Eurielle widens her eyes at his words. Does she want to stay married to this stranger? No, it's absurd. This man may have the body of her dead husband, but he is still a stranger. He may be a Murhïm, but who can truly tell of his character? She remembers Erutan cursing him under his breath, calling him a lunatic.
But for some reason, as she looks at the man before her, the man that made her heart flutter for the first time, the man that made her feel a surge of heat through her body, this man that looks completely different and unfamiliar while still sharing the same face she has seen her whole life, her intuition tells her that if she decides to leave now, she may truly regret it for the rest of her life. It is only a fleeting thought, not complete and only lasting a few milliseconds, yet it leads her to unconsciously nod her head in acquiescence. And before she can reflect properly and regret, it is already too late.
Ye Mu eyes widen as her acceptance was the last thing he expected. He at most said those words as a taunt, to make her lash out such that he can cleanly cut off this bothersome relationship that is 'marriage'.
If it had been any other day, he would have laughed at her face and asked her if she was ret*rded. To actually want him as a husband? How laughable. However, when he looks at her, for a reason uncertain, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Not understanding why he has suddenly become so soft, he sneers at himself. Has he become too leisurely these days? Don't tell him he has fallen for a woman. The thought makes him laugh out loud, much at the confusion of the woman standing next to him.
How funny, he still clearly remembers the numerous people that died a vain death due to love. Whether it is the president of a country or the head of the greatest underground organisation, once they fall in love they die. That love becomes a weakness akin to a handicap that is quickly exploited once discovered. And those cold-blooded bast*rds that would never hesitate to shoot a baby in its cradle would then willingly fall for the dumbest schemes and die.
Remembering the dumb faces of those dead couples, he can't help but laugh again. Love is such a funny thing, it almost feels like a flaw, a bug in the system. It makes men weak.
After regarding her for a while, he decides to simply ignore her and go out. In any case, he won't be staying in this house for long. She will leave by herself after a while of staying near him.
Eurielle stands frozen in place as the man promptly leaves without a word. First, he laughs at her face, then he ignores her. What kind of man is he! She must have been crazy back then. She angrily and shamefully turns her head around and heads back inside.
^_^
Walking at a leisurely pace, Ye Mu strolls around the busy market as he ignores the curious glances directed at him. He now looks much more kept and orderly than when he first arrived. His blue pelt has now been replaced by a nice fur coat. His hair is still glaringly short, but at least it is properly braided and tied.
As he admires in wonder with the rest of the crowd the old haggling woman bringing down the price of a weird wooden tool to an almost negative number, a small disturbance catches his attention further away.
Curious and with nothing else to do, he approaches the small accumulation of villagers to see what is happening.
As he parts through two people blocking his view, the scene before him makes him raise an eyebrow in surprise.
Strange looking men: some are wearing red long fur coats with ropes attached around their waist holding pockets, while some are wearing similar things but brown. They all have swords attached to their sides and their feet are bound with white tissue instead of shoes. Their hands are also bound like those of boxers at practice or before putting boxing gloves on.
Some of then had traces of tattoos peeking from their necks, others had tattoo lines up to their cheeks, however, it is impossible to make out what the tattoos look like from just what was seen; everything is covered by the weird clothes.
Ye Mu wonders who these people are and why they are dressed so questionably before noticing the weird mood among the crowd. It's a mixture of fear, respect and reverence. This increases Ye Mu's curiosity and he starts to observe attentively.
"I- I apologise, dear sir, b- b- b- but I have a wife a- and- I- I- I just-"
A lean man is stammering and chocking on his breath trying to explain himself. Ye Mu came too late to understand the context and so he strains his ears to hear every word.
"Stop it. Just take me to the village head. I'm not interested in your weak body."
At that, the villager is visibly relieved and vigorously runs to follow the order. The curious crowd starts to slowly disperse at the man's pointed gaze and the group of strangely dressed men leave towards where the lean man left.
Ye Mu first wanted to discreetly follow them, but then backtracked and grabbed a man by his collar instead.
"Do you know who these people are and why they want to see the village head?"
The surprised village man recognises Ye Mu and is visibly perplexed by the question as if Ye Mu suddenly asked what fried chicken tastes like. Nonetheless, he answers the question in respect for the Ye family house.
"This is obviously the army. Did you not see their Benia fur coats? Only the army has the power to hunt benias to make armour coats with their fur en masse. As for their motive, my guess is they are here for the recruitment that occurs every 20 years. Right now the kingdom has been at peace for a long time so the enlistment isn't mandatory anymore, but the army still goes out to seek young talents around the kingdom once in a while."
"I see. Thank you."
Remaining polite, Ye Mu leaves to follow the soldiers. This world is really peculiar, even soldiers are dressed in the weirdest way. He never saw such fashionable army officials in his life.
His footsteps become as light as possible as he quietly follows behind them. When he finds a place to hide like a small alley, he goes there and leaves some distance while keeping track of the traces left behind. Since they aren't on guard, it is quite easy to reach the house of the village head together with them.
Unfortunately, the leader of the soldiers is invited inside as the others stand guard. Ye Mu can't find any openings as more than 20 guards are surrounding the house. If it were a mission back in the previous world, he would have sniped some to create confusion and safely infiltrate the place, but here, the equivalent of snipers are archers, which is completely different. He can't shoot an arrow for sh*t.
He stands there and ponders what to do. If only he could just turn invisible. It's only a quick thought, childish and silly. But in that short moment, he truly felt that it would be convenient.
"You wish to not be seen."
"That androgynous voice again."
A warm feeling starts to spread in his veins, making him feel comfortable. He notices his hair turning white again, and ponders if this is some kind of power he has. But he truly has no idea what that power is, nor where it suddenly came from.
Ye Mu reflects and analyses alone and forgets to enter the house.
It seems that the androgynous voice listens to his wishes for some reason. What exactly is it?
Pushing the matter for later, he enters the house without any hurdle.