Ch 27: Ignoring one's feelings [pt2]

Kurina was beyond embarrassed by her behavior. She had all but thrown herself at Ashura, only to get rejected by him in the most obvious way possible.

Heck, he might have thrown the necklace at Kurina’s face and it would have hurt her less than his indifference did. And yet, Kurina was unable to fault Ashura for his decision and his dislike of Kurina. She was not the kind of girl anyone liked after all.

“Hah, why did I even get my hopes up in the first place? I should just focus on what I can do and go from there.”

Kurina muttered under her breath as she walked in the hallway. But it was obvious that she was lost in there.

So, she quickly took a right turn next to try and find her way back, only to watch a lot of servants walking around her. But they did not notice her even when she was standing in the middle of the room.

‘Can these servants not see me? Huh, where are they all going?’

Kurina was suspicious of what was happening and decided to follow these guards and servants. She was curious to see what she would find.

She had only taken a few steps when someone placed their hand on Kurina’s shoulder and she had to suppress her yell. She looked behind, only to see Alex and Ashura standing behind her with serious expressions.

“Do not act alone in here. We do not know what these people intend to do with us.”

Alex warned Kurina but she was still recovering from the frightful spell she had been out under.

“Y-You scared me. You should have warned me before placing a hand on my shoulder. I thought I was about to die today.”

Kurina admitted before her lone of sight moved toward the soldiers once more. Half of the bunch was already at the door.

“We need to hurry up and follow them. Somehow, I do not have a good feeling about what is happening.”

Alex agreed with Kurina’s assessment. He looked at the place these servants were gathering and he could only see the golden glow of power. It hurt his eyes to look at.

“They are all gathering in the royal palace for something. Should we follow them there? We are sure to get caught if we go…”

Ashura hesitated as he looked at the royal palace. Even if something was wrong, he would not want to get caught up in this mess because he had Mahiru to take care of.

But Kurina seemed to not care. She walked toward the royal palace and did not even seem to have heard Ashura’s complaints. Alex had noticed how Kurina’s eyes had glazed over when she had started to walk.

‘Tsk, this is awkward.’

“Ashura, are you coming with us or not?”

Alex looked back at Ashura as he followed after Kurina. He was curious about that abundant golden glow as well. This place gave him the creeps and Alex wanted a legit reason to leave it.

“I am coming as well. If this place is as dangerous as it seems, then I cannot allow Mahiru to stay here any longer.”

Even now, Ashura was more concerned about Mahiru than himself. Alex had no idea why Ashura was so into protecting Mahiru and he was too uninterested in finding out now.

“Alright, let’s follow Kurina. I am sure she has an idea about where we should go.”

Alex followed after Kurina’s lead and she walked right toward the center hall. She was about to enter the room as well when Alex grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her back.

“Kurina, where are you going? Do you want to get us all caught?”

Alex asked as he pulled Kurina back. She struggled for a minute before settling down. Her eyes were hazed and glossed over. But they cleared up as soon as Alex had touched her hand.

“Huh? What was I…Why am I here? I don’t remember walking in here.”

Kurina whispered in shock. To her, it felt as if she had just woken up from a dream. Her brain did not remember anything of what happened in the past few minutes.

“Kurina, have you finally come back to your senses? Thank God. You were walking around like you were possessed or something. You scared me a lot.”

Ashura’s words of worry were a double-edged sword for Kurina. On the one hand, she wanted to hold on to them since this was the best, she was going to get from him. But on the other hand, these words also Kurina to dream more and hope for more.

Alex was aware of this dilemma brewing up inside Kurina but he could not help her. This was something she would have to overcome by herself and work her way through.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my court. Tonight, our dear comrade has something important to present to us all. After a long time, we finally found another core that would enhance my power. Are you all not happy?”

Alex’s attention was attracted by the emperor’s speech. He looked inside the room, only to see the emperor sitting on his throne. But he looked a lot different than before and his aura was saturated with the color gold.

The king’s skin tone had taken a more greyish tone and his eyes looked black. He also had sharp nails and his golden clothes only highlighted his physique.

To Alex, the king looked horrible and Ashura agreed with him. But Kurina could not tear her eyes away from the king and his power. That was all she had ever wanted in her life. And now it was in front of her.

She could taste that power on her tongue if she tried hard enough.

“So magnificent. The king is so magnificent, brimming with power. Hey, do you think he will share some with us if we asked him to? I mean, what are we telling him about our circumstances? The king will help us out, right?”

Kurina asked as she looked at the king. She was mesmerized by what she saw from him. But the other two were not fooled.

“I…don’t think that’s such a good idea. This man, he gives me the creeps and I do not want to bother him in any way. I think we should go back to our rooms.”

Ashura suggested but Alex stopped him. He had a weird feeling that the king was about to announce something important.

“My dear subjects, after a long time we have living humans in our city. We have gotten a golden opportunity to enhance our city once more. Treat our guests well and then…. we shall offer them to our dear god as sacrifices.”

Ashura gasped and Alex instantly put his hand to shut Ashura up. He could feel the king’s desire to utilize them as a sacrifice.

“Rejoice. Our god has spoken to us. The date of the sacrifice has been decided to be the day after tomorrow. Until then, we will get as much out of our dear guests as we can.”

Alex knew it would be some bullshit like this happening to him. And that was why he did not want to stay in this city. The people here were willing to do anything to gain more power.

Both Kurina and Ashura stepped back in horror. They looked ready to collapse any second now and Kurina as she felt her feelings get tangled up inside her.

“W-We need to run away tomorrow at all costs. This place is not safe. We will all die if we do not escape.”

Ashura started the obvious before he felt his back collide with the wall. Alex agreed with him but there was a huge obstacle in their way that they needed to clear out first.

“It is all good, but how will be convince Baron Luke to come with us? He is convinced that this place is a god-send and he would never agree to run away.”

Kurina was not wrong when she said that. Baron Luke was a pathetic excuse of a human but he was also the one who held all their lives in his hand.

“W-We can bring Baron here and show him the real side of these people. I am sure that it will convince him to finally open his eyes.”

Ashura made plans but Alex knew that it was not going to be easy to bring Baron Luke here at night. That man could be cautious at the worst times possible.

“We will think about that tomorrow. I think we should head back to our rooms for now, just in case anyone notices that we are missing tonight.”

Alex’s suggestion was met with shaky replies. But they all went back to their rooms and locked their doors. It was a restless night for everyone involved in this nightly visit but the next day quickly came and nothing happened.

When Alex returned to the gathering spot the next day, he was surprised to see both Ashura and Kurina present there. But they both looked exhausted and defeated.

On the other hand, Baron Luke looked pissed and agitated. And the one who experienced this irritation first-handed was Alex. Baron Luke turned toward him and Alex knew he would be scolded by the older.