10 | Rebecca Von Ainsworth

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After a little while, the girl asked something. She was using a language I didn't know.

'Elven? I don't know,' I thought, not knowing any language except Draconic and Shundra—Shun's language.

(A/N: English is known as Shundra in Shun. There is a reason for that—which I can't explain since it would be considered a major spoiler.)

Taking a glimpse at me, the girl stopped and turned toward me.

Smiling apologetically, she gave me a well-practiced greeting before saying.

"I can't thank you enough for bringing my brother back," her gaze did not leave mine for even a second.

Then, as she gazed at someone behind me, she smiled 'gently'.

"Though someone definitely need a 'thank you' as well."

Confused, I turned around, only to be left speechless for a second.

All the elves, be it, young, or elderly, were kneeling on one knee.

Aria and Ariadne seemed a bit stiff, though. Not understanding what was happening, I turned toward her and opened my mouth.

"I found them on my mission and decided to escort them back." I said, calmly.

From how the elves behaved, I inferred that the young lady in front of me was someone high in the elven hierarchy.

Why was she on duty when she was supposed to be a high-ranked individual?

'Simple, actually. She's a Venturer.' I inferred.

Though there was a lot going inside my mind, I didn't let out a single fluctuation outside, as the girl had been scrutinizing my every move from the moment we'd arrived.

Smiling slightly, she parted her plush-soft lips.

"Oh my, where are my manners. I forgot to introduce myself."

"I'm Rebecca Von Ainsworth. Feyfey's elder sister and the first born of the elven royalty."—giving me an elegant bow, even in her armor, she continued—"it's nice to meet you, your highness."

' . . . What??' I thought, bewildered. 'Your highness? Me? Is she drunk?'

Silence descended as she finished, only the distant sounds of Elkra flying in the sky ringing in my ears.

I stood there like a statue for a second, then, heaving an exaggerated sigh, I bowed down slightly as well and remembered that Leia had mentioned Rebecca before.

Saying that Rebecca was one of her close friends.

I opened my mouth, a well-practiced smile dawning on my face.

"Likewise, princess. It's an honor to meet your highness." Though the voice that came out was lacking any emotion or enthusiasm.

She giggled, probably at the lack of enthusiasm.

Why wouldn't she? I mean, she's a princess and me acting the way I was doing, was clearly—kind of—disrespectful.

Though she seemed amused at most.

Scrutinizing my face, she raised an eyebrow, slightly.

White-headed individuals were quite rare, actually, and to top off, my eyes were a glaring golden color.

(A/N: except some old—really old—people, who've managed to increase their life span, one way or another, have white hair.)

"Anyway. Could you tell me where you found my people? There had been quite some missing reports. In fact, I was going personally tomorrow . . . Well, I don't think I have to—as they all seem to be here . . . except some."

Ready to explain everything quickly, reap some rewards, and go home as soon as possible, I opened my mouth.

"Ah, yes . . . " But before I could continue, I felt a hand grasp mine.

"Come with us to my home, big brother. You can talk all you want. You can leave after some days. You still have a lot left to teach me." Feyrith said, dumbfounding not only me but—from her expression—Rebecca as well.

"Please . . . " Feyrith gave me a look I was too familiar with—Doryu's 'puppy' eyes whenever he wanted something.

'HEY!' Doryu protested, sending his angry snout as an image.

Ignoring him, I focused on Feyrith.

" . . . But—"

"Pretty please?" as Feyrith's 'puppy' eyes intensified, I thought about it for some time.

'Actually, explaining about the zombies is gonna take a while, and it can't be rushed either. It's for the best if I stay for a night or two. I need my reward and my 'teaching' fees as well.' I pondered.

"You can, if you want." Rebecca said, bringing me out of my inner monologue.

She seemed surprised, for whatever reason. She kept alternating her gaze between me, Feyrith, and our holding hands.

I mused to myself. I really wanted to go back, but the explanation couldn't be half-assed either. After staring at Feyrith's expectant eyes, I sighed.

"Okay"—then, turning around and gazing at the still-kneeling elves behind me, I continued—"Identify and send them to their families would you?"

"Certainly, your highness, that's a given."

Raising a confused eyebrow, I said, "Why do you keep referring to me as 'your highness'? I'm not a prince you know."

Her smile stiffened slightly, then, she chuckled.

"You jest, your highness."—noticing that I wasn't, her face showed confusion for the first time as she continued—"you're not joking? Then, how come you have a crest?"

'A crest? What's that,' I thought.

I was confused even further. Before I could ask anything, she interrupted.

"Let's talk about it later, shall we?" she said and turned around, calling some of the soldiers.

She gave them some commands and sent the elves—except Aria and Ariadne—away.

After that, she took off her armor, revealing a beautiful dress beneath—moreover, her hot figure.

"Ria!" she called out to a young elven woman.

She was a dark elf. Silver hair and dark brown skin with cyan-colored eyes.

'A beauty as well.' I sighed again.

'Are all the elves this beautiful? I mean, even Rebecca here has a perfect figure, carrying some 'bountiful' assets.' I thought.

Especially her bottom, she was hot, even though she mostly seemed flat.

Only my teen hormones knew how difficult it was to even breathe near her. I was aroused, even now, though I knew how to control myself, and my clothes helped to hide 'little Eddie' as well.

I hated my teen body sometimes.

Sighing again, I started chanting the super-secret calm-your-nerves cat technique, inwardly.

