“W-what are you doing?” Lia yelled, feeling her face go red, being so close to another man. She could feel her body rubbing against his.

“I’m carrying you,” Atlas answered. “Since you can’t carry me back faster, I’ll have to be the one to do it.”

“Hold tight!” he instructed the lady as he started running back towards the city he came from.

His speed was so fast that Lia couldn’t help but be scared for her life in case he dropped her. She wrapped her arms around Atlas’s shoulders, holding her tightly as she closed her eyes, forgetting all about the closeness now. Her hair waved with the wind as Atlas ran with her.

“You know, it’s somewhat funny,” Atlas let out, smiling wryly. “You flew even faster than I’m running now, and you weren’t scared. But now that I’m running, even though I’m holding you, you seem scared like a child.”

“Shut up! Don’t call me a child!” Lia yelled, still she couldn’t dare to open her eyes.

After running without stopping, Atlas reached the city walls. He placed Lia on the ground, who immediately dropped to her knees, feeling ground under her.

“Are you alright?” Atlas asked, seeing Lia sitting on the ground.

“I’m fine. Just feeling a bit dizzy,” Lia responded as she rubbed her forehead.

“Shall we take another trip?” Atlas asked, teasing Lia.

“You! Never again!” Lia rolled her eyes.

“I’m just joking. Let me check if the way is clear. Then we should be able to enter.” Atlas jumped up and looked on the other side of the wall. “Yeah, we are clear.”

He picked up Lia once again, not even bothering to ask her permission this time. He landed on the other side of the wall, entering the city once again. He was somewhere surprised as well though. This was the city of the Carlisle Clan, yet someone like him could easily enter the city without much trouble.

There wasn’t much security. No wonder a Witch had managed to sneak in. Were these people even serious about security or not? Although there was a lot of land to cover for the defense teams, still, there was a lot lacking.

“The main defense and security must be real the Castle of the Carlisle Clan. The security there must be very strong,” Atlas commented, talking to himself. He completely forgot that Lia was still in his arms.

She freed herself to land on her own two feet.

“You idiot, don’t just stand there like an idiot. If anyone comes here to check, you’ll be caught. The teams keep circling the border, after all. Let’s get going fast.” She held the hand of Atlas and started dragging him with her. “There are still a few hours until the morning. We need to stay hidden until then. If we are caught, it’s game over.”

“Anyway, you are right. The security around the castle is really strong. I’ve been trying to sneak inside for the past few days, but it’s just impossible to get inside. It’s like a fortress. I can’t get in without getting caught. That’s why I haven’t been able to recover the Book of Lilith yet,” she further stated. “I’ve been spending my time analyzing their security to find a loophole, but it hasn’t been easy. I haven’t succeeded yet.”

“How about my plan? You think that will work?” Atlas asked. Since Lia had a great amount of knowledge about what kind of Defenses the Carlisle Clan had, it was good to run the plan through her one. She could point out the flaws. Together, he believed the two of them could devise a flawless plan!

“What’s your plan of getting in?” Lia inquired as she walked with Atlas. She still hadn’t released his hands.

“I told you before. Today is the Servant selection of the Carlisle Castle. I plan to take part in it. As soon as I am selected, I will get an entry into the castle. From that point on, the plan is a bit…well basic. It is to find my Sister, following any method possible and sneaking out,” Atlas exclaimed. “What do you think?”

“The plan… It isn’t too bad, but there is one problem.” Lia shook her head. “You’ll be caught as soon as you take part in the selection.”

“How?”

“You are a fully awakened werewolf. When you stand close to a Vampire, they would be able to sense your smell and find out your true identity. And I’m sure Vampires would be attending the selection as guests, maybe even administering some tests. If they sense you, it’s game over. Your plan isn’t feasible, at least the way you are now,” Lia explained genuinely.

She had believed Atlas’s story by now that he was a Werewolf.

“Wait a minute… This doesn’t make sense.” She abruptly stopped and suspiciously glared back at Atlas.

“What doesn’t make sense?” Atlas asked, wondering if she had sensed his real identity. Could it really be possible?

“You! You are a Werewolf. How come the Vampires didn’t sense your identity when you entered the restaurant. How did you manage to get so close to the Lorenz without being caught at the entrance?!” Lia glared at Atlas.

“I had heard the stories. There were Vampires everywhere, and they allowed the killer to enter the room where Lorenz was with others, without much security,” she added. “How did you get in? What are you hiding?!’

It was only now that she had realized the loophole in the story of Atlas.

“This girl isn’t as stupid as I thought.” Lilith chuckled. “Even though she took a long time, she didn’t find out.”

Hearing Lilith, Atlas felt really angered. It was as if Lilith knew about this loophole in his story. Why didn’t she warn him before? It was as if she was waiting for her to find out.

Lia freed the hands of Atlas and took a step back. “You… Are you really a Werewolf?’

“You want to know why they didn’t sense me?” Atlas asked, frowning. He maintained his calm facade as if there was nothing wrong.

