PHANTOM RULER'S THRONE III:

Hunting For Scraps

———————

"...TO DIE, YOU DISGUSTING RAT!"

Along with her thundering voice, Avy mustered all her strength to hit where she knew it would hurt the most. Goosebumps crawled through her skin when she felt the impact of her knees on the king's groin. She wanted to throw up everything that she ingested the whole day in disgust.

The king, taken by surprise and pain, was frozen, groans were leaving his mouth, unable to react to whatever it was that happened. Avy took it as an opportunity to kick him off of her body, letting the man tumble on his back on the carpet-covered floor with a loud thud.

Avy sat up with a deep frown, anger painted her skin red like it was her natural color. Her eyes burned in rage, veins contracting on her temples as she panted in displeasure. The nerve of a man. She could still feel the phantom touches on her neck and the disgusting feeling of the dirty rat's breath scratching on her neck like the claws of an insect trying to dig into her throat.

She stood up, her hand curled into a tightly clenched fist that her sharp nails drew blood. She was tempted to make a dagger out of her crimson liquid and impale the audacious animal squirming on the floor until he stopped moving. It took all her strength and self-restraint to open her palms and relax her fingers.

"You dirty roach... How. Dare. You!" she screamed, words full of vexation as she continuously stomped on the man's body, taking out all the bottled emotions she had been storing the past few weeks that she had been acting like a pretty little thing to please the sick-in-the-head bastard who shamelessly acted like a saint.

"Urrgh... my lady—eurgh!" The king's pitiful groans and calls of confusion were interrupted by another kick in his stomach, causing him to hurl, almost emptying the contents of his belly.

Avy heaved in and out, her eyes boring holes in the man crumpled on the floor. The untamed pieces of her hair were loosely dangling in front of her face, blown by her breath, deep exhales pleading to calm her nerves down. Her body did not stop trembling from physically restraining herself from murdering the lump of shamelessness that was the King of Auxiviel.

"Avy?!" Ares' loud voice rang in her ears, his sudden appearance sounding more desperate than his usual entrance.

Avy glanced at the curse servant, who stood a small distance away from the door. The dark-haired creature's gaze landed on the king, who was barely conscious, before shifting onto Avy's ripped clothing. In a mere second, the curse's reptile eyes, the color of a bleeding wound, snapped, burning a deeper shade of crimson as he started stomping toward where the king was sprawled.

Avy, sensing the murderous intent that oozed off her servant, quickly jumped on her feet to use her body as a barricade before the dark-haired man pounced on the mauve-haired royal. It was very evident with the protruding veins that showed on Ares' face as well as his neck, his pupils dilating in hatred.

"Don't lose your marbles yet. I've beaten him enough," Avy hissed, hitting her curse servant lightly on the arm to snap him out of his thoughts.

Ares calmed down with a forced exhale, summoning his ebony smoke and shaping it into a rope before proceeding to tie up Cartal tightly. Avy's heartbeat began to cease its fast rhythm, returning to its calmer melody.

"Rest for a while. Your dogs are still running wild outside," she heard Ares quip, noticing her breathing going back to normal.

Avy frowned at him slightly. "Those kids aren't dogs," she said, getting a short cackle from the snake.

"Where did you find them anyway? The old lunatic and I barely even needed to lift a finger. Well, I guess aside from smashing alert signals and knocking down the knights hidden in the shadows," the dark-haired curse rambled.

"Places. The weirdo found them for me," she answered, the face of the strange man popping into her mind.

She drew another breath as she sat down on the bed, her legs protesting from her sudden burst of energy earlier. Finally. Her cheeks were starting to hurt from all the smiling she had to do. How did they even get to that point, anyway?

"We're pretty much helpless for a whole month, then?" Avy looked at Clerivan, who displayed a troubled expression on his face after explaining the whole situation to her. She couldn't blame him. After all, it was quite daunting to be stranded in a country with no way out for a month. They did not even have money since everything that they had was left behind the damned teleportation gate.

