"Are you alright?"
Jia clutched her head and staggered, feeling her chest tighten.
Was she in the game? Definitely not as the main character. Who was she?
"Ma'am?"
The Duke took another step towards her.
"The room....is spinning..."
She felt woozy; a panic attack was coming on.
She staggered and nearly fell, but he was fast; his hand snaked out to catch her by the waist.
Elyria, as in the video game, was checking out? Cassian? The Duke doomed to die by the hands of the woman he loved?
"I-I need to get out of here!"
"What?"
"I need air! Let me go!" Jia yelled, shoving away from him and running out the door into the cold.
She heard the Duke calling after her as she ran blindly into a forest clearing.
Jia was reeling; the gravity of her situation was just beginning to hit.
"–We were robbed. I–I got shot at. I woke up in a coffin, then in the bed of a man from a game?!"
Jia stopped running to catch her breath.
She looked around, but the whole forest looked the same: dark, looming and intimidating.
Which way did she come?
Tree shadows moved maniacal laughter sounded through the forest.
"Oh no.... which way is back?"
************************************
Outside his cabin, an annoyed Duke Cassian strapped his hunting rifle against his shoulder in preparation
Clicking his tongue for his horse, he wondered whether to just leave the girl to die.
The loud sound of running hooves echoed behind him.
"Hello, Midnight," he patted his horse as it nuzzled against his master, whinnying with excitement.
Duke Cassian scanned the dark terrain in front of him.
This was the only week of the year he had any time to himself, free from official duties and now he was chasing after a dolt of a woman.
The image of her naked body stuck firmly in his mind. He considered himself an animal, but a well-trained one at least, but her slender body, golden eyes….full curves.
Cassian shook his head free of errant thoughts.
He never viewed women with the same lewd interest as his subordinates and brothers on the battlefield, not caring about their teasing, and he preferred the company of men.
There was a certain Saintess he admired but….never in an inappropriate manner...
His mind traveled back to the intruder on his private property.
Everyone feared the Iron-blooded Duke, including the cursed forest of witches bordering his land. Not even thieves and bandits would dare trespass on the forest or his place, and she ran straight there.
"She must not be lying when she said she lost her memories…" Cassian murmured, patting Midnight on the head, who snorted back, pawing the ground in understanding.
"If she's going to die, it better be out of my land."
He was plenty inconvenienced by saving her from before.
With a click, He climbed up his horse, kicking her in the saddle as they took off into the cursed forest.
She would surely not survive two hours there.
The eerie forest seemed to be moving with shadows. Any man would be frightened to be here, but he'd seen too much on the battlefield to be scared of a few shadows and whispers.
In the distance, Cassian spotted a torn piece of fabric on a tree bark.
Urging Midnight to a halt, he jumped down to find dainty footprints on the marsh-like forest floor.
One clue. Good.
Cassian took off his leather glove, knelt down to trace a simple tracking rune in the ground, dropping the fabric into it.
"Asiemus…dota…" He muttered, feeling his mana seep into the ground.
The simple pattern glowed a faint red and took the shape of a hummingbird. It picked up the piece of fabric with a screech and took off further into the forest.
Cassian climbed back on his horse, urging it on his horse, following the hummingbird with the speed of light.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the forest, Jia wandered around, heavily disoriented.
"Why did I run?…he could have helped me, ugh," Jia groaned, holding on to her side.
A few minutes ago, she ran into a group of sleeping deer, startling them. They ran past her, trying to get away, and one of their antlers hit her in the side. It hurts like hell.
She slumped against a tree, panting and counting her cards.
Half-naked. Lost in the woods that seemed alive, and a surface knowledge of Elyria that was of no use here.
" I should have just let those guys take me; I would have had a chance to escape."
One couldn't even tell if it was night or day here.
The boughs and trees were thick, obstructing light with an overabundance of marshes.
Jia groaned again, clutching her left side. It looked inflamed. If she wasn't found soon. Things would become much more ugly.
"Hey. System. System! Or whatever it is you are!"
No answer.
,
"Oh so you can talk to me whenever you like but I can't??!"
"System! Answer me!"
Making noise in a place like this was probably not a good idea, but she was past caring. She'd die of sepsis in a few hours.
