As you move your eyes around, you see a vessel near the corner where you were sitting before.
"I guess Mavis came back, but where is she now?" you think looking around. "She probably went to notify others or went to find me. I should stay here, just in case she comes back.
You open the vessel and find water in it. "I am not really thirsty anymore." you say closing it again.
Then your eyes go on that same bush near the big hole.
"I should cover the hole a bit. If people from my kingdom fall into his hideout, he might be captured." you say.
You grab dense bushes from your surroundings and throw them on the sides of the hole.
As you get up, you hear rustling sounds from behind. "Mavis, is that you?" you ask, not ready to turn around.
"Hehe... Nevil~ I'm sad you didn't die even with the deadly poison on the arrowhead. Don't worry though. Until next time, Y/N..." a male voice spoke.
You spin your head in that direction upon hearing you name.. your real name.
The name which no one is supposed to know in this world.
"Nevil!!!!" you heard a feminine voice call out your name. You move your gaze and find Mavis.
"Oh, um.. Hi." you say moving away from the hole.
"Where were you?? I looked everywhere. Why are your clothes so dirty? You are so dusty.." she kept on asking questions.
"Haha... I just happened to walk off somewhere and then I got lost. A few minutes later... I..I saw that same tree. Then I realized that I came back to this place. I didn't see you but I still saw the vessel lying there with water in it. I thought you went elsewhere and so I waited for a while." you explained everything to her but didn't mention anything about the strange man.
"I went to look for you. And then from a distance I saw you standing here. Please don't go off like that. There are other viscous animals in the jungle too." she said sighing.
"I would like to return back now.. I'm tired." you say, with a slight tremble in your voice.
"Alright."
You noticed a sense of doubt in her eyes but since she didn't ask anything, you remained quiet.
After the hunt:
"I can't believe I met C/N here. And that strange guy, who knows who I am. I only had to figure out how to get out of here and now I also need to find out about my enmity with the West City and about that guy.." you think, pretty exhausted.
"It's a pity we couldn't hunt many animals. Just a small rabbit." Mavis said, visibly disappointed.
"I'm sorry I couldn't provide you with the thrill of hunting." you apologize. "Oh! Miss, don't apologize to someone as low as me." Mavis says looking embarrassed.
"Low like you? What do you mean?" you ask.
"I.. I don't want to talk to anyone about this topic, nor do I trust anyone enough except you, but I want you to know. I am already 20... And I still don't have ears and a tail. And after the Great Battle, I, Elowen, a royal member of the West City lost everything dear to me. I was already despised by my own family because of my dysfunction. And so, I completely hid my identity. Here, nobody knows my age and with the advantage of a childish face, everyone here thinks I'm still a kid." She finishes with a sad chuckle.
You remain quiet after listening to her tragic past. "I'm really sorry. Please call me Nevil. You are a royal member of the West City. I cannot allow you to think so low of yourself." You say.
"Oh, no. I can't-"
"You have to, it's a request, please."
After a long, silent pause, Mavis spoke, "Understood. Thank you. One minor request, please refer to me as Mavis itself."
"Sure, Mavis. I never expected you to trust me so much." you say, feeling some sort of guilt. "Honestly speaking, when I first came here and got the duty of assisting you, I myself didn't think that one day I would trust you so much." Mavis says, with a look of happiness mixed with contemplation.
"I'm not even Nevil. I'm just Y/N.. I don't deserve to know all this." you think.
"All right, I promise you that I won't mention this to anyone. And don't mind me asking this, but could you please tell me about this 'Great Battle'?" you ask.
"Sure, it was one of the vilest battles fought by the cities. Just a little while ago, all the four cities- North City, South City, West City and East City, lived peacefully. All the alphas were great and close friends. And then all of a sudden the previous alpha of North City, your father and the previous alpha of West City, my uncle, had a huge dispute. I don't really know why they suddenly began hating each other and long after that, they waged a brutal war on each other. The other two cities didn't want to get involved in this battle and also didn't want to ruin their relationship with their friends.. Hence, they tried their very best to stop their fight but all was in vain. The North City completely demolished the West City. Only a few members of my city were able to escape. This was very long ago and I have lost hope of ever finding anyone from my city." she explained.
"How can you still keep that bright smile on your face? After all that?" you ask.
Mavis's eyes widened and she starts speaking with a gentle smile, "Anytime I feel sad, I remember my mom's words. She always told me to live in the present. To enjoy every moment with my cherished ones. She told me to never think of the past nor the future. What is to come, will come."
You remain quiet and...
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