"So how long are we going to follow this fence?" Pier asked as he walked beside Ciaran.

The tall man glanced at the young master for a moment before looking back up ahead of them.

"A little more," He spoke in his usual low voice and Pier rolled his eyes at the man.

However, he did not really care.

He knew deep inside he was happy.

Happy that he was far away from the suffocating kingdom.

Away from the Crown Prince

Away from the Belmiunde Family

Away from all of his worries related to the kingdom.

'I wonder what's happening in the kingdom right now that I'm missing?' He thought as he came up with a few possible scenarios.

'They probably organized a search party for the young master,' He concluded with the first and most likely possible event. Pier knew he had an important status in the kingdom but he was also glad Ciaran abducted him because of his ice magic.

He then thought about the new magic he learned.

It was a mystery how he had gotten the ice magic. All he knew was that after he had played for him and Pier's birthday, the small translucent orbs started to appear in his hand and it fully manifested when he got extremely mad at the Crown Prince.

He was also feeling quite awkward with his white hair. He had been used to having black hair even back in his previous life as Eliam and the sudden change of colors was disturbing him quite a little bit.

'I look hotter with the black hair but I look more mysterious-ish and a lot cooler with the white hair,' He weighed the two colors in his head.

"I wonder how's Gideon doing," He talked to himself as the small fire orb in his hands continued to burn. He had been used to producing both of his wind and fire magic now that it was consuming lesser stamina and energy from him.

It was another story for his ice magic that he cannot maintain for a long time though because he just got it and he did not have any opportunity to practice his ice magic.

"That's your knight right?" Ciaran asked while the two continued to walk ahead of the others. Pier nodded his head.

"Yeah, you know him?" He asked and Ciaran took a full minute of silence before answering.

"Yes," and immediately, the thought popped up in Pier's head.

"By the way, I am assuming you were the one who sent me the message through the crow back at the boundary," He said and Ciaran flinched in an unnoticeable manner.

"How can you say that I was the one who sent you the message?" He tried to feign innocence but Pier was already constructing the bridges of his thoughts inside his mind.

"The crow that time was similar to the crows I've seen earlier," Ciaran raised his eyebrows in surprise at the words.

"You can differentiate crows?" Pier shrugged his head as the ball of fire disappeared from his palms and he kept his hands inside the spare pocket on each side of the cloak.

"I guess I'm pretty observant." Ciaran still maintained his surprised look at the young master.

"Impressive," He spoke as he patted Pier's head again. The young master turned his head to look at the green-eyed man.

"You seem to be very friendly with me, Ciaran," Pier stated and Ciaran retracted the hand he was using to pat the young master's head.

"I guess I am," He spoke as he averted his eyes.

"Why's that?" Pier asked. They were on the lead and the others were behind them while they walked.

"I don't know," Ciaran responded.

"How come you don't know?"

"I just don't"

"That's inexcusable"

"Should there be a reason?"

"Yeah"

"I'll try looking for it"

"What?"

"..."

"You're incomprehensible," Pier commented as he threw his hands upward in exasperation.

Ciaran only smiled as he watched the young master.

In all honesty, Ciaran did not know either. He felt comfortable around the young master whom he had just met. It just felt all-natural for him to play along with Pier's antics.

Was it because he was guilty of the abduction he had done? That he was trying to make up for it?

He did not know.

Sure, Ciaran was feeling guilty about it but he knew it was not the full reason why he was acting all chummy with the white-haired young master.

"By the way, you kept talking about a 'rampage' since earlier with your friends. What's that?"

Dun!

It was the question Ciaran was trying to avoid being asked. However, he knew he could not disregard it, especially when the one who asked was the person who will play the biggest part in it.

"Can... Can I just tell you when we approach the village?" He spoke as he hesitated with the first word. He was hoping he could prolong it before telling Pier.

"We're going to a village?" Ciaran's mouth immediately closed. He was too occupied with trying to avoid talking about the rampage right now that he carelessly spoke about where they were going.

