CH 48

In the short time she had spent with him, Lydia had been able to grasp what kind of person he was. Gareth had violated her in a humiliating manner, then released his seeds outside of her. Afterwards, he grabbed her arm, pushed her out the room, and slammed the door shut before she could get a word in.

Lydia had been left so flabbergasted by the event that she ended up just standing in front of the closed door for a while. That had been her first time being treated in such a degrading manner, as there had been no men who didn’t worship her until now. However, before the disgrace could turn into disgust, she had developed an interest in him.

The king had offered to make Gareth the captain of the royal guards to keep him at his side. It was a tremendous offer for a wandering mercenary, one that even knights dreamt of. Even so, Gareth had refused the offer without hesitation and had left the capital without much commotion once his business was taken care of.

Lydia’s interest in Gareth’s character had prompted her to research everything about him. She found out what happened to the estates he had been commissioned to, his family and his extermination, and the astonishing secret behind the tragedy. Lydia then spent a long time pondering what his weakness could be, since she needed a man like Gareth in her life. She needed someone who could dirty their hands with blood; someone who possessed fearful strength and ruthlessness.

The next time Lydia encountered him was at Viscount Gray’s estate. She knew that Gareth had been commissioned to this estate due to a conflict within the noble family and had planned this visit to meet him again. When she found him, he was covered in the blood of the dozens of people he had killed. Later that night, she had secretly approached him before his anger could cool off and he gave her what she had expected. That was when Lydia learned that Gareth usually didn’t sleep with women, but was completely different after killing people. His fury didn’t care who the other party was as long as it was a woman.

“So, who is that woman and how is she making him act like that?” Lydia wondered out loud. If it were other men, she wouldn’t have cared, since they usually did anything and everything to seduce women. However, Gareth was a different story. It seemed that he was obsessed with the woman with black hair, dark emerald eyes, and pale skin. Lydia had to admit that the woman was charming, but judged that she wasn’t even close to her level in terms of appearance.

“Where did he bring her from?” Lydia pondered, then called her maids. “Get Jamie. There’s an urgent issue that needs to be investigated.” Her blue eyes flashed coldly as she gave these orders.

* * *

Elena opened her eyes, shuddering from the sudden coldness. She blankly stared at the dark ceiling, then realized that she had ended up falling asleep. A deep exhale escaped from her lips as her body began to wake up. Her lips trembled slightly from the unfamiliar, cold air that bit her skin, as if it was telling her that she wasn’t welcomed here.

Elena sat up and wrapped the bed sheet around her naked body. She then slowly climbed out of bed and stood up, immediately stumbling and falling onto the floor. Her body was overwhelmed with fatigue, but she pushed herself up with her hands and inhaled deeply. The sun was about to rise soon. ‘I have to get up,’ she told herself. After taking a few more deep breaths, she stood up again.

She took about three steps before letting out a startled scream; there was a black shadow at the foot of the bed.

“Stop screaming,” Gareth mumbled quietly in a gloomy voice. He was sitting with his back propped against the bed, one leg bent and the other stretched out. It seemed that he hadn’t been able to sleep a wink through the night.

“Why are you sitting here?” Elena asked.

Gareth didn’t respond. The reason why he returned home once a year was to give his men the chance to heal their injuries and to rest up, not for himself. Gareth was rather inclined to avoid returning home, since he was only plagued with nightmares whenever he was here. He couldn’t sleep and was afraid to do so. He was much more comfortable camping outside, but had never divulged that fact to anyone.

Gareth stood up and maneuvered through the darkness to the fireplace. Striking a piece of flint against some steel, he lit the fireplace; the wood burned brightly with a crackling sound.

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked with his back towards Elena.

Elena remained silent and only stared at his long shadow. Gareth didn’t turn around to look at her. When the room gradually began to warm up, Elena parted her lips. “Is there anything I can wear?” she asked.

Only then did Gareth turn around to face her. He gestured towards a chair in the room with his chin. Elena walked over to the chair in silence and observed the rough-textured dress. Unwrapping the bed sheet from her body, she let it fall to the floor and put on the dress.

‘She doesn’t have any soft undergarments to wear. Her skin will probably hurt a lot from the rough dress…’ Gareth thought, then asked, “Are you hungry?”

Elena didn’t respond. Instead, she started gathering up the torn clothes on the floor and headed straight to the door as if she had nothing more to say to him.

Gareth strode towards her and grabbed her arm, causing the ripped clothes to scatter back on the floor. “Where are you going?” he asked urgently.

“It’s almost dawn. I should go find something to do,” Elena responded.

“What do you mean?”

Elena pushed Gareth’s hand away and bent down again to pick up the clothes strewn on the floor. “Things that a trophy should do. I’ll do tasks around the castle from dawn until evening, then satisfy your desires at night,” she stated in a determined voice. It seemed that the events that took place yesterday had solidified her decision. Shocked at her words, Gareth felt as if he was going to collapse to the floor.