Here I thought Delic was a clingy puppy, but, man, does Isaac snatch that title clean off of him.
A few days have passed since Isaac joined as my newest personal aide. Since he is still new, I haven't given him the mind link yet, but for some reason, I have a haunting suspicion that he would probably abuse the mind link to talk to me any chance he gets. He has never left my side since I appointed him, or more like he refuses to.
Even when he had to bathe me in the morning with Alex teaching him, Isaac didn't seem fazed by the fact that he had to see me naked. Unlike the twins and Delic who now have responsibilities of their own in their respective positions, Isaac doesn't have anything else to do other than glue himself to me which is unexpectedly tiring.
Separating at night to go to bed is even more troublesome. Delic physically has to drag Isaac out of my room and assign two of his squad members to watch my door so that he doesn't try to sneak in while I'm asleep.
Don't even get me started with how he is at school. Using my position as Student Council President, I got Isaac admitted into school as a lower wealth class third year student since he is a year older than me and the twins. Remarkably, he is quickly adapting and doing well for being an end-of-term transfer student; however, during every break time between classes, he would rush over from the third-year building to the second-year building just to be by my side.
It gets even worse since this man is just dripping in good looks. I couldn't tell how handsome he was when I first met him since he was so incredibly disheveled and covered in blood, but he turned out extremely handsome. Even though he doesn't mean any harm, he is very cold towards other girls when he is around me in school, and since I am the leader of the school, I have to reprimand his attitude which makes him even more clingy. I swear I feel like I'm unintentionally awakening a weird kink in him, and I do not want to see where it goes.
Although I'm happy that he's happy, I just really wish that Isaac would be less clingy and more puppy-like. Like Delic but without the demented fantasies.
The night of the fourth is cool and crisp, and it's a Friday; so I told my four aides that I will be taking a walk into the Winter Forest by myself to clear my head. I really needed a break from Isaac's constant gaze which is sad for me to admit since he is trying his best to be of use to me. Even so, it feels like he is going to burn a hole in my face if I stay in my room any longer.
The gentle wisps from the wind caress my cheeks as I journey into the forest. It has been quite a long time since the last time I was here. I was only here briefly to approve the dark elves' plot for their village, but I didn't have a chance to actually move around freely. The last time I was in the forest for leisure was after my sixteenth birthday. Mother and Father were very adamant about keeping in touch with nature and to appreciate the silent work it does for us. We took the whole day to wander around and watch some of the wildlife.
"Your family is getting bigger, snowflake," a voice rings throughout the forest.
I frantically look around. "Father, is that you? Are you there?" I call out scanning between the trees.
"You're doing a great job taking over my position," the warm voice comments from behind me.
I spin to find a tall man who faintly looks like my father standing in front of me. "Am I really?" I ask with tears in my eyes.
"Of course you are," my father answers, petting my hair. "I see you are growing the signature white hair, too. It looks good on you."
I laugh lightly. "I look kind of weird with mixed match hair, huh."
"You look absolutely beautiful, snowflake," my father reassures me.
Something feels off. Why would my father show himself in front of me now?
Composing myself, I lift my head to face my father's spirit. "You must have a reason to show yourself to me. I know it takes a lot of energy for spirits to form a physical presence without a host to feed from."
Delic taught me that last month when we went to the cave for my monthly replenishing. The magical spirits that I absorb only appear as small specks of light since it takes up most of their energy to form a realistic presence.
Since Delic is connected to me by an eternal pact, he feeds off of my energy in order to maintain his physical appearance. He doesn't require much since he is of higher ranking and knows how to control energy input and output, but, nonetheless, he still needs my energy.
Father's spirit floats back a bit to distance us. "There is trouble outside of the city," he announces in a firm tone.
"What do you mean?" I ask, crossing my arms.
"You have one of their escapees in your possession. Don't you?"
One of their escapees? Is he talking about Isaac?
"Are you referring to the Black Snow organization that is kidnapping children?" I question.
"Yes. They have long been a recurring problem for Eshea. When I started as the family leader, my very first serious problem I had to face was Black Snow. They kidnapped some of the richest families' heirs and demanded a large sum of money in order to get them back."
I begin pacing back and forth. "So what you are saying is that they are going to become a problem again?"
My father's spirit nods. "They have made their way back over to the borders of Eshea. You must protect the city and its people from those crooks."
"But how can I do that when I don't even have enough members to cover the whole city?"
"You must grow your family quickly. Find reliable allies. You will never know when they will sneak in until the morning after. This is going to be your first of many encounters with people from the outside. You need to be ready."
