"What's the meaning of all this?" Ionia demanded, her gaze sweeping across the array of dishes laid out on her bedroom's coffee table.
Marianne, her maid, had her head slightly lowered as she replied in a meek tone, "The master said you barely ate anything during dinner, so he ordered these dishes to be prepared and sent to your room."
Ionia regarded the maid with an empty expression before turning her attention to the food. She approached the table, sat down on one of the single couches, and picked up a spoon.
As she dipped it into the freshly made, steaming soup, a peculiar scent wafted to her nose, one reminiscent of medicine, more specifically, an aphrodisiac.
The odor was subtle, but undoubtedly the food had been laced with some unknown drug.
Under the watchful eyes of Marianne, she feigned taking a sip of the soup and then set, her utensils aside.
Abruptly standing up, she ordered, "Remove it; I've lost my appetite."
"M-my lady, are you sure?" Marianne hesitated.
"What do you mean, 'am I sure'?" Ionia narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Marianne, who avoided her probing gaze, growing increasingly uneasy.
"B-because it was food sent to you by the master."
"I've already said I'm not hungry anymore. Marianne, are my words some sort of joke to you?"
"N-no, miss." Marianne quickly cleared the small coffee table and left the room, bowing her head to avoid Ionia's glare.
Ionia, still dressed in her leather pants and a white long-sleeved shirt meant for training, threw herself onto the bed to contemplate something.
***
Several hours passed with no one visiting her room.
Ionia had half-expected Marianne or Alex to visit her room, but they likely hesitated due to the events at dinner and her refusal to eat.
And given the darkness, she figured they couldn't monitor her through the NanoComm in her room. Thus, why they probably weren't making a move. Besides, rumors had spread even to the remote corners of her quarters.
Just then, the rumbled of a stomach cut through the stillness of the room, signaling that she'd been starving herself since dinner.
With a quick glance at a nearby wall clock, she noticed it was nearly midnight.
The idea of starving herself to death briefly crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed the idea, not wanting to meet Sol again.
"This could be a great idea." She muttered to herself after some consideration.
Rising from her bed, Ionia headed for the door. Without official family authorization, she had no right to carry a weapon in the house.
As she exited her room, Ionia navigated through the corridors, reaching the training ground in no time. She examined the weapons on the racks carefully.
Unfortunately, there were no suitable metal swords; most on display were average.
Finally, she settled for twin short swords, testing their weight and edge with a few swings. Securing them on her belt, she headed toward the forest.
The marquisate was surrounded by a lush green forest, teeming with resources and animal perfect for hunting.
It was a popular sport among nobles, and Ionia had no doubt she could catch a rabbit, roast it, and quell her hunger.
She had learned such skills as a survivalist among the Corroder tribe.
[Stealth – Activated]
Silently, she navigated the forest, moving from one tree to another with the grace of a shadow, scanning the area for potential prey.
Her heart raced with excitement as she spotted a rare white wolf-like creatures, quenching its thirst near a river.
What caught her attention was the blue jewel embedded between it eyes, creating a diamond-shaped mark on its forehead.
'A lycan-ice?' Ionia contemplated. With a subtle 'sssshh', she unsheathed one of her blades, focusing on her prey.
The creature's ears perked up, sensing an intruder in its territory.
But Ionia moved stealthily, melting into the shadows, drawing nearer to her target.
Just as the lycan-ice appeared to have detected her scent, it turned in her direction, growling with bared teeth.
"Hah?" With a sly chuckle, Ionia leaped from the shadows, her blade pointed downward, aiming to impale the beast.
However, the lycan-ice, swift on its legs evaded her attack, and her weapon was lodged in the ground.
Struggling to free her blade, Ionia watched as the lycan-ice closed in on her, ready to bite her. In a split-second decision, she grabbed her second blade from her left side and rolled away, her skin grazed by rocks.
Quickly, her left hand lashed forward, her blade slicing through the beast's fur.
With a whine, and a quick roll over, the lycan-ice stood across from Ionia, growling and baring its teeth menacingly.
Ionia managed to retrieve her other blade from the ground, wiping it on the fabric of her pants as she kept her focus on the creature.
With a low growl, the beast leaned its head slightly, a ball of energy forming in front of the diamond-like jewel embedded in its forehead.
It was clear that the creature was preparing to unleash an ice-elemental attack on Ionia.
In one fluid motion, she flipped her hair back with a swift gesture of her right hand and activated her ManaSkin, infusing it with her wind element.
As the beast released its icy onslaught razing across the ground, Ionia moved like a blur, evading the attack just in the nick of time.
Ionia landed gracefully on a nearby tree branch, her feet barely making contact with the wood before another icy blast whizzed by.
Without hesitation, she used a powerful kick to push herself off the branch, narrowly dodging another deadly blast that crashed into the tree she had been on moments ago.
Somersaulting in mid-air, her eyes locked on the Lycan-ice, which was preparing for a third attack. With the reflexes of a seasoned warrior, Ionia chanted a spell, "Aerial dash!"
The world around her blurred, and an ephemeral, astral-like figure, gleaming with a brilliant blue hue, materialized at her previous spot as she altered her position still airborne.
It was akin to a shadow of her former self, a testament to her incredible speed and precision.
Ionia landed in front of the beast; both her blades deeply impaled in its flesh.
The lycan-ice struggled briefly, its icy energy diminishing, before it finally collapsed to the ground, releasing its last breath.
Withdrawing her blades, she felt her heart pounding with adrenaline.
Kneeling beside her hard-earned catch, Ionia skillfully sliced through the Lycan-ice, efficiently skinning it for later.
Her deft hands worked methodically as she prepared the meat for a skewer.
She was halfway through the skinning process when a subtle shift in the air made her senses prick. Frowning, she perked her ears, ready to defend herself.
Briskly, she tossed her blade, sending it flying with deadly accuracy, lodging it into a tree trunk beside the face of the intruder.
Given the heavily guarded nature of this land, Ionia didn't believe it was an actual attacker.
With authority in her voice, she demanded, "Come out."
Sure enough, with the telltale sounds of cracking branches, one of her cousins emerged from the shadows.
His eyes shifted from the partially skinned animal to the bloody scene that surrounded Ionia. With a severe frown, Lionel asked, "What in the world are you doing?"