Hunter of The Red Plains

The Countesse of Blood: Chapter VI

Elizabeth Bathory was just sneering at her butler, who was staring at her with a questioning face while picking up the dishes of her breakfast. It surely was as delicious as it always used to be, she thought.

"Excuse me, milady?" He asked politely, since he did not understand what she said. 

"Do not make me repeat myself, butler." She said with an annoyed tone of voice. "I asked of you if you were able to use a spear or not." He blinked a few times beyond his glasses before replying.

"No, unfortunately I am not able to do such thing. Am I required to be able to do so?" He said.

"No, not actually." She said with a victorious smile. "Well, this cannot be helped, shall I honour you with those skills of mine?" After Archer kept staring at her, she yelled annoyedly. "Partner! I allow you to be my partner of spear practice! If you did understand, then follow me, butler!" She walked towards the door and left the room without adding anyting. Archer sighed and followed her to a room which was three times wider than Elizabeth's room. 

"How is it?" She asked, after she spinned a few times around herself and opened her arms widely, as if she was showing off a stage. "This is my personal area for spear training. I love using it, but doing it by yourself might become boring sometimes." She walked to a pair of full-set knight armours, and took their lances. Then, she handed one of them to her butler, and took a few steps back. "Such unnecessary worries, I won't fight seriously so no need to be afraid, butler. I shall teach you how to spin this stick!" 

After those words, they had over one hundred clashes, and every one of them resulted with Archer's victory. Whenever Elizabeth attacked him, he either dodged or parried her attack, until he got bored and swang the lance to her neck, stopping it right before the impact. It was how the first clash was, the others occured due to Elizabeth's pride and stubborness with every of them resulted similarly. According to Archer, she was skilled and was able to wield the spear well. What she lacked was the balance of attacks and the ability to be quiet. She was just talking too much during the fight and she was not holding any strength back, which had caused her to lose her balance and stance after a swing. 

"One... more... time..!" She told him under her rapid breaths, while lying on the ground. Archer held her hand and helped her to stand. Then, took a few steps back and talked.

"This cannot be accepted, milady. With this body of yours, all you should do is rest now. Doing something too much leads nothing of pleasure and good." He took the spear in her hand, which she could not resist much, and put it back to the hands of the knight, while doing the same for his own. "But I have to admit," He added, regaining the exhausted attention of Elizabeth, who was breathing rapidly. "your skills surely are astonshing, yet the fundamental knowledge part needs to improved." She stared at him with an annoyed expression with a bulked cheek. "Do not make such face, what you lack can be gained by practice and hardwork. Allow us to practice once again sometime, my lady. I believe I can teach you much." He gave a sincere smile to her, which caused her to blush a little.

"Very well then!" She cheered with a proud smile. "If you insist to see my astonishing skills, then I have no right to shelter them from you, have I?" Then, she did not move from her place, and the  smile on her face got dissappeared. "Also, butler, I think I cannot move right now. Can you take me to my room?" She asked with a polite voice he had never heard before. Archer smiled gently and closed in, before lifting her within his arms. Just like the princess-style, he took her to her room. She did not say anything, with a great bunch of murmured words about a mere butler as excepion, nor did anything during so. 

"Rest well, milady." Archer said after he put her on her bed, and put a blanket on her. She looked at his eyes and yawned, before murmuring something about a mere butler, just like she did while coming to her room, and felt asleep afterwards. Archer gave a final look at her before taking his leave, but once he opened the door, what he faced was the eyes of Liliana. She nearly got screamed unless she managed to cover her mouth with her hands. 

"My apologies." Archer said with wide-opened eyes. She took a deep breath before talking. 

"I did not expect you to walk this silently, Mister Archer. You really had scared me back there that I think I have skipped a beat." 

"Why were you even here in the first place?" Archer questioned, which resulted Lily to get her face of likes of a tomato, and she could not manage to talk for a few seconds. 

"I... Well, you know... I was wondering if we could have a talk since I found some free time, thanks to my sister." She murmured the last part, but could not hide anything from the advanced hearing of Archer.

"I have no reason to deny." He said as he began to walk, as being followed by Lily. "So, did your sister return to her home?" 

"No, she is still here, helping out for the lunch." She replied. As she said, while they have passed near the kitchen, Archer could see her trying not to drop the plates. She apologised with a cute smile, as if she was a kid who got caught while doing something naughty. Archer laughed a little, surprising Lily. 

"She surely is a little clumsy, isn't she?" He asked, which caused her to laugh a little as well. "It is hard to believe that you are siblings, since you are very skillful at housework."

"It is because the education we have been through is different. Since our family serves the Family Bathory for generations, I, as the elder child, was raised to become a maid for them. But since I became so, I believed that it was not necessary for my little sister to become one as well. I begged my family to let her have academic education so that she could see the world none of us could see by now. Since she is very intelligent, I am sure that she is successfully working and studying for the future I've, we have always dreamt of." Archer listened to her without interrupting, fully silently and respectfully. His respect for this woman grew a thousand times larger, without a doubt.

"One day, join to your sister to travel around the places you desire to visit." As Lily turned to the man near her, she saw a smile from him she had never seen before, while still looking forward. Then, he turned his face to her, while his smile remaining still, which caused her to blush. "If this is what you do believe which is correct, than this cannot be wrong. Keep on with your struggle to achieve your goal, along with your sister." 

"O-okay!" She replied after several seconds of silence, since she was lost within this beautiful smile. Archer laughed a little, annoying her. Then, he offered her to sit around somewhere, with the condition of this time he would be making the tea. After that, they shared an hour long chat with each other, while drinking the tea Archer made by copying Lily's style, in Archer's room. And until the night, everything went on as flawless as ever, with the meal times being shared, even Lady Elizabeth joined to the grand table of meal, tasks being completed, and laughs given together. But at that moment, Archer was sititng on the roof, glancing the city. Then, he decided to go to a tower high enough to allow him to see the city fully as well as the mansion. 

After a half of an hour, he still could not see any suspicious person, until he detected someone trying to run by stealth, and got his bow ready. He was to shoot the arrow and take down the person he thought it was Carmilla, he detected another one with the same dark cloak. What was the meaning of this? How did Carmilla find allies, due to the fact that how she was, a vampire. 

A million of thoughts were running across his mind as the number of cloaked persons raised up to ten. Then, a thought among came forward, alarming him bitterly. From the point he was at, it was not possible to see the entrence of the mansion. Since except one of those cloaked ones, every of them were fake, but one who was in fact Carmilla. But, what if Carmilla did not go to roam among the streets, so that she could reach to the mansion? Archer even bet that those ones in cloak were women who were threatened to do so, otherwise they would lose their lives. While he was jumping from building to building, he cursed his own stupidity and reached to the mansion within around twenty seconds. Then, he stopped at the door, which was opened fully, and saw the hell once again. He was left wordless as he faced the entrance full of blood and body parts.