His figure disappeared in a split second and reappeared on the estate’s grounds. There he saw littered corpses of servants and bodyguards alike. The perpetrators spared not even the corridors, tainting it with blood.

  With his abrupt stomp on the ground, the pathway crumbling under the pressure he put into it, the navigation magic rippled out in golden lights from his position until the fences of the estate and upwards towards the roofs, covering and investigating everything under its watchful nature.

  Karel’s crimson eyes shimmered more as he looked above towards the Master’s study and noticed the open window.

  His chest tightened while his teeth ccked against each other, gritting down as he contained the rising anger in him. Dark clouds gathered abruptly, obscuring the bright moon he briefly admired moments ago.

  Kani, cornered inside his study, held onto a short sword and staggered backwards to the wall. Through the blurry magical circles in front of him, he recognized the familiar silhouettes cornering him. He slowly supported himself while he pnned his next attack then a glow of a familiar crimson caught his attention. A man’s figure squatted on the window sill, one hand gripping tightly onto it.

  “Karel?” Kani weakly called.

  “How courageous,” the blond’s low voice rang out. Timely enough, lightning fshed in the night skies, highlighting the silhouette and followed by thunder rumbling in the distance.

  The assassins abruptly turned to Karel, unsheathing their swords as a response. Menacing crimson eyes shone in the dark, eyeing them intently with obvious rage and bloodlust.

  An Immortal—most of them thought.

  If there’s one thing they learned about the immortals during their coexistence, it’s not to underestimate them. They might pose themselves as civil in human societies but they remained innately atrocious.

  His figure blurred in their eyesight and gasps echoed when they found no one on the same spot. They scanned the surroundings and noticed he’s already by Kani’s side. A small magical array hovered the brunet’s wound and even with untrained eyes, those magic circles signified what he truly was.

  With a snap of his fingers, a loud cp of thunder followed which startled everyone in the study. A shrill scream of pain echoed next as two figures dropped to the floor lifelessly. The attackers observed how the blood flowed along the white tiles, staining it further and the color reminded them of the eyes currently staring at them menacingly.

  The braver ones held tightly onto their weapons, unnerved by the dispy. Some of them copied their actions but trembled as they realized their predicament.

  As the silence ensued in the room, the thunder cpped in succession outside. Despite the fshes of lightning and loud rumblings, no rain poured upon them. By the next roar of the tumultuous skies, two of them colpsed, joining the others as corpses. Knees hit the floor again after a few moments of tense silence, buckling under the weight of their own person holding onto their wounded bodies.

  “You…” the man groaned more in pain as the tall figure loomed over them.

  “I knew it,” Karel choked out, seeing Cashile upfront and sword drawn towards Kani. “I should have eliminated you right from the start if it wasn’t for Kani’s faith in you.”

  The others swallowed nervously. They knew all this time?

  Cashile gnced at Kani and the tter returned the gaze with a pained expression. He betrayed his master whom he served for decades. Whatever reason he did it for, betrayal remained a betrayal. It won’t change the fact that he turned his back on his master.

  Karel gritted out, voice strained, “I should have killed you even though he’ll hate me.”

  “Karel…” a soft, whimpering voice called.

  As much as he wanted to take his time by letting them taste despair and agony, Karel reminded himself to prioritize Kani’s safety.

  The abled ones recomposed themselves again but Karel spent no time dallying and eliminated them faster than they could. Flesh being pierced echoed in the room followed by loud thuds of bodies hitting the floor and blood flowed like paint from a spilled bucket.

  The anger seething beneath his skin was yet to be quelled but he couldn’t stand it any longer if they live more than they should be.

  The turntables managed to draw out the other group of assassins hidden in the shadows. Despite being cognizant of their presence, Karel would gdly indulge them if they intended to fight him. To which they did, much to his delight.

  “I don’t like tainting my hands with blood ever since the civil war ended,” he rambled on as he slowly walked towards the assassins appearing from the shadows one by one, “but people always give me a reason to kill again.”

  “Scatter! Chant spells!”

  “Do it!”

  “Prepare yourselves!"

  “It’s futile, you know,” Karel announced as the silence ensued. The blood staining the sword in his hand trickled down, filling in the silence. It rang loud in their ears then another thundercp roared in the distance.

  “Damn it!” another one rasped out as he stood up in a stance. His hands shook tremendously as he feared for his life.

  The preparations foiled; attacks failed. In their wake, only murdered corpses remained.

  In a hurry, the lopsided fight ended and the blond tended to his master. He cautiously touched him and examined how to carry him without aggravating the wound further.

  The brunet weakly said, “Thank you, Karel.”

  Karel kept his silence but held the side of his head, cradling it towards the crevice of his neck. The tter pressed himself in his comfortable presence and brushed off the thoughts about the brutal murder done in front of him. It scared him to an extent since he never witnessed such a terrifying scene. The slight trembles of his figure gave him away and Karel reassured him about his safety.

  Right, he will never hurt me. He always protects me.

  When the bandits intercepted them during their travel to Norn, Kani’s intuition warned him about something. His suspicions only heightened when he recognized the seal on the envelope given to Cashile just before they departed for Shimhazril that same year.

  Kani blinked his eyes and remembered the time they went to Shimhazril. The new travel protocols given out pyed to his favor. A blessing in disguise. Else, Kani might have been killed by his own people in the middle of the deserts and every witness could feign ignorance once found out.

  Karel too, insisted not to stay in a pce for too long and only the blond accompanied him throughout their journeys.

  To think he knew about it…

  Kani forced his drooping eyes open even when Karel id him down on the bed. Karel procured some medical aid from who-knows-where and began treating his wound.

  “It’s a bit deep but not fatal,” Karel whispered.

  He carefully cleaned the wound and disinfected it. He hovered his hands and magic circles appeared again. Seeing how the magic slowly did its work, only then he noticed the bracelet on Kani’s wrist—a bracelet able to seal someone’s magical abilities. Only the imperials had possession of those restrictive cuffs and his anger rose at the sight of it.

  A cheap replica of what we have.

  Without further ado, he broke it and noticed the speeding process of the healing. The pain slowly subsided and the wounds slowly yet surely mended itself.

  Kani only looked at him throughout the healing process, at how the warm light in the room shone upon his golden hair and saw concern in those crimson orbs.

  “I’m sorry, Kani,” he whispered, breaking the silence and his words made the brunet’s eyes brim with tears.

  “Don’t be. I should be the one thanking you,” he whispered back in a ragged voice.

  Karel looked over and noticed the tears falling from his eyes. He sat now on the bedside, wiping the other’s tears away, clearly hurt about what happened to him.

  “I’ve always known that something is wrong but I still left your side. I’m sorry, Kani.”

  “Don’t be… please… you’ve already done so much for me…” he replied in between sobs.

  Kani heaved deep breaths as Karel held his hand while his other hand hovered on his wound, continuing to heal it with magic.

  “Stop crying, alright? Everything is fine now.”

  He squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

  “Always, Kani. Always.”

  Karel imbued the healing magic with Sleep Magic and Kani eventually fell into slumber. In the next hour of continuously healing, the wound finally closed.

  The blond heaved deep breaths, feeling how the healing consumed most of his power. He looked at Kani, now sleeping soundly. He tucked away the hair on his face and traced his eyebrow.

  I will see it to the end, Kani. After all, I promised that I’d spend this lifetime with you.