Elena who was looking down suddenly opened her eyes. The hair that was previously half black and white immediately became completely white. She jumped back while throwing the dagger at Azel. Before the young man in front of him could response, she kicked her right foot onto the ground.
At that instant, a giant, sharp chunk of ice appeared from the ground and headed towards Azel. A loud explosion was heard accompanied by a puff of white smoke. When the smoke cleared, almost all of the area around Elena and Azel froze.
Elena looked at the chunk of ice in front of her with a cold expression. Inside the giant chunk of ice, Azel's figure was frozen there, even the black flames on his blade had also been extinguished.
The beautiful Dark Elf suddenly fell to her knees. Her hair turned black again, the magic started to fade from her body. She suddenly covered her mouth and coughed heavily. Red liquid flowed through both hands and then fell onto the ice. Her facial expression turned pale and her body trembled.
Looking up at the giant chunk of ice in front of her, Elena muttered, "No way."
Elena suddenly had a bad feeling. Sure enough, suddenly the ground shook violently, crack after crack appearing on the giant chunk of ice in front of her. She tried to stand but fell again. The woman was physically exhausted and out of mana.
There's no loud bangs. Shards of ice fell and started to melt. The temperature suddenly rose, ice and water began to evaporate into a puff of smoke. Within the thick smoke, a silhouette stood up without saying a word. All Elena could see were a pair of different colored eyes. Those eyes stared at her contemptuously.
"No way... cough!" Elena coughed again. "It should be able to kill a level 4 demon!"
"Level 4? Isn't the answer obvious..." Azel's indifferent voice sounded.
"Hahahaha..."
A bland laugh escaped Elena's lips. She reproached herself. The woman felt she had done something ridiculous.
"Forcing myself to break through tier 4 then using up all my mana to kill a Prince. I thought I could face mother and sister proudly, but... a high tier demon at 15 years old? Who would believe that?" muttered Elena with a blank expression on her face.
After saying that, Elena suddenly collapsed.
***
Opening her eyes, Elena felt softness and warmth beneath her. She was shocked when she realized that she was lying on a wide and soft bed. The woman was about to get up but failed, she saw that her hands and feet were handcuffed.
Elena looked at her clothes which had been changed into a splendid dress, usually worn by lower class nobles. She knew that these must be clothes belonging to Azel's maid. Instead of feeling happy, the woman felt pain right in her heart.
'Dammit! I've been running and hiding for five years. Why… why did this kind of thing happen to me? I haven't even had time to avenge mother and sister yet!'
Elena bit her lip. Crystal clear tears involuntarily flowed from her beautiful beads. As her mind began to wander, suddenly the bedroom door opened. The figure of Azel who looked calm came into the room carrying a cup of coffee.
"Already up?" asked Azel.
"You beast! Kill me!"
Elena roared angrily. The woman actually wanted to kill herself right away, but couldn't. She could probably bite her own tongue, bleed to death. But Frost Heart would not allow it. One of the effects of her innate talent was to quickly freeze wounds. Even though her regeneration rate wasn't high, she was still able to heal slowly.
"Why should I kill you?" Azel looked at Elena with a strange expression.
"you beast! I... I..." Elena realized that her screams were useless. Now that she had been captured and would definitely be used as a 'toy' by the Prince in front of her. The woman felt helpless.
"I have a name, ok? I'm Azazel Dawnbringer. You can call me Prince Azazel."
"...."
"by the way... what's your name?"
Elena looked at Azel who was sitting on the edge of the bed and looked at her with a friendly look. After long enough hesitation, she said, "Elena."
"Elena? Nice name. May I know why you are hiding in my territory?"
"...."
Seeing that she didn't answer, the young man was not angry at all. Azel even asked a few questions even though he didn't get an answer. Elena felt confused as to why the man in front of her was treating her so well.
'Does he feel guilty? No! Those nobles didn't even bat an eye when slaughtering people they didn't like. So why?'
Question after question popped into Elena's mind. The woman looked at Azel with an expression filled with doubt. After some time of thinking, she took a deep breath.
"I'm a fugitive."
"Fugitive?"
Seeing Azel who was looking at her doubtfully, Elena nodded. But not anger or sneer that came out of Azel's mouth, but another extraordinary thing.
"Thank goodness you're a fugitive."
'Give thanks? Is there something wrong with this Prince's head?'
Elena begins to doubt her life. The woman looked at Azel as if she was looking at a ridiculous man. She wondered how someone as powerful as Azel could be so stupid.
"Why are you looking at me like I'm some rare primate?"
"...."
"You just don't know it. I actually just want to live easy and quiet in the Imperial Palace. Sunbathe in the morning while enjoying delicious fruit wine. Read a book when bored..."
Elena looked at Azel with a blank expression. The woman listened to the Prince talk about life and freedom and such things. Somehow, she felt that the man in front of her was not so bad. Azel looks young, handsome, strong, and has a great background.
This Prince has the possibility of becoming the next Emperor!
"Prince Azazel…" Elena called out hesitantly.
"Finally you want to talk," Azel said with a smile on his face. "What is it?"
"If you didn't arrest me because I'm a fugitive... is there any other reason?"
Elena was ready to accept answers and ridicule like 'because you will become one of my collection' or 'because from now on you will serve me'. But the answer the woman received was again different from what she had imagined.
"Isn't that obviously because of the information? First of all...tell me about yourself. Full name, hometown and everything about yourself."
After thinking about something, Elena finally said, "My name is Elena. As an ordinary civilian, I don't have a last name. I..."
Elena started telling Azel about herself. From her hometown, her childhood, until the tragedy that befell her. She actually also wanted to know how Azel would respond. Would Azel insult her for trying to go against the nobles? Or just give another response.
Finished telling all her life story, Elena looked at Azel. The woman was surprised when she saw the Prince staring blankly. As if he had just come out of his reverie, the man opened his mouth.
"Is there something like that?"
'Is this person really that ridiculous? As a member of the Imperial family, why didn't he know the basics about nobles?'
'This prince is completely lacking in common sense!'
If Azel knew what Elena was thinking, the young man would definitely protest.
'I just want to live quietly and peacefully without thinking about other things. Selfish? What's wrong about it? After all... I'm not a hero who has to carry the weight of the world, ok?'
****