The streets of Portgreen were always lively. As a city made for everyone, there were all kinds of people doing all varieties of things.
Many people walked from side to side, up and down the street, everyone taking care of their businesses. Many merchants and visitors. Many adventurers and mercenaries...
Something that almost everyone had in common was that they were very happy. Portgreen is an excellent city to live, and even the problems were few, so the population was generally pleased.
But on that day, one person walked the streets so happy that she caught everyone's attention. Her smile was radiant, and she seemed to shine as she walked singing animatedly.
How could Mia not be happy? She spent a year alone doing everything she could to get money, and even then, it still seemed insufficient. But now, not only could she trust someone else to help her, but she also got all the money she needed.
Mia was happy that Lucien was intense with her but was also relieved that he respected her choices. Now he would have to stay with her, but they could also develop their relationship slowly.
She was going home to tell her mother that it wouldn't be long before she was healed. Well... Mia couldn't call the hiding place a home, but it was better than nothing.
Mia continued happily walking when she smelled something good and stopped. Across the street was a stall of wonderful cookies.
She and her mother could not spend money on things like that before as they had to save everything to buy the rare medicine. But now she had a big chest full of gold, so it was okay to buy some cookies for her mom.
Mia couldn't help but think about Lucien while buying the cookies and also bought more for him. The cookie seller saw Mia's big smile and said she looked like a girl in love. Mia couldn't deny that she had probably found love...
She walked for a few more minutes until she reached a simple inn. Then she walked a little further and came back to make sure no one had followed her. She and her mother had many hidden enemies, so being careful was not bad.
"Hello, Mia! Welcome back!" As soon as Mia entered the inn, she was hugged by a child, who received her with a smile on her face.
Mia caressed the beautiful harpy-girl feathered head. "You are growing faster and faster, Ella. Where is your mother?"
Ella hugged Mia a little more and brought her to the kitchen where her mother was preparing dinner. The harpy-girl was very observant and realized that Mia was much happier than usual. "Did you get a boyfriend, Mia?"
Mia was embarrassed when Ella spoke up. But that was not really a problem as the inn was quite simple. It had no more than ten rooms and currently only had four guests besides the Mother of Mia, who was in a secret place.
Ella and her mother were nice people and always treated their guests very well, but most people did not want to live in a place with harpies. The harpy-race was known to have bizarre peculiarities, so that inn was a good place for Mia and her mother to hide.
Mia and Ella arrived in the kitchen, and Ella's mother also hugged Mia while greeting her. Mia was very fond of the harpy middle-aged woman so she hugged her lovingly. "Aria, how is my mother?"
Aria treated Mia as her daughter and Mia's mother as her sister. So, she spoke slowly with a sad expression. "She is much worse than before. I tried to do everything, but she can't even get out of bed."
Mia couldn't help but be sad to hear that her mother's health was getting worse quickly but then gave a confident smile surprising Aria. "She won't be sick for long because I got enough money to buy the rare herb I told you about. She only needs to resist for three months more."
Mia hugged Aria a little more and headed toward the back of the inn where her mother's hidden room was.
Aria realized that she had never seen Mia in such a good mood before, and it didn't seem only because of the money. So she looked confusedly at Ella, and the smart girl wasted no time in telling what she knew.
"She got a boyfriend! Probably he helped her get the money so fast... I wonder if he is a charming prince, or he would not be worthy of a princess like Mia..."
Aria saw her daughter's flushed expression and couldn't help but provoke her. "You're only 16, silly girl! So, control those excited feathers."
Ella gave her mother a cheeky smile and jumped on her while they both tickled each other. "Your feathers are excited! So long without a man has made you a naughty old harpy."
While mother-daughter harpy played in the kitchen, Mia approached her mother's room. She stopped in front of the door and hesitated to enter.
Mia did not know how to tell her mother about Lucien... He was so different... She encouraged herself and entered; after all, she had already decided that she would only be with Lucien forever.
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While Mia went to talk to her mother, two hooded figures stared at the inn in an alley across the street.
One of the figures was quite big and clearly a muscular man. He looked at his companion, who, although smaller, was also visibly another man. "Are you sure it was Shadow? Why would she come back alone?"
The other man was staring at the door of the inn, where Mia had entered less than ten minutes ago. "I'm sure it was her. I don't know where Brian and the others are, but we have to report Black Hand quickly."
The two hooded men quickly entered the alley. They wore black armor, which was very common among mercenaries, and their clothes also had emblems from one of the most influential mercenary groups in the city; the Black Hand Party.
The two mercenaries ran for about half an hour between alleys and streets until they reached the front of an enormous mansion in one of the most dangerous areas of the city, the district of Midnight Den, where several mercenary groups did not-so-cool business.