The knight bowed his head before answering, "I'm afraid so, yes." It must have been especially frightening for the knight, who, without hesitation, rushed to be with her even with no certain means of being safe. Besides, he was definitely responsible for her well-being, as her personal knight and all.

Avy, quick to accept whatever it was that happened, heaved a deep sigh longer than intended. "This is not as bad as I thought." She scratched the back of her neck in reflex.

Clerivan looked at her questioningly, puzzled by her words.

"Auxiviel is already on thin ice because of this. His Majesty would never let this country off the hook if they hurt either of us, our importance aside. This is a blatant insult to our empire's authority. So listen, alright? Keep in mind what I'm about to say." She gestured for the knight to come closer to her.

"Ares," she called in her mind, no other words exchanged, but it was understood by the curse servant regardless.

"Roger," Ares replied, and she subtly felt the snake covering the whole room with his magic, giving her more freedom to speak without the fear of being spied on or heard by anyone outside the door.

Avy trained her eyes on her knight's steel gray ones before she spoke. "You will be an obedient knight. Your job will be to observe and nothing else," she instructed in a serious tone, which made the knight's expression delve more into a confused look.

"I do not understand, my lady. My duty is to be your sword and shield; I cannot simply stand by," Clerivan persisted, his brows almost mushed together.

Avy exhaled in understanding. "I'm not asking you to watch if ever I get into trouble, Revie. What I'm telling you is, whatever I do, as long as I don't look like I would get hurt, I want you to stay put and be quiet," she explained seriously. She glanced at the door of the room before speaking once again. "The moment we step out of that door, there will be eyes watching our every move. So I'm telling you to observe and report to me anything strange that you will see," she added.

It did not take a lot of convincing for Clerivan to accept her explanation, but it did take a lot of energy to push him out of the room and force him to rest. She practically had to drop a number of threats to get the knight to vacate her chambers—no, Clerivan, you cannot leave and proceed to stand outside the door—and go to the room that was given to him to get him to shut his eyes and sleep.

"What a stubborn guy. I needed an out."

After Clerivan was already out of her sight and Avy was sure that the knight did not loiter around outside her chambers, Ares appeared and was quick to make himself comfortable on the velvet couch near her bed. He was sporting his signature expensive white dress shirt with its two upper buttons undone and black slacks as he slumped his body lazily on the cushioned furniture. His head was thrown back, causing his wild, wavy locks to cascade down freely.

"Teleportation gates are the best," Ares drawled, stretching his long limbs like a ridiculous-looking spider before springing on his feet and jumping around weirdly. She takes back the spider comment. The dark-haired weirdo was more like a drunk kangaroo.

Avy stared at him with a sneer, a look that one would give a crazy person running around naked on the streets. Dang, she wondered why she was stuck with an idiot of all things she could get.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, giving her servant a dirty look, who only stopped jumping around after a few seconds of acting like a drunk kangaroo.

"What's wrong with me?" The dark-haired curse responded, emphasizing his words. "My magic was fed so nicely. The natural mana from that gate was delicious, I'm telling you," he added, earning another exasperated look from Avy. Right, her question should be rephrased.

What is not wrong with Ares?

"Disgraceful," another voice pointed out. Hearing this, Avy searched for the source of the voice and found Andras, in the form of a grey cat, perched elegantly upon the cushioned chair where Clerivan was sitting only a while ago.

Avy raised her brows in a silent, yet pleasant, surprise. It was not often that the old curse showed himself physically as he preferred not to be seen in an animal's body. It was unbecoming, he said. Him being physically present was an indication that the magical gate really did wonders for the three of them.

"What do you know about having fun, old man?" Ares rolled his eyes before slouching back down on the couch, with both his arms stretched on both sides, holding on to the backrest of the furniture and manspreading as though he owned the place.

"Not including having to embarrass myself, I suppose," the grey feline answered. He raised his left front leg in reflex before halting in the process, the act registering in his mind only then. He slowly put down the fur-covered leg.

Avy swallowed a laugh, biting the inside of her cheek to suppress a smile. Was he about to lick his paws just now?

