005

Arram entered the hut, holding a bowl of hot water in his hands and a towel hung on his shoulder. He put the water down beside the bed, where Desdemona had been lying unconscious for a week.

After he brought her to his hideout- a hut built in the middle of a thick forest, he sacrificed a lot to bring her down from the heaven and earth bridge, but she hasn’t opened her eyes yet.

He has used many herbs to heal her internal wounds but none worked. 

Arram sat on the bed’s edge and wiped the sweat on Desdemona’s forehead.

He sat beside her on the bed and fixed his eyes on her peeled lips. “I don’t mind paying with everything I have, I will protect you…”

He drew the water bowl closer and dug the towel into it, but quickly took his hands out because it was too hot.

He blew air on his hand and quickly went outside to get water from the pot.

He came back and met her gasping. “What happened?!”

He rushed to her side and scanned her from head to toe, trying to detect why she was like that, but he saw nothing. 

His hand mistakenly touched the back of her neck and his hand burned.

“Hun!” He toned, shocked. He quickly raised her head and saw a blooming poison sign on the back of her head.

“Who did this to you?”

He put her head down and took three steps backward. He pointed his right index finger at her, trying to use half of his poison suction gel for her, but he couldn’t. Instead, he splats blood.

He has exhausted his inner powers his primordial spirit was weak, so he needed time to cultivate his power, but he has vowed not to cultivate until he wake her up.

Since he didn’t know any other way to relieve her pain, he decided to use all his suction gel.

He governed his body and stood straight on his feet. He pointed all his fingers at her and green threads came out of them. 

The threads came together and he held them in his palm.

He threw it at her and immediately it entered her body, her struggles stopped, and blood flooded out of Arram’s ear and nose.

He felt dizzy but refused to fall to the floor.

“All these pains are to make it up to you. They are for watching you suffer in the past.”

He cleaned the blood from his nose and mouth and picked the cold water to add to the hot one, but after he dug his hand in the hot water and it was already at a normal temperature, he didn’t add it anymore.

He put the cool water down and soaked the towel in the warm water. He rinsed the towel and used it to carefully clean the opened part of her body from the face to the toe.

After cleaning her body, he served herb in a cup and patiently fed her with a spoon. 

A bell rang and he quickly walked out of the hut.

He waved his hand in the air, and Martius appeared in his front.

Martius was Arram's right-hand man, and he was only person who understood Arram and even, he sometimes understood Arram more than Arram understood himself.

Martius smiled and instantly curtsied his head. “My lord. How have you been?” 

“Martius…” Arram called.

Martius lifted his head. “Yes, my lord.” He answered.

“Why are you so annoying?” Arram interrogated.

Martius looked unclear. “Hum!”

“Why do you love to always display your teeth?  You smile even when it’s unnecessary. It irritates me.” Arram complained.

Immediately as Arram stopped talking, he looked at Martius’s face and he was still smiling.

Arram sighed and nodded his head in pity. “Can’t you just stop smiling?”

“I can.” Martius answered and instantly stopped smiling.

“Good.” Arram let out. He looked at Martius’s face and Martius started smiling again.

“Ah…” Arram sighed, nodding. “I give up.”

“I am sorry, my lord.” Martius apologized. He wished to stop smiling, but couldn’t help it, and the more he stared at Arram, the more he had the urge to smile.

“Forget about it,” said Arram.

“Have you found a solution?” He inquired.

Immediately as Arram asked the question, the smile on Martius’s face faded away and he looked down. He hung his hand behind him and squeezed it like a criminal in front of the law. “No. But-”

Arram slightly closed his eyes and raised his right index finger to shut him up. He opened his eyes and sighed, hanging his hands on his back. “Martius, no but…”

“Leave and don’t show your face here unless you find a solution,” he warned. “If you disturb me again, I may not be able to overlook it.”

“Your Highness…” Martius called in a low voice.

“What!” Arram roared.

