Swoosh!
Strong gales bellowed across the place and a heavy pressure descended upon the people who were kneeling on the ground.
A deathly chill permeated in the air followed by a hush silence. For an instant, everyone forgot to take a breath for fear of provoking the person glaring at them.
Swallowing their saliva, they tried to raise their chin but the heavy pressure struck their body as if asking them, who allowed them to look up.
They could only swallow their grievances and bear the pain.
A few metres away from them, a woman rested her elbows on the armrest of the chair and her cheek slid over her palm.
When looked from afar, one might think that the woman was sitting casually with a relaxing posture.
However…
Crossing one knee over another, her presence asserted an unfathomable dominance. Her blood-red eyes were gleaming bloodily and a thick smell of blood covered the entire place radiating from her body.
The frozen air seemed to be dyed with blood and even the water inside the transparent receptacles looked as red as blood.
"So many things had happened and no one even bothered to inform me about this."
"Good...Good."
"Just because I have been taking care of the home, it seems you have already forgotten about me."
"It seems everyone had taken the role play too seriously."
"Nice!"
A slight smile crept over her lips.
The smile looked gentle and as pure as a maiden but the moment a person's eye fell on it, one could see a blood-curdling smile appearing over a bloodied face sending shivers down the spine.
The smile was so precarious and horrific that it gave onlookers a feeling of approaching demise as if a sickle of death had been pressed against their neck.
Mustering all his courage, a man tried to appease her"Mam, it's just a misunderstanding. We were going to inform you soon."
"You dare to spout excuses in front of me."
Her sharp chilling voice crackled like mighty bellows of thunder.
"Arghhhhh!''
A dense blood aura covered the man and his body rose in the air surrounded by crimson air. Like pincers of crab, he felt a tightening grip over his throat choking him down.
"So, when will that soon come? After something happens to him."
CRACK!CRACK!CRACK
The cacophony of breaking bones echoed and the man's body quivered in pain with white fizzy foam trickling from his lips.
"Have mercy!"
"Mam, have mercy."
"We apologise."
"Mam, forgive us for our ignorance."
The people kneeling around,begged while slamming their heads against the floor nonstop.
"Hmmm!"
The woman waved her head and the man's limp body crashed onto the ground with a lifeless look.
No one dared stare at him and kept their head down. All they could do was pray silently for that guy as it was his fault for speaking out of turn.
Staring at the morbid figures kneeling on the floor, she asked.
"Do you know why you are alive?"
The people kneeling on the floor started to shudder and crawl back while bowing their heads down further.
"Tsk!"
Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she said sternly"You all are lucky. If he was hurt, I swear there won't be anything left for you to put in the grave."
"As per orders, don't forget my position. Don't you dare hide things from me now? I don't care about worldly affairs but as long as it has got something to do with my son, inform me immediately."
"And about that guy, it seems he had forgotten his position."A cruel smile hung on her lips seeing which, the hair on everyone's body stood up in fear.
'Sorry, master. Please forgive us for our incompetence but you can only blame yourself for poking the tigress tail. We will make sure to enact a grand grave for you.'
Everyone had already burnt incense on their master's name while praying for his safe journey.
"By the way, I want you to warn someone."
"Who?"The people raised their heads with slight anticipation flashing in their eyes.
Their mistress was angry with them so they wouldn't leave such a chance to appease her.
"Send a message to that Lazy iceman."
Words choked on their throat as soon as they heard the person's name. Their jaws dropped wide and their eyes widened with fear.
"With this event, he might already know about my son. Tell him, if he dares to touch a single hair of my son, I swear in the name of heaven I will beat him until he is half dead and then I will burn down the entire capital, and dragging him down on the streets, I will show him the destruction of his land, for which he is solely responsible."
Her bloody aura burst forth and the entire building shook violently as if an earthquake had hit the land.
'Hiccup!'
'Hiccup!'
'Hiccup!'
They didn't want to accept her orders but they had no choice. If they have to choose between the iceman and her, they would choose her, even closing their eyes.
Everyone gasped heavily in horror and fear imagining the scenario as it wasn't a simple declaration however since she had said that she is capable enough to do this.
No, she is even capable enough to burn down the entire Empire if you get on the wrong side.
After all, she is the Crimson Demoness, The Witch Of Calamity.
..........
SCRATCH!SCRATCH!SCRATCH!
Like a machine, Lucas went through the documents piled up one after another without sparing any glance at the atmosphere.
Due to their absence, a huge amount of work had piled up which they had to finish this month.
