After a bit of discussion and exchanges, Cassel reluctantly agreed with Emperal and left with his two subordinates.

Everything had gone smoothly; the only thing that bothered him a bit was the Greenvale Town Lord. The man had escaped the moment he saw Gorven was killed in cold blood.

"Won’t we go after that guy? After all, he was the one who revealed—!!" Calder suddenly halted, his eyes widening slightly.

Emperal could feel the headache arriving from miles away.

"Who are you?"

Calder asked, his vertical eyes gleaming. Demanding answers. Hearing this, Emperal sighed.

"A...nobody, you can even call me worse than a shadow."

Emperal replied honestly, till now, he still didn’t know how their relationship had been exposed. They had kept it completely private.

"I see."

Surprisingly, Calder nodded in understanding. Emperal’s face further twisted in surprise when he saw this.

"What is that look supposed to mean!?"

"Since when did you become so understanding?"

"Hmph! I was like this when you were still in the womb!"

"...Yeah sure"

...

The next morning, Emperal arrived at the meeting location he and Dresh had planned. It was atop a small hill, surrounded by various trees, and the scenery was quite beautiful.

Emperal leaned against the tree, looking at the distance. Whenever he was alone, he just sat there and watched the sunrise.

Watching the brilliant sun rays descending upon the land, he couldn’t help but recall Vraelyn. Her face, her body, her expressions, her words, and her...arrogance.

"I really feel like a sore loser...still recalling you, still...remembering you."

He muttered absentmindedly, and the air around him gently struck his face. Making his black hair wave slightly. His calm heart once again stirred as he began recalling her memories, it was thumbing against his chest painfully.

It was an uncomfortable sensation that only people in his situation could understand. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

In the next moment, Emperal tilted his head back when he felt a mighty aura descend behind him.

"Lady Dresh, good seeing you—!!!!"

Emperal’s eyes widened in shock when he saw her face.

Dresh stepped towards him with a gloomy expression and barely restrained rage. But what surprised him wasn’t her expression; it was her face.

A thick claw mark ran across her face, from above her eyes to below her chin. There were tear marks beneath her chin, evident from the breaking of her jaw.

Basically, her face was ruined.

Emperal frowned when he saw this, "Lady Dresh, who did this to you?"

Dresh gritted her teeth harder when she heard that, but she didn’t burst out.

"Yesterday, I-I got in some fight. Let’s drop this, give me my half. We will go our separate ways."

Dresh squeezed those words out of her mouth. Emperal looked at her for more than a few seconds.

After that, he nodded. "I don’t know what happened, nor do I want to. But, out of goodwill from my end. Here, this is an extra bottle."

Saying that, he threw three bottles. They were a bit bigger than the regular pill bottle, the moment they were exposed to the air. A mystical aroma filled the entire small mountain.

Dresh’s expression changed drastically when she saw this, "Y-You idiot! Don’t throw such precious stuff away!"

She hurriedly extended her hand and caught the bottles. Seeing that they were unharmed, she sighed in relief.

"The Verth in there is one of the purest Verth to exist, so...be careful while using that. And, if combined with some medicinal herbs, they could even cure that mar—!!"

Before he could complete his words, his mouth shut tightly. It wasn’t his doing but...

Dresh hurriedly used her Verth to shut this bastard from speaking about her face. A chill ran down her spine when she felt an...inhumane and merciless gaze.

"I-I will manage! But, before that. I have to introduce someone to you."

Dresh hurriedly spoke, gently storing away the bottles in a small but efficient storage ring.

Storage ring, not spatial ring.

"Someone to introduce to me?" Emperal raised his brows when he heard that; even Calder’s ears perked up.

Dresh swallowed twice before tremblingly opening her mouth.

"Vara...you can come out now."

She spoke, although Emperal didn’t understand why the hell she was acting like that. For now, he focused his attention on the way she pointed.

The branches parted, revealing a slender leg.

Step Step Step.

A woman walked out with a moderately confident expression, it wasn’t arrogant or disdainful. It was just...natural.

Emperal frowned when he saw this, turning towards Dresh, he couldn’t help but question. "And who is she again?"

The woman smiled when she heard his words. With a step, she crossed the distance and landed beside Dresh.

For a moment, she just stood there. Looking at Emperal...

Well...the look lasted some painfully, nasty seconds longer than normal. Even after several moments, she kept staring at Emperal, unblinking.

"What is wrong with this woman—"

"...You are dead."

Before he could finish his words, the Infernal Dragon’s voice echoed in his mind. Surprising him.

"This woman...is she dangerous?" He asked seriously, inwardly, he too was feeling the same, and Dresh’s scared expression didn’t help either.

The woman continued to look at Emperal, until he had no choice but to...

Snap!

She snapped back to her senses when she heard him snap his fingers. But there was not a single trace of awkwardness in her expression.

Instead, she stretched out her hand.

"H-Hello, I’m Vara. Dresh has told me about you, it’s nice to see you in person..."

Vara extended her hand forward; her ’black’ hair cascaded down her waist. In a way, she could be considered beautiful, but she still paled in front of Dresh. Well, at least the previous Dresh.

Emperal took her hand, "Nice to meet you, Vara. I’m Emperal." Emperal smiled lightly, for a moment, both Dresh and Vara stood frozen when they saw the smile on his otherwise cold face.

Unconsciously, Vara’s head moved closer, and her nose began twitching lightly. Her hand squeezed him a bit tighter. Causing Emperal to frown, but he didn’t notice any of her strange behaviour.

But...Dresh noticed. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"W-What is wrong with that woman!? She is seriously scary!"

"Umm...my hand."

Emperal pointed at his hand with his brows twitching, no. It wasn’t because this woman had held his hand for that long...it’s just that his entire fist had turned purple.