While the light was only beginning to appear and the day had only started, for the fortunate. The unfortunate were working ever since they could move, going in and out of the Territory, reporting to their Officials, checking on the witnesses, trying to figure out who had stolen their precious dragon, interrogating the suspects; the day would not end.
The Vice Captain, Hilsman, was being interrogated by one of those unfortunates. He looked like he had not drunk a single drop of alcohol the night before, while both Adara and Cale looked like they had the worst hangovers ever and they hadn't even gotten drunk. The unfortunate he was talking to, was one of the mid-levelled knights they had fought the day before. Adara noticed with a hidden glee in her eyes that his right arm was missing. It looked like it had a lot of health potions thrown onto it. Though maybe they weren't the highest-grade potions, maybe mid-grade potions, probably lower. She could smell the rotting flesh.
Adara knew that while she had cut off his arm, he had still tried to fight Choi Han with his left hand. It didn't work, he had fallen because of the pain before he could properly raise his sword against Choi Han. Choi Han had done him a favour, making him pass out.
Choi Han was walking down the stairs, and he stiffened up as soon as he saw the knight. Adara and Cale were walking down behind him, Cale kicked the back of Choi Han's foot, while Adara dug her nails into his shoulder.
"Why are you stiffening up like that?" they whispered, leaning in.
Choi Han blinked, realising the nobles he was set to protect were behind him. "Ah," he flinched. Red was creeping up his neck as he smiled awkwardly. "I thought I had used enough strength to make them unable to fight for about a day, but they are up and moving much earlier than I expected. I guess I thought the human body was much weaker than it actually is. I guess I can use more strength against humans in the future."
Adara nodded. "Use just enough that they don't die," she murmured. "Unless they hurt us first. Then go all out." She took her hand off his shoulder at that, leaning away as if she had never spoken to him in the first place.
Choi Han nodded at her words and continued walking as if he had never stiffened up in the first place. Cale watched them with a deadpan expression. How vicious, he thought. Adara turned to look at him and flashed him a smile. The kittens were behind them too, smiling as they looked at the knight and wagged their tails. They were clearly enjoying the situation.
Adara and Cale moved to sit at their table. The inn owner brought them two bottles of alcohol, almost immediately. "Young Master and Mistress, I prepared the same alcohol you both enjoyed last night."
Cale smiled at the old man. "Old man, there is something that keeps coming to my mind whenever I see you."
The old man got nervous. "Yes?"
"I think you are a really smart vendor. It's a compliment. This is perfect for a hangover drink," he praised, lifting the bottle with a little shake.
Adara lifted her hand with the bottle in it. "I second that. This alcohol is truly delicious."
The inn owner nodded, walking away with a weird expression on his face. He was wondering how the two nobles could possibly be Trash. Sure, he thought, they do drink quite a lot. He looked behind him, watching as they poured a glass and downed it in one go, their cheeks flushing immediately. But their hearts are what matter. And they have big ones.
Adara could feel the heat getting to her face. It isn't enough, she thought, pouring another cup and downing that one too. She looked at Cale, purposefully making her eyes only half-opened, he was doing the same. He nodded, understanding that she was asking if she looked drunk enough. She nodded too, he did look quite drunk with his bright scarlet cheeks.
Ron came at that moment, though Adara and Cale did not pay much attention since they were focusing on the conversation before them.
Vice Captain Hilsman was worrying himself about the Knight's mutilated arm. "Are you sure? It looks fairly recent."
The Knight was pale and had a sickly look to him, but he waved the Vice Captain's thoughts away with his one hand. "As I said, it happened a while ago. I can fight with my left hand just as well."
"How did it happen?"
The Knights eyes narrowed. "That doesn't matter. Answer my question, what was everyone doing yesterday night?"
Hilsman, realising something was off with the Knight, answered, though with a suspicious gaze. "Yesterday, we had a party to relax after a long journey here. Everybody was drinking and relaxing. Nobody left the inn. But I still don't understand why someone from the Viscount's Estate would be curious about that."
The Knight smiled at Hilsman's suspicious gaze, the smile out of place with his narrowed eyes. "There was a thief that broke into the Viscount's villa yesterday. A couple other knights and I were on guard, but we lost a few precious items to the thief. After hearing that people from Count Henituse's estate were here in the village, we came to see if the thief had stolen from the Count as well."
Adara snorted softly at that. But I wonder what precious items you lost? she thought, mocking him. She smiled internally, taking a big gulp directly from the bottle, Cale was also drinking. But, the Knight let his eyes roam around the empty room before they settled on Cale and Adara. In his eyes, Adara could see first confusion, then admiration— people always had that reaction when they saw her at first, they said she was too pretty to be human, they were only half right—, then judgement as he realised what they were doing. Silly human, she thought. Your emotions are so clear in your eyes. I chopped one arm off, continue looking at me like that and I'll chop the other one off. She did not particularly care about people who looked down on her, she always made sure to get back at them anyway, but this was someone who had stood by when a baby lifeform was getting tortured. Someone like that could not dare look down on her simply because she was having a drink in the early morning.
