Fox just barely stretched his body on his new bed when he heard a soft knock on his door.
The mansion was so big that he can even compare it to the whole prison compound back in the city. He was given his own room and a personal servant that would provide him all he needed.
He was already grateful that he and Alieya was finally able to stop running. They were also given food and shelter. He just thanked the servant and told him that he would just look for him on the next morning before sending him away.
It's still not that late in the night and in all honesty, he did not feel tired at all. He had muscle soreness on his arms and legs but it all went away after he bathe and cleaned himself up.
"It must be the servant again." Fox murmured to himself as he walked forward to answer the door.
He involuntarily took a step backward when he saw Alieya standing in front of him.
"Oh, Hi. Is there any problem with your room?" He hurriedly said. He opened the door wider and gestured her to enter.
Alieya paused for a second as if surprised with herself too. She nodded quietly then she stepped inside.
"Do you need anything? I can call the servant here to serve us something. Zaia said she will see us in the morning." Fox said as he offered her to sit down.
Alieya has already changed her clothing. She was wearing a white thin dress that Fox can already make out the curves of her body. She had her waist-length hair tied with a string, and for the first time, he saw multiple scratches on her arms and legs. He held his breath as she walked passed him. The sweet fragrance of her skin almost froze him in place.
She was holding a rectangular box and some folded cloth over it. He was not sure what's inside but he could guess that it was not food.
Alieya inhaled deeply first before sitting on the corner of his bed, laying the box beside her.
"I want-- I'm here to thank you for saving my life multiple times since yesterday. I know that there is no way that I can repay you for that but please allow me to at least do something for you." Alieya said in a small voice. As if she was embarrassed herself.
"Wait, what are you doing? Are you offering me your--Wait, what?" Fox blurted out. He felt cold sweat started to form in his forehead.
He remembered that he teased Alieya about sleeping together but he was not really serious about it. He was sure that she would reject the idea. Of course, he has his own manly desires but he also know when a girl is too gorgeous for him. He feels unworthy and a little insecure.
"What do you mean? Of course not! I'm here to treat the wound you got from Raru this afternoon!" Alieya lashed back at him, her face went red from anger as if she was humiliated by whatever he was thinking.
Fox was stunned by her sudden outburst, then he laughed. He felt suddenly relieved. The tension earlier was too much for him that he felt his skin burned up.
"Ha Ha Ha. Of course you're here for my wounds. Sorry for misunderstanding. I'm just a man, you know." He said between his laughter.
"Hmph! You assume too much!" She snapped at him, trying to maintain her anger a bit longer. It's so hard to stay angry when someone was laughing like that.
"Look, I'm sorry, I'll try to keep my head above the water from here on." He said with a wide grin on his face.
"It's not like I really want to do this, I just feel that I have to repay you for protecting me. Nothing more, You understand?" Alieya's face was still red as she clenched her fist in frustration.
"Okey, So do you want me to sit on the floor or lay down on my back?" He asked, looking curiously at the box beside her.
"No, you can seat beside me over here. Remove your shirt and I will take a look on your wound. Face the other way." Alieya instructed, her voice was calmer now.
Fox did was he was told. He already wrapped his wound earlier after he cleaned himself up but he didn't say anything. He sat beside her with his back on her and removed his shirt. He was aware that his wrap on his wound was clumsily done. The wound was not bleeding anyway so he didn't think much about it.
"Wow, Your wound is already halfway healed. The clotting looks good too. How is this even possible?" Alieya exclaimed as she touched his shoulders, checking his wound.
"I believe that it was from the soldiers three days ago. They treated me with some advanced medicine when I was shot. Even the gunshot wound from that day has already healed completely." He explained casually.
"Advanced medicine? Tell me more about it." Alieya said curiously.
"It was some kind of stingy solution that they rubbed into my skin. The doctor in the hospital suspected that it must be an advanced medicine that is only available to the military." He answered.
"And you think that whatever that medicine was, Its effect is still going on inside your body?" She asked again frowning.
"I guess so, I can't think of any other possibility." He answered again, suppressing a yawn.
"You were there when the beast was still alive right? When the soldiers were fighting and capturing it. You got wounded." Alieya suddenly sprung from her position and faced him excitedly.
"Yeah, I got asked the same questions already before. I was not involved in fighting that beast. I was wounded, but it was gunshot wounds." Fox explained calmly.
"Did the beast's blood managed to enter your wound? It did, right? Somehow the beast's blood entered into your gunshot wound that day." Alieya said again. Her face was closer now, locking her eyes with his.
Silence filled the entire room after she said that. He looked down to the bed mattress and didn't reply. Alieya suddenly realized how close she was to him. She was even holding his face next to her.
"I-I'm sorry, I got excited." She hurriedly backed away from him but still at arms length.
"I just wish you could tell me, I'm here." She said softly after he didn't said a word.
"Yes, The beast's blood got into my wounds that day. I only realized it earlier while we were riding the Midnight Dogs on the way here. I was thinking about the blood contract that Zaia was talking about when I realized it." Fox said in an uneasy voice.
"That must be it. You have accidentally made a blood contract with the beast that you were hunting. Too bad the beast was killed." Alieya said after a moment.