"Yeah," He replied shortly and Pier nodded his head.

"Is the village's name also Nightfall?" It was Ciaran's turn to nod his head.

"Do you name everything Nightfall?" Pier asked as he lightly laughed. Ciaran continued to nod his head at Pier's questions.

"Then can I just tell you the details when we arrive at the village?" He diverted the topic back into the rampage.

"Sure, as long as I get to know then it's not a problem," Pier responded as he calmly walked beside Ciaran.

The cloak was warm and it covered almost entirely all of his body. Thanks to Ciaran's huge frame, Pier was comfortable.

He hummed as he continued to walk while the man was silent beside him.

Pier was viewing the surroundings as they walked. The tall trees were still emitting a creepy vibe and the surroundings were dark for unknown reasons. However, he liked how calm it was.

The silence was comforting and the company of someone he knew he did not have to worry about being a concubine with added to the comfortableness.

Pier was about to touch the fences and trail his hand there while he walked when Ciaran immediately grabbed his hands.

"Is there something...wrong?" Pier asked as Ciaran's grip on his hands was pretty tight.

"Don't touch the fences," He spoke and let go of Pier's hands.

"Why?"

"You will leave your scent on the fence and the monsters on the second mountain that might wander here will be able to follow it," Pier's body shivered at the mention of the monsters.

He did not have any clue what they looked like but he knew they were dangerous enough that Ciaran was even very careful with them.

"They can still smell us though since we just passed through...?" Pier asked and Ciaran looked at him.

"That's the purpose of the cloak. It has scent removing magic that removes the smell of the person wearing it" Pier's eyes had a curious look on them as he listened to Ciaran's explanation.

"Really?" Ciaran nodded his head.

Sniff

Sniff

Pier sniffed the coat he was wearing and indeed, the faint rosy oil he could smell before he wore the cloak disappeared. Even though he was not using the rose-scented oil anymore, it still lasted on the clothes he wore until he replaced it with a new set of clothes.

It also had a lingering scent on his hair due to the application of preserving magic.

'Magic sure is amazing... huh?' Pier suddenly noticed something while he was praising the preserving magic on the rose-oil scent he was using when he bathes.

'There's another scent on it...' He thought as he brought the cloak back to his nose and sniffed it again.

"Hey, Ciaran, can you come nearer for a second?" Pier asked as he continued to inhale the scent that was on the cloak.

Ciaran had a confused look on his face but he shortened the distance between him and Pier anyway.

"Why? What's wrong?" He asked as he observed the young master who had his nose buried on the arm part of the cloak.

"I want to confirm something," Pier spoke as he looked up at Ciaran. The tall man flinched when their eyes met. Pier had a stare of someone extremely curious about something and Ciaran had a premonition that it was not something good.

"Come nearer," Pier spoke as he urged Ciaran to come closer. The man could only sigh as he neared Pier again. When he did get closer, he looked down at Pier again.

'I feel like I will trip or fall because I'm not looking where I walk' Ciaran sweatdropped at the thought but he continued to look at Pier.

"Nearer," Pier ordered again and Ciaran felt slightly awkward. He neared Pier again until their arms touched.

"Stop walking for a moment," Ciaran stopped walking and he turned his body to look at the young master to scold him for delaying their walk.

However, before he could do so,

Thud...

Ciaran's eyes widened when he saw what Pier was doing.

The young master rested his head on the green-eyed man's chest and he buried his nose on Ciaran's cloak.

"Pier... what are you doing?" Ciaran asked with hesitation in his voice as he felt Pier's light head on his body. It was unexpected enough that he flinched and stopped moving entirely for a moment.

"Ah, there is indeed no scent," Pier commented as he looked up at Ciaran.

His clear blue eyes revealed themselves to the world once more as he looked at Ciaran and the man held his breath as he stared back at the person leaning his body on him.

Ciaran was frozen stiff and Pier was laying his head on his chest while looking up at him.

