Chapter 13: A beauty In Embrace.

"Miss. Hildr, the Valkyrie." Blaze teased when he saw Nico and his troupe running away.

Bella's cheeks flushed a little when she heard that and looked at Blaze with interrogating eyes.

"What?"

He was simply charmed when he saw her puffy red cheeks.

"You shouldn't do that."

"Do what?" Bella asked, confused about what he was talking about.

"You shouldn't pout like that or this city will go to war against me for stealing you."

Bella was stunned at first, but the red hue reached her ears as she looked down, not daring to meet his gaze.

Blaze chuckled when he saw her acting like that and left her to Neo as both of them were birds of feathers and teasing her too much might backfire.

Neo was pretty stunned himself but controlled himself from ruining the atmosphere but then he saw Bella's father going to a high ground and tapping his glass, which made a sound and brought all of their attention toward them.

His gaze moved through the crowd and paused a little as it reached Bella, whose previously shy expression was nowhere to be seen as it was replaced by a cold one. He looked at Bella for a while before moving further, not even bothering to look at Neo.

{I kinda feel offended.}

"Good evening everyone, and welcome. I am honored to have you all here to celebrate with us on this special occasion. Sixty years of marriage is no small feat, and I am grateful to have so many friends and loved ones to share this milestone with."

He paused for a moment, looking around the room, before continuing.

"As you all know, family is everything, and I'm blessed to have my children here with me tonight. It warms my hearts to see everyone gathered together, and we hope that this evening will be a joyous and memorable one for all."

He said as he raised his glass once more, to which everyone mimicked and raised their glass before dousing it down their throat.

Neo was not an alcoholic person, so he didn't bother raising it. His attention was on Bella, who was trembling a little.

{Idiot, I'm are not a mind reader. Ask her what happened.}

Neo asked, "What happened?"

{Wow, so smooth.} Blaze sarcastically said when he heard that.

Bella, who was trembling, when heard Neo's voice, stopped trembling and turned toward her, her face showing a weak smile as she shook her head

"Nothing, I just don't feel good."

Blaze had already lost it, as he could see her eyes reddened a little. A black aura rose from his body as he asked, "What happened? Tell me."

Everyone near Blaze felt a shiver and turned toward him as they looked at him. They felt a beast crawling out from a nightmare and their eyes met with it. It sent a chill down their spine.

"I'm asking something. What happened?" Blaze's voice rose as he spoke, a little eerie and grating to the weak-minded ones as they felt the light fading and fell unconscious.

Bella, at that moment, came out of her daze and shook her head.

"It's nothing. It's just a family matter."

The black aura receded as the [Fear Aura] got deactivated. He looked at her calmly and said, "Sorry about the mess." And then left with Bolt, who was busy eating during the entire ordeal. It saw him leaving and hurriedly followed him.

Bella was dazed as she looked at Neo for leaving the party. Her big sister, Sarah, arrived next to her and asked, "Why is he leaving?"

Bella retold what happened and Sarah said, "Idiot, you just made him a foreigner with one sentence."

Bella felt a little panicked and asked, "What should I do?"

"Go after him."

Bella nodded and left the party. At that moment, a graceful beauty appeared next to Sarah and saw Bella running away.

"Where is she going?"

"After Neo. And tell the old man to not lie through his teeth. It almost made my ears bleed."

She turned toward the beauty, her mother.

"You should know about both of them."

Bella's mother, Sennia's brows, rose when she heard why Bella left the party and ignored the second one as she asked, "That boy was here?"

Sarah looked at her mother for a while before sighing, "You know her personality, mother and honestly, that boy is also not bad."

Sennia expressed no emotion at what Sarah said as she answered.

"Bella's future was set the moment she was born. That boy'll go through a lot of trouble if he associated himself with her and then will lose his life"

"Yeah, it's already too late. Bella is head over heels for him and, from the looks of it, he also likes her."

Sennia's emotions rippled when she heard that and said, "Even so, it'll not be easy."

"Since when was it ever easy? But make sure that manipulating bastard doesn't interfere, or I'll be the first one to tear him apart."

Saying that, she left her mother to lighten her mood that soured because of her father's speech.

Sennia was still standing there thinking about something before sighing and also attending the guests.

....

{Ahh! I'm so angry. Let's go to the tower right now. Being here looking at those bastards smug faces is making me more angry.}

Neo, who was silent, nodded as he also felt a little heavy and wanted to get rid of this feeling.

"Neo!"