The two mercenaries were famous scouts and entered the mansion without any problems, but the guards told them to wait in the hall while Black Hand talked to an adventurer. This made the two hooded men very confused.
"Did you say an adventurer?!" The bigger man asked the guard.
The smaller man always acted as the duo's brain, and instead of being more surprised, he wanted to know why. "Who was the adventurer? Do you know what he wanted?"
The guards were not afraid to disclose information to the scouting duo as they were always totally loyal to the Black Hand Party. "You will not believe it, but he was the famous hero of the newbies, Mason Vaux."
"What the f.u.c.k!?"
"Really?!"
While the scouts were talking to the mercenary guards in the hall, Mason was talking to Black Hand in a room on the second floor of the mansion.
Mason was sitting on a chair in front of the big bald man. Black Hand is over 1.9 meters tall and had a great muscular body with dark skin. He had several scars all over his body as proof that he didn't have a comfortable life.
Black Hand looked at Mason and couldn't help but be disgusted. He didn't like how fat Mason was and that he wore the best clothes money could buy because that was how the rich lived while poor people like him had to work hard to get anything.
"Say what you want, spoiled rich boy!"
Mason was only able to have an audience with the famous Black Hand because he claimed to know something about his brother. But he didn't know that what most Black Hand cared about, after power, was the person who followed his brother from the shadows...
Mason heard Marie and Anne's story, and he knew that Brian was the brother of Black Hand because such famous people were known to many in the city. Then he had the brilliant idea of making Black Hand kill Lucien for revenge.
"Your brother is dead, and I know who killed him..."
Black Hand was furious to hear that his younger brother was killed. He struggled hard to become powerful and influential. His family today was one of the most respected in the city. He didn't expect anyone to have the audacity to kill a member of his family.
He heard all of Mason's story, but after the half, he didn't care much about his dead brother. He only had one thought; Kill the man who stole what was his.
Black Hand could not contain his fury and punched the table while questioning Mason. "Are you sure he called her "wife," and she didn't deny it?"
Mason was confused. He thought Black Hand would be furious about his dead brother, but he was asking about the mercenary girl. "Yes, I think they are together... They were hugging each other most of the time, so..."
"DAMN!!! I WILL KILL BOTH!!!"
Black Hand has always been in love with Shadow. He never forced her because he was sure she needed money and wanted to use it as an opportunity to persuade her over time.
He patiently waited for her to accept him, but it didn't happen... She favored a stranger and not someone who helped her so much like him... It was inexcusable, and Black Hand would make them both pay with something worse than death.
*knock* *knock*
"Sir, sorry for the intrusion, but we have something essential to report."
When Mason was about to piss in fear of Black Hand's fury, they heard a knock on the door, and someone claimed to want to report something to Black Hand.
Black Hand couldn't think of anything now and just wanted to break the man who stole his love in half. "I don't care! Report to someone else, you idiots!"
The scouts, as well as everyone in the Black Hand Party, knew that he was in love with Shadow. So they wanted to report not only about the fact that she didn't come back with Brian but also that she went somewhere else before going to see him.
"Sir, we have to report about Brian and Shadow."
"What?! Come in!"
Black Hand didn't think the scouts would report about her, but it was good as he needed information now to be able to find the woman who broke his heart and the man who stole his love.
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It had been two hours since Lucien started his "sparring session" with Ravenous. He was only wearing half-torn pants now while staring at Ravenous. "Won't you tell me your real name?"
Ravenous was breathing hard while she was very flushed and sweaty. "If you want to know that much, you have to deserve it."
Lucien ran towards Ravenous and dodged the punch that she tried to hit on his chest, then hugged her from behind and squeezed her b.r.e.a.s.ts while kissing her fluffy ear. "I'm trying my best!"
Ravenous liked the game more and more. They tried to fight while Lucien tried to take advantage of her. She tried to resist, just because she knew he was too fast and would be able to caress her body in a way that she couldn't deny that she liked so much.
"Mm... Ahhhh... You'll have to try harder to deserve anything..."
Lucien kissed and caressed Ravenous's body as he dodged her blows. She wasn't trying to hurt him and just punched with her leather gauntlet, so even when he was hit, he did not become hurt. It was a strange game they created...
Lucien pushed Ravenous against a wall and started to devour her mouth. He sucked her tongue eagerly, enjoying every drop of her delicious saliva... "You will tell me your name or I will eat you..."
Ravenous has always been violent. The manticore-race is like that. She liked the way she and Lucien aggressively caressed each other. She never did anything like that, but she felt so natural to be in his arms as if her instincts told her that the best thing for her was him.
Ravenous bit the bottom lip of Lucien's mouth as he continued to kiss her. "Let's see who will eat who!"