SPELLBOUND

Vera held those blazing blue eyes for what seemed like a very long time until the man broke the stalemate and stared at his hand that was still gripping onto the blade of her sword. Never had she seen eyes so blue and electrifying as his before.

She followed his line of sight and her large eyes widened at the realization that he had literally caught her blade with his bare hands and now his blood was dripping onto the ground. 

He huffed and just let go of the blade without making much of a fuss. It was as if something had snapped her inner support system, and her legs quivered before she fell on her knees. She could feel her body just sagged as if all her bones had been crushed into ashes. 

But despite the utter weakness she was feeling, she refused to pass out. She had already gone through so much to just simply faint here. She lifted her face again and looked up at the blue-eyed stranger who had stepped forward to stop her from becoming a murderer. If he had not stepped forth, she would have killed a man by now. And she knew what would have happened next if she had succeeded in killing him. She would be hunted and once she was caught, the punishment for her was to be killed as well. No one was going to save her. No one would be willing to help her. She had nowhere else to go, and there was no one for her to run to. 

Vera was the only daughter of Lord Ansley, an earl in the Eastern empire of the humans. The house of Ansley was once one of the richest families in the Eastern empire. But their family had fallen into poverty since her father, the earl, had passed on. She was an only child and since there was no son to inherit the lordship, the title was passed on to one of her close male cousins. Her mother who was used to a luxurious life could not handle their financial descent into poverty and she began to blame her, because she was not born a boy, telling her she was the star of misfortune in her life. And as years passed, she only grew to be crazier. She had been under her mother's abuse for many years. And now, her mother had even sold her off to this rich, married viscount without her knowledge. 

But the fact that her own mother even decided to make her own daughter a whore just for the sake of having that extra bit of money did not even break Vera's heart anymore. She could not remember nor count how many times she had been broken before there was nothing left to break in her anymore. 

She had long stopped screaming and calling out for help because she knew that no one would come for her no matter how loud she begged, or no matter how many times she cried out for help. She learned how to survive by herself without relying on anyone's help. And this time too, she did not dare hope nor pray someone would come to her rescue… because she knew that no one will, and yet… 

Someone actually came. 

And she could hardly believe it. It felt too good to be true. And this man… he had a look that was too good to be true as well. She had never seen a man this good looking, not even in her imagination. If he ends up telling her he was a dark angel, she will not even hesitate to believe it. There was no way such an unreal beauty belongs to a mere mortal human. 

When he averted his gaze from her, Vera looked at his bleeding hand again. She wanted to touch him, just to check and see if that this was not a dream. 

Without a word, he began to move. She thought he would stretch his hand out to her, but he did not. He only walked past her, and Vera panicked at the realization that he was about to leave. He was going to leave her alone with this dead body.

Her gaze fell to the viscount's dead body, and she quickly scrambled to stand up. Using all the strength she had left, she launched herself at him and she ended up hugging his waist from behind. 

She felt him freeze when her arms encircled him. She did not know why she had hugged him, but she could not care less about it anymore. All she wanted now was to leave this hell and follow behind him. She was already way past caring about who he was or what he was or where he lives anymore. 

"Take me with you…" she said, gripping him hard, terrified that he would push her away. "… please!"

He felt warm despite the strange, suffocating air around him. She was certain now that he truly was not normal. But again, she did not care. She could not afford to. Not only due to her desperation or because her body and mind were numb now but also because she could not make herself care about whatever he was. All she knew was that she wanted him, this man, to take her away from here.

"Take me... please… don't leave me here." she began to tremble due to weakness and desperation. She would not know what to do if he set her aside and disappears, leaving her all alone. 

"Let go." A voice as chilling as the darkest song she had ever heard echoed around her. "You don't know who you are making your request to right now." His gaze turned dark as the air surrounding them became heavier. He thought that she would definitely not make such a request if he knew who he was.

"I don't care who you are." She did not even flinch. Instead, she tightened her grip on him even more with all the strength that she had left.. "Just take me with you."