Timothy had driven the aston martin slower since they had already covered a long distance away from the city of Duskhaven. It would be a couple of minutes before they would eventually return to Groovehill. There was also no harm in slowing down in the Western Battlefront since the soldiers wouldn't dare chase after them with a terrifying prince mounting on the car as well as demonic female entity who was now drooling in her sleep. Out of consideration for her, Raphkiel asked him to slow down so she could take a proper rest.
Alisa was so tired after all the running and fighting she had done. She thought that she should get some sleep first and didn't realize that she had already fallen unconscious. Her eyelids twitched as she dreamt of her parents in this current life. She used to be a young and vibrant girl who always followed her father wherever he goes while her mother would occasionally cook her favorite food and snack. Her life was pure bliss until the scenery had changed. What she was seeing was a life full of bloodshed. Guns were fired everywhere while bombs would explode randomly, claiming the lives of many people. She was in the middle of a war-torn city. Her father carried her in tow, but a stray bullet found its way to his heart and he collapsed on the ground while Alisa was thrown in the side. She desperately crawled towards her father and kept calling him and shaking his body.
"Father... don't leave me..." She mumbled in her sleep as her facial expressions twisted in sadness and pain. A single tear escaped from her eyes.
Raphkiel was shocked as well as the two generals. They thought that the girl was just purely heartless that could kill a person without batting an eye, but upon seeing the scene just now, they realized that she could be human too. In fact, she was just a normal young woman in Raphkiel's eyes. She must have suffered a lot to reach the point where she was today. That kind of martial arts skill was way too terrifying and had the sole purpose of disposing her targets. By now, Raphkiel had guessed that she wasn't a warrior at all but a much dreadful entity: an assassin!
These types of people were trained at a very young age and made them lose their emotions so they could kill decisively. That was what he felt when he saw her kill for the first time. But it also wasn't right at the same time. She could smile truthfully sometimes instead of displaying her usual cold demeanor as well as her prideful and mocking expressions.
"Timothy, stop the car." He commanded.
Timothy was confused but still obeyed his orders. He slowed down until the wheels have stopped. Raphkiel got out of the car and opened the side of the passenger seat where Ferrid was seating.
"Move to the front. I'll sit here for now."
"O-okay..."
Ferrid answered nervously and hopped out of the car. He then sat on the front beside Timothy and exchanged glanced with him before looking at the front mirror. They could clearly see what Raphkiel was doing. They were stunned. Did he just hold her on his own accord?
"I thought the prince had some kind of allergy to women? What in the world is going on?" He softly whispered, afraid that Raphkiel might heard him.
"I don't know. Doesn't he already have a fiancée? I heard he was about to get married to the daughter of the Hyarms soon." Timothy answered.
"In any case, we should not speak anything about this to anyone."
The two of them agreed and nodded before taking one more glance at the mirror. They then noticed that Raphkiel was actually staring at them coldly which sent shivers down their spines.
"What are you too gossiping about? Start the car already."
"Y-yes, sir!" Timothy stammered and started the car. That was close! He really had to be careful when he was around him.
The journey had become less bumpy as Timothy drove even slower. Alisa was still having nightmares and crying in her sleep. Raphkiel reached his hand towards her head. She grabbed her and let her lean on his shoulder while he wiped her tears away. The two generals were secretly watching his actions with awe and amusement without him realizing. Soon enough, Alisa's expression softened and the rhythm of her breathing stabilized.
Raphkiel felt conflicted. He wasn't like this before. He had an obsessive-compulsive disorder regarding a woman's touch and whenever someone touched him, he would keep on wiping the area off until the skin would be peeled. But when he touched Alisa, he momentarily forgot that he had an extreme dislike or allergy towards women she didn't like. she didn't feel her repulsive at all. He looked at her peacefully sleeping face and softly brushed a strand of hair on her face towards the side, revealing more of her pale and beautiful facial features. Her eyebrows quite thick and perfectly arched, giving her an expression of natural grace while accentuating the gentle curve of her nose which was perfectly complimentary to her beauty. Her lips were full and plush, although dried and cracked already due to being left uncared for too long since she had been fighting in the battlefield for so long.
He was not much better anyway. His face had already grown such a long beard while his skin was also dried and cracked. If any stranger would see him now, they would definitely think he was a middle-aged man instead of someone who was currently still in his early twenties. He had just turned 21 this year, but his appearance resembled that of a monkey's. He thought he should groom himself once he got back in the capital. He couldn't allow himself to be seen like this by Meryl—
He suddenly flinched. How could he forget her? Upon realizing what he had done, he felt guilty. He wanted to quickly shove Alisa to the side, but he couldn't either. She deserved a good rest for doing so good. In the end, he could only endure his conflicting guilt for the rest of the journey until the car had eventually arrived at Groovehill.
Alisa noticed that the car had already stopped and she slowly opened her eyes. Once she saw herself leaning on Raphkiel's shoulder while drooling, she was horrified. She quickly straightened herself up and nervously looked at his darkening expression. He was definitely mad!
"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I had dozed off, Your Highness."
He didn't reply and just got out of the car without waiting for them. He didn't bother taking the captured marshal either and just hurriedly walked away towards his own quarters. Ferrid could only sigh at the hopeless young man and turned towards Alisa.
"Don't take it to heart, young girl. He's just like that. But he has a good heart, if you know what I mean."
"I-I see..." She blushed a little. Her face had been hotter recently. Did she have a fever or anything? She tried putting her palm on her forehead but it was fine. She was just probably tired and needed plenty of rest. "I'll go back to my squad now. You two can handle that pig inside the trunk."
The lips of the two men quivered and their shoulders trembled slightly as they tried to stifle a laugh when she called the enemy's marshal a pig. She was really so bold and daring.
"Alright, I'll take care of the pig himself. Go on and have a rest." Timothy said.
Ferrid couldn't hold it off anymore and just burst out into laughter as he kept on slapping his thigh.
"Good heavens! This is the first time I have heard someone call a marshal a pig. What's worse that his face has swollen so much that he literally resembles a pig."
"Alright, don't make it too hard on him or I will lose my bonus reward if he dies. I'm going back now."
The two were stunned. Even right now, all she had been thinking of was the money and the free meal. Was she really that broke? The two shook their heads as they opened the trunk and took Balthor out. He was now conscious and they swore he was cursing them a lot right now but he couldn't speak a single word since his mouth was gagged by a rug. They carried him and threw him into a cell after untying the ropes. He wouldn't be able to escape anyway since all of his bones were cleanly snapped by Alisa. Although it could be fix with a little bit of twisting, it would also be painful as hell.
"Curse you, Sylpharians! I promise I would get back at you soon enough, including you, Prince Raphkiel! And that woman as well! I will never stop until I get my hands on her and kill her brutally!" His mad screams echoed throughout the cell like a roaring lion but no one listened to him. The two generals were already far gone, not wanting to waste a single second in hearing his rants.