She cleared her throat to stop herself from letting out a chuckle. She didn't want to get a glare from their resident cat curse, after all. Instead, she simply shifted her gaze at her cursed servant on the couch.

"Where's the paper that I asked you to smuggle in?" she asked, trying to change the conversation. She did not have enough patience to watch the two curses bark at each other.

Ares lazily groaned and pulled out what Avy asked of him from thin air, disgruntled, causing the girl to roll her eyes with a sigh at how the curse kept acting like a snotty child. The papers came out of his dark smoke and slowly floated to where Avy was sitting. She did not have a chance to smuggle it in her luggage, as it was Mariel who packed her things, and it turned out to be the right decision.

She reached out for the papers and immediately frowned when it looked like it had gone through fifteen stages of grief. The material was crumpled, and the corners had a couple of tears; it was as if someone simply grabbed the papers with no care and shoved them inside their coat or something. She threw Ares one nasty glare before shifting her attention back to the documents. The asshole would not care even if she popped a vein while staring daggers in his direction.

"Why do you trust that overgrown child anyway? He looks like he burns people's houses for fun," the dark-haired curse commented cheekily, something that Avy could not refute herself. The man he was referring to, indeed, exuded a peculiar vibe, although they should not be the ones to talk. It is not that their group was made of normal people, either.

Avy scanned the contents of the paper she was holding. "He is weird, but he's not a fraud. We should give him that, at least," she replied. She had already read everything in those papers, as they had been given to her a month prior to their departure. She had them memorized word for word, but, still, it did not hurt to have a list of whatever she needed to do first.

The curtains to the door of the balcony attached to the chamber were also closed, giving her no way of knowing if there was still light outside. However, she knew that it was already late in the night, as it was shown on the beautifully designed grandfather clock that was continuously ticking, positioned a couple of feet away from the door and just across the bed where Avy was seated.

"Ares," she called, looking at the man who was already prodding on a book when she laid her eyes on him, only getting a low 'what?' as an answer. "Do me a favor and make yourself useful."

"Finally. Something to do," Ares breathed out, standing on his feet with a happy grunt. He put his hand on his nape and rotated his neck, snapping it from side to side, before looking at her expectantly with a grin plastered on his face.

"Steal some gold from the king. From his vault or something. I need to go shopping," she commanded, a smile curling on her lips.

Ares smirked, a disgustingly mischievous glint decorating his ruby-red eyes. "I'll get you enough to buy yourself a pleasing attitude," he declared.

Avy scowled at him. "Fuck off," she said.

The curse bowed dramatically in response. "Gladly," he told her before turning into smoke and disappearing completely.

The stupid bastard had a knack for pushing her buttons. It was a good thing she was in a good mood; she did not feel like throwing a chair in his direction. She must admit that the teleportation gate did a great job feeding their mana, and she would not need to eat and sleep as much in the next few days, or even weeks if she's lucky enough.

She cracked her fingers to relax her mind before glancing at the grey feline resting on the chair near her bed. She needs to prepare a lot of things.

"Andras, inspect the whole place. Find out how many knights guard what and when. Know their schedule. Everything."

Without wasting another second after hearing her command, the cat curse himself to comply with her wishes. She was left alone in the luxurious chamber that would serve as her prison for a whole month at most.

———

"It's a type of curse that causes the user to take advantage of the subject's most precious memories, copying the mannerisms of the person they love the most to deceive the victim into thinking that they are worthy of being trusted. It's a dirty little trick, you know? But it only works on people filled with intense feelings of longing, since the curse feeds on that energy. Why? Do you have someone you deeply wish to embrace?" Ares asked her after a brief explanation.

After a couple of encounters with King Cartal, she was able to notice the similarities he shared with her friend. The way they smiled, laughed, and talked was almost identical to each other. It was strange, and it gave her hope that, perhaps, there was a chance that Lucy occupied that body as she did in her current situation.

"Yes, he reminds me of someone," she answered, clicking her tongue in disgust.

So it wasn't her, then?

"Does it bother you? I can kill that curse if you want. That type of weakling isn't much of a threat anyway. But it is bothersome considering there are a lot of idiots who have been tricked since they succumbed to their delusions," Ares jeered, popping a piece of peach that Mariel sliced into pieces for Avy a while ago. He paused after only receiving silence from his master.

