One hour earlier

“Your highness, are you sure we’re going the right way?” Aron finally mustered up the courage to ask Ezekiel who was leading the way.

They had been going around in circles for quite some time already. Few lights were seen now in the establishments, the streets had become much quieter as the citizens settled down for the night. The secretary waited for a violent response but he was being ignored by the Grand Duke.

‘Ah, thank goodness!’ Aron silently muttered.

The Archduke clicked his tongue and his black stallion halted. He looked around the almost identical rows of houses trying to find the ‘Tofi Macho Tavern,’ the name of that place that the messenger had written on the letter. He turned to his secretary who immediately straightened his back waiting for his order. “Give me the map.”

“Yes, my Lord.” He immediately handed the map to the Archduke’s outstretched hand.

Ezekiel wanted to curse when he saw the poorly drawn map. Whoever made this piece of shit better not appear in front of him. He crumpled the paper and tossed it.

“My Lord, that was the only copy of the map!” his subordinate wailed but he just proceeded to the next alley.

“We don’t need it,” he groaned briefly. Every passing moment irked him and his desire to destroy the town if ever they failed to locate that stupid place was building up.

“I never expected that Calsa will progress to this degree.” Aron faintly blurted admiring the modern structures of the city. But he could say the same with Levonne, the Northern territory.

Although the dukedom seemed to be at a disadvantage in terms of the economy since it was situated in the cold Arkaean region and its border was in constant conflict with Xivian country; Levonne remained prosperous. It was all thanks to his highness, the Archduke, who ruled in prowess and fairness. Aron sniffed, just feeling proud of his excellency. Nonetheless, it’s just the Archduke’s daunting intimidation and indifference that made it difficult to work with him without fearing for their lives.

Aron paused for a second when he noticed Ezekiel turned towards a dead-end street, not to mention it was dark and only one dim-lighted lamppost illuminated that alley. He called out, “My Lord! I don’t think that’s the right place. It’s a blank alley.”

But the Archduke kept going.

“I felt a strong energy in that building.” Ezekiel gazed in the direction of the building at the end of the street. The two maneuvered their horses and as they draw near it, they could see the sign more clearly. A sculpted owl and that ridiculous name... THE TOFI MACHO TAVERN.

Ah finally, there it was, the ludicrous pub.

Ezekiel stared down at the petite woman in his arm who looked rather terrified upon seeing him. It was a wonder why he impulsively grabbed her when he saw that she was about to stumble to the floor. He wasn’t good at interacting with people nor care about such trivial things; how much more a stranger at that. All his life, he was either on a battlefield overseeing thousands of dead bodies mounded on the bloody ground or busy with paperwork in his study room—running his Duchy.

He was all by himself and he preferred it that way. But right now, this woman easily distracted him with her lush green eyes looking straight at him. The soft strands of her long, wavy ash-green hair were brushing against his fingers, sending off an 'odd' feeling to his system. He felt displeased for some reason but strangely enough, he didn’t want to let go of her yet.

‘What’s with this tiny green cotton ball?’ He thought, knotting his forehead. In the corner of his eyes, he could see the shock on Aron’s face as if it was a bizarre occurrence seeing him holding a girl.

“Ahem—Hello, miss?” His secretary greeted the woman who was still in his arms. “Pardon our tardiness, we had a hard time finding this small place. I hope ‘the messenger’ would still consider us at this time?” Aron flashed his slick, friendly smile at the lady.

The crease in his forehead doubled as he stared at her in disbelief. “You...” He noticed her body trembled a bit and stiffened as soon as he opened his mouth. This woman seemed to be afraid of him. “Are you the infamous messenger?” He asked.

She just opened her mouth slightly but no answer came out, just pure horror in her beautiful upturned eyes. Ezekiel wanted to whine about the stupid map that they received but his words got caught as his gaze lingered on her invitingly dangerous supple, reddish lips.

