"Mnm..."
Morning came and Scarlet rubs her eyes as she woke up. Feeling the sunlight pass through the windows of the carriage and onto her skin, she felt extremely refreshed. For a moment, she forgot the dilemma that she faced yesterday but as thought back to it, she knew that everything was real and what happened to her is still the cold heart reality.
She straighten her crumpled clothes and she stretched her hands which really show those beautiful outlines of her body. While her chest may not be as large as other stunning women, it's allure is highlighted by her slim waist and her curvy bottom. Add her beautifully shaped legs with her enchanting looks and she is definitely one of the most charming woman in her age.
Scarlet walks out of the carriage and saw Magnus, sitting under a tree, cross-legged. As she just woke up and still felt a bit sleepy, it took her a while to notice the change in Magnus.
She was shocked. Who would've thought that this boy who effortlessly killed three knights, who were at a higher cultivation level than her would to a boy who was clearly someone who was at a lower level than she is...
But when she thought about it carefully, their fight was settled fast and those knights didn't have the opportunity to execute even one of their Martial Arts and why would day? Against a child?
They had their pride and it led to their doom. Scarlet also remembered that strange shadow that came from Magnus's body. She was slightly interested in it but also scared of it. It clearly had the power to penetrate someone's body who clearly had a higher level of cultivation than hers.
But since she didn't know Magnus that much as they just met yesterday, she didn't think that he would tell her what it was if she asked.
She walked towards him and felt the large influx of World Energy that was concentrating on Magnus. Again, she was stunned and in a way, she couldn't take another step. Scarlet felt like there was some kind of beast guarding Magnus, though she couldn't clearly make out what brought this feeling was, she valued her life so she just stood there and waited for Magnus to finish.
"...hmm?" After a while, Magnus seemed to have noticed her presence and opened his eyes.
The influx of World Energy stopped and dissipated from the area. Magnus stood up and stretched before walking towards Scarlet and asked.
"Breakfast?"
This surprised Scarlet a bit as she knows that she hasn't taught him this word and yet he knew what it meant. Now, she is certain that this boy holds more secret than she thought.
"Yes." But, pushing her thoughts to the back of her head, she smiled at him and nodded.
Magnus made a fire again and used the left over meat that they didn't cook last night and ate it. They had a fairly silent breakfast, with Magnus occasionally asking about a few things and Scarlet was surprised again as Magnus was speaking more eloquently than yesterday!
Well, though she wouldn't know of it, Magnus was occasionally talking with Gula and she would teach basic words faster than Scarlet could teach as they had a mental connection.
After finishing their breakfast, which Scarlet once again forced down her throat, they resumed their journey as Scarlet manned the reigns.
"Where are...we going?" As they moved on, Magnus asked.
At this moment, Scarlet's countenance seemed to have grown darker as she replied.
"To Yellow Rock Fort..."
Magnus definitely noticed this but didn't have much reaction but he suddenly heard Gula's voice inside of him, saying. "Be careful of her, boy..."
He didn't understand what she meant but he knew she wouldn't say such a thing without a reason.
The two continued their journey and after three hours, they arrived at their destination. Outside the gates of the fort, they saw two guards, wearing yellow colored armor.
The guards pointed their spears at them and this made Magnus perked up and almost charged at them. But luckily, Scarlet stood up and spoke.
"I am Scarlet of house Ismaelda, I have come to meet my family."
Hearing this, the guards immediately knelt and said. "My lady, forgive us."
To this, Scarlet nodded and the two guards then shouted to the guards on top of the wall.
"Open the gates!"
Then as the gates opened, Magnus was shook at the sights. Every houses were built were neatly aligned and the pavement roads were wide enough for both carriage and passerby to walk on. Different kind of stores were bustling and you could tell that the people enjoyed their life her. You wouldn't have thought this was a place is fort built for war but a small city.
Strangely enough, Magnus felt a bit disgusted with the situation inside the fort, a sense of bitterness came from his heart. But he kept it all in as Scarlet drove their carriage inside the gates and straight into the fort.
They followed the road for quite a while but soon they stopped at a majestic looking house where a butler ran towards them and bent.
"Lady Scarlet!" The butler cried.
"William!" Even Scarlet turned teary eyed when she saw this old butler.
"Oh thank god you're alright. I thought...i thought they've killed you somewhere." William sniffled and cried.
Scarlet wiped the tears from her eyes said.
"Let's discussed about that inside the villa, yes?"
"As you wish, my lady." William nodded and led the carriage inside.
When Magnus entered the large villa that was almost like a small castle he was always looking around, taking in all that he saw. He couldn't resist touching the things he was interested about.
As Magnus wondered around the entrace hall, William got close to Scarlet and asked.
"Uhmm...My Lady, this person is?"
Scarlet then replied. "He saved my life."
William's eyes shot up and bowed again. "I apologize, my lady."
Scarlet gestured her hand, saying she forgives him and then said. "Alright, lead him to his room and make sure he is comfortable in it, assign two maids to meet his needs and give us some lunch. We haven't a decent meal yet."
"Yes, My lady." William bowed and right before he was about to leave, he heard Scarlet speak again.
"And William?"
"My Lady?" William tilted his head.
Scarlet then spoke. "Gather the senior of the house later tonight."
William nodded and went to lead Magnus to his own room.
