Darwin's Threat

Lucivar fell and hit his back against the wall before looking up at Darwin with a frown.

Aside from Darwin and him, the others were already loading the carriages.

"What do you want, Darwin?" He asked, frowning.

In the last couple of days staying in this hotel, Lucivar realized that Darwin has been giving a bad vibe towards him but he thought that Darwin was being like that because of the tragedy when his bloodline took over him.

Given a couple more days, Darwin would probably be at ease again.

But it seemed that was not the case.

"I need to have a word with you," Darwin said, his meek demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

Upon hearing this, Lucivar climbed to his feet, wiping the blood on the corner of his mouth, drawn from the cheap punch, he received earlier, "Then say it, I know you're waiting for the others to leave to talk to me"

Compared to Lucivar, Darwin has a smaller statue as he is more skinny than beefy.

His bones were visible through his skin, almost signaling malnourishment.

Nevertheless, the gap of power between them was large, Lucivar had felt it firsthand before.

"Since you don't seem to mind it, I'll be blunt," Darwin said, squinting his eyes. "I want you to leave us for good. I can't stand having you here, jeopardizing our safety. Not only are you an Angel Hybrid, but you're a fugitive and also a killer..."

Lucivar frowned when he heard this.

He had guessed that Darwin was going to talk about this, but the killer part surprised him.

"Do you think I wouldn't know what you did?" Darwin raised an eyebrow—sneering. "It seems you have forgotten that I'm a Werewolf Hybrid. I'm attuned with the night, and my senses are sharper than you can imagine"

In response, Lucivar shrugged his shoulders, "I did that to protect Leandra,"

"If I didn't, that guard would've made trouble to get her" He added, lying with a straight face.

Even though he did that to experiment with his bloodline's power, the fact that the guard was aiming for Leandra—could be a solid reason for him to do that. Spending time with this family is enough to tell him that they care for each other, and this excuse might work.

Surely, he was somewhat right to use that reason as Darwin paused for a second.

But then, he answered, "Nevertheless, I want you to leave"

"I don't care how you do it, but I want you gone before we reach the academy. If you want, I'll help you to escape without saying goodbyes. Don't worry about the aftermath, I will handle it and give reasons to the others," He continued before the air around him changed. "But..."

Lucivar saw Darwin's eyes narrowed, flashing white as his shoulders hunched.

A barely unrestrained growl seeped out of his mouth as his lips peeled back slightly, showing a set of elongated, deadly fangs. Lucivar averted to Darwin's hand, and saw his veins pulsing visibly beneath his skin.

"If you don't leave until then, I'll make sure you sorely regret that," He threatened menacingly.

Upon hearing this, Lucivar asked, "What would Tobias say if he knew this?"

"Didn't I tell you earlier? I said I'll handle it" Darwin replied.

As Darwin's voice faded into the background—the tension between the two intensified, their fierce eye contact unbroken, stuck in a deadly struggle of pride. The air grew so thick, that it became choking, every muscle fiber in their bodies twitching, ready for the inevitable clash.

Just as the moment teetered on the edge of violence, the door swung open abruptly.

Leandra poked her head inside, breaking the charged silence.

Her gaze shifted between them, taking in their rigid postures that seemed out of place.

"What's going on here? What's taking you two so long?" She asked, her voice light but filled with curiosity. "Tobias is asking for you two. We're ready to leave, the carriages were loaded while the two of you were having your boy's talk"

Naturally, her unexpected entrance defused the impending confrontation.

Both Darwin and Lucivar were silently trapped by the tension she had unwittingly strewed.

Smiling wryly, Darwin scratched the back of his head.

"Ah... Is that so? I'm sorry—Lucivar was asking me questions about his difficulties. But, it was over now, you came at the right time" Darwin's aggressive posture returned back to his usual diffident, "Come, let's go down"

Deciding to end their conversation, Darwin pushed and brought Leandra out of the room.

Just before he left, he cast another look at Lucivar, a clear warning.

Not idling inside the room, Lucivar stepped into the hallway and glanced over to the side.

"Are you really coming to check on us because of Tobias?"

"Why do you even ask that?"

"Ah... I'm sorry, I misspoke"

"If you wanted to know why I've been hanging in your room—it was because of Lucivar. He's still unstable, and I feel like I should keep an eye on him"

"Right..."

Lucivar watched Darwin and Leandra walking side by side as they headed down to meet the others, but his eyes were fixed on Darwin's back who was oblivious that a dark trail was now connecting him and Lucivar.

Hearing their conversations, however, forced the corner of Lucivar's lips to curl into a smirk.

"Oh, so that's how it is..." He grinned, his eyes glistening with an evil light.

A moment later.

Reaching the others who were already near the gate of the town, Lucivar saw two carriages waiting for him. Mirel waved, motioning for him to join in, the second carriage, however—his attention was drawn to Darwin, standing behind the first carriage.

He was looking down while a robed woman was holding his hands.

From the looks of it, the woman seemed to be chanting a spell.

Mirel glanced in the direction, where Lucivar was looking, and realized that he was looking at Darwin, "Since we took a stop in this town, we need to go through a dangerous woods called the Purple Haze Forest. Darwin's constitution as a Werewolf Hybrid made him emit an air that scares prey and attracts predators so Tobias hired that woman"

"She would suppress Darwin's constitution and also bless the carriage," He explained.

