“Are you alright?” Lily asked as she rubbed Ethan’s back, allowing the latter to feel a little better.
“Thank you, Lily,” Ethan said before wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
Lily nodded as she looked at the handsome young man with concern.
His reaction was completely normal, and she didn’t find any fault in it.
The first time that she was forced to kill someone, she reacted the same way, so she understood what he was going through. 𝒐𝓥𝗅xt.𝒞𝒐𝕞
Even so, Lily hoped that Ethan could get over this matter as soon as possible because they were headed into a war zone.
And in war, one mistake could lead to death, so kind-hearted people had no place on the battlefield.
Great Chieftain Adrian and the warriors picked up the weapons of their enemies and checked if they had any other valuable items on their bodies.
They didn’t even look at the corpses of the Hyenas because they disdained eating their flesh. The only time that they would consider eating hyena meat was when they had no other alternatives.
Half an hour later, the group left the scene and continued their journey. The warriors were very impressed by Lily’s performance, but they kept their admiration in their hearts.
They were still bound by their Great Chieftain’s decree, but after seeing that the young beauty was a powerful shaman, they started to have grand designs of making her their mate.
Since Ethan hadn’t consummated their marriage, she was still a maiden, and for them, this meant that she was still eligible to choose a new partner who was more worthy of her talents.
Naturally, Ethan and Lily were oblivious to what the warriors of the Kendall Tribe were thinking and remained inside the Chieftain’s wagon.
“What you did today is truly amazing, Lily,” Marco said as he sat on the wagon. “However, this might not be a good thing.”
The young man glanced in Ethan’s direction, whose face was still pale, and sighed in his heart.
“What’s wrong, did you fall in love with me?” Lily asked in a teasing tone. “What about your fiance?”
Marco chuckled after hearing Lily’s teasing words. If he wasn’t betrothed to another, he might have also considered fighting for her hand in marriage.
“Ethan, I hate to say this, but I think you will be challenged soon,” Marco said. “Lily is already in the sights of the single men in our tribe, and now, she is considered a prize. A Shaman like her has the same influence in the tribe as a Tribe Chieftain. Anyone would be tempted to fight for her hand in marriage.”
Ethan frowned because the concept of stealing the wives of others was something he wasn’t familiar with.
His Grandparents were loyal to each other, and they had been partners for life.
Of course, he knew that some High-Ranking Nobles had multiple wives, but this was within their capacity to do so.
But the concept of someone stealing someone’s partner was unheard of. At least, to his limited knowledge.
He wasn’t aware that this was a very common practice in some places in the world.
Even some warring tribes would often raid their rival’s settlement and steal their women, not caring if they were married or not.
As someone who lived in the peaceful countryside, Ethan had never experienced wars, raids, and banditry.
He only started seeing the real world after arriving at Brynhildr Academy, experiencing foreign things he never had an idea about before.
However, that didn’t mean that he was fine with it. Although Lily and he were not really husband and wife, he would not allow anyone to force her to do something she didn’t like.
‘If anyone were to really try, they would either turn into an ice statue or worse, be gutted alive,’ Ethan shuddered as he thought about these things.
What he didn’t know was that Lily was paying close attention to his face, trying to find out how he would react to Marco’s words.
“Are you sure that they will be challenging me soon?” Ethan asked.
Marco nodded. “I am sure of it.”
“There’s nothing that your father can do about it?”
“He already made a decree, but after this last battle, I’m afraid that the warriors will insist on having a duel with you. Don’t worry, they will hold back and not kill you. Although they wish for Lily to become their mate, they don’t want her to hate them either.”
Ethan sighed before closing his eyes. A few minutes of silence passed before his voice sounded inside the wagon.
“If they really want to duel me then fine,” Ethan stated. “However, I don’t want to fight everyone. If they insist on taking my wife from me, tell your father that they should hold a contest among themselves. The winner will get the right to challenge me.”
Granma Ria and Holly, who were also inside the carriage, looked at Ethan with a frown. They had seen how the poor young lad had vomited after the battle, and they weren’t sure if he would be able to fight against their finest warriors in combat.
Lily, on the other hand, only smiled.
For her, Ethan’s decision was a good one because he only needed to fight one battle instead of fighting multiple ones.
As long as the battle was one-on-one, she believed that, even if Ethan wasn’t as proficient in combat as the warriors of the Kendall Tribe, he would still win.
The young man had something that they didn’t have, and that was magic.
He was also the only one who had defeated her in a duel. Although the method he used was unheard of, it didn’t change the fact that he had won and she had lost.
Lily also saw how Ethan tried to protect the members of the Jaeger Manor when Koko attacked them.
Despite not being a powerful warrior, he never shied away from protecting the people that needed to be protected.
She also heard rumors about Ethan fighting against a Wendigo to protect Luna, but she hadn’t confirmed these rumors as of yet.
Even so, she believed that if Luna was really targeted by the vile monster, Ethan would always be at the forefront, even if his opponent was several leagues stronger than him.
That night, Marco told his father about Ethan’s proposal, and the latter agreed.
Great Chieftain Adrian knew that the sooner they settled this hidden danger within his tribe, the better.
Because of this, he asked the warriors of the tribe to wait until they arrived at the Weeping Shrine before they conducted a grand duel to win the heart of the beautiful Shaman, whose deadly gaze was as cold as ice.