"Whoo wee, that hit the spot."
Sylvie slammed her glass down after chugging her third beer of the day. She grinned across the table to Leyla, her dark elf friend and adventuring partner.
"Should you really be drinking at this time of the day," Leyla asked Sylvie. "I thought you had a funeral to attend or something?"
Sylvie's mood turned dark. Despite her cheery demeanor, the death of Sandra weighed heavily on her. She was meant to be their guard when they died, but some family issues had come up and couldn't escort them.
"I really don't think I should be there," she replied.
And with that she started looking around for the waiter on duty.
"Aye, elf boy!"
The waiter knew exactly who was calling him, as Sylvie was the only one who called him elf boy.
"You do know I have a name?"
"Yeah yeah. I'll call you by your name the day you grow a pair."
The waiter grew annoyed, but knew better than to challenge her.
"Did you call me here to insult me, or did you need something?"
"Ah yes. Another round of drinks for us. And get my friend something stronger than water if you can."
Leyla glared at Sylvie after that statement. She then turned to the waiter and said water was fine and sent him on his way before Sylvie could argue further.
"So, back to my earlier question."
Leyla looked to Sylvie for an answer. It was clear to Sylvie that she wouldn't be able to dodge the question.
"You know that escort gig that we usually take once a month?"
Leyla nodded.
"Well, considering I had some last minute commitments with my family, and you were unavailable, we couldn't take it this month. I offered to set them up with another group, but they turned me down."
"Okay, what does that have to do with whatever function you were supposed to attend today? And more importantly, why are you trying to drown yourself in alcohol."
Frustrated, Sylvie looked around the bar, wondering what had happened to the waiter.
"Well," Leyla pressed.
"Fine," Sylvie finally conceded. "The client was Elphonse's sister. Because of how she had left the family, no one was supposed to know about their relationship, you included. And now I have to try to create a connection with a nephew who might have become an orphan because I didn't insist hard enough that his parents travel with guards."
Leyla understood what was happening. Sylvie was blaming herself for their death, and couldn't bring herself to show up at the funeral.
"You know, eventually you'll have to face both Elphonse and your nephew. While your husband won't hold their death against you, you won't know what your nephew thinks until you sit down and talk with him."
Sylvie looked down into her empty glass. Leyla had a point. She just didn't know whether she had the strength to talk to Albert. The boy was already withdrawn as it was. Would this push him even further away? As tough as she was, she wasn't sure if she could handle the guilt.
Leyla turned her steely gray eyes onto her adventuring partner. The longer she put this off, the more the guilt would grow. She needed the boy to tell he that it was okay, and that he didn't hold her personally responsible for the death of his parents. They both knew that. Yet Sylvie couldn't bring herself to take that first step. That was the problem with her, she could handle anything physical. But put her in a situation that involves emotions, and she suddenly got cold feet. And that was where she and Elphonse came in. Well, more so Elphonse. Leyla wasn't good at communicating, most of her interactions devolving into threats of bodily harm. But whenever Sylvie shut down, she immediately took charge of the situation. It was why they worked so well together. First rule of adventuring said that you should cover your partners weakness. And somehow they managed to do that.
While the two of them were lost in their thoughts, the waiter came back with their drinks.
"Thanks Pehil."
Pehil blushed. While he generally disliked adventurers, and none more so than Sylvie, something about her dark elf partner got him really flustered. He didn't know whether it was because they were both elves, or it was something more, but he never could bring himself to acknowledge his feelings.
"Oh, and Pehil, do you mind sending the bill to the adventurer's guild? We have something urgent we need to handle. Tell your boss we'll add the usual on top."
Pehil nodded. Despite everything, Sylvie always settled her bills with the bar. He knew the boss would be okay with it since it was them.
Having settled the issue of the tab, Leyla got to her feet and waited for Sylvie to do the same. Their drinks had been finished as they dealt with the elven waiter, so there was nothing left to do but to head to the Erigal Manor. Though Sylvie was still on the hesitant side, leading to Leyla dragging her to her feet.
"Come on Sylvie, your problems won't solve themselves. No matter how much you wish it would."
Sylvie muttered something under her breath, probably some expletives and excuses. Yet the 5'3" dark elf wouldn't let the 6'5" demi-human drag things out. Dragging her out the pub and down the road, it wasn't an uncommon sight to see Leyla drag Sylvie home, usually after the latter had had too much to drink and had gotten into a bar fight. Normally involving a male adventurer getting to close to Leyla.
"So, where is the boy," the king asked.
"If he's not in his room, he's probably in the courtyard used by the maids."
"Ah, the one his mother loved?"
Elphonse nodded. He was hoping that Albert had at least stepped out of the manor for some fresh air. The three of them headed towards Albert's room on the second floor. Thankfully, everyone who had attended the funeral had already left. He couldn't take any more of the nobles empty platitudes. All he could do was feel sorry for what the boy was going through. But now wasn't the time to think about that.
"Since you've already put in the application, I'm guessing you're both aware of his elemental affinity?"
Lavinia and Elbrim nodded.
"It was Earth, right?"
Elphonse nodded.
"Which means the only thing we should be worried about is his elemental aptitude," Lavinia asked.
Elphonse wasn't so sure about that. Something told him that there was a lot more to Albert's ability that would come out during the aptitude test. Emilia was insistent on having Albert only interact with the commoner side of his family, which of course excluded the entire Erigal family. The only exception to that decision was Sylvie when she and Leyla acted as guards for their trip to the capital. The fact that it happened when Sylvie wasn't available made him very worried. Someone clearly knew the schedule of not only Emilia, but also Sylvie. While it would be easy to keep track of a commoner merchant, keeping track of a high ranking adventurer took significant time and skill. He made a mental note to ask Sylvie if she had noticed anything out of the ordinary during the past few months. Reaching Albert's room, Elphonse knocked twice, with no answer. Being careful not to make a sound, in case the boy was sleeping, he opened the door to the room and peeked in. To his relief, the room was empty, and the hidden passage was open.
