Sharing Secret

All of this was the result of that boy's poisonous blood. If only Maximillian wasn't curious about the sweet smell that wafted out, if only he had not been so reckless as to taste human blood, this all wouldn't have to happen. Maximillian's hatred of humans only grew bigger.

The man then turned around.

"Throw those three bitches away. I want them out of my sight before I come back. This is your last chance, Luca. If you do this again, then I'll make sure you'll never be able to see your mate ever again. You can never go home."

Luca nodded. "Th-thank you for your kindness, My Lord."

Maximilian then left the mansion to cool his head. Luca, with a body that had not fully recovered, lifted Edna's unconscious body. He laid Edna in her room and apologized to the three women.

Luca was confused about what to do when he saw the three women he brought hiding in fear in the corner of the room. One of them was injured. Her stomach was bleeding profusely. If only he had powers like Maximillian, perhaps he could manipulate their minds to forget this incident. However, he was only a low-level dragon. He was not that powerful.

Luca helped the other two to go home while the other one was still lying helplessly, running out of blood. He had to treat the wound immediately. He could hide her for a while in one of the unused rooms and escort her back when his master was not in the mansion.

After a while, Edna winced upon feeling the pain in her body. She blinked, trying to remember what had happened. She didn't remember too much, the last thing she remembered was her feet moving on their own to stop her master from punching Luca.

Dragon … predatory golden eyes and fiery hands.

"They're not human," Edna muttered.

She took a deep breath and rubbed her face tiredly. How could she be trapped in a den of creatures like them? A dragon? Edna had only ever read about the creature in books. Dragon, werewolf, and other shapeshifters were real.

But… oddly enough, why didn't Edna seem all that surprised? There was something in her body that felt the heat of Maximillian's flame just now was very familiar. She wasn't sure, but it was warm. Edna felt like she had once been enveloped in such warmth. But when?

She tried to remember the memories from before she was seven years old, but no matter how many times she tried, a thick fog blanketed it and prevented her from remembering it.

Edna was exhausted. It seemed tomorrow was the day of her execution. She didn't care anymore. This was all too beyond her wild imagination. And her master now probably hated her even more. Edna wanted to sleep to forget everything, but her body told her not to.

The dismay deep within her subconsciousness kept going off, like giving Edna a warning not to sleep before three in the morning.

***

The next day, Edna woke up as usual. The sky looked darker. It seemed it would rain today, she thought.

As Edna was preparing breakfast for her master, Luca suddenly came to greet her. She frowned upon seeing Luca who looked so fresh. No wounds or bruises from last night's incident could be found on his body. The man looked like he wasn't thrown against the wall at all.

Unlike Edna, the wound on her body was still aching. Her palms were slightly blistered. It was not that bad, Edna could still do her job well.

"Hello," greeted Luca as usual.

"Good morning, Luca."

Luca chuckled and sat down on one of the wooden chairs.

"You are quite different from others. You already know our identities, and yet you're still here? I thought you'd run away like one of the servants. Yes, I eventually killed him."

Edna just gave the man a faint smile.

"Aren't you surprised? You heard our discussion last night, right?"

Edna just nodded in response.

"Eden, say something."

Edna turned and sat across the table, facing the blond-haired man.

"You are not human. Both of you are part of a group of mythical creatures that I've only read about in books. All this time, I just thought you were a legend or a myth. Of course, I was surprised when I found out about it."

"But you're still here?" Luca asked because he didn't understand the way the boy before him thought.

"I'm trying to think rationally. I approached you first after knowing you killed the priest at the church. Then, we made a deal, that is to help each other. I became your servant and you help me to escape from this kingdom to start a new life. I know you will kill me if I try to escape, so I'm just trying to extend my lifespan and survive here."

"You are not afraid?"

Edna remembered how scary Maximillian was last night. It was a thick, dark killing aura. An aura of a predator capable of bringing its prey to its knees in an instant.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. But I try to put that aside because I want to start a new life."

Luca smiled.

"Well, we've shared a secret now. Don't you want to tell me something about your past?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm still curious what made a weak boy like you kill someone? You said that you accidentally killed a man while trying to escape, right?"

Edna momentarily fell silent. She didn't know whether she should tell the man what happened or not.

She was wearing long sleeves. All the scars that her father left on her skin were still visible and would never disappear until she was old. The traces they left behind would always be engraved even on Edna's soul.

Luca could see how one of Edna's hands touched her other arm.

"I… am an illegitimate child. My father married another woman while he was on an expedition. At that time, he already had a family before he met my mother. We spent time traveling around continents and oceans. But then, at the age of seven, I fell into a shallow sea and hit my head on something, causing me to lose my memory."