Chapter 326: Forest Of Loop-III

A/N: This is two chapters in one hence the very high coin price *3*~

Ian helped her to walk down from the carriage. Feeling his warmth had Elise to feel her cheeks hotter. She was about to take another step down when instead she fell forward. Elise closed her eyes, expecting the fall only to feel she had fallen to a taut flesh which was warmth and brimming with strength. Opening her eyes, her lips was only a thread away from Ian's and he pulled a smirk. "I can have you fall on me every day and every seconds without feeling bored."

"That won't sounds great," whispered Elise and she heard him chuckling in a joy that had her to smile. "What would you do if I fall every second? It would be taxing for you to catch me every time."

"How would it be taxing when I only feel happiness when you fall on me?" Ian asked her and held her by her waist. Elise felt how her body was suddenly pulled high and placed down on the ground as if she had twirled in the air. "Don't you trust me that I will catch you every time you fall?"

Elise looked at his eyes and she nodded, "I trust you." she knew he would always catch her even if she had fallen from the sky. She wondered why Ian was a Demon. Was it because he often kill people without remorse? But it was only to her who knew that his heart was pure white. He was a kind Demon, the kindest and most humane than a human themselves because she had seen humans who were worse than Demon.

Beelzebub cleared his throat as if to notify them he had not left the scene yet and to stop them in case they start to make out. "Where are we?" asked Beelzebub to the human coachman.

"Emminton Town," said Elise as her eyes fell on a small signpost written with a cursive writing of the name of the town. The three of them looked at each other.

Ian begun to walk and Beelzebub raised his brows, "You're going?" he asked because the town was filled with fishiness. How could it not when their carriage had been running in circle only for a single town to be there.

Elise also wondered if it was a wise decision to go there but then the key to escape from the loop was to go to the town, she thought and heard Ian beside her said, "Why not? They have greeted us with a very warm welcome, it's time for I, the Lord to repay them with my deepest gratitude. Elise, you can hold to my hands if you are scared."

"I'm not scared," Elise responded but her hands slipped to his palm and noticing his grin she gingerly whispered, "But I want to hold your hands."

"My sweet bride, don't get too adorable now," Ian warned her with a flickered of blaze in his eyes. "Whenever you keep seducing me like this, it's getting harder for me to be patient."

"I wasn't seducing you," replied Elise as they started to walk away from the path, leaving the carriage and Frank toward the town.

"Yes you are not aware of it but that has always been the effect you have to me," Ian responded and he rubbed his thumb on her lower lips that had looked dewy to his eyes that beckoned his teeth to take a nibble on it, "But our marriage would be hold soon. The preparation is all we need." Elise smiled at his words. Like how Ian look forward for their marriage, she was also eager for their marriage that would happen near future. "Well look at that we are welcomed, aren't we?" asked Ian, tipping his chin to the town. 

Elise shifted her eyes to the town and her eyes fell on the lights that suddenly brightened from it. Earlier when they had first spotted the town, the place had been dark  but when they arrived at the place, all lights suddenly lighted up brightly. Though there were no voices of people, something about the air cause it to make Elise to feel crowded with the lights that glowed one after another inside the houses.

This was odd to Elise if the town had been attacked by dark sorcerers and that they had taken the town under their capture, there should be no light in the houses as the house's was emptied by the townsfolk and yet it feels as if there were still people in here only with the present of voices. 

"There doesn't seem to be any sign of fight here either," said Beelzebub when they walked pass the town's gate. "What a strange case. It feels like a ghost town. There are presence of people yet they feel like the dead's."

Elise looked around and also noticed the same. The place was gravely silent like how a town would usually be when the Sun have gone down except it turn eerie because she can't hear any sound of owls hooting or the sound of the wind. To her the place was too eerie as if a ghost would popped out of nowhere.

"And yet the deads are breathing and moving. Looking around, there seems to be more people than we expected," commented Ian when they passed by a house and through the curtain, they saw shadows of people for a faint moment before it disappeared. "The magistrate place should be around the corner."

"Usually the largest house belong to the magistrate." informed Elise and they walked toward the largest house they could find. As they walk, Elise peeked a little toward the window of a house where there was no light, but it was covered by a curtain which make it hard for her to see what happened inside the house.

"It's odd, usually there should be someone waiting in the gate of the village." said Elise when she looked down on the ground and thought it was weird. All the way they walked toward the village the path was muddy, it may be winter at the time now but the place felt too dry. There were cracks in the ground that made it looks as if it was summer.

"However, there are sign people are still inside the houses." and he could hear all their heartbeats in separate places in the houses.

Elise and Ian reached the largest house in the village where the roof of the house were colored in red and he knocked thrice until he hear a footsteps sound and moved back for a man to open the door.

"What may I help you with, Miss and Sir Vampire?" asked the man, his body was skinny to the point where his clothes he wore looked baggy, Elise could see he looked tired and when the lights hanged outside his house hit his face, it showed the heavy dark color under his eyes to confirm her thought. 

