The Duke's Passion

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877 Time

Meanwhile...

"Rufus!" Lilou landed on the ground near Rufus.

Rufus turned to see Lilou. Around them were scattered unconscious undead, who had been

cleansed by Rufus. Lilou went there as soon as she saw the light and when she arrived, the light disappeared.

"You're alive," was her greeting, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Did you think I was dead, Madam?"

"Well" Lilou straightened her back, huffing. "I felt very anxious carlier. was as though Sam was in danger, but I guess I was simply overthinking"

"I see."

Lilou arched her brow upon seeing Rufus' reaction. "What is it, Rufus?"

"Nothing, Madam. I just thought you might not be overthinking"

"What do you mean?"

"Master might have been in danger because I also felt it." Rufus's expression turned solemn, setting his eyes on the people scattered on the ground. "Minutes before you came, I felt something strange. For a moment, I felt like my life would end."

There was a moment of silence that befell their shoulders.

"Well, you're here!" Rufus slowly raised his head, only to see Lilou smile at him. "If you're here, that means my husband is still alive. He might've been in danger, but I'm sure he'll be alright. He's Samael, after all. He won't die so easily."

Rufus pressed his lips and nodded. "That's right. Ile won't die so easily, especially now that he has you and the young master and miss."

"Now that you mention it..." Lilou's brows knit. "I wonder where Law and Tilly are right now." "There's no need to worry about the young master if Lady Tilly is with him."

"I know!" Lilou smiled. "Tilly will not leave his side. I'm sure she will keep him safe..."

"Mother!!!"

Lilou trailed off upon hearing a faint call. Her already furrowed brows knit even more, and her eyes searched the source of the voice. Rufus also looked around.

Not long after they heard the call, they saw a small figure from a distance. Lilou and Rufus narrowed their eyes, only to recognize the person hopping from roof to roof before jumping to where they were.

"Law?" Lilou almost gasped while Rufus assessed the boy from head to toe.

"Young master, is that you?" Rufus blurted out.

Law was covered with mud and blood. There were visible bruises on his cheek and arms underneath his torn sleeve. However, that wasn't what truly baffled Lilou and Rufus. What truly surprised them was that Law seemed to have grown taller a bit.

"What?" Law was confused at Rufus's inquiry but shook his head, as that wasn't important right now. "Mother, Your Majesty, Tilly, and Father were in danger!"

Lilou and Rufus blinked.

"Mother!" Law raised his voice as his mother and Rufus were distracted. "Father is in danger! There was a demon - we found a real demon! It was huge and scary! Tilly told me to tell everyone to stop the fighting. Spilling more blood only helps and gives strength to that demon!" "Mother!" He once again yelled after getting no reaction from his mother and Rufus.

"Oh. Sorry." Lilou cleared her throat, only to look at her son from head to toc. A mother wouldn't mistake her child; she was certain this was her son.

"Law, did you just grow taller? How come you... look like you grew older?" She asked as if Samael being in danger or the fact that they discovered a real demon weren't as important.

"What!" Law frowned, peeking down at his leg. "I didn't?"

Deep lines appeared on his forehead upon seeing his pants. His pants seemed to have gotten short, being able to see his ankle.

"Aw..." Law winced, only realizing his shoes felt smaller.

"What's going on?" Lilou looked at Rufus, but he was just as confused as her.

"I think..." Rufus spoke after a moment, gazing up at the dark layer covering the sky. "This is the effect of this darkfield."

"Huh?"

"Normally, a dark field is only cast on a small area. It stands as a battleground, an arena where its caster had its advantage. Rufus gazed at Law and then at Lilou. "Dark Fields and blood fields had their unique effects."

"Your point being?"

"I think the effects of this dark field affect time." Rufus set his attention on the confused Law. "In other words, seconds here might be equivalent to minutes or hours worse, days to the time beyond this place. The difference in time can be slower or faster. There's no telling"

"It's been more than half a day or more since this started," Rufus remarked. "Thus, the young master had aged according to the actual time outside."

"What?" Lilou gasped while staring at Rufus's side profile. "Why did it only affect Law and not us?"

"Madam, we had stopped aging" Rufus held her gaze solemnly. "After becoming a vampire, we had kept our physical appearance before turning. As for me, I may not be a vampire, but I am bound to the Master by a blood contract. Therefore, time was never my enemy."

"But as for the young master, he was still young. He had yet reached the age where he'd stop aging," he continued, eyes glinting. "We need to get out of here. Or rather, we have to make that one up there disappear. Because if not, all these citizens would still die as they will be robbed of their remaining time."

Lilou clenched her teeth, grasping Rufus's logical theory. She gazed down at the people lying unconscious on the ground.

"Right now they were still in the process of cleansing Rut after they had absorbed all the light

the effects of this dark field would take their time," added Rufus, convinced by the conclusion he had. "We are running out of time!"

"Then we should meet with others." Lilou nodded, having the same resolution in mind.

"Did you two hear me?' Law frowned, chiming in after the two reached a conclusion. "Father

was in danger. There's a demon in this place!"

"Did your father ask for my help?"

This time, Law took some time to answer. "No."

"Is Tilly with him?"

"I guess? I left her when she said to relay the message to everyone. I met Father on the way."

"If those two are together, then there's nothing to worry about. Lilou flashed Law a smile. "They can deal with whoever demon it was. If they need our help, then we'll go to them. For now, we

have to regroup with others."

"But the blood-"

"Look around you, young master. We already figured out that spilling more blood is strange. That is why we took a different approach," Rufus cut Law off mid-sentence, making the latter look around. "There are many other ways to help the Master and Lady Tilly. Do not worry. If they ever needed help, we would be the first ones to rush to them."

Law slowly gazed back at Rufus and Lilou before a shallow huff slipped past his lips. It seemed even if he didn't relay the message, his family had already figured things out on their own. Surely, there were still many things Law had to learn on the battlefield aside from fighting. Everyone here had been through ups and downs, emerging from many battles together. Thus, they have a deeper understanding of what or what they should do to help each other.