‘What the heck is wrong with me today?' Ezekiel hissed on such nonsense thoughts of his! 'But this woman is quite unusual. I couldn’t sense her aura as normal people have.’

It seemed concealed by unfamiliar energy, a lot similar to witches but not exactly like the ones he usually encountered. It wasn’t malevolent like black magic, but something different... something he was unsure of. Even if he did not feel any malice at the moment, this woman was still under his suspicion.

‘Is she really 'the messenger'? This green cotton ball?’ Because it would explain a lot about the strange energy that he was sensing from her. He knew the messenger wasn’t just an ordinary person. He expected that much but not the appearance; he could mistake her for a delicate noble lady with astounding beauty. A low groan escaped his mouth, displeased at the thought that he just complimented her.

“Ahhh... Your Highness?” Aron called him. He cocked his head in his direction looking annoyed. “Maybe you should release the lady first? She looked uncomfortable. I mean, no offense my Lord! Your touch is the embodiment of the divine itself! Look at how she was making that face, trembling from... desire!” The last word sounded offensive.

He glared at his secretary who just looked away innocently. He closed his eyes briefly trying to keep his cool and finally let go of the lady who immediately stepped away from him as if he was carrying a deadly disease. He heard a faint “thank you” from her.

Well, the behavior of this woman was new to him. A few times back when he was forced to attend some social gatherings, the ladies would flock around him like butterflies thirsty for his attention which irritated him to the core. He knew that they were trying to get close to him because he was one of the eligible bachelors across the Arkaean Empire, and the enormous wealth and pure noble bloodline of the De Clarzus clan were enough for the other nobles and aristocrats to force their daughters in seducing him. Even sending out marriage proposals in Levonne.

They didn’t care about his reputation as the ‘Black Reaper’ who just killed thousands of people; a vicious murderer! They care more about his title and money. He disliked being the center of attention and so sick of dealing with these power-seeking patricians! He was so used to it that he mastered the art of rejection and hid from the public’s notorious eyes, thus, the people started calling him the ‘Elusive Archduke of Levonne.’

A game for young aristocratic ladies—to get the cold-hearted Northern Lord on his knees.

But this woman in front of him, Ezekiel could tell she was not interested in him, rather, she seemed petrified in his presence which perplexed him. Did he already meet her once? But he couldn’t recall a time that he encountered such a lady. What was she so afraid of? Something felt off and that could only mean one thing.

Ezekiel threw a menacing look at her with one hand alerted on his sword. “Miss, your actions make me think you’re a witch—”

“He-yo!” Suddenly, a young man who had Eastern features with brown hair and was a bit shorter than Berkley barged into the conversation. He had a weird earring that looked like an all-seeing eye in his right ear. “I was expecting you two tonight! I thought you couldn't come since we were supposed to meet an hour ago.”

Ezekiel cautiously looked at the man who just popped out of nowhere. This could be a trap. If his suspicion was right and that woman was a witch, he would kill these two without delay before they could strike at him. Aron looked confused at the sudden unsettling atmosphere. Ezekiel was prepared to draw his sword when he heard the young eastern man laugh.

“Easy there, my Lord. We’re no threat. I’m the messenger and this lady here is my assistant,” he introduced himself composedly.

The Archduke’s expression darkened even more and his aura started to manifest. “Then, you’re the one who drew the useless map?!” Rage was in his eyes.

“Archduke, calm down. Let’s talk about it okay? Everything can be resolved without resulting in violence.” The messenger nervously chuckled.

“Your highness, please don’t kill the messenger yet. We still need him for the information,” Aron suggested while adjusting his eyeglasses.

The messenger’s face brightened up as if he found an ally. “Yes... yes, that’s right! Mr. Secretary, you’re very sensible!”

“After that, let’s give him the most gruesome death ever.” Aron continued with the same manic look as the Archduke.