The magistrate seemed to identify Ian by his red eyes, thinking that only vampires would have the same bloody colored eyes that made her wonder whether the man didn't know it was the Lord of the Land he was currently speaking to. However, it was also rare for villagers like her or the magistrate to have the opportunity to see the Lord's face that it wasn't odd for them not to know who Ian was.

"Are you the magistrate?" asked Ian for his confirmation and the man gave a nod.

"I am. What may I help you with?" the magistrate repeated his question in a passive manner as if he had learned only a single sentence in his live.

"Our carriage broke down a little over the road in that way," pointed Ian to the path where their carriage was attacked at. "We hope to find if there is anyone who could help us or perhaps if you knows how to leave the place." he spoke in little politeness.

"Carriage? We don't have anyone unfortunately. You two should have waited in the path until any carriage come across." the magistrate added, a spiteful or perhaps a sullen expression came across his face. "But we do have an inn for travelers to stay. I can show you the way if you needed to."

Elise found the structure of his words to be weird. She looked across her shoulders to feel that someone had been looking at her from the window and turned her face when a shadow moved behind the window of the house paralleled to the magistrate's house. The people doesn't seemed to be asleep with all the lanterns being lighted. It was quiet but there was a feeling that the place was crowded at the same time. 

"That should do." replied Ian. Elise looked at him confused, were they not trying to find the people who had attacked their carriage? But why did he agreed to take a rest in the inn? But she felt it wasn't something she should ask now and kept quiet. 

The magistrate went out of his house without locking the doors and took one lantern with him to usher Ian and Elise toward the inn. Beelzebub who had stayed quiet walked behind the man yet the magistrate didn't seemed bother by how close Beelzebub had stood behind him.

"He seems like a dead person," said Beelzebub when he pushed his finger to the magistrate's face. Only that did the man twist his neck to look at Beelzebub with a frown. Beelzebub only raised an eyebrow before walking near Elise and Ian.

"Can't you ask him question, Beel?" asked Ian and Beelzebub bring his head to a nod.

"What should I ask him?"

"You can ask him later," Ian said and Elise wondered how there would be a difference in Ian asking him and Beelzebub? As they walked, Elise found a well which was made up by bricks that was stacked one over the others with a wooden ceiling to cover the top part of the well. When they passed by the well, her blue eyes strained to see that there was barely water kept inside the well. Not only was the ground they walked on was patched and cracked, the water in the well had dried out as if a harsh Summer had arrived in the village when it was Winter at the time. 

"You both are married, right?" come the magistrate's voice that surprised Elise.

"Yes we are married, she is my wife." Ian proclaimed that took Elise's eyes away from the well to meet his bright red eyes. Her heart jumped out of its cage from his casual words to declared that they were married. Ian pulled a wide grin at how adorable his bride looked at him with wide eyes and her cheeks flushed red. She had been wearing her heart on her sleeves that every littlest emotions she felt could be easily read by him. But it was what being beside her felt enjoyable to him.

"I thought so," murmured the magistrate, eyes dully looking across the houses when he come to a stop and whispered to himself, "Where was the inn again?"

Elise lifted her brows at the man monologue question. The man may looked old around the age of thirty but she doubted he would be demented to forget the houses of the village he was assigned to.

"Do you forgot where the inn was, sir?" Elise queried to see the man nod once.

"It's getting recent that I forgot some stuff or things but don't worry I will usually remember it by a minute or two. Age miss often make us forget things." but not to that extent, thought Elise. "There." then the magistrate pointed his hand to the the led side of the path.

"I recalled that the Lord of the land has declared an edict for each village to have a guard but I see no one standing near the village's gate." asked Ian, his eyes studying the expression the magistrate was making and he found that his expression was hollow.

"They supposed to be there. Perhaps there was a mishap between the guards." murmured the magistrate, he led them again and Ian slowed his pace matching his footsteps with Elise beside him. 

Seeing Ian getting closer, she averted her eyes from admiring him and whispered, "There was no water on the well and I see no kennels for the poultry or livestocks of the village. It is winter and there should have been enough livestock hunt and kept by the villagers for them to go through Winter."

"Did you see anything else such as ghost or faeries?" Ian questioned she looked at him and shook her head.

"Nothing." And once Ian had questioned her, she realized how off it was for her not to see any ghosts or faeries. It was dark at night and the village was in between a dark forest where ghosts often linger at but Elise saw nothing. The days where she was with Ian, she rarely saw ghosts but it doesn't meant she saw none like tonight.

Breeze falling to her back and she felt a chill at the night but it wasn't out of coldness that she shivered, it was the atmosphere that thickened with eerie. The magistrate stopped at the inn, letting them to entered the place first he then left without words, Ian signaled Beelzebub with his gaze and the blonde-haired Demon left after giving a nod. Noticing it Elise wanted to question but decided not to and rather wait for the result. 

Entering the inn, they rang the bell on the counter for a young man to come out from the counter in a hurry.

The young man had a bright curly hair which as cut short but abundantly grew haphazardly over his forehead. Seeing the two guests he didn't only look joyful at them but a burst of relieve beamed to his face. "Good Lord! Are you two stuck in here too?" the young man instantly questioned the two and on the question both Ian and Elise raised their brows.