Saintess? Not Anymore! I'd Rather be a Destroyer-Chapter 175 - 161: Injured Zagan

Aurianna couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Eva’s display of arrogance and pride. "She’s acting cocky again," Aurianna thought to herself, casting a discerning gaze in Eva’s direction.

Peter scratched his head and shooting Aurianna a puzzled look, he mused aloud, "I hope it’s not just me, but why has the princess been standing there, looking at the sky, and nodding?" He surveyed the surroundings to be sure he wasn’t going insane, but he only found security Meimus and birds flying through the forest.

A sudden revelation struck Peter. "Can she see ghosts?" he gasped, visibly forming a conclusion. Grinning proudly, Peter placed his hands on his hips, he exclaimed, "I guess it was really worth it to have her as a friend!"

"She doesn’t see ghosts, Peter," Batholem whispered into Peter’s ear, prompting a surprised step back from Peter.

"Batholem!" Peter exclaimed, noticing the familiar silver hair and bright yellow eyes.

Smirking Batholem told him, "From what I heard from the knights, the princess has an imaginary friend since she has no friends. I guess I can say I’m one of her first friends," accompanied by a self-satisfied smirk that earned a disapproving click of Peter’s tongue.

Probing further, Peter skeptically pointed at Aurianna, who still appeared engrossed in murmuring to herself, and asked, "You’ve got to be kidding, how can a girl like her have no friends?" Batholem cryptically replied, "A better question is: how and she doesn’t, have any friends at all," as he casually circled around Peter.

Caught in their gossip, Aurianna came between them, "What are you two gossiping about?" She asked as she overheard a bit of their conversation, her hand on her hip as she squinted her eyes at them.

Zorian, riding a Kiorse, appeared behind them chimed in, "You, of course!" The Kiprse beast with the head of a snake and four legs with large claws like one a lion has but thicker. Its entire body was also filled with snake-like scales and its back was covered with a saddle.

"Peter seemed shocked that I’m one of your first friends," Batholem chuckled.

Peter, still astonished, admitted, "I expected someone like you to have many friends," to which Batholem chuckled.

"Because of how I look?" Aurianna asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"I prefer quality, over quantity," Aurianna said and Peter raised an eyebrow at her words.

Batholem, noting Aurianna’s apparent pride, wondered aloud, "Why is she feeling proud saying that?"

Aurianna’s joyful expression caught his attention, "Does it mean you only declared me as your friend to use me?" Peter asked, a hint of disappointment on his face.

"No, but rather because you’re rich," Aurianna said nonchalantly.

"I’m rich?" Peter blurted out, confused by her words.

Confused, Peter and Batholem sought clarification on Aurianna’s motives, only to discover her candid admission, "You’re Royal Humans, so it means that you’ve got a lot of money. If I’m ever broke, I hope I can rely on you two. I’d rather have rich friends than poor ones!" Aurianna declared with a playful thumbs up and wink.

Batholem, equally perplexed, asked, "Wait, I’m not understanding."

"The concept of friendship sure is difficult," Peter quipped as he too also had only a few friends.

"Indeed!" Aurianna nodded.

Curious about Aurianna’s motives, Batholem asked, "Hey Aurianna, why did you agree to be our friends? I wanted to be your friend because I found you interesting, so what about you?" Aurianna’s response was straightforward, "I wanted to be your friend because I found you guys interesting as well. Why would I refuse to be a friend of a Royal Human? That is akin to discovering a legendary treasure and throwing it away."

Perplexed, Peter questioned, "We’re treasure?"

"If they are treasure, what am I then?" Zorian questioned as he cried, slumping on the ground next to his Kiorse, and received a comforting lick from the creature. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Aurianna, plastering a smile, "You guys are interesting. I haven’t had this much fun talking to others in a while."

Batholem, noticing Aurianna’s relative solitude, speculated with a shrug, "Maybe because you rarely have any friends to talk to."

Aurianna’s tone abruptly shifted, as she playfully threatening Batholem with a dark expression, "I’ll kill you."

"Calm down," Zorian said as he held Aurianna by the shoulders and patted them.

Batholem, undeterred, wanted to delve deeper into Aurianna’s social circle so he asked "Hmm, do you have female friends?" Aurianna’s response was a simple "No."

"Why? Girls your age have a ton!!" Peter asked as he was surprised and looked at her skeptically as he thought she was lying.

Unfazed, Aurianna retorted, crossing her arms, "So? What if I don’t have some!"

"You need some! Like someone you can talk too alot and tell them your problems," Peter suggested.

’Sounds alot like Eva. But is Eva a friend? She’s more like some kind aunty,’ Aurianna thought.

"For what exactly do I need female friends for?" Aurianna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"To chat with," Peter answered bluntly.

"Waste of time!" Aurianna sneered.

Batholem dramatically collapsed next to a tree, his hand covering his mouth, and Zorian offered a consoling pat on his back. "She said it was a waste of time, she’s hopeless!" Batholem lamented.

