"Who are you? Introduce yourself!"
Her blonde hair swayed in the air as her voice pointed towards the man wearing the robe. The smile on his lips was visible under the head covered with the hood.
He slowly placed his index finger on his chin. As if trying to think of something, he pondered around for a while.
Jaden felt like he had heard the man's voice somewhere before. Despite trying to remember who it was, Jaden couldn't bring himself to remember.
Then, his hand slowly moved upwards, pushing down the cloth covering his head. His cimson-red hair moved along with the gentle breeze. He stood smiling with his emerald green eyes fixed on the woman in front of him.
"It's been a long time, Diona."
He waved his hand at her gently. The elves that were pointing weapons at the people on the ground put down the arrows.
The elf named Diona stood at her spot with a pale face. She smiled awkwardly with a twitching right eye.
"If you are here..."
The silence made her mumbling audible to everyone present. She spoke in a tense tone, her face growing even more pale.
Jaden looked closely at the man's face, which was colourless because of nervousness. He recognised this person even though he had met him only once.
The person he had seen during the afternoon wore the same robe as the man in front of him. The windchimes heralded the arrival of a person named Blaise Edinburgh.
Krrrrk
Some sounds came from behind the elves. It was as if the forest itself were moving towards them. Diona's expression stiffened up as she turned around.
"My-"
Something moved past her swiftly, making a sound. Diona stood dazed at everything that happened in a blink of her eye. She bit her lips lightly, seeing the person who had just shown up.
"Prince~"
Saying that, the person tackled Blaise right into his stomach. Blaise's eyes almost rolled up as her head hit him strongly. Surprisingly, he managed to keep himself conscious.
His gaze slowly lowered, falling on the long blue hair that was pushing onto his chest. The smile he had faded away as he tried to put his hands in the air.
"Are we finally getting married?"
The girl's face moved closer to Blaise's. He could see his eyes being reflected in her glistening sky blue eyes. She was glaring at him with expectations.
It was sad for her that Blaise pursed his lips together and turned his head, avoiding her. He wanted to push her away, but for a few reasons, it would've been bad.
He was wondering how to get her away from him when something wrapped around the girl's arm. Her white silky one-piece dress moved as she turned around.
"Found you. We are going back."
There was a sound from the tree vines that held the girl by her arm tightly. Her smile turned grim as she heard the voice.
She was about to speak with tears in her eyes. But she never got the chance to since the vines had already dragged her away deep into the forest at a high speed.
"EEKKKKKKKKKKKKK-!!!!"
That day, the screams of a girl were echoing throughout the forest and eventually reached the guards near the north gate. Hence, the legend of a ghost residing in the elven forest began gaining popularity in the kingdom.
The people gathered in one place and blankly looked at each other's faces. It was Diona and Blaise's laughter that made the other elves cackle.
The tense atmosphere that was there just a moment ago disappeared without a trace. Diona let out a sigh before speaking up to Blaise.
"It's been a while, indeed. Tower Master."
The voice that sounded abrasive earlier had become polite. She looked at Jaden and Claire, who were still alert after the elves had dropped their weapons.
She looked at Blaise with a worried look, as she had doubts about what he had said. The people behind him were looking a bit suspicious to her.
And what caught her attention was the woman whose mana was so dense that she could feel shivers down her body just observing it. Aliana was standing without doing anything, even under tough circumstances.
Her eyes frowned as she tried to assess Aliana's prowess by using spirit magic on her. As their gazes met, Diona's magic got cancelled out. Blaise was able to see everything that just happened, thanks to his unique original magic.
"Why don't we go meet the Queen?"
Seeing Diona's pale face, he tried to change the course of their conversation. Diona smiled awkwardly, realising how bad he was at switching topics.
As everything had settled down, the elves on the trees headed back to where they had come from. The group they thought to be intruders was someone acquainted with Tower Master Blaise, who was someone they knew for some time.
She turned around and jumped on the tree branch swiftly. She gazed one last time behind her with a bright grin, exposing her teeth to the group behind her.
"Try to keep up with me."
She sprinted, jumping on branch after branch. Blaise looked behind him while smiling lightly. The nervousness the three people had visible on their faces was to be seen no more.
The three people were normal in his eyes for getting nervous. The only insane person there was Aliana, who had a carefree smile on her lips in an absurd situation.
He was already aware that Aliana was not a person anyone should mess with. He then braced himself, turning around before starting his sprint.
"OR SO SHE SAYS!"
He said it out loud as he ran, trying to catch up with Diona. His voice echoed in the ears of the people whom he left behind.
