As they walked away, the Black Dragon continued to blabber on and on about how worried he was, mainly for Cale, as he had sneezed earlier.
'But you sneezed! Will you be able to move tonight? Shouldn't you get some rest? Why are so weak that I have to worry so much?! Weak Human!' he was saying.
Adara chuckled as they entered their room. "Don't worry," she said. "We will all be fine."
"I don't believe you," the Black Dragon said, now speaking aloud. "You almost fell into the whirlpool a few days ago."
The mention of the whirlpool struck her like lightning; she could almost see her Unnie in front of her, swaying in the wind. She grimaced, her hand clenching and her nails digging. Why could she not appear smiling? Why must she always be swaying?
She turned without another word on her way to the bathroom. She still had time to take a bath. She undressed quickly, not waiting for the water to fill the bathtub. She lay in the bath, staring at the ceiling. The burning water made her skin a dark red, but she didn't care.
She closed her eyes, not interested in the bathroom ceiling. All she could see was her Unnie's swaying figure. She tried to push the memory out, instead thinking of her times with Unnie. Unnie had been more of a parent than her Father ever was— or ever would be.
On clear nights, they would stargaze. Unnie would 'test' Adara on the various constellations in the sky, from the Stone Guardian with its square star formations to the Lake of Spears with its lake in a circular star formation and its star spears. But Unnie did not know anything about astrology or Ancient History, and when Adara wondered why she wanted to hear about it, she would say she just wanted to hear Adara talk.
When her tutor would be sick, which was unfortunately quite often as the man had a poor immune system, Unnie would take her to the Gardens, taking her to all the corners and secret nooks in the flowery maze.
When Adara could not sleep because the contents of her lessons of the day before rolled around in her mind, she would go to Unnie. Together, they would stop by the kitchen for a warm glass of milk, and Unnie would lull her to sleep with stories of fantastical beings greater and stronger than dragons in a world far, far away.
They would have tea parties in her room, with elegant pastries that Unnie was allowed to borrow due to her good friendship with the cook for lunch. There were only ever 2 seats at the table. Only 1 person was ever invited.
The idea of going to the market came up at the tea party. And Adara wasn't able to look at the table for a few years after that. As if it was the table's fault that Unnie left her.
The bath was filled now, but Adara got out. The water felt cold and clammy despite how much it burned her skin. She threw a bathrobe over herself and got out of the bathroom with a frown on her face.
Cale had already changed into new clothes, and once Adara did as well, she sat on the bed, the book she got from the library in her hands. She hadn't even read the first page, Amiru's face popping up any time she tried.
"What's on your mind?" Cale asked. She was now glaring at the book in her hands, and he almost didn't want to ask.
Her head snapped up to look at him, her face a cold statue. But her face softened, and her shoulders slumped when she looked at his face. She sighed. "It's nothing important, just someone I knew would have liked the Ubarr Territory."
"Unnie?" he asked too quickly as Adara looked at him again, a frown on her face.
She hesitated in her answer. "Why do you think that?"
He was quiet for a moment. "You screamed her name last night," he answered softly.
Adara's face hardened, but he knew she wasn't annoyed at him. She sighed again, though this time, it sounded more annoyed. "Yes. Unnie. She would have loved the sea and salty air if she hadn't left."
Cale looked at her, surprised. "Left?" He had never heard about her Unnie leaving; he just assumed— he didn't know what he assumed. Adara rarely spoke of her Unnie.
She nodded rigidly, still looking at him. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She closed her mouth and tried again. "She... she didn't leave, per se. She died."
Cale blinked; he did not expect that in the slightest. But he noticed the way Adara's shoulders were no longer slumped; instead, they were tense. He noticed the way she wasn't looking at him anymore. "You don't need to talk about it—."
She shook her head, shutting him up in an instant. "No. I am going to talk about it. I... I said I would start accepting care, and in my head, that means opening up and accepting the fact that people can feel sympathy towards me." Because I am Adara Thornwin, she thought. And I will still be Adara Thornwin once I let go of her.