It didn't take Magnus long to get accustomed to his room. There was a large bed that could four people and a small table to the side and two windows. Two maids then entered his room with food in hand and after sniffing the food they brought, he couldn't resist eating them. The two maids giggled and found him very cute as he ate.
The maid saw to his need, including his bath and his change of clothes which at first he found to be a bit uncomfortable but since he doesn't know if this is how it was in other places, Magnus decided to go with the flow.
After a quick bath, Magnus laid on the bed and found it extremely comfortable that it didn't take him long to fall asleep. This was the first time he slept it a relaxed environment so he decided to svaor it.
Later that night, Scarlet met with the seniors of her house. They sat on a round table with sour expressions but there was one who broke the silence and said.
"My Lady, I'm very happy that you're alright. When he heard from the capital that the Yellow Queen sentenced you to die...we, we didn't thought we would see you again."
"You can rest assured Third elder, I am very much alive. That bitch will pay for what she did." Scarlet's face turned cold as she spoke.
"My Lady, can you tell us what really happened? All we heard was that you and your father tried to poison the queen..."
Scarlet's face contorted in anger as she slammed the table with her hand.
Bam!
"That information are full of lies...That day my father and I met with the queen to beg if we could pay our dues a bit later this month...That bitch! She suddenly lashed out and said to us..."
"If you don't have any money on you, then why not take them from your slaves?" She told them what the queen said.
Then Scarlet continued. "Of course, we had already tried to raise money from our workers and slaves. Anymore and they might've rebelled. We tried to explain this to the queen but suddenly went psycho and told the guards to arrest us."
The atmosphere in the room turned cold and sour but Scarlet continued. "After that, i was blindfolded and was brought to the Viridian Forest to be executed..."
"Executed!?" One of the elders reacted.
"That Mad Queen!" Another one shouted as well.
"But My lady, how are you alive right now?" But it seems that there was one who was calm.
Scarlet then replied. "The boy i was with earlier, he saved my life."
"Him? But i took a look at his cultivation but he's weaker than you, my Lady. How in the world did he saved your life?" The Third Elder asked.
"I don't know how, but i know that he is extremely power and will be a valuable Ally." Scarlet answered.
"Ally?" One of the elders reacted.
"Yes, I want to take that Mad queen's head and I hope the elders can help me." She bowed respectfully.
"With Pleasure my lady, we can't stand down, now that the queen did something like that and I'm sure that there are other families that would join us." The Third Elder said.
"Yes, I'm sure of it." Another one spoke as well.
"But even then, we won't have enough men." But the calmest of them spoke.
This made the other elders turned to him but he said. "Our forces, combined with the other families wouldn't be enough to defeat the Queen's army."
Then Scarlet, interrupted. "That is why I am planning on recruiting a large group of mercenaries."
"With respect, My Lady, we don't have enough gold to pay."
Scarlet then answered back. "But we can always earn more."
The elders got silent and Scarlet continued "Back in the capital, I heard some rumors about a certain ruins in the east. A lot family are sending their talented youngsters to participate in the search for treasures. The queen is also gonna send her men there..."
The elders then got a hint at what Scarlet was trying to do and they finished her sentence.
"If we could sow discord between the queen and the other families, then we would have even more allies to overthrow her."
Scarlet then smiled. "Exactly."
"But My Lady, who would we send? We don't have the right men for the job."
Scarlet turned to the elder and smiled at him. The elder seemed to understood her plan and reacted. "The boy? But he is still weak."
Scarlet then nodded and said. "He may still be weak now but we can help get stronger and by then he would owe us...We can make him participate as long as we give him what he wants."
William, who stood at her back asked. "My lady...you would even use your friend?"
Scarlet's face turned even more cold as she spoke. "I would do anything to kill that bitch for what she's done."
"Alright, with the excess money that we have, start arming the men. Investigate the strength of the Queen's army, also, find out which families already have a bad relationship with her. Start hiring small amount of Mercenaries each month." Scarlet commanded.
"Also, buy a large amount of cultivation material for my friend, he will be a huge contributor for my revenge..."
With that, Scarlet dismissed their meeting and went back to her room. There, she recalled how the Yellow Queen looked at her with disgust as she ordered her men to capture and behead her. In a way, she was lucky that the queen didn't order her men to defile her.
She didn't know what has happened to her father and she didn't hope that much that he was alive. Knowing the Queen, her father might already be dead. From the moment she was dragged away as she begged the queen for mercy, Scarlet never forgot that face that the queen made and she vowed that she would make that bitch suffer for what she's done.
"In a way...you can also be considered the best thing that happened to me now. I don't know if you'll forgive me for this but i will have my revenge and for that i will use whatever i can, even you...Magnus."
The light of the moon shone upon her face as she thought about what she was going to do next.
Unbeknownst to Magnus, the life that he has would become even more hectic than his last as he becomes embroiled in this impeding war against the queen.
...
The next morning, Scarlet found Magnus at the courtyard practicing the [Golden Monkey Fist]. Scarlet was with William and they brought a large chest.
Even just observing Magnus, William felt the ferocity and power of the fist art he was practicing and William was astonished. He thought that maybe this kid will really influence the lady's quest for revenge.
"Magnus." Scarlet called out to him with a sweet smile.
Magnus paused his practice and walked up to her. Scarlet gestured William to put down the chest and to open it.
When William opened the chest, Magnus almost couldn't stop the Darkness from consuming what was inside.
He look turned towards her with a serious look and he carefully asked. "What do you want?"