Animosity

It would be a miracle if Demetra crossed two countries in a week without her familiar.

A wave of seething anger surged in her heart but she did not want any problems during her stay here.

"Don't hold back Demetra... Do not let him tell you what to do..."

A whisper of a woman echoed in her mind. But Demetra just bit her teeth and decided to stay quiet.

She calmed herself and focused her gaze on the carpet.

Suddenly, Demetra felt a piercing sense of animosity directed at her and her sense of danger amplified.

Just as she braced herself, a paperweight flew past Demetra and crashed on the door behind her, breaking into pieces immediately. A piece of glass from it grazed her cheek, leaving a cut that soon started to soak her mask in blood.

Demetra could have avoided it but she did not. If it could quell his anger and lessen the time she spent with this human, she would gladly hold back. She just had to make sure not to stay alone with him in the future, if she could not avoid running into him.

"I asked you a question"

Peyton's voice was warm but his gaze was anything but. Demetra is so used to it that she only finds his attitude a bother. She just kept mum and her head bowed.

Time ticked and Peyton became more annoyed. He could not make a ruckus on the campus and cannot punish her much. He just had to wait until classes start so he could punish her with a reason.

"Get out, and don't show up in front of me unless it's during the classes" he frowned and his lips curved in disdain.

Demetra felt relieved and quickly left without a sound. Finally, she felt that the annoyance was gone.

It was always effective for her to keep quiet in front of her so-called 'brother'. She cannot retaliate as he is her professor here and, to be honest, Demetra knows she lacks tact and cannot deal with her problems skillfully.

If she's told to fight physically she would, but playing with words is out of her league and she did not want more baggage than what she has already.

Demetra headed straight back to her dorm house. She took her time walking and when she walked past the house of the white knight she felt a gaze on her and turned towards it.

She saw a Samoyed lounging on a bench in the garden and it was gazing intently at her. Demetra saw its nose twitch as if it were sniffing and remembered her wound.

She turned away and slowly peeled her mask off which stuck to her skin due to the blood. The wound has already healed without a scar but it still bled quite a bit so her cheek had a huge stain of red.

Demetra rubbed the blood off her cheek as she walked past the house and headed to her own. She felt the samoyed's gaze on her but she did not care and only cared about cleaning up that blood and taking a nap.

After heading to her room to pick up her home wear, Demetra stepped into the bathroom.

The walls of the room were pure white and the floor was creamy brown. It was entirely made of marble. Demetra marvelled at the luxury which was even more expensive than the best bathroom in her family mansion. And her family, the oldest ducal household, was the richest in her country, even more than the royal family.

She then undressed and headed to the huge bathtub that could pass for a child's swimming pool. There was a faucet to adjust the flow of water and the tub filled up within a minute with warm water of suitable temperature. Although the power of the knights being used this way is considered a waste, it's a privilege only allowed among the knights.

Demetra remembered the blue knight, the first young master of a Marquisate in the continent she is currently in. He did look like he would prepare something this meticulous.

Demetra washed her body after filling up the porcelain bucket which was prepared and placed at one end of the bathroom for showering before she stepped into the bath. The water splashed as she stepped in and the temperature remained the same even after some time has passed.

Demetra reckoned that Rubin must have helped the management with that. She leaned over the edge and relaxed. After a week of travel without a break, even she would be tired. Besides her healing and revitalizing power are not at their most effective at the moment. As she was thinking Demetra closed her eyes. She hadn't had a bath in years and it felt very comfortable.

Before she knew it, she fell asleep in her bath.

Time passed and the sun began to set painting the sky a reddish hue. Rubin visited once and seeing as there was no answer from Demetra when he knocked on the barrier he knew Demetra must be resting and returned with slight hesitation.

Demetra woke up when Rubin knocked. A knight's instinct and alertness are more developed than animals. And the pink knight seemed to have done her part as she received a message that someone was knocking on the barrier in a loud voice from the front door of her house. But she did not want to meet him. So she just ignored it and resumed her sleep.

Time passed and the warm water which still retained the temperature was quite comfortable to Demetra like a cocoon enveloping her.

A small sparkling butterfly fluttered inside her bathroom which was the only thing illuminating the entire room. Even with her sharp instincts, Demetra did not realise its presence.

The butterfly fluttered around the still asleep Demetra twice. The little insect then glowed lightly before its form warped and gradually grew in size. Soon in its place stood a man with sparkling silver hair.

Micah gazed down at Demetra who was still sound asleep. The water splashed lightly as he moved his feet in the tub.

Micah picked up the towel hanging beside the bathtub. He then picked up Demetra and covered her with the towel.

Stepping out of the bath with her in his arms, Micah quietly headed toward the bedroom. Demetra surprisingly did not wake up even after all those movements as if she felt no danger or intrusion in her personal space.

Micah gazed down at Demetra. That face was quite familiar to him. The same face as the one that belonged to the woman he once spent day and night with for years.

The water dripped from Demetra's hair and onto the bare skin of his chest and arms. Micah ignored it and quietly entered the bedroom. He then laid Demetra gently on the bed. His fingers slowly combed through her hair and he whispered. "Dry up"

Demetra's hair gently dried up as the water quickly evaporated. Micah gazed at the sleeping face and remembered the eye colour he saw while he was in his garden.

Dark green.

Only she had those eyes. None of the black knights after her had dark green eyes, even if their facial features were similar. Her brother too only had the rare but still common light green eyes.

To be honest, he was expecting something. Hoping for the impossible.

Even though her soul has disintegrated, even though he still remembered the tearing pain in his heart when her soul was torn--ripped to shreds. Even though he did not feel the bond of the soulmates from Demetra. Even then...

In all the times he was reborn after her death, he never felt this way before. He did not spare much as a glance towards the other men and women who were born as the black knight after her. But this woman...

Micah did not know why he found himself attracted to her. Hoping and even breaking into her house.

His fist clenched as he controlled his raging emotions.

She's gone. And she's never coming back. He should stop deluding himself.

Micah turned to look at Demetra's face one last time before he stood up and turned back into the butterfly, heading back to his house.

And he decided then that he would stop hoping.