And so, she started her story, a hand on her golden sun pendant. "Unnie—Layla was my servant. She was to me what a lady's maid was to a married woman; she dressed me, made sure I got to my lessons on time, brought me my meals when I was not dining in the dining room, and helped me carry my books to my room because I was weak."
She held onto the pendant tightly, her knuckles an ashy grey. "She often took trips to the Market, and I begged her to let me come. And she did. And I got this pendant—or stole it—I can't remember."
She could still remember Unnie panicking if she paid for it on the way back, but the Market was already closed and she did not know where the jeweller lived. Unnie said she would go the next day to pay for it.
"The next day, she was nowhere to be found. I searched the whole castle, knocking on all the servants' doors. If they were inside, I asked them; if not, I moved on. Nobody knew where she was—except the Housekeeper."
Cale wasn't sure— he knew he would never tell anybody— but he thought he saw the smallest tear streak down her cheek.
"The Housekeeper was always very nice," she continued. "She always patted me on the head when she saw me. That time, she did not. She couldn't even look me in the eyes. She told me to go to the courtyard." Adara was holding onto her golden pendant for dear life. "She was executed. She was standing on a wooden platform when I arrived, the noose around her neck. She saw me... just as they let her drop."
She can still remember how her body fell, the rope taut and a sickening crack in the air. She can remember how her Unnie had tears in her eyes as the rope tightened around her neck, swaying violently. She can remember how her Unnie tried clawing at her neck– still staring at her— she can remember how her attempts got more and more feeble until her hands hung lifelessly at her side, neck elongated.
Her father was there; he was ushering her out, spouting nonsense that she wasn't supposed to be in the courtyard. And as she got pushed out, she glanced behind her. Her Unnie was still swaying ever so softly, her eyes no longer looking at her.
"Why?" Cale asked, bringing her attention back to his face. "Why was she executed?"
Adara shook her head, her eyes glistening. "I don't know."
Cale had asked if she still wanted to go back to the whirlpool after they had eaten an extravagant dinner, but she was determined. Some bad memories weren't going to deter her from helping Cale.
They were flying over the Northern Sea, the Black Dragon grumbling in their heads. 'I do not know why you are doing this when you are not well,' he said. 'Human, you are sneezing, and Half-Not-Human, you are sad. This intelligent dragon brain of mine cannot understand why we are out under these conditions.'
Adara laughed, but Cale casually answered. "It has to be done today."
She knew why; it was one of the reasons she still wanted to go. The Territory's mages were on their way, and Amiru heard they would arrive tomorrow. So there really wasn't any other time they could deal with the whirlpool and the puddle of water.
She could see the Central Island from up here and hear voices from down there. Luckily, they had no business on the Central Island, so they landed on another island a bit further. She could only hear the rages of the whirlpool, now the strongest one in the Sea.
As soon as she was put on the ground, she kneeled down to the water, squinting slightly. She heard something odd, but it was a dark night, and she could not see clearly. It didn't sound like the whirlpool, but she didn't know what it sounded like. She stood up, about to turn away, when the Black Dragon spoke up once more.
'Why is that punk swimming over here? Wait, why is that punk even here? I do not understand,' he said.
Adara turned her attention back to the water, straining her ears to hear something. But she could hear even less than before; all she heard was the violent sound of the whirlpool whirling.
"He must really be a lunatic," Cale said from next to her, surprising her for a moment as she had been paying so much attention to the sounds of the sea.
There was only one person Cale would call crazy in this region of the Continent and only one person who would be so close to a whirlpool in the early hours of the day.
True enough, out of the whirlpool came a wet figure who was quickly swimming over to them. She recognized his wet mane of hair and his scarred arms.
It was Toonka.
He clung onto the edge of the island, where she had been crouching, and shoved his face closer to hers. Adara pulled back, forcing herself to stand up slowly and get away from him instead of rushing back. But he followed her as she stepped back, a manic grin on his face. "I knew it! I knew it!"
Cale was now backing away with her. Toonka was so close to them that she could hear his racing heartbeat. Adara narrowed her eyes at him. "I knew you two weren't just an average person! I knew I smelled a strong presence nearby." He watched them eagerly, a nagging feeling irritating Adara's shoulder. He had bloodlust in his gaze. "Are you a mage? How did you fly across the sky?"
