Arthur was left mesmerized by the beauty of the girl standing before him.
Arthur had seen many beautiful women when he was as awakened as the girl who was in the same guild with him, or the clerk he had fallen head over heels for, but he could swear that they weren't on the same level of beauty as this lady.
As she steps into the room, her silk black gown hugs her tender body, bringing out her delicate curves subtly with passion. Her hair, a mixture of silk and sun, glints in the dark, bouncing off her shoulders and resting on her chest as she takes a step into the room.
Arthur's face flushed at the sight as he quickly averted his eyes from the figures that heaved up and down her chest, his face red but he hid it. While he was busy trying to hide his horny side, the Lady walked on, unconcerned with his way, and stopped a few feet from his bed, her multi-coloured eyes on her perfectly smooth face dug deep into Arthur's features as if assessing his soul.
Silence!
Nothing moved for the next second until the system gave a message.
Arthur, knowing fully well that the girl in front of him couldn't see the screen, took a second to sneak a peek, and then what he saw baffled him.
****
Name: Layla
Age: unknown
Rank: Pillar
Abilities: classified
Cursed art's: [Healing sphere] [healing waves] [Cursed mantra….]
[Lady of the Unknown] [Nightshade]
[Appraisal is only visible if the subject is afflicted with the Cursed Lord]
*****
'Cursed pillar?' Arthur dreaded. That he forgot about the other messages the system provide. He hadn't heard of a Cursed pillar in history class, not even the top awakened had even mentioned them. 'So how come '
There are three Cursed classes, common, they're the mindless Cursed, followed by uncommon, a semi-advanced Cursed that could corner a strong awakened, and last but not least, the elites. All these Cursed are the ones Arthur and the humans knew, he hadn't heard of a Cursed pillar, nor had the humans.
So seeing one now—-
'She is a Cursed but why didn't she change form like other Cursed. The humans who have inhaled the mist decades ago become monsters or beasts, so why didn't she?'
His questions felt like being shot into the air because he had no answer for them. He had no idea how to wrap his head around it.
But there was something else he noticed which confirmed part of his curiosity. 'pillar'
In common sense, a pillar means someone reliable, strong, a cornerstone for something, so if the Cursed Lord is the Cursed Lord then she is the Cursed pillar. Which means she is the second in command.
Arthur decodes it easily but he could feel himself biting his lower lip. 'Is that why she is like that'
He indicated with his eyes as he now knew why she wasn't turning into monsters or beasts, because she wasn't like the other Cursed creatures, she was like the Cursed Lord.
'That explains why her aura envelopes the room since she is a powerful entity' he calculated. As he looked at her, she stared back at him.
"Welcome back my Lord" her voice cut through the silence, making Arthur who was lost in thought flinched at her voice.
Her presence melting with the dark, just like how the system had read; Nightshade.
But that wasn't what bothered Arthur,
What bothered him was how she had this expressions that he had never seen on someone, like they didn't want to be read, He couldn't comprehend what she was thinking at that time which made him wary of her, it seems she is like a hard book cover that had been covered with no inside to show, even if she wanted she couldn't. 'she is mysterious, I have to be careful around her' he declared.
Not only was he scared of her but he was cautious, she also had the look of someone who could read someone from inside with her two opposite eye colors, which made Arthur feel insecure about what to say to her, scared that if he lied she would see through it.
He didn't want to sound too awkward to sell himself away, since he didn't know anything about the Cursed Lord memory, and he was just waking up, so he had to say something to sell it to her. But he didn't know what to say, 'I am awake, please don't hurt me', 'I am not your Lord, I am another person just living inside your master body'.
Nothing came to mind and when he was just about to pick on the perfect option, the young lady moved and as quickly as the silk she was wearing she appeared beside Arthur as his body failed him and put her hands around him to prevent him from falling..
Then in her low voice, she said: "Your body is still taking the backlash I could see" She sounded like she was taking note.
But Arthur's head was exploding in awe 'exceptional, what an insane speed!' That was what it was to him, of course someone with or couldn't see how she moved in the pool of air.
She adjusted his body to a better sitting position.
His body twitched, 'I guess I am still experiencing it' he thought, now knowing that his body was weak, so he didn't know he was about to fall until she came to help him.
"Thank you" Arthur said, but to his shock, the moment he said that, she moved back just as subtly as she had moved here, standing a few feet from Arthur and bowing.
"I am sorry for doing that" Her voice was dead cold which shocked Arthur more.
"What is the change in her personality"
*****
Their interaction had been brief, and they rarely spoke but he could tell something was wrong.
Her tone, the way she spoke, made him suspicious, but he just dismissed it as his stomach churned.
'Now I have to eat,' he thought. As his stomach grumbled. 'Wait, does the Lord eat!'
But the lady had figured it out immediately"I would prepare something for you."
Arthur stared blankly. He wanted to ask what type of food the Cursed Lord ate, because he was afraid it was human skull or maybe blood, just not anything inhuman, but before he could protest, she vanished.
'How did she know that I am hungry?' he was right to be wary of her, after whatever she had been pulling since he saw her.
A second later, she appeared back beside him with a plate in her hand, a dish packed with small steaks, a bowl of rice, and steamed vegetables. He sighed in relief. At least he didn't have to hate him for this since he ate human food.
He dived into the food as soon as Lyla set it down. He bit every bit of it, gobbling it down his stomach. He didn't care to act like a Cursed Lord, and not even Layla seemed bothered by it.
Arthur ate on, his previous encounter disappearing like wildfire. For once, he didn't need to remember anything as he was in his own heaven.
After being kicked out by their uncle who took their parents' wealth, they had to survive only on junkie food, nevertheless.
However, as Arthur finished, Layla took his plate and then turned on her heels. This time she didn't vanish; she walked as she had walked in, but then she stopped by the door.
"My Lord," she called. Not looking back, yet her voice carried something heavier than last time.
And it was the second time Arthur had seen her speak casually.
"I am sorry for what happened my Lord, but I promise to never leave your side again." With that, she went out the door, leaving Arthur staring blankly at the space she had been before.
'What did she mean? And what happened to the old Cursed Lord?'
Yet deep down, he knew something he had been trying to take away. The former Cursed Lord had a troubled past with Lyla; the way she talked and acted around him didn't reflect master and servant, as he didn't know what had transpired in their past.
****
Layla moved swiftly down the stairs, her step hurriedly catering to the sound.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Her heels clanked against the metal stairs. Yet as she descended, her head wasn't in its current form as it was filled with thought. 'He is awake,' she thought.
'Should I tell the remaining pillars? No!' she quickly decided. 'I can't let them near him again, not again,' she vowed as she only knew what transferred between them. She couldn't bring herself to lose him again.
'Not again!' she vowed.
***
In the room after Layla left, Arthur glared at the system screen. His eyes doubled over. Then in a high-pitched tone, he screamed:
"What the f*ck is the meaning of this?"