''......''

A bet?

A wager to stake on?

That word lifted an eyebrow on Raven's face underneath the hood. She soundlessly laughed at this man, who had yet to introduce himself.

Damon.

He really did not take her seriously.

Well...that was understandable.

Even she would not take herself seriously. In the eyes of others, she was just a little girl barely at the age of ten.

Yes...just a little girl, incapable of doing anything but to depend on others.

A weak one at that.

That realization darkened Raven's gaze. A tinge of frustration could be detected. She couldn't wait for this body to grow up and she could return back to her former self...her former glory as chaos in this world.

''What do you propose?''

''Seems young lady has an understanding of a bet. Well then, that saves the effort of explaining the meaning of my words.''

''......'' Listening to those words, it was very much obvious to Raven that Damon was not taking her seriously at all. He seemed to have regarded her as someone unable to comprehend his words.

''We will battle, young lady. Given your size and age, I will be lenient on you as an adult. I don't bully children.''

His blunt final sentences made her lips twitch in irritation. Did this man had to rub in her face that she was nothing but a mere child?

If he knew who she was in her past life, then he would be the one on his knees begging for her forgiveness!

'How annoying...' She thought, her fingers twitching to rip out the tongue of this man.

''As for the stakes...if you win, then you'll do as you wanted with my brothel, young lady. But if I win...'' A pause came from Damon as his light blues flickered to the taller hooded figure. ''The noirus is mine.''

'So that's what you're after...' Raven understood the true meaning behind this sudden bet. 'You're after Kieran...my elite slave.' She thought, quite possessively.

Perhaps the mysterious lineage and skills of Kieran had attracted this sly man who wanted to steal him right under her nose. He wasn't even hiding his intent.

Someone that belonged to her rightfully.

Now Raven was a little vexed. How could she be calm when someone was eyeing her possession? As someone who had grown up with nothing, Raven was quite materialistic and very possessive.

Whatever was hers would remain hers and no one else.

'I'll have to teach you some manners....' Her eyes glinted in glee at the thought to teaching this arrogant man a lesson. She should also teach him not underestimate herself or anyone ever again.

Even if that person was bound to fail, it did not mean their life had ended for eternity. The same person could come back stronger and eventually be the winner.

Unless...

The bud was nipped before it could blossom.

How many times had she nipped a lot buds before they could blossom? Many times, particularly for her clients.

Had she ever felt guilty? Well...never.

However...from these assassination missions, she had learned never to underestimate anyone. Even if she openly dismissed them...that did not mean that she underestimated them from the bottom of her heart.

''Deal.'' Raven agreed, smirking to herself underneath hood. Hopefully this man does not regret ever messing with her.

Stolen story; please report.

''Well then...'' A second after agreement, Damon's cunning smile became an after image in her eyes. The airs on the nape of her neck suddenly stood erected. Her eyes flashed as she swiftly whipped her figure around, blocking the fierce blade that suddenly descended on herself.

*Clank*

The blade of her dagger clashed against the blade of his sword. Now was a battle of dominance, both struggling with their weapons, and the obvious winner was Damon.

His was taller, bigger and a lot stronger than her. When his sudden strike came, she was pushed backward...a little distance away from Kieran that was glaringly obvious.

This was something that Raven knew, and that was why she did not bother to struggle for dominance with her dagger. Rather she purposely slid down the blade of her dagger against the opposing blade, directly making a screeching sound.

This intent was to make Damon know that she was going to target any of his lower body.

Just as she wanted, Damon withdrew his sword going to block her blade coming for him on the lower side.

But...it was a trick.

A trick to make him lower his guard down, even if it was for a moment...a second, which was very useful to her.

*clank*

The small knife that she prepared to throw keenly stabbing directly into his shoulder was unfortunately blocked but that did not diminish Raven's spirit. Instead, the lips on her face began to stretch out wide.

Looks like Damon was not one to underestimate either. He was quick to catch on. She would give him that. But...she still had a lot on her sleeves, and she would use this opportunity to test out Damon a little, and also herself.

To see how far her training had changed this body.

''That was the first lesson for you...Damon...'' She pointed out, using Damon's momentary daze to put some distance between them. This way, she could analyze him very deeply.

On the side, Kieran and the courtesan stood on both sides of the old couch and watched the battle. Though their eyes glanced at each other every now and then, vigilantly and waiting for any of themselves to input in their masters' fight.

Meanwhile, Damon focused his eyes straightly at the figure much smaller and weaker than his built. Yet, he had almost been stabbed. A deadly intent aiming for his shoulder.

What a vicious mind.

'Who is she?' He questioned himself. Having gotten a glimpse of her features with his sudden attack, Damon caught the sight of brown hair and eyes. A very common feature especially among the commoners.

But...he did not believe that this young lady was a commoner. Her way of speech, and the way she carried herself against a grown man like himself.

Only nobles had that certain charisma.

As for which one, that was the mystery to him. There were some nobles with the common features of a commoner, but Damon had a feeling that she wasn't either from any of them.

Besides that...those nobles were mostly from the low status of the noble hierarchy. That also meant their wealth wasn't much.

The noirus was also a glaring evidence of her background. Given their history with the empire, the noirus kind were now sold as slaves. One noirus back then was more than a million gold coins. However, they were very rare to find.

They had been very popular as slaves, giving their unique skin colors and eyes. Their features had an irresistible charm unable to get rid of.

It had been many years since one had appeared after one of previous emperors' reigns. Right now, the people of the empire would have surely forgotten about their lineage.

All in all, for this young lady in his gaze to have a noirus on her side meant that she wasn't simple as she claimed to have been.

At the moment, Damon's entire countenance changed to a vigilant one. His gripped tightened around the handle of his sword.

Earlier he thought that a little girl couldn't be a threat to him. Her words were even funnier than the jokes he had heard in his life.

But...staring at her a distance away from him, her words did not seem to be a joke.

'I can't read her stance...again.' He pursed his lips. A moment ago, when the noirus was fighting with his courtesan, he had also been keeping a lookout for the little figure, trying to see if she would try anything funny.

But she didn't.

She stood on the same spot and watched the battle. He also felt her gaze a few times on himself, probably doing the same.

As a killer, his instincts were on high alert especially with strange people in the underground of his brothel. Unconsciously, he would also try read his opponents, and he did the same for the little figure.

That was when surprise came to him.

Surprise that he couldn't read a little figure much younger and weaker than herself. There was nothing for him to even read as her posture was erect without a flaw as though she wasn't capable of making any movement.

It was the same as now.

Nothing on her body gave away any weakness, and it was strange for a little girl to even be capable of that.

'Is she a swordsman?' Damon thought, then denied his guess. If she was, then he would have felt familiar energy, aura, from her body, as he was the same.

It was also unlikely for her to be a swordmaster since to become one, one must reach the highest rank of a swordsman, the Transcendent rank.

'Then what is she?'

What kind training did her family give to her to have this capability? What type of noble family was capable of physically training their young ladies?

The empire wasn't very much open to young ladies and other females including the commoners being trained the same way as men.

The highest a female could be in the empire, was a mage, and it was one of the most respectful statuses for a female.

Almost all noble families were of the same opinion as they all felt that females weren't to do the same work as men. There was only one family that was very much open to physically training their young ladies. The idea of what or what's not in the empire did not exist in the bizarre traditions of that noble family.

'Ah....' As though something just clicked in his head, realization dawned on Damon as he stared at the unmovable little figure.

The Langston family.