Cynthia stood next to the Lord and ordered to their men from the side while waiting for the Churchmen's arrival. The black Raven flew across the sky and gawked as he took a seat on Ian's shoulder. When the carriage of the Churchmen arrived, the two members, Kyle and Oliver walked down to show smell the stinking fragrance of blood. 

Seeing Ian standing next to his female subordinate, Kyle greeted the Warine Lord. "Good evening, Lord Ian."

"Let's skip the formalities." Ian cut off and looked down at the body of the lifeless dark sorcerer. "Since when did the dark sorcerer arrive at Runalia?" 

"A month ago. It started from the Kulin Town, we have apprehended the dark sorcerer who destroyed the town but unfortunately, he didn't seem to be working alone." Kyle narrowed his eyes to the limbless body of the sorcerer. 

"Milord, our guards have said the estimated death of the townsfolk to be around two hundred. They have died mostly due to blood loss. And there is no survivor other than a teenage girl." Cynthia spoke in a volume that was enough for the two churchmen to hear. 

"No survivor? There should have been sorcerers to protect this town." Kyle spoke.

"Unfortunately they were not strong enough to defeat the mythical beast." Cynthia toneless words struck something in their mind. The sorcerers that protect the town weren't in any way weak instead are one of the strongest sorcerers that the Lord of Runalia hired. To be defeated in complete annihilation, the mythical beast they spoke of must be a very frightening and powerful beast.

"This mythical best you spoke of is-" 

"Leocrucota." Cynthia filled the blank on Kyle's question. Their faces switched to a shocked one to hear the rare magical beast to be summoned in the town. Their enemy the dark sorcerer was far stronger than what they imagined. Clearly they had underestimated their opponent excessively. 

"The reason for this massacre, I guess you two know it very well." Ian received a silent reply and took it as a confirmation. "As this isn't my Land, I will be doing nothing here. Relay the message to the Lord of the Land, I'll be returning first." Ian stated and walked toward his carriage.

Seeing him leaving, the Hunter Oliver smelled s fragrance wafting as the Lord passes and murmured to Kyle. "The sweet child. The Lord has the scent of the sweet child on him." 

Kyle gave a deep sigh, he could feel his head swollen from the matter. "She's not a child anymore, we can't do anything even if she follows him unless she is taken without her own will. Tell everyone to search for trails if there's anyone alive and collect the corpses until their family comes to take them. I will be going to pass the matter to the elders of the Church." 

"Yes sire, please have a safe journey." Oliver bowed and moved on to order his fellow subordinates.

Inside the narrow carriage, Elise sat across Ian looking at the view outside from the window. Her face was pale like a paper and her heart kept on feeling painful like a needle pricking her heart slowly. 

Aryl was happy that Elise could see her again after nine years but the timing was too far off and she couldn't do anything but glare at the demon who quietly leaned his head to stare at the little girl who had grown beautifully. To think that she was small as a newborn pup, he thought and felt the heating glare from the Aryl. 

"The massacre," Ian spoke trying to veer Elise's mind from the image of her family. 

She turned her face from the window, her eyes still had a hazy filter upon it as she asked, "Yes?"

"It was done by the dark sorcerer." He explained and heard Aryl snorted to curse him for being unable to form any other conversation. Elise asked herself in question and remembered the conversation her uncle was having at the dining room. 

"They summoned the magical beast to the town? For what reason?" She can't understand why the dark sorcerers had to kill innocent people. They were living beings, people with a house, a family, and a soul. And yet they killed people without a single hesitation. 

"They want to take down the human's land and create land for their own." His words brought hatred to Elise's heart. Only for a place where they could build their own place they have to kill her family. How despicable. 

The grip hovering upon her skirt clenched and a bead of tears drooping off from her blue eyes. Hearing the harsh sobbings, Ian faced up to see her holding back her cries by hitting to her lips. He stepped a little forward to sit next to her and brought her head gently to his shoulder. "You can cry, don't hold yourself back. It's alright. Sorrow isn't something for anyone to hold back." 

The gentle words broke the last layer to her tears. She buried her face on his shoulder letting out the grieve to the people who have died. 

As Elise would be staying until her family will be buried in the local cemetery of the town, Ian ordered the coachman that they would be staying at the summer house that Ian has in Runalia. When the carriage arrived, Elise walked down from the carriage a little shy after bawling her eyes out. To her Master Ian was gentle. Although at the surface he did not offer a lot of words in it, his silence was the gentleness that she needed at the moment and of course, Ian himself knew this and thus act the way he did now.

Cynthia jumped off nimbly from the seat beside the coachman and stood beside to greet Elise. "Oh my, your eyes are very swollen. I'm very sorry for your loss. Do you remember who I am?" 

"Yes, Cy." Elise gave a grateful bow but was stopped by Cynthia instantly. 

"Prepare the room beside mine for her to stay, Cynthia." Ian director briefly and walked inside the house with the Raven that sat on the roof of the carriage the whole time flying beside him to take a rest. 

Elise wanted to say thank you to him, but she wasn't able to do so as his steps were too quick for her to follow. Cynthia led her to the room, it wasn't exactly the exact splendor like White's Mansion had but nevertheless it was a luxury for Elise. But to Elise's the largeness of the room made her uncomfortable as she had just gone through to a very hard moment. After taking a bath and soaking at the warm water in the bathtub, Elise walked out with the nightgown that was prepared by the servant of the Summer House and took a seat beside the bed to blow the candles beside her. 

She stood silently, looking at the window that reflected the night sky and felt her heart hollowing. The losses made her heart to become empty with nothing but sadness. 

Her kind father, her strict yet gentle mother, her adorable little brother, her warm-hearted aunt, her soon to be born daughter, and her friendly uncle. 

Everyone had passed away, leaving her alone in the world.

The reality hit her when she realized she could never hear their voices calling her name again. Her heart felt painful as though an invisible dagger stabbed her. She curled her body, hugging her knees under the quilt to sleep with tears dripping from the corner of her eyes. 

"Have she slept?" Cynthia walked with a glass of water from the dining room and asked when she saw Austin in his human form. "Finally she just slept. I think she cried to her sleep." 

"We can't blame her, she had just lost her family, after all to those damned dark sorcerers." As she replied, she remembered the heartbreaking expression that Elise had and tightened her palm to feel the glass on her hand broke into shattering pieces. 

Austin sighed he took another cup of water from the jar and poured it over Cynthia's hand that was bleeding to heal her wound. Being half mermaid and half-human a marriage of mythical beings and human which was forbidden to many people, she was able to manipulate water to her use and heal her body. It had been almost a decade after her family was brutally murdered by the magical beast that the dark sorcerers sent. She knew very well how damning it felt to know that your family was killed for the sake of nothing but land for themself. 

"Calm down." Austin cooed. "It has always been your habit of letting your anger over to your head. You've been busy, take an early rest tonight."

Cynthia stared at her palm and shook her head. "I will, later." She paused, "I don't  think I can sleep now." A sigh slipped out from her lips involuntarily. 

Austin didn't say much to his fellow friend. "I will be returning first. Don't stay up too late."