Ignius, who had been a bit negligent of the woman, came running to where she was when he remembered about her. The master would be angry if he did not do something about her. He waited for the woman to finish what she was doing and stood there to wait for her.
"Were you talking with the king?" Ignius asked after the woman was done. She was the only member of that group that was associated with the royal family so the master only told him to watch her.
The other names on the list were only made up and were just rumors. Ignius found it the hard way. He was chasing after them only to find out that they were fraud. Thanks to the master for finding that ridiculous story and they were able to find the Circle of Eight.
"Why ask when you already know." The woman gave Ignius a smile as she stood there waiting for his next move.
"You know now that I am thinking about it, my master hasn't told me anything on how I should deal with you." Ignius suddenly said after thinking about if for a while.
"What should we do now, are we going to stare at each other then?" The woman said sarcastically as she readied herself to fight the dragon.
Ignius raised his hand to stop the woman. "You won't be able to beat me. I don't want to waste my time in a battle that I can easily win. It's exhausting."
The woman sighed and closed her eyes. Indeed, she was no match for the person in front of her. Even while she was talking with the king, she could already feel the incredible power that was coming from him. It was not something a human could naturally possess and based on his eyes. He must be something else.
"Why don't we do this, why don't you come with me calmly and surrender yourself so that way we can avoid unnecessary fights and you can reunite with your comrades without getting hurt?" Ignius proposed and he had a grin on his face while waiting for the woman's answer.
The woman was silent for a moment before she finally sighed and nodded towards the man. He already bid goodbye to the king and she was already prepared for what's about to come. "Alright, lead the way."
"Oh, you are pretty amiable!" Ignius laughed and turned around. He was planning on flying to the manor but then a gate suddenly opened in front of him.
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The woman looked at what appeared in front of the dragon in trepidation. It looked like something that could swallow them at any moment. She stepped back but stopped when the man turned around with a grin.
"It looks like the master knew that I was here and opened a gate for us." He pointed at the black blotch behind him. "Let's go!" He turned around again and entered the gate without hesitation.
On the other hand, the woman took her time because she was unsure on what would be waiting for her once he stepped in. She took a deep breath before she finally walked forward. She couldn't help but close her eyes after letting half of her body enter.
It took a few seconds of delay before she finally opened her eyes. She was taken aback because she was standing in a courtyard of a manor. By the decoration and the style, she could already tell that it belonged to the Ginehart family. She looked at the man beside her in question.
"The master is waiting for you." Ignius gestured to the door that was already open. He gave the woman a nod to encourage her to enter.
She sensed that he would not answer any of her questions so she decided to just enter and meet this master. The woman was met by Mr. C and he guided her to where the master was. They walked through the flight of stairs and into the second floor. The woman was right, it was indeed the Ginehart manor in the capital.
There were portraits of the family and the past dukes hanging on the walls as they walked past them. They then stopped on one of the countless doors on the second floor of the manor. The butler conscientiously knocked a few times before they were granted permission to enter.
He opened the door and gestured for the woman to enter first. She walked in and heard the door closing behind her. On the table in front of her, a young man was sitting and was busy reading some documents.
She was unsure of what she should do so she decided to wait for the young man. She looked around and saw that there was nothing personal inside the study. Everything was the standard furniture and no added decorations were made.
"Well, I don't often use this place so you won't see anything in here." Cygnus placed the document he was reviewing on the table and looked at the woman.I think you should take a look at
At the voice, the woman returned her gaze to the young man. She froze in place when she finally saw what the young man looked like. The memories of the past started to flash in her mind with those eyes that were staring at her.
"Interesting," the master murmured. He disappeared from where he was sitting and appeared in front of the woman. "You know me."
The woman stepped back and protected herself with a wall of water. The horror of that night made her act in reflex. But even with the water wall separating her and Cygnus, she could still see those eyes. This was truly the retribution for what they had done.
"Retribution? So, you were waiting for it?" Cygnus spoke behind the curtain of water but his voice sounded so near that the woman flinched.
Cygnus raised his hand and touched the water. The wall of water was dispelled as he walked forward and stood in front of the woman. He had his hands behind his back while looking at the trembling woman.
"I thought you were already prepared to face whatever you will encounter. You were even kind enough to send the king a message bidding him goodbye." Cygnus chuckled at the surprised expression of the woman because of his words. "Adviser to the king Elvira Kevhan."
Elvira locked her jaws and clenched her fists. "I am. It was just my reflex. I-I didn't expect that I will be meeting you again after a thousand years."
"How did you know?" Cygnus became curious because he did not remember this woman or most likely that the memories he had of the woman had yet to be restored.
"That year, I won't forget the way you looked at me. It was something that I could never let go no matter how hard I try. They haunted me and even now, you still had it. The eyes are telling me that I am going to die." Elvira answered without holding back. She already knew that she was going to die.
"How convenient, then I don't need to let you remember what happened but it seems that your comrades forgot about it." Cygnus turned around and returned to where he was sitting. "I myself did not expect that I would return to this place and almost missed it if not for the Magus Maximus."
He leaned on his seat and narrowed his eyes at the woman who remained standing. She refused to move from where he was standing. He shrugged his shoulders and let her be.
"I was supposed to lay low in this place, maybe create chaos here and there but then everything happened and I got some of my memories back. Now the rage I am feeling has doubled. I knew that I couldn't let it go." He was saying all of these casually which only made the woman shudder.
"What are you going to do to us now?" Elvira asked. "Are you going to kill us?"
Cygnus laughed. "Kill? Of course, I will do that but first I will let you suffer. I also need to thank the royal family for their hard work in keeping this kingdom afloat for so many years. You know, I'm going for the saying 'an eye for an eye.'"
Elvira became angry after she heard what he had to say. "The royal family has nothing to do with this!" She suddenly had the courage to speak against Cygnus.
But her words only upset Cygnus. The atmosphere around them changed in an instant and it made the whole place filled with Cygnus's killing intent. His eyes were wide and were the color of blood. His bloodlust and anger could be felt in the manor.
"Nothing to do with this?" His voice lowered and deep. "They are the ones who instigated everything. I can remember how they envied us and, in the end, we were labeled as traitors. Apparently, we were planning on staging a rebellion against the royal family. How laughable."
"If you insist then I will need to fight you." The fear in every cell of Elvira disappeared as she made herself ready to fight.
"If I insist there's nothing you can do about it. If you are going to get in my way, then I won't spare any effort in letting you experience pain." Cygnus was still sitting down but the pressure that was coming from him was no joke.
