Darkness Inside The Light

Irene was staring expressionlessly at the dead man. She tried desperately to stop her trembling without success. She couldn't endure it anymore as she started to vomit.

"You are beautiful, Miss Irene!" a voice sounded in the room.

It was John who had managed in some way to trespass, avoiding the knights who were guarding the area. The woman looked at the youth with a pale face before opening her mouth with difficulty.

"Are you mocking me?"

"I don't. I considered you before as a miserable girl that could only succ.u.mb to her fate, but the you right now, is like a butterfly that is ready to open its graceful wings and fly toward the sky..." the brown-haired boy replied seriously.

"What is next?" Irene asked, pretending to ignore his words, but her ears had gained a faint red color.

"What is it that you want now?" John turned the question back with a smile.

"I wish for revenge!" she answered with a gleam in her eyes.

******

Morris was currently watching the singers of the cabaret. With the money that the count gave him, he could live luxuriously for quite some time. He invested in his daughter's beauty since he saw her begging in the streets. The white-haired man had a discerning eye for things that could provide him profit thanks to his experience as a slave trader in the past. Unfortunately, after the end of the war, the emperor decided to abolish slavery, making him lose his business once and for all.

'As long as humanity fights against demons, there will always be victims ready to be exploited by me. No, even if the war ends, there will be another one some time, this is how the world works. I love my job!' he thought as a wide smile formed on his face. Alas, his daydreaming was destined to finish quickly. A group of knights suddenly intruded the place where the customers were drinking leisurely with the accompaniment of music in a rush.

"Where are you, Morris Alisson? Get the hell out of here now!" a knight who seemed to be the leader shouted with hostility. Nobody dared to make a noise, making the silence unbearable. The white-haired man was stunned, but he recovered almost immediately. His first thought was to escape, but upon seeing that the other customers were staring at him, he realized that it would be pointless. The cunning man took a deep breath to calm down and stood up with a polite smile.

"May I help you, my..."

Morris didn't even have the chance to finish the sentence when a punch landed on his face. The force made him stagger back dozens of yards before he fell on the ground. A stream of blood flowed from his head.

"Did I tell you to talk? Did I?" the knight shouted as he started kicking him to the ribs. He didn't stop until Morris was half-dead and fully covered with blood.

"Are you in pain? This is nothing compared to what will happen to you in prison. The guards won't stop torturing you until the day of your execution. You will die by burning for your crimes, bastard!" he said and then shouted toward the crowd who were looking at the scene dumbfounded.

"Morris Alisson is charged for the assassination of Count Boyce. He used his daughter to poison a noble. The woman has already been found dead with her face disfigured near to the body of the Count. We speculate that the Count beat her to death when he realized that he was about to die!" he stopped and turned his head to his subordinates.

"Arrest him!"

******

"Are you satisfied with this?" John asked with a smile. He was standing on the roof of a house with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I would prefer to kill him with my own hands, but he will suffer at least more in prison. I only pity that young woman we used as my substitute." Irene replied quietly. She was sitting beside the young boy, staring at the streets.

"She planned to murder the Count and kill herself anyway, but she couldn't find a chance. If she were alive to see the outcome, she would be happy. She detested him as much as you hated your father."

"I hope she will rest in peace..." she muttered as she closed her eyes to pray. When she opened them again, a new colorful world appeared in front of her. She looked at the youth for a moment before opening her mouth.

"You never told me what you want from me..."

"You never asked!" John replied as he winked at her.

The woman shook her head upon hearing his cheeky answer. He was trying to flirt her, but his inexperience was making him clumsy. She couldn't help than smile as she found cute that side of him.

"Will you tell me your name now?"

The boy didn't answer immediately. He took a sheet of paper from his backpack and gently gave it to the woman. Irene lowered her head instinctively to look at the thing that he gave her.

'Information of a woman? Should I investigate her? This address...'

"My name is John..." the youth's voice sounded through the hiss of the cold wind.

When Irene raised again her head, the young man that entered her life suddenly like a hurricane disappeared just like that.

She stayed motionless in a daze for a while. After taking a deep breath, a small laugh escaped from her mouth.

"Hahahaha! Trying to act like the cool guy until the end, huh? You don't need to. I had fallen for you the moment you saved me from the darkness. You have to become a little older though if you want me to become yours..." the woman shouted smilingly to the darkness. She didn't know if her words were heard or not from the boy.

*******

John finally reached the inn he was staying in. He tried to enter silently the room, but he found Vladimir still awake reading a book.

"You are not sleeping yet?" the brown-haired boy asked curiously.

"I try to find information about the battle energy, but I can't find anything useful..." Vladimir replied with a sad expression.

"Did you finish with what you had to do?" he continued.

"Yeah, I met some interesting people today. A priest in the morning and a woman in the night." John answered with a smirk.

"Hahaha! Alright, whatever you say. Go to sleep and keep on dreaming!" the silver-haired youth remarked with a laugh.