“Don't be like that, good gentlemen! Come now..." The Eastern man waved his hand to the nearby four-seater table as an invitation to sit down. As though sensing their reluctance, he took out a somewhat 'identifying card' in his trouser to show them that he was truly the 'messenger'. He was saying the truth as they could see the mark of the glowing 'eastern owl' engraved on the card. The messenger's secrecy symbol.

The four of them finally settled after a few moments of silence... and Ezekiel caught the woman and the 'messenger' exchanging a meaningful glance towards each other which loosened his unexplainable rancor once again.

Celeste was trying to comprehend the situation she was in at the moment.

Sitting across the table was the Archduke of Levonne, Ezekiel Nicholas De Clarzus, the very human who executed her in her previous life! Seeing him tonight raised all the death flags. He was the most dangerous existence to her that she wanted to avoid at all costs, but her plan failed miserably. She was still shivering from his touch earlier although the intention was to save her from falling to the floor.

She couldn’t believe she would be that close to the Archduke. When his arm tightened around her waist and her body still pressed to his hard chest, she felt it was the end of the world. He was very tall that her height didn’t even reach his broad shoulders. He was beaming with intimidation that it was hard to collect herself and even breathe normally.

His golden eyes made her remember the terrors of the past yet she didn’t even try to break their eye contact. His eyes were so enthralling, the very mark of the blessed child of the Divine Being. His handsome face matched the seriousness of his expression. When she heard him speak in his deep male voice, she couldn’t even utter a word.

“Celeste Evergreen...”

“I’m here to execute you...”

“... Pay your crimes in the afterlife...”

Those phrases kept dining in her ears.

When she had sensed his growing aura and thought that the Archduke had figured out she was a witch, she almost released her mana and prepared for an imminent battle! Fortunately, Adonis had sorted out the stressful situation even though it looked like the two nobles were blatantly expressing their contempt.

And at present, Celeste was introduced by Adonis as his assistant as an excuse to hide her real identity and had no choice but to stay in the same room with the man who killed her in her previous life. She was starting to believe that the Celestial Being was pulling a really bad joke on her. What was the purpose of turning back time if she was going to face the Grand Duke again? She thought she was given another chance at life... she thought God pitied her, did she think wrong?

“You have a beautiful assistant, sir Alvhar,” said Aron Berkley, who was seated beside the Archduke. “Perhaps, are you two a couple?”

“HELL NO!” Both Celeste and Adonis quickly rebuffed in chorus.

The secretary chortled at their reply. “Then may I know your name, miss?”

Celeste forced herself to smile. She was thinking of escaping the scene but the attention of these two was on her now. 'Damn you, Adonis!' She could feel the intense gaze of the Grand Duke on her which pressured her to answer. “I-I'm Celeste Evergreen. A very 'commoner' name. I grew up in a very, very small village that people in high society won’t even know where it is! Nothing really special.” She tried to relay that she wasn’t worth being associated with.

But the devious Archduke didn’t buy her lies. “What village? I’m curious.”

Her smile faded a little. This man was testing her patience. She wanted to crush this sly Archduke so badly and make him a soil fertilizer! Celeste was irked inside. She took a deep breath before responding cheerfully, “Oh my, your highness, it’s an honor! But it was certainly a tiny village that you can’t even see on the map. I bet you do not even know it existed until now...” Inserting a peal of fake laughter. “But I will make sure to tell everyone in my village about this for we admire your gallantry in keeping the empire safe.”

Celeste saw Ezekiel obscurely raise the corner of his mouth which looked vexatiously amused by her response. She felt an ominous feeling. ‘This high noble is so perceptive, damn it!’

Okay then, she no longer had a choice but to show what she was capable of! “You’re right, there’s no point in hiding anymore.”

Adonis looked at her anxiously. His eyes were telling her not to say anything stupid while on the other hand, the Archduke, in his neutral facade, was waiting for her answer.

“To tell the truth...” Celeste began dramatically, mustering her talent in acting. “I’m a private investigator.”