"Not yet, I want to prepare this wolf before meeting her with the King," said Ain, causing Arzan to gape so that her mouth formed the letter o. Not only Arzan, but two royal soldiers also reacted not much differently.
One of them chuckled, "You can't be serious. No matter how strong you are, you're just a foreigner. You wouldn't live if you weren't raised well by the royal warlord."
Ain waved his hand, "I appreciate your concern but I will talk to His Majesty."
Despite their objections, the two soldiers nodded and did not continue the conversation, leaving Arzan grinning, feeling a little relieved that she had not immediately been handed over to the royal authorities as a prisoner.
In just the blink of an eye, the two of them were already in a simple but comfortable house.
Arzan snorted, "Thank you for pending handing me over to the King." She smiled broadly from one ear to the other, showing a row of teeth.
"Don't be happy yet, I want to interrogate you first before the royal side." The wizard had a flat expression but occasionally chuckled, anyone who saw him would be annoyed a thousand times over.
"So what do you want to ask?"
Arzan made a faint oufh sound when she was seated in a chair, not denying that the seat was comfortable. The feeling of fatigue all over her body lifted little by little.
While smiling gently, the witch went to get the medicine kit. "The questions can wait. Now let's patch up the wound on your left leg." He mixed the herbal plants and then pounded them until they were crushed. "I have rice, strawberry jam bread, and deer meat, which do you want to eat?"
Arzan looked at Ain as if he were a student who was still asking whether the writing on the whiteboard must written or not. "According to you?"
The annoying laughter sounded again. "I don't know, maybe you want to try eating rice or bread." He blinked innocently which Arzan thought was stupid.
"Okay... Please give me rice and meat."
"Perfect, I know my instincts are never wrong," he concluded, creating his idea that Arzan didn't need to bother refuting. She's starving!
After patching up the wound plus the free food which surprisingly tasted good Arzan stared at the wizard without blinking bored waiting for the first question. In the end, Arzan chuckled, "I'm bored of waiting for you to talk so I'll start first. Can you help me look for a mate around here? There aren't none any royal people and maybe ordinary people can be my mate."
"Moon Goodness will bring you together with your mate when the time is right, you are too hasty." His forehead furrowed and he sneered, openly fed up by Arzan's wishes.
Arzan groaned in disapproval. "But I'm 27 years old. My other friends already have mates, I'm the only one left." She looked away, it felt strange to talk like that to the person who caught her. When other people receive harsh treatment, Arzan hunts her interrogator with a request for help.
Ain shook his head firmly. "It's not about your wishes but me interrogating you. Now tell me how did you enter this world?"
"Oh." Arzan seemed to be thinking about whether she should talk about it because it was a big secret!
Arzan looked the wizard straight in the eye while grinning. "You can torture me but I won't say it." Her facial expression looked tense and Ain caught the meaning. He placed his hand on his chin following Arzan's thoughtful expression.
"How about this? I'll help you find a mate but you have to tell me how to get in and out of all the worlds. I know you've been to several worlds."
It took Arzan a few seconds to think, she was already considering the worst possibility that would happen to him after revealing how to freely travel around the supernatural world.
"What will you do so that I can trust you? Remember you were supposed to hand me over to the King. Didn't you meet him?"
Ain's jaw tightened and Arzan made a mental note not to play with the emotions of the wizard in front of her.
"The king is on my side," he said firmly.
For some reason, Arzan had a bad feeling about what the wizard was thinking.
"No, thank you. I want to get a mate, but if my destiny is to die here, it doesn't matter." Arzan spoke without blinking. "I will take my secret with me to death."
"Gosh, you're so stubborn." He chanted several spells bringing out stones right in his grasp making hitting movements. Arzan's claws were ready to attack but any blow never came so a big question mark appeared on her head.
"You're not going to hit?" She asked while tilting her head.
"No." Ain shook his head weakly, looking like all his strength had been drawn out. The wizard lost his will to live!
In his hand, the stone had disappeared.
"Please. I want to take revenge on the person who dumped me or at least make them regret rejecting me."
Surely Ain the wizard had done something to her that made Arzan feel moved to help the poor man who had treated and fed her. Arzan's concept of life is that good is rewarded with good, while evil is rewarded with evil.
"But..."
"We made a binding agreement, if I break it my body will burn."
"Eh?" Arzan's forehead furrowed in confusion. "How do I know it work?"
"You just make a mark on me and it will work."
Arzan pouted as she stared searchingly, she was still unsure but the thought of making out with her mate felt like heaven. Before dying horribly, doesn't someone have to experience heaven on earth first?
In the end, Arzan will die.
"Agreed. What do we do after this?"
"Meeting the King."
In that instant, Arzan felt like she wanted to pounce on the wizard in front of her so that his dashing body would be covered in blood. He's as cunning as Arzan thought, but it's as if she's being forced to choose!
***
"Thanks for bringing her here, I knew I could count on you." The King smiled charismatically and did not take his eyes off Arzan for a second, looking at her as if he were skinning her alive.
Since arriving, Arzan hasn't stopped gulping down the saliva that feels like it's stuck in her throat. In sharp contrast to Ain, the wizard was just stoic and smiled faintly. "The white wolf is indeed very holy, His Majesty. She came here using a power that surpasses me. It would be better if we asked this directly."
Arzan's hip was nudged, feeling that it wasn't enough, Ain cleared his throat. "Please speak, white wolf."
Arzan wanted to snort but held back so she wouldn't make a mess. She looked at the King for a moment then lowered her face as deeply as possible to show respect. "I'm sorry, His Majesty's servant, I'm not a sacred creature like His Majesty thinks. I can't do anything without a blood-taking ritual and several spells that I learned from an ancient book found under the banyan tree where I often play."
"There she is!"
Arzan was shocked by the King's booming voice, she chuckled when he found that Ain looked normal and instead put his hand on his chest. That was the most relaxed position, even though in the werewolf world there were no kingdoms, Arzan knew Ain's attitude was very impolite.
"Let's form a team to explore the supernatural world. I want lots of land of power."
All her life Arzan will regret her decision.
*****