As Zach traversed the dimly lit corridor, each creaking floorboard whispered echoes of past patrons long departed.

The atmosphere clung to the air like the haunting memories of forgotten guests, and the rooms, much like spectral chambers, seemed to hold the shadows of stories untold.

The inn’s ambiance was a sepulcher of bygone eras, shrouded in the darkness of neglect and abandonment, a place where the past lingered like a phantom refusing to fade away.

After turning right at the edge of the hallway, Zach passed by the first room which was shrouded in complete darkness and opened the second door to his left that seemed to be dimly lit.

The room retained the eerie aura of the inn, a lingering specter of its neglected history. However, the haunted ambiance was tempered by the gentle glow of flickering candles, casting dancing shadows across the timeworn walls.

In the subdued light, the figure under the hood stood as a solitary silhouette, patiently awaiting the arrival of another. It seemed as though they had been entrenched in the room’s eerie solitude, a guardian of secrets cloaked in darkness.

T The figure exuded an air of fatigue, evident in the slight hunch of their posture. Leaning forward, they shifted their weight from one foot to the other after every few seconds.

Meanwhile their hands crossed underneath a bountiful chest that Zach only just noticed due to the loose robe the woman had been wearing.

As he approached, the hooded figure slowly raised her hands, delicately pushing the hood away from her head. The hood gracefully fell backward, unveiling her face and allowing her hair to spill out like a never-ending stream, cascading onto her shoulders. There was a certain air of weariness in her actions as if she had been waiting for him for an eternity.

Though Zach was in time for the meeting, he still felt a bit guilty for not having come sooner as the woman had come here for him and not the other way around.

Beneath the hood, revealed in the soft glow of candlelight, was none other than Sarah Macrae, a friend he hadn’t laid eyes on for a long while, yet someone to whom he owed his life. The air in the room held a mix of surprise, nostalgia, and a lingering debt that had brought them together once more.

For all the time Zach had spent in the wilderness and in the confines of Byzantium city, he had never been able to forget the people he owed life saving grace to. Sarah was one such woman who had put herself in harm’s way and had even gone against the royal family to come to his aid.

He still remembered her brave and unyielding stand as she fought off the royal forces with the forces of her family and had single-handedly held off the Black Panther long enough to cover his escape and that of the Smith family.

This was a favor that Zach couldn’t repay even if he had to pay off his debt for the entirety of his life.

He had always kept it in his heart and was on the lookout for an opportunity to repay his debt to the woman.

However, fate had brought him to her door in search of her help once again.

“So, you still remember me? I thought you must have forgotten about me already.” Sarah’s tone was full of grievances like a woman who had been wronged by her lover in more ways than one.

“How can I forget you?” Zach replied instantly in order to avoid aggravating the woman who was already feeling wronged.

Sarah’s expression softened instantly after hearing Zach’s words. The anger in her tone faded away as well.

Instead there was a smile that could easily cause the downfall of a few empires like the Hina empire. Beauty has always been the biggest pursuit of all men after power and wealth.

Zach’s previous world had many stories where empires fell because emperors chased after some beauty. The term ‘femme fatale’ came out of true stories. Great dynasties were ruined in pursuit of women.

In that moment, Zach felt that Sarah was fully capable of causing the downfall of a country when she smiled.

“I owe you so much. How can I dare to forget you? Wouldn’t that be me being ungrateful?” Zach asked rhetorically.

Just as Zach uttered those words, Sarah’s smile vanished like it had never been there. .𝒎

Her mood grew worse, and her words began to turn into sharpened knives that she had probably prepared beforehand as she started to throw them at him one by one with practiced skill.

“So, you only remember me because you owe me?” Sarah asked word by word while gritting her teeth as if trying to hide the burst of anger that was threatening to escape the confines of her body in the most violent manner possible.

Despite having relationships with so many women at the same time, Zach was still unaware of their moods and temperaments. He was unable to gauge the reason behind Sarah’s outburst.

He couldn’t, for the life of him, understand why Sarah had suddenly taken a turn towards hostility instead of the well-mannered conversation they were just having.

“Well…that is…one of the reasons.” Zach tried to bandage the situation somewhat as he fumbled for the right words but all he could come up with was a jumbled-up collection of excuses out of which he opted for the best one in his opinion.

“I would really like to hear your reasons for not contacting me even once in all these months, considering that I am, in your own words, your benefactor.” Sarah complained again, this time using his own words to attack him as she put special emphasis on the word, ‘benefactor’.

“It’s just that…well…I haven’t had the time. Ever since I left Elizabeth city, it has been one problem after another.”

Zach took a deep breath before continuing, his voice reflecting the weight of the challenges he faced.

“At first it was all about survival, but then I had to worry about finding shelter for the entire family, so I got busy trying to build a home, and I did. I managed to secure a piece of land and even cleared away all the wildlife and built a home there. Life was good for a few days. Just when I thought that life was done throwing stones at me, a meteorite shower practically sank the entire island where my newly established home was located.”

A tinge of frustration crept into his tone as he recounted the hurdles.

Even Sarah began to feel a bit bad for him by this point. There was hesitation on her face as she tried to take back her blame that she had put on him carelessly wihout knowing a thing about his situation.

“On top of being homeless again, I was discovered by the royal family, and everything spiraled downwards from that moment on. I have been trying to fight them off all this time. Politics, business, power, no matter what it is, as long as I have a hand in it, the royal family tries to intervene and suppress me in any manner possible. They are probably hoping to recruit me into entering their servitude for the rest of my life and I would rather die than do that.

The gravity of his words lingered, and Zach paused before delivering the final blow.

“So, to sum it up, I’ve been fighting tooth and nail to keep this family from becoming prey to the vultures circling around us.”

Sarah was at a loss for words. She couldn’t find the words to depict how sorry she was for not even considering his situation before throwing a tantrum.

If her father were here, he would be shocked to find that his sensible daughter had acted out of impulse without thinking about the result of her actions.

Despite raising her for so many years, even he had never seen the meticulous Sarah acting on her feelings alone.

Zach didn’t find anything wrong with her either. After all, he barely knew the woman. The only interaction he had with her was during his wedding banquet in Elizabeth city and during the escape where she had come to help him out with the forces of her family.

But that interaction had been enough for Zach to determine that the woman was worth being befriended just by the virtue of her loyalty and courageous actions.

“I see…” That was all Sarah could come up with in response to his troubles. She couldn’t form up the words for apology in her mind. Her mind was too distressed at the moment.

Still, that seemed to be enough for Zach as he could already see the guilt evident in her expressions.

Zach let out a deep breath as he tried to calm his raging heart. Of course, the target of his wrath wasn’t Sarah. It was just that the conversation he had with her caused him to remember all the adversities the royal family had been responsible for in his life.

“But this much isn’t enough to keep me pressed to the ground for long. I intend to fight back against the royal family and teach them what it feels like to have your cheek pressed to the ground under someone else’s feet. But I will have to rely on you in order to give them the first push. I owe you and your family so much and at the same time I trust you more than anyone else.”

This content is taken from 𝘳.𝑐𝘰