Blue cat, red cat, orange cat, green cat. cats are awesome, cats are cool, cats are badass, cats are kings, cats are novel protagonists, cats are the absolute best, and cats are the absolute apex of the world.

Yes, as expected, cats should rule the world, no, cats should be the rulers of the universe . . .

Repeating it like a mantra inside my head until I felt little Eddie lowering its head and calming down, I kept my calm facade and listened to Rebecca.

"Take care of things while I'm gone, will you? I won't come back for some years." She said.

The elf named Ria nodded her head, she glanced in my direction before going back to the soldiers, shouting some orders.

"Let's go," Rebecca said as she walked in front.

I followed behind her along with Aria, Ariadne, and Feyrith.

The view of her rear was nice, only adding to the burden my mind had to handle so as to not lose the leash on little Eddie

we crossed the gate of the outer wall.

Rebecca guided us through a room. It was empty, except for a single dark elf inside.

Who—upon seeing us—smiled.

"This peasant is humbled that the princess has graced me with her presence."—lowering his head and body in a practiced bow, he continued as he stretched out his hand—"where may I take you, your highness."

I stared at Rebecca. She stood there like a statue for a moment, her eyes and lip twitching slightly.

"No need for the dramatics, Ansel." Her eyebrows furrowed. "You know I hate it when you act like that."

The dark-elf, Ansel, stood up. Sighing, he touched his mustache.

He was a man, muscular in his own right, but beautiful nonetheless.

Rebecca turned around as she stretched her hands towards us and caught Ansel's hand with her other hand.

Staring at her hand for a while, I sighed and cursed my hormone-filled body before holding her hand.

Just as my hand touched hers, I felt a chill run down from my arm to my whole body.

As my left hand completely turned frosty, sending surges of pain inside my body, I jerked it away, glaring at her as suspicion coursed through my entire being.

'Do you want to kill me?' I thought.

I'd thought that since I was away from home, I could act however I wanted since no one knew me, but It seemed that I was wrong.

I needed to be vigilant, no matter who it was. How could I forget something so simple?

Maybe the situation with Kismet caused my brain to numb down a bit?

"Why did you do that?" I stopped as her surprise was evident. As my left hand turned numb, my eyes widened in horror as I saw a shape forming on it.

'No! Not right now!' I thought.

Crying inwardly, I clenched my teeth, waiting for the pain to come.

'Seriously, a f*cking stigma!? At this time!?'

My horror was for a good reason—as the process of forming a stigma was long and painful, and It wasn't really something I enjoyed. And to top it off, I'd be totally vulnerable during the process. I couldn't afford that right now.

Sweating buckets, I was just going to go through a panic attack when Doryu grumbled inside my head, sleepily.

'Don't worry. It only hurt the first time because your body couldn't withstand the stigma's power. As you have already awakened one of your stigmas. You don't need to worry. Because now or in the future, it won't hurt when the stigmas are formed.'

I calmed down, though just a little bit.

My face hiding the panic beneath a calm facade, I turned my attention toward Rebecca and noticed that her eyes shimmered a light blue for a split second.

'She's connected to it, somehow.' I squinted my eyes. I was sure that she was, somehow, connected to the stigma's formation.

"For now, just hold my hand. You, me, and my father, need to have a long chat." She said, motioning me to hold her hand again.

Though a bit skeptical, I held her hand.

I, too, wanted answers. Answers about the stigmas. Answers about Drake's bloodline.

I was certain that Doryu wasn't telling me everything he knew, he was keeping it to himself.

I understood that Doryu would reveal information to me as time passed, so I hadn't been in a hurry, but I was still curious to know more.

Rebecca closed her eyes, and so did the man.

Noticing this, the others closed their eyes as well.

I didn't.

The man shimmered in a purple hue; I felt a strange sensation wash over me.

The room around us wobbled, just like when I had met Kismet, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself in a luxurious room.

Enormous.

That was the first word that came to my mind. It was truly enormous.

Not even near Kismet's home, castle, or whatever that was, but big enough in its own right.

Decorated with ornate golden carvings, the room's white interior shimmered in cleanliness. It was clean, with not a single spot of dust.

I was quickly dragged out by Rebecca. looking at her in confusion, I noticed the faint blush that dawned on her face.

"I hate you, Ansel! I'm going to kill you, you hear me?!" she shouted at the dark-elf, who seemed to be snickering slightly, ostensibly enjoying himself.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too, Becky. See you around." He said as he vanished.

I decided to remain silent, and maybe it was for the best. It was apparent that Rebecca really didn't like whatever had happened.

Suddenly, My eyebrows jumped.

'That . . . Was her room, wasn't it?'

As the thought struck me, I found myself being pushed inside a room. Rebecca—who was fuming—smiled 'gently'.

"Your highness . . . Would you kindly rest here for a while? I need to punish a peasant."

I nodded. Poor Ansel. He was going to get a beating.

Alas, I couldn't see.

After that, she bowed and quickly left toward her room.

Aria and Ariadne heaved a sigh.

"We'll be fine, right Aria?"

"Yes, we'll be-"

"I haven't forgotten about you two! Just wait!" a shout resounded, and the two visibly paled.

Sighing in despair, the two girls bowed before leaving with Feyrith.

I twirled around, finding that there was a bed, I skidded over to it and plopped without reserve. Not even bothering to give anything else a glance.

I was really tired. I deserved some sleep.

After thinking so, I closed my eyes, drifting into the wonderful yet terrifying wonderland.

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