Jewelry Store

After the pregnant woman and the witch had left, the crowd dispersed and Cora was sent home by Rowena.

"I didn't know Lady Rowena's benevolence was that much," Rhea said to Rowena who stood in front of them. "Now that you don't have a carriage, how will you get home?"

"I'm happy that you are worried for me but there's no need to, I will be taking the public carriage." Her voice was warm as she replied to Rhea.

"I see... Seems like it's not your first time taking the public carriage."

"Yes, it isn't." She nodded, "I would love to spend more time with you but there's somewhere I need to be right now and I will be late if I don't get going. "

"You can go, we're not stopping you," Rhea said making Rowena smile.

"Lady Aylin," She called, turning Aylin's attention to her. "It was nice meeting you, though not in the best situation. I hope that we can meet again."

"Sure, it was nice meeting you too." Aylin smiled back.

"Goodbye Lady Aylin, Rhea," Rowena said before turning around and walking away.

Rhea rolled her eyes before turning to Aylin. "That was interesting wasn't it?" she asked with a sly smile on her face.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that I don't like Cora," Aylin muttered.

"Neither do I," Rhea said before dragging Aylin forward.

"You also don't like Rowena, do you?" She asked, staring at Rhea.

"Oh Aylin, You are so smart!" Rhea said as she tried to pinch Aylin's cheek.

"Anyone would know that you don't like her," Aylin mumbled trying to get away from Rhea who was hell-bent on pinching her cheeks.

At Aylin's words, Rhea snorted. "Well, some people are not that smart."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that we should stop talking about those insignificant beings and start looking for the jewelry shop."

"Jewelry shop?" Aylin raised one of her eyebrows, forgetting that she'd agreed to accompany Rhea to the jewelry store.

"Yes, Jewelry shop. Now let's go." Rhea replied before dragging Aylin along with her.

The jewelry shop was closed when they arrived which surprised both Aylin and Rhea. It was noon and the market was bustling with people buying various stuff from different shops so Aylin wondered why the shop was closed by this time.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Aylin asked, turning to Rhea.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, maybe they didn't open today," Aylin pointed out, glancing around the empty area.

"I don't think so," Rhea shook her head and walked to the door, her hand came forward and gently pushed the door which opened with a gentle creak.

Rhea walked inside, her eyes scanning the room and Aylin who followed closely behind her gasped at what she saw immediately she stepped inside.

There were broken glasses, shattered vases, boxes, pieces of jewelry, furniture, glass, and a variety of other things thrown all over the floor. There were also bloodstains on the walls.

"What the hell happened here?" Aylin's eyes widened as she took in her surroundings.

"Someone's here," Rhea said, and not a second after, something came flying towards them but Rhea's fast reflexes made her dodge the object, pushing Aylin aside. The thing hit the wall with a loud thud causing specks of dust to fall from the ceiling.

"W-what is that?" Aylin's voice trembled as she spoke, her index finger pointing at the bloodied figure on the floor.

The figure groaned and slowly got to its feet. Their black hair was messy and tangled and their pale grey robes were stained with blood. The figure's skin was ash black and its fingernails extended into claws as sharp as needles. Its eyes were red and glowing.

Rhea tilted her head, "That's the shopkeeper."

"Shopkeeper? Are you sure?" Aylin said as she looked at the figure which didn't look anything like a human.

"It was the shopkeeper, now It shape-shifted into a demon," Kian's calm voice came from the upper floor of the store and the pair whirled around just in time to see the duke and Trevor jump down to where they were standing.

"Brother, Trevor! So nice to see you here!" Rhea's cheerful voice rang throughout the room. "Though I would have loved it if you didn't welcome us like that."

"Lady Rhea, lady Aylin," Trevor greeted, giving them a small bow which Aylin ignored, still staring at the creature while Rhea smiled broadly at him.

"Good to see you too Trevor, by the–"

"What are you doing here?" The duke's cold voice cut her off as he stared at Rhea.

"What would you do in a jewelry store?" Rhea asked back, crossing her arms against her chest. "What about you?"

"Nothing you need to know." He responded before turning to Trevor. "Kill it."

"Yes, your grace." Trevor nodded and unsheathed his sword before advancing toward the demon.

As he approached the demon, Aylin subconsciously took a few steps back and Rhea followed suit.

"Trevor," Rhea called, and he glanced at her, "Don't kill it yet, please... Why don't you play around with it first, hmm?"

Aylin gave her a confused look but Rhea only grinned back at her. "It's been a while since I watched a fight." She whispered.

Aylin turned her head back to watch Trevor swing his sword forward, slashing it across the body before aiming for the demon's neck, but the demon stopped the sword with its large claws and moved to the side. Trevor swung his sword again, this time with incredible speed, striking the creature on the arm, nearly severing it. The creature screamed in pain and staggered back, clutching his injured arm with his other hand.

Trevor wasted no time in launching another attack, but this time it vanished before Trevor could reach it, leaving only bits of debris on the ground.

"It teleported." Aylin's eyes widened as she hurriedly looked around, silently hoping that the demon doesn't attack her.

A roar echoed through the room and they all turned to see a large wolf-like creature, which stood on its hind legs on the railing of the stairs.

"Wow," Rhea said with a smile and Aylin glanced at her, wondering what she found so fascinating.

The demon leaped toward them — or rather Aylin whose eyes grew even bigger as the creature flew towards her with an impossible speed. However, before it could hit her, she felt her body being hauled out of the way by something warm but hard.

She couldn't process what was happening for a moment because everything around her blurred. When finally she regained her bearings and looked up, she was met by blood-red eyes watching her intently.