"Are you one of those idiots? Was it a lover? I doubt you'd engage in that kind of relationship. I can't imagine you acting like girls act around boys. Kissing and hugging, you know?"

Avy threw her fork in his direction, which he evaded quite easily. "Shut up. It's not a lover! And it's a girl, you twat," she snapped, to which Ares responded with a hum.

"I see. Annie was like that, too."

The familiar name made Avy's ear perk up, her head turning at the curse with her brows knitted in curiosity.

"Who?" she asked; she might have heard it wrong.

"Anastasia. My previous master," Ares answered nonchalantly before speaking again. "So, should I kill that curse? Since it's bothering you."

"No." Avy was quite surprised by the tone of her voice and how fast she answered. "Don't kill it just yet. I can handle it," she added. It was not as if it was messing with her head a lot.

Or, perhaps, she simply wanted to hold onto what was left of Lucy. She was afraid to forget how she smiled. And if that king could show her even just a simple imitation, would it be wrong to want to see it again?

———

"That son of a bitch is spiking my drink, too," Avy hissed to herself after her body defused whatever it was that was put on the tea she drank with the king.

"Why did you even agree to drink tea with that? What did you call him? Unicorn? You don't even like tea," Ares retorted as he pulled her hair into a half ponytail.

Avy scoffed at him. "Well, yeah, even if I told him I don't drink tea, he's going to offer another drugged beverage, genius," she told him. "Hurry up; it's already seven o'clock."

Like a child being told to do his homework, Ares frowned and, to Avy's disgust, he pouted like a toddler as he brushed her hair fiercely, getting stuck on a tangled piece and pulling her head in the process.

"Pull the stick out of your ass, you fuck! It hurts!" She snarled, scowling at the dark-haired curse's reflection in the mirror.

After a much calmer hair preparation—Avy almost set Ares on fire—they were finally ready to head out. Avy wore the clothes that Ares was able to get her from somewhere, buying them from some store outside the palace with the money he stole and a black cloak to cover herself.

She looked at the grey feline who was sitting on her bed, poised and elegant as always, and watched as it turned into a lump of black matter that slowly took the form of a person. A familiar silhouette of long, curly black hair. A completely identical image of her wearing a chemise.

Her face was the same, aside from an eerie feeling of nonchalance and coldness that emanated from what was supposed to be Andras. The same regal air floated around the person, the poised and dignified posture never ceasing.

"Call me if I'm needed," Avy noted as she stepped onto the glowing magic circle drawn on the carpet-covered floor along with her curse servant.

She was not graced with an answer by Andras; however, the cold look he gave her somewhat made her feel reassured for some reason. The older curse was a man of few words; he seldom made his voice known, even when Ares often poked fun of him for being too frigid. The rare times he did say something, though, his words held much to Avy's curiosity. She found herself strangely connected to the other creature.

Feeling the sensation in her feet slowly traveling to her body, the last image she saw was a pair of red eyes bleeding into a shade of dawn.

She opened her eyes, only to be greeted by darkness. The smell of damp pavement greeted her nose along with the muffled noises of a crowd. It did not take her a lot of time to realize that Andras sent them into an alley in order to avoid any suspecting eyes.

"It's pretty lively in here," she heard Ares comment. Indeed, it was a lot noisier than it was in their empire.

Walking into the light at the end of the alley, Avy was able to find out why it sounded like they were on a busy street in a modern city in her own world, minus, perhaps, the sound of cars and vehicles honking every half a second.

Auxiviel was a country that had already conquered the night because of the abundance of magic stones. The streets were decorated with lights in every corner of the capital, and considering the fact that it was more likely the town square, a lot of people walked around like it was in broad daylight.

"I like this place," the curse who stood a step behind her stated, inhaling loudly and acting as though the air fed him with strength.

Wait...

Avy's eyes narrowed in realization as she breathed out an amused laugh. Her muscles trembled in joy as the almost non-existent fatigue faded into nothingness.

