8 Mane's Inn

Aries emptied all the bottles of holy water given to him by Pieffer and managed to free fifteen kids from the corrupted souls.

But there were still at least twenty children swarming at him, with knives at hand and slashing mindlessly at his direction.

Aries cursed before throwing his crimson blade away. The sword did not hit the ground because it vanished in mid-air. Though pissed with himself, he was still grateful to have seen a steel pipe just a few feet away from him. He quickly picked it up and slashed at the children in front of him. It was a struggle for him not to land a fatal blow and just render the kids unconscious. But they would only stay down for a minute or two and Aries had to incapacitate them again. If he repeatedly beat them down, the children would eventually die from blunt trauma.

"Sir Aries…" the first boy he had saved had finally awakened.

"Wake the other children up and hold on to me tightly," Aries commanded without taking his eyes from the swarm of possessed children.

"Aries!" Sunrei was running towards him, carrying two unconscious children in his left arm while his weapon hand wielded a sheathed sword that waved anxiously at the group of children trailing him. He surprisingly reached Aries without killing a single child. "We have to retreat!" He hastily commanded. "Hold on to me!"

Aries still hated the Sunrei who stabbed him to death but for the sake of the children clinging on to him, he grabbed the sleeve of the blonde prince. They had been instantly transported away from the group of possessed children as the magical ornament shattered on the ground.

^###############^

Children had crammed inside the chamber of Aries. Most of them were crying, a few were wide-eyed with fear, and two were unconscious.

"I'll call Miko."

"No," Aries grabbed Sunrei by his arm and pulled him away from the door. "I will call Miko. You stay here and take care of the children."

"Okay."

Aries hated the teasing smile that curved on the lips of the blonde prince. But he left without saying a word to his killer-look-a-like.

He went straight to the kitchen and found Miko teaching a batch of children about different cooking techniques.

The excellent chef glanced in his direction and was about to exclaim but Aries quickly motioned for him to shut up and leave the kitchen in silence.

Aries hastily walked out of the kitchen and sat on the empty dining area. He heard Miko leave instructions to his young students before rushing towards the dining table.

"Sir Aries," the chef gazed at him with concern. "You're back..."

"Sunrei and I brought a few children back from the House of Lion," he quickly interjected.

"I'll take care of them," Miko instantly offered as if understanding the entire situation. "If you need to return to the House of Lion, you may do so. I'm nearly done preparing dinner. I'll pack a few boxes for you. This will be quick."

"Miko," Aries cleared his throat before saying, "Your cooking is excellent," the awkwardness he was enduring had doubled when the muscular chef blushed and smiled with tears in his eyes. But Aries had to say it. "Can you pack more food for us?"

"Of course, Sir Aries!" Miko eagerly answered. "You can wait in your room."

"Okay," Aries said as casually as he could before leaving the dining area.

Instead of returning to his room, he looked for a place where he could be alone. He found an empty balcony not far from the dining area. He sat there and gazed at the setting sun.

Ever since he arrived in that confusing place, Aries never had the chance to be by himself and think things through. He was glad to finally have a bit of respite.

Sunset was his favorite time of the day. His blood comes alive as the sun disappears from the horizon. Darkness had given him a lot of money. Now that he was dead, or he had returned to his original body as Pieffer had said, the disappointing fact was that all his earnings would only come to waste.

If I know that this would happen, I should have visited as many countries as I can.

Aries lightly knocked the back of his head against the wall.

There is no use regretting.

At least in that place, he was a leader. He had a mansion. His room was spacious and comfortable. And most of all, Pieffer was with him.

Was it truly because he had served the devil for a long time and without a single complaint or remorse that instead of suffering the fires of Hell, he had been given another shot at life?

Even if that place is on the verge of destruction, having Pieffer by his side was still something to be grateful for.

That life was totally different from his previous one yet everything felt awfully familiar to him. A few things were annoying but nothing that needed a lot of time to absorb or get acquainted with. The crimson sword coming magically out of his hand never frightened him. It felt like he was born to wield it.

Though the Pieffer and Sunrei in that kingdom had big differences from the Pieffer and Sunrei in his previous life, he could sense no awkwardness at being with the new siblings.

He even preferred the siblings in the kingdom of Serestral because they were close to one another. 

Despite the danger, Pieffer was happy. She could even protect herself.

