Charmed [✔]

09.3 ▌The Ember Isle

Year 3988, 17th Day of the 8th Moon
Ember Isle, Fliamma Kingdom, Continent of Humana

THE SUN had not yet peeked through the curtains but Elise was already woken up by her maids and dragged to the bathroom.

As soon as her fingers dipped into the bathtub, she skipped the thought of having a bath and simply washed her face. How she wished they had heaters in this world.

After she finished preparing, Aya and Dell were quick on their hands and assisted her. They had prepared today's ensemble which was different from the usual knee-length dresses she had been sporting since she arrived.

She was given a pair of trousers and a loose linen shirt that matched the leather boots. She had not yet seen a woman in pants during her stay here and had assumed she would have to wear fluttering skirts during training. Thankfully, she was wrong.

They proceeded to the dining hall right after. A man dressed in the usual butler uniform opened the door while Aya and Dell stayed behind.

The enticing smell of food wafting in the air welcomed her. The faint light from the chandeliers illuminated the room and only Erkhan was there. She sat beside him before exchanging greetings.

"Where's your brother?" she inquired and grabbed some food.

"He went ahead first. He'll be waiting for us at the courtyard," he replied with his spoon midway to his mouth.

She nodded and glanced at him. Although she ate a lot, she was not the type to fill her plate in one go in comparison to Erkhan. He was eating fast but not sloppily. Despite how he acted, he still had proper table manners as expected from a noble.

"I'll melt, Elise," he said, a smile tugging the corner of his mouth and making her realize the simple glance had become a full-blown stare. He put down his utensils as he leaned closer, his right arm slinging on the back of her chair. "Are you falling for me now?" 

'This guy...' His tackiness knew no bounds. A preposterous statement paired with that sly curve made her almost lose her appetite. 

"You really eat a lot, huh?" she commented, diverting the topic and trying to bite back an insult.

"Of course! I can only have decent food here. Working for that palace is torturous! Their food does not really suit my taste," Erkhan complained.

A rare scowl appeared on his face and he corrected his posture as he continued grumbling. However, that was not what caught her attention.

"You work in a palace?"

She was aware that there were cases where the nobles were employed by the royals even back in her world during the olden times. But from what she was told, they had authority and prestige that could match the royalty.

"Aren't you a powerful family? Why are you working for others?" she asked the second time without waiting for a reply on the first one.

"Yes but everyone needs a job," he answered and resumed eating.

"Really? What do you do?"

"I'm a Royal knight of the Valies Family."

Now that answered why he was wearing a knight uniform when they first met. She had already put her spoon and fork aside as more questions popped into her mind and she probed once more.

"Why are you serving another family and not here? You must have knights as well, right?"

"We do have the Guardian knights working for us and I did want to be one but I lost a bet so here I am now. Though, I will honestly prefer to be an Order knight like Faylinn than a Royal knight."