“Good morning, Master” Upon opening her ruby-like eyes, Solia’s gaze laid upon a silver-headed young man’s gentle hazel eyes, paired with his handsome features that had been sharpened over the time they spent together, thus creating a beautiful contrast.

“Good morning…” Sitting up as the blur in her vision caused by sleep faded away, the man slowly leaned towards her before the pair lightly nuzzled the tip of their noses against each other’s.

“You still haven’t found a place you want to settle at?” For the nth time within the three years that they had accompanied each other, Solia bluntly asked Servio as she started her preparations for the day.

“Not yet Master, please do continue safeguarding me till I find a home that attracts my heart” And for the nth time, Servio had given her the same exact reply every time that question popped up.

“Oh right, the association gave us a mission in the empire, is that okay with you?” Servio worriedly glanced at the maiden who had turned into the spitting image of beauty itself, coming out of the washroom in her fresh set of clothes.

“It’s fine. It’s about time that I put an end to this game of tag with the Count” Her eyes chilled as she buttoned up her cufflinks before a flicker of sadness passed through her gaze in an instant.

Over the years, the duo had become mercenaries for the sake of earning a living and easily made a name for themselves with their high completion rates and unforgettable striking appearances which served as feasts for the eyes.

Moreover, Solia had masked the intensity of red found only in her irises amidst her missions and public appearances, hence, those around them easily accepted her as simply one of the many strong magicians. It was kind of sad to see how much the treatment given to her had changed so drastically with a simple change of her iris' density.

However, due to that acceptance, Servio had a hellish time keeping his beauty away from the numerous claws reaching out to her, not even allowing a single one of them to touch a strand of her hair.

Taking up the aliases ‘Ruby’ and ‘Silver’ derived from their characteristics, it didn’t take long for them to be dubbed and known as the “Silver Ruby” with Solia handling all missions related to fighting while Servio takes care of tasks requiring negotiations aside from being an intel gatherer.

With Solia’s ignorance when it comes to worldly customs, Servio’s presence perfectly made up for Solia’s deficiencies and vice versa.

Unfortunately, it was exactly due to their outstanding reputation in this line of work that the Count had caught wind of Solia’s presence and sent numerous groups assassins after her head with them losing their lives in succession without even knowing the real identity of their target.

Though Solia’s title of “The Sorceress” was quite well known, she had barely appeared in public and her identity was never publicized, resulting in a great majority of the world being kept in the dark.

After making their final preparations, they arrived at the entrance of the empire with a simple snap of Solia’s fingers. She had, after all, familiarized herself with the different kinds of maps over the years after being slightly traumatized by the desert incident, thus making it easier for her to set a target destination even in far away places as she’s now able to visualize the distance between two locations.

Putting the hoods of their cloaks on, they easily gained entry after showing the guards their identification cards from the mercenary association, and not even half a day had passed that they had already completed the mission given to them with ease, so they decided to roam around the empire and visited different shops here and there, mainly entering stores that sold food as Servio indulged in the bliss of feeding Solia amidst their walk.

No sooner than later, the day had turned to night, and with another snap of her fingers, the duo had appeared inside the Count’s study by the door with Solia meeting an elegantly aged man’s icy gaze with her own filled of conflict.

“I see that you’ve been quite well and waiting for me, Count” Solia aloofly spoke as she felt complicated towards this man who had raised her with only the best results in mind for her, yet he was also the one who wanted to take her life the most the past few years.

Noticing the girl’s unease, Servio unhesitatingly took hold of one of her hands as he paid no heed to the Count’s harsh glare towards him before tightly entwining their fingers together, his thumb gently caressing hers to ease her mind.

“Presumptuous! How dare a mere slave like you come here with a gigolo in tow! Have you finally forgotten your roots as you became drunk with power after having disabled the ancient seal placed on you?!”

The Count’s face darkened as he became enraged at the sight of the pair before him. Hearing his words however, Solia frowned in confusion while Servio momentarily blanked out in stupefaction.

My ancient seal had been disabled…?

It was then that Solia had realized that the marks on her body had not been triggered at all after that time in the forest. She had failed to notice this fact as she had been far too preoccupied by the youth by her side.