Adara sighed. She knew that he either wanted to fight them or kill them. She, frankly, didn't want to do either. She wasn't strong enough to beat someone like Toonka, who had a brutish strength and didn't have a weapon with her. Sure, she could use her Ancient Powers, but she wasn't sure if that was such a good idea.
But Toonka was irritated by their silence. "Are the high and mighty mages ignoring me now?!" he asked, getting closer to them.
Adara and Cale glanced at each other. Toonka looked ready to attack them, and right now, they either needed to fight him or diffuse him. Adara knew Cale was wondering if Toonka should be put in his place or put to use. Adara moved her head, a slight raise of her eyebrow. Cale shrugged slightly, nodding to her proposed plan.
Just as Toonka was about to explode again, Adara waved him to silence. "I'll fight you."
Toonka narrowed one eye, looking at her quizzically. "Only you?"
Adara raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you not want me to?"
Toonka's eyes widened. "No! Fight me!"
Adara sighed, rolling up her sleeves. "Take a few steps back."
Toonka frowned. He was so close to her that he could see each individual eyelash; why did he want her to step back?
When he didn't move, nor did he look like he was planning on moving, she raised an eyebrow. And, seeing her face, he immediately took a few steps back.
Adara sighed once more, raising her fists in the air to guard her face. Toonka seemed to light up at that. "Ooh! Are we doing hand-to-hand?! Maybe you aren't a high and m—."
He broke off with a groan as he flew in the air, ending up in the water. Adara had rushed over to him, landing a weak blow to his face, but Cale had blown him away just as her fist made contact with his face. She righted herself, and with a twirl of her finger, a whirlpool surrounded Toonka.
"What is going on?!" he yelled, not understanding what had happened in the second he had flown. The endless wind and water were sucking him to the bottom, and he struggled to stay afloat.
Adara and Cale stepped onto the water, using the Sound of the Wind. They looked down on Toonka, with a harsh expression on her face and an indifferent one on his.
"Mages cannot have ancient powers," Cale said.
Adara narrowed her eyes at him. "Surely even you can understand what that means?"
Toonka had heard of Ancient Powers, but he had never seen one used for something important— their saving him earlier did not count. "Then you are not mages?"
Adara rolled her eyes, but Cale answered sternly. "Correct."
Toonka frowned. He thought these Nobles were the weirdest he had ever met, even more weirder now than they were earlier. They were using semi-formal language with him but didn't care when he didn't. They never once corrected him to address him as 'Young Master' or her as 'Young Mistress'. The dark-haired one even offered to fight him. They also had the scent and presence of a strong person despite both of them being incredibly weak. And they pushed themselves to save others when they were still ill.
They pushed themselves to save him.
They were certainly weird.
He looked up at them. "Then how do you know about the Non-Mage faction?"
Adara looked at him, a sharp look in her eyes, her head cocked to one side. "Whoever said anything about the Non-Mage faction?"
Toonka frowned again. "But—."
Cale ignored him. "Do you have any thoughts about destroying the Magic Tower?"
Toonka had more whiplash, his eyes widening. "What? What did you say?" She just denied knowing of the Non-Mage faction— but now he's talking about our goals? Just what—.
Adara watched with amused eyes as Toonka struggled to comprehend. Destroying the Magic Tower had been one of the Non-Mage Faction's goals from the beginning, and even without Cale's knowledge, Adara could have guessed it.
The Magic Tower was the symbol of the Whipper Kingdom and its mages, a symbol of how wealthy and powerful they were; of course, in a war, that would be the first thing to destroy the second they had the opportunity.
"If you do want to destroy it," she spoke up, Toonka's eyes focusing now on her. "Then please do not destroy it too much."
Toonka looked like he got run over by a carriage. "Crazy bastards, what are you talking about?"
Cale ignored the bewildered Toonka. "Ah, but please kick out all of the mages."
