(A long time ago)
When the sun slowly peeped over the rainbow island, birds shook the morning dew off their feathers and gave a cheerful song that would lift even the most sorrowful spirits. A light mist wrapped around the lone mountain where Lailah resided, reaching to touch every bit of life thriving there. The slight chill in the air was enough to give a gentle shiver but not enough for the need for a fire. A breeze tickled the trees, making their leaves shake and sway with laughter. Golden sunlight slowly seeped in the past the thick canopy of branches with hopes of being able to reach the damp mountain earth. The heaven-touching apex of the mountain was drenched in brilliant light.
Inside the cave at the top of the mountain, Lailah was cultivating in silence. She canceled all the sounds of birds singing, slowly breeze rustling the trees, and the distant shouts of the natives. While Lailah was cultivating, her disciples Johana, Nerita, and Megan focused on cleaning the cave and their veenas. Despite their young age, these three little girls moved swiftly through the cave and cleaned the place.
After they put some fragrant incense sticks around, they came in front of Lailah, bent down, and touched Lailah's feet to get her blessings. Lailah was everything to the three girls. They were with Lailah as her disciples for as long as they could remember. With Lailah around, the girls never felt like orphans. Under Lailah's tutelage, they reached the Body Refining stage at such a young age. They weren't anything like prodigies or something, but Lailah's guidance and the resources she provided made a difference in their cultivation speed.
Just as the little girls were about to head out, they saw a shadow on the ground and looked at the cave mouth to see several people descending from the sky. The moment the girls saw these men, they trembled in fear. They quickly stepped closer to Megan, the red-haired girl with pretty freckles sprinkled on her face. Among them, Megan was the toughest and always had their back. When Lailah wasn't around, Megan always went into the forest to hunt and hone her combat skills. Lailah was yet to teach them how to defend themselves using a veena, but she didn't stop Megan from training with swords and bows.
Since Lailah was cultivating, Megan strolled out to meet these unwelcomed visitors. The group landed at the cave entrance with four guards armed to the teeth and two men dressed in fancy golden robes. One of them was a middle-aged man with a bushy beard, short dark hair with strands of white hair, and blue eyes. Meanwhile, the man standing next to the middle-aged man was a stunning young man with striking golden hair. He would make any young girl's heart skip a beat with his perfect jaw and clean-shaven face. The young man's hazel eyes glowed with life and excitement as the most attractive feature about the young man was perhaps his slightly pointy ears he inherited from his elven father. But something crooked hid underneath all the handsome face and perfectly built body.
Unlike the three girls, this young man was a prodigy. He reached the Core Strengthening stage at the age of twenty and was said to be the most desired man on the continent of Awor. Hundreds or even thousands of proposals were sent to the young man's home every single day, but he chose none because he had already lost his heart to the wielder of Angel Veena; Lailah Alden.
"Hello, girls,' The middle-aged man greeted the three girls with obvious disdain in his eyes. He was born and raised as a rich noble. In his eyes, street urchins like these three girls were beyond disgusting, and just talking to them made him want to throw up. He still had a hard time coping with the fact that his daughter was raising these orphans on her own instead of marrying into one of the many noble families in Gondolin.
"Lord Nobert," Megan lowered her head and greeted her mentor's father with respect despite how she thought about him in her heart. To be honest, Megan would choose to be an orphan any day than be Nobert's daughter. He was an alcoholic, gambler, wastrel, and arrogant fool who hated everyone who wasn't noble by birth.
"Is she there?" Nobert asked bluntly.
"Mistress is cultivating at the moment and ordered us to let no one inside," said Megan. Despite facing people who could kill her with a snap of their fingers, the brave little girl had no signs of fear in her eyes. Seeing the girl facing them without covering down made Nobert's blood boil. Every single cell in his body screamed at him to throw the little girl off the mountain. But he had to restrain himself, thinking about what Lailah would do. The relationship between him and Lailah was already broken, and preferred not to damage it anymore than he had already.
"You can tell us her father is here to meet her, or I can meet her in person," Nobert creased his brows and said. He didn't sound like he was telling them but rather ordering them. However, Megan remained firm in not letting them through. Her mentor gave her an order, and Megan didn't plan to fail.
