Chapter 80: The Mind Control and the Blood pact

His jaw twitched before he started laughing like a crazy person.

The mind-control magic, planted inside him by Delia, was now working, changing the truth from his mouth.

"Hahaha! No one hired me!" the man screamed in a weird voice, staring at the cave ceiling. Then, his eyes looked down at Olivia’s beautiful face with a creepy smile.

"I just love doing this! I love kidnapping and killing girls like her! Actually, she is so beautiful... I wanted to take her back to be my wife!" the criminal laughed loudly.

"But too bad... I was ordered to kill her tonight! Hahaha!"

Hearing the word "wife" , Javien completely froze.

In that exact second, his eyes turned completely red, flashing with a scary, dark light. He was so angry that the air inside the cave felt heavy and hard to breathe.

Javien grabbed the man’s collar even tighter, his hands shaking because he was holding back a crazy amount of rage.

How dare this disgusting man look at Olivia? How dare he even think about making Olivia his wife?!

"Say that again... and I will kill you right now," Javien whispered in a deep, scary voice that shook the cave walls.

Seeing the man choking and losing his mind under the heavy pressure, Javien quickly forced himself to calm down. He knew he could not lose control.

With a fast, hard hit to the back of the neck, Javien knocked the man out instantly and threw him into the dark corner of the cave.

"Command magic..." Javien hissed coldly.

He knew there was no use killing him now; he needed to keep him alive as physical evidence for the Duke’s estate mages to examine later.

Javien tossed the limp body into the furthest corner of the cave, leaving him sprawled on the cold stone floor.

Once the criminal was dealt with, the crimson glow in Javien’s eyes gradually faded, replaced once more by a soft, calm violet.

His head throbbed painfully from forcing the volatile demon mana back beneath its seal, but he paid the pain no mind.

His focus shifted entirely back to Olivia. Outside, the downpour grew wilder, driving a freezing wind into the cave and causing the temperature to plummet.

Javien knelt beside Olivia. Seeing her maid uniform drenched in blood at the shoulder and shivering from the rain, his chest tightened painfully.

Ensuring his large hands remained as gentle as possible, Javien removed his black knight captain’s cloak waterproof on the outside, yet heavily insulated and warm on the inside.

Next, Javien picked up the small dagger left behind on the ground. Without a shred of hesitation, he sliced his own left palm, letting the thick, dark crimson blood the pure blood of a demon pool in his hand.

However, before letting it drip, Javien paused. His violet eyes stared at Olivia’s blood-soaked upper shoulder.

The wound was hidden beneath the thick fabric.

Javien swallowed hard, his throat feeling incredibly dry. Even though he was an elite knight accustomed to the carnage of the battlefield, his broad hands began to tremble slightly at this very moment.

He had no other choice.

Holding his breath, Javien’s fingers moved to the collar of Olivia’s maid dress. He gently pulled and loosened the fabric, lowering it slightly past her shoulder line to clearly expose the deep, torn stab wound.

Olivia’s pale skin formed a stark, sharp contrast against the dark crimson blood. Javien quickly averted his gaze for a second, fighting to maintain his focus as her savior.

He clenched his left fist, letting several drops of his demon blood fall directly into the open wound on Olivia’s shoulder.

Drip... Drip...

The moment Javien’s demon blood touched her flesh, Olivia’s unconscious body gave a small jerk. Her brows knitted tightly and she whimpered softly.

"Nnh..."

She fought the sudden, burning warmth radiating from within her body. The blood integration process was already taking effect inside her biological system.

At that exact moment, the red magical string around Olivia’s wrist, which bound her to Javien, suddenly flared with a brilliant, pure light, as if celebrating the official sealing of their blood bond.

After ensuring his blood was completely absorbed, Javien set the dagger aside. He retrieved a clean, dry piece of linen cloth from the inner layer of his armor.

With utmost precision, his breath still tightly controlled, Javien pressed the cloth against Olivia’s exposed shoulder to halt the remaining bleeding.

He then wrapped the bandage firmly around her shoulder and underarm. Every time his large, calloused fingers brushed against Olivia’s soft, cold skin, the knight’s heart battered against his ribs at twice its usual speed.

Once the bandage was secure and tight, Javien quickly pulled the collar of Olivia’s dress back to its original position, covering her shoulder completely.

Whew, finally.

Javien exhaled a massive sigh of relief, his own forehead now beaded with cold sweat not out of fear of an enemy, but from the sheer agony of fighting his own intense embarrassment.

He used the edge of another damp cloth to gently wipe away the remaining blood from the long scratch on Olivia’s cheek.

Since Olivia possessed no demon blood immunity, Javien knew this wound would not heal instantly. It would take a few hours for her cells to fully regenerate.

Nevertheless, the fatal bleeding was successfully stopped.

Javien leaned Olivia’s body back against his chest, wrapping her securely inside his warm black cloak to ward off the early morning chill. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The rain outside continued to pelt the Forbidden Forest mercilessly, but inside the cave, everything grew quiet and warm, filled only by the echoing rhythm of their beating hearts

_________________

Olivia remained completely still. Her tightly closed eyelids proved she was still deeply unconscious from the heavy dose of the sleeping drug.

