Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

’Lady Seraphiel?’

Atlas stopped walking with a slight frown as he looked at the familiar silver-haired woman standing behind him. He hadn’t expected to see her here at this hour. For a brief moment his gaze shifted towards the Guild before returning to her once again.

’Maybe she has some business with the Guild.’ That was the only conclusion he could arrive at. After all, someone like Seraphiel, who handled countless trades and business matters for the Rosaria Household, naturally had reasons to visit the Guild multiple times just like she had done the other day. Since it did not concern him, Atlas simply turned around again and started walking towards the entrance, deciding not to think about it any further.

"Atlas!"

The sudden voice from behind made him stop once again.

Atlas slowly turned around with a frown forming on his face. ’What?’ His mind immediately caught something that felt out of place. ’She dropped the honorifics?’ His eyes remained fixed on Seraphiel as she walked directly towards him without slowing down.

She wasn’t heading towards the Guild entrance anymore, she was heading straight for him. That alone made him wonder what exactly she wanted. ’Wasn’t she here for Guild business?...Then why is she coming towards me?’ None of it made sense to him, but he remained standing where he was, waiting for her to speak first.

"Lady Seraphiel, what is the mat—"

Before Atlas could even finish his sentence, Seraphiel suddenly reached him. Without saying another word she stepped forward and wrapped both of her arms around him.

Atlas’s pupils shrank instantly.

Every instinct that had been drilled into him through years of surviving countless life-and-death situations activated without a single moment of hesitation. His body reacted long before his mind could process what had just happened.

BLUR!

His figure disappeared from her embrace.

The very next instant he appeared several meters away, but he didn’t stop there. His instincts still hadn’t completely calmed down. Another blur followed immediately as he crossed the distance once more, appearing directly behind Seraphiel. Transparent spirit energy condensed around his right hand before taking the shape of a sharp spirit blade, its edge stopping barely an inch away from her neck.

"What’s the meaning of this, Lady Seraphiel?"

His voice remained calm, yet every word carried unmistakable caution.

Seraphiel slowly lowered her gaze towards the transparent blade resting beside her neck. Only a single inch separated it from her skin, yet even that distance was enough for her to clearly feel the heat radiating from the compressed spirit energy. One careless movement from Atlas and the blade would slice through her neck before she could even react.

’I knew something like this would happen.’

Instead of panicking, a tiny mischievous smile appeared on her lips.

’He really reacted exactly as I expected...’

She slowly looked back towards Atlas before speaking as naturally as if nothing had happened, "Atlas, it was nothing more than a hug. Why did you react like that?"

Atlas’s frown deepened immediately.

"A...Hug?"

He repeated the unfamiliar word inside his mind before trying to search through every memory he possessed, yet no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t remember ever hearing such a term before. Judging from what she had just done, it involved making physical contact with another person, but...for what purpose? It wasn’t an attack. It wasn’t a deal, It wasn’t even a greeting he had ever seen before. The more he analyzed it, the less sense it made.

He looked at her once again before asking in a completely serious tone, "What’s a Hug?...And why did you suddenly drop the honorifics?"

The moment those words left his mouth...

Seraphiel froze, Her eyes widened to their limits as she stared at Atlas in complete disbelief. ’H-He doesn’t know what a hug is...?’

For a brief moment she genuinely wondered whether she had heard him incorrectly.

’That...that can’t be possible.’

She had prepared herself for countless reactions before coming here. She had imagined him refusing, becoming embarrassed, pushing her away, even threatening her because of his cautious nature.

But...

Never, not even once, had she imagined that Atlas simply didn’t know what a hug even was.

’How...how can someone not know something so normal?’

Her thoughts became completely blank from sheer shock.

Before she could recover, Atlas spoke once again.

"Speak quickly...or else."

The transparent spirit blade moved another fraction forward.

It still didn’t touch her neck, but the rising heat made Seraphiel instinctively flinch.

"P-Please stop!" she hurriedly said. "I wasn’t trying to harm you! Did you forget that because of the contract I can’t harm you in any way?"

Atlas remained silent for a brief moment.

His eyebrows narrowed slightly before he nodded almost imperceptibly.

That part was true.

The contract itself prevented her from intentionally harming him. More importantly, the moment she had approached him, none of his instincts had warned him of killing intent. They had only reacted after the sudden physical contact itself, not because she intended to attack him.

Even so...

