Published at 14th of July 2019 8:16 am

Chapter 2

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

The blonde boy stopped Azrael and asked. He had a mysterious smile as he came closer to the girl. Azrael quickly bowed her head.

“I’m on my way to the market, young master.”

The boy was one of Colt’s children and Deborah’s one and only brother, Damon Colt. He swiftly observed Azrael’s body.

At the age of 16, the small and skinny girl was maturing. She was unbelievably beautiful if observed enough. In fact, more than his little sister who was rumored to be the most beautiful in this area. Deborah would violently handle or slap Azrael sometimes due to her appearance. She was unnecessarily pretty for a whipping child, making Deborah annoyed.

She would look beautiful if given a makeover and proper meals.

Damon held back and smiled.

“There’s no need for you to be so proper with me. I’ll be taking a bath now, so come help me out.”

“I apologize, this is something urgent.”

“Is it something more important than me?”

Azrael avoided Damon’s hand which was slowly getting closer to her. His expression turned stiff right away. She apologized with a polite posture.

“It’s something I have to hurry. I believe that you’ll understand and forgive me for that.”

Azrael quickly headed out to the back door. She could feel the creepy gaze of Damon as her wound was burning. Those senses disappeared when she finally head through the entrance. Due to all the nervousness, she started coughing.

Azrael pressed above her chest to stop the coughing. Beneath her hand, she could feel the unstable heartbeats. As days passed, Damon’s action was becoming much more suspicious. She knew what this meant; there was no way a slave who was an orphan to begin with, would be able to avoid the future inherit.

‘I need to run away’

How, where? It’s only been years since the slave act was abolished. A girl with no guardian and a slave mark was exposed to danger. This was something she realized as she spent her days as a slave. In fact, Azrael was fortunate compared to other slaves. At least she wasn’t used to entertain those during the evening. She cannot possibly trust anyone. She realized this after the people who once told her to think of themselves as her parents sold her away.

‘But I can’t continue to stay here’

It was possible that there might be worse cases waiting for her outside. She might even regret her decision and perhaps staying in the Colt’s could be better. She already knew she would be exposed to danger the moment she’s into this world and the risk, which frightened her and scared.

But even so, she was preparing to run away. She gave up on hopes that the person who gave her the name, ‘Azrael Estella’ would come and save her.

Azrael thought of the pile of hay that was underneath an old blanket in her room. Inside the hay pile, there were coins hidden. She has been saving up since years ago.

It was difficult for Azrael who wasn’t an adult yet and didn’t receive payment to save up money. But she still saved up and there was quite an amount. She would still need to save up a bit more to run away to run another land and settle.

Arriving at the market, she bought three blocks of butter as the head maid ordered her to. Azrael glanced at the clock hanging from the store while receiving the changes. There was a bit of time left since she hurried.

‘It’d be nice if I could check out the bookstore. Even better if there’s work available for me.’

She held the paper bag full of butter and headed through the alley which was located near the market. Around the antique streets, somewhere in the corner, there was a bookstore with a rusty signboard. By the entrance of the book store, there were old books piled up that looked like they would fall any minute. She passed through the pile of books with no trouble and an aged man with glasses greeted her.

“Long time no see, Azrael”

“Hello, Mr. Warden.”

“You’ve come in perfect timing, there’s work available for you.”

Warden had a wrinkled smile on his face, he passed her a package and an old book. Azrael accepted those with a bright smile.

“I’ll have to translate this into RImble this time as well, correct?”

“That’s right, bring it back when you’re done. I’ll pay you five silver coins.”

‘Rimble’ is the most common text used throughout the whole country. It is the text which commoners use. People with status, on the other hand, used an ancient text called ‘Rem’ instead.

The kingdom’s documents were written in Rem and countries who spoke different languages used Rem as an official language to communicate with each other. And so, the rarer and valuable the book is, it was written in Rem instead of Rimble.

Azrael earned money from translating books written in Rem to Rimble. It was uncommon for people to know Rem, so the job was a great opportunity for her. Five silver coins for a book was the pay she received per month, working at the Colts. Of course, the actual minimum payment she had to receive was around a hundred silver coins but there was no way the Earl would allow that.

“I’ll bring it back in a week.”

“That fast?”

“It’s not that long anyway.”

Holding the book, Azrael said with an unperturbed expression. Warden was impressed with her reactions.

“It’s unbelievable. I’ve seen you for quite a while yet I still can’t believe it. Where did you learn Rem?”

