Lucivar could feel his heart pounding like a war drum.
He hadn't recovered his exhausted ether and was now defenseless.
Feeling that all focus was on him with nobody to help, he took a deep breath and raised his face to look at the guard standing before him. If the guard saw his unnaturally golden eyes, Lucivar would definitely be recognized as the wanted man.
Gazing into the guard's eyes, Lucivar gulped seeing a frown appearing on the man's face.
"Your eyes..." the guard uttered, his eyes gradually widening. "I'm surprised, I've never seen someone's eyes being—as emerald green as that. Is it the influence of your bloodline? Or is this some kind of sickness?"
Upon hearing this, Lucivar frowned, "Emerald green?"
"He's born that way, he's not a Hybrid," Tobias quickly intervened from the back.
Finding nothing was wrong, the guard nodded and handed over a coin pouch to Lucivar.
Looking at this pouch in confusion, soon Lucivar realized that it was his pouch.
"A thief was standing behind you, and took your coins. I heard you guys were ambushed by a group of bandits, you should be more careful with your money" the guard explained, pointing at a restrained man in haggard clothes near the entrance.
Since this was his first time traveling, Lucivar was not aware of the dangers.
He didn't even feel that his pouch was taken.
"T- Thank you," He bowed slightly before the guard nodded and turned to leave.
Immediately after the guards were finally gone, the group exhaled in collective relief.
Just the thought of Lucivar being recognized had weighed heavily on them, any recognition would have labeled them all as accomplices—landing them in serious trouble. Knowing how strict the Ashbourne House was, it wouldn't be surprising if they were executed.
As a house of Titan Hybrids, they took pride in their tyranny and reputation.
Fortunately, disaster had been averted.
Now that they were in the clear—Tobias quickly took charge, drawing everyone's attention back to the task at hand, finding a safe place to rest. Mingling with the people on the busy street, the group made its way in search of a hotel.
Along the way, Lucivar followed them silently as the incident earlier still confused him.
"How did my eye color change? Did that guard see it wrong?" He mused inwardly.
But then, he frowned at the thought of a possibility, "Or did he plan to arrest me later...?"
Earlier, Lucivar had already checked the color of his eyes through a mirror being displayed in one of the stalls on the street and found that it was still the same bright amber color, his eye color didn't change.
Due to that, he suspected that the guard might want to lower his guard and arrest him later.
It was a possibility so he decided to be alert.
Even though the others would probably help, he wasn't sure now.
'All of them were treating me good or passively before but now that they know I am an Angel and also, a wanted person—it would be naive to think they would stay that way towards me,' He thought, stealing a glance at the others, in front of him. 'No killing intent at least, so that's good'
Just as he was inspecting the others, his eyes landed on Leandra.
Several steps in front of him—standing beside Bakar, was Leandra, and she seemed to feel a little bit uncomfortable from the attention, she was drawing. All who caught a glimpse of her, couldn't help but steal another glance.
It applied to men and women alike.
Men were reeling over at her while the women were casting palpable jealousy.
Leandra pulled her hood lower over her face, trying to mask her striking beauty that was still able to attract stares despite her disguise. Her unease was evident, a weird sight for Lucivar who was used to seeing her composed no matter the situation.
'She's not as bulletproof as I thought,' Lucivar thought.
Eventually, the group stopped in front of a hotel.
Tobias and Ravenna went inside to secure a room while the others remained outside.
On the side, Bakar positioned himself in front of Leandra, using his broad frame to shield her from prying eyes—though his effort, was not entirely effective. Lucivar was standing a short distance away from Leandra, waiting patiently for Tobias.
Just then, however, his attention was drawn to the nearby conversation.
A conversation that was difficult to ignore.
"Hey, hey, look at that girl over there"
"Woah, she's a beauty. Both her eyes and her hair were purple, she must be a prostitute"
"Should we get her? I'd bet her underwear is also purple"
"Keep your voice down, she came with a group. If we want to get her we need to be smart"
"Alright, alright"
Lucivar stayed silent, and glanced over his shoulders silently, only to see three men wearing the same armor as the town guards. One of them has a red band wrapped around his arm, a possible indication that he is of a higher rank, a captain.
Upon seeing them, a peculiar glint crossed Lucivar's eyes as he averted his away.
A small smirk crept to his lips as he fixed his hood, 'They'll do...'
On the other hand, Leandra squinted her eyes when she saw Lucivar's small smirk.
Later that night.
Tobias booked three rooms for them to stay in during their brief stop here, in this town—one for himself, another for the guys, and the last one for the girls. Inside the girls' room, Nerissa was lying on the bed while playing with Thomas and Lily who were sleeping peacefully.
