Inside the room, a group of men laid in pools of blood, visibly dead.
But what shocked Ji Yan was that near the bodies of the members of Black Wolf Gang, there were some extremely familiar faces lying with their bodies twisted in weird angles.
Wait... Aren’t these the shadow guards sent to look for Miss Yu? They must have taken down the gang members but who took them down? What in the world had transpired here?
"What exactly happened here? How did you all end up ?" Ji Yan asked the bunch of men who were still conscious.
And everyone’s swollen face steered in one direction.
Adrian’s footsteps did not pause.
The man crossed the pool of corpses and living people as if he was striding on plain grass.
In the corner of the dingy room, slumped against the wall, was Ella.
Ji Yan’s eyes followed theirs and what he saw rendered him motionless for a moment.
Ella’s eyes were bloodshot and the way she looked at them was akin to how one would look at strangers.
"Second Master, wait!"
However, he was a tad bit too late.
Adrian had stopped in front of Ella.
Ji Yan and even the visibly tormented shadow guards held their breaths.
After a few seconds, nothing happened.
Everyone sighed in relief. Luckily... Luckily...
The sound of a crisp slap reverberated inside the dimly-lit room.
With jaws dropped, the men watched as their noble second master’s face whipped to the side by the impact of the slap.
Adrian shot a fleeting look from above his shoulder and all the men who were rushing forward halted in their tracks, their faces pale.
Adrian turned to look at Ella, her messy hair framed her face. Her body was covered in numerous injuries, big and small. And her eyes were unfocused.
When he reached out his hand towards her, her body jolted. She grabbed his wrist.
’’Second Master, be careful. Miss Yu... is barely conscious of her actions right now!" One of the shadow guards reported abruptly.
Ji Yan stepped forward, ’’Second Master, let us first take her to the doctors...’’ Looking around at the shadow guards with multiple injuries, he had to believe it even if it was not believable, ’’It’s very unsafe to go near her right now..."
His jaws dropped when Adrian took another step closer to Ella.
Under everyone’s astonished gazes, Adrian leaned forward and kissed Ella’s forehead, ’’For being late.’’
Those words were spoken softly yet they were powerful enough to shake everyone’s hearts.
Forget Ji Yan who got the daily exposure of Adrian’s and Ella’s interaction, the rest of the shadow guards had completely frozen over.
Ella raised her head.
Everyone stood in a wary position. Was she going to attack the Second Master for real this time?
Adrian touched Ella’s hair, ’’It’s fine now,’’ he whispered in a soft voice that one would not know he was capable of.
And in the next moment, Ella’s eyes glossed over. A hint of recognition lit in her eyes before her body lolled forward.
Adrian caught her in his arms.
’’Second Master, let me...’’ One of the shadow guards rushed forward to hold Ella.
What a fool. Tsk tsk! Ji Yan crossed his arms and looked at the guard in sheer mockery.
The prince is saving the princess. What role do you, as an eunuch, want to play?
The guard scratched his neck in confusion.
Adrian picked Ella up in a princess carry effortlessly.
"Burn this place down!"
The man’s command hammered like an imperial decree. When they looked in Adrian’s direction again, the man was gone.
Adrian walked out of the courtyard with Ella in his arms, holding her close in a bridal carry as if she were made of glass.
Her body was limp against his chest, but he didn’t look at her. His jaw was tight, eyes fixed ahead, as though the path before him had already been scorched by his rage.
Behind him, the courtyard burned.
Flames clawed at the sky, smoke curling around him, but he moved through it untouched. As if the fire had been lit just to light his way.
The men following behind him bowed their heads. Silent and Terrified.
Ella’s hand twitched weakly. Her eyelashes fluttered against her bruised skin.
She felt herself floating in the air and her heart trembled slightly. Was she dead? Already? The second life ended before it could even properly start?
As she was getting consumed by the bitterness, she spotted a familiar face through her hazy vision.
Adrian looked down then.
As the inferno behind him roared louder and the place turned into ashes, Adrian gently nuzzled her face in his chest, ’’Sleep.’’
His cold voice rang in her mind like a lullaby and she could no longer resist the darkness. Before she knew it, her eyes closed again.
"Ace! Is she fine?" Ronan who was standing at the gates blocked Adrian’s path.
’’Yes.’’ Adrian paused for a moment and glanced at Ruby who was being carried by Ronan in a bridal carry.
Ronan angled his body, hiding Ruby’s face from Adrian’s view, ’’From what I have surmised, she is a victim too. Cough... Since everything is fine here, I will get going. Let’s catch up later!
Ji Yan witnessed the scene of both the friends holding two girls in a princess-carry and looked up at the sky. For some reason, he did not have a very good feeling about it all.
Ella did not know how long she slept for. When she opened her eyes, a glaring brightness pierced her vision.
She slapped an arm over her eyes and pulled the blanket to cover her eyes.
But the small movement sent a jolt of sharp pain in her body.
Ella stiffened and let the blanket fall.
As her eyes slowly registered to the light, she glanced at the crystal chandelier and familiar ceiling in a daze for a while.
"Miss Yu, you are awake!"
Ella’s head lolled to the side when she heard the familiar voice.
’’Rin?" Ella’s voice came out hoarse.
The young girl smiled at her gently, ’’It’s good that you are finally awake. You slept for the entire night,’’ she placed a huge glass bowl on the bedside table and helped Ella up.
"Am I back to the Eve Mansion?"