Feeling her annoyance though her eyes were only unfocused and drunk, Cale talked to the Knight. "What are you looking at?"
The Knight's eyes turned embarrassed, as he bowed quickly and averted his gaze. The Vice Captain looked at the two. He sweatdropped. He was always okay-ish when the Young Master drank, he was only loud and he threw bottles at gangsters, but Adara always creeped him out, she was quiet and cold, her eyes icy. While Cale saw Adara's eyes as 'unfocused and drunk', everyone else saw them as dark and cold. Not that her eyes normally weren't, but it was common knowledge she was quieter when drunk, so that was the only time people had the courage to look her in the eyes. And while her eyes were normally dark and cold, they never saw the intensity of the cold, so to them, 'the unfocused' look, was cold while compared to her normal look, it was nothing.
The Knight coughed fakely. It is his fault, Hilsman thought, knowing how scary the Young Mistress's gaze could be as he stared at the shady knight in front of him. He shouldn't have looked down on our Young Mistress, she can get rid of his other arm if she wanted to. He remembered how she had gone toe-to-toe with Choi Han and hadn't lost. He also remembered how she had said she was weak, he did not get how she could say that. "Our Young Master and Mistress are drinking because their day turns out better if they drink in the morning," he explained. "Furthermore, it is a hangover drink. They are the type of people who drink to cure their hangovers caused by drinking too much the night before." He gave a fake smile, still not trusting the Knight in front of him.
Adara took another gulp from the alcohol, still staring at the Knight.
The Knight flinched, he felt as if his arm was being cut off again, he could still feel the slight feel of metal cutting through his flesh. He smiled, awkwardly, forcing himself to look back to the Vice Captain. "I see." He chuckled, embarrassed, to fill the silence. "What an interesting Young Master and Mistress." He bowed respectfully to them one last time. Only then did Adara finally take her eyes off him. He was thankful those cold, dark eyes were no longer directed at him.
Who would think that two Trash, drinking so early in the morning, would be capable of stealing a dragon? she stared at her hand, twisting the rings on her hand. And besides, they would pay more attention to the six stars on our uniforms than anyone who happened to stay in the Village. Especially not anyone who was coming to the Captial on orders of the Crown. She twisted the ring one more time. Alberu, Alberu, Alberu, seems we'll finally meet. She never met the Crown Prince, Alberu, but she had gotten many invitations to events. Fortunately, none of them were mandatory so she filled up her brother schedule's so he couldn't go— if he could get rid of perfectly good servants, then she could fill up his schedule by meeting with minuscule Noble houses that nobody cared about in the South-East, which she specifically engineered so their personalities would clash— and then refused to go herself. She knew why he kept persisting in her coming to the events, and yet she never found it in herself to indulge in his curiosity.
In her thoughts, she had subconsciously moved her unblinking gaze from her rings to the Knight who was still nervous, he had thought that he had done enough but she was looking at him again so it clearly wasn't enough. She hadn't realised it, until the Knight bowed again, sweat going down his forehead. He was more scared of this Noble than the terrifying person who had cut off his arm last night. "Then I wish you a safe journey as you continue on today." He straightened up, anxiously watching the Young Mistress's expression.
She didn't say anything, only once again looking away as she took a gulp straight from the bottle. He sighed in relief. The Vice Captain felt no pity for him. Venion and the Marquis will know the Organisation did it. And they know that both Count Thornwin and Henituse have no relationship with them. But why would the Organisation trust Marquis Stan enough to give him a dragon? She frowned internally. It could be used against them if the Marquis had superior motives.
The Knight left the inn quickly, his footsteps rushed. Adara saw him down a small vial, it was probably a health potion, as he walked away from the inn.
Ron put a cup of honey lemon tea in front of them, still smiling. Adara looked at the tea with a measuring look. She finished off her alcohol in one gulp, with Ron getting only slightly worried since the bottle was a bit more than half-full, and took the honey lemon tea and drank that in one go too.
"Young Mistress?" Ron asked.
Is that concern in his voice? She looked up at him through her lashes. He had his usual smile on, but it didn't reach his eyes. What got into him? "Yeah?"
"Do you want breakfast?"
She sighed. And I got worried. She looked at Cale, raising an eyebrow. She was asking if he also wanted breakfast. He shrugged. Looking back up at Ron, she answered. "Sure."
He smiled widely. "I will make sure to catch some rabbits then."
Her expression dropped. "Not for breakfast." She shook her head. "I don't want to be a cannibal," she muttered.
