LUNA ASTERBELLE's POV
My entire mind didn't function and I could barely sense my body, as if I was held captive somewhere, though I don't know where I was brought to. I could only recall the way how I was abducted soon after the deafening sound disappeared.
I coughed numerous times as my throat got itchy.
"Are you finally awake, vampire?" asked a stranger whose voice made it sound like he was prepared for any unexpected occurrences.
In an attempt to break free from the ropes that were tightly squeezing both my arms and legs, I realized that I was merely wasting my remaining strength. "What did you do to me?" I asked.
There was definitely an alteration within the insides of my body. Even if I still haven't manifested the full power of both a werewolf and a vampire, I am damn certain that I wasn't this weak before. I was even forced to exert a huge amount of effort just to ask him a question.
A man's laughter filled the location that we were in. "There's nothing in particular that's worthy of your worries. I only infused those ropes with a spell that contains a considerable amount of wolfsbane. There's absolutely nothing that you should be cautious of, right? You possess the blood of a vampire, so something that harms wolves shouldn't have any effect on you, right?" He was obviously mocking me based on how sarcastic his message was delivered.
It infuriated me to the depths of my soul. There wasn't any difference to its effects unlike what he was anticipating! I could seriously sense my muscles contracting as my entire energy momentarily drained.
"W-why are you plotting?!"
"Aren't you getting tired of asking the same question to everyone else you encounter? You know pretty well that we're only after your blood, nothing more than that."
"Exactly what's driving all of you insane just for the sake of getting my blood?"
"Our main goal is to make this world suffer immense dystopia — to let everyone know the pain of living in a catastrophic world," he answered without any hint of hesitation. "Just a piece of advice... You mustn't have faith in anyone, no matter what sort of relationship you have with a certain someone. You don't know their ulterior motive that's disguised within their sugar coated words."
I bit my lower lip as Eman's face suddenly popped in my mind after hearing what this stranger said. "As if I'll care about any advice coming from you," I muttered beneath my tiny, consecutive gasps.
Although, no matter how much I try to remove the thought of how possible it was for Eman to be showing a mere facade, my conscience itself was unstoppable. My entire system was telling me that this stranger actually had a point that I shouldn't casually cast away.
Especially in this type of world that we live in, there's no concrete way to figure out the true intention of whoever. It's not like I have the opportunity to read what's running inside everyone else's mind.
"That's bad... You shouldn't doubt the one fated to you," muttered by another man's voice from somewhere distant.
A glimmer of hope immediately replaced the darkness that succumbed to the sanity left deep within my soul.
"E-Eman, save me!" I yelled my lungs out, as if it was my last chance to release my own voice.
"There's no need for you to tell me what to do 'cause that's exactly the reason why I came here," Eman replied, his tone filled with confidence.
"I-impossible. How did you reach this place?!" The stranger was evidently furious when his eyes kept on twitching. "D-don't tell me that you're actually —"
Eman swiftly ran towards the man, then harshly covered his mouth to cut him off. "Don't spoil the fun, you bastard."
My heart skipped a beat not because of how Eman looked cool. I was rather afraid of the gazes that he had shown to the man responsible for all of this.
I know that Eman still has a lot of power that he's carefully maintaining hidden under his sleeves compared to what I witnessed before. However, those ferocious eyes were no different from the wolves that attacked me in the past.
There wasn't a single second that I attempted to take a peek upon the stranger's face as Eman had stolen my whole attention.
"E-Eman, don't kill him," I unconsciously said. All that I had in mind right now was that I have to find ways to at least buy some time to spare his life. "It's not his fault if he had to bring me here. He's merely desperate to take my blood just like everyone else. And besides, I'm not hurt..."
Eman tightened his grip onto the man's face even more, which was definitely the opposite from what I assumed. "What? Do you even hear the words coming out from your own mouth?" He clenched his other fist. "How can you proudly say that you're not hurt if you can't even move away from that position? There's no reason for you to defend or protect this one, Luna."
"I'm still alive, and that's what matters, right?"
He hissed. "You're breaking inside, and that's what sucks," he replied with a frown. Eman's eyes became tender. I didn't realize up until now how much he cared for me.
"If you don't want to see me suffer more than this, then do as I say — set him free, he's innocent."
Eman was obviously hesitant, but in the end, he chose to release him. The man disappeared from our vicinity until his entire presence was nowhere to be found.
I gasped when the next moment that I blinked, Eman was embracing me as much as he could. It was the warmest hug that I've ever felt in my whole life, and despite his strength, he assured me that I wouldn't be suffocated with it.
"H-hey, what's wrong?"
"I heard what that bastard said. I can't help but to think how much you're doubting my gestures and how I approach you every now and then... I just wanted to let you know that I'm sincere, I'm not here because of your blood. If only I could, I would've removed the curse that forced you to deal with this," he mumbled close to my ears.
I tried to push him away, but my hands were trembling.
"How did you know about my curse?"