It was already mid-September and the Tournament was going to take place by the end of October so they needed to finish this miscellaneous task and start preparing for the tournament.
Lucas's eyes were already bleak thinking about the hard days that were ahead. On top of that, he needs to take a few days off to get special training from Sir Harris.
'Rest is temporary. Grinding for the future is eternal.' Lucas grumbled inwardly.
Julian for some reason was unable to concentrate on her work. Her expression faltered as she saw Lucas's dead serious expression.
Things were a bit awkward between them recently and they hadn't had a proper conversation with each other.
She knew that she was just a dense block of ice who did not know much but even after this, she knows that she feels peace when she converse with Lucas.
These talks didn't feel anything significant before but only when everything was silent, she misses those talks and jokes with Lucas who sometimes tried to lift her mood.
Seeing him engrossed in his work, she remembered Miss Ami's words.
'When people are angry, they try to divert their attention by getting involved in their work.'
'Is he angry till now?'Julian made a bitter expression.
For the past few days, she had tried to apologise but she found it hard.
It was unbelievably hard for her who had never bowed down her head.
Taking a deep breath, Julian made a resolute expression.
"Lucas!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Lucas immediately sprang into action and stood upright hearing Julian's orders.
"What is your command?"
Julian felt a bit hurt hearing Lucas's cold tone which felt as if he was drawing a line between them.
"Lucas, actually I wanted to ap...apo..."
CLANG!
"Julian, Vice-Principal had sent this file and asked you to take a look and pass the bill as quickly as possible."
Before Julian could finish her words, Ami barged in with a thick bundle of papers seeing which Lucas's soul escaped from his body.
'That foxy old man is now dumping work after work on us while lazing around.'
Ami hadn't even entered when she felt a chill down her spine.
Her heart shivered, seeing Julian's cold expression. The temperature around her falls by the margins.
Ami, who had been with Julian since she was 7, knew that she was pissed off.
And the reason might be because she intervened in an important conversation.
Ami put down the papers on the side and bowed her head.
"Sorry, I will come later."
Ami stopped and turned around, she gave Julian a wink and spoke softly"Julian, you can do it."
Julian just ignored her and stared at Lucas" So, where was I?"
Lucas tilted his head in confusion"You were speaking something."
"Yeah, I remember now."
"Lucas!"
"Yes."
Taking a deep breath, Julian spoke loudly"I apologise for my behaviour."
A deathly silence lingered in the air.
Lucas's body froze, and his jaw dropped wide. For a moment, he even wondered if she was talking to someone else.
"What did you say?"Lucas's voice shuddered.
Julian glared at Lucas.
"I don't like to repeat myself."
"No, I got that but how, why. I mean, you didn't need to do that."
Seeing Lucas refuting to acknowledge her apology, Julian nodded her head thinking something.
"I understand. You want me to prove myself with my actions. I got it."
"Wait! When did I say that?"
"Don't worry I got it. From now on, I will trust you fully and you will see that through my actions."Julian spoke as if she understood Lucas's action.
'Even if you can't believe this now, you will soon.'
The world around Lucas spun around.
'I am happy with the result but why do I feel she is misunderstanding something?'
RING!RING!RING!RING!RING!
Lucas, amid the awkward situation, suddenly found a way to get out.
"Your Highness, I need to go out."
"Okay."Julian nodded, however, thinking for a moment, she spoke softly.
"Lucas, remember one thing. Except for my family, you are the only man who is alive after touching me."
'Father may find trouble with him, so I should ask him to prepare in case of emergency.'Julian thought inwardly.
Lucas who was stepping out suddenly halted as Julian's words echoed like thunder.
His heart thumped wildly like a beating drum and his back was drenched in sweat.
'What did she mean by that? Is she asking me to protect her.No she is asking me to be faithful to her and don't betray her trust. Also, she hates men so might be asking me to keep those assholes away from her.'
'Hmm!I see.I got it.'
Lucas turned back and locking her gaze onto Julian, he spoke with a resolute expression.
"Your Highness, I swear on my life that I would never betray you and I will try my best, no,I will make sure none would even get a chance to come close to you."
"What?"
Lucas then gave a sincere bow,ran away leaving Julian with a bewildered expression.
"What did he mean by that?'
"Is this his declaration of…"
Wild thoughts spun around her head.
Julian's eyes widened with shock and her heart started to beat crazily for some reason.
"I feel strange."
"May it's because today is a bit hot."
If Julian saw her face, she would be shocked to see her ear robes turning red and her expression becoming flustered.
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