Chapter 7; Weakened

"Last time? I'm sorry to tell you, princess, but you can't do that... You can't escape from me; I will follow you wherever you go," he said with a smirk.

"Then I will ki*ll you! I will find a way to ki*ll you, Venom, so don't blame me."

"Bring it on! I would gladly be ki*lled by you, Princess." Tsk! He really is crazy!!!

"It seems that the hunting competition is starting, so I will catch the head of a dragon for you."

"No need! No thanks! That dragon of yours is all yours!" I shouted as I was about to leave, but he grabbed my arm and kissed me on the cheek.

"It feels good." Then he vanished like smoke. Damn it, I want to kick him!!!!! You bastard Venom, I will ki*ll you!

I am still here in the empire; it will take a while for the contestants to return because they ended up in a dense forest, so it will be difficult for them to come back. Suddenly, there was a strong tremor that alarmed everyone.

I saw others running away, but my brain couldn't process what was happening. I heard Princess Yna scream at me, but my attention was drawn to the loud noise, and only then did I realize that a monster was approaching me.

Wait! A dinosaur!? When did this happen?—it's getting closer to me, but I'm still thinking about whether to use my strength to take down this monster. It's just funny because I can't use it against Venom when he is actually more of a monster than this dinosaur!

I stood there ready to act when suddenly something blocked my way, and within seconds, the monster in front of me lost its head.

I looked at that man... I didn't know him. Wait!! Silver hair with red eyes?

"Are you okay, princess?" he said as he reached out his hand to help me stand. Talk about luck; the person I've been wanting to see is none other than Duke Flen.

I took his hand and stood up, looking him over. The rumors are true; the Duke from Northwest is indeed very elegant. Besides that, he's also my target because aside from the miracle river, Duke Flen also wants to marry Kalelei.

I just laughed at my thoughts. Why not ruin that? Both Violet and Duke Flen are just things anyway, and besides, he can also get back at Kalelei. Looks like I can benefit from Violet now------

"Princess, your wound," he said suddenly as he took my hand and kissed it. Everyone gasped in surprise. But I didn't expect my wound on my hand to disappear. Wait! How did I get hurt? I can't remember.

Everyone around us started whispering when suddenly Venom appeared in front of me and charged at Duke Flen! Sh*it!!!! Shi*t!!! Sh*it!!!

Duke Flen's impression might be ruined; I need him to side with us. D*mn it Venom, what are you doing now? The battle between the two was intense. Holy sword vs Snake...

I'm thinking about how to stop them; if I intervene now, I'll probably lose my head somewhere. This is the first time I've seen sword fighting in my life, and it's quite beautiful compared to kickboxing and boxing or wrestling. It's stunning because of their stances and exhibitions; it seems unreal.

They were flying! Wait a minute; I'm getting distracted! I quickly grabbed a rock because there was no other way left. I'll just throw it at Venom; that's all I know how to do.

I picked up a rock and practiced rolling my shoulder while swinging my arm around. But in the end, after 10 attempts, I still couldn't hit him. But I'm not giving up; I need to stop him.

"VENOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" I shouted loudly so he could hear me. It felt like I lost my voice because of this idi*ot! The last thing I want is to shout since I'm usually a quiet person; I'm only talkative with my best friend.

They both stopped immediately and Venom came over to me with a smile.

"Princess-----" he couldn't finish what he was going to say before I slapped him on the cheek.

But then I froze when I saw his wound on his side. I stared at it but didn't see it disappear like when I stabbed him with a dagger. Could it be because of Duke Flen's holy sword?

"Princess, do you know him?" Duke Flen asked as he looked at Venom with a fierce glare.

"Yes, but I don't have any connections with him. I know him because he's the son of Marquis Clettio and that's it. Duke Flen look! Your wound!" I said because I saw that he had a wound on his shoulder too.

"It's okay princess; this is nothing for you to worry about."