A voice came from far away. Neo stopped and looked back, he saw Bella running toward him. Neo looked at her in confusion and asked, "What happened?"

Bella stopped before him, thinking about what to say, but nothing came to her mind as she racked her brain hard but nothing.

Blaze, at this moment, said, "Let's go for a walk."

Bella nodded dumbly and started walking along with him. Both of them were strolling under the starlight. As Neo and Bella walked under the starlight, the forest loomed ahead of them, dark and mysterious. The night air was crisp and cool, with a hint of mist that added to the ethereal quality of the scene. The trees rustled gently in the breeze, their leaves whispering secrets to one another.

Neo took Bella's hand, who trembled a little and wanted to resist, but fought back the feeling. He led her deeper into the forest, where the stars shone like diamonds above them. They walked in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's company and the tranquility of the night.

The moon, almost full, illuminated the path before them, casting a gentle glow that made the world feel both mysterious and enchanting. They paused for a moment to take it all in, breathing in the cool, crisp night air and basking in the silence of the woods.

Suddenly, they came upon a clearing in the forest. In the center of the clearing was a small pond, surrounded by tall grasses and wildflowers. The moon was reflected in the still waters, casting a soft, silver glow over everything.

They sat down by the pond, their backs against a large tree, and gazed at the stars. For a while, they simply sat in silence, listening to the sound of the forest and watching the stars twinkle above them. They felt small, but not insignificant, in the grand scheme of things. It was a moment of peace and contentment that they always knew they would carry with them.

Bella's heart, which raced for a while, calmed as she enjoyed the peace. She leaned over and put her head over his shoulder. Bolt was playing in the water as it paddled around.

{….} Blaze was silent before he sighed and removed the ring on his finger and said, "Give me your hand."

Bella, who extended her hand without thinking, felt something occupying one of her fingers and looked down in surprise and almost jumped but calmed down as she said, "We can't, it---"

"You were pretty shocked by my luck. I'll confer some upon you."

Blaze smiled as he again went back to enjoying the scenery, leaving Bella stunned who was looking at the description of the ring. She looked at it for a while before reality came knocking on her door. She was about to remove the ring and give it back to him when she heard Blaze speaking, "If you don't want it, then toss it into the water. I'm not taking it back."

Bella stopped as she looked at him, who had his eyes closed, feeling the calm breeze caressing his cheeks before something wet touched his right cheek.

He opened his eyes and touched the spot, then looked at Bella, who had forcefully closed her eyes, but her flushed cheeks betrayed her.

{That was cute. Scratch that, she is cute.}

Blazes grinned as he held her hand and also laid back against the tree, enjoying the time he was spending with her.

"My father is a powerful man, and he's always been obsessed with gaining more power. He married my two elder sisters to gain favor and wealth from different forces, and now he insisted on marrying me off as well."

He didn't say anything as he let her continue.

"He thinks that by marrying me off to someone powerful, he can gain more influence and favor with those forces. It's not that simple in our world. My eldest sister intervened and stopped my father from marrying me off, but there's still a status quo. The eldest sister is taking the full burn of their oppression and also had to be careful of that bastard."

Her voice was filled with fury. As she trembled, a hand wrapped around her, and she found herself in his embrace. Bella's trembling stopped as she felt warm and comfortable there, and continued.

"He agreed to marry me when I was 2 years old, when I formed my mana core."

"What is the name of the guy and her family?" Blaze asked as the anger was burning his body into cinders.

"He is known as Lord Valtorius in the Tower and is associated with the 'Black Serpent' guild. It is one of the top guilds of the Tower filled with members of different races. His family is unknown to me."

"What is his rank?"

Bella looked up from his embrace and said, "Why are you asking that? You just started your journey, and it is practically impossible to catch up to him."

"Just want to know my rival so that I can prepare." Blaze said with a grin.

Bella gave him a shy smile and said, "From what I've heard, he should be on his 6th evolutionary path. He, according to rumors, activated his core when he was 4 and has been nurtured heavily by her family and the guild."

"What about you?" Neo asked. As with that concept, Bella should also be on her 7th or even 8th evolution.

Bella shook her head and said, "I'm still on my 5th evolution and need to clear my quest to qualify for the next one."

Neo felt bitterness in her voice but didn't know what to say, so he only comforted her by embracing her.

Neo mumbled the names for a while to make sure that he remembered them and would like to have a conversation with Lord Valtorius and clear the situation or if push came to shove.

His eyes flashed as he looked at the beautiful scenery with a beauty in his embrace.

...