He grinned proudly as the wind brushed past his cheeks while swaying the hair that covered his forehead. Their destination was the elven village that existed deep within the foggy forest.
--------------------
-At some other place-
Huff huff
The man breathed heavily while holding onto his shoulder. The black clothing covering his face reflected on the silver blade of the sword, which had been dyed red.
The blood spilled on the floor as he put his body across the wall. He tried to scan his surroundings while panicking with fear rooted deep in his heart.
He tried to calculate what the chances were that he could make it out alive from there. To his misfortune, there were none.
His gaze was fixed on the only person in the room. He sat on the luxurious-looking sofa chair, wielding the silver blade.
"So? Did they send you again?"
His cold voice made the temperature drop. The injured man could feel the freezing temperature devouring him limb by limb. Or was it something different...?
He looked at his feet, which were visible just a moment ago. He didn't feel a thing; that's just how he was terrorised by witnessing his leg suddenly go missing.
Slash
Another of his legs disappeared within a blink of an eye. Had he not taken up such a ridiculous task on his own account, would things have been different?
His thoughts didn't matter at the moment. It was about the time he took his last breath before dying at the hands of the man in front of him.
"I think you are forgetting your place."
He could feel something around his neck before he realised it. The man in front of him had disappeared. No, he was the one grabbing him by his neck, tightening the grip with every passing second.
His voice was being overlapped by the painful whimpering sounds the man being strangled made. The man could feel his vision fading away along with his heartbeat.
Soon, the pitch-black darkness visible in the man's eyes, who held him by the neck, engulfed his vision. The lifeless body didn't move a bit, beginning to fall cold.
The man let the lifeless doll fall to the ground with no hesitation. The darkness in the room, identical to his hair and eyes, began to glow black.
The bodies that lied on the floor soon disappeared without a trace. The black flames that had burned them away left no ashes behind. The darkness entrapped in the flames had devoured their very existence.
"It's about time I make my move."
The cold black flames perished as he buttoned his shirt on properly. His room had become messy due to the visit of some uninvited guests, as usual.
His cold smile and eyes, with no shine, were reflected in the mirror. There was no light aside from the moon's brightening his room a little.
"They should've arrived at the forest by now."
Adrienne spoke in a cold voice while snickering. The madness glowed in his eyes as he walked towards the door in his room.
His right eye began shining golden as he opened the door. Outside the door was the huge corridor of his castle. Or that was supposed to be the case.
The foggy terrain became visible instead. This was Adrienne's unique original magic, just like Blaise's mana-detecting eyes.
The unique original magic. As its name suggests, it's a type of magic that only a certain individual could use. Such magic was rarely seen because of how scarce talented individuals were.
Adrienne wasn't a talented person like others. He had devoured whatever he came across over the past 15 years. His potential was far scarier than any talent witnessed in the past 200 years.
"I wonder if they have met her by now..."
He mumbled to himself as he walked past the door. The room—no, the castle—became entirely empty with his departure.
-At the Elven Village-
"You know, you know. We are going to get married soon!"
The blue-haired girl said this while clinging to Blaise's right arm. His face didn't display a single emotion, and he was left dumbfounded.
Jaden stared at the air, feeling all awkward. Aliana wasn't even paying attention to the two. Jaden's gaze tried to shift itself to distract him from what he was witnessing.
But no matter what he did, he couldn't help it. Claire smiled at him awkwardly while putting her hand on Melanie's eyes.
'No. No. No. WE ARE NOT!'
Blaise's expression was rejecting whatever the girl had claimed for herself. Everyone could tell that much, but the girl didn't seem to be backing down.
Jaden's eyebrows frowned with a tense smile on his face. His eyes tried to seek out the person they had come to meet.
The only people in the small room were himself, Aliana, Claire, Melanie, Blaise, Diona, and the blue-haired girl. A while had passed, but no one entered the room after them.
He glanced at the window to notice the darkness outside. It was already nightfall. Diona noticed Jaden's awkward smile as he tried to avoid looking at the two.
"She is a bit eccentric."
Upon hearing the whisper, Jaden felt like he should just shut his mouth. He didn't react to Diona.
He waited for her to join the conversation again, which she never did. He stayed silent as the voices made him feel annoyed for no particular reason.
'A 'bit' eccentric?'
The girl was far from being an eccentric person. She was more of a chaotic one.
Jaden's expression soon died thinking about what was happening. He was feeling nervous thanks to not one, but two people now.
First it was Aliana teasing him every now and then, and then the girl was blabbering non-stop. This looked troublesome enough to him.
'Just what is this situation...?'