11 Chapter 11: Consuming His Soul

Both Kirin and Noah walked out of the Chief's room with a pale, haggard look on their faces. An anxious silence persisted between them for a while as they were fidgeting quite hard. Moreover, Noah was sweating profusely with cold chills that ran down his spine, finding it hard to breathe while he walked in an unbalanced motion.

"K-Kirin..." After a long silence, Noah finally halted his march and turned around towards Kirin who was walking behind him. Both of them peered into each other as he asked him, "W-Will the castle guards b-behead me if I get caught? O-Or will they skin me alive?"

Kirin scowled at him, holding an immense concerned look in his wadded brown eyes. He clenched his fist before he groaned at him, "You fuckin' idiot!"

"Huh?"

"Why the heck did you agree to it!?" Suddenly Kirin rushed closer, stomping his steps aloud on the ground, and grabbed Noah by his shoulder, lashing aloud at him. "Have you lost your darn mind? You can't even hold a knife without trembling like a fawn and yet you agreed to assassinate the crown prince!? Do you have an idea of what mess you have involved yourself? You wanna fuckin' die?"

"I...I know," Noah's voice shivered as he continued looking at him with his cowered gaze. "But, I didn't have any spare choice."

"What do you mean you didn't have any choice?" Kirin strongly objected, seeming quite agitated. "I was about to convince the chief for letting me go instead of you! Then why? Why the fuck do you have to interrupt and make a mess of everything?"

"Exactly, that's why I agreed to do it so that I could save you from being the scapegoat, Kirin." Peering a sad gaze deep into him, Noah murmured.

Stunned at his answer, for a moment Kirin held his breath as he gazed deep into his pitiful eyes, "W-What?"

Noah quietly unleashed himself from his clasp and tossed a sad smile at him before he responded, "Kirin, you might not be able to trust me completely, I might still seem crazy to you. But, you are the only person here who has listened and tried to understand me, even if it's a bit. I know, I have caused trouble for you, but I wouldn't have been able to live with the guilt if something had happened to you if I had let you accept the task."

As Kirin stared still at his glum face, a bitter ache stirred in his heart, making him feel vulnerable from inside. Wadding his pained eyes round, he murmured with a dilemma, "What...Just what are you talking about---"

"Since the moment I woke up, I have been denying my existence as Sheoran. But like a true friend, you didn't abandon me. Instead, you always tried to protect me, Kirin." Noah tried to retain the sad smile wide on his face as he expressed his sincere gratitude to him.

Walking a step closer, he tapped his shoulder once and stated his melancholic acceptance, "Thank you for everything, Kirin. I know and I have accepted the fate that lies ahead of me. I know there might be a little or impossible chance of returning back alive but, I don't regret my choice at this point."

"W-Wait..." All of a sudden, tears glistened within his brown eyes as Kirin muttered in a pained voice, grabbing one of his arms tight. "Why are you making it sound like a goodbye? Why are you already giving up on life? I...I know, Prince Xanthus is rumored to be the cruelest, cold-hearted man in our kingdom but I can't accept this as your end! There must be some way to get out of this huge mess!"

"Kirin---"

"I...I will definitely think of some way, so please don't give up yet! I can't let you die, Sheoran! Not until I am alive!" Tears shone in his wadded brown eyes, making his voice crook a little. His pitch shivered, seeming quite intimidated himself.

Gawking at his vulnerable expression, Noah didn't fail to realize the fear and despair he must be enduring inside of losing his friend. His devotion for Sheoran made him awestruck as he wondered, 'How strange, he bears the face of a person who left me on the brink of death when I desperately needed his hand.

On the other hand, for saving the life of his friend, Kirin didn't even flinch once before offering to sacrifice himself. How lucky Sheoran has been to find a gem friend like him!'

Whereas, holding his arm with his shaky palm, Kirin glanced down at the ground as the thought in reflected his mind, 'I am still unable to forgive what I did to Sheoran 15 years back. He might have lost his memory and even if he never retrieves them back, I will make sure to atone for the sin I have committed...'

--------

SLASHHH!

...

"ERUGH!!"

A painful, loud cry along with the slashing sound of flesh filled up the atmosphere when Xanthus slaughtered a lowly, mere human man. His hands and legs were tied with a rope by piercing a sharp sword straight through his abdomen, he offered him a cruel death. Blood droplets splatted on the large ground, as well on his face which made the vicious look prominent on him.

His golden round eyes seemed too scary to look at, with a void of darkness embedded in them. While watching the man quiver in pain before he turned lifeless, a cruel smirk shimmered on him as he wiped the blood drops on his face with his fingers. "Ah, now I am feeling a bit better. The sight of blood never fails to calm me down."

A few steps behind him, Randall was standing with a concerned look embedded on his face as he watched him in his vicious form. Fidgeting a little, he moved a few steps closer and whispered to him, "Your Grace...it wasn't necessary to kill the human by yourself."

"Why does it matter?" Xanthus ran his bloody fingers to push his golden hairs above his forehead as he turned around towards Randall and threw a carefree smirk. "This human was a prisoner anyway sentenced to the death penalty. I just made the job easier by giving death with my own hands."

"B-But..." The nervous gaze grew prominent on his face as Randall exhaled a sigh, looking down at the blood-soaked body. "Your Grace, it's not a nice habit of yours to seek blood whenever you are angry. Violence is not the solution to everything. Besides, you are our Crown Prince, the future of the kingdom will depend on you--"

"I am not in the mood for your lectures, Randall." In a stiff, snarl, Xanthus cut in his words with an agitated glower towards him.

"You should be thankful that I didn't tear his limbs and flesh apart, judging from how much I am pissed off today. So, take care of the body and you may leave after that. I wish to be alone." In a cold voice, he ordered him.

As Xanthus turned around to head towards his chamber from the open yard, Randall stared still from behind as he watched him leave alone. A heavy sigh of concern exhaled out from him as he wondered with a frown, 'I really...earnestly wish...somebody come in his life and rescue him from the darkness that is slowly consuming his entire soul.

I can't watch him day by day becoming the bloodthirsty man he had never wished to be...'