Of course, they would like the place! It was practically swarming with floating free mana in the air because of the mana stones scattered in every building. She would not even require herself to sleep if she simply walked around the capital, sucking the environment's magic dry.

"Work comes first, unfortunately," she stated as she closed her eyes and mumbled a couple of words under her breath.

Hidden away by the cloak, her features slowly changed. Her bloody-red irises turned gold, and the shape of her eyes became slightly less sharp, erasing her almost permanent domineering glare. Her curly hair became less defined, taking away the feature that she shared with the former duchess.

She raised her head, lifting the hood that covered her face with delicate hands adorned with golden rings with a number of expensive stones attached to them. Without the hood, she revealed a beautiful necklace with a pendant that hung in front of the upper part of her chest. A big, shining stone the color of amber.

And as if she dropped a pint of blood in water infested with flesh-hungry predators, she immediately felt numerous pairs of eyes glued to her person. It was not a surprise, of course. After all, the way she dressed and carried herself screamed, 'I am a clueless noble!'. She was basically standing around, asking to be robbed, with the high-quality cloak and fabric of her clothes that she requested and the accessories Ares stole from the king attached to her body. It would be a miracle if she did not attract a thief or two.

It was her goal anyway. It simply meant she succeeded. And what would be the point of bringing Ares along if he did not make himself useful and protect her from being robbed?

The two of them started walking around, and Avy could not help but be reminded of her previous life and the brightness of the streets they roamed in. She has experienced walking around at Kriseon during the night, and the comparison was evident due to her empire's lack of light after the sun had set. Due to the scarcity of mana stones, they were hard to obtain and really expensive to use as decorations. This is why illumination stones were simply used to increase visibility in the dark.

Kriseon is a powerful nation with an enthusiastic environment, especially in places where stores and diners are located, as they are frequented by people the most. However, even then, everything eventually dies down just before the sun begins to set. Unlike Auxiviel, life in Kriseon ultimately halts early, and only families well enough to afford multiple mana stones are able to enjoy its perks.

"Aren't you enjoying yourself too much?" Avy looked at her curse servant beside her in exasperation.

The dark-haired curse was holding three sticks of grilled meat in his left hand while his right hand held a box-like plate of what seemed to be boiled sweet potatoes. His head was covered with a ridiculously fancy hat with pink feathers as well, making him look like a total weirdo.

The curse glanced at her with his left brow raised in judgment. "What? Do you want one, too? We can go back and get that blue fedora. I was actually hesitating if I should buy the blue one or this pink feather hat, but I decided on the fancier choice," he orated, his eyes looking up at the dangling piece of pink feather on his forehead.

Avy simply stared at him with a slight grimace, giving up on trying to feel ashamed that she was standing next to a moron. She was looking around in hopes of spotting a particular color of hair when someone harshly bumped onto her, causing her to stumble sideward, colliding with Ares in the process.

"I dropped my food!" She heard him protest, but she was too occupied trying to regain her footing as the person who bumped into her tried to apologize.

"I am deeply sorry, miss," the person, a kid, perhaps around Ciel's age, with light brown hair wearing dirty clothes that looked like they had been mended too much than they should have been, bowed his head and did not even bother to meet her eyes before walking away.

However, before the kid could leave, a hand was able to get a hold of the back of his collar, pulling him back.

"Uh, uh. Stealing is bad, you know?"

Avy's hand went straight to her pocket, where she put the bag of coins that she had on her before leaving the palace. She was able to feel nothing poking through her clothes. She looked at the person who spoke, the same person who was holding the collar of the child who bumped into her. Her eyes immediately widened in recognition after seeing the color of the person's hair; his eyes also matched the description that she could remember.

Before Avy could even open her mouth to speak, the child who 'allegedly' stole her money squirmed like a distressed dog, slipping away from the person's grip before running away fast, knocking over a couple of people in the process.

"Oh, no! He escaped!" the man exclaimed, the faux surprise laced only slightly in his tone.

Avy frowned. "Go after him! He took my stuff!" she commanded, only to be answered with a smile.