Meanwhile, Servio’s thoughts completely differed from the solemn Solia’s.

What the hell?! How am I a GIGOLO?! Which gigolo can even look as handsome as I can and successfully capture this beauty by my side?! Is this Count alright in the head?

However, despite his chain of complaints, he kept them all within his heart as he kept silent and simply continued to caress the girl’s thumb as his way of showing her support.

With both of them pushing their thoughts to the back of their heads, Solia took a deep breath to calm herself and concealed her confusion as she slowly took steps forward towards the Count with Servio accompanying her in every step.

“Just as you said…my seal is disabled and I am now technically free from you…” She trailed off before stopping a small distance away from the Count before continuing with a steady gaze, “But I was never drunk in power and still consider you as my master who was like a father to me”

As if her words had overturned all of his previous assumptions, the Count froze in place as his eyes widened in disbelief at the girl’s pure gaze.

“Since the seal had been disabled for quite a while now, I would like you to remove the marks as well at once and for you to cease in sending in more sacrificial lambs to be my prey in my self-defense. These are the only reasons why I had taken it upon myself to visit you” Not giving the Count a chance to react, she immediately added in,

“Though I will no longer be one of your slaves after this night, I will never forget what I owe this household and will be of aid when your house meets a grave situation. Therefore, please do me this favor of removing these marks”

Solia humbly bowed as she had wanted to cease all bloodsheds between them. Yes, she was treated like a monster in this house, but it doesn’t change the fact that this was where she grew up and genuinely held the Count in high esteem for raising her single-handedly.

The Count, speechless at this sudden turn of events, stayed silent as he brought out an old box from his drawer before walking closer towards the pair.

“Remember the words you have said today…” Albeit his complicated feelings, the Count opened the box, revealing a small bottle of liquid which he handed over to Solia.

After receiving the vial, Solia unhesitatingly drank its contents which further perplexed the Count. However, he promptly snapped out of his confusion as he recited lines after lines of ancient contexts, the marks on Solia’s body gradually fading away.

When the dissipation ritual finally ended, Solia once again bowed in gratitude before she straightened her back and raised her head to meet the Count’s eyes head-on.

“Thank you…and, Servio isn’t a gigolo. He’s my…” Trailing off, Solia was quite confused on what she should refer to him as while Servio’s heart skipped a beat in anticipation.

“…precious…pet?” Hearing the continuation of her words, both the Count and Servio stood dumbfounded within the room. Since Solia grew up having limited contact with other people, she rarely heard the term “friends” and ended up forgetting about this at this crucial moment, successfully striking a critical blow towards Servio.

Uhh…well…at least I wasn’t a mere friend and am a carnivorous pet…?

Trying to console himself, Servio placed his unoccupied hand on his chest and lightly rubbed it as he sighed. Seeing this scene, the Count actually felt pity towards the beautiful silver-headed youth and walked to his side before placing a hand on the youth’s shoulder and lightly patting it.

“Well…uhh…I apologize on her behalf for all the emotional and psychological damages this girl has caused over the years and will be causing the years after as the one who raised her…” The Count awkwardly apologized to Servio as he helplessly gazed at Solia beside them who lacked common sense when it came to human relations.

It wasn’t that Solia had insufficient emotional quotient, it was simply that she had never learned about relationships between people and thus does not know the borders that can and cannot be crossed in different relationships.

“I leave her to you, please take care of her” In a solemn voice, the Count spoke in a low volume as he passed by Servio and left the room.

Days after that incident, the pair’s lives turned extremely peaceful with the absence of assassins circling the inn they were staying at.

“Master, a request from the association came in” Bringing over an envelope, Servio handed it to Solia before he casually went behind her and wrapped his arms around her delicate waist, reading the contents of the letter with her from behind.

However, his gaze suddenly dropped a few degrees as he narrowed his eyes at the contents of the letter.

“Master, can you do me a favor?” Asking with his voice solemn, Solia’s back slightly tensed.

“What is it?” Her ears perked up as she listened with full attention.

“Never go on this mission without me”

Leaving those words, Servio vanished from that day onwards.