She had absolutely no idea about the brushes with death she had just survived. Fortunately, the remnants of the pure demon blood circulating through her body worked wonders, slowly stabilizing her heart rate and dulling the pain in her shoulder.

Outside the cave, the wind howled and thunder continued to crash crazily. The rain showed no signs of letting up; instead, the downpour slamming against the canopy of the Forbidden Forest sounded louder by the minute, making the interior of the cave feel like an isolated world inhabited only by the two of them.

The temperature plummeted drastically. The freezing air blowing inside alongside the mist of the rain caused Olivia’s frail body to shiver violently in her sleep.

Javien, hyper-aware of every minute change in Olivia’s condition, acted instantly. He pulled his black cloak tighter, bundling her up securely as if refusing to let even an inch of the freezing wind touch her skin.

Not stopping there, Javien closed the distance between them, pulling Olivia’s small, limp body flush against his broad chest.

At that moment, Javien’s jaw clenched. He could feel his own heart hammering wildly right against Olivia’s back.

Even though she was unconscious, they were far too close! The silence of the cave heavily tested the modesty and ego of the elite knight. Javien was forced to endure the agonizing embarrassment entirely alone, to the point where cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

He looked down, studying Olivia’s pale face resting peacefully against his chest. When he noticed her breathing becoming more rhythmic and that she had stopped shivering, a barely audible sigh of relief escaped his lips.

Javien reached for Olivia’s cold right hand from beneath the cloak, squeezing it gently within his large palm to provide warmth.

Although his violet eyes could not perceive any visible bond on their wrists, his inner demon instincts felt incredibly tranquil a powerful internal sign that her soul was successfully dragged back from the brink of death.

"Rest," Javien whispered softly into the quiet cave, his voice sounding incredibly deep and raspy.

"I won’t let you go."

He leaned his head against the cold stone wall, tightening his protective embrace, prepared to watch over her through the long, rainy night until dawn.

The moment Javien’s violet eyes flew open in panic, his instincts kicked in, and he tightened his grip around Olivia, instantly prepared to strike down any threat.

However, the moment his senses registered Olivia’s sweet, stabilizing scent and he realized the movement came from the girl in his arms, his murderous aura vanished in a flash.

His violet eyes looked down, staring straight into Olivia’s eyes as she blinked up at him through the dim shadows of the cave.

"Olivia...?"

Javien’s voice sounded incredibly raspy and deep, a byproduct of his light doze. He took a deep breath, as if trying to ensure he wasn’t dreaming.

"You... you’re awake?"

Olivia nodded slowly, her brow furrowing slightly as the movement tugged at the scratch on her cheek.

"Mmm... I’m awake, Javien."

Hearing Olivia’s voice, which was weak but clear, Javien felt as though a massive boulder had just been lifted from his chest. But immediately, his overly worried elite knight persona took over!

Hriedly but keeping his movements entirely gentle, Javien loosened his embrace slightly. His large hand rose to press against Olivia’s forehead, before moving down to her neck to check her temperature.

"Does it hurt anywhere else? Is your head spinning? Your shoulder... how is your shoulder? Do you feel too cold?"

Javien’s questions fired off rapidly without pause, his eyes frantically scanning Olivia from head to toe.

The usually calm, icy Javien was completely gone.

Olivia was momentarily stunned by Javien’s rare, panicked reaction. Honestly, it was incredibly endearing to see the most feared knight of the Duke’s estate completely losing his composure out of worry right in front of her.

"Javien, calm down..."

Olivia suppressed a smile, her right hand rising to gently grasp Javien’s wrist, which was still resting against her forehead, signaling him to relax.

"I’m okay. My body... feels warm. My shoulder doesn’t hurt as much anymore. Thank you... for saving me again."

Javien went rigid the moment Olivia’s small, soft palm made contact with the skin of his wrist. Inside the cave, with only the sound of the torrential rain outside, the atmosphere instantly shifted into something incredibly intimate.

Javien cleared his throat loudly, quickly snatching his hand back from Olivia’s forehead and placing it squarely on his own knee.

He forced his expression to harden again to cover the sudden embarrassment crashing over him, though even in the darkness of the cave, Olivia could clearly see the tips of Javien’s ears flushing bright pink.

"That... that is merely my duty as a knight. You are Lady Ophilia’s personal maid. If anything were to happen to you, Lady Ophilia would surely be devastated,"

Javien muttered curtly, offering the most cliché, formal estate excuse of the century just to salvage his mountain-high ego.

Hearing his excuse, Olivia merely offered a soft smile in the darkness. She didn’t feel slighted at all, because right in her line of sight, the red magical string around their wrists was glowing beautifully and serenely, completely betraying every single word of denial that just left Javien’s mouth.

So stubborn, Mr. Knight,

Olivia thought to herself, deeply amused.

"Is that so? Only because of Lady Ophilia?" Olivia teased softly, intentionally trying to test Javien, who was now sitting as rigid as an electric pole beside her.

Javien flinched. He turned to look at Olivia, his throat suddenly feeling bone-dry when he realized just how close their faces were beneath the shared cloak.

"Y-You... stop talking so much. You haven’t fully recovered yet,"

Javien stuttered momentarily, before quickly averting his gaze toward the cave entrance where the rain was still pouring down heavily.

"The rain hasn’t stopped. We will have to wait here until dawn before returning to the Duke’s estate."