"Are you alright?" The duke's soft but firm voice brought Aylin back to her senses as she realized that the man was holding her from behind, his hot breath tickling her ear.

Aylin nodded, before turning to him. "You caught me," she breathed, still a little shaken up by what had just occurred.

"And you are welcome," He replied as he helped her stand up.

As soon as Aylin stood up, they heard a rumble from the wall behind them — causing them both to turn around. They noticed that the wall started to crack while the loud rumble stopped and Aylin turned to the duke who continued staring at the wall.

"Stay behind me" He ordered and a sword materialized in his hand — something that made Aylin's eyes widen.

Wtf?! He can do that!? She watched in awe, totally forgetting about what he told her to do.

The sound of rumbling came again, this time louder and Aylin turned her head only to gasp when she saw the wall being torn down and a creature similar to the wolf-like beast from earlier. The only difference was that this one was bigger and scarier than the other one. It had horns, the creature was covered in dark fur; a very long tail hung between its legs making it resemble a dog and it stood on its hind legs.

Aylin didn't know when she took two steps back, her hand gripping the duke's hand tightly, all while her eyes were trained on the beast before them.

The beast growled loudly, baring its sharp teeth at them before attacking. It swung its claws at them but its hand stopped in mid-air surprising Aylin who had braced herself for the impact.

She turned to the side to see the duke holding one hand up while the other held his blade and brought it forward.

Another loud growl escaped the beast's mouth as it tried to move its hand but to no avail. She watched as the duke swung his sword forward and buried it deep inside the creature's chest — all without breaking a sweat.

Aylin stared wide-eyed and opened and closed her mouth several times, but no words could escape her lips. She glanced back at the beast, only to find that the duke already removed his blade and as soon as the sword exited its body, the monster burst into flames, sending sparks everywhere before vanishing.

What in the actual fuck?!

Did he just kill it– He just killed it without much effort! She stared open-mouthed at the duke, taking note of how he stood still and completely calm.

Aylin didn't know that he was this powerful. For him to be able to kill that thing so easily, he must be really powerful. She reminded herself not to ever get on his bad side. Like ever!

"Aylin!" Rhea's panicked voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to see Rhea rushing toward them.

"Aylin? Are you hurt?!"

"I'm okay... Just stunned," Aylin said as she flashed her a smile.

"Oh my goodness! Thank God that thing didn't hit you," Rhea said as she checked Ayljn's body, looking for any injuries or cuts.

"Yes, Thank God. I wouldn't have died if It hit me but I sure would have been badly injured, I doubt I would have been able to stand up." Aylin joked as she glanced at the wall. "And I'm fine, you don't need to worry," She added, assuring Rhea.

Rhea shook her head. "Why won't I worry? You are my friend!" She exclaimed. "I shouldn't have told Trevor to play around, I'm so sorry...." Rhea murmured, biting her lips.

"It's alright," Aylin said.

"It's dead," Trevor announced and three of them turned to where Trevor was standing. On the other side of the shop, there was a dead body lying on the floor.

"Well, you sure took your sweet time Trevor, " Aylin heard Rhea say in mockery.

"You told me to play around with it before killing it–"

"Yes, I told you to play around with it, not let it attack Aylin."

"I'm sorry Lady Rhea." He said in a low voice as he bowed to her and Rhea huffed.

"Stop! Don't use that voice on me." She said before sighing dramatically. "I mean how can I stay angry at you with that face? It makes you so cute," Rhea purred and Trevor gaped. Well, not only Trevor but also Aylin.

Trevor? Cute? Trevor was anything but cute with the scar on his left brow and his expressionless face. Rhea was crazy to call him cute.

"I'm sure even a beast will look cute to you Rhea," Kian said, sarcasm lacing his words as he walked forward.

Rhea pouted. "I'm just stating the truth." She said before turning to the dead body, muttering with disinterest, "He turned back."

"Yes, he did," Trevor affirmed.

"But that one didn't," Aylin spoke up, referring to the beast the duke had killed earlier.

"That's because. It's not real." The duke replied and Aylin's brows furrowed.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

The duke glanced at Trevor who understood the sign and immediately turned to Aylin.

"It's an illusion milady," Trevor began. "Shapeshifting can be done through demonic manipulation, sorcery spells, or inherited ability. But this was done through demonic manipulation. He also created an illusion of his beast form, so an illusion would disappear when killed while the real one would turn back to his human form." He explained and Aylin nodded.

"Can an illusion be stronger or less powerful than the real one?" Aylin inquired.

"No," Trevor shook his head. "The illusion may be physically manipulated, turning it bigger or smaller but it will have the same ability as the actual one." He slowly explained and Aylin nodded.

"I see… "

"I thought shape-shifters went extinct so how did this one spring up?" Rhea asked, jerking her head at the dead body.

"Well, sister... There are a lot of things springing up these days. You would be surprised what will come next." The duke said, glancing at Aylin before walking towards the shop's entrance.

"Wait! " Rhea called as she rushed towards him. "Are you leaving?"

"What does it look like?" He asked as they stepped out of the shop.

"Are you going somewhere? Is it urgent?" She hurriedly stood beside him as they reached the carriage parked by the side of the road.

He turned to her, "Yes Rhea, I have a meeting at the palace and I'm running late."

Rhea rolled her eyes, "As if you ever cared about running late."

"I care now. So tell me… What do you want?"

"Come home for dinner okay?" Her voice softened and she gave him one of her sweet and harmless smiles.

"I was planning to anyways and… You should leave, the city guards are going to be here anytime soon," He informed them before getting into the carriage with Trevor following behind him.