No wonder the second newcomer's voice felt quite familiar, I had actually met him before. Erion, the prince of this empire, stood cross-armed and immediately grinned as soon as I realized it was him.
For the reckless first newcomer, I am sure that I have never seen him before. His neat hair was an awfully shining blonde — no, it was golden. The shape of his face was as if it was sculpted into perfection, symmetrical and glass-like. The simple white tunic inserted into his black pants described his rather tall and slightly muscular build. He was definitely the tallest one inside the room — and probably the eldest, about eighteen or nineteen. Yet no matter how handsome he was, something was off about him. He wore a dark expression as his deep blue ocean eyes stared directly at me. He was supposed to shine, but something about his aura told me otherwise. I looked away from him, not being able to stand the tension.
"Hey Lavi, hurry up and cast a spell to make that person unconscious again. We wouldn't want him to escape like some of his friends. Also, don't forget to thank Calla for that."
Prince Erion winked at me, and the young wizard rolled his eyes as a result. This midget seriously has attitude problems.
"You don't need to tell me what to do." The midget says as he trudges past me and puts his hand over the blinking eyes of the half-unconscious person. Blue light appears in front of his palm and the black-clad man was out of it once more.
The main problem here was how I seem to be the only one who was utterly clueless.
"Midget, what's going on here? I think you owe me an explanation."
"Pfft! She calls you 'midget'?" Erion broke out a slight laugh while pointing to the wizard.
"Shut your trap, Erion." The midget clenches his jaw and shot out a tiny bit of light which zapped Erion on the forehead. There was a small 'hiss' as a small smoke appeared after the light hit its target.
"Ow! See that? He's surprisingly insecure about his height so you might want to be careful." The prince turns to me while laughing as he rubs his forehead with a finger.
The midget only let out a grunt of frustration as he aggressively sweeps back his dark-blue hair. That caused the prince to laugh even more. While the golden-haired person was uncomfortably silent.
"Your highness, I'm sorry but can you please tell me exactly what's going on here? Who are these men and what do they want from me? And how did you know that they'd come here in my room tonight?"
Those have been the questions that kept running in my mind the whole time. For why no one came even with all the ruckus, I can already assume that the wizard had casted a spell for not a single sound to get out. But why? What exactly is happening here?
"Seriously though, call me Erion, I'd already called you by your first name earlier. You can just do the same."
"Then Erion, please answer my questions."
"I... can't."
The brightness on his face went out as he looked away from me. I turned to the midget, hoping that he'd satisfy my curiosity even if we're generally not in good terms.
"You don't need to know that. We'll clean up the mess and get out of here so you should just go back to sleep and forget about everything that happened."
While saying that, the midget snaps his finger and the room instantly went back to normal — there were no traces that a fight had broken out whatsoever. Even the corpses, including their blood, were gone. Aside from the unconscious person who was lying within a distance beside me, the room was the way it was supposed to be.
"What do you mean? Of course I have every right to know! Don't tell me to just forget about this because I never will."
"Oh really? Then how about I make you forget about it?"
"You won't do that."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because you are not that kind of person." I think about the time when he'd saved me from my unstable mana, when he healed me and looked out for me when I had been knocked out for three days, when he saved me from being stoned to death by the people. And now, he even did so much as faking sicknesses for days while purposely weakening something — which must have hurt his pride.
I saw the shock in his eyes the moment he heard my words. The way he flinched a bit did not escape my eyes either. For a moment, he was silent. Then he lets out a sigh. I could already feel that I'd won over him.
"Alright, but no questions. I will allow you to listen while we take out the truth from the bastard's mouth. By then, you'd probably get the gist of it. For the rest, I think Erion might be more than willing to explain."
He gestured to Erion using his head but the prince only raised his eyebrows — seeming to say "what?"
"Enough talking. Let's go."
I almost jumped when I heard golden boy talk. He was so quiet that I had forgotten he was there.
"My dear Alis is as impatient as ever." Erion says while jokingly shaking his head.
The midget, who was already beside him as he dragged the senseless person by the collar, elbowed the Erion on the sides. He was lowering his eyebrows at the black-haired prince, as if warning him.
It was reasonable since I saw that golden boy was already glaring daggers at him.
"Oh... sorry, my bad."
I was surpised to see him lower his head. He looked so sincere with the apology — that he actually felt bad for what he said. It was like he realized that he had crossed a line not meant to be crossed. Was what he said so bad? I could never know.
"Where are we going?" I asked with full caution. There is something I am greatly concerned with.
"Don't worry, there won't be flowers to where we're going."
I let out a breath, feeling instant relief come to me.
As soon as the midget finished his sentence, a wide magic circle had appeared below our feet. I felt the same sensation when he took me back to my room away from the city.
After white blindness, we were in a closed room with stone walls. Only one light bulb hung above the small space. In front of us was a wooden chair. The midget set the black-clad man on it. I did not know where the rope came from but the three of them worked together to tie the man tightly in place.
"Wake him up." The golden boy says in an irritated tone.
The midget said nothing and proceeded to pull down the hood of the man's cloak, revealing a young man in his twenties with brown hair. After he did his magic, the man slowly opened his eyes. As soon as he'd realized what was happening, he began to sweat — his eyes shifted with panic. But he tried his best not to show it.
"Don't think I didn't notice how you'd been roaming around Duke Rosa's mansion these past few weeks. I casted truth magic on you so you have no choice but to tell us everything."
The midget did his best to sound intimidating but the man only let out a laugh.
"Light magic do not work on us reapers of dark aether, little gizoya." The man says in a broken accent, clearly not fluent with the empire's language. The last word probably meant 'wizard'.
Dark aether? What does he mean by that?
The midget only clenches his fist as he bites his lower lip.
"Then how come Lavi's magic made you unconscious earlier?" Erion spat at him.
"It was basic physical magic, didn't need much mana." The midget sighed with great exasperation.
The man tied to the chair spoke next.
"Do not worry," His lips curled to form a playful smile — a smile shrouded in deception and deceit. "I will tell you."
Erion steps closer to the man. "And why would you do that? Also, what makes you think we'll believe you?"
"Because little boys will release me once I do so. It is up to you if you will believe me or not. But I am sure to tell you the truth."
"Don't forget about me." I say but instantly regretted it as the man turned to look at me.
"Oh, I won't. I am sure of that."
"Enough, just tell us what you know." The golden boy was becoming more and more impatient.
"It had all started about four months ago- "
Erion cuts him off. "Look, just get to the point."
"Silence," Ordered the golden boy. "Just let him continue."
The man looked somewhat amused. He clears his throat before talking; the panic I felt from him before had all but disappeared and it was replaced with playfulness.
"The Northern kingdom of Kairos plans to take over the kingdom that lies on the Northeast. He wants to take our beloved Asiana. And you," His gaze turns to me, I could see the anger and hatred that he had tried so hard to hold in. "You're the key to prevent the king of Kairos from stealing Asiana's throne."