With that, my father's spirit dissipates into thin air. He must have used up a lot of energy in order to warn me. I'm probably not going to be seeing him for a while, but at least he has given me a new resolve. I was already going to deal with Black Snow since they have scarred one of my personal aides, but now that I know that this was already going to be a problem I would eventually deal with, I can go full force with it.
I continue my walk through the forest when I run into one of the children from the dark elf village.
"Ah! It's Lady Viola!" the child yells enthusiastically. "Good evening to the snow's descendant!" The little girl does a small curtsy and runs off with a smile of pure joy on her face.
The snow's descendant. The traditional greeting that is spoken when anyone other than the personal aides interact with the head of the Winter Family. Even though I don't hold an official position in the city, I am still regarded as one of the most important figures because of my family's history. I don't really go out much since I'm swamped with paperwork, so not many people really call me that. The kids must have learned that in school during history class.
Since I'm here, I might as well visit the villagers and see how they are doing.
I trek in the direction that the little girl went and weave my way around the shrubs and trees to find the light from the central fire. Despite technological advancements, the dark elves prefer to live very simple. Simple two-story homes that are divided into four blocks with the village's main light source at night coming from the central fire. It is very cute and drastically different from the city's way of structuring things, so it was a nice change of pace.
The village children notice me walking towards them, so they all swarm around and greet me. Not too long after did the rest of the village find me. They guide me over to the fire to warm up since it is a bit chilly outside. The cold doesn't bother me, but I didn't want to decline their warm hospitality.
The kids would tell me all about their school and their new friends. They take turns telling stories of the mistakes they made and the new experiences that they had. They even had me play some games they learned from school. It feels really nice to be surrounded by kids that are younger than me. I have always been with the adults since my younger cousins didn't really want to play with me. They were too afraid of my father since he was the family head. Sometimes I wish that I had a younger sibling just so that I could dote on them and have someone to take care of instead of the other way around.
The men and women of the village did their best to pry the kids from me since the kids couldn't stay up too late. Even though it's a Friday, the kids help out their mothers in the Winter Fields on the weekend or take care of their grandparents, so they have to turn in early.
The women who don't have kids yet talk endlessly about how happy they are now and how they are lucky to have such a young yet amazing master. Some believe that I have a miracle power and ask if they could make them fertile enough to have a child of their own. It kind of makes me sad that I had to explain how I didn't have such ability because the dark magic that flows inside them keeps them from having all the kids that they want.
After a long hour or two of chatting with the adults in the village and sparring with some of the men, I say my good nights and journey back to the house. The walk back to the house was nice and peaceful, but it seems like even that didn't last long either.
In the distance, I hear a loud thud as if something crashed into the forest. I immediately call the twins and Delic through the mind link to come where I am in the forest. I might not know my exact location, but I do know that Delic's wolf nose will be able to find me.
This is the Winter Forest. Anything that enters and leaves is my responsibility to take into account, so whatever falls into the forest is within my jurisdiction and needs to be assessed regardless of the danger I am put in.
I finally reach where I heard the loud thud and find the bushes and leaves disturbed. There is a clear imprint in the ground that something or someone fell, but whatever it is must have gotten up and moved somewhere else. Whatever fell should be severely injured considering the massive dent in the ground, so it probably hasn't gotten far. As I continue scanning the area, Delic, Alex, and Xander arrive at my side.
"What happened here?" Xander asks as he bends down to look at the imprint closely.
"I was on my way back to the house from the village when I heard a loud sound like something falling onto the ground," I reply, still looking around.
Alex, saddened by the sight of the crushed bushes, walks over to one and examines it. "Look at this," he comments, holding up a white feather.
"What could possibly have white feathers and be this large?" Delic questions as he glances back and forth from the feather to the large imprint in the ground.
The four of us stay silent until we hear a yell from behind us. We turn around to find Isaac running over to us yelling something. As he got closer, we are able to decipher what he was saying.
"You guys! There's an injured guy behind the house!" Isaac repeats as he tries to catch his breath.
"What?!" we all shout back.
In a quick dash, Alex sweeps me off my feet, and the three guys dart over to the house leaving Isaac in the forest to gather his strength to run back and catch up with the rest of us. Once we make it to the house, we find a trail of white and black feathers leading into the training hall. We follow it picking up the feather as we go so that the workers won't have to clean it up later.
As we stand in front of the back door to the training hall, Delic slowly slides the door open just enough to allow us to enter inside. Quietly, the four of us tiptoe through the training hall and clear the other rooms on our way to the main hall. When we arrive at the main hall, though, we come to witness one of the rarest sights to find aside from a dark elf.
A fallen angel.