It didn’t last. After three generations, their blood thinned. Their magic wasn’t as strong, their bodies not as tough, their children less talented and beautiful. The Silvari blood polluted with inferior humans. Aurelius was the best of his brothers but only a shadow of his ancestors. His ears were short and round. Shaving his hair made their extra fraction of an inch in length stand out a bit more but most of the time, it was a reminder of his pathetic blood.

However, unlike the rest of his family, Aurelius planned to do something about it. It was too late for him but not for his sons. The day he found he had a talent for casting, he decided he would go to the elven continent to seek his bride. Not to elevate his family or to seek the wealth of the forest. Those were reasons too, but his primary motivation was much simpler.

He simply wasn’t attracted to human women.

The patriarch had many paintings of his secret wife commissioned, lavishing her in attention in exchange for hiding her. Aurelius had been fascinated with her visage since he was a young boy. Her delicate features contrasting with her knife-like ears, her strange coloring, her quiet grace. He was enamored. That was before he was old enough for his father to show him the more…explicit paintings commissioned, glorifying their great ancestor in a drunken rant. Aurelius, who had thought he simply lacked interest in women, “awakened”.

Several years passed and he became a master caster. However, even such a level wasn’t enough to guarantee him safe passage. He had to fight through the Enchanted Forest, fight into their home, and survive long enough to convince them he meant no harm. There was a chance that they weren’t as hateful towards the humanity as the Harvest Kingdom used to be toward them, but he doubted it. Humanity dragged the elves into the Great War, and they lived far longer on average. There may be elders who still remembered the great fire that brought on the forest keepers’ anger.

Combined with the trial of courting a woman with his degraded blood, Aurelius was determined but not hopeful.

Then, as if Lady Silvari herself had blessed him, she appeared.

Kierra Atainna, an elven princess. The cream of the crop, a pureblood of the purest blood. Green skin that spoke of a thriving forest, summer green eyes flecked with traces of the sun, and the silver hair of Lady Silvari. He could only take it as a sign of destiny.

She was his destiny…and yet there was an annoying obstacle standing in the way. An obstacle named Lourianne Tome.

A girl, a mystery, a thorn in his side. He couldn’t understand it. The perfect woman and she was married, married, to a buffoon. With secrets.

He wasn’t blind. Clearly, Lourianne Tome had to be more than she first appeared. If for no other reason than Kierra’s interest in her, but he had seen proof that she had at least some ability. One could buy their way into the Hall, which she had, but the theories she submitted alongside the Guiness gold were of some merit.

More than anything, what made him wary to her secrets was her confidence.

At first glance, she appeared cowardly, timid, and jumpy. The business with the prince showed she had an uncommon fear of royalty and she tended to play the fool by what felt like habit. However, she didn’t back down. She had faced the prince. She faced Peter Pottoculli, two people who should have been above her in power but were utterly crushed.

And of course, she stood up to him.

Master caster was not a title given lightly. For an initiate aware of his power to have the audacity to so much as meet his eyes when they knew he was hostile would already take a lion’s heart. Aurelius hadn’t reached his power as a scholar. He’d fought alongside hunters, lived in lands filled with monsters. He knew how to read a threat. What he saw in her went beyond conquering her fear. She watched him with thinly veiled disgust and anticipation. Waiting for him to make a move and give her justification to drop her meek act.

Dumb casters didn’t live long enough to become masters. Aurelius was also naturally suspicious, being a part of a family that had kept a large secret over several generations. His nerves led him to be cautious and he strived to tear apart the ridiculous relationship through other means rather than risk a confrontation.

However, the girl was incredibly resistant to backhanded methods. He’d been shocked to find she had no skeletons to be aired, having lived a quiet life before her attack. She couldn’t be bribed. She cared little for prestige. He might have tried playing to her obvious carnal desires but what woman could compare to Kierra?

When he failed to find a character flaw to exploit, he thought to invent one. His words to Alyssa weren’t a lie. He truly regretted accusing Dean of abusing the mental affinity. It was hasty and worse, stupid. If he had been thinking rationally, he would have never tried to use such serious circumstances. Far too much scrutiny, not to mention Dunwayne’s involvement. He could have been stripped of his place at the Hall, forced to throw his lot in with hunters-for-hire or chain himself to one of the orders. It was fortunate he had proved himself competent before. Luckily, the Dunwayne was a forgiving and patient man. The grandmaster had docked his pay, forced him to take on a few extra duties, but had mostly left Aurelius to his embarrassment, knowing it would be the worst punishment.

“No worries,” he whispered to himself. A bad habit formed from training to feel the way the air moved from speech. “I’ll bring Lourianne Tome low. Reveal her secrets and strip her of that false confidence. Show you how lowly these humans really are. Then…”

He’d be there, a far better choice. Perhaps his charm wouldn’t be enough to sway his princess. He couldn’t blame her if she decided she had wasted enough time amongst humans and returned home to find a proper suitor. At the very least, he wanted to be by her side when she did.

Perhaps she had sisters.