“S-Sire…?” With a pitifully sad cry, he disappeared from the study the next moment.

Leeora turned to look at the expressionless king.. “Sire, where did you send him?”

“You will find him on your way out,” Draven replied and resumed his work as if nothing had happened.

Leeora bowed and left. On her way out, when she passed by the garden, she heard the sound of people talking and curiously approached the source of the noise out of curiosity. She saw a group of palace servants talking and laughing among themselves.

“What did he do this time?”

“He always manages to anger His Majesty.”

“I think His Majesty thinks of him as entertainment.”

“Poor Erlos. Always getting punished for something. This is quite creative though.”

“Ha ha, yes, this is an image you don’t see daily.”

“I am glad that I am not serving His Majesty. I would probably be too embarrassed to return to work if I get punished this often.”

When Leeora tried to see what they were staring at, she saw Erlos hanging upside down on the huge tree in the centre of the garden. He was pouting like a naughty little kid, hanging with his hands crossed in front of his chest. He didn’t try to free himself as he knew there was no use. Even if he overdrew his powers, he wouldn’t be able to get away with this punishment.

“Poor child!” she mumbled but she also simply turned to leave. There was nothing she could do for him. From the very start, she never meddled in Draven’s way of treating Erlos. Only she knew how much Draven cared for Erlos, and she’s aware that there was always some meaning behind Draven’s harsh actions towards the young elf.

Erlos glared at the passing servants who were making fun of him. “What are you looking at? Don’t you have anything to do? Is it funny for you all?”

His fellow servants even mischievously grinned and he threatened his fist towards their direction.

“Try serving that coldhearted man for a day and see if I don’t laugh at you! I remember your faces and names! Next time I take time off work, I will personally recommend you to be my substitute!”

The other servants immediately dispersed, as if running away from a plague.

Still hanging upside down in the middle of the garden, Erlos glared in the direction of the King’s study. His complaints were the only sounds in the empty area.

“Didn’t I apologize? Why did he punish me like this? It was a mistake, a misunderstanding. Not like I accused him of being a thief. And what was that about banning me from that human’s house? Was he upset that I am being friendly witha human when he hates them?”

Erlos recalled the exact reaction of the King at that moment and realized something.

“He asked Leeora to get new clothes for her…Oh my, was he upset because I saw the girl in a torn dress? Pfft. Is that even a good excuse to be angry? Not like he cared for that human. What does it have to do with him even if I see her naked—-eeup! Mmfph? Mmgh!”

He could not complete his sentence as his mouth was shut and wouldn’t open. He knew precisely who did it.

‘So he doesn’t want to hear the truth now? Fine, I will stay here and just sleep for the rest of the day! Call your other servants if you need anything, I don’t care!’

———

After Leeora left, Draven simply stayed inside his study with his awareness spread out around the palace. His sensitive ears caught the words exchanged by his servants, especially in the garden area where he had left his blabbermouth of a servant dangling as his punishment.

He listened to Erlos’ mumblings with a frown. Draven initially allowed him to vent his anger out as it was nothing new for him, but when Erlos said certain things, Draven’s frown deepened. Unable to listen anymore, he shut his mouth by using his powers.

He put away the scroll in his hand and leaned back in his chair.

‘That thing. How careless. Couldn’t she cover herself? Her bed has a blanket. Was she expecting me to change her clothes as well? Humans are truly lazy creatures.’

——–

Leeora returned to Ronan. The first thing she did the moment she returned was to check on Ember. The tree spirit guarded her house as per Leeora’s instructions, not letting anyone enter the human girl’s home in her absence.

‘What a pitiful child,’ the elf could not help but sigh. ‘I wonder what happened between her and the King last night.’

Before entering Ember’s house, Leeora tapped her staff to tell the tree spirit that it did well. As before, she knocked first before entering the house without waiting for its owner’s permission.

Just as she expected, the human girl was still lying unconscious on her bed. Ember seemed to have not woken up the entire time she was gone. Leeora sat at the edge of the bed and checked her pulse. It was still very weak, making Leeora sigh helplessly.

‘I wish I could give you the vitality potion to drink so you would get better faster, but I cannot go against the King’s order. Only your willpower can help you now, child. Stay strong and survive.’

Leeora pulled out one of her elixirs from the box. ‘Though I cannot give you that potion, I hope this elixir will help you regain some strength. It might not help much as your constitution is weak, but something is better than nothing.’

The High Elder of the Wood Elves found herself wondering what else she could do for Ember. The human girl could not eat or drink water in her state, but without medicine, food could be the only way for Ember to strengthen her body. She might have to wait for the girl to wake up and feed her porridge.

After checking that everything was fine around Ember, Leeora requested for the tree spirit to continue protecting the human girl living in the house. Only then did Leeora leave, intending to let the elves patrolling the city know that they could now stop looking for the ‘thief’ who stole her elixirs.

—–

The sun had long set and the sky was dark when Draven strolled towards the palace garden. His black boots made no sounds as he walked towards the large tree in the centre where his servant was hanging upside down with a rope made of vines.

The young elf had his eyes closed, but he wasn’t asleep. Though Erlos appeared calm on the surface, it was simply due to Draven shutting his mouth with his powers and ignoring him for the whole day.

“Seems like you are having fun?”

Erlos shivered upon hearing his master’s voice, and it was as if he could still hear his words from earlier.

‘No food and water for a day…No food and water for a day…’

‘This heartless man really left me to dry under the sun without letting me eat a single bite!’

The poor starving elf opened his eyes and looked at Draven with misty gaze, like an abandoned puppy. Though he didn’t say anything, one could see him blaming Draven for the suffering he went through for the entire day.

Thinking how unfair his treatment was, Erlos frowned and closed his eyes. He promised himself that as soon as he’s freed, he would run back to Ronan and eat to his tummy’s delight. However, the King’s next words broke his resolve.

“Since you seem to enjoy hanging like that then I won’t take you down.”

‘Wait, what does he mean?!’

Erlos opened his eyes, but at that point, Draven had already disappeared in thin air. Alarmed, the young elf wriggled mid-air, trying to let out muffled sounds to call his master back, but only a ‘mmf!’ sound could be heard from his sealed mouth.

‘Sire! No, Sire! Come back! Where did you go? Don’t leave me alone!’ he sobbed internally. ‘Does he plan to keep me hanging here till tomorrow morning? Argh! Why did I close my eyes? Why didn’t I give him a pleading look? I should have squeezed out a few tears ahhh! That cruel man, couldn’t he wait for me to answer?’

Erlos could only cry for missing his chance of getting released from this punishment.