窃情谋欲

Damien had promised the princess that he would meet her at the same spot in the evening and she had happily agreed.

Now the first impression was not gone since she registered him as an old man.

She doesn't even know his eye color since she was too focused on his wonderful bond.

He ran a hand through his shaven jaws. The large pile of beard was kept clean back in the mountains. He hated the scratching, though.

His hair was not too short not too long, he let it perfectly fall down to his forehead. Like a noble.

The boy looking back at him was not him at all. He was someone else.

If he was pretty back then, he's more manly now.

His red eyes now were brighter and calmer than before. His body looked much bigger with muscles covering every part of him from head to toe.

Not too muscular either.

He reached out and touched the mirror, looking at himself like he was seeing someone entirely different.

Like a better version of himself that only exists in dreams. But this was reality. And the one staring at him in the large mirror is himself.

He's stronger now. Stronger than most of people in the world. He's stronger than Calen when he last met him. But he knows that wasn't the case now.

'He must already be the strongest in the Autumn kingdom,' he thought.

Defeating Calen might have been impossible then. Even hearing that wretched name had sent shivers down his spine but now...things were different.

He was confident he could take him on. Hard but not impossible.

And he will.

...

He bought a shirt and pants, both velvet and black in color from a shop.

It was expensive, he could've bought a cheap dress but she could tell the difference in just moments.

He doesn't want to do that. Remember, the first impression is the best impression.

The dress fit him nicely, the only thing that stands out is his left arm. His ice arm.

It looks like a funny combination. On one side he's a young and arrogant young master and on the other side a war mongrel, a fool as they say.

But that's okay, he wasn't going to show her his entire body in the evening. No, no, no. She will have her time with his bond, a short but lovely one, and he will be hidden in the shadows till the end.

He will show his face, flash a smile and spew some flowery shit at her and flash away.

This was just a tactic to make her fall for him, by doing so, she will think about him like a lost lover.

A small laugh escaped his lips. It felt good.

His bond flew in and perched on his shoulder.

On its beak was something small and rectangular with intricate patterns and gems.

She cried in delight and shook her body like dancing. Whatever it is must be something valuable for her.

She says in his mind to take the thing from her beak and so he did.

It was a hairpin. A pretty one. Not luxurious but pretty. It has a beautiful blue flower on its top.

Young girls would go wild about it.

"What of it?" He asks her, examining the thing.

She tells him to tuck it in his pocket while visiting the princess.

·ƈθm He asked why but his bond just said to do it. He would've asked why again if it was some other people but it's his bond. Whatever is in her comes from him. And he knows how stubborn he can become.

So he took the hairpin and tucked it into his pant pocket.

"Happy?" He asks.

She squealed in excitement and nodded her head. She had a smug expression on her face like she had done something wonderful.

He let her be and focused on himself. He had made her take a bath. The annoying thing doesn't like to be wet. Something she developed from the mountains.

Her argument is other birds and animals don't wash often so why must she? And he had answered that unlike others she lives with him.

He ate merrily from a shop. Bread and honey and hot butter, chicken, and juices. After a year and a half on the mountain, he had missed the taste of almost everything.

It felt heavenly in taste. The bread melts in his mouth and the juice feels like heaven.

He smiled after eating his food and drank from a cup filled with wine.

He even had some chicken sneaked away for Aviora.

Seeing her eat the meat like some frantic person who hasn't eaten in days, made him wonder if he had eaten like that now.

He thought of her as a 'cannibal,' eating from her own species.

Are chickens and ravens of the same species? He thought and shook his head. It doesn't matter.

What matters is changing the plot. For that, he needs to find out 'he who controls this world,' A.K.A the author of the novel.

The author was someone named Miguel or something something. He can't remember it clearly. But there was a Miguel in it.

And there is no Miguel here. If this 'Miguel' is a god or an Alien, then there is nothing he can do about it.

There was no mention of higher power anywhere in the novel. There was no mention of supernatural phenomena or anything that remotely tie to things outside of this world. It's a dead end. A bloody dead end.

But there was this quote in the prologue of the novel. Something that goes like, "I'm everywhere where you look, but not where you see."

The dumb fuck is that supposed to mean. All he can think is that the guy is somewhere here but his eyes won't see it. It also means anyone can be the author: Calen, Daenys, The Princess, the winter queen even Lily.

Whoever it is must be watching him. Like some sort of games or entertainment.

It's all in the future. He can think about them later. Now is not the time for things beyond his control. Now's the time to seduce a princess with his charm. The charm that was passed down to him by his master in the mountains.

He grinned widely.