According to the Novel Kim Rok Soo read, the Non-Mages would win the Civil War, but the Whipper Kingdom would then self-destruct. As Cale said, 'Although natural instincts can take down the rationality known as magic, an existence without rationality would be no better than an animal'. She had told him he should have been a poet.
And since the Whipper Kingdom was doomed to destruction anyway, whose loss was it if they spent a bit of money to benefit themselves? Certainly not theirs.
She crouched down at Toonka, with him subconsciously leaning back. She smiled a viciously sly smile. "We are planning to purchase the Magic Tower. What do you say?"
Toonka looked up at her. "Are you crazy?"
Adara sighed, standing up. She was starting to get Cale's frustration with dumb people. Cale spoke up, asking, "Are you and your crew not also crazy for trying to flip everything over?"
Toonka started to laugh loudly, irritating Adara greatly. But he stopped with a cold look, glaring up at Cale and Adara. "No. Not at all. We are not crazy at all.
Cale nodded. "That's right. Which means we're not crazy either."
Adara glanced at Cale, an eyebrow raised. What kind of reasoning was that? He shrugged at her, a small smile on his face.
Toonka seemed to believe it, and that matters in the end. He stared at them, not frowning, but not smiling either. He observed them, eyeing them from top to toe. His eyes no longer lingered on her scars, and for that, she was glad. After observing them for a bit longer, he spoke up. "Personally come to buy it."
Adara noted that Toonka did not promise he wouldn't destroy the Magic Tower; he also didn't mention that he would destroy it. But she decided to ignore that observation as she nodded. "That was always the plan."
She put her bets on them not destroying it too much. Since the Whipper Kingdom was the biggest source of magic devices, it was definitely true that the Kingdom's main source of income was the Mages with their devices.
And once the Non-Mage Faction wins the Civil War, they will no longer have that source of income. So she was heavily betting on them agreeing with their terms, in fear of her and Cale lowering the price for the wreckage they caused.
Toonka asked another question. "But how did you know that I was part of the Non-Mage Faction?"
Cale sighed, making Toonka flinch. "You are someone from the Whipper Kingdom that is currently on the brink of a Civil War. You then looked like you would kill us if we said we were mages. Who wouldn't think of the Non-Mage Faction?"
"And," Adara added, "you practically admitted it earlier."
Toonka looked confused. "I guess?"
Cale and Adara simply turned around, stepping back onto the island. But Toonka seemed to be more interested in them than they were in him, and he followed them onto land.
"Why are you following us?" Cale asked bluntly, turning to glance at Toonka.
Toonka continued walking. "It looks like you're about to do something fun. I want to watch."
Adara sighed, waving him away. "Go back and play with the whirlpools; we don't need you breathing down our necks."
He was walking closer to them; Adara could feel his wet chest on her back. She grimaced. He was specifically doing the thing she had just told him not to do. "Are you two really nobles?"
He thought Amiru was very relaxed for a Noble, but he hadn't met these two. Usually, talking so informally to a Noble— nonetheless two Nobles— would get him in a lot of trouble, probably more than he already was in. But they did not care, and he thought speaking formally to these two was weird.
"I am indeed a Noble. Just like you are a warrior," was Cale's response.
Adara turned around to face him, mainly to get his warm breath off the back of her neck. "Toonka, you caught us. All along, we were faking being Nobles. We were just vicious bandits when we saw a lone carriage. Inside were two sick Nobles. We stole their clothing, killed them and buried them. Ever since then, we have pretended we were them."
Toonka's eyes widened. "Really?!"
Her face was a deadpan as she stared at him. "No, you idiot."
Toonka almost looked hurt, but he didn't have much time to be as Cale and Adara brought forth their silver shields and wings. Toonka watched with shining eyes as they started to float.
Naturally, it was not the silver wings but the Black Dragon who had used his magic on cue. If Toonka would not leave them alone, they would take care of the other whirlpools first.
"Bob," Cale called out.
Toonka was looking at them even before Cale called out. "What?"
Adara looked down on him. "You know that this is a secret, right?"
Toonka laughed a small one. "Of course. I prefer to keep all the fun things to myself."
They floated higher as Cale spoke. "We will find a ship and crew for you. Don't you need to return home quickly?"
