used up all our spiritual energy for today already. Waaaaaa..." the other one cried her eyes out.

Then, the lupus began to conjure magic of his own. As if his sharp teeth weren’t enough to tear off their flesh, from his mouth formed a ball of blue light. The surroundings became colder, almost freezing Rania’s body. To top it all off, the sun already came down and the whole surrounding turned dark.

Alas, with another ear-splitting growl, the lupus fired his ball of light towards Rania and the sprites.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!" everyone screamed in terror.

PHOOOOSHK!

Out of nowhere, another thin beam of light hit the lupus’ foot, passing through it until it bore a small hole on the ground. The lupus cried as blood spilled from its foot and fell down. Along with it, the magic it cast a moment ago disappeared in thin air as if someone popped it out.

"Ugh, so noisy," a man’s voice from afar surprised Rania and the sprites. His voice was captivatingly deep but cold at the same time.

With his tone sounding irritated, they worried despite being saved by the mysterious person. They spun their heads around trying to find him but they couldn’t see him anywhere. If he hadn’t come down from the tree where he was sitting and jumped to the ground, they wouldn’t have noticed he was there all along.

The young man jumped off so nonchalantly and flawlessly like a cat. He had beautiful black hair with soft fringes on his forehead and wore a white mask that covered his whole face. He was tall and lean—you could easily tell he had great physique even just by looking at him—all thanks to the loosely worn sleeping robe he had on. You could see his perfect collarbone and half his chest that was white and rosy even under the night sky. Rania recognized him at once.

So he wasn’t a human, Rania thought as she stared at the masked man. And here I thought he’s like me, captured to be a plaything of the Magi. If not for the magic, I’d really think he is one of us since... ugh, nevermind.

Feeling wary and a bit awkward, Rania fixed her disheveled cloak to cover herself. She was only wearing a nightgown underneath, and a very revealing one at that—fitted and too short. She didn’t want any man to see her in it. If only she had time to change before escaping, she would, but she didn’t so she had no choice but to escape with only that on.

Not caring for the curious gazes of Rania and the sprites, the masked man released a warm aura from his body, spreading it around the area and melting the spots that had frost in it thanks to the lupus’ magic. Then, he walked towards the lupus, aimed his finger at its injury and healed it, much to everyone’s surprise. Because of that, the sprites panicked and hid behind Rania.

"Go back," the masked man told the lupus.

Whimpering, the lupus nodded as if he understood him, and sprinted away. Seeing that, the sprites sighed in relief.

"T-thank you for helping us, mister," one of the brave sprites said.

Turning around, the masked man faced them and replied, "I didn’t help you. I did it for myself. Your irritating noise is bothering my sleep."

Hah! Of course. Why would a Magi help if not for their own interest? Rania thought again, sighing and rolling her eyes. But then... he healed the lupus after injuring it. Could he be a good Magi?—No. It’s probably his pet or something like that.

"Jeez! Would it kill you to receive thanks?" Luna clicked her tongue and complained.

Rania looked at the masked man, conflicted about what to say. It would have helped a lot if she could see his expression but the mask was in the way. And his tone being so aloof, barely gave her any clue as to what kind of personality he might have. Deciding to be a decent human, she thought she should say her thanks at least.

"Still, thank you for saving us just in time," Rania said in the most awkward way possible. "Uhm... I’m Rania by the way. What’s your name?"

The masked man tilted his head and stared at her. Then, he suddenly walked towards her, much to her surprise. She tried to take a few steps back but before she could, the masked man already closed the gap—only a few inches away from her. Their eyes met—his glowing aquamarine eyes to her deep sapphire ones.

W-what does he want? He’s too close. And this is so nerve-wracking! Urghh...

"Ah. I know you," he said. "The one who gave me a cloak."

"Huh? You knew? But you were sleeping at that time."

"I was," he shrugged. "Until someone broke into the barrier."

"A what?" Rania furrowed her eyebrows. For all she knew, she never encountered any barrier, except the one in the library at Pémptos Palace. "I didn’t break in anywhere though. I think you’re mistaken."

"Hmm... so you don’t even know about it, huh?" the masked man pondered, not breaking his eye contact. "How interesting."

"Ahm, I’m not so sure what you mean but... anyway, I need to go. I’m looking for somewhere to stay the night unseen by anyone, if possible. So uhm, if you’ll excuse me."

Ugh! Are all Magi this hard to talk to? He can’t even answer a decent question like what his name is! Seriously.