Chapter 14 - Kiss Before The Storm

Alisa was sleeping soundly with her head leaning on Raphkiel's shoulder. Her calm breathing rhythms were slowly lulling him to sleep as well but he didn't want to let his guard down. He had just left the country without permission and incurred the king's wrath at the wrong time so he had a feeling that someone would come after him. Also, the fact that someone had sent assassins against this seemingly uncaring woman meant that more people would come soon. Both of their lives were in danger. Since he already declared that he wanted to be disowned, the king would definitely discard him now and use uncanny methods to eliminate him.

The ferry had already departed and was currently halfway on its way to Eidelweiss. Alisa wasn't being polite at all and snuggled even closer towards Raphkiel and tightened her hug. He was at his wit's end. He couldn't just push the woman away and it wasn't like he hated the feeling of being hugged by her. Even he himself was surprised by the way he felt towards her.

'Why was it that I don't feel repulsive at all when it comes to her?' Raphael thought deeply.

The fragrant scent of shampoo in her hair was tickling his nose. He was trying hard not to move so he won't disturb her— or rather, he couldn't move at all. He gritted his teeth and sweated profusely as he felt Alisa's powerful hug that could crush his bones anytime soon. Was this woman trying to kill him? Thus, he had no choice but to shake her off gently to wake her up.

Feeling the rocky disturbance in her sleep, Alisa was jolted awake and found herself clinging to a familiar man with a frosty gaze aimed at her.

"Let go."

"I'm so sorry! A-anyway, what are you doing here?" Alisa immediately let go of him and sat properly while asking him. It was such an embarrassment for her. She scolded herself in her mind for randomly snuggling up to people every time she slept. This was the second time she had done it to Raphkiel.

"I should be asking you that question instead since you're the one who suddenly sat beside me and hugged me in your sleep. What are you doing here?" 

Under his scrutinizing gaze, Alisa blushed furiously. She wished she could find a hole and bury her head out of shame. She cursed her clumsy persona again inwardly. 

"I'm going home to my hometown." She softly said while having a bashful expression.

"You mean, you're not from Sylpharia?" 

Alisa nodded but didn't say anything else. 

"No wonder your mannerism is strange and unfamiliar. And you're also rude to the nobles. I thought it was because of your poor upbringing."

His words struck her heart like an arrow and made it bled. She scowled at him in return. "What poor upbringing? You didn't have to say it like that just because I don't have a family and almost ended up becoming a slave. You rich people have it easy so you don't understand the circumstances of people like me."

Raphkiel's eyes widened upon hearing her voice filled with grief. He regretted carelessly letting go of such words. His gaze softened as he spoke to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Hmph! Stay away from me." She turned away and pouted. 

As far as Alisa's memory stretched, she was already inside a pick-up truck along with other children after being kidnapped. They were planning to sold the children they had gathered to wealthy people as a way of entertainment or pleasure. It truly disgusted her and wished she could find those people again and cut them into pieces.

Prior to that event, her memory remained blank. There was not a single memory about who she was, where she came from, and who her parents were. Probably, she had gotten an amnesia after getting her head smashed into a hard rock due to how clumsy she was. That kind of probability was high enough if it was the Alisa of this world that had completely merged with her existence.

While she was emerged in her deep thoughts, Raphkiel's eyes narrowed dangerously as he caught a glimpse of several suspicious people standing up at once. As expected of the king, he was hellbent on eliminating him after the shocking decision he had made in front of him. He quickly pulled Alisa closer.

"What are you doing?!" She angrily asked and tried pushing him away, but he was resolute on keeping her close to him as he pulled her even closer to a hug. He then suddenly whispered into her ear which was barely audible for her to hear.

"Just act and pretend. We're being hunted right now."

Alisa saw the ferocious glint being reflected on his eyes as he gazed towards the middle area so she calmed down and behaved. She followed his line of sight and saw ten men who took out sharp edges to threaten the passengers.

"Don't move or scream unless you want to die!"

The other remaining passengers who weren't involved with them had a fearful expression while some of them went into a loud scream. Without hesitation, one of them stabbed the nearest one who screamed just now. The poor woman choked in her screams as she bled heavily until she finally stopped moving. She was dead. A tense silence enveloped the area. The passengers were afraid of making the slightest sound, fearing that they would be the next ones to die. 

Was this supposed to be a robbery? Alisa thought otherwise. They seemed to be looking for someone. They were also not asking for money or jewelry which only solidified her thoughts that they weren't robbers. They had other ulterior motives in mind.

Not only that, but there was also another group hiding somewhere that exuded a dangerous scent of death and blood. Alisa familiarized their auras with the ones who assaulted her near the palace. What a coincidence! Two people, who happened to board the ferry in order to get out of the country, were being hunted the moment they entered a place where they won't be able to run away. Looks like the country she had helped was filled with a bunch of ingrates. A thought of causing a genocide and running rampantly in the capital of Sylpharia entered her mind, but immediately discarded the thoughts. No matter what, the matter was already done and it wasn't like all people there were inherently evil. Timothy was so good to her that he treated her like his own daughter. At least she felt familial bonds for a very short time during her stay there.

"What do you suggest to do?" She asked him, her eyes currently focused on the men who were now binding the innocent passengers with a rope while a few of them were approaching towards the direction where they were seated. 

Raphkiel didn't respond to her question. Instead, he suddenly cupped her face with his two large, rough hands, pulling her closer to him. Her brain processed the events too late and her lips softly landed on his own. It was soft and sweet, sending millions of volts to his body. He never felt this way before. How could he easily become intoxicated in her? It was like every part of her carried an alluring aura that charmed his heart and slowly pulled her into a vortex with no way out. She was indeed dangerous— dangerous for his poor and wounded heart.

Alisa's eyes widened and tried to push him away but he held her tightly. The kiss even deepened and she felt her mind spinning and close to bursting out. Upon seeing the suspicious men standing behind Raphkiel in the corner of her eye, she stopped fighting back and responded actively to Raphkiel's kiss. Tears glistened in the corner of her eyes as she thought that she lost her first kiss to a man she barely knew and didn't even love. Nevertheless, she had to perform well to fool the enemies, or her sacrifice would be in vain. 

The men stood still and watched them for a few seconds before turning away in disgust. 

"Good grief! Some people just don't have any decency and do it in public." They heard one of them saying it. 

They were about to pull away from each other to stop pretending when one of them stopped on his tracks.

"Hold on. I feel like I've seen that figure somewhere. That's the man we are looking for!" 

Alisa and Raphkiel flinched and their muscles tensed at the same time. The situation had turned for worse. Alisa cursed him in her mind for ruining her first kiss all for nothing. There was no other choice left but to fight. She angrily pushed him away violently and took out the light blue pen. It had transformed into a scythe and swung it towards the enemy. The man's body was cleaved into half diagonally starting from his shoulder to his waist. Alisa's patience ran out and she erupted in a fury as she exuded a nauseating bloodthirsty aura.

"I'm going to murder all of you." Her chilly voice froze everyone in fear. She imposed her powerful inner energy upon them and pressed their bodies to the ground. Some coughed in blood while the others lost consciousness instantly. 

It wasn't even a fight. It was a straightforward massacre. The ten people sent by the king were hacked into smaller pieces along with the hidden assassins as Alisa kept on running throughout the areas of the whole ferry. Blood flowed everywhere while limbs and internal organs were spilled, turning the ferry into a slaughterhouse that night.