Ron heard her and smiled. "Of course not, Young Mistress. I wouldn't dare." He turned around, starting to walk in the direction of the Kitchen. No more rabbits then, he thought, a bit disappointed.
After eating breakfast, and getting a weird goodbye from the inn owner where he tried to give them his entire stock of alcohol— they refused it of course, saying the merchants who were going to be staying in the inn in the future needed it more than them (that also got a weird reaction out of him)—, they got back on the carriage.
In the carriage, Cale wouldn't take his eyes off Adara. She knew why of course, so she wasted no time getting to the point once they were alone. "As the dragon said, I'm not human. Well, not fully human."
The kittens, who were on Adara's lap, had heard it too, and wondered about it over the past few hours without asking about it, suddenly perked up.
"So," Cale started, "you're half-human, and the other half?" He had an idea of what she was. They were mentioned multiple times, especially in relation to Adara.
Adara didn't respond right away. Instead, she reached towards her sun pendant. And she took it off. In an instant she changed, it wasn't much but it was noticeable. Her skin turned significantly darker, almost akin to a black pearl, her ears were pointed and long, her hair did not change, nor did her eyes, they still had their jet-black colour. Her facial features were the same too, her scars still remained. "Dark Elf. I'm half Dark Elf." Even if she was only Half-Dark Elf, the Dark Elf characteristics were more prominent than her human ones. Because of her diluted blood, her skin wasn't as dark as the beautiful black pearl the Dark Elves are known for, but there would be no mistake if someone were to see her in this form.
Cale blinked, a moment of silence. "You're quite pretty like this too."
"Yeah!" Hong agreed. "Very pretty!"
"You look the same," On said.
She snorted. She didn't know what she was expecting. Scorn, disgust, contempt, disdain mockery, that's what I was expecting, she realised. But of course, he wouldn't care about that. She stopped thinking. Her Cale knew she was Half-Dark Elf of course. She had told him reasonably early, after confirming that he would not think differently of her. She was comfortable showing her face around Cale, even if the person inside wasn't the same. That's why she did not have this conversation earlier, not while Choi Han was around. But now— She swallowed. Now she was thinking of her Cale, not the Kim Rok Soo in front of her. She needed to continue separating the two.
"Yeah, pretty much." She was making no move to put the necklace on again. "Does it bother you guys if I stay like this a while longer? It gets rather stuffy with dead mana covering every inch of my body all the time."
Cale nodded as if it was an obvious question. "Why would we be bothered?"
She smiled letting out a chuckle of disbelief before leaning her head on the end of the seat as she stared up at the ceiling. She was quiet for a few seconds before she spoke again. "I know you have more questions."
"Your necklace, it's a sun pendant," Cale noted with no hesitation.
"Yeah," she agreed. "I found it in the market. It was my first time out of the Estate, one of the servants snuck me out so I could see the market. I found the necklace and thought it was pretty. I'm not sure if I remember if my servant paid for it or not, I might have stolen it. But I thought it would be ironic to use a symbol of the Sun Religion to hide the fact that I'm a Dark Elf."
"Your mother, she was a Dark Elf?"
"Yes. Fully. She looked like was the personification of a black pearl, I think." She had never seen her mother, she did not know what she looked like, she only guessed from what she read about Dark Elves.
"She died when you were born, right?" Cale had heard rumours, and it made mentions about it in the book, but he wanted to be sure.
"No, or maybe she did. I don't know. Everyone thinks she died, and my father made no move to correct them." She paused, still staring at the ceiling of the carriage. "She was banished."
Cale was surprised. "Banished? What did she do?"
Adara hesitated. "Well, for one, she birthed me."
She could tell Cale's face was scrunched up without looking at him. "That is a horrible reason to banish someone."
"Well, it made sense at the moment." That was what she was conditioned to think. "Pure-blooded Dark Elves look a lot like black pearls, goes the legend. It's quite easy to recognise a Dalf Elf, so we hide. By making our skin lighter, making our eyes brighter, we pretend we can't use Mana. It's quite easy, Mana Detecting Devices can't sense Dead Mana so there's a low chance we're caught. But, my mom was the fairest of them all." She sighed. "With beautiful auburn hair, not quite red like yours I'd like to imagine, maybe closer to a deep orange, and pale ivory skin." She always fantasised about what her mother would be like when she was younger, she knew basic things about her looks from the letter she left behind, but it was never enough. "Of course, it was all fake. My father is quite pale too, so when I came out, with dark skin, hair, and eyes, my father had no other choice but to think my mother had laid with another man. A southerner he thought." He should've let her explain, just one sentence, one small explanation and then maybe it would have been better. Maybe my life would've been better. She stopped her wishful thinking. They were not meant for each other, that's what the servants used to tell me before they were replaced. They did not fully trust each other, nor did they communicate very well and they had different long-term plans. It would have gone wrong even if she hadn't been banished.
