After a long solid hour of aggravated silence on the slow-paced journey whilst on the beast canine's back, Kamyla continued to scowl intensely clenching Rhou's fur between her fingers.
She clinched her teeth.
Her head then slowly crane over her shoulder, taking a glance at the ill-mannered demon who sat behind her and faced the opposite direction.
He stayed with his knees up, resting his arms on them to support his chin as he gazed over the tall vegetation they strode through.
"Focus on the road and stop getting obsessed with me", he said without turning around.
Her brows quirked. "How did you know I was looking at you?"
"I could hear your heart fluttering at the sight of my gorgeous self", his voice came out nonchalant.
She narrowed her eyes, "Have you always been this—"
"Entitled? Yes. I'm a Prince of Hell. It's my job".
Use it and cook soup! Idiot! Kamyla hissed, turning back to face her front.
Leviathan then asked, "How long till we reach the village?"
Kamyla took a few seconds to respond, contemplating whether to shun him or not. She then mumbled, "Less than thirty minutes".
"Why are you so slow?"
Her brows twitched. "Why are you even here? Why didn't you disappear and reappear in the village yourself!"
"Because then you'd panic at my absence and throw your life to reach me quickly. That's how deep my effect is".
"More like an infection! I am only tolerating you because Baba Elawo instructed me to. If not, you could drown for all I care".
"Worry not, denial is one of the stages of simping and obsession. So give it some time".
Kamyla deepened her frown, holding her tongue from retorting to his words.
Maintaining a conversation with such an obnoxious overbearing person was more than a waste of time and energy. Because they were bound to annoy!
The best solution was just to maintain complete silence between them and pretend he like didn't exist.
"Stop trying to pretend I don't exist and acknowledge me".
Kamyla clinched.
She took a few seconds to shut her eyes, swallowing in the bitter words clogged in her throat.
Leviathan didn't say anything else, letting a sudden silence draw between them. Kamyla exhaled.
The rumbling sounds from her stomach suddenly echoed. "Shit..." She grimaced, "I'm sure everyone's done with breakfast by now..."
Rhou yawled loudly, letting out a moan.
Kamyla looked down at it, moving her hand to gently pat its head. "I know, Rhou. I promise when we get home, I'll take you out for hunting, okay?"
Rhou moaned, dropping its head.
She smiled.
Minutes later, Kamyla finally caught sight of the forest exit leading into her village, immediately spotting a group of children that stood around there.
One of them suddenly turned in her direction, widening his eyes. "We found her!!!"
The others snapped their eyes at the forest.
They gasped. "Kamy!!!"
They squealed in excitement, turning back to the village and waving to others at a distance.
Kamyla couldn't help but smile as Rhou walked out of the woods and into the safe grounds. People around quickly rushed in their direction.
Rhou pulled to a stop, lowering itself to let Kamyla slide down its back before Leviathan followed.
"Kamyla!"
A sudden grip seized her upper arm, pulling her to turn and jerk her body forward. A pair of arms wrapped around her, pressing her head onto a hard chest.
She froze.
The arms tightened even harder around her, causing her eyes to widen even more in shock. The arms slowly loosened around her, moving sideways to hold her shoulders.
Kamyla gazed up.
"D- Danji..."
Danji stared down at her with soft eyes, having a worrisome grimace on his face as his fingers dug into her skin.
"Where were you?" He asked, having his eyes dilate. "I was so worried that—"
A large palm suddenly grasped Danji's face from the side, pushing his head backwards to make him stagger away from Kamyla.
Ajefe frowned, taking the position in front of Kamyla. He glared at Danji, "We were all worried about her. Stop forming like you're the only person who cares about her".
Danji's brows instantly twitched in annoyance. "Is that why you pushed me!?"
"Get out!" Ajefe waved his hand, turning back to Kamyla.
He then held her shoulders, saddening his expression, "Where were you? What happened? Everyone has been looking everywhere for you!"
"Kamy!"
"Kamy!" The identical voices of Mama Negu's twins sounded from behind, having them race straight in Kamyla's direction.
Kamyla locked eyes with them — they threw themselves at her, wrapping their arms around her waist.
"You're alive!!" Biwa shouted.
"I told you she wasn't dead!" Bimo whimpered against the fabric of Kamyla's skirt.
Biwa sobbed, clutching tightly. "I thought the white cow-looking man ate her!"
Leviathan's brows knitted. Cow!?
