Within a spacious, dimly lit bedroom, a form wrapped in the covers of a white duvet fidgeted restlessly, the fabric tainted by telltale bloodstains.
A gravelly voice emitted from beneath the enshrouding layers, a murmur in the obscurity.
"Adonis, Adonis, Adonis, Adonis, Adonis." Envisioning the boy's gentle visage, Quin repeated his name.
'I'll kill that mongrel. '
"ARRRRHHHHH!"
***
Unaware of the fact that he had unwittingly acquired both an admirer and a sworn enemy, Adonis let out a sneeze amidst his fervent vertical slashes with a wooden sword.
SLASH
With each stroke, resonating whistle accompanied the motion, and his hair would dance in tandem, lifted by the force behind his movements.
{Again!}
For nearly three years, Adonis dedicated himself to honing a single sword technique, alongside mastering basic hand-to-hand combat and the fundamentals of swordsmanship.
During this span, the youth had attained the capability to manifest both Earthly and Wicked Aura. He exhibited heightened adeptness with the latter, being able to envelop a weapon in Earthly Aura for a mere fraction of a second and Wicked Aura for half a second.
While this achievement might warrant commendation by human standards, it fell considerably short of the expectations held by the deity within him.
{Again! Again! Again!}
***
After swinging his sword more than one thousand times, Adonis finally lay down on the soft grass to stare at the setting sun.
{You know he will be back right?}
"..."
{Oizys, it doesn't matter what you want to happen. Someone will die soon, either you or him.}
***
The boy spent his days doing his same routine, but this time he changed both his travel route and his preferred eating venues; in an attempt to avoid the vengeful knight.
A few weeks after the bar incident, the day of Naomi and Quin's wedding finally came.
The venue chosen for the occasion was a temple dedicated to the Roman Goddess Juno.
Within its hallowed space, lush vegetation and vines adorned the walls, while the unblemished, pure white marble floor radiated elegance.
Seats fashioned from sturdy, light brown wood were strategically arranged, divided by an aisle adorned with rose petals that led to an elevated platform.
Upon that platform stood Quin, clad in traditional Roman matrimonial attire. His ensemble comprised a knee-length, white Chilton and a crimson toga cascading gracefully over his shoulder. His feet were shod in leather sandals that encased his ankles.
Beside the young knight, the officiating priest took his place, ready to oversee the ceremony.
A band stationed in a corner of the temple filled the air with joyful strains from an assortment of Roman instruments.
Despite the festive atmosphere that pervaded the temple, an incongruous element marred the perfection.
Seating intended for the bride's family remained vacant, save for a solitary child.
Arrayed in traditional Roman clothing, he wore a deep purple toga, accompanied by a golden necklace. A white turban crowned his head, an unorthodox choice that concealed his hair from view. Wrapped snugly around his right middle finger was a simple silver ring engraved with an enigmatic design.
With gentle silver eyes and porcelain skin that seemed to emit its own luminance, the boy's countenance diverged markedly from the general air of merriment. His expression bore an undertone of sorrow, tinged with regret.
Before the groom could discern the boy's gaze, he shifted his attention to the groom's family, encompassing around 50 attendees. Seated at the forefront was the Count, his visage registering a distinct lack of interest.
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Adjacent to the Count were three young men, each bearing a discernible resemblance to him. These were the Rupert Quintuplets—Nova, Octavius, and Paeon. Marceline, the eldest among them, had abstained from attending the ceremony, a decision grounded in ethical concerns.
Situated beside Paeon was Quintina, who fixated her gaze on the priest's ornate headwear.
Upon Adonis' gaze alighting upon her, she abruptly redirected her attention, narrowing her eyes.
'She's scary...' Her gesture induced an involuntary shudder of trepidation within him.
Before anything more could happen, the bells calling for the bride sounded.
DONG DONG DONG
Those seconds went by really slowly at first, till they turned into a single minute.
Then from there, the minutes began to pile on until it became 30 minutes, that's when everyone's patience began to waver.
{Looks like she's not coming. I wouldn't either, kukukuku.}
'Something's off.'
{Shouldn't you be happy? This means less work for you.}
'Let's hope so.' The boy sighed as he stuck his head out into the aisle looking for any sign of the teenage girl.
