Kitanna
Chapter 190: FAMILIAR SCENT

Chapter 190: FAMILIAR SCENT

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: FLOWER ~ SEVENTEEN]

"Chief Cortez!! Chief Cortez!!! Our goods are burning!!" One of the merchants shouted, running through the gathered crowd.

Cortez rushed outside, where his life’s work was burning to the ground. It was like a nightmare one wished they could wake up from, but their feet were stuck to a place. He turned to look at the people gathered, watching him.

"H-how did this happen?" Cortez’s assistant asked nobody in particular, his feet staggering on the ground. While Cortez stood calmly watching his goods end up in consuming flames.

"I heard some drunk men tried to keep themselves warm; the fire got out of control, and then this." Someone reported, looking at the man in pity. It was something serious and heart-wrenching for a merchant’s goods to be burnt down, especially a merchant as big as Cortez, whose cargo was enough for more than five kingdoms.

Abigail rushed to Cortez’s side, "What happened here? Water, bring water. Take the fire out!" She shouted, tears welling in her eyes as she stood beside him like a supportive wife.

Cortez stood still where he was, picking out a cigar from his pocket. He used the burning fire to light it and took a long drag.

Abigail, who had expected Cortez to be devastated, was shocked at how calm he was now looking. "Cortez, won’t you stop the fire?" She asked, trying to gauge his expression.

The people gathered watched the owner of the goods stare calmly without trying to save his goods. And they murmured amongst themselves.

"Maybe he has lost his mind," one of the men said.

"That would be the only explanation because which normal human would see their goods burning and not try to do anything," another chimed into the discussion as they watched everything burn to the last piece.

Cortez dropped his cigar after taking enough drag. He dropped it on the floor and crushed it with the sole of his shoe before walking away from the crowd.

Abigail watched Cortez with disdain, her eyes followed his receding figure, and she scowled. "This doesn’t hurt, yes? Wait until you hear that the lowly girl you watch over every time is now in a ship going to Ipolo." She chuckled, feeling furious with the way Cortez had not even acknowledged her presence; rather, he treated her like a pest. Abigail clenched her hands in anger.

Meanwhile, Axilla who had been following figure she suspected to be Kayla stopped in her tracks when she saw smoke from the other side of the port. A bonfire? She thought, but there was nothing of that nature before now. Her thoughts were cut short when she heard a sound as if someone had kicked a can.

"Kayla? Kayla?? Stop this joke already; it’s dark here. Let’s go back to where people are," Axilla called out, thinking it was one of those pranks her friend always played on her.

"Kayla seriously, this isn’t funny anymore. If you don’t come out, I’m leaving you here." She warned for the last time, trying to make things out of her surroundings, but everywhere was dark, and it was beginning to creep her out.

Axilla decided to finally go back and wait for Kayla; maybe when she was done playing hide and seek, she would give up. Turning towards the gathering direction, Axilla didn’t make it past two steps when someone used a piece to cover her mouth, holding her tightly, trying to subdue her.

Axilla struggled, as she tried to wriggle herself free from the captor, but it proved futile. The person was way bigger than her; before she could pass out, she heard a voice say,

"Take them to the ship, other goods are ready. We sail before the first cock crows."

Axilla tried to make out who the voice belonged to, but she was not able to. All she succeeded to do was to hold herself from falling into slumber. So she remained there, in between, awake and asleep. She could hear every movement and sound, but she wasn’t able to move her body.

Feeling herself carried harshly in a bridal style, her eyes opened a little to see the face of the person carrying her. The man had a distinct knife mark that ran from his eyes down to his mouth, which was very scary; Axilla closed her eyes immediately so the man would not notice that she had not been fully knocked out.

On getting to the ship of Ipolo, the man carrying Axilla halted in his footsteps. "Who is there?" His harsh voice reverberated on Axilla’s body, causing her to shiver, but her body didn’t move.

Axilla heard another footstep, and she assumed it was the person who would carry her inside the ship.

"Take this one, make sure she is not tainted; she belongs specially to the Chief."

Axilla felt her body transferred to the next person; she didn’t want to risk it, by opening her eyes to check out the face of her new abductor, so she kept quiet, keeping her eyes closed.

When the new person carrying her turned to leave, he was stopped by the command of the first person.

"You there, stop. Don’t you talk?" The man who had abducted Axilla earlier asked.

Axilla felt the tension rising in the atmosphere, perhaps was this a double cross? Was someone else also trying to kidnap her? Was she of that high value? She asked herself mentally waiting for the new person holding her to respond.

"I do talk, I just had alcohol and it’s making me weak, Sir." The person finally spoke in a funny voice.

"Be careful with that good you’re carrying." The other man grunted, before stepping out of the place.

Axilla furrowed her brow; she couldn’t smell alcohol. This person carrying her did not have a drop of alcohol; rather, he scented like burnt fresh wood mixed with something else, that was also familiar. And something else was strange when the person spoke; it was not his real voice rather it was as if he was trying to distort his actual voice.

Axilla tried to understand her situation; why was she feeling comfortable with this person who was now carrying her unlike the other person? This fresh wood scent, Axilla’s thought wandered as she finally opened her eyes to see the long lashes of Cortez, and his full brows, with half of his face covered with a scarf.

"You’re finally awake, Bright flower." Cortez smiled, looking at the girl who he carried up properly to see her hazel eyes shine in surprise.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.