Chapter 2: The Fallen Ruler

"I'm not a hobo. I lost my possessions after being robbed and accidentally consumed the drug-" Kai explained in a hurry.

"There's no difference since she has already accomplished her objective," the woman cut him off coldly.

"What was her goal?"

Kai realized how dumb the question was the moment it came out of his mouth.

'What other possible goals could there be?'

If she lost her authority, then there were countless ways to humiliate her, one of which was to have her sleep with a derelict from the bottom of society. This incident would turn her reputation and image--once dignified and sacred--into something indecent and abject.

'What's the difference between the consecrated war goddess and some prostitute if even the most insignificant rat on the streets could make love to her? Oh wait, there is… at least prostitutes are selective with their customers.'

After thinking it through, Kai was at a loss.

It seemed like he was used as an effective tool to demean a woman. Of course there was no such thing as free lunch in this world. He should've realized that when he consumed the porridge.

"By the way, there were also a bunch of refugees who were drugged along with me. Did they also…?" Kai suddenly thought of the day before.

"Looks like you have a death wish. I can help with that," her eyes glinted dangerously as she gritted her teeth.

She would have actually torn Kai to shreds if it weren't for the fact that she was currently in a weakened state.

"Ahem," Kai coughed to cover the awkwardness. Why had he brought up the one topic that he should've stayed away from?

There was a momentary look of defeat on her face, but it wasn't long before her gaze was focused again. Her sight was honed in on the tiny window as she analyzed the surroundings and planned her escape.

Even though the desire to kill the man beside her was strong, she discovered a key piece of information from him: Kai wasn't the only man who was captured.

If they were sending in a different man everyday, she would rather bite her tongue and end everything than to endure the torment.

She had to find a way to break out of there. Last night must never happen again, even if it was only the start of what was to come.

"Let's think of a way to leave this place," Kai said in a serious tone.

The former ruler of the city wasn't even listening to what Kai had said. Despite the situation, the anger and insanity and storm of emotions that raged within her, she did not lose her sense of reason or clarity. The desperation and pain could have only been released after the crisis was solved and she took her vengeance.

Kai also thought that he was partially responsible, even though she was the one who initiated it yesterday…

Fact is, they had to get out of there.

"Hey, you're awake!" Kai suddenly exclaimed with elation.

As if by magic, Kai opened his right hand to reveal a tiny, ivory-colored worm.

The round, little creature wriggled back and forth, like an adorable puppy wagging its tail. Its two big eyes flickered with a certain intelligence, contrasting against the bug's crystal-clear body.

The War Goddess glanced at Kia, unable to contain a slight scoff upon the discovery of the white worm on his palm.

'What naive optimism, to be playing with a bug during a time like this.'

"Here, go open the lock. I know you can do it," Kai said to the little creature.

The tiny white bug climbed up the stone wall, soon reaching the reinforced window.

"Ding~"

Moments later, the sound of falling chains welcomed them.

Her eyes lit up at the scene, the delight on her face visible.

"Hehe, there's nothing my little bug can't do," Kai smiled at the War Goddess.

"Help me up," she said weakly, still affected by the sedatives.

Barefoot, she stepped onto Kai's shoulders.

She finally escaped, although with difficulty. WIth hesitation, she glanced back down at Kai.

He stood there in the cell, locking eyes with her as well.

Sure enough, she turned around and left the dungeon, leaving Kai by himself in the darkness.

'Heartless.'

While the exit may have been clear in sight, it would have been impossible to climb up the smooth stone walls without someone else's help.

"Now I understand when people say that the more beautiful a woman is, the less trustworthy they are," Kai shook his head. Just as he was about to have his little worm create some silk web to climb up, footsteps as light as a cat's approached him from above.

"Wear this, I'll pull you up."

Finding two big sacks, she tore some holes to make do as clothes.

A smile immediately appeared on Kai's face as he quickly put on the rough material, grasping her slender hands that she offered to pull him up.

'It seems like the night of passion was worth something.'

...

The strength needed to pull Kai up left the woman breathless as her chest heaved up and down. It seems like the poison was still prevalent in her body, causing her to be as weak as a normal person despite her martial capabilities.

"Don't make any sounds and follow me," she whispered softly.

"Are you familiar with this dungeon?" Kai replied in a similarly quiet voice.

"I used to lock myself up here."

Confusion filled Kai's thoughts.

'Locking yourself up?'

'Is something wrong with you?'

...

The War Goddess was familiar with the maze-like dungeon. Even without guards, Kai would not have been able to leave the place by himself.

Finally, they successfully left the city using a secret passage.

Arriving outside, Kai smudged mud from the ground on himself, also smearing some onto the woman's pale cheeks in the process.

"Let's hide at my place for a bit," Kai suggested.

She didn't answer, giving her tacit consent.

It wasn't long before they saw squad after squad of soldiers patrolling on the roads while they walked as the news of the War Goddess's escape began to spread.

...

They finally reached Kai's home in Murum after traveling for three days straight.

Murum was a town populated by silkworm growers, where many foreign merchants would often gather to purchase silkworms and silk-related products. It grew larger as it gained more and more traffic until gradually becoming the diverse community it was.

The more foreigners there were, the easier it was to hide. Both Kai and his companion were exhausted from their demanding journey, rarely catching a break during their travels.

Kai threw himself onto his bed the moment he entered his dwelling.

The War Goddess improvised with what she could find, lying down silently on a makeshift bed made out of two chairs.

To add on to her exhaustion, the trauma of what had happened heavily weighed down her heart. The fatigue didn't help her fall asleep either as she recalled all of the events from the past few days with tears trickling from the corners of her eyes.

Kai, who was in a deep sleep, suddenly stopped snoring after a while and awoke. Noticing the glistening in the woman's eyes, he couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

Although their relationship was purely physical, Kai was still quite sympathetic for her situation.

To him, it was just an unfortunate experience where he drank some drugged porridge, slept in a cell for a night, and traveled for a few days.

But to her?

She was the previous ruler of the Aeter and its surrounding territories, stolen of her power and chastity and fallen to the point of coming to the small hut that smelled of silkworm manure, just for the sake of hiding. The controlled appearance of calmness and the occasional look of defeat wasn't because she forgot everything that had been done to her. It was a painful process of converting all the anger and humiliation inside into a predator's patience for revenge.