Haymand’s Blood - Chapter 2

‘What is it?’

He hurriedly raced to the bed where the sword’s energy was flowing out from. Incredibly, the energy seemed to flow through the walls of the living room.

“…..!”

After a while, Hyad’s eyes opened wide. An incredible sight was unfolding before his eyes. A solid stone wall was cut just like tofu and collapsed.

His eyes quivering in shock, looked at the person walking out from the pile of debris and ash. Surprisingly it was a girl, and in her hand, there was a sword as long as her body.

Hyad’s gaze quickly examined the girl. She was about the age of seventeen, and was admiringly beautiful, but the energy flowing out of her body was enough to heighten all his senses. Such a strong spirit was something that neither his master nor his friends, known for being strong, had accumulated.

‘Who the hell is this girl….?’

Ringing in his ears was a woman’s voice.

“I smell the blood of a Haymand. Where is Haymand’s blood?”

The question, which was said with heavy languor, made him stiff. There was only one person who possessed Haymand blood in this palace – Kairas Luan Fedor Haymand, the Emperor of this land as well as his lord and best friend.

He pulled out his sword right away. Hyad instinctively felt that he wasn’t her opponent right away. Still, he had no choice but to stop her. This smiling girl felt too dangerous to send to his master.

When Hyad, who kept his mouth shut tight, aimed his sword at her, a look of annoyance came to the girl’s face. The man in front of her seemed to have no intention of speaking up.

“Ah… you’re a really troublesome person. It would be nice to just cut you down…”

The girl, who murmured softly as she saw Hyad running towards her, slowly lifted the sharp sword. A sharp swip resonated as the tip of his sword, which was raised at her, was blocked by an extreme force.

‘Damn it…’

Hyad, who gritted his teeth when she easily blocked the attack, stiffened at the words of the girl.

“You have a strong scent of Haymand’s blood meaning you are someone close to him…. so I won’t kill you.”