Upon hearing this, Lucivar asked, "So Darwin needs to stay in his carriage at all times?"

"Most likely, her blessing is not a perfect solution" Mirel replied.

After explaining that, Mirel gestured for him to come inside the carriage.

"Come closer, come closer! Rare herbs and potent hexes, the best of the best you could find only here! Potions to cure, powders to allure—find what your heart desires or fears!"

Just as Lucivar was about to enter the carriage, he stopped and glanced at a stall.

A middle-aged, rough-looking woman was selling all kinds of things.

Seeing the displayed items that were colorful and eye-catching, Lucivar squinted his eyes as he turned, and went over to that stall, "Hold on—I'm going to check if she sells any jackets. It wouldn't take long"

"Hey, she's an alchemist! Are you bli- whatever" Mirel sighed, seeing Lucivar ignore him.

A couple of minutes later, Lucivar came back with a black jacket wrapping his body.

He was quite resistant to the cold winter, but seeing the others were wearing one, he bought one for himself. Lucivar entered the carriage and found aside from Mirel there was Bakar and also Leandra—it was the same lineup as before.

Glancing to a spot on the left, it was where Delilah sat in the carriage before.

Lucivar sighed, shook his head from the uneasiness, and entered the carriage.

"What are you doing there, Lucivar?" Mirel asked.

Similarly, Leandra also raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you supposed to be sitting there?"

As opposed to taking a seat beside Mirel and Bakar on the left side of the carriage—Lucivar went, and sat beside Leandra instead, "Isn't this spot empty? I can sit here, right? Or do you prefer me not to?"

At the questions, Leandra was at a loss for words.

Eventually, she averted her gaze away, "Do whatever you want"

"Really? I thought we were friends—how could you choose her instead of me?" Mirel pouted. "I know Leandra is pretty and all, but doesn't our friendship mean something? Just give me a heads up if you're going to replace me for Leandra!"

Hearing this, Lucivar rolled his eyes, "Stop acting like a heartbroken girl, it's not that deep"

"Bakar, can you believe this?!" Mirel turned and hugged Bakar, asking for reinforcement.

Oblivious to what was happening, Bakar's eyes flashed with excitement, "Are we wrestling?!"

Pah!!

"You battle maniac, idiot!" Mirel slapped Bakar's head. "Is fighting all you can think of?!"

"But fighting is fun..." Bakar sobbed, rubbing his throbbing head.

Days passed in a blur as the group continued their way toward Sunhold City.

Nothing happened, the journey was uneventful but the air grew heavy and gloomy quickly.

Delilah's sudden death still weighed on their hearts, casting a pall over the entire group that even with Mire's relentless attempts at entertainment couldn't fully dispell. They grieved not only for her loss, but also for Tobias—who would now face the burden of caring for Thomas, and Lily alone, with no one by his side.

Since the others are going to be academy hunters, they wouldn't be able to stay with him.

He would be completely alone.

Though Mirel assured them Tobias had friends who would support him, the sadness lingered.

One that was troubled by this the most was Leandra, her face tells it all.

Currently, night had fallen, and while Bakar, and Mirel meditated, polishing their Supernatural Egos—Lucivar stared out at the snowy road, Delilah's broken phone clutched in his hand. His thoughts were a whirlwind, lost in deep contemplation—so much so, that he didn't notice the gaze coming from Leandra from the side.

"You still haven't told me why you did it" Suddenly, Leandra broke the silence.

Upon hearing this, Lucivar snapped out of his daze and turned to her.

Knowing what she was talking about, he leaned his head back.

Pausing for a solid moment, he then replied, "I was sacrificed by my hometown despite being good to all of them—becoming a tribute for the birthday of an important young master of the Ashbourne House. I swore that I would look out only for myself after that incident, doing only the things that benefit me, and what was better than killing someone like that to start?"

"So you killed him for the sake of your growth?" Leandra asked again.

Lucivar nodded slightly, "But that's not all,"

"I was a good person, at least, I thought that I was a good person, and it's hard to get rid of my habits," He continued before turning to look at Leandra—directly in her unnatural purple eyes. "My selfless habits that is..."

"You mean...?"

"Yes, I also did it to protect you"

Leandra's eyes widened in shock, completely unprepared for Lucivar's direct answer.

Not to mention, the edge of Lucivar's pinky finger touched Leandra's hand.

It sent an electric throughout her body, paralyzing her in place.

For a moment, she was caught in a trance, his intense eye contact seeming to melt the very coldness in the air around them. A sudden warmth spread across her face—and she quickly averted her gaze, making a dismissive glance to the side.

She huffed quietly, struggling to regain her composure.

But she couldn't find words to reply while the silence between them only grew more intense.

Not to mention, the weight of Lucivar's gaze lingered, burning against the side of her face. 

Just as the tension threatened to overwhelm her who could not find her words—the carriage came to a slow stop, breaking Lucivar's intense focus and allowing her a moment to breathe, "Go and check what's wrong, Master Tobias might need some help"

Upon hearing this, Lucivar nodded and stepped down from the carriage to check.

On the other hand, Leandra held her burning cheeks with both hands.

"What's wrong with me?" She mused, her face was already as red as a tomato. "No... What's wrong with him? He's usually cold—and reserved but he became open and... like this. I don't really know what's inside his mind, really"