Chapter 22

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What Adrian didn't notice however, was that one of the men had returned & had sneaked up behind him.

He raised his huge axe and slashed downwards on his back.

[Look Out!!]

Adrian was suddenly pushed out of the way, as a young man of about 14 years of age took his place, trying to save him.

[KUUUH!!]

[AAAAHHH!!!]

*SQUELCHH* *KLANGG*

By the time Adrian turned around, he became speechless.

A young man's body lay on the street as it was cleaved into two distinct pieces.

Blood continued to flow out of it, as the man started to choke on his own blood.

Soon, his body stopped moving & became lifeless.

The attacker, realizing his blunder, quickly escaped amidst the crowd.

Adrian's eyes were stuck to his face however, since he knew this young man.

[LEAF!!]

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Adrian quickly crouched beside the young man & tried to call his name again. But the young boy had already departed the world.

A million thoughts raced Adrian's mind.

He never could have imagined that the young boy that he saved yesterday, would give up his life trying to save him.

Adrian also realized his naivety, leaving his back defenseless like that.

He could have legitimately died right there.

Adrian tried to find a way to save him, but it was all fruitless.

After all, Adrian knew no way of bringing dead back to life.

Sadness and guilt overcame him as he picked up the lifeless body & started to walk away.

By the time Drone came over, Adrian had already disappeared from there.

After enquiring about the situation, Drone became extremely worried.

[I must inform Young Master quickly!]

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Adrian walked aimlessly. He was feeling very regretful at this moment.

The young man was born extremely handsome & could have lived a very happy life, had he not made such a decision.

However, if he didn't do so, then the one laying dead would have been him.

The young man paid the price for keeping Adrian alive with his own life.

He felt as if he had lost a kin himself.

His feet unknowingly stopped at the house at the end of the village.

Adrian looked at the door as Rose's crying & relieved face from yesterday came to his mind.

He couldn't gather enough guts to tell the little girl the truth.

His palms felt sweaty and his body felt like lead.

In the end, Adrian gritted his teeth and moved towards the door.

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The door was unlocked and quickly opened up.

Adrian found Rose sitting at a mat, as she munched on a bread.

Upon hearing the door opening, Rose turned towards the door.

[Eh... B-Brother?.. Brother?!]

She quickly jumped on her feet and approached Leaf's body in Adrian's arms.

[Uwaaahhhh!! Brother!! Wake up! Brother!!]

Adrian placed Leaf's body down and stepped back. He couldn't meet Rose's horrified eyes at all.

He looked at the ground in shame. His naivety caused Rose to lose her only brother.

[Brother! What happened?!! Please! Answer me!! Brother!!!!...]

Rose quickly hugged her brother's body and felt it's cold temperature.

It was not her first time handling a dead body, hence she soon came to a terrifying realization.

[My brother... he is gone.. HE IS GONE!!!...]

Rose started crying heavily on Leaf's body as she kept calling out to her brother.

Adrian meanwhile, could only wait in silence for the girl to calm down.

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Even after 3 hours, Rose kept crying, even as her voice turned hoarse.

Adrian knew he had already ruined this family. He had ruined this young man's life too.

He didn't want to be the cause of Rose's ruin too.

Adrian stepped forward and hugged Rose's head as he spoke,

[Little Rose, your brother... he's gone. We must give him a proper burial. Please control yourself... If your brother's spirit saw you like this, he would become very sad..]

Upon hearing this, Rose stood up and tried to wipe her tears from her face with her sleeves.

But the tears kept falling continuously and her eyes had turned red.

She approached Adrian and asked,

[Big brother... how did brother die?.. Who killed him?..]

Looking at how Rose couldn't even raise her face to ask him directly, Adrian decided to tell her the truth.

[He... he died while saving me. Someone was going to kill me, but your brother interrupted. I was saved, but...]

He couldn't complete the sentence anymore as his throat became choked.

Never before had anyone did something like this for him.

Never before had his life ever mattered this much to anyone.

Never had he met people with such pure intentions.

He had always been surrounded by ruthless & exploitive people before, who just wanted other's misery and could even swallow someone whole.

Adrian had to change himself, since he had no one else to depend on.

He had become an orphan in the past, just like Rose today.

He had learnt the lessons of life the hard way.

However, he didn't want Rose to experience such hardships alone.

(...Her brother was lost due to me, now I must become her family in the truest sense...)

He held Rose's hand as he dug a grave beside the house.

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It was evening by the time Adrian finished all the preparations.

After burying Leaf's lifeless body, Adrian placed a big stone to mark his grave & prayed for his afterlife journey.

He clapped his hands in front of Leaf's grave & said,

[Don't worry Leaf. I know that I am not very competent, neither am I a very good person.]

[But I will protect Rose in your stead. You can rest assured that she would not suffer under me. Please, forgive me.. & move on.]

[Do not linger around... You must start a new journey & try to attain happiness. If not for yourself, but for Rose, you must.]

[Farewell, Leaf.]

As Adrian stood up, he looked towards Rose, who was standing quietly at one side.

He approached her and sat down, while looking at her in eye level,

[Come with me, Rose. I will take care of you from now on. Brother Adrian will do his best... Let's go.]

Rose looked up towards Adrian. Her fists were balled up as a weird darkness lingered within her eyes.

[Big brother, will you help me take revenge for brother Leaf?..]

Adrian knew that Rose needed a reason to keep living. Something that could keep her going.

He smiled a little at Rose & said,

[Yes, we will definitely punish those who caused you to suffer.]

Rose nodded and grabbed Adrian's sleeve.

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Adrian went inside her house one final time & picked up all the luggage that belonged to Rose,

[Big brother... can I bring brother Leaf's things too?..]

Adrian looked at Rose holding a bundle of clothes and some other things within her arms.

[Of course. Let's bring back everything that you want.]

And so Adrian helped Rose pack up everything that she wanted. He bundled up everything & carried it on his back.

His hands held the little fingers of Rose as they went towards the Inn together.

Adrian failed to notice little Rose, as she looked in the direction of her brother's grave & quietly muttered,

[I will avenge you brother...]

Her eyes looked desolate as she turned and went along with Adrian.

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Chapter 22 End