"Seems he's gone out to the courtyard."
Beckoning the two royals to enter the room, he headed towards the window that overlooked the courtyard. And just as he had suspected, Albert was outside looking at the flowers, while occasionally talking with the maids that passed through. Just as he suspected, he was more comfortable around commoners than he was the nobles that he was now expected to interact with.
"That doesn't seem like a recluse to me," Lavinia mused.
Elbrim nodded in agreement.
"Maybe he just isn't comfortable around us nobles?"
"That's probably it," Elphonse replied. "I've noticed he's a lot more talkative with the maids than he is with Sylvie and I. Though that isn't exactly the hardest bar to clear."
The three of them laughed. And then the room went silent. Despite everything that was going on, the gravity of what had happened had not escaped them. Even if she had denounced her noble lineage, the fact that a noble had been killed was very worrying. And despite everything, there were still no clues on what happened, or a reason why. The official position of the Royal Guard was a suicide, but none of them believed that for a second. As they thought, something caught Elphonse's eye from near the apple tree.
"What do we have here," he asked.
Lavinia and Elbrim looked at where Elphonse was pointing. When they saw what he had noticed, a smile crept onto Lavinia's face.
"I see they're already taking their job seriously. Though whether it actually is them doing their job or spying on a crush, only they know."
The three of them turned back to Albert, watching him keenly. After a few more minutes, they decided to leave the room, happy that Albert was at least moving around. While heading to the main entrance, Elbrim turned his attention towards Elphonse.
"While in your study, you mentioned that you want to bring up something with me."
Elphonse looked right back at Elbrim, momentarily confused about what he was talking about. Then it returned to him.
"Right. I was wondering if you would be willing to put up a reward for the Crimson Tusks tirelessly working on finding information on my sister's death."
Elbrim and Lavinia looked at each other, then back to Elphonse.
"Is that it," Elbrim asked.
Elphonse nodded.
"Very well. Lavinia and I will organize a reward prize once we arrive at our respective destinations."
Elphonse was surprised. While he wasn't expecting an immediate response, he didn't expect Lavinia to add to the prize pool as well.
"From the bottom of my heart, I thank the both of you."
Dispensing with the formalities, Elphonse embraced both Elbrim and Lavinia in a bear hug, struggling to hold back the tears that were threatening to escape.
During dinner, Elphonse decided to introduce the girls that Lavinia had left to Albert and Sylvie.
"Before we start dinner, I wanted to take this chance to welcome Helara and Marie to the family. They're the daughters of Empress Lavinia's head guard and will be attending Freizaire Magic Academy with Albert. Because of that, she asked if they could stay with us for the duration of their studies."
Both Helara and Marie curtsied after being introduced, with Albert reciprocating with a bow.
"Well Helara, Marie, welcome to the Erigal household. We hope your stay here will be comfortable. I know that the Efrain Kingdom is a lot colder than the Hebranian Empire, so if you ever need anything, feel free to let us know."
The two girls thanked Elphonse and Sylvie for their kindness and warm welcome. With introductions out of the way, Elphonse turned to Albert.
"How are you feeling after today?"
Albert looked down at the soup that had just been put in front of him. Despite the kindness he had been shown, he couldn't help but wish that he had died instead of his parents. Sylvie, noticing the boy's change in mood, couldn't help but feel her guilt bubble to the surface. Despite Leyla easing her fears, she couldn't help but worry that the boy hated her.
"Do you hate your aunt and uncle," Leyla asked him.
Elphonse and Sylvie turned to her, shocked by the directness of her question. Sylvie especially, since Leyla hadn't mentioned that she would ask him. Albert turned to her, his violet eyes full of sadness.
"No," he replied. "Despite everything, they aren't the cause of my parents death. I can't bring myself to hate them. I more so hate myself, thinking that it should have been me that should have died. I don't really add much value to the kingdom, so why should I be the one to live."
The room was silent, unsure how to process the boy's self-loathing. No one had expected him to hate himself this much. Sylvie especially was handling it badly.
"But I was meant to be your parents' guard. If I was there, maybe they would be still be alive."
Albert thought about what she said. It's true that they might still be alive if she was there, but something told him that wasn't entirely true.
"That may be true," he replied. "But there's an equal chance that you could have died. And that would have hurt Elphonse as well. It's clear that my mom trusted you with her life, and if she trusts you, that's enough for me to believe that you didn't intend for her to die."
Albert's words brought tears to the adventurer's ruby eyes. Like Leyla suspected, hearing that Albert didn't hold her personally responsible for his parents' death lifted a weight off her chest.
"That's good to hear. We may not have been in your life for most of your life, but always know that we'll love you as if you were our own son."
Albert nodded. He may not be comfortable around nobles, but he knew that his aunt and uncle weren't bad people. That aside, he was getting uncomfortable at how close the new girls were getting to him. Almost as if his personal space was an extension of their personal space. As flustered as he was, there wasn't anywhere for him to escape to, considering they were on either side of him. Running from one meant he was going right into the other.
"Which reminds me, are you ready for tomorrow," Elphonse asked.
Confused, everyone looked at him. Nobody knew what was important about tomorrow.
"We're heading to the capital. The king is especially keen to meet you."
Why was the king interested in him. It wasn't as if he was special. If anything, Helara and Marie would make more sense. As if he knew what Albert were thinking, Elphonse continued.
"He wanted to talk to you since he was close with your mother. He's also the one who wrote your recommendation to the Academy."
Albert was curious about his mother's life. It seemed there was more to her than he knew.