Toonka frowned, confused again. "Oh? Thanks."
They were about to head into the clouds. "Win," Adara said, her voice carrying through the air. "You better win."
It was the only way they would benefit.
Toonka's laughter was louder than before. His voice also carried through the air, and it seemed to echo around. She wondered if he laughed this much in the Novel Kim Rok Soo read.
As they flew to another island, long out of range for Toonka to hear, Cale spoke up. "Do you know when I am the angriest?"
Adara looked at him, not understanding where he was going with this. "When?" she asked, setting the bait.
Cale was smiling a relaxed smile, looking at her. "When I throw something away for cheap because I think it is trash, yet it ends up being gold, especially when I really need that gold."
Adara laughed. "The Non-Mage Faction will be the angriest."
The Black Dragon spoke up. 'That is very annoying—,' he said.
"There's more," Cale said, interrupting the dragon.
'More?' the Black Dragon asked.
Adara could now see where he was going with this.
"Yes," he said. "It is even worse when I need to pay even more than it's worth to buy that gold back."
The Black Dragon was hesitant in his answer. 'That would suck,' he finally said.
They arrived at the next island by now, and after the Black Dragon confirmed that nobody was on it, they landed.
They put both of their palms facing down on the ground, feeling both of their hearts beating in a synonymous fast rhythm. The winds roared around them, filling Adara's hearing only with the harsh sound of it.
One whirlwind roared in Cale's hand, the other one in Adara's. They combined the whirlwinds until they became one, and Cale and Adara held hands. But they let go as the whirlwind expanded. Cale used his Indestructible Shield to slam it into the whirlpool, the whirl of winds shooting down water to the top of the whirlpool. The top and the whirlwind merged, and they would stay like that for at least six months.
Cale nodded at her. "Let's go to the next island."
Adara sighed, realizing she wouldn't be sleeping much tonight. It would be another night devoid of dreams about her Unnie—a twisted relief in its own right.
The next day, they needed to be awoken early. After meeting Toonka at the docks and introducing him to the crew who would be taking him back to the Whipper Kingdom, he was staring at them, not getting on the ship yet.
"Come after two months," he said, excitement in his eyes. "The world will be different."
Adara raised an eyebrow, a trait Toonka noticed she did often. "The world? I think only the Whipper Kingdom will be drastically different in two months."
Toonka deflated.
Cale sighed. "Hurry and go back home."
Toonka stared at them for a bit longer. He had a question on his mind, the same question he had last night. He thought about it, hesitating to ask it. "Are you two weak?" he finally asked.
Both Cale and Adara answered quickly and clearly. "Yes."
Toonka seemed even more confused than he did last night, but he got on the ship regardless. "Make sure you come after two months," he said as the ship started to move out of the docks.
"Yeah, yeah," Cale said, casually waving Toonka off as he slowly sailed away from them.
Adara gave him a final wave before turning around with Cale, her hand hanging on his arm. From behind them, Toonka started to yell. "My name is Toonka! Don't forget it!"
But they continued walking, ignoring the man now screaming repeatedly for them not to forget his name.
In two months, after they visited the Whipper Kingdom, they would have enough money that they would never need to work. It was the perfect plan. Cale wanted to be a slacker, and with that amount of money, he would be able to laze around in some secluded area and still have enough money for an emergency fund.
In some moments, Adara wished she didn't want to be the Count. But those moments were fleeting, and she knew deep down that she could never settle for anything less.
They arrived at the Residence in a short while; the kittens greeted them enthusiastically. They weaved around their feet, and Hong took the first opportunity to jump into Cale's arms that he could. On, instead, jumped on Adara's shoulders.
But Adara heard two pairs of footsteps make their way to their door. She recognised them, but she could not tell you who they were. But she didn't need to know; she could guess.
The door opened with a squeak.
~~~
As said in the previous chapter, I've made a sort of collage with Adara in a bunch of outfits; most of them are from the modern AU, but some are stuff that she would wear in this book as well.
(The lyrics in the two red boxes are from Melatonin by UPSHAUL)
Close-ups for (hopefully) better quality: