Asteria leaned against the tree, waiting for the time of the training. Looking at the moon, she fell into a daze.
"You seem to enjoy your life very much here, aren't you?"
"Ash--" she stopped herself, looking in shock at the figure in front of her. That refined noble aura, which somehow mixed with a hint of evil charm and his peculiar eyes was so familiar to Asteria. She hadn't seen him in months that she almost forget about his existence.
"How disappointing. You don't look happy that I am here." His voice wasn't deep magnetic like Asher, but it's still pleasing to the ear, like a siren's song. Asteria jolted, she looked warily at him.
"What are you doing here?"
Kaizer raised his eyebrow. "Can
Asteria felt like she had done something she shouldn't do. It's like she had committed a crime. After Josh and Nox left, Asteria stood up, waiting for Asher to speak.His eyes were swirling with a peculiar light as if he would lose his rationality any moment. Shit, Asteria cursed. She hoped that she was wrong about this paranoid sense of her."I have been training well with Josh and Nox in your absence," Asteria answered, remembering Asher's previous question. She just wanted to get rid of some of the invisible dark clouds, lest would he be mad.She wasn't going to be overly polite to Asher now that he had made it clear himself some time ago. It was a suspicious move from him. She had shown it on his face a few times, the suspicions and hesitations, yet he never took any action to explain anything. Therefore,
The feeling of tremendous pain wracked all over her body caused Asteria to wake up. She hadn't even able to properly open her eyes when a claw had already swung at her. She barely managed to dodge it by covering her eyes with her arms. The red line seeping with blood decorated her right arm.Panicking, Asteria's sense snapped, she was now fully awake. The sight before her had brought a tremendous shock. There, standing an enormous silver wolf with its eyes full of hostility staring at her.Asteria looked at the surrounding briefly, trying to make sure that this wolf was the only one here. Yet, she was stunned into silence when she noticed Josh and Nox standing there, looking at her.She frowned, trying to shake the uneasiness in her heart. At the same time, another claw was directed at her face, as if trying
When Asteria finally regained her consciousness, she was relieved that she found she wasn't dead. The pain wracked all over her body was the proof. Her blurry sight had gradually turned for the better."Where's it?" Asteria mumbled softly, wincing as she found out that she couldn't move. She remembered that it wasn't only her left-hand which got injured severely. The feet and head, even her neck, which was nearly slit were wrapped in something. Practically almost half her body had gotten injured.This terrible feeling left a bitter taste as the memories of what happened flooded into her mind. She was always on guard, yes, but she hadn't expected them to set a trap like this. They were sure a pair of cunning ones."Asteria, you are awake?" A feminine voice called out. Unexpectedly, it was Annie. The expression
"How are you feeling?" Asher asked, standing on the side of her bed. Asteria had taken a few hours of nap after her friends visited her."I have been feeling better. Thank you." Asteria had a smile on her pale face. Loss of blood wasn't something that can be recovered in a mere week. The doctor had prescribed some medicine to fix the blood loss problem, but it might still take a while.Asteria wouldn't mind. With half her body wrapped almost like a mummy, she couldn't go running around anyway.Looking at Asher, Asteria felt into a momentary trance. She saw that Asher's crease on his forehead had eased up a little after he checked the bandaged wounds on her body.It made Asteria overly conscious of how severe her wounds were. Falling into a momentary l
A few months had gone by. Asteria had almost fully recovered, except for her left hand. It had been fractured when the silver wolf clashed its claw against her unarmored hand. Thus, the recovery would take longer.Asteria absentmindedly looked out in the window at the green scenery outside. Asher's mansion was bigger than other nobles. From the outside, its structure which was completely made of wood would make one mistaken it for ordinary residence. But Asteria knew better that there was nothing ordinary here; the rooms were spacious, luxurious furniture and expensive-looking decorations scattered everywhere.The natural color from the wood gave one the atmosphere of solemnity. Asteria was pretty much enjoyed her stay here. She was able to relax and calm her mind after such an incident which had brought her a great shock. The refreshing feeling, secluded from the bu
"Do you want to visit her?" Asher suddenly said."Can I?" Asteria asked him with a hopeful look. She wanted to get to the bottom of this."Let's go then." Asher suddenly stopped. "Prepare yourself first."Asteria understood what he meant and hurriedly changed into one of the comfortable dress Selena had brought during her visit. As someone who was slightly tomboy, Asteria prefer the comfortable dress more than the fancy, heavily decorated one. Selena knew better about this.The long-sleeved dress went past her waist, but she combined it with long black trousers. The current style made her look like a modern girl."Let's go." Asteria urged.
Asteria was startled by Selena's straightforward question. She wasn't asking about whether it was true that she had poisoned Bryan, Viscount Raphael's son. The question implied that Selena had already known Annie was the one committing the crime.A complicated mood surged in Asteria's heart. Looking at the previously sweet Annie reduced into such an indifferent state. A moment of silence enveloped the whole room."You already know." A low, raspy voice answered. When Annie looked up, her apathetic eyes gazed straight ahead. The outline of her body had gotten thinner from the last time Asteria met her. It was three weeks ago."You'll be dead," Selena said rather harshly, glaring at Annie. However, there was no malice in those words. Annie's punishment could only be one indeed; execution.
Asher brought Asteria out of the room, realizing that the girl had been trembling slightly. She didn't have her sword to defend herself. Even if her body condition had improved somehow, it was still nothing in front of a half-transformed werewolf. Strengthening the body needed a lot of time and patient effort.That blow from that man had blasted the metal bars apart. The room wasn't created like the ones for werewolves, which contained a lot of traps and restraining force toward their bloodline.Annie's body was smashed to a wall due to the shockwave. She was currently unconscious. Thanks to Selena's persuasion that the guard finally allowed them to bring a doctor in."There's no benefit in curing the prisoner who was about to die." Elias shook his head as he explained to Asteria. "If not for us bringing our