With the attention of all the concerned villagers locked on Kamyla, she smile warmly.
"I'm fine, everyone. I'm alright", she reassured. "Nothing happened to me..."
Danji then stepped forward, "But where did you go off to? We had been looking for you since last night".
Kamyla chuckled nervously, "Oh... Well, we went to the ocean".
"The ocean!?!" Their brows shot high.
"What were you doing at the ocean?!"
"At night?"
"Up to this time?"
"What if something happened to you?!"
"What if Mami wata caught you!?"
"And more importantly", Danji frowned, "You went with him!!" He pointed at Leviathan.
Leviathan remained unmoved with a poker face.
"I- It wasn't me! It was him! He said he wanted to swim and I couldn't let him go unsupervised—"
"Or maybe she just wanted to watch me get naked".
All eyes snapped at Leviathan. He stared blankly at them.
Danji narrowed his eyes. "What did you just say?"
Leviathan shrugged. "Maybe she just wanted to watch me get naked before I got into the water".
Kamyla's brows hit the roof of her skull. "W- What!? What are yo—"
"That's a lie!" Biwa shouted boldly. "Kamy would never do that!"
"Exactly!" Bimo frowned.
"But maybe if you were a girl with a full chest, Ajefe probably would have", Biwa completed
"Wait what!?" Ajefe shot her a glare.
"That's a fact", Bimo supported.
"Hey!" Ajefe frowned.
A vein then popped on Danji's forehead, having his fingers clench as his eyes slitted at the colourless horn bastard before him. "How dare you..."
He strode forward, halting in front of him.
Their gazes locked.
With both men being of almost the same height, they glared into the eyes of each other as their spiteful aura clouded their surroundings.
Danji snarled, "How dare you try to rub mud on Kamyla's dignity in front of the entire village?"
"And what makes you think my words are falsified just to taint her image?" Leviathan crooked a brow.
"Because Kamyla would never. Not with a thing like you".
"Ah?" His lips couldn't help but crack into a grin. "Is that what you think?"
Danji scowled, not giving him a response.
The entire population around them remained absolutely silent, having their curious eyes locked in anticipation.
Leviathan then slowly leaned closer, lowering his voice. "And what makes you so sure she didn't want to go as far as joining me in the water—"
Danji's fist instantly bolted forward — his arm froze in midair, leaving his knuckles less than an inch away from Leviathan's face.
The demon's grin widened.
Danji's jaws remained clenched with his eyes unable to look away from Leviathan's crystalline orbs. He snarled, attempting to thrust his fist closer to his face.
Ajefe's fingers tightened on Danji's wrist, preventing him from accomplishing his provoked stunt.
Danji snapped his eyes at him.
Ajefe frowned, "Control yourself, Danji".
Danji stared silently at Ajefe for a few seconds longer before slowly pulling his hand away to lower at his side.
He looked back at Leviathan, immediately sighting the taunt in his blue-green eyes. He swallowed his rage.
Ajefe then loosened his face into a smile. "Besides!" He clapped his hands, "I also want to remind you two that violence isn't the answer. Especially a pointless one that could ignite a bloody battle between you two in front of the entire community".
They didn't respond.
"So please try to maintain peace till Baba Elawo returns. If not..." Ajefe shot Danji a glare, "You might be putting the whole village at high risk if our guest here decides to use the abilities he manifested yesterday evening".
Danji's facial muscles tightened. He then pulled his gaze to scan the attentive eyes of the people around them.
His eyes locked on Kamyla's.
She stared back at him with her lips slightly gapped, having her eyes filled with anxiety as she subtly shook her head.
His expression slowly loosened.
Danji slowly turned back at the grinning Devil before him. He exhaled softly, "Fine".
Without warning, Danji spun in the opposite direction, briskly walking away from them and through the crowd.
Silence engulfed the entire atmosphere as all eyes gingerly returned to the demon prince.
Leviathan's lips dropped.
"Oh and Mister Prince?" Ajefe called.
Leviathan gazed at him.
"I would also like to humbly advise you to not blaspheme anyo—"
"Tsk!"
Leviathan looked away from him, turning in the direction of his hut and walking away without sparing another glance.
Ajefe's brows quirked. "Well, ouch!"
The crowd's eyes trailed after the rude visitor as he made his majestic way into his hut, slamming the door shut like he owned it.
They blinked twice.
"A for audacity..." Biwa whispered.