‘W… What’s this?!’
Asher doubted his eyes.
But after blinking several times, the sight remained unchanged. That woman looked exactly like Lia. Not just similar. They were identical. Down to the last detail!
He had once been her boyfriend, close enough to know every small difference on her face. Combining that with the countless hours he had spent studying her features without her knowledge, sometimes subconsciously, sometimes deliberately with the intention of creating Liya, had made him an expert when it came to recognizing her.
He could even pick her out of a crowd without hesitation, much less now when she was the center of attention and everyone in the room was parting to give her way.
Even nobles felt inferior in her presence!
Nobles!
Asher’s pupils trembled. The sight of Nephis’ brought back memories he had long sealed away—memories of his broken self.
He had barely begun to take baby steps away from the damage done to him in the past, and this was when his past decided to show up!
Asher could feel his heartbeat quickening. His right arm twitched, expecting the feel of his sword’s hilt.
One swing and he would end it all, but this would be a weakness.
No. He wasn’t that Asher anymore. A man that would react on impulse, a man without backup, a fool that trusted without reserves.
That man didn’t see the darkness of the world, but he saw it now.
A soft sigh escaped his lips.
“My goodness, Intis’ crown jewel is here!”
“A mage from a lineage of mages… She must be an envoy from the Intis ruler.”
One must know that one exceptional mage was an extremely rare find, even rarer than discovering a mythical ore mine, but this Nyx family had produced generations of exceptional female mages right from their founder!
They were one of the backbones of Intis’s rise to royalty!
At this moment, Nephis ascended the platform with an elegant grace. She glanced to her left, meeting the gaze of Eric Adamos, lord of Adamos county, and smiled.
Count Adamos had risen from his seat to greet Asher. Even Duke Ohad Mormont was on his feet. Now, all three of them faced this young woman, who looked like she had barely entered her twenties.
“Duke Ohad Mormont,” Nephis greeted, her voice smooth and sweet—exactly as Asher remembered.
This made his eyes narrow further.
Was this woman truly a copy of Lia on Earth? Or somehow, like him, did she also come here?
Then why did she look exactly the same?!
“It is an honor to receive an envoy from Intis,” Ohad said. “And not just any envoy—one with the fame of spell fighting against an ancient-ranked mage. No mage in their forties has ever accomplished such a feat since the end of the Glorious Age.”
Nephis smiled.
“I barely survived that fight.” She remarked.
“Count Nephis, envoy of King Reuel, I, Eric Adamos, am honored to sit in your presence,” Eric said, placing a hand over his chest.
Nephis stretched forth her hand, and Eric, the powerful count who was said to have killed a hundred skilled men with nothing but a beast bone, bowed slightly, took her hand and kissed her knuckles.
Nephis’s smile blossomed.
Finally, her sapphire gaze settled on Asher.
Duke Ohad and Count Eric exchanged strange glances. They found it strange that Asher had not said a word since Nephis arrived.
She represented a king, so it was right to act friendly for the king’s name at the very least.
The two men had already assumed the worst.
After all, Asher was the only one among them with a noble kill count.
And not just any nobles—high-ranked ones.
“Count Asher…” Nephis called out, her gaze locking onto the dangerously handsome man before her. Since she arrived in this world, only Reuel, her fiancé, had ever made her feel the way she did just from his looks alone.
Naturally, she loved only the best, and Reuel was just that. She was the whisperer who had made him slay his own father, all for her ambition to become queen.
But this man right here… a man who had destroyed a noble house to rise to the position of count… carried an even superior air.
It was strange.
How could a man possess such attractive eyes, yet it made her feel like she was staring into a prison of endless flames.
Those eyes were like golden flames—beautiful yet unspeakably dangerous.
Was this truly the Count she had heard so much about?!
He was more than the rumours.
Reuel had been right. With him, they could expand their reach, swallowing the Eternal Immortal Empire.
“Count Nephis…” Asher gently grabbed her hand. He could feel the gaze of the crowd locked on him, the piercing gaze of her bodyguards, Mary’s innocent gaze, Yuna’s distaste and Nero’s vigilant gaze from afar.
The closer he leaned, the stronger the pull, something seemed to be screaming at him that he knew this woman.
She wasn’t just Nephis.
She was the woman that broke his life, shattering it like glass.
A hot burst of sharp air escaped Asher’s lips as he kissed her knuckles lightly before standing upright.
Nephis, as if enjoying such authority, smiled softly. “Count, I heard you built your county starting as a defenceless cripple. That’s a fascinating topic.”
Asher’s eyes flickered.
“It is,” he said with a slow smile. “It happened right after the scandal on Earth.”
Nephis’s eyes widened. She tilted her head as if she hadn’t heard him right.
“What? What did you say?”
At that moment, a visible white mist curled from Asher’s eyes. The temperature dropped to the negatives without warning.
People’s breath became misty!
All because that single sentence had confirmed it!
This woman—Nephis—was Lia!
Nephis took one step back. “Who are you?”
Duke Ohad Mormont and Count Eric Adamos exchanged confused glances. Had these two met before?
They couldn’t understand, but seeing Asher release his powers, Duke Ohad placed his hand on Asher’s to calm him down.
But before his hand could graze Asher’s shoulder, an intense chill surged up his arm. Frost spread in an instant, turning his skin blue with frost all over it!
Duke Ohad yanked his arm away, his eyes widening in horror.
What in the world was that ice?!
Step.
Step.
Another Step.
After taking these three steps, Asher was just inches away from Nephis. Then, he leaned forward.
His eyes were shining brighter than before.
“Don’t you remember me?” His voice was low, a haunting whisper. “Asher, the fool.”
His words shook Nephis’ world.
Rather than hiding from his daunting past, Asher decided to face it head-on. To look at it straight in the eye.
He wasn’t the Asher from earth anymore, he was now a wolf…
The White Wolf.
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“A… Asher!!”
Realization flashed in Nephis’s eyes.