"Could you give me your hand instead?" Pier asked in a low and soft voice and Ciaran could not help but feel shivers creep up his spine as Pier's voice entered his ears.

He unconsciously brought his hand to pat Pier's head but before he could do so, Pier grabbed Ciaran's hands and brought it in his face.

Pier touched the exposed hand on his nose as he inhaled Ciaran's scent.

Ciaran's eyes quivered for a moment when Pier's pale and soft face came in contact with his own hand. The skin was so smooth that he had a thought for a moment if it was a crime to touch the young master's face.

"Mhm, it is indeed the same," Pier spoke as he looked up at Ciaran again. The man with green eyes gulped as their gazes met again. He subconsciously brought his hand on Pier's cheek and caressed it.

Ciaran's large and veiny hands were warm. It gave him a comfortable feeling.

Even though it had callouses, the rough skin felt good.

"What... what are you doing..." Ciaran whispered as he continued to caress the young master's cheeks. Without thinking, Pier closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm feeling of Ciaran's hands on his face.

"I'm just checking if it's your scent on the cloak I'm wearing right now," Pier spoke as he hummed while enjoying the warm feeling.

"Scent?"

"Yeah, you said it removes the scent of the wearer so it removed mine and I smelled another scent."

"Is it... mine?" He asked lowly. His husky and baritone voice entered the young master's ears and Pier smiled because it was very nice to listen to.

"Yeah," he spoke as he opened his eyes to look at Ciaran.

"How... how does it smell?" Ciaran asked as his thumb grazed over Pier's cheeks. The young master laughed lightly because the sensation was quite ticklish.

"It's a combination"

"A... A combination?"

"Yeah, there's a faint musky scent and there was also the smell of petrichor."

"What's a petrichor?"

"That pleasant scent you smell right after a heavy rain," Pier spoke as he brought Ciaran's hands to his nose again and sniffed the scent. He liked the scent that comes out after heavy rain.

"Ah... I see..." Ciaran spoke as he watched Pier touch his nose on his hand again.

"It's very manly... just like you," He spoke and Ciaran swore he could hear his breath get rugged at the statement.

"Do you like the scent?" He asked as his hand left from the young master's nose and into Pier's chin. He gently raised the young master's head as to look up at him.

Pier, surprised with the action stopped for a second before smiling.

His smile gave a vibe of innocence and purity which made Ciaran quiet.

"Yeah," Ciaran felt something stir inside of him when Pier said he liked his scent. It was an unexplainable feeling he had gotten for the first time.

It was foreign and it was invasive as it scattered inside his body.

Pier then departed himself from their close contact and raised his head above. It was not Winter yet but it was cold enough that his breath produced misty clouds.

Ciaran only watched as the clear blue eyes looked up at the tall trees surrounding them.

Silence...

The other members of Nightfall watched in silence as the mysterious person wearing a cloak like them and their Chief interacted with each other. They had their eyes widen and their movements falter at the sight.

It was their first time seeing their chief act like that and it made them baffled.

"Surely we won't have another chief...?" A voice asked in uncertainty as they all stood frozen on their spots.

However, not everyone was speechless at what they saw.

Hex clenched his fists and his nose flared with anger.

'This... this is unacceptable...' He raged as he thought about a hundred and one ways to get rid of the person who was acting all cuddly with their chief right in front of them.

'How dare he, how dare he do that!' His hate for the cloaked stranger continued to grow. He did not know what the stranger looked like but he was sure that the person could not compare with him.

'Why... why him...' He thought as his hands continued to clench and unclench.

'No one could compare with me... I'm the best person you could ever see but you are acting like that with a stranger...' He fumed as he gritted his teeth.

Pier continued to walk and Ciaran followed him.

They were back again to the distance they had before and Pier was now thinking of other things.

Ciaran on the other hand had lingering thoughts.

It was until a couple more minutes that Pier started to see something aside from the trees.

Houses that were made of wood appeared and Pier held his breath as he saw them one by one.

"We're here," Ciaran announced.