The Birth Of A Villainess

In the labyrinth of the forest filled with tall trees, thicket, and shrouded with darkness, a group of people huddled around together, trying to get as much warmth from their bodies in the middle of the cold night.

A child not less than fifteen years old shifted on the ground where he sat along with the other people around him. Almost everyone was shivering from the cold and fear of the men armed in their armors and swords clasped around their waist belt. And just like a predator waiting for their prey to make a move, every armed men had their hands on the hilt of their swords, ready to strike any second someone moved.

Looking around in a discreet manner, the child realized that they were abducted along with other people, possibly people from the neighboring kingdoms because they all wore different fashion styles. Not only that… the sky was already covered with gray clouds and faintly lit by the yellowish glow of the moon high above the sky.

It should be around midnight, the kid finally made his judgment. He hadn't realized that it was already night because he had just woken up after being knocked out. That also means that they had been abducted for several hours now, and had left the Zheng Empire's borders.

A shiver crossed his heart at the thought of being out in the open. He knew this was a bad idea but the duke changed his mind..

"Are you awake?" A whisper from behind him sounded and had the child shift his attention towards that sound.

Kael felt the woman behind him lean against his back. He responded with faint grunt and asked in turn, "Yes. What about you?"

"Still alive."

"Will that case stay for long though?" the kid scoffed. "There are more than ten men with swords forming a circle, keeping watch on us. If we even try to do something, they will strike us with their swords."

Hearing him say that, Chu Chu couldn't stop giggling. If only the armed men were closely watching them, she would have laughed already.

After she was done giggling, she immediately said, "You're such a kid… Wait, you're a kid."

Kael bit his lips and pouted angrily. He was already a growing young man and was taller than any child in his age, and smarter than any young boy who still attended the academy. How could this woman call him a 'kid'!

"You're not any much better… who was the one who acted like a damsel when we were being attacked?" Kael shot back. He remembered that the woman behind him tried to appeal to their capturers and seduce them with her pearly tears.

Unfortunately, the men who took them were all immune to womanly charms and quickly knocked her out.

Chu Chu felt her cheeks heating up upon the mention of her failed seduction. It was alright if no one saw it and the men who took them were immune to her beauty since she was already past her prime, however, having a child tell her that she failed to subdue her enemies and called her a damsel was enough to make her crawl into a bear burrow and hibernate till this blemish disappears.

Just as Kael wanted to continue bickering with her, a man on their left suddenly moved. He was faster than anyone there and since most of them were ordinary people who did not know martial arts, they didn't get to react sooner and only saw the armed man raise his fist and pummel down.

A pained grunt escaped from Kael's mouth as he felt the pain from the man's fist hitting his temple. He was sure that that spot would bruise and swell after tonight.

"Stop talking, you freak!" The man shouted at the child and shifted his feet, leaning his entire body towards the side and planned to do the same to the woman sitting behind the child.

However, just as his fist could touch Chu Chu, a shadow blocked her figure and the shadow took the hit from the armed man.

Kael grunted once gain. This time, the pain was slightly dulled as he already got hit once. Nonetheless, it still hurt like hell and if someone who had not trained in martial arts were to be hit by it, they would get knocked out immediately and sustain a heavy blow in their head. They would be lucky if that were the only thing they'll get from it and not feel any side effects from a concussion.

After missing his hit and seeing that the freak they managed to kidnap covered the lady behind him, the armed man was agitated and started to kick the young kid from every place he could think of.

Kael tried to shield himself from the most fatal blows and accept the lighter ones to pacify the anger of the armed man. Although, he badly wanted to strike and beat the armed man badly in return with the pain he received just now, he couldn't possibly fuck up the plan.

"Die, you freak! You dare get in my way? You think you'll be accepted by anyone if you try to save someone? Ha! Keep dreaming! A freak like you has no place in this world." The armed man continued with the barrage of his fists and kicks.

The armed man along with the rest of his team were infamous bandits who kidnaps any travelers.

It didn't matter to them if they captured a kid, women, men, sickly, or the old. The only thing they wanted was to take all their valuables and wares from their possession. The men and children will be taken back to their camps to do some hard labor while women were forced to please the men in the camp. The sickly and the old, and the rest who were useless to them were to be sold to an auction house for extra money or killed.

And in this case, the tall kid who was travelling with a pretty lady in an expensive looking carriage they captured was being treated less than any of their captures in years because of his strange looks.