Both of them looked cute in their sleep and she couldn't restrain herself from pinching them.
Just then, the door swung open as Ravenna stepped inside.
Seeing her coming back, Nerissa sprung up and sat on the edge of the bed, "How was it?"
"We're going to be here for two or three days," Ravenna replied, sitting on the chair tiredly as she sighed. "I tried telling Master Tobias to stay a little longer and allow himself to mourn but he refused, saying that we would be late for the academy's admission if we stayed longer"
"I know he's lying though, I can tell" She added, massaging her forehead.
Delilah had just died a couple of days ago so Tobias was definitely hurting right now.
However, he said he was fine, or at least pretended that he was fine.
As the two were talking, Leandra came out of the bathroom wrapped in a white towel.
"Go ahead, Ravenna, I'm done," She said and went to wear her clothes.
Before Ravenna could take her turn to shower, Nerissa, stopped her, "Wait, you are not done yet! How about Lucivar? Did you go to the boys' room? No matter what, if he has a condition related to his bloodline, we should know... that is if he's willing to tell us"
Even Nerissa has heard what had happened with Lucivar against the Fire Primordial.
His power was prone to go berserk and they needed to know how to deal with it.
"I went to the boys' room but Mirel told me that he went out for a bit to purchase something," Ravenna replied, shaking her head. "We'll talk about this with him later. For now we should let him be, he was holding Delilah when she died after all..."
As soon as she said that, Leandra went over to the door, "I'm going out,"
"Are you okay going out alone? I can accompany you to be safer..." Nerissa proposed.
But Leandra didn't stop and waved her hand, "I can handle myself"
Meanwhile, on the street near the town's main entrance.
Lucivar stood across the street, his gaze fixed on the inn that buzzed with life in front.
His expression betrayed a hint of nervousness, displaying that he was about to do something that was dangerous, but with a deep breath, he took out a gold coin—steeling himself before he crossed over the street, heading to the inn.
Upon entering the inn, he was met with a joyous atmosphere.
He was met with the raucous sounds of laughter, drunken banter, and the playful yelps of the women entertaining the customers, the air was thick with the scent of ale, and sweat. Paying no mind to the place, Lucivar scanned the room in search of someone.
Soon his eyes were locked onto a guard seated in the corner, flanked by two of his friends.
Not even hesitating, he made his way to the bar.
"Give me three drinks," He said to the bartender, tossing over a gold coin to the table.
At the sight of the gold coin, the bartender's smile blossomed, "Coming right up!"
Lucivar got his change, and grabbed the three big cups with one hand before he approached the guard's table. He grabbed a lady who seemed to be a barmaid by the waist with his other hand and settled the drinks down on the guard's table.
Instinctively, the guards looked up, startled by the unexpected gesture.
"Since this seat is empty, I'll take it," Lucivar sat down, placing the barmaid on his lap.
Seeing this, and also the fact that they didn't recognize Lucivar to be from around here—the guards exchanged looks with each other before one of them, the guard who Lucivar kept his eyes on drew his sword a little from its sheath, "Are you lost? Don't be brazen boy, this is not the place to do that"
"Really?" Lucivar looked around, viewing the chaos. "I thought this is exactly the place"
"Lady, get off of him, I'm beginning to be concerned for his safety," the guard added.
Feeling the tension, the barmaid stood up and left in a hurry out of fear.
On the other hand, Lucivar—not deterred from the threat, laughed, "Really? I am a lot more concerned, that no ladies were accompanying this table, so I thought I'd help. If you do not like the barmaid then I apologize"
Brak!
Another guard kicked the table in anger, "Are you saying that we can't get girls?"
"If it's the barmaid then of course you can," Lucivar replied in hubris.
Just then, sensing that Lucivar had an intention for coming to talk to them, the guard across Lucivar leaned closer, and asked with a warning tone, "Tell me why you came to talk to us—I know you want something"
"I'm here to make a deal about a certain girl with purple hair" Lucivar finally said.
Upon hearing this, the other two guards exchanged confused looks, their frustration starting to build. But the guard in conversation, squinted his eyes when he heard what Lucivar said— knowing exactly the girl he was talking about.
He gestured to his friends to stop as he asked, "You're with her, aren't you?"
"I caught you glancing our way earlier. Are you here on her behalf?" He added mockingly.
"No, it's the opposite" Lucivar chuckled, and also leaned forward. "I heard what you're talking about with your friends—and I could help you to achieve that, how about it? Interested now?" He asked, a smile playing on his lips.