That only made the situation more confusing.

"That may be true," Atlas replied while keeping the spirit blade exactly where it was. "But then why would you suddenly do something like that? What purpose does it serve?"

He genuinely couldn’t understand it. Nothing she had done followed any logical purpose he could identify.

’So...what is it? She can’t harm me then why did she make physical contact with me?’

Before Atlas could think further, Seraphiel slowly lifted one of her hands again. Atlas immediately noticed the movement and instinctively shifted the transparent spirit blade a little closer to her neck. However, instead of doing anything unexpected, Seraphiel simply reached towards his right hand. The next moment her soft fingers gently wrapped around the very hand that was holding the spirit blade.

Atlas disappeared once again.

He reappeared several meters away from her almost immediately, his brows remaining tightly furrowed as he looked down at his own hand for only a brief moment before shifting his gaze back to Seraphiel.

’...What was that?’

He couldn’t understand it.

The first physical contact had already confused him because there had been no hostility behind it. This second one confused him even more. There was still no intent to it, It was simply...physical contact.

’Why?’

Atlas silently analyzed the situation inside his mind.

’There was no purpose behind that action...at least none that I could understand. If she wanted something she could simply speak. There was no need to touch me.’

The more he thought about it, the less he could find any logical explanation for it. Every action Atlas had ever witnessed throughout his life always carried a purpose. Whether it was to deceive, threaten, negotiate, manipulate or exchange something, or Kill someone, every action had a reason behind it.

This one didn’t.

After thinking for another brief moment, Atlas stopped trying to understand it.

’Whatever it is...it doesn’t matter.’

His attention returned to Seraphiel once again.

’I only need an explanation.’

Seeing Atlas looking at her again, Seraphiel didn’t move any closer this time. Instead she simply smiled before speaking, "Atlas, you asked why I dropped the honorifics, right? It’s simply because I felt like it. I wanted to call you Atlas instead of Mr. Atlas, that’s all. And...you can also call me Seraphiel instead of Lady Seraphiel."

Atlas listened quietly before thinking about her words, ’Is it because she is a noble?’

That explanation made much more sense to him than everything else that had happened today, ’She probably felt like changing the way she addressed me because of her status. Nobles do whatever they want most of the time.’

After reaching that conclusion, Atlas silently nodded to himself, ’That explains one question.’

It still didn’t explain what a hug was, nor why she had tried to do it, but at least he understood why she had suddenly stopped using honorifics. Atlas released a slow breath before the transparent spirit blade around his hand dispersed into particles of spirit energy.

"Is that so?" he replied calmly. "Well, whatever you intended to do, it seems to have gone wrong. We can speak about it later if necessary. I have to report to the Guild first."

After saying that, Atlas stepped toward the Guild entrance without giving the matter any more thought.

There was no reason to remain cautious anymore.

His instincts had never reacted to Seraphiel with any sense of danger from the very beginning, and the contract between them also prevented her from causing him any harm. Even if she somehow wanted to, she neither possessed the strength nor the freedom to do so while that contract remained active.

Since there was no danger, Atlas naturally chose the more important task.

The Guild.

He still had to hand over the Ruin Cores, obtain the information about the newly acquired Relic and, more importantly, hear everything Himalton knew regarding the Divine-rank Ruin. Compared to those matters, understanding what a "hug" was could wait until another time.

Just as Atlas entered through the Guild entrance, Seraphiel quietly watched his back for a brief moment.

A small puff escaped her lips before she also started walking.

’Hmph...I knew it wouldn’t work the first time.’

She wasn’t disappointed.

If anything, today’s reaction only made her understand Atlas even more. He genuinely didn’t know what a hug was, nor did he understand why someone would suddenly embrace another person without asking for anything in return.

Remembering the confusion on his face, she couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on her lips, ’Just you wait...I will definitely make you fall for me, even if I have to teach you every one of those things myself...starting with what a hug actually is.’

With that thought in mind, Seraphiel followed after Atlas at a normal pace and entered the Guild a few steps behind him.

One walked inside while thinking about Ruins, Relics and the Guild.

The other walked inside while thinking about how to make that same person understand feelings he had never experienced before.

The distance between them remained only a few steps...Yet the things occupying their minds were completely different.

- - -

[A/N: Today is also going to be one Chapter only because I am literally in a Hospital right now because of my sickness, sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for understanding and the support]

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