How did people transmigrating summon their guides again?
With their minds? Okay....
SYSTEM ON!
Silence.
Slumping against a tree, Willing frustrated tears away.
"I guess I'm on my own …."
[Hello, Player #513]
The bluish transparent screen lit up in front of her.
"Yes! Oh, thank God, yes!"
[Check comprehensive stats?]
"Yes!"
[Identity - Adeline of House Corvus. Seductress.
Rank – Daughter of the Barony.
Status – Unfavourable. Infamous.
Mana – Low.
Strength – 13pts.
Bloodline Power – Mind Manipulation.
Seduction points – 2/100.
Rein. 99 out of 100 lives left.]
"Baron? Isn't that one of the lower rankings?"
She paused.
"Lives?"
As if on cue, a faint mark appeared on her left wrist, glowing with the number 99.
"Holy shit! When did I first die? I can reincarnate then?"
No response.
Probably when she woke up in a coffin, with strangulation marks around her neck, she reasoned with a shudder.
So this body's owner is Adeline Corvus? At least she knew where to go now.
If only someone would find her or….
"You don't have a navigation system, do you?"
[Magic exists.]
Despite herself, Jia began to feel a heady thrill.
"Magic? How do I go about it?"
Silence.
This thing only responds when it feels your questions are appropriate.
Jia rolled her eyes.
[Tracking mana sensed.]
"Huh? What does that–
A sudden, earsplitting screech came from above the trees. Something glowing red dived for Jia.
She tried to run but tripped. She heard the sound of pounding hooves. Something or someone was coming!
A loud whinny.
"On horseback?"
Even in the dark, she could make out the faint outline of a giant horse heading towards her at full speed, carrying the familiar silhouette of a man she had run from two hours ago.
" Stop! I'm here!"
Relief caused Jia's knees to weaken. She sank to the floor as Duke Cassian alighted from his horse, a grim look on his face.
Jia huddled against the tree, pulling the torn sheets around her naked body, feeling ashamed and terribly self-conscious.
"Ignitus…" Duke Cassian muttered, and a ball of fire ignited, floating upwards from his palm.
"A real life spell…" she whispered, awed.
She felt warmth surround her as he scooped her up.
"Are you hurt?" His baritone voice vibrated against her chest. He was much taller and his muscles, bigger than she thought.
"No…"
With surprising gentleness, he lowered her onto the horse's back, taking off his tunic.
"Take off that thing."
"P–pardon?"
Jia's hands clutched around her chest protectively.
"You heard me. Or you want me to do it myself?"
Oaf. Beastly ungentlemanly oaf.
But his granite expression didn't seem to care what she thought.
Under his harsh glare, feeling exposed, Jia took off the sheet, snatching his warm tunic and wrapping it around herself as he watched.
[1+ Seduction Point]
If she was seducing him, it wasn't showing. With an annoyed grunt, he climbed onto the horse.
"Hold on," his deep voice sent another rumbling through her body.
Maybe it was this fur tunic, but suddenly, she was warmer than comfortable.
His chest and thighs pressed against her back and legs tightly as the horse took off in a leap in the direction he had come before.
He was right to tell her to hold on.
She'd never ridden a horse before she found herself slipping.
" For Dureva's sake…" he muttered, gripping the horse's reins with one hand, pinning her securely around her waist.
The intimate contact caused Jia to shudder.
[+1 Seduction Point.]
Behind her, Jia felt him tense up.
Meanwhile, Duke Cassian found himself struggling. Making a mental note to check out the brothel for nobles, it has clearly been too long if he was reacting to a mere woman's presence like this.
"Have you remembered your name?"
"Adeline. Of house Corvus."
Corvus?
The reins nearly slipped out of his hands.
The Daughter of the cursed Corvus house?
Once a reputable place that had risen to take the position of influential nobles, but the head of the house was an irresponsible, abusive drunk that gambled away his titles, heirlooms and land till he became a Baron of no standing.
It didn't help that their lineage possessed mind control powers, causing people to be wary of associating with them.
There was not much known about his children.
Could it really be by chance that this one came to be lost on his land?
Did her lowborn family send her to seduce him?
Ha!
He gripped the reins tight.
A woman like her could never....
But between his legs, something began to stir.