After 45 minutes there was still no sign of Naomi, and the knight in training's patience had run dry. His face was bright red with both embarrassment and anger and he decided to simply storm off.
Many members of the Rupert Family gasped as they watched the young man storm off muttering multiple things under his breath.
The Priest had tried to stop him and give him some comforting words but he simply smacked away his hand in his temper tantrum.
The silence was then cut by the giggling of a young girl as she watched her older brother storm off.
"Hehehe...He's been stood up!"
Adonis waited another 20 minutes before he followed the knight to prevent any kind of suspicion.
***
As the anticipation for Naomi's appearance built among the attendees, an unexpected scene unfolded within a quaint cottage situated in the city's residential district.
Within the unpretentious abode resided a teenage girl, attired in an extended white Chilton. A crimson toga draped gracefully over her form, while a garland of blossoms adorned her brow in the semblance of a crown.
"I'm going to be late!"
As the girl was heading towards the door a slightly larger hand gripped her dainty forearm.
"I forbid you from going." Naomi's mother declared, her gaze fixed upon her sole daughter with an amalgamation of sympathy and sorrow.
"But mother, I want to marry him," Naomi said as she smiled sweetly at her concerned mother.
"Naomi, you're lying. Just because he's a noble, it doesn't mean he can just push you around freely."
"Mother, I'm doing this of my own accord." Glaring at her mother, Naomi snatched her arm away.
"I'm leaving." Naomi headed for the door, determined to push her mother to the sighed if need be.
"I know. I know about what happened at the bank with that child." Watching her daughter approach the door, Naomi's mother suppressed a sob.
Hearing her mother's words, Naomi froze.
"I... I couldn't just let him kill an innocent child." Gripping the handle weakly, Naomi muttered softly.
"Not because of my sake." She continued.
"You don't have to keep that promise anymore, Naomi. The kid is safe." Embracing her child from behind, Naomi's mother sniffed.
"You don't understand...Sir Quin is, insane." She said, pushing her mother away.
***
The standoff persisted for half an hour, marked by fervent arguments and impassioned debates.
The girl, motivated by a sense of duty to honour her commitment, locked horns with her mother, driven by an ardent desire to safeguard her daughter who had considerable potential.
BOOM
The clash of words between the single mother and her daughter was abruptly silenced by a cacophonous crash—the door being violently torn from its hinges.
The door hurtled across the room, commanding the immediate attention of Naomi and her mother. Their gaze converged upon the source of the jarring intrusion.
And there stood Quin Rupert, attired in his wedding garb, his countenance contorted with unbridled fury.
"You commoners are becoming extremely bold these days! How dare you!"
The knight approached the frightened woman as he stretched his thick arm out to grab Naomi.
"Come on Naomi, you're coming with me. Whether you want to or not!"
Moving with haste, Naomi's mother stood in between the two, a crude attempt at defending her helpless daughter from the forceful knight.
"Over my dead body!"
"Very well then. "
In an explosive surge of his aura, the Novice knight's energy surged outward as he retracted his fist, coiling it like a spring.
In a fluid and swift manoeuvre, he relinquished the tautness in his muscles.
Quin's augmented fist shot forth propelled through the air with unwavering speed. It found its mark unerringly upon the vulnerable visage of the middle-aged woman. A bone-shattering collision ensued, obliterating the integrity of her skull upon impact.
SPLATTER
A grisly aftermath unfolded as a crimson deluge enveloped the room, drenching all present in the unfortunate woman's life essence.
A dreadfulmgrin adorned the countenance of her murderer, the act seemingly leaving him oddly jubilant.
Naomi's eyes dilated in shock, capturing the brutal and merciless demise of her solitary guardian.
In the wake of this ghastly sight, the floodgates of her emotions burst open.
Saline tears traced down her tender, rosy cheeks as a mournful cry escaped her lips.
She clung to the lifeless, headless form of her mother, the cruelty of the moment etched into her memory.
"Ahh!"
{Kukuku... I told you, you should've killed this vermin at the bar.} He chuckled in a condescending 'I told you so tone.'
A sombre expression etched across his features, Adonis loomed in the doorway, his gaze fixed upon the grim aftermath of the heinous murder.
"Quin..."