Facing the sword, her red eyes were thickly subdued by a burning thirst.

~~~

‘There’s still a long way to go, but it wasn’t a bad start.’

Kairas, leaning against the armrest on the throne and holding a glass of wine, looked down at the laughing and chattering guests at the banquet hall. Smirking at the sight of them excited with the joy of victory, he raised the glass he was holding to his mouth.

It was longer than expected, but the empire had won the war, and the kingdom of Khazar returned to its subject country as it once was. Khazar’s new king also swore allegiance to Kairas. The wine he was drinking now was of the finest quality gifted to him by the King of Khazar.

The wine wasn’t exactly his cup of tea, but it was a great match for today’s celebration since it was regarding an affair of the country. The glass tilted and then wine flowed into his mouth. It was said to be a special product, but the dry taste that was fragrant and seemed to wrap around his tongue wasn’t so bad. After drinking alcohol, it was normal for one to get drunk, but Kairas’ mind was still conscious.

Kairas, who was slowly swirling the glass with a plan on how to conquer the next kingdom already forming in his mind, turned his head to a voice beside him.

“Hyad must be having a blast by now. That woman is the kind that every man likes.”

It was Lloyd, the captain of the guard who was entrusted with escorting Luina. It was rude for him to speak to the emperor informally, but Kairas didn’t care as he was used to it.

White General Hyad Crowell, Imperial Guard captain Lloyd Menster, Black General Asilde Oreman, and the magician Lennox Luther.

The four, known as the emperor’s closest aides, were his best friends and were like his true brothers in this world. They, who had been hanging out together when he was in the palace, ran to help Kairas after finding out he had been taken, hostage.

Kairas knew very well that it would not have been easy for him to sit on this throne without them. They were all unique and were close friends of his who would easily give their lives for him.

“Of course, I’ve given him a girl who can do it well.”

Lloyd, nodding as if he agreed with Kairas’ answer, slightly frowned and asked again.

“But have they gone nuts? No matter if you’re a subject country or not, how could they humiliate a country’s royal daughter in such a way…”

“It’s none of your business to decide what Khazar wants to do.”

“The King of Khazar?”

“Yes, he must have been pretty cruel to her. I want to kill him when I think about what he did, but it’s not easy because he’s of royal blood. He asked for me to treat his half-sister like a street courtesan because he sent her as a trophy. She’s a woman who deserves that much.”

What has he done to ask for his sister to be treated like a whore? Lloyd recalled the royal daughter Hyad had escorted to a room. He looked at the clock on the wall, thinking about how much time had passed since the doors of the room closed.

“It’s time for Hyad to come back. He’s usually not the type to invest more than an hour on a woman.”

“When Hyad comes back, we’ll have to send someone else. Lloyd, let me know if you want to try out the royal Princess. I’ll give you a chance.”

Lloyd threw his hands in the air, shocked by Kairas’ comment.

“I refuse. Don’t you know that I prefer a rabbit-like woman rather than a black panther? Your Majesty will not sleep with the royal princess, but she seemed to have wanted you to.”

“I’m not interested. I’m not hungry enough to just sleep with any woman.”

“And by the way, you’re still quite picky about women. Still, visit the concubine palace from time to time. I’ve heard that the concubines are getting worried because of your absence for two years.”

“They are the concubines collected from political gains anyway. If they volunteered to come here, then they should put up with it.”

Lloyd shook his head as he watched Kairas cynical smile. As expected, only his outer shell was that of a beautiful master.

It was then that the doors of the closed hall slammed open with a loud bang. In an instant, the hall became quiet as everyone’s eyes turned to the door.

“What’s going on?”

In an unusual situation, Lloyd quickly stepped in front of Kairas and put his hand on the sword at his waist. Guards also quickly filed into the hall with swords.

As everyone became nervous, a noise came through the open door. It sounded like metal being dragged across the floor. The slow-approaching sound stopped right in front of the door. Something was thrown into the hall with a thump.

“Hyad?!”

Kairas, who was sitting on the throne, leaped to his feet in shock. Hyad was the most intelligent of Kairas’ four friends, weak in swordsmanship but still could not be beaten easily.

“Who the hell did this…”

Kairas’ silvery eyes burned with anger at the miserable appearance of his close friend and beloved subordinate. Trying to gesture for Lloyd to examine Hyad’s condition, he turned to the door when the surge, which had stopped a while ago, came back. Someone was coming into the hall.

“There’s nothing much to worry about. I didn’t kill him.”

It was a girl who appeared with a soft but emotionless voice.

Although she was a beautiful girl with silvery hair flowing down to her feet and mysteriously fluttering red eyes which burned like flames, the languid smile hanging on her lips looked very dangerous and seductive.

People were surprised by the girl’s appearance and again by her unique outfit. A water-colored cloth fell off her shoulder and came down to her knees, wrapping around her body. It looked like pajamas, but the color of the material was not made of sleepwear. It was an old-fashioned dress that only appeared in old books.

Kairas’ eyes, which were on her for a while, soon turned to the sword in her left hand. The long, wide sword seemed to be longer than her entire body, with its tip touching the floor. It was easy for him to notice that the sound he had just heard was the tip of the sword scratching against the floor every time the girl walked.

“Who are you?”

Kairas’ voice, subdued by the pent-up anger, broke the heavy silence in the hall and resonated heavily. The eyes of the girl who was looking around the hall responded to his voice and quickly turned her gaze to the throne. A fascinating smile spread on her face when she found what she wanted.

“Oh, here you are. The descendant of Haymand.”

“What?”

The intense gaze that was directed at him made Kairas stiffen. Her red eyes, blinded by desire, were shining brightly as if they were swallowing him whole. It was as if a hungry predator was staring at its prey, full of raw instincts.

‘What the…!’

No one had ever looked at him like that, so Kairas felt displeased. Seeing his distorted expression, Lloyd quickly signaled for the knights standing in the hall. Three knights surrounded the girl while two others ran to Hyad, who was lying down on the floor.

The knight who confirmed Hyad’s condition sent a signal that his life was not in danger. There was a look of relief on Kairas and Lloyd’s faces. Watching them move Hyad out of the hall, Kairas turned to the little girl surrounded by the knights.

Even though swords were being pointed at her, the girl showed little agitation. Rather, Kairas’ dark eyebrows wriggled at the sight of the woman smiling languidly to herself.

“Haymand’s descendants are all pains in the ass. I’ll tell you in advance- this is just what you guys claim to be.”

Taking her eyes off Kairas and looking around at the knights surrounding her, the girl slowly lifted her sword and swung lightly at the knights.

“Dodge it!”

As soon as the girl wielded her sword, Kairas’ eyes widened and shouted at the knights in a hurry. The trajectory of the sword was visibly slow, but the energy contained in it was incredibly brutal.

HWAK!

The smell of dark red blood on the knights’ bodies stained the air. People were crying and astonished at the disastrous sight of the knights collapsing after a single swing. Kairas’ usually calm eyes were also shaking.

With a tap, the tip of the blood-stained sword fell toward the floor. With blood dripping down her arms, she approached the throne with leisure and slow steps.

Everyone else was surprised by the disaster that had just happened in the blink of an eye. Lloyd and the knights, staring blankly, had only stopped her with their swords as she reached the last step of the throne podium.

“Halt!”

As if she could not hear Lloyd’s cry, the girl’s gaze was only on Kairas, who was sitting on the throne.

A satisfied smile came to her face when her blood-red eyes and his cold, silver eyes made contact. At the same time, she suddenly disappeared without a trace.