28 Kaiser Dyingstar

A few hours had already passed since they've arrived back at Lunargard Faction, but Kaiser still couldn't forget about what happened on the last expedition. Of course, what he was thinking of was completely different from what the others would remember. He and Colleen…the development between them went fast, giving neither time to breathe properly when it happened, unforgettable…

Kaiser didn't suppress his giggle as he strolled through his tribe, the Earth Tribe's territory. He, for one, had an acceptable appearance. He was a slender man with an attractive, above-average height, his lean, muscular physique covered in a fitted brown tunic and a pair of trousers. He had an undercut, his pinkish-brown hair another feature of his that made him distinct from his common brown-haired tribesmen.

Kaiser continued to walk as he reminisced the inexplicable emotion that sparked with Colleen a few days ago, and the children that used to greet him in excitement when he walked by kept away, completely weirded out by the stupid yet creepy expression on his face. If he were to explain, it was this tugging sensation inside him that greatly desired to make her his.

With each step Kaiser took through the bustling roads of his home territory, he didn't notice how children fled from him in all directions, not daring to take a step close. He was laughing out loud with no one but himself, twitching here and there as if he were having a seizure of some sort, a wild look on his face. He always walked in this direction, but others have not seen him so disturbingly delighted before, the freaky atmosphere about him leaving children playing outdoors frightened if not traumatized.

After taking his sweet time strolling around in the tribe's market, Kaiser found himself standing before a sumptuous, two-story wooden hut, and he wasted no time to knock on the door, elated. "Colleen, my dear!" he shamelessly called. "Open the door! Here comes your future hubby!"

Knock, knock, knock!

After a few short moments, a scramble of footsteps was heard from the other side of the door before it was swung open with a creak, revealing the brown-haired woman he was dreaming for. Only she didn't seem equally pleased, looking up and down at the lunatic that appeared at her door with dismay.

"Kaiser? What are you doing here?!" Colleen flashed him a murderous look before she glanced around to see who else was there. Unfortunately for her, her gossiping neighbors were out and about as well, looking at the two with curiosity. She felt so uncomfortable with that many eyes on her, chills running down her spine.

But Kaiser only beamed, a dumb*ss who didn't even seem to notice the audience around them. And came forward for a hug, arms wide open as he said loudly, "Colleen, my sweetheart! I missed you so mu- oof!"

A fist swung and met him right in the face, waking him up from his dreams with a hard punch.

"What sweetheart?! Do you want to die, stupid?!" Colleen's face turned red from embarrassment. How can this idiot call her a 'sweetheart', out loud in front of all these people, nonetheless? She never should've opened the door. She was restless, figuring there must've been news of Winter or Blaze…

But why did it have to be this dumb*ss in front of her house right now? Because of her worry for Blaze, she almost forgot what happened between her and Kaiser in the dungeon. And now that he was standing in front of her, all of it returned to her head with details as clear as crystal.

She blushed, annoyed that Kaiser took advantage of the situation in the expedition to have his ways with her body. But the most humiliating of it was, she failed to keep her composure in front of Kaiser, the very guy every woman distanced themselves from in the dragon-slaying academy!

No, she didn't enjoy that, right? She couldn't have. She only tried to fulfill his last wish…they simply used each other to forget that they were about to die at that very moment. …Only they didn't die in the end. Right, that was what happened, nothing more, nothing less. Colleen shook her head as she tried to assure herself.

"You! You're my sweetheart!" Kaiser insisted. "I've been longing to see you again ever since we came home. Do you not want to see me?" He whimpered, hanging his head like an innocent little child, dejected. However, his words only showed his stupidness at the same time, and Colleen facepalmed. She just couldn't understand how much of a foolish *sshole he could be, running her hands up and down her face in exasperation.

"You! Go home now! I'm busy thinking about Blaze, I'm not in the mood for you. Let's talk some other time, okay?" Colleen forced a tight-lipped smile to fake her genuineness and pushed Kaiser away, all the while thinking, 'F*ck! I'm going to die from stress. Please get lost and don't ever come back!'

Colleen continued to push him, but Kaiser held his ground, resisting in desperation. "W- wait! Do you not miss me? I know you're stressing about Blaze...are you mad that I didn't visit you sooner?"

"Uhh… ye- YEAH! That's right!" Colleen lied, giving him a hard shove. And she did her best to feign hurt, hoping that he would just leave already. "Y- you should've come sooner! You disappointed me and I'm soooo mad at you! Go home! I don't want to see you ever again, b*stard! It's over!" She thought that it was easier to make Kaiser believe they broke up after a period of 'special feelings' instead of letting him bother her again and again.

"Wait- wait! Colleen!" Kaiser grabbed her wrists to keep her from pushing him away, making her turn a deeper shade of red in return. "Don't push me away! Listen to me! Let me explain!" he begged.

It only made it worse that Colleen's neighbors already began whispering to each other even though they couldn't clearly hear what they were talking about from their distance, and Colleen freaked just knowing some false rumors were about to spread.

"Colleen?" two voices from inside the hut called in unison. "Who's this man, Colleen?"

Kaiser and Colleen paused and whirled around to see Colleen's parents standing side by side at the door behind them, brows raised in curiosity.

'O- oh, sh*t!' Kaiser and Colleen immediately pulled away from each other, and Colleen took a few steps away to distance herself from the crazy person next to her. Kaiser stood with his hands behind his back, clearing his throat and standing up straight, worried about what Colleen's parents might think about him. He didn't want them to get him wrong, he didn't want to be seen as some sort of molester that was trying to do something to their daughter.

Instead, Colleen's mother's face lit up with a wiggle of her brows. "Ohhh, is he perhaps a secret suitor of yours, daughter?" she teased, leaning towards her husband in excitement.

Colleen's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Wha-?"

And to make it worse for her, Colleen's father followed his wife's bold assumption, letting out an energetic laugh. "HAHAHA! My daughter finally brought a man home! Is he to be the father of my grandchildren?" He pumped his right fist in the air with a huge smile on his face as if he'd just won something.

For the second time today, Colleen facepalmed herself in utter helplessness. This was exactly how not things are supposed to turn out.