She gulped. But she followed anyway; who would want to anger this monster?

She stood before him.

“Do you think what you did just now was enough to thank me?” He asked.

She began to sweat profusely. She wanted to say ‘yes’ but she did not want a bloody painting on her skin. “I…”

“It was more than enough, actually.” He patted her naked shoulder, sending shivers down her spine. “As a reward, take the three nameplates.”

She shook her head and gestured intensely with her hands. “No, I can’t-“

“So, you are refusing?” The smile ran away from his face, horrifying the poor girl.

“No, I will take them.” She grasped the fire circler’s torn clothes from the ground and collected the name plate; the other two corpses followed.

“I am planning to go there.” He pointed northward, to the Medial mountains. “Want to join me?”

“I-“

“Welcome to the party.” He smiled.

She could only sigh, and curse in her mind- not her bad luck, nor him, but her dear friend Isabella. Where is Prince Charming? The kindest person on earth? The most handsome?

‘That- I can agree with.’ She blushed.

*Growl*

She subconsciously touched her stomach; her face reddened even more.

“Take a potion first. You are bleeding.”

She fetched a green potion from her bag and drank it. Her injuries began to subside; as the wounds were deeper, the results were slower. But she did not mind, she was out of danger. Probably. She looked back at Adrian.

“You can cook, right?”

“I-“

“Good. It better taste good. Or else-” He brought his face closer do hers- so close that his hot breath tickled her skin. “You will be on the plate.” He licked his lips.

Her whole body shivered as she nodded like a pecking chicken.

She could only complete the sentence- in her mind.

‘Never tried cooking.’

She was a princess- that too, of one of the strongest tier 1 kingdoms. Why would she learn to cook? But between choosing to cook, or to be cooked- she did not have to think to decide.

But she was a genius- the highest scorer in last year’s entrance test, barring that monster of course. She quickly hit upon a plan. And that was to use her wood magic to the fullest.

But Adrian’s next words shattered everything.

“Oh. Let me remind you.” He backed off and jumped on a low branch branch of a tree. “I don’t like veg.”

*Sphhhlt!*

A golden haired young man drove out his spear from the chest of a young lady. She was wearing a white uniform with purple linings, the uniform of a fourth year Academy student. Her lifeless body fell on the ground.

“Tsk. Harry. What a waste! If you did not want to fuck her, you could’ve passed her to me. She hailed from a viscount house, you know.” An annoyed voice filled with regret came from behind.

“Shut up!” He looked at the one who spoke, a pale faced 19 year old male. “You are a noble, act like one.” His tone and countenance was emotionless.

“What? Just because you were selected to be the leader this Hunt, you think you can do whatever you want?” The pale faced youth squinted.

“Nope. Just because my father is a duke and yours is marquess, I can say whatever I want.” The golden haired youth’s facial muscles did not move a bit.

“Tsk.” The pale faced Institute student just clicked his tongue in response.

“Let’s leave. We have to rendezvous with the other five.” The one called Harry’s voice was emotionless as always.

“Ah. Yes. Yes. The grand plan for vengeance… bla bla bla.”

Harry did not say anything in response, he turned northeast and began to walk.

But the other one had other plans as he approached the corpse of the female Academy student.

*Rip*

The sound grabbed the golden haired noble’s attention. He turned towards the source and his emotionless face distorted for the first time. His batchmate was stripping ‘her’.

“What are you doing?!”

“Dead or alive- a bitch is a bitch.” A wicked smile surfaced on the pale face.

*Puh. Puh. Puh.*

A small boat was rowing across the steady sea. The black hairs of Sirius Blue moved along the cool morning breeze.

He let go off the oars before touching the blue ring he had on his palm.

“What?” An annoyed feminine voice shouted.

“Nothing. Just making sure if you are fine.”

“How cute.” The voice lost its annoyed tone.

“I was wondering if ghosts get seasick.”

“You brat. I am a mighty being capable of doing anything.” The tone changed to a haughty one.