Aurianna, her tone slightly melancholic, admitted, "Even if I want female friends, it seems all the noble girls are afraid of me. And those who wanted to be my friends didn’t care to know anything about me. They just got close to me to get to my brother’s or even used me to uplift their status. Well, not my problem." Her words left Peter and Batholem feeling a twinge of remorse for their earlier comments.

In her thoughts, Aurianna reflected, ’Real friends, huh? Most girls I was around in the past were just nobles who loved to gossip. And the guys too were just flattered by my beauty. Or maybe I just associated with the wrong crowd? Well, the past is the past. I don’t need any friends from this country since I remember none of the noble women or men tried to help me. I lost my value when I was disfigured and lost my title.’ A cold expression lingered on her face. ’People do love it when someone from a high position falls and gets destroyed.’

"Please have patience for Aurianna, your Highnesses. Like I said before, she has never had any friends and seems to lack socializing skills," Zorian said politely, giving Aurianna’s cheeks a gentle squeeze.

Aurianna, puffing her cheeks defiantly, declared, "How do you know I lack socializing skills? If I want, I can make as many friends as I want!"

"Then make some," Zorian replied nonchalantly.

"No! I can’t handle talking all the time with people. It feels too draining, like I’m drowning or something. It’s just too much energy!" Aurianna complained, prompting three boys to exchange blank expressions.

"Chatting with people takes too much energy?!" Peter asked, clearly flabbergasted.

"Don’t you know? Once you begin a conversation with some people, they just don’t stop talking for hours. I can’t handle that!" Aurianna shook her head, sighing, with an image of Yui crossing her mind. ’Hmm, that girl, I wonder how she’s doing.’

All three boys simultaneously thought, ’She sounds like an introvert.’ observing Aurianna with a blank expression.

"It’s not that bad, princess," Zorian attempted to comfort Aurianna.

"You don’t understand. You all seem like you can handle conversations very well!" Aurianna yelled, pointing accusingly at them.

"Well, it’s because I go to a lot of meetings with my father!" Peter declared proudly.

"Yeah, nice," Aurianna clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.

"So cold," Peter felt a chill from her words.

"Hmm, Aurianna, it seems that you don’t have a good relationship with your dad," Batholem asked, oblivious to Zorian’s frantic head-shaking.

"Yes, and...?" Aurianna replied, clearly annoyed.

"Isn’t that bad? He is your father, after all," Batholem nervously inquired, noticing Aurianna’s cold gaze.

"Do some background check on him before you ask me about my relationship with that old man," Aurianna clicked her tongue. "What kind of father places a control insignia on their children?" She scoffed. "You guys sure are lucky to be born as Royal Humans."

"Lucky, huh," Peter chuckled lightly.

"I wish," Batholem muttered quietly, though Aurianna heard him clearly.

"Why do you say that?" Aurianna asked curiously, frowning slightly.

"Being a Royal Human isn’t easy, you know?!" Peter blurted out, and Aurianna gave him a skeptical look.

"We have so many files and documents to take care of every day," Batholem sighed.

"Meetings to attend, people to arrest, crimes to unveil and publicize," Peter added, shaking his head and sighing.

"Training when we’re just 1 year old to avoid getting kidnapped or assassinated," Batholem threw in.

"That’s tough. But I guess it has all paid off now, hasn’t it? Because you guys seem to have hunted some stuff," Zorian stated with a smile.

"I guess you can say that," Batholem said with a cheeky grin.

"But what would we do with all the prey we caught?" Peter asked.

"I heard there’s going to be a barbecue," Zorian revealed, causing Aurianna and Peter to beam.

"Barbecue!!!" Their cheers echoed as they both daydreamed about floating, sizzling, grilled meat.

"Yaya!" They yelled in unison, bouncing around in excitement.

"Master..." Zagan’s voice rumbled low.

"Zagan!!" Aurianna panicked, reaching out to pick up her injured cat. Even in his cat form, Zagan was in bad shape – missing ears, a right front leg, covered in scars, and oozing alot of black blood.

"What happened to you?" She asked, telepathically conveying her worry.

"That boy, something glowed from his necklace and attacked me. I couldn’t kill him. Zagan is sorry for failing you, master," Zagan explained telepathicallu with a light bow and he was visibly trembling.

"Don’t worry, you tried." Aurianna comforted him, patting his head and kissing his bloody face, staining her lips black.

"Next time, I’ll make sure to finish the job myself," she declared coldly, and a chilling aura enveloped her, causing the boys nearby to shudder.

"This pressure. I’ve never felt so suffocated under an aura," Batholem gasped, clutching his chest in pain.

"How did your cat get injured?" Zorian nervously inquired.

"It seems a monster attacked it. It’s usually fine when it hunts, but this one was a nasty surprise," Aurianna lied, noticing Peter’s speculative gaze.

"Dammit, you’re not healing," Aurianna muttered through gritted teeth as she observed the continuous flow of black blood from Zagan.