Chapter 195: Curse

"What happened?" Serena asked.

At this point, most of the soldiers had gathered around Hugh and looked at him with anxious eyes. They wanted to know what happened to Beru.

"It's okay," Hugh said. Immediately, everyone heaved a sigh of relief, including Serena. "He's on his way back now."

However, Serena noticed that Hugh's face still had a severe look. She guessed that something terrible had happened.

"Did we not get the assignment to search for Mia?" Serena asked.

The soldiers looked at Hugh with anxious eyes again. They also wanted to save Mia, but if they cannot go on the searching expedition, they would have no choice but to stay still.

"We got it," Hugh said.

Immediately, the soldiers started to congratulate Hugh and celebrate with each other. Now, they could move as a group and search for Mia without being suspicious.

However, Jane also noticed that Hugh's face was still serious. Hugh was still worried about something.

Serena put her hand on Hugh's shoulder and consoled him. Hugh looked up at Serena and immediately felt like he was comfortable.

Back then, he was distraught about being the new right-hand man of the commander. One wrong move, Beru could be killed in a second.

He would not know what happened to his soul if Beru died while he was in Beru's body.

Hugh subconsciously touched Serena's hand that was on his shoulder. For some reason, she was the one who had claimed him down.

He felt like her touch was the only thing that made him confident that everything would be fine.

Serena also felt the anxiousness of Hugh. For some reason, she could feel the nervousness and pain that Hugh was feeling.

It was like the two of them were connected. If either one of them were in trouble, they would both do everything in their power to save each other.

That was their current mindset. However, they did not know why they felt this way. They did not see that the red tattoo on their pinky finger was glowing.

This was the handiwork of the red string of fate. The fates are pushing Hugh and Serena closer to each other without their knowledge and consent.

Hugh realized that the soldiers' morale was at an all-time high, so he decided not to tell them the bad news. So, Hugh and Serena both walked out of the group and talked to each other.

After seeing that nobody else could hear them, Hugh and Serena sat and leaned on a tree. They both looked up at the crowns of leaves in the trees.

"He made me his right-hand man," Hugh uttered while looking up.

Serena immediately looked at Hugh with concern. She knew the implications of this upgrade, and Hugh would have to walk directly beside the commander.

"Why would he do that?" Serena asked with worried eyes.

Hugh only shrugged his head. He also did not know the reason as to why the commander would put a lowly platoon leader as his right-hand man.

"You shouldn't go," Serena uttered with a low voice as if she almost did not want to say it.

Hugh was silent after Serena said that. He also did not want to do it, but if he wanted to find Mia, he would have to go through some danger to do it.

"Can't we just go away?" Serena said as she moved closer to Hugh. "Why are we even going this far?"

Hugh was silent as he looked at Serena's eyes. For some reason, his logic seemed too persuasive. He started to doubt why he would go to such lengths to help a stranger.

"Can't we just leave and live a different life at some farm somewhere?" Serena said as she put her face closer to Hugh's.

Hugh could not help but look enchanted at her eyes. It was pulling him closer to hers. He was being persuaded. He also had this feeling that he wanted to retire at some remote farm away from the dangers.

The two of them were silent as they both looked at each other's eyes. Each second, they both moved closer and close to each other as if something was pulling them closer to each other.

They were only inches away from their lips touching each other. They could feel each other's breath and the warmth each of them was emanating.

Unbeknownst to them, the red string of fate had wrapped both of their bodies and pulled each other closer together. It was pulling them together and trying to fulfill destiny and repeat it all over again.

Just a few centimeters away, and they would kiss. However, this was no simple kiss. If their skin were to touch each other, it would set off a domino effect to solidify their fate.

*rustle*

Suddenly, the leaves from a nearby bush ruffled, signaling someone walking through it. In that split second, Hugh and Serena both woke up from that trance and flinched away from each other.

Both of them looked at the bush and saw Beru in his dog wolf form, looking at them with his head tilted to the side. They woke up thanks to Beru.

Hugh and Serena both looked at each other with their cheeks blushed. They could not believe what they had almost done.

They turned their heads away due to their embarrassment. They both stood up and walked away from each other with a sword aura.

They both walked each other's paths, and they both tried to avoid each other, but they ended up going the same way.

"I'll just stay here," Hugh uttered with his head looking down in embarrassment.

Serena immediately rushed out of the woods and back to the soldiers. They both could not stand the awkward atmosphere between them.

Once Serena was away, Hugh heaved a sigh of relief as he sat down on the ground. Then, he looked towards the red tattoo on his pinky.

He never knew that the curse was more substantial than he thought. He felt that he could try to suppress the fate, but he ended up almost fulfilling it.

It was a dangerous curse, and Hugh could not take it easy. He would have to avoid interacting with Serena alone, or who knows what would happen to them.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Beru called out to Hugh and snuggled on his feet.

Hugh smiled and petted Beru's head. Beru had done an excellent job in this mission, and they would not have succeeded if not for Beru's skills in copying a person.

"Good work, Beru!" Hugh said as Beru jumped up and down happily. Beru was happy that Hugh had complimented him.

Seeing the innocence of Beru, Hugh was feeling bad for making him stand through these risky situations. Maybe it would be best to abandon this mission and retire?

Hugh shook his head after that thought. It looked like the curse had an aftereffect on him. Now that Beru was back, Hugh had to make Beru go back and report to the commander.

"Beru, can you replicate the platoon leader again?" Hugh asked.

Then, Beru nodded his head confidently. Beru stood up on his hind legs as his whole body transformed and changed its molecular structure.

Soon enough, the platoon leader's face and whole body had shown themselves. However, Beru's innocent look was still e ident on the solution leader's face.

Hugh had a slight smile as he saw the platoon leader. How could he hate a guy who looked like Beru?

However, Beru's whole body started to deflate. His entire body looked like a balloon that had an air leak. Soon enough, Beru looked at the platoon leader's skin.

It was kind of disgusting to see this kind of skin. It looked like someone had I'm ripped off the platoon leader's face and used it as a costume.

"Ruff…," Beru shouted.

Hugh frowned. It looked like Beru could not hold on to the platoon leader's body for long after exhausting his energy. Hugh did not know what to do.

"Are you tired? Can you recover soon?" Hugh asked Beru.

Then, the platoon leader's skin shook his headpiece, signaling that he could not recover soon. Hugh was now in crisis mode.

If the platoon leader could not report to the commander soon, he would be investigated. Everyone would be affected by this if the other upper ranks saw the natural platoon leader locked up.

This cannot happen if they wanted to stick to their plan. Should they send in the natural platoon leader to the commander? No, the commander would immediately notice the difference.

There was also no doubt that the natural platoon leader would snitch to everyone. He could not be trusted. Then, how should Hugh solve this problem?

He had to think of something fast. Then, he looked down at the skin of the platoon leader. It looked like a costume.

Then, an idea came to his head. What if he became the platoon leader? What if he wore that costume and reported to the platoon leader?