Martius's eyes widened and he stepped back a bit in fear coupled with shock. It was the first time Arram raised his voice at Martius and it made him feel bad. He bent his neck and apologized. “I am sorry, my lord.”

Arram instantly realized his mistake and he felt guilty. He closed his eyes and opened them before the eyelids could meet each other. He sighed and apologized. “I’m sorry, Martius-”

“You did nothing wrong.” Martius cut him off. He looked down and squeezed his hand at his back.

Arram understood Martius’s expression and instantly sensed he had found something. He stepped closer to him, appeasing, “did you find something?”

“I traveled to the southeast and met an ancient healer-” Martius narrated, but before he could complete it, the clouds turned dark.

“Hun?!”

They raised their gaze, but before their eyes could set on the sky, heavy wind blew.

A flame in human form walked out of the tornado and they eyed it walking into the hut.

After watching the flame walk into the hut, Arram made a sign, asking, “what's that?”

Martius widened his eyes in a fraction. “The reaper! It’s the Grim Reaper!”

Arram’s eyes enlarged, and he pointed to the hut in disbelief. “Is he here to take her soul?” 

Martius nodded.

Arram sped into the hut and met the reaper, pointing his stick at Desdemona to take her soul out.

“No!” Arram yelled. He ran to stop the reaper, but the soul was already out of Desdemona’s body before he could reach him.

Arram grabbed the soul before it entered the reaper’s soul sack, but it flooded out of his hand like water poured into a basket.

The soul came together and fell into the soul sack.

Arram held him tight in his arms and tried to snatch the soul’s sack, but the reaper passed through his body and came out from behind.

“Hun!” Arram's eyes widened, shocked. He quickly turned and tried to grab the soul sack, but the reaper vanished.

The reaper appeared outside the hut and walked into the tornado.

Arram ran out to go after the reaper, but Martius held him back. “You can't go after him.”

Arram tried to free himself. He pushed Martius, but Martius didn't let him go.

“Let me go!” He yelled and pushed Martius again but Martius held him tighter.

Arram went wild and without thinking about Martius getting hurt, he pushed him away with force and Martius fell hard to the floor.

Arram ran to the tornado, and as he wanted to step into it, Martius held him back with a rope.

Arram struggled to cut the rope, but he couldn’t, and watching the tornado disappear, his eyeballs turned outrageously red. He screamed and the rope loosened and broke into pieces.

“How dare you?” He asked, his voice was low but harsh.

Knowing Arram had gone wild, Martius quickly raised his hand and a bug came out of his ring finger. He released the bug and it flew to Arram.

The bug bit Arram's on the neck and he fell to the floor.

Martius walked to Arram and stared at his face for a few minutes. “I’m sorry, your highness.” He apologized.

He stood on his feet and rubbed his hands with each other, cleaning the sand off them. He picked Arram from the floor and put him on his shoulder.

Martius took Arram into the hut and laid him beside Desdemona on the bed. He stepped back a bit and pointed his right hand at Arram.

Sweat rushed out of his body and the bug came out through his neck and flew away.

“My lord, this lady is your fated calamity, and if she is with you, your life will be miserable,” Martius stated. “You're supposed to kill her, why are you protecting her?”

Martius sighed and turned to the entrance. He took a step, and a thought passed through his mind.

He glanced backward at them and nodded. “I know what to do. If you can’t end her, I will help,”

Martius filled a part of his mouth with a smile, satisfied with his idea. He paced closer to the bed and after a long stare at Desdemona’s neck, a sword appeared on her neck. 

“My lord, I’m sorry I have to do this. I hope you won’t be mad about this decision,” he apologized. “I can’t watch you go through more pain. Being a weak person is better than being dead.”

Martius raised his index finger, and the sword lifted a bit. The sword moved to Desdemona’s chest and targeted her heart.

He put his hand down and the sword stabbed Desdemona in the chest. 

“I just ended a fated calamity!”