"Help please anybody!" A child merely the age of four shouted in the middle of the night as their village was under siege.
Bewildred screams and cries resounded on half of the whole territory of Windsor. Everyday, some of them died. The rustic stench of blood permeated in the air as mass graves lit the dark starless night.
They were being used as bargaining chips to negotiate with the Emperor.
Whether they lived or died depended on one man who stood there just looking at the boy crying in a hidden location nearby. He watched how the child's eyes glimmered with a light that somehow displeased him. Help? He remembered a time where he was exactly like this boy.
By then, he stepped out of the shadows and viciously chopped the once lively child into what looks like a mangled mesh of meat. The surrounding captives all shook - but then again, who wouldn't? A devil revealed himself as he extinguished another life.
His crimson hair, adorned with blood, is now drenched with the saturating lights from the fire of the mass grave, giving him a look akin to a creature stepping directly out of the flames. As he threw the child's mangled flesh unto to the pit, he looked back to the group of people.
Starved, hurt, alone.. Magnus watched them as the peculiar familiarity somewhat comforted him. He wickedly smirked as he signalled his most trusted knight and brother, Tristan with his bloodied hand.
Leaving no room for reaction, Tristan swung his sword, as the asphalt pavement turn a bright shade of red. In a blink of an eye, the once living beings lie lifelessly on the ground. The spectators from other groups quivered in fear, the once-crying children and the screaming women were finally silenced in a terrified state. This genocide and aptitude for killing - not merciful to neither children nor women.. They finally knew why the name Magnus was synonymous to "demon".
Illuminated by a blazing fire, Tristan with his mint green hair tousling in the hot humid breeze, stood there, valiantly offering his tainted sword to his Lord with a smile.
After losing the double-edged sword Ban from banishment, Magnus conferred this name to his right hand knight. His most trusted ally and Ban personified..
Tristan Ban Winchester.
- an excerpt from "Risen Emperor: The Dragon and Phoenix's rise to power", Chapter 49
Erin
I saw fire, burning embers alighting the dark. The smell of blood and decaying corpses, the view and sounds of hell. Strangely enough, I felt the excruciating sensations of being burned alive. I wanted to scream, but instead a hoarse quiet voice resounded from my opened mouth.
Within the blazing heat, amber lights revealed the back of a mint green-haired man standing in front of.... What the hell...
Is that..?!
M-Magnus?
His crimson hair was longer. He wore black over-alls as his body was haphazardly bandaged revealing his muscular body. His face was the same although, I must admit, that upon gazing on his purple eyes, I barely recognized him.
What I saw was pure madness. Dilated pupils that hinted the loss of an integral part of him. Despite this, he looked mysterious, intelligent and elegant. The somber dangerous air that he always carried with him lingered with an even stronger presence.
In pain, I watched as he turned to his heel.. His back getting smaller and smaller by the second.
What remained were the flames, the extensive torment I had to endure, and the shade of green adorned by amber lights amidst the profound darkness..
**
Damp. I felt as if I was drenched in water. I awoke to the uncomfortable feeling of being forcefully drawn from a place that refused to let me go. Reluctantly, the sleeping muscles on my eyelids was opened halfway. What I can make out was a blurred color of mint green...
An ominous feeling overtook my actions as I forced my body to sit up.
"Princess, you finally woke up." The man who had his back facing me suddenly turned revealing his charming face and gentle smile. His eyes in a brown that is somewhat in the shade of newly-harvested honey.
Despite the gentleness of his countenance, I felt a chill run down my spine.
T-that hair color... How can I not recognize the man standing in front of me? He was often mentioned in the novel, Magnus' most trusted knight and right hand man, Tristan.
Without answering and probably seeing the queries I dare not say (because knowing this demon of a person who resolutely killed innocent people, following a maddened leader.. who knows just what he is capable of? His back story was never mentioned in the novel.), he smiled brightly as he explained the situation "Princess, you have been unconscious for a day and a half already. My Lord is at the Farron estate arranging matters regarding your absence. You can rest assured that he will be returning with good news."