“Why?” Lia inquired. She kept one hand behind her as she started casting a spell. If Atlas couldn’t clear her doubt, she was going to attack him right away and run.

Even Atlas didn’t know how to answer her question. He needed to come up with a story that made sense and needed to come up with it fast.

“Stardust,” Lilith chimed in, only being heard by Atlas.

Atlas looked at the Shadow, confused. What was Lilith trying to say?

“Tell her you used Stardust,” Lilith repeated. “She will understand everything. The reason I didn’t tell you about this loophole before is because it’s easily explainable. I would never intentionally put you in harm’s way, even if I get angry at times.”

“Answer me!” Lia exclaimed, almost completing her spell.

The silence of Atlas was already explaining too much. She took a deep breath as she prepared to attack him. She took one step back again. Her fingers moved slowly.

“Stardust,” said Atlas, calmly. Even though he didn’t know what Stardust meant, he didn’t let it show.

“Stardust?!” Lia exclaimed in shock. “You really managed to find Stardust?!”

“My Clan had some. They gave it to me. You think I would come here in the city of Vampires without it?” Atlas asked, maintaining his false confidence. On the inside, he was still wondering what Stardust actually was. From his initial understanding, it seemed like something that could hide the scent of the werewolves, but he wasn’t entirely sure.

Lia canceled her spell and let out a sigh of relief. She couldn’t believe she had almost attacked Atlas once again. She was relieved that all the misunderstandings were over.

“Hmm?” Atlas suddenly frowned, sending some footsteps coming toward them. He jumped towards Lia, stunning her.

With one hand, he closed her mouth. He didn’t have time to explain, and he didn’t want her to scream. He wrapped his other arm around her slim waist as she hugged her tightly before he jumped.

Lia’s eyes opened wide, being hugged by Atlas so suddenly. Atlas landed on the roof with Lia.

“Someone was coming,” he whispered in her ears before he freed her. He freed her mouth in the end after alerting her.

A few seconds after Atlas jumped, a Vampire entered the alley where he and Lia were talking previously.

“Strange. I thought I heard someone here.” The dark-haired Vampire looked above, frowning. Just to be sure, he jumped as well and landed on the roof.

He looked straight ahead, frowning. “I guess it was my misconception.”

He jumped down again and left. Fortunately, at the last second, Atlas had jumped down from the building from the other end, avoiding being caught by a fraction of a second.

“Why is it so hard to avoid the Vampires?!” Atlas let out, frustrated. “We need to play this hide and seek for the next few hours. No wonder people say it’s impossible to live in this city without owning a house.”

For the next few hours, Atlas and Lia ran from place to place, avoiding the Vampires on the way, just waiting for the sunrise when they could mix in the Commoners. Along the way, Atlas also managed to steal some clothes to change into them. His old clothes were already half burnt.

If someone had it harder than Atlas, it was Lia though. She couldn’t use her Flight spell. Whenever they needed to go up to escape, Atlas wrapped his arms around her sensitive waist and jumped. So much closeness with Atlas was making her feel something. He didn’t know why but there was something in his touch which made her feel something she never felt before.

His strange smell, those cold hands, those beautiful eyes, his words… There was a different kind of charm in everything. The more time she spent with him, the more she felt this feeling where she was attracted to him. There were times when she even hoped to come across Vampires so Atlas would have to touch her.

She knew what she was thinking was wrong. Atlas was a Werewolf. They couldn’t be together, but then again, it wasn’t as if he was a Vampire. She felt that it wasn’t impossible either for them to be together. There had been witches who married Werewolves in the past, after all.

Something, she even scolded her for having such nonsensical thoughts. Unfortunately, her heart wasn’t in her control anymore. The way Atlas protected her from the Vampires, the way he talked to her, his innocence, she had started liking everything.

She didn’t know if she had developed a crush on Atlas, but that’s what she felt like. She didn’t realize that some of the contributions of this attraction went to the charm of a Progenitor. There was just something special in them which attracted people to them the more time they spent together.

It wasn’t as if Atlas was doing it intentionally. If someone had told Lia that she was going to fall for a guy within a few hours, she would’ve called it absurd, but now it didn’t seem impossible. This feeling was further strengthened by the fact that Lia was just so innocent. She had never been touched by a man in all her life. This was her first time with Atlas.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the hide and seek stopped as the sun started rising. The night was finally over as people started coming out of their houses.

~~~~

It was morning. Lancaster opened his eyes, observing the bright sun above his head. His body was completely bare, without a shred of clothing. However, for some reason, he was feeling full, as if he had eaten plenty last night.

He remembered some of the things he had done at night that he wasn’t proud of. He looked at his hands which were covered in blood now. As he sat straight, he noticed the body of a tiger lying right beside him, not in any good condition. The tiger was long dead.

“So I’ve finally awakened,” he muttered, sighing. “What timing. Then again, maybe it’s not all that bad? Now that I’ve awakened, I might be able to help him?”

He stood up, looking back in the direction of the city of Carlisle Clan.