"It\'s going to start raining soon," Cassandra said as a cold breeze drifted towards her. She touched her hair that was tightly braided, before sighing. The sound of birds around them was the only thing that she could hear aside from their footsteps before she decided to say something.

She thought this man would somehow start talking about something if she kept quiet. Unfortunately, the prince wasn\'t planning on talking to her either. Maybe her silence gave him some sort of relief. She lifted her head and tried to peek through the canopy of leaves that covered them from the sun.

Just as she thought, it was starting to get dark.

"Stop walking…" Prince Hunter said. She complied and turned towards the man walking next to her.

"What\'s wrong?"

"I know you can use fire elements, but using fire right now could attract more demons. How good are you with swords?"

"Not as good as you." She already saw the man defeat Carmichael. And her swordsmanship skills are inferior to her brother\'s. "Why?" she asked, frowning.

"A demon is coming our way…"

"A demon? Not a— "she didn\'t continue talking when she heard a howl. At first, it sounded like a wolf\'s howl. However, if one would listen carefully, the sound was deeper. Before Hunter could make a move, she immediately held his arm and signaled him not to take another step.

Then she listened to the howl again.

This… This wasn\'t a howl of a demon. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of wet wood around them. She could hear the wind howling from the west, then a few branches breaking from the east.

Then she heard it again.

The howl was grief stricken and for some reason, it pierced her heart, making her tremble. Surely it wasn\'t a wolf. It was indeed a demon. But this one sounds different from the one that she had fought with Hunter weeks ago.

"What\'s wrong?"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard his question.

"I don\'t think it knows that we\'re here." She answered.

"Yes. So, we need to kill it before it notices us."

The word triggered another series of visions. She instantly closed her eyes before shaking her head. On the vision was a small demon. Compared to a normal demon\'s three-meter to five-meter height, this one looked like a dwarf.

But… demons don\'t procreate, right? Surely this wasn\'t a child demon?

"No, I want to see the demon," she said in a hoarse voice.

"What? Why the hell would you want to see it?"

It was only normal for him to ask such questions. After all, once the demon would know that they are close, it would surely attack them. But then again, the demon is already aware of the prince\'s smell, right?

"It\'s not a big demon… I can handle it using my spells."

"I just said not to use your fire here. It is destructive."

"Then you can kill it with your sword," she snapped. "I\'m sorry… I didn\'t mean to sound like—you know what? You can immediately kill it if it tries to approach us. I trust your skills."

Just as she expected, her words only created creases in between his brows. He wasn\'t that dumb to believe her \'trust\'. He lifted an eyebrow. "You said it wasn\'t a big one? How did you know?"

"I grew up at the gates, your highness. I have seen a few demons. I know how they sound." She lied. Sure, she had seen and heard a few demons, but this is her first time hearing something like this. "And the demon isn\'t moving. I know it howled because it can smell you. It knows that you have killed hundreds of its kind."

"Are you treating the demon, like some stray dog?" he asked in disbelief.

"Something like that…"

"You said it can\'t move? Did you think it fell into some traps?" Traps for demons exist, but they aren\'t designed to simply trap a demon but immediately kill them. Why trap someone that could potentially kill people in seconds? He sounded suspicious, but she doesn\'t care.

"I am just curious." The demon that she saw was only about a meter tall and it looked… human. Except, it had large red protruding eyes and large teeth with oozing saliva. Alright, maybe it doesn\'t look like some human but it looked different from the usual ones that she saw. "I will take full responsibility if something goes wrong."

"That\'s if you are still alive," he muttered before walking ahead of her. He looked the same while he was walking earlier, except she immediately noticed the absence of the sound of his footsteps.

It was as if he was floating. She looked down and stared at his boots. No, he wasn\'t floating, and she could clearly see him walking on the branches that littered the rocky pathway. But it wasn\'t making any sound.

He… He was just like a cat. A dangerous cat.

A spell. It should be a spell. Then it means the Prince can no longer use elements but can use spells? However, using spells and talismans takes a lot of time to master. Using a spell without chanting or using a talisman is always possible.

However, only the high-level spell caster can accomplish this.

She lifted her head and looked at the Prince\'s broad shoulders. He was walking ahead of her to defend her from the demon. Which she founds a bit absurd knowing she can always rely on her fire to burn things.

But she was still grateful. The Prince was actually right earlier. Her fire is indeed a bit too much. It could attract demons and monsters and even people. The Prince didn\'t want to attract anyone\'s attention right now.

As to why?

She doesn\'t know.

Maybe he was trying to murder her and bury her body somewhere remote. Either way, her vision is not showing her anything about this man\'s plans.

"Hey—"she was about to ask him something when she saw him raised his hand and closing it into a tight fist. He wanted her to stay silent.

And she immediately knew why.

....

Took a while to update sorry. I am just busy right now. Also, I created a promotional webtoon for The Villain\'s Wife. I am planning to create one for Hustler\'s bride with better quality art. I will update soon.

Here is the link for webtoon: https://bit.ly/3eh2qY