It had only been a few hours since she left, yet Leeora found herself once again inside the palace of the King of Agartha. None of the servants along the way was surprised; after all, being technically neighbours, the High Elder of the Wood Elf Clan did frequently visit the King. The palace was similar to the elves’ backyard.

Just as she was heading towards the King’s study, Leeora came across Erlos who had returned from the armory after cleaning all the weapons inside. A human being would have spent an entire day doing the same task, but the young elf used his powers to their fullest to fulfil the chore at the fastest speed possible.

The elf elder blinked upon seeing him stretching his back like an old man.

“Why do you look so exhausted, Erlos?” she asked.

“Oh, Elder. You are here again.” He smiled bitterly. “What can be the reason other than that heartless man doing pointlessly heartless things?”

Leeora was puzzled, but she sensed that the energy in the elf’s body seemed to be nearly used up. “He is trying to make you stronger and let you realize your powers?”

“Trying to kill me is the better choice of word, Elder,” he countered.

She simply shook her head, deciding it’s best to not probe. “Anyway, I am about to visit him. Do you want to come together?” she asked.

“At least for the next hour, I don’t wish to see him. Even if he calls for me, I swear I will not go—”

“Erlos!”

They heard the King’s loud voice from the direction of the study which alerted Erlos. In a blink of an eye, he was running to attend to the King.

Seeing his reaction, Leeora found herself amused and continued walking towards the study at a leisurely pace. When she reached the study, she saw Erlos standing in front of Draven with his head lowered.

“—took so long?” Draven asked.

“Apologies, Sire.”

“Then, why are you standing there? These books you left behind won’t arrange themselves,” Draven said coldly.

Only then did Erlos realize that before leaving for the armoury, he forgot to finish putting the books on the shelves, and piles of them were left unattended on the floor. “I will finish it right away, Sire!”

Leeora could not help but be amused once again. This guy talked big behind his king’s back, but whenever he was in front of his master, one could see nothing but the most obedient servant in the palace.

“Leeora of the Wood Elf Clan greets King Draven, the ruler of Agartha,” the elegant female elf said as a formal greeting, even though she knew the King hated it.

The expected scowl came on the King’s face, but instead of her, it was directed at the empty space behind her. Draven’s gaze moved past her to see if someone else was there with Leeora. His powers didn’t allow him to sense that human’s presence so he only had to rely on his eyes.

Leeora didn’t fail to notice it and answered his unspoken question as she walked further inside, “Sire, the human girl is already in Ronan, comfortable in her new residence. Be assured that we elves will treat her well, like she’s one of our kind.”

Draven didn’t react to this and asked, “Any particular reason to visit here?”

Leeora could sense his foul mood and understood the reason for poor Erlos’ suffering.

“Sire, I am here to talk about the human girl.”.

Draven met her gaze with a bored one. ” I remember saying you can do whatever you want with that uncivilized thing.”

Leeora wondered why the King seemed displeased. “I apologize for bothering you for something seemingly trivial, but I believe Sire placed that human under the care of us elves for an important reason. That is why I wish to understand her situation to be able to execute your order well.”

Leeora waited for his reply but he said nothing and continued his work. That meant silent approval for her to continue talking.

While arranging the books on the shelves, one could see the ears of a certain young elf twitching as he listened to the contents of their conversation. ‘Uncivilized? That uncivilized human is better than the civilized you.’

All of a sudden, one of the heavy books from the top shelf smacked him perfectly in the head. “Ouch!” he whined in a low voice, and he immediately turned towards his master as if to blame him. ‘Did I just say that aloud? I am sure I didn’t!’

Leeora continued speaking, unaware of what just happened, “Sire, do spare me a bit of your time to talk about the human girl.”

“What do you want to know?” Draven asked, not even looking at her as if this talk held no importance to him.

“Anything that Sire can provide will be helpful for me to fulfil my role as her guardian.”