She took a small pause, watching the patterns on the ceiling as she spoke absent-mindedly. "She was banished immediately. She had to leave before she even had time to recover from pregnancy. She did leave behind two letters since my father did not want to see her. The letters explained everything. One of those letters was for me, the other for my father. She didn't want me to grow up hearing what everyone was telling me, so she wrote down the truth. In the other letter, the one for my father, she explained that she never slept with any southerners nor anyone else except for him, she also explained that she was a Dark Elf. He never read the letter, I think he put it into a drawer and forgot about it. I only found out about the letters when I was eight. I convinced him to read it when I was eight too, that was the first time I talked to him." I say convincing but we all know that's a lie. Her eyes darkened. I wonder if he thinks about that day. I still do.
"But... that means your father thought you were a bastard for 8 years." He quietened down as he spoke in a softer voice. "That means you thought you were a bastard for 8 years."
She shrugged. "That's true. I did think I was a bastard for a long time. My father never said it publicly, and I was given the basic education befitting a Count's child, but he never denied it either. He never really paid any attention to me. After I convinced him to read the letter, he finally realised that I was of his blood. That's when he somewhat started paying attention to me. Barely a year later," she trailed off. The hand that was petting On freezing. She swallowed. "Barely a year later, he remarried. A new pretty wife, a new worthy son. He was my age, younger by a few months. He hated me."
"I knew you weren't on the best terms, but he hated you from the beginning?" Cale felt like Adara hadn't said this to anyone in a while, so he kept asking to get her talking so she could get it out of her system. But he couldn't help but feel bad for her. She was only eight.
"Yeah. I tried being nice to him, I found it quite fun to have a younger brother. I thought I wouldn't be lonely anymore. But he avoided me. And when he did talk to me he only shit-talked. His mother did not care, she often encouraged him. It was a fight for the Successor Position, I knew. I was better than him in every aspect, though, I was groomed as the next Count even if my father believed me a bastard. And he knew that. And he studied hard too, harder than me. And yet it was never enough for him. And because of that his chance as Successor lessened each day. So he tried to get rid of me."
"Get rid of you?" Cale's voice was getting quieter and quieter.
Adara didn't respond immediately, she was still staring at the ceiling. This is why she didn't exactly like the fact she was a character in a book. Because if she was just a character that an author wrote, then that author also wrote her past. He made her life like this, and she had to deal with it. It meant that he thought it would be a cool, dark backstory to have for a side character, unaware of just how much she'd suffer for it. Her head was starting to get chilly, she felt someone caressing her. She welcomed it. "It was a trip to the Capital. We were 10. We were going to celebrate Prince Alberu's 15th birthday, I think. We came a bit earlier to enjoy the Captial since it was my first time going out of the Thornwin Territory, and it was my brother and his mother's first time going as a family. My brother came in the middle of the night, I was sleeping. He came with a kitchen knife he had been hoarding for a few days. And he tried to kill me." She closed her eyes, still able to imagine the scene in front of her. He first tried to stab her in the heart, but she somehow woke up and pushed his arm away, creating a wound on her chest. He then tried stabbing down but failed to wound her heart as he tore the skin from underneath her eye all the way down to her jaw. His actions got more frantic then, trying to cut her skin anywhere in a fit of rage. She protected her face with her arms, getting cuts on both arms. And she tried kicking him away, and yet he got some cuts on her legs too. "The bed was a bloody mess," she murmured.
"How did you survive?"
"I knocked him out with a lucky kick in his jaw and escaped out the window. I was on the third floor, so I was careful as I climbed down. Though I was bleeding from more than a few places. I managed to go far away enough that nobody would notice me or see me." She took in a deep breath, she had only been getting colder and colder since she started talking, as if someone was hugging her, but she didn't mind it. "And then an old man appeared and healed my wounds."
She could tell Cale didn't believe her. "Health Potions don't work on Dark Elves."
She sighed, finally taking her eyes off the ceiling and looking Cale in the eyes. "It wasn't a Health Potion."
Cale didn't respond.
~~~
[F̶u̶n̶ Fact]: If you didn't get it by now, the 'old man' was the God of Death, he sustained her life through magic-divine shit that he can do. While Adara doesn't know why exactly he did it, you readers will. Adara was supposed to die right then in that very room by her brother's hand. But something woke her up, and she survived. She was in the process of dying from all the stab wounds, sure, but she survived past the point she was supposed to. And the God of Death found it a waste to let go of such an interesting person. So he healed her wounds, however since they were healed by a God, they remained as scars, forever to be on her skin until the unfortunate day she will breathe her last breath.