CH 36

‘To think it wasn’t enough even after making her like that…’ Gareth decided he had to be alone to avoid breaking her. He had to do so if he wanted to protect her from the bloodthirsty madman he was. Even though he had given up on being human, it was the least he could do for her. “I said go away!” Gareth lashed out at her, breaking the silence of the forest.

Elena barely managed to pull herself up. She couldn’t understand why Gareth was suddenly shouting and backing away from her. “Did I do something wrong?” she whispered in a trembling voice. 

Elena began to doubt herself at Gareth’s silence. ‘I did ask him to stop… He might have taken it as a rejection.’ Elena’s face reddened with shame as she apologized quietly, “I’m sorry. I’m just not used to—”

“That’s not it!” Gareth interrupted her. “I just sometimes become mad with my violent temper!”

‘Become mad?’ Elena doubted her ears. 

“I lose control of myself when it happens. I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have,” Gareth added on. 

After hearing his words, Elena tried to approach Gareth, then fell forward again. It was as if her lower abdomen had become paralyzed. She groaned in pain, then struggled again to get back on her feet. She didn’t know why, but hearing Gareth’s trembling voice made her want to… comfort him. 

Gareth gritted his teeth and forcefully rubbed his face again as Elena continued to weakly fall forward. Doing so revealed her white lower body that dazzled in the moonlight. Rage flooded through him as his eyes unknowingly trailed over her legs. Gareth hurriedly grabbed his sword as he reminded himself that he needed to put an end to his lust for her, for she was not a woman he could simply enjoy and forget about. She was… she was…

After falling forward once more, Elena looked up at the sound of a blade slicing through the wind. She could see the moonlight shattering into pieces from Gareth’s sword, as well as his tightly closed lips and frigid eyes. An agile energy radiated from his body as if he were one with the sword. His elegant movements, although breathtaking, looked tragic for some reason. 

Elena suppressed her pain and neatly pulled down her dress. She then knelt down and sat under a tree. She couldn’t move. Not only did she lack the strength to move, but she felt that if she kept trying she might die. She continued to watch Gareth in dead silence as his sharpened sword silently cut through the night air. At that moment, she felt her heart cracking at the sight before her. Tears welled up in her eyes for some reason and trickled down her cheeks. Gareth looked as if he was swinging the sword at himself. 

“Gareth…” Elena called out. Gareth halted his movements at that instant. “Gareth. I want to comfort you, but I can’t move.” 

Gareth could now clearly hear Elena’s voice ring in his once closed ears. He took in a deep breath and shifted his burning charcoal eyes towards her. He could see that she was sitting on her knees with her arms open. The woman he had broken and damaged was waiting for him patiently with open arms. His body gradually cooled as if his boiling blood was returning to its normal temperature. Gareth continued to take deep breaths as he watched Elena. 

“Gareth, come here,” Elena said again as she reached out towards him with trembling arms. She was unable to stop crying. To her, it seemed as if Gareth was struggling to kill himself. She had no idea what living as a mercenary was like, and she didn’t know what kind of experiences he went through to become like this. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Elena spoke again. “Come to me, Gareth.”

The sword fell weakly from Gareth’s hand. He stumbled towards Elena, then knelt down to face her. He then lowered his head and rested his forehead on her shoulder. Her arms that had been waiting for him wrapped around him tightly.  

* * *

The men led by Giggs and Hansen had finished their hunt overnight and returned to camp at dawn. They had done their best to persistently chase any suspects, as if herding some animals, so that no suspicious people would come around this area for the next few months. If rumors about this place being an easy-going and nice place to live started to spread, there was a chance that similar groups of people might crawl over here like insects and put their safe homes in danger. 

All throughout twilight, the men had searched for and chased people all over the forest. They didn’t even bother to keep track of how many people they had killed, since what they wanted was to perform a thorough demonstration of whose territory this was. 

“What do we do now?” Giggs asked Hansen as he rubbed his beard with a perplexed expression. 

“What do you mean? We’ll have breakfast,” Hansen spoke softly as he gathered firewood to start a fire. 

Giggs gazed at Hansen, then let out a long sigh. It wasn’t that he held any special feelings towards Elena. He just liked that she had a temper; that was it. She was not even close to being shy, which made Giggs feel somewhat close to her despite never having felt such a way about a woman before. On top of that, she was the only woman who had ever travelled this far with them and the only woman Gareth carried in front of him on his horse.

“I hope she’s alright…” Giggs mumbled as he approached Hansen to toss more firewood into the fire. The fire crackled as it grew in size. Although Hansen and Giggs remained silent, they kept their senses heightened. 

At that moment, a rustling sound came from the forest. Giggs and Hansen, as well as their subordinates, quickly stood up from their seats in unison, prepared to attack. Their stances relaxed when they saw that it was Gareth. 

“Welcome back… Boss.” Giggs quickly greeted as he glanced behind Gareth. His boss was his usual self, but he was alone—leaving Giggs to wonder about Elena’s whereabouts.