Chapter 9
Seraphina
I quickly looked around, searching for any place close by that I could teleport to, but there wasn't. The mountain was plain, with a few dry trees and hills. Dead.
"Stop right there," I yelled at him as I hurriedly wore my dress. It was a top dress with belts, accompanied by trousers.
As I yelled, I heard his footsteps halt. I heaved and hurriedly continued wearing my clothes. My cheeks burned with anger and embarrassment, knowing he was shamelessly watching me, but I refused to turn. I would be even more embarrassed if he saw me from the front.
Once I was done dressing, I turned to find him actually watching me. I clenched my fist as I walked up to him with a frown, then I slapped him hard. And it felt so damn satisfying. Serves him right for being so shameless. But instead of getting angry, he had a smirk plastered on his face, which made me even more pissed.
"Pervert," I muttered and turned to walk away, but he grabbed my hand, pulling me back and stopping me. My back hit his broad chest from the force.
"You hit a man for watching his bride naked. Don't you think that's cruel?" he asked, and his voice held a slight hint of mockery. He was really starting to annoy me. Forget his ridiculously handsome face, he was too annoying. I felt like punching his face at that moment. Bride, he said? More like assassin.
"Let me go. I need to go pluck some fruits," I said, pulling away from his hold. Freya's acting classes were not helping one bit because I was only seconds away from punching his guts hard.
Right then, I remembered a spell I could use on him to teach him a lesson: an itching spell, which wouldn't go away until the caster undoes it. It was one of the simplest yet cruelest spells. As a child, Freya once cast it on me because I took her play doll and smashed it out of jealousy. My body itched for days because Freya refused to forgive me.
My mother had to beg Freya, and she also made me beg. Stubborn me refused to beg at first, claiming it wasn't my fault her doll got destroyed, but the itching got so unbearable that I apologized without hesitation. This spell was definitely the perfect one to deal with him.
A smirk appeared on my face as I turned to him. "What's your name?" I asked. His brows furrowed in surprise; I guess he was caught off guard by my sudden question. I needed to know his name. That was the only way I could cast the spell.
"Why do you ask?" he asked, his mischievous smirk returning.
"It's just that..." I started, softening my expression. I had to be as convincing as possible. "I want to bond with you. Isn't it right that I know the name of my groom?" I asked, making sure my voice didn't sound too fake or too gentle. Otherwise, he might figure out my trick.
"You think I don't know what you're up to, little witch. You want to cast a spell on me, isn't it?" he asked, still grinning. His smile was so annoyingly attractive. Anyone would forget what to say if they got caught in his spell.
"Rhydian. His name is Rhydian," I heard somebody yelling from behind him. I crept my hair to look at the person. It was someone I didn't recognize, but from his prowess, he was definitely royalty.
The thing was, I could instantly tell the prowess and power level of any opponent, but strangely enough, Rhydian wasn't one of the people I could access their prowess.
"Rhydian, right? Thank you," I yelled, thanking the person who told me his name. I quickly pulled my hands away from Rhydian's hold and ran, already saying the spell.
He thinks he is so strong and almighty, huh? Let's see how well he deals with this one. I turned to look back at them for a moment. The other person had already caught up to him, and they were now talking. I wondered how they were related because, from what I could see, they were definitely close.
I ventured into the mountains, in search of the fire fruit. I headed straight for the place where I knew the fruit always grew, and I found it. But to my surprise, there was somebody there, plucking all the fruits and putting them inside a bag.
I hurried to them. "Wait, why are you plucking everything?" I asked. The woman turned to me and looked at me like I was some strange creature.
"For wine," the woman replied nonchalantly. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself to talk to her politely.
"Alright, leave some for me. I came all the way here just for this fruit," I said calmly. The woman dropped the bag. She was wearing a tattered dress; it was obvious she was one of the poor villagers.
She suddenly started sniffing, sniffing as she walked closer to me. Then she also sniffed my body. My brows furrowed, wondering what was going on.
"You're a witch, aren't you?" she asked with a smirk. So she could also tell witches by smell. I nodded to her question.
"And you came here to kill the king," she added. My heart skipped a bit. How did she know? But I wasn't about to reveal myself so easily.
"What do you mean kill? I'm here as a bride," I defended firmly. And just then, I saw her lips move as if she was uttering a spell. And in the next moment, her previous look changed to reveal... Freya!!
"Freya?" I almost yelled in surprise. What was she doing here? Without stopping myself, I pulled her into a tight hug. It had only been a day, and I missed her so much.
"What are you doing here? Did you come to visit me?" I asked excitedly as I hugged her.
"No, Sera, I came to kill you."