The stranger's mismatched-colored eyes squinted mischievously. "Why? Are you going to give me money if I did? "

Avy repressed her victorious smile, which was trying too hard to show on her lips as she stared at the man with bi-colored hair and a peculiar pair of eyes. She was so goddamn lucky today.

I found you.

———

"You've been at it for two days; your maid is losing her mind."

Avy did not bother responding to Ares' prodding; her eyes never left the notebook on her desk. It was almost full of scribbles of everything that she could think of. All in her mother's language to keep all the contents a secret even if the low chance of someone snooping through her things happened.

She clicked her tongue when the pen she was using stopped spitting ink. She tried shaking it in annoyance, slapping it on her palm, and testing it on scratch paper. To no avail, the pen was empty and had nothing left to give.

Huffing in resignation, she simply opened her desk drawer, threw the empty pen inside, and pulled out a new one before going back to her scribbling.

The bags under her eyes were evident, and there were smudges of dry ink on her right cheek. Her hair was suspended in a bun that stopped looking neat after many times of scratching whenever she was frustrated. Pieces of her dark locks were sticking out in every direction, and it somewhat reminded her of herself before she died. The only thing missing were the eyeglasses she used to wear.

"You're writing in ancient language again. Are you sure you aren't cursing someone to death?" Ares jested next to her, leaning his weight on the vanity table.

"I'm doing a recall, not a ritual, you dick," she replied exasperatedly, not sparing the curse a glance.

It was true, however, that she had been frantically scribbling in her notebook for two days, only taking breaks to eat what Mariel brought in her room, go to the bathroom when she needed to, and take a short walk in the garden with Clerivan when her legs started to cramp. She ends up being carried back on the way, though, because it has been more than a week since the crown prince last visited her. Her strength is slowly depleting.

Dang, she feels like a broke mistress waiting for her lover to spare her some time while he's taking his sweet time spending his days with his legal family.

Fuck Ares.

She has already filled more than a dozen pages with the information she has written down. Starting from the beginning, she decided to recall every piece of information in the book, leaving nothing out. She jotted down all the events, both minor and major, unlike the last time she did that, when she only noted the flow of the story.

She has an exceptional memory; she prided herself on that one thing, and it was often praised by other people in her past life. However, there was one thing that she considered her weakness. Something she never really urged herself to bother with.

She had a hard time remembering names and faces, especially when she only gets to hear and see them once. Others chalked it up to her being so condescending that she never felt the need to remember those she deemed beneath her level. And she did not care enough to correct that misconception.

Meeting new people was not a hobby of hers, anyway. She would meet new faces, yes, but she did not intend to stay connected with them. They could just reintroduce themselves next time, if necessary.

After that incident, it was as if her brain refused to allow new people into her life.

She could barely remember the names of the characters in the novel now. The names that were often mentioned were able to leave a mark in her mind, but the ones with no particular relevance to the plot were buried underneath blurry descriptions of their appearance and the events that were tied down to their character.

Avy could remember what they looked like, at least, as they were words written on the book and not images she saw. And she knew she had to remember the names of those characters so that she could pay someone to find out where they were. She has noticed how the King of Auxiviel started showing interest in her, and it would not be far-fetched that he would invite her to visit his country. If not, it would be easier for him to agree if she asked to go.

Hence, she troubled herself by continuously writing down whatever she could remember. Racking her brain always worked, after all. It was like searching an abandoned warehouse for lost pieces of paper.

A boy with bi-colored hair...

———

I found you.

The boy before her was only slightly taller. With pale skin and a lanky frame, he looked no older than sixteen. His hair was also peculiarly styled. The front part of his hair was like long, parted bangs that reached past his chin. His right, dominant one, which was two-thirds of his hair, was colored white and his left side bore the color of a light shade of pink.

His eyes followed the peculiarity of his locks. His right pupil was a tamer color of red, while the other was a warm brown. A mole marked the tail of his left brow.

It was him.

