/
Suddenly, a scream was heard from where Spurt had disappeared to, along with another strange sound.
Lucius hurriedly rushed towards the spot where she went and saw that standing in front of a crouching Miss Spurt, three abnormal-looking wolves were growling menacingly at her.
Berry Spurt was on the ground, shivering intensely as she covered her ears and shut her eyes.
He carefully drew his sword. It wasn’t too difficult for him to deal with these wolves, but it would be tricky if he had to do it while protecting someone else.
A wolf started rushing towards her and he immediately ran towards it, piercing its nape and impaling it onto the ground.
Blood splattered, and the other two attacked as soon as they saw the intruder. Lucius directed the fight farther away from Miss Spurt so he wouldn’t have to split his attention. Once he deemed that she was in a safer position, he quickly dealt a killing blow to the wolves by cleanly slicing their heads off.
After the situation was over, Spurt was still sitting there, shocked.
Lucius clicked his tongue and called his sister. “Dixie! Come here!”
Dixie arrived shortly thereafter. Fortunately, his sister was fine. Seeing the blood, the wolves’ corpses and Spurt in a crouching position, Dixie was aghast.
“Heavens! What happened?!”
Lucius frowned as he wiped the blood from the sword. “Check Miss Spurt’s wounds. I need to go find Deatrice.”
But then Spurt grabbed the hem of Lucius’ clothes.
“Please don’t go.”
“Miss Spurt, I know you’re in shock. But—”
“Just for a moment
 Just for a moment, please stay by my side.” She lowered her head, as if remembering a terrible nightmare. “When I saw those wolves, I was so frightened that I couldn’t even move my legs. The moment they rushed towards me, I
 I
 they were going to eat me
”
Her voice faltered and Dixie stroked her shoulder to comfort her.
“She’s right brother, you should stay with her at least for a few moments. Besides, there weren’t any wolves from where I was. Deatrice is probably fine.”
But to Lucius, who’s currently feeling nervous and agitated, crying like this only had only irritated him further. However, he held back his temper and wiped the blood from his face.
“If I stay here anyway, it wouldn’t help much. Besides, I have an obligation to make sure my wife is safe.”
“But she’ll definitely be fine!”
“What makes you think that?”
Dixie saw that Lucius’ expression had turned cold, but Spurt didn’t recognize the change. With her face reddened with excitement, she said. “When a revolt broke out in Galaba, rumors had it that it was the marquess herself who retrieved Prince Fredhi from the battlefield and sent him on a ship. Therefore, she wouldn’t be intimidated by a trivial thing like this.”
“Miss Spurt!” Dixie called her out in surprise.
It was obviously a mistake for Berry Spurt to bring up the name of Deatrice’s former fiancĂ©e in the presence of her husband, even if it could be reasoned that she was scared out of her wits and couldn’t think straight after her encounter with the wolves.
Spurt unconsciously bit her lip.
Lucius turned his body and stared at her coldly. She wasted more of his time for nothing, and it made his heart even more anxious. Then, showing his back to her and walking towards where Deatrice was, he called out her name.
“Deatrice! Where are you?!”
Because the forest was too dense, the sound didn’t travel as far as he would’ve liked, and it soon disappeared. He ruffled his hair and puffed out a breath.
“Deatrice!”
It was then that he saw.
In the distance, a large beast could be seen stalking her as she stumbled on a rock.
Lucius felt his head turn white. His instincts quickly took over and he sprinted so fast he didn’t think it was possible for him before today. Quickly overtaking the beast’s speed, he forcefully thrusted his sword underneath its open maws and penetrated it up into its skull.
His body had moved so aggressively, but his mind was blank.
After removing his sword from the beast’s dead body and making sure it wouldn’t fall on top of her, Lucius asked. “Are you alright?”
Then he saw Deatrice’s pale face looking up at him.
“I’m alright.” she said, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. Rivulets of blood covered her forearms as it bled from the lacerated wounds.
Lucius’ lips turned into a thin line and knelt in front of her. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s just a small scratch.”
“It’s not. You’re bleeding heavily.”
Deatrice thought it was a little funny to hear the man who had just stabbed a wolf to death say something like that. But her train of thought abruptly halted when she saw the trembling of his hand as he tore the hem of his clothes and covered her wound.
When her face twisted in pain, Lucius muttered. “
that damn woman.”
Deatrice thought it was strange to see a wretched expression on his features, almost looking angry.
Why is he so mad about her being hurt?
As she thought about it with a cool mind, he made her stand up.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“No.”
He apologized regretfully. “I’m sorry for not coming earlier. Someone decided to grab my clothes to speak bullsh*t and waste my time.”
It was only then that Deatrice realized that the ‘damned woman’ Lucius had referred to was most probably Spurt because he definitely wouldn’t call her sister that.
“There’s blood on your clothes.” she commented. “Were there wolves there too?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Three.”
Lucius answered with a face that didn’t want to talk much. He asked again while looking at her, “Are you really alright?”
“I told you, I am. Let’s go.” She was about to take one step forward when Lucius turned around and bent his knees.
“Hop on.”
“I’m fine. my legs are not hurt.”
“Deatrice—”
“Why, ‘Lucy’?” she uttered meaningfully.
“
”
Indignant, he asked, “
can’t you just let me carry you?”