Free Web NovelChapter 20: Saga 20— A Little More About Azure Blake! II
There was a brief pause before Sylvia replied to Harriden. Her crimson pupils gleamed with curiosity.
"Wow! You must be a dark elf. Is it true that you all were blessed by the Goddess of Shadows... That’s why your skin became dark?" Sylvia was brimming with vitality. She tried to touch Harriden, but he hit her hand.
"Don’t touch me with those flirty hands." Harriden clenched his teeth. He wasn’t actually angry; he was just surprised that someone would approach him so friendly with an ulterior motive.
"Oh; sorry. I suppose you have a no-touch policy. So how did you get that scar on your right eye?"
Sylvia couldn’t help but notice the very profound scar on Harriden’s left eye.
A vivid grimace formed on Harriden’s face. Sylvia’s question seemed to have hit a sore spot.
"It’s none of your business. But—" Harriden bit his lip in frustration.
"Not that you believe me..."
"Don’t worry, I will." A bright smile swept across Sylvia’s pristine face.
"I was out in the Luminary Woods late and got attacked by a mutated badger—"
"Though I killed it, not before it scratched my left eyelid. Luckily, the healