The Cursed Prince

Kira jumped down from her horse after she ended the massacre. She didn't even break a sweat and this truly amazed Gewen.

How could... a woman be this fierce? He couldn't wrap his head around her.

They were now surrounded by six wolves' carcasses and there was blood everywhere. It was quite gory. Normally, any woman would vomit or pass out, or both, at the sight of such a gruesome scene.

However, this war goddess just nonchalantly walked around the dead wolves and checked their bodies one by one. She lightly poked their fur with the tip of her sword and then she nodded in satisfaction.

"Their fur is still good," she muttered to herself happily. "Really good quality. Ha."

"Uhm... excuse me," Gewen raised one hand to get Kira's attention and smiled so sweetly when the girl turned to him. "Thank you for your help earlier. I actually can kill all the wolves myself, but you were faster."

Kira looked at the man and furrowed her brows.

Wait... she remembered seeing this handsome face earlier today. But where?

"You again?!!" She gasped when her memory went back to the event this morning. Yes. Now she remembered.

This was the beautiful but dumb man who was robbed in a broad daylight. Why she kept seeing him???

Kira scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" Gewen was surprised to see her reaction. Didn't she come to help him when she saw Gewen being surrounded by the wolves? He asked, "You didn't know it's me when you came to help?"

Kira shrugged. "Why should I? I came here for the wolves' fur. It's already winter and I need some good quality fur coat."

"Oh... I thought you recognized me from this morning and thought I needed help - which I didn't... because I am more than capable of killing all these wolves - and so you decided to swoop in," Gewen explained in a disappointed tone.

Gewen felt slightly offended that this woman didn't seem to remember him. He thought he had left quite a deep impression on her like he always did with other women. However, Kira didn't seem to care.

Was he that forgettable that she couldn't recognize him or didn't bother to remember?

"No. I came here because some locals told me the wolves in this forest have thick and good quality fur," Kira explained. "I actually just planned to catch one or two. I didn't expect to be so lucky and killed six wolves in one go."

"You knew there are wolves in this forest???" Gewen asked in disbelief.

"Yes. This forest is called Grey Wolves Forest for a reason," Kira replied. "This is their turf."

Gewen's heart sank. He wanted to curse Sam, the innkeeper, for sending him to this dangerous forest, filled with wolves, when Gewen was only trying to hunt some animals to eat.

Had he known this place had wolves running rampant, he would have gone to another forest.

Uff... after Gewen thought about it again, he realized it was not actually the innkeeper's mistake. Gewen didn't tell him the reason why he wanted to go to the forest. If Sam knew, perhaps, he would warn Gewen about the wolves so he could be prepared.

Thinking how he had laid down for an hour on the rock, almost falling asleep after he ate the grilled venison, Gewen shuddered.

What if the wolves had attacked him back then? He was very vulnerable, almost unable to move after eating so much meat and he would make a nice snack for the wolves.

"I honestly didn't know that," Gewen admitted. "I came here trying to hunt animals so I can sell the meat. You know I lost all my money today..."

"Oh... Yes, you did." Kira looked at Gewen attentively and then chuckled. She did remember how Gewen lost all his money. She decided to change the topic out of pity and decided to talk about his catch. "You did a good job hunting those animals."

"Ahh.. thank you!" Gewen didn't know why getting a compliment from such a capable woman made his heart flutter. "I didn't even try, you know."

Kira rolled her eyes at him and decided to turn around and continued checking the wolves. She actually only needed one or two wolves to get their fur.

She just found out from Lysander that there was a really skilled coat maker in Castilse who specialized in making wolves' fur coats and she was interested in getting one for herself.

Kira just happened to come here to check when she got lucky and met so many wolves at the same time.  This had saved her a lot of time.

However, she couldn't possibly bring back all six. Hmm... what to do?

Kira touched the wolves' fur and clicked her tongue. The quality of the fur was really good and it was a shame to let it go to waste if she only took two wolveswith her.

"Hey... can you help me make the stretcher?" Kira turned to Gewen and then pointed at the stretcher behind his horse that he used to carry his catch. "I want to bring back these wolves."

"All of them?" Gewen asked in surprise.

"Yeah, you've got a problem with that?" Kira crossed her arms on her chest menacingly. Gewen became more in awe at her countenance.

Gosh, she looked... so fierce.

So badass...

So sexy.

Gewen swallowed and shook his head. "No. I just think they are too heavy."

Kira pursed her lips. "Uff... you are right. However, I cannot waste good fur."

"You can only bring three at most. You have to leave the rest." Gewen said. Seeing Kira pouted, the man suddenly didn't have the heart to disappoint her. She had saved his life anyway. It was only fair if he offered to help her. So, Gewen cleared his throat. "I can bring the rest for you."

Kira's eyes lit up and she chuckled happily. "Ah.. that's a good idea. I would love that."

Gewen was astounded. Kira was actually a really beautiful girl, he thought. Her smile was warm and, when she spoke, her voice sounded so beautiful to the ear.

"Yeah. I will just leave my catch here. I can always get more tomorrow. It's very easy for me to hunt those animals. As I said, I don't even have to try," Gewen said with a puffed chest.

This time Kira didn't roll her eyes. She thought this man could say whatever he wanted, she couldn't care less. As long as he helped her carry her wolves.

"Well... thank you." Kira finally smiled at Gewen. "Shall we make the second stretcher now?"

"Yes!" The man bobbed his head and jumped down from his horse. He nonchalantly tossed his prey from the stretcher and valiantly carried three wolves one by one and placed them nicely on it.

Once he had tied them all carefully, Gewen took out more ropes and waved them at Kira. "Let's make the stretcher for your horse."

Gewen and Kira collected some dry branches, after which Gewen sat down and helped her to make her stretcher. In less than one hour, the second stretcher was ready. 

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Ahahah.. finally, Gewen really falls head over heels for a woman, he even sacrificed his catch.