"It's done, my lady," Erin opened her eyes to find a pool of blood in front of her. Cian, who had been childish and tantrum-prone just a moment ago, now looked completely different. His expression was much more mature than a 14-year-old's should be. Erin was taken aback.
She then noticed a dark pendant on his hand. "Aah," she exclaimed in pain. Her stomach injury, which had worsened earlier, was now throbbing. Erin started to cover her wound with her clothes when Cian approached her.
"Can't you even take care of yourself?" he asked in a bored tone. His golden eyes glowed as he pressed his hand against her stomach, and her injuries began to heal.
"Is this pure divine power?" Erin blurted out.
Cian nodded.
Cian thought to himself, 'Why is she so expressionless?' as he gazed at Erin's lifeless blue eyes, but he didn't express this thought out loud.
Erin looked at the pendant and asked, "What's that?"
"I don't know; it just got dropped by that entity," Cian replied.
"Is it a secret item?" Erin asked.
"No, if it was, I would've won by now," Cian said.
Erin sighed, her injuries now completely healed. She picked up her sword from the ground and walked towards the lake. After cleaning her face with water, she asked, "Why didn't you avoid my attack?"
Cian was taken aback by the question. He bent his head and replied, "No interest."
Erin sighed. "So, what's next?" she asked.
Cian thought for a moment. It was implied that since they couldn't fight now, they had to decide whether to form a team or part ways. Cian scratched his head, thinking, 'If I stay with her, it might be beneficial.' 'Finally, she's an Alfredo; she'll do all the fighting work, and I can take a nap.'
"I'm joining you," Cian said.
Erin was surprised; she never thought he would really join her. Since Cian was also a powerful person who could even defeat her, this seemed beneficial, and she nodded in agreement.
She thought to herself,
'Also, I want to know why this person is emitting a strange aura.'
Her eyes faded to red as she looked at the mixture of golden and blue auras surrounding Cian.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew in, and Cian's eyes widened. His expression changed, and he grabbed Erin's hand, starting to drag her towards a certain direction. Erin was shocked by this sudden reaction, but she followed him.
"Listen, fireball, there's a big problem in the test," Cian said, his feet sprinting.
"...mm..." He looked back at Erin, who didn't even change her expression.
"FIREBALL, WHEN I SAY BIG, IT IS BIG!"
"None of my business."
"Then why are you following me?"
"You're dragging me."
"..."
"Never mind."
After a few minutes, they stopped. It was already evening, and the realm was almost covered in orange light. The sun had turned into a red ball. Erin and Cian finally stopped in front of a group of four people.
"So, what's the issue, Darcy?" Cian asked, approaching a black-clad figure.
Darcy removed his hood, revealing golden hair shining in the light. His ivory eyes turned green.
"Witches," he replied.
"What are they doing here?" Cian asked.
"Don't know," Darcy said.
Cian scratched his head. "This is troublesome!"
Darcy shrugged his shoulders, his gaze turning towards Erin. With a surprised expression, he asked Cian, "Your Highness, why is she here?"
Cian looked at Erin and replied, "That girl? She's Alfredo."
"I know that. She's the spitting image of the Duke. Only a fool like you wouldn't remember."
Cian looked embarrassed.
Darcy nodded and explained the situation. Meanwhile, Erin was getting bored with these troublesome discussions. She sat down near a tree and started cleaning her sword.
"So, are you saying witches are planning something bad?" Cian asked.
"Maybe. It would be better if we just eliminated them now before entering the academy."
"Okay... so what's the plan?"
Darcy grinned. "No plan. Let's just attack directly. With a prince and the blood of two dukedoms, it's actually more than enough to defeat."
"You say that now, but your plans always appear out of nowhere."
Darcy shrugged, making Cian sigh.
"Such trouble."
*
Everyone was seated soundly. The muscular brunette, stood up and complained, "Aren't we supposed to go find them instead of sitting here?"
Tiera, Darcy, and Cian gazed at him silently. He felt awkward under their gaze, and finally, Darcy replied, "Well, mister, we're actually finding them."
The man looked confused. Darcy pointed to his ivory eyes and continued, "Since you don't know, I'm Darcy Leviton from the Eastern dukedom. And I have the 4 Eyes power."
"I can manipulate wind, and using my wind, I can find and contact anyone. It's kind of complicated, you know?" The man nodded, still looking confused.
Darcy looked at Cian and whispered, "Why did you bring her?"
Cian replied, "She might be useful."
"Do you even know who she is?" Darcy asked.
"Alfredo, right?" Cian responded.
Darcy shook his head. "God, since you're that negligent person... She's Erin, a princess forgotten by the duke."
"What nonsense?" Cian exclaimed.
"It's true," Darcy said. "She was confined in the dukedom without any care. She didn't receive any training; the only thing she received was humiliation."
Cian's eyes widened in shock. As the beloved prince of the empire, he had never thought that someone's parent would treat their own flesh and blood this way.
"Why?" Cian asked.
"Nobody knows," Darcy replied.
"Is that the reason she has that plain face?" Cian asked.
"Maybe," Darcy said.
Cian looked at Erin, who was cleaning her sword. Her eyes were lifeless. He sighed.
Darcy continued, "But the irony is that Duke Alfredo was famous for his kindness and righteousness. Still, he treated his daughter like trash."
"These nobles are really complicated," Cian commented.
Suddenly, Darcy's expression changed. He covered his eyes with his hands and said, "I found them."
Everyone except Erin gathered around him. Darcy was sweating, his back cold. He gulped and murmured, "These witches are really mad..."
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