"I don"t care," Rhys cursed, "Your not supposed to be here, anyway."

"I—I know, but," Lyn stammered.

Allen frowned at the way the man named Rhys was talking. Kazuya aside, why does this man think he can shout at Lyn? Judging from their conversation, she was supposed to do something important. But even if it"s like that, he has no right to lecture her like this.

He quickly sat up, realizing he was making trouble for Lyn and proceeded to give this man a lecture when Rhys bent down and kissed the girl"s lips.

"You seem not to want to listen to me, so I"ll do as I wish."

"L---let"s go already!" Lyn exclaimed as she stormed off.

Allen stood there frozen, what did he just see there?

The man named Rhys had yet to leave the room, he stared at him and his lips curved to a sly smirk. A mocking look appeared on his face, "You see Mr fiance, this is how seducing a girl works. Your way too slow and now you have compet.i.tion."

"Are you challenging me?" Allen was livid; he was struggling to control his inner rage.

Rhys deeply sighed, "There is no need to challenge you, you don"t even want to touch her or get to know her properly. You"d be a useless rival."

"..."

"I"m just going to say this, the longer you delay this. The harder it will become for you in the future," with a few more cold words, Rhys left, and Allen punched the wall.

Blood trickled down his fists, "It seems like he has been a bit too lenient," Lyn, he doesn"t want to do anything to scare her. But these men who are after her clearly wish to to use sneaky means to win her heart. If they are going to do that, then why must he hold himself back?

_____
Surri Town Harbour - Four Days Later -

Lyn grabbed the handle of the blade and charged towards Rhys, "Don"t underestimate me!" she yelled.

But no sooner had she lifted the blade, it swung just as fast onto the ground. A clanking sound rang against the marble floor. An agonizing cry emerged from her lungs as small lightning bolts seized the weapon. In mere seconds it corroded her flesh, leaving bright red blisters on her pale hands. "Ouch," Lyn muttered in her head, it was painful. The lightning shock aside, but the physical injury hurt more. If her fingers didn"t feel numb, then she would shout at Rhys. However, she felt the numbness increase causing her to let go of the weapon in her hands. Lyn sank to the ground. It felt like her whole hand was burning.

Rhys hadn"t moved an inch or flinched at all, he walked over and picked up her blade. Unlike what just happened with her, Rhys quickly picked up the weapon and didn"t experience the same electric shock.

Lyn watched as her weapon return to its original form, a small baton which Rhys put inside his robe, "C-Curse...you," Lyn grunted. She knew what this meant; the training was over. But Lyn didn"t feel like she achieved anything today either. Would it have been better if she trained with Kazuya? No, Lyn shook her head, she can"t disturb him. Lyn felt her face break into a sweat as she struggled to stand back up.

"You should return to the inn," Rhys said bluntly. "A Princess must not be seen groveling like this on the floor," Rhys sharp retorts continued, and it felt like he was stabbing at her with a blade.

"N-Nonsense..." Lyn grumbled stubbornly under her breath. "People like me, have quick regeneration abilities for a reason...these wounds will only...only..." In time, but Lyn found whatever strength she had left her quickly.

"...heal in time." he finished promptly before she could finish the rest of her sentence. "These aren"t like any regular wounds. There"s a reason why humans use such weapons. They actually work against people like you."

Lyn frowned with displeasure at the cruelty Rhys treated her with. However, she knew she could not go against his logic. Though Rhys said cruel things at times and provoked her - he only stated the truth. Lyn was foolish enough to think she could wield this scythe with ease. Kazuya said this was the perfect weapon for her to use, but Lyn is starting to think so otherwise. She and Rhys have been training at the harbor for the last four days, and it didn"t look like any progress was being made. This can"t go on any longer; if she doesn"t manage this, it"s not like she won"t have anything to do.

Kazuya will still allow her to take part in the upcoming fight. But, Lyn didn"t want to just stand on the sidelines with her bow. She thought long and hard about it; it would be better if she fought closely beside Kazuya and Rhys rather than a hideaway. She was too naive; Lyn thought she could wield this weapon with ease, and even if she sustained injuries, they would heal right away. "How foolish," Lyn muttered to herself.

"Then give me your blood," Lyn asked. "I"ll heal faster if you feed me."

It was something they discovered a few days ago when she activated her dark magic again for the first time in a long time. For some reason, whenever she used it, her throat would feel parched. No matter how much water she drank, it did not solve the issue at all. It was Rhys who suggested blood. It"s almost like he knew. She suffered severe wounds; naturally, it leads to her increase l.u.s.t for blood.

Lyn didn"t think it was anything strange, the whole odd blood l.u.s.t thing. Whenever it came to anything darkness related, Lyn just naturally accepted things. Maybe she ought to question it a bit more.

Rhys only looked at her with a disappointed look, before he reached into his cloak pocket and produced a small white box filled with tiny pink tablets. He flung the box into the air, and it landed in front of her, "Have these," Rhys instructed, "It"s better than nothing."

Lyn looked at the box with wide eyes, "Don"t you need these more than me?" she asked quietly.

"I"m not the one enduring crippling pain right now," he said as a matter of fact. "Unlike you, Princess, I don"t have a l.u.s.t for blood- even when wounded."

".."

It actually surprised her whenever she refused him. Lyn was under the impression that this man would take advantage of her during her weakest times. But Rhys really is an excellent teacher, when she told him she wanted to train seriously. He"s been helping her out every single day.

Lyn looked at the box and the tablets again, "Is it abnormal?" Lyn asked.

"Well, legends are saying that there were beings who drank and sucked humans blood before. But I don"t think that would apply to our generation; such beings have long gone extinct after all."

"Yeah," Lyn muttered. She does understand that, and yet something about this seemed very strange to her. It must just be her imagination; it"s not like the beings Rhys talked about could still exist in this time period. Even if they did, the previous reign would have gotten rid of them.