"I'm sorry, lady. But I can do nothing to help." The boy smiled kindly at her, his tone apologetic and reserved. "Do you have anything I can help you with? I feel guilty—"

"Ares, get me that child!" she abruptly cut him off, looking far ahead, where the child ran off.

The dark-haired curse did not have time to mourn the food he dropped on the ground. "On it," he answered before leaping into the air with remarkable speed.

Seeing this, Avy watched as the bi-colored boy's face slowly morphed from being relaxed to being horrified. The look of nervousness was painted with the knit of his brows and the worry that made his different-colored pupils tremble.

"That's dangerous, my lady! Your servant might get hurt!" he exclaimed, trying to keep his composure. However, Avy could feel him restraining himself from frantically chasing down her curse servant.

"That bag is full of money, you see. I can't just let it go," Avy told him, her eyes glinting maliciously, and it did not take long for Ares to come back with a flailing child in his grasp.

"L-Let me go! Let me go! "The child, a young boy who looked about ten years old with golden-brown eyes and brown hair, shouted, earning a few glances from the people who passed by them. Seeing the quality of Avy's clothes, the child's pleas went from one ear to the other. No one bothered to help.

The curse walked towards them while manhandling the child with his right hand and holding the bag of coins in his left hand, tossing it in the air carelessly before throwing it in Avy's direction. She did not appreciate having to catch the bag, but she took it nonetheless.

"This thing is feisty," Ares pointed out, holding the child by the back of his shirt like a bag of candies. The child tried to punch and kick him, but Ares' arms were long enough to keep him away. "Quit it or I will bite your fingers off," the curse threatened, earning a high-pitched 'eek!' from the boy who then decided that it would be better to accept his fate. Or, perhaps, leave his fate to be saved by someone, looking at the bi-colored teen who stood next to Avy.

"This child... you should not have stolen from this pretty lady," the boy reprimanded the little kid, who looked at him hopefully. He tried to reach out to take the child, but Ares whisked him away.

"I'm sorry, sir. Please spare this child; I will make sure to make him receive the punishment he deserves," the teen pleaded with an apologetic smile, letting out a forced laugh to make himself seem less tense.

"You don't need to concern yourself with that. I will punish this child with my own means," Avy responded before turning her back to walk away, gesturing for Ares to follow.

The bi-colored-haired teen was quick on his feet to walk next to her as if trying to bargain. "If I may ask, what will you do to the child, miss?" he asked, never letting the smile on his lips fall as he tried to strike up a conversation and be friendly with Avy.

She threw him a side glance, a mischievous smile displayed on her face. "Cut a finger or two, perhaps." She turned to Ares. "Is that too much? "

Ares snickered, a sinister look drawn on his face. "Too little. Cut his hands so he may not steal again. Or maybe his legs, so he cannot run from his crimes ever again," he stared at the child with an evil grin, causing his eyes to water and his small body to quiver in fear.

"Please, my lady. He is only a child," the teen lilted, his former composure thrown out the window, but Avy simply gave him a smile.

"And a thief is a thief." They kept walking, the boy still hot on their heels, when Ares quipped out loud.

"I can feel your magic, kid. Don't try," Ares warned.

The boy clicked his tongue. "Then, let me receive the punishment for this child. Anything," he said.

It's as easy as taking candy from a child.

Avy inwardly celebrated, halting her steps and turning to the bi-colored-haired boy.

"Anything?" she repeated, to which the other replied with a pained nod, his brows knitted together.

Avy huffed in amusement. "Excellent," she remarked. "What's your name?"

The teen looked up at her, meeting her eyes through his lashes.

"Raeve."

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Hellooooo guys!! It's me againnnn! This update is a bit shorter than usual but still! I updated sooner as well. And surprise! A new character that I do hope you will love. I actually dropped a hint about him 2 years ago. Check chapter 30's end notes please, you have to, I was so excited about this because I've been daydreaming of this character for so long.

I'm already guilty of what I will write:( I'm actually crying cuz these children deserve so much better but I chose to make them this way. Anyways, here ya go. Thank you for commenting a lot last chapter! And my sister is doing great! Thank you for your well wishes.

ask me questions on Instagram: @eliiskuuxen