"I am afraid you cannot meet the mistress today. You can leave a message with us if you want," said Megan. The veins in Nobert's eyes popped, making his eyes red like a demon's. He could no longer take such disrespect from a street urchin like Megan. He immediately stepped forward with his hands raised in the air.
"You filthy rat,"
Megan's instincts kicked in as she raised her hand to defend herself. As Nobert's hand was about to slap Megan, a powerful melody resonated through the cave and pushed the group several steps back. One of the guards almost slipped off the edge and fell to his death. Nerita and Johana heaved a sigh of relief as they saw Lailah walk out of the cave gracefully. If a gaze could kill, Nobert, his guards, and the youngster would have died almost instantly. Her cold and murderous gaze swept across the group, making the guards shudder in fear.
They were strong but not as strong as Lailah Alden, the wielder of Angel veena. When Lailah exited the cave, Johana and Nerita ran behind Lailah and stood close to her. Meanwhile, Megan stood beside Lailah as though she was Lailah's loyal guard.
"You haven't changed a bit," Lailah coldly said.
"I could say the same to you," said Nobert as the youngster stood there mesmerized by Lailah's beauty. His eyes sparkled with his heartbeat rapidly rising. Anyone could tell the young man was madly in love with Lailah. Unfortunately, the feeling wasn't mutual at all.
"Why are you here?" Lailah completely ignored the young man and coldly asked her father.
"Does a father need a reason to see his daughter?" Nobert answered Lailah's question with another question.
"We both know that doesn't apply to you," Lailah snickered.
For a few moments, Nobert didn't utter a single word. Silence fell over them. Megan felt extremely uncomfortable and furious when she noticed how the youngster was staring at her teacher.
"We should talk alone," Nobert said and threw a glance with disdain at Lailah's disciples.
"Whatever you want to talk to me, you have two minutes," said Lailah. Granted, Lailah was not very talkative and friendly, but she seemed colder toward her father. If one had a good perception, they could see the anger and contempt in Lailah's eyes. It was a clear indication of the hostility she had toward her father. Ever since Lailah's mother died in a mysterious accident, Lailah hated Nobert to the core. Although there was no evidence to prove it wasn't an accident, Lailah had reasons to believe Nobert actually orchestrated her mother's death so he could marry another woman. Nobert pretended to have his heart broken by his first wife's death. Yet, he married another woman within a month and had a baby girl named Edith the next month. In other words, Nobert was with another woman while Lailah's mother was still alive.
Lailah suspected that her mother found out Nobert was cheating on her, and when she confronted him, he killed her as in the Alden family, there was a strict rule against marrying another woman when one's spouse was still alive. Furthermore, Lailah had seen bruises and swelling in her mother's body. Lailah didn't believe her mother's story about how she fell off the steps or fought with a boar when they went hunting. If Lailah hadn't made a promise to her mother that she wouldn't hurt Nobert, he would have been six feet under the moment Lailah suspected he was beating her mother. Nobert was really lucky that Lailah hadn't broken the promise even after her mother died.
Nobert gritted his teeth as Lailah saw the glimpse of the beast hiding within him. She could tell he wanted to raise his hand and beat her, just like how she beat her mother. The only reason why he held back was unlike her mother, she wasn't weak.
"Very well," Nober exhaled and looked her in the eyes.
"I gave my word to young master Eratos here that I would marry you to him," As soon as these words escaped Nobert's mouth, Lailah's anger exploded like a raging volcano. The murderous aura radiated from Lailah made everyone tremble. She was shivering as her eyes turned blood red. The sheer guts it took her father to say this to her face…she was mad beyond limits.
Nobert held his ground without showing any signs of fear.
"Lailah," Eratos took a step forward with a gentle smile. She slowly turned her murderous gaze away from her father to Eratos.
"I have been in love with you since the moment I laid my eyes on you. You are the only woman who stole my heart Lailah. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Lailah Alden, please marry me," Eratos dropped to one knee, flicked his wrist as a diamond ring appeared in his hand, and extended it toward Lailah.
"You have three seconds to leave before I rip you all to shreds," Eratos and the others were stunned by Lailah's words. The guards who accompanied Nobert, actually expected Lailah to accept Eratos's proposal because they saw no reason why she would reject it. They became speechless when they saw the pure anger and killing intent in her eyes.
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