A d-day and a half? "You mean to say an unmarried woman such as myself spent a day and a half in this..th.." I then took a look around, realizing I don't even recognize where I am. I urgently examined myself and... Of course, I'm wearing a different set of clothes and I'm even drenched in my own sweat. Wow, we must've been busy huh?
Despite my prior experience in warming the bed (we can all enjoy a shade of euphemism) but to do it while I was passed out... That level of bestiality is... I dont know the right word so let me make a new one... That level can only be called Magnus level. (Now his name is an adjective in my vocabulary, learn it too kids)
I glared at Tristan whilst reflexively covering myself as I felt blood rush up to both sides of my cheeks. H-how dare he smile like an innocent person while letting an unsuspecting woman be raped in her sleep. These monsters!
He gazed at me surprisingly for a second and then proceeded to go back to his default face which carried a gentle aura (lies!) that is worthy of a round of applause. "Princess, I assure you that while you and my Lord have been together the whole night, I am at a different location so I can not disclose what transpired. When my Lord returns, ask him yourself because I believe that saying anything more is overstepping my bounds."
T-this bastard! I blushed harder upon hearing what happened. N-no way? My first night with my hunk of a fiancé and I can't even remember anything about it?
"T-then c-c-can you at least hand me new clothes?"
"Of course." He casually said as he left the room.
I want to ask Magnus so many questions... If I fainted, why did he take me to his room instead of mine in Farron estate? (well, aside from his libido taking the lead.. At least I hope there's more there is to it....) Why am I closely guarded by his most trusted (and terrifying) knight? Also why was he injured? (He might've thought I'd forget. Don't underestimate my linguist mind.. It's said our memory's sharper than normal people.)
He better make things clear.
**
Once I calmed down, changed clothes and ate a hefty amount of good food... I realized that I don't feel sore down there (if you know what I mean) so of course nothing happened between Magnus and I which.. I somehow feel a bit disappointed if I'm being honest. If he popped my cherry last night, at least it wont hurt anymore if we do it again... But then, he has villainous tendencies after all so maybe he'll pound me harder than anyone did in my past life?
I blushed while I giggled to myself. I cant wait for our sexy times to happen! Kukuku... While I was fiddling with a tea spoon as my other hand was holding a porcelain tea cup, I somehow felt a lingering gaze that made me instinctively look in the direction I felt it in. What I saw was Tristan scrutinizing me inconspicuously (but of course I can see through that!). Oh no, this is bad. He's not supposed to see this side of me. (NO ONE CAN SEE THIS!)
"U-uh, sir Tristan may you please leave this room? It is not good for an unmarried and betrothed lady such as myself to be alone with another man."
He stared at me for a few seconds before answering calmly "I apologize, princess. My Lord's order was to watch over you closely. I am not a man right now but a mere subordinate of my Lord. Please be at ease."
"It can't be helped then. Must you stay beside me as I nap, too?" I asked, annoyed but still composed. I hope he gets the hint.
"Yes," he replied without any hesitation "I must secure your safety, princess."
Hm, it's been a while but it just dawned to me that he's been calling me princess for quite some time now. "Sir Tristan, why do you address me as such? I am but a daughter of the Marquess and it would be presumptuous of me to allow you to go on calling me as you please even if we're indeed the only two people in this room."
"You are already considered as a princess and my Lord as a Prince by the gods' mandate. Despite the new title of my Lord, I am assimilated in the Duke's household as his personal knight and so he remains to be called 'my Lord'."
Oh, so that's it. Wow. I subconsciously nodded as I took the newly-fed information in my mind. As I was thinking that I can't possibly be shocked any more than I already have, Tristan continued...
"But since you shared a bed with my Lord last night, I will surely address you more casually in the near future. As we speak, the Marquess and my Lord are discussing the nearest date for your marriage to take place. Bear with it for now, princess. Basing on the severity of the situation, a week is the longest you will have to endure."
I stared at him, my eyes almost bulging out of its sockets. WHAT LUCK! I then found my voice as I bitterly laughed at myself. Of course. I am sided with the paragon villain.. His fate, it was contagious! Grim reaper really wants a piece of me, doesn't he?