"I'm intending to ask Zaia tomorrow more about beast blood contracts. I'm sure there's a way to terminate and undo this blood contract since the beast is already dead. I didn't even know what kind of beast it was." He sighed hopelessly.
Alieya nodded in agreement. They know so little about blood contract. They need more information about it.
They talked about their theories for about another hour before Alieya excused herself for the night. Fox nodded and walked her to her room and bid her goodnight.
Alieya paused for a few seconds in front of her room, as if expecting something. Then turned around and closed her door with a soft thud.
Fox chuckled to himself and walked back to his room.
----------
It was an hour past midnight. The village was almost covered in darkness as most of the houses had already turned off their lights except for the sentry towers and some guard outposts that monitor the safety of the village.
In the deserted street, a group of seven men on horseback were casually strolling. They would seem ordinary patrolling guards except that two of them were wearing a much more decorated uniform than the rest.
"So, You have seen Zaia earlier this evening with two outsiders riding with her dogs? Is that correct." A man around his mid 20s said in a voice full of authority. He was wearing the most decorated uniform on the group. He has a unique sword on his waist and his steel chestplate has his clan's emblem embossed in it.
He was Suryu Da'anar. He's the heir of the Da'anar clan and also the commander of the village warriors. He is only outranked by his father, the current clan head.
As the future Clan head and leader of his people, Suryu Da'anar has been working hard to secure the safety of his village and also to gather support from the village elders.
Their village has three dominant clans. His clan, The Da'anar, which held the highest position in the village for a long time now. The Mudan Clan, and the Lunera clan. Each family clans has five appointed elders as representatives, and Suryu has been working hard to secure their support for his future rule.
"Yes sir, I was one of the forward sentry that escorted lady Zaia back inside the village with the outsiders earlier." A man beside him replied. His uniform was also different among the other guards with them, indicating that he is of a higher rank. He was Grei Da'anar.
"That hard headed girl. She always ignore the rules and deal with things her own way." Suryu said in disapproval.
Suryu has everything laid ready for him. His position as the next Clan head is almost certain. Except for one person that he think will be a future threat to him. Zaia of the Lunera clan.
It has been a law that only one member of each clan can undergo the ritual of binding a beast under blood contract. It takes too much resources and long preparation that only one person for each clan will be allowed to undergo such ritual.
He contracted an Iron Ape, a rather strong beast. The Iron Ape was personally hunted by his clan's top warriors and offered to him when he was young. It took 5 warrior's lives as an exchange for the hunt.
Then some years later, a wild Midnight Dog attacked their village in the middle of the night, It damaged many houses in search for food and injured many people. It almost killed his Iron ape too.
Midnight Dogs are illusive hunters that rarely leaves the forest. It has such reputation that travellers and bandits doesn't dare go into the forest when the sun has started to set on the west.
The village quickly summoned all its top warriors the very next morning to hunt the beast. Only to be surprised that on the very next day, the same Midnight Dog voluntarily offered itself to a little girl. That girl was Zaia of the Lunera Clan.
That story has been told and retold many times around the village. Songs were made for Zaia and a Stone statue was erected for the Midnight Dog, naming it the guardian of their forest.
Zaia's reputation only increased higher as he challenged her in official beast duels. His Iron Ape was always defeated. To save his clan's face, Suryu offered Zaia a bond of marriage, but the girl declined, saying that she was still too young and that she wanted to marry a man with stronger contracted beast.
Suryu felt anger swelling up his chest as he recalled his last duel with her. His Iron Ape was left traumatized that its body would shake in fear every time it heard the Midnight Dog's howl in the distance.
"You said that one of the outsider was a beast contractor, a man?" Suryu asked again.
"Yes sir. I heard the man's name was Fox. It was lady Zaia herself that said that he was a beast contractor, but I didn't see any beast with them. Just her pack of Midnight Dogs.
"It's okey, maybe Zaia's dogs accidentally killed that man's contracted beast. We know that those pack of Midnight Dogs hunt and kill everything in the wild if she let her eyes off them even for a second." Suryu said, suppressing his laughter as he think about that pitiful beast contractor.
It would not be the first time that those Midnight Dogs had killed people. Bandits and pirates had tried many times to attack their village, only to die in the fangs of those dogs.
That's also the reason why Suryu Da'anar was working so hard to secure the support of the village elders. Zaia was so popular in the whole village that she was beginning to become a threat to his future.
"Sir, how about you bring up your marriage proposal to her again. She's already sixteen I believe. She was barely thirteen when you first proposed to her, that's why she rejected you. Maybe she would consider your proposal now that she's older." Grie suggested.
"I was thinking about it too. Our village allows women to be married at sixteen, and men at twenty. I suppose I will try and propose to her again." Suryu agreed.
It would be politically advantageous for both the Lunera and Da'anar clan to have a closer ties via marriage. He was the heir of his clan and Zaia was the only daughter of the Lunera clan's noble family.
Suryu and his entourage of patrol guards continued their duty around the village that night. Unknown to them, the pack of Midnight Dogs were also roaming on edge of their village's territory, keeping everyone safe.