On the other side, Zion could feel the princess's murderous aura expanding to the point that a hint of suffocation pressing onto his throat. He gulped and kept a steady distance while walking. He couldn't help but feel that she might end up lashing out at him any minute. He wasn't even able to defeat her barehanded. Now that she was in a fury, he didn't know just how much she would beat him up!

It was way too embarrassing to be beaten up by a girl who was shorter than him!

​​

But it seemed that Lia finally wanted to vent a little.

"It was all your fault." Lia didn't glare at him, but he could tell how angry she looked right now. "You wanted me to have a conscience, but the other person isn't ready to accept my kindness! They're just hypocrites who don't know how to respect others! Let their kids die! I don't care!"

Zion parted his lips and closed them without saying a single word. He knew it would be useless to argue with Lia at this point. She wasn't ready to listen.

But Lia was still in a fury and wanted to blame her servant for making her so angry. "You know what? We better leave this village as soon as possible lest you want to solve this murder case. You have to remember that you're my servant. SERVANT! So act like one! Do you even know what it means?" Lia paused and turned around to glare at him that made him hold his breath while staring at her. She pointed her finger at his chest and said, "You have to listen to everything I say. And if I said I want to have nothing to do with the elves, you will have to follow whether you like it or not! If you don't like my decision, then go die!"

"Why do you hate elves so much?" Zion finally couldn't help it, and he spoke up.

He watched Lia's finger that was pointed at him stiffening as if she froze after hearing his words. A trace of some emotion appeared on her face that he couldn't understand because it went away instantly, and Lia closed her eyes as she took a few deep breaths as if calming herself down. Then she opened her eyes to stare at him coldly. "Don't ever ask me that question. You hear me?"

Zion stood there watching her turn around and leave in fury as he squinted his eyes. Something might have happened between the elves and Lia for her to hate them to this point. She wasn't even ready to show compassion to the elves.

Just what kind of things did Lia have to face to become like this?

Zion silently walked toward the inn and stayed holed up in his room for the entire day. He knew that if he were to practice his sword skills today, he would be beaten black and blue again. His previous injuries still weren't healed yet!

***

At night, the man with the silver mask came to this village again and wasn't surprised in the least after seeing the empty roads. Before, he would always see a few more children and elders walking down the street every night at this time, but today, things were different. Not even an animal could be seen here. It was so silent that the man could hear his own heartbeat.

He patted his chest as if to calm his anxious heart. "Don't worry. So what if kids aren't around on the street? I can still find them and bring them back. I don't have to be so anxious."

Although he said that, he still got anxious. Under the mask, his brows furrowed in worry as he continued to stare at the empty street before he let out a deep sigh. "Looks like I have to use an underhanded method to abduct the children." Then he thought of those cute little children as a trace of sympathy appeared in his eyes. "I wish things were different. I never wanted to hurt those children."

After thinking like that, he went forward and stealthily entered a house. He moved upstairs since he knew most kids in a duplex would always sleep in the room upstairs. It would be better if he could find two kids here. That would reduce his work to a greater extent!

When he opened the door and went inside, he saw two little kids sleeping soundly in their quilts. The two of them looked identical, so he assumed that they would be twins. He closed the door softly and walked toward the sleeping kids without making a noise.

For a while, he stared at them in a daze as if he were trying to engrave their image in his mind, and then his gaze went gloomy. A sigh escaped his lips. "I'll just have to be done with it. There's no point in getting attached to them like this."

After muttering this under his breath, he took out two handkerchiefs with sleeping powder spread on them and pressed them against the nose of both the kids. When he was sure that they were unconscious, he picked up the kids in his arms and walked away while singing the same old folk song again. He also continued to pat the children's backs gently as if he were putting them to sleep.

***

In the morning, when Zion practiced diligently and went to eat in the afternoon, he heard the news about how the murderer killed the twins this time. The injuries in their bodies were similar to the cases earlier, and they were also found at the same river bank. It almost seemed as if the murderer had dumped the bodies in the river near his house and left it just like that.

The officials had also traced this river back when they had taken up this case, but they had ended up with nothing. The river led them back to the capital, and almost all the houses near the river were checked. Nothing came out of it since everyone was found to be innocent.

So they had all assumed that the killer must have dumped the bodies in this river deliberately to create confusion.

This was what Zion heard from other guests when he and Lia went downstairs to eat their food. He glanced at the princess's expressionless face that made it seem like she wasn't affected by the news of two more murders and sighed. It looked like he would really have to go against this stubborn girl this time.