Chapter 11

Jamie's heart raced as he remembered the only character with flaming red hair in the novel. The vibrant color couldn't be mistaken. This was Nyx Yarrow.

Not much was said about this character's past; somehow, the author was adamant in painting him into a bad guy. But Jamie, as did many others in the comment section, saw that the real bad guy was never this villain.

Nyx, a man who sought justice in the failing system, a man who betrayed his master, a man who should die at the early age of 25 after the protagonist ascended the throne.

He was a man that was trampled on by the world while laughing at their blind stupidity.

Jamie took a deep breath to calm himself. His heart was a racehorse running thousands of miles, but it wasn't only due to this oddly timed meeting. There was something wrong with him... It was as if there was a pull...

Still confused to his own body's reaction, Jamie tried to reach out again, but this time, his hand was stopped by a calloused palm. "Young Master, please allow your servants to handle this." Isla appeared by Jamie's side as soon as the boy opened the door.

The situation had been handled for the most part by Gale. The men were weak and careless in their movements. However, safety should never be taken lightly. Whether it was a boy from the slums or an old lady on the street, anyone could be a potential threat.

The free-spirited moments from the marketplace seemed to have vanished from the guard's mind.

Who knows if this was just a small event that could potentially turn into something bigger?

Shielded from behind, Jamie was led back to the carriage, each step weighing heavier and heavier on his body. 'Don't go.' The pull was getting stronger and stronger, wrapping him in an unknown force. His neck began to sweat as he looked back at the small boy on the ground. The child was no longer cradled into the fetal position, his head unfurled from his chest and was facing his way

Pain was evident in his expression, emphasized by the bright blood trickled from his temple and dripped onto the cobblestone. The state of the boy was concerning, but what caught his attention the most were those eyes - eyes that were like polished rubies infused with shadows.

There was an entire galaxy, another lifetime in them, and a foreign familiarity. Such eyes were the reason why his feet turned back without any thought.

The author described them as a keeper of darkness, the reflection of a sinister soul. However, Jamie couldn't see anything but the purest form behind the shadows... as if he knew that this child was something special.

When the two gazes connected, it felt like the world had stopped and Jamie was taken back to that moment before death when he was speaking to God.

His feet reached the boy and grabbed the pair of small hands. Bony and thin, this was not the body of a child who was raised with care. It couldn't even compare to Soleil's who sometimes had to forage for food in the forest. The thin hands grasped his own. The strength was weak yet they were enough to show how determined they were to not let go.

The overwhelming confusion and emotions collided, making his mind whirl about like a funnel cloud. The surroundings were like a cocoon, a bubble of infinite space...

But then it popped.

The small hands were yanked away like a snap of a chain. Seeing the red-eyes, Isla unhesitatingly pulled his young master away, carrying him with both arms. The guard couldn't fathom what would happen from this event. Who did not know the significance of such an appearance? 'How could one of those be lurking in the Capital?'

Isla signaled Gale to let the men go. They must return to the mansion and have the young master looked at.

Snatched away like a rag doll, Jamie was grasping air. His stature and little strength was nothing for Isla though. Guardsmen or the House of Lovel will train everyday as if they were in the army itself.

"Wait. Hold on! Put me down." Jamie was seriously thinking of kicking this teen in the place where the sun don't shine. The ache in his chest was becoming bigger and bigger with each step taken away. Jamie saw the boy's eyes, the deep red intensifying. They begged him to stay.

He couldn't look away. He couldn't leave. Jamie punched the guard's back with all his strength. Yet, the straight back did not waiver. "Fuck. Put me down you- you- Asshole! Put me the fuck down!"

The guards put their young master into the carriage despite the swearing and foul language, urging the coachman to leave.

The horses whinnied and trotted away. The rhythmic clomps of their hooves were grating to him as he kicked and screamed and kicked again.

Isla caged him in his arms as they rode back. He hadn't expected his young master to have such power in him. Although it still couldn't compare, it was comforting to know that the boy had the spirit to fight for himself should anything ever go wrong. On the contrary, this reaction was worrisome. Were we already too late?

Tears trickled from Jamie's eyes. The further away they went, the larger the stream became. Soon, the boy was full-on sobbing, the drops plopping down like rain. The worst part was he didn't understand why. Why does it felt like he was losing something extremely important?

~

Still in the middle of the road, the injured child rose from the cold stone floor, his feet staggering in the direction the carriage had left. The eyes flickered from black to red, red to black. Each passing second contorted the boy's mind into something more neurotic.

That person... he couldn't let him go.

On the side, the men from before were relieved that they were easily being excused by the Marquis' guards. They may have gotten carried away capturing the child, but it wasn't too late.

Still sore and painful from the quick beating, the men regrouped and surrounded the brat.

Someone in the crowd wanted to stop them. They hadn't expected the General's men not to uphold justice. But just as they were about to do something, the cap was removed and the short red hair and colored eyes were exposed.

The crowd was horrified. A woman screamed the name of the creature. And as if a dam broke loose, chaos ensued upon the bustling Rhett street. 

Soon, the people fled like roaches being exposed to sunlight. No one wished to be captured by that monster. The stall owners left their goods for the sake of their own lives. Pedestrians dropped their bags and hauls. They couldn't get away fast enough.

A parasite, that was what this thing was. And the people could only curse the guards of Marquis Lovel for not informing them earlier, running away like their tails were tucked between their legs.

When the street was empty and the doors shutters of the surrounding stores were latched closed, the men used hemp rope to tie the boy who showed very little resistance. 

One man with a tooth missing from an earlier hit to the face by Gale smiled bloody wide. "Fuck, kid. Seems you're out of options." They chased the boy from the slums to God damn Rhett street. It was like catching a fuckin' mouse in an open field.

The boy's eyes were flickering still yet the men showed no concern. The monster, the lore, and rumors were fake. It was all utter bullshit to bring fear to the people.

"We better get going, the city militia will be here soon," a man with a black eye urged. It's been a minute or so since the street cleared, but the guards haven't come. Thinking of the situation, they were probably dragging their feet believing the lies of uhyre.

The boy was brought to the cart hidden between the buildings. With his entire body tied, it should be impossible for him to escape. The toothless man spit out blood while prodding the empty space. Using a dirty cloth, he stuffed the boy's mouth and gave another smile when he saw his irises almost completely black. The boy seemed lifeless but the eyes showed it all. "You want to kill me?" He chuckled. "Keep looking at me like this and I'll make the process worse."

With their target secured, the men set off with just one, the one who had given the boy the injury on his temple, to watch over. This man was the brawniest out of all of them. He watched the kid with a sneer. It was beneath him to take this job but the pay was something else. With the gold in his pocket, how much would his life change?

The man was pondering how he could now afford to marry a wife when he suddenly could ponder no more. In an instant, the boy was no longer tethered or bound. Instead, he was free and standing before him with a dagger in hand. His dagger. 

And with that dagger, the boy was stabbing his temple.