“Well… The truth is, I’m not sure either.”

“You seem to tell me that every time, hmph, just say that you don’t want to tell me instead.”

“It’s true. I was able to read it one day.”

“Ha, really, it isn’t a text anyone could learn and it’s quite advanced… You’re not a noble or wizard yet how in the world does a young girl as you know?”

“You’re right, how weird.”

She awkwardly laughed and switched the topic.

Rem was an advanced and complicated text. It was used before the Iskam age, from ancient times but the language faded away and only the text was left yet difficult to learn. Even though Earl Colt was a noble, he had to use a dictionary to inarticulately read Rem, while the Earl’s wife and Damon struggled to memorize the alphabets. Deborah gave up on Rem, to begin with.

In the other hand, Azrael knew Rem ever since she was a child. She didn’t just know Rem, she was able to use Rem fluently. To be correct, she was able to when she was 10 years old.

‘I didn’t even know how to read Rimble when I was young, I’m sure I learned it in those three years I’ve forgotten. Really, what happened during those years.’

She could remember Rem clearly, yet can’t remember a thing about learning it. She let out a small sigh. It was a mystery she couldn’t solve. But she wasn’t as laid back or had free time to sit and think about all this. Azrael put the book and packages into her pocket and hid it.

“I guess I’ll have to go now. Thank you, Mr. Warden.”

“I’m the one to thank you. Have a nice day.”

After closing the door, Azrael swiftly passed through the pile of books. She was busy avoiding the books that her eyes were on the ground, but suddenly felt a glare and looked above. There were piles of books that were taller than her. Between those books, there was someone in the alley and had made eye contact.

It was a man in pure white.

The long silver hair shined beneath the shades of the alley. White skin, tall height, blue eyes that were like cloudy skies, and a pure white robe with no stain that covered the man.

It was different from the dirty scenery that surrounded him. It was as if a person painted in watercolors from Deborah’s picture book was left on the street. The man looked perfect and gave a strong impression. It felt like he was in a totally different world even though she was in the same space as him.

Suddenly, she felt creeped out. Azrael stepped back reflexively. Soon after, she tripped over a book and lost balance.

“…!”

She fell over the pile of books. The unstable piled books fell down and made a loud noise. Luckily she wasn’t hurt thanks to the books holding her back, though the wounds from whipping this morning hurt to the point she couldn’t moan.

“What’s going….Oh god!”

Warden came to check the noise and was surprised when he saw what was going on. He let out a hand to help Azrael out.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m alright. More importantly, the books…”

“ I can pile the books up again. How did you trip over?”

“Over there…”

When Azrael turned her head above, she froze. The pure white man was nowhere to be seen. She was sure that he was there. Was it all a hallucination?

“Over there?”

“No, it’s nothing. I guess I was wrong.”

She shook her head and picked the bag of butter. She opened the bag to find the butter a bit mushed. The head maid would be terribly angry with her, she let out a sigh.

“you must be tired to the point to see hallucinations. Take care of yourself.”

Warden clicked his tongue and pat Azrael’s shoulder. He felt sorry for the girl who was skinny to the point that bones were barely seen.

“Yes, I’ll try.”

Azrael smiled and shook her head. She started picking the books that fell on the ground. The old man stopped her from piling the books.

“You came here due to a chore given, right? I know that you’re busy. Run along.”

“But this place became a mess because of me. I have time to organize this all.”

“I was about to organize the books anyway. I’ll arrange it in order this time. Go ahead.”

“But…”

“Get going already. You’ll be in trouble.”

“…I’m sorry, Mr. Warden.”

“No need to worry.”

Azrael politely greeted Warden and left the bookstore. Her back still ached but was able to go along with it.

“I’m late, this is bad.”

She turned around the corner at a fast pace and tripped over a rock. The old shoes she was wearing tore off from tripping while her body tilted forward. There was no way to touch the ground with her hands from holding the bag of butter with both.

It truly was an unlucky day. She thought while tightly closing her eyes. That moment, a soft light wind blew through her cheeks. The body that was tilting to the ground stopped in mid-air. An arm that was behind her back grabbed her hips and stood her up. The arms that helped her let her go right away as she stood up. The smell of birch trees tingled through her nose. Azrael turned around dumbfounded.

‘What I saw was real.”

The pure white man she saw before was standing right behind. He was tall that she had to lift her head to see his face.

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