webnovel

Strange Dream

The breeze welcoming the cheap carriage where the eldest daughter of Count Richter, Kiha, and her knight, Ezequiel are rather stronger than anyone assumed. Her thin clothes under the cloak are eventually sending shivers down her spine. Kiha, the rumored weak young lady, without hesitation departs from her comfort place to pick up the head wizard of the Western Tower, Rafael Mitchell to cure her younger sister, Kanna.

Without any other clothes other than their last night’s clothes, Ezequiel seems to worry that Kiha might explode and send him out to look for clothes, she might even order him to steal some dresses from the villagers. But then, Kiha, who usually runs wild and explodes in front of him, is now calm and collected. She doesn’t seem to be bothered that she still hasn’t changed to her usual grand dress.

“Did you do what I ordered you to, Zeke?” Kiha’s soft voice reverberated all over the place, the only sound he could hear was her calm and indifferent voice other than the strong whoosh of the wind from the north.

His eyes meet her orange irises. It was dull and unfocused, unlike her usual burning gaze. She spoke again. “I’m asking you a question, Zeke. Did you do what I told you?” This time, her eyes were diverted to the moon.

“Yes, I handed the envelope to the butler.” Ezequiel looks at Kiha. She’s not saying anything but instead nodding her head. Soon after, she found herself drowning in her own dream. The place was black and deserted. There’s no one there except for the young girl crying at the corner of the room, her heart is thumping hard.

It seems like she’s stuck in someone’s dream. The girl’s face was blurry and her voice was so vague that she couldn't do anything but stand there. Kiha was about to hold out her hand to the young girl but the scenery changed. This time, there is a family merrily eating together, again, their faces are blurry and their voices are vague but she can feel her heart getting stabbed every moment passed.

She can’t help but clutch her teeth and clench her fist. Kiha’s stomach is churning and she can’t make up a single word. It feels as though her words are stuck in her throat. Anger seems to form inside her as she feels a burning sensation on her esophagus, she can’t breathe properly as she is choking, throwing up, and everything. Her stomach flipped upside down when she saw the young girl on the kitchen door, pitifully peering at the complete family. Kiha’s eyes casually diverted when she hears a familiar raged voice coming from the kitchen table.

“How many times do I have to tell you, don’t ever show your face to me when I’m eating, it makes me sick to even look at your ugly face!” The man angrily shouted as he roughly pulled the young girl’s hair before dragging it outside the house. Kiha’s eyes glinted in anger as she ran to protect the child but the man’s hand just slipped through her body.

Her heart sank when their voices became vivid in her ear. She unconsciously shrunk toward the floor, feeling nothing but pain. The young girl’s wailing makes her heart sink more than the man’s raging voice, the other girl’s teasing words, and the woman’s snickering. It's almost as if she can feel the young girl’s grief.

“No, Dad, no! It hurts so much, please!” The young girl begged but the man didn’t listen. He even slapped the girl hard to make her throw up blood, her lips are bleeding. Kiha tried her best to shield the girl from her father but she couldn't. “Yeah! Dad just throws her away. My classmates are making fun of me for having her as my sister!” With that, the man threw the girl into an isolated room and locked her up.

Kiha stepped forward however, all she could see was the light coming from somewhere before her. She closed her eyes and heard a familiar voice, it was shouting. She felt her body gradually becoming light as the voice became louder. The pain in her heart casually subsided as she looked at the worried eyes in front of her.

She faints a smile before reaching out her hand to touch the beautiful color of her knight’s hair that somehow resembles the flower she saw at the young girl’s vase near the locked-up room. Her eyes are tired and there’s a cold sweat streaming down her cheeks, she smiles. “Don’t make such a face, Zeke. I just had a bad dream. I apologize for making you worry. It’s nothing, alright?”

Kiha tried her best to convince the worried Ezequiel to calm down even though her hand was a bit trembling because of the scenes she had seen in her dream. There is a small cut on Ezequiel’s face that she hasn't seen until now. “Did something happen? Where are we? The coachman, where is he?”

There’s urgency in her voice that she hasn’t noticed but Ezequiel did. ‘What kind of nightmare did she have just now to make her this paranoid?’ Ezequiel asked himself as he knew he couldn't question her right now.

“Mike is repairing the wheel, there was a small accident after you slept. Nothing serious.” He tried to sound convincing enough to make her believe him; however, Kiha’s observation never failed. Kiha sat up as she wore the hood of her cloak before looking around the area, there was no one but them and the coachman near the tree.

“Where're the bandits?” Kiha innocently asked, hugging her small figure. Ezequiel and Mike’s jaw agape. There is no blood in every area as they already clean every corner before waking up the dreaming Kiha. Ezequiel even breaks the wheel to have an excuse and shut the coachman up by giving him a large amount of money. “Milady, you must still be dreaming right now, there are no bandits.”

Mike, the coachman awkwardly laughs as he diverts his eyes from Kiha to the broken wheel. He can’t believe that the young lady he had promised to is sharp, unlike those young ladies who tried to cross the borders. Some of them even tried to threaten him just to make sure they would arrive at the western territory with one body.

“Where did you hide them, Zeke?” Kiha’s voice is terrifying as it sends electricity down the coachman’s body. Her orange eyes bore deeply on the knight’s face, it was cold and distant, unlike her earlier demeanor.

Mike didn’t move. His body is still as if forgetting how to breathe. Kiha looked at him when she realized that. Her other brow arch as the corner of her lips curl in amusement. There was a long silence before Kiha broke them.

“Did you kill them?” Her lips are still curled up as though she’s waiting for her subordinates to say yes. Ezequiel heaved a heavy sigh before opening his mouth. He runs his fingers through his purple hair with glints of silver before looking straight at Kiha’s determined irises.

“I intended to. But then you shouted really loud that it caught my attention. I thought you might want to get out of your dream so I let them off and ran to you.” Ezequiel stated. His words are firm and music to her ears.

The moon was high and the wind was blowing hard. Their hair flutters immensely, it was beautiful that anyone would want to see them. It was no wonder these two are considered one of the century’s beauties.

“Then, where did you hide them? I want to thank them for ruining my sleep. I might be a corpse now if I stayed a bit longer in that nightmare. Father taught me how to show gratitude as far as I can remember.” Kiha looks at the coachman before showing him her warmest facade she could ever pull off. Realizing that she has something in her mind, Ezequiel let out a sigh before heading to the cave near the cliff.

The coachman watches carefully, not wanting to create a sound. Kiha and Ezequiel stride to the cave and see multiple people there. Lifeless. Their eyes are unfocused and empty, their bodies are pale and are now covered in blood. Kiha’s eyes immediately divert from the cold body to her knight, her brows are furrowed and her teeth are clenched. Feeling the intense gaze of Kiha, he holds out his hand as though he surrenders.

“Who killed them, Ezequiel?” There is a cold wind forming near Kiha as her eyes are starting to burn in disappointment. Her eyes then shift to the guy outside the cave, she couldn’t exactly see what expression he’s having right now but she can feel a strange feeling the moment she lets out her mana.

Her eyes are serious and cold. It was the first time he saw her looking at her with that indifferent eyes of hers.