But we all froze when we noticed Venom's dark aura. But what shocked me more was when he stabbed himself right in front of me without even flinching.

Everyone was stunned as blood began flowing from his body.

"I hope you're doing well after this Princess." He walked away while his wound worsened.

'Wtf! Venom! I don't know what message he wants to convey by doing this, but is it right for him to stab himself? Good thing I'm holding back vomit. I'm afraid of blood; that's why I don't like Dad's job as a mafia because I hate killing or bloodshed.'

"Let's go princess." But I turned back one last time to see if Venom was still there. Why? Why did he stab himself? Is he crazy?

**Venom PoV**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I broke everything in sight in my room. How? How dare you touch my woman!!!! She's mine! She's mine! She's mine alone!

That damn holy sword! My hands are itching to k*ill him. I felt Athena enter my room. Yeah, Athena is my s*x slave.

"My Venom.... Who dared to make you angry?" she said as she kissed my neck.

"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you! We're done! So don't come back here!" And pushed her away from me.

"No Venom..... You can't leave me; I can give you pleasure and s*x. I can give you everything."

I smirked and ch*oked her by the neck.

"Get out of here Athena before my vision blurs and I'll kill you." She quickly left my sight as tears began falling down my cheeks that I've been holding back for so long.

"How? How could you hurt me so much?"

**Mellic/Asna PoV**

"Thank you for trusting me Duke; you won't regret entrusting that matter to me." After our discussion about the agreement regarding black powder in Northwest due to what I've learned about its abundance there, it's strange that he agreed so quickly to my plan.

"Thank you too, Your Highness." He kissed the back of my hand, but it felt awkward under his gaze.

"Then I'll take my leave, Duke." Quickly leaving there to check if Venom is still around. But he's okay right? Because he's immortal. Since I couldn't find him anywhere nearby, I decided just to go home to Segma.

Once inside the carriage, it's not too far from the empire—about 10 hours by portal which is a shortcut—but without one it takes about three days to reach Segma.

When we arrived at the mansion everyone was waiting for me. Violet greeted me first.

"How are you?" She doesn't have a fever anymore? Tsk! Ignoring her since I'm still mad at her for making me go alone to that party. Who wouldn't be angry about that?

"Don't talk to me; I'm still mad at you," I said while walking straight ahead. But she just laughed at what I'd said; sometimes it's tempting to hit this girl because she seems slightly crazy in her head. But honestly, I'm starting to warm up towards Violet; she reminds me of Sally.

"You can be mad at me all you want," she replied sharply.

"Then don't talk to me if you don't care!" We raised our eyebrows at each other defiantly.

"Hmmp!" We both entered inside separately. Our pride is too high for either of us to back down easily. But then something suddenly came back into mind.

"Violet! Do you know Duke of Northwest? You know Duke Flen?"

I was surprised when she suddenly rushed over with shining eyes.

"Duke Flen?!!! What happened? Did he mention me? Was he at the party earlier?!! What a waste! What a waste! Why did I have to get sick earlier?! Gosh! If only I'd known he was there----" she rambled excitedly.

"Violet..... Can you please calm down? You're not going crazy are you?"

"What's going on with your Duke Flen?! Don't tell me you're developing feelings for him---"

"Duhhhhh.... I'm not interested in your Duke Flen even if you stab him in your chest."

"Good!" she replied relievedly.

**Third Person PoV**

"Master, Young Master still hasn't recovered from his condition yet. It could lead him to death if he lowers his immortality ki."

'I don't understand why Venom would weaken his immortality ki; what's his reason for doing this?'

"Do you know why he's acting like this?" It's puzzling because this is the first time I've seen him like this.

"To my knowledge, he stabbed himself right in front of Princess Asna." My intuition told me she's the reason behind his weakening "immortality ki."

"Prepare the carriage! We're going to Segma." It's essential that I convince Princess Asna to come here right now because I'm not allowing anything bad happen to my son.

"Yes Master!"