Hell, I want to give this life a chance. Can I… really embrace this?

"Miko is looking for you," Sunrei entered the balcony and sat beside him. He was holding two bamboo containers.

It was truly strange that all his rage against Sunrei had been lessened by a great deal. His killer-look-a-like was no longer making his blood boil.

"Believe it or not, I know how confusing your situation is," Sunrei handed him one of the bamboo containers.

Aries took it and removed the lid. The aroma of beer filled his nostrils and he did not smell a trace of poison in it.

"When I was a child, I got into an accident," Sunrei took a gulp on his container and looked reminiscently at the setting sun. "My head had been terribly damaged, but I survived. My memories were once as chaotic as yours. Pieffer was the only person who kept me sane. She was the only one that felt real to me."

Aries looked away from Sunrei as he swallowed the last drop of his beer.

"We should return to the House of Lion and check on Pieffer," he wanted to avoid hearing the stories of the blonde prince. What happened to his past, Aries had no enthusiasm to know.

"My sister can take care of herself," Sunrei got to his feet. "Let your house healer check on your wounds first."

"These are all minor cuts," Aries returned the empty bamboo container at Sunrei.

"Will Pieffer think the same? Or do you want her to worry?"

"Are you not worried about her? That place is filled with possessed people," Aries was looking for a lion's head ornament from his pocket.

"We have a promise to each other," Sunrei grabbed Aries by his arm and dragged him back to his room. "We will not die until we restore the barriers around Serestral. Pieffer will not allow herself to get killed until that happens. Siorre is also aware of that promise. They will be fine. Worry about your chest wound first. Though not profusely, it is still bleeding."

"Fine. I can walk on my own," Aries pulled his hand away from Sunrei and marched back to his room.

He was a little surprised to find it empty except for that healer named Paolo.

"Sir Aries, let me check on your wounds," he quickly got up on his feet and motioned for Aries to sit on the couch.

"Where are the children?" Aries wondered.

"Miko will give them a room where they can rest well," Sunrei answered as the young healer magically mended all the cuts Aries had. "Don't worry about them. Miko likes to take care of children."

"Sir Aries, the previous wound on your chest has not been fully mended. Please, be more careful," the healer anxiously sighed. "I don't know why but your chest wounds and the one in the back of your head are taking a long while to heal. We are still researching it. Until we know the reason, please don't forget to take care of yourself."

"Just stop its bleeding like the last time," Sunrei took an overcoat from the cabinet and gave it to Aries. "You can heal him again later."

"Yes, Crown Prince Sunrei," the healer was nearly out of breath by the time he had successfully stopped the new chest wound from bleeding.

"Thank you, Paolo," Sunrei gave the healer a light pat on the shoulder. "You should take a rest.

"Be careful on your journey," the young healer bowed to Aries and Sunrei. "May you find Sir Leon."

^#########################^

Aries and Sunrei were expecting to be transported near the walls of the House of Lion but after the light that swallowed them had vanished, they found themselves inside a cozy room.

"You're here at last," Pieffer was sitting on a queen-sized four-poster bed.

"We took the crystal from the gate and placed it here in the Mane's Inn," Siorre was sitting on the couch and the red-orange crystal was glowing over the center table.

"What happened?" Pieffer squinted as she got on her feet and approached Aries and Sunrei. "Have you been cornered?"

"Yes," Aries honestly replied. "Possessed children swarmed on us. I already used all the holy water you had given me. We only managed to save a few children and they are now resting at the House of Ram."

"Sorry, we could not find Leon," Sunrei sat on the window railings.

"It's okay," Pieffer smiled nervously. "Siorre and I had already found him."

"Where?" Aries and Sunrei were both amazed.

"Not far from here," Siorre seriously answered. "But we cannot go near him. He had surrounded himself with flames and his front yard had been burned down to ashes."

"I can feel his desperation," Pieffer said. "He is losing his soul. If this continues…"

"Then why are we still here?" Aries snapped at them. "Let's go before he dies."

"Corrupted souls are all over the place," Pieffer said. "That Celestial Knight wielding an axe had stopped us from reaching Leon."

"Sunrei and I will take care of the corrupted souls," Aries instructed. "You and Siorre should focus on getting Leon."

"Okay," Pieffer agreed with a nervous yet determined gaze. "Let's get Leon this time."

^###################^