“Anything?”

“Yes. ANYTHING!”

“Get out of the ring then.”

“…”

“Pfft.” He began to laugh hard. “You say you can do anything, fulfil all wishes. But you can’t even get out of this small ring.” His whole body was jerking, tears almost came out of his eyes.

“You!”

“I don’t know if you really know about the treasures. Should I just throw you here?”

“Master. O almighty master, I promise you the treasures hidden there will exceed your wildest imaginations. Besides, my knowledge exceeds even that of the so called tower masters you’ve bragged about.” Her tone was now charming, seductive and submissive.

“I will not throw you away then. For now.” He again took the oars and began to heave them hard, rowing the boat towards its destination.

The Medial mountains were in his sight.

*Splash. Splash.*

Adrian and Cornelia were walking through the swamps of the Ivy Marshes. Adrian was as calm as always. But Cornelia-

Her thumping heartbeats had yet to stabilise. She had survived! She was not cooked alive!

She thought she had to hunt some wild animal and cook that unknown animal somehow. But fortunately, he brought out a chicken- from his backpack. Who the fuck carries a whole chicken during a Hunt?

But she did not care. Because that chicken gave her hope- a hope of survival! Even though she had never cooked one before, she had seen the royal cooks cook it before. And she was confident in her intelligence and memory to recreate it.

But there was one problem- the spices. But apparently, fate wanted her to survive, to not be his feast. Adrian brought out an assortment of spices from his bag- 16 FUCKING TYPES OF IT!

That moment, he looked more like an angel than a devil to her. She used all those ingredients, and came up with a dish.

‘Not bad.’ She giddied up every time she remembered his remarks.

Heck! Those two life saving words, for a split second, made her want to give up being a princess and pursue being a chef.

“Where are we going?” She could sense that they were going East, instead of the North, toward the sea.

“I heard there are some great springs at the Eastern border of the marshes.”

“Yes, but we will have to pass through the territory of the ‘Nihileech’ if we take this route.”

“Okay.” He kept walking.

“Ahem. I am sure you know that Nihileech is a level 8 threat.” She tried her best to make it as if she were not reminding him.

But he did not stop. She could only grind her teeth and follow. Maybe the ugly monster would take care of the handsome monster while she escaped.

Three quarters of an hour later, they stepped into the territory of the Nihileech. But Adrian was as calm, worry-free and casual as always. But for the princess, it was the complete opposite.

And soon, what worried her the most came into her view. A huge black and slimy leech, which was over 20 feet in length and 5 feet in diameter, was trailing through the muddy ground.

Adrian finally stopped. She breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Come here.” He beckoned.

She followed and got beside him. He brought forth his right palm; a pitch black magic circle began to swirl above it. His actions confused her. But suddenly, he grabbed the back of her neck with his right hand, the black magic circle sieved into her. She was scared out of her mind.

“Resist, and you know the consequence.”

She gulped and nodded.

Both of them began to walk again- towards the leech. Adrian’s right hand was still grabbing her neck.

30 meters, 20 meters, 10 meters- the distance closed as the princess’s nervousness increases. The leech might be slow, but it’s suction ability’s range exceeded 20 meters. Wait. Something’s not right.

They were so close and it had yet to detect them. Soon, the distance narrowed to 5 meters. They were walking parallel to the trailing leech, but it did not do anything.

She finally realised what his spell entailed. It was a stealth spell that could be used to hide the presence of others along with oneself. But she had no knowledge regarding such a spell. No, that was too overpowering of a spell. How could he use it?

The mysterious aura around him got denser. She could only sigh at the difference of their abilities.

Finally, both of them got out of its range and leaved the Nihileech’s territory.

He let go off her neck. But she did not retort or ask anything- she did not dare to.

Soon, they got out of the marshes and reached their destination- an idyllic spring.

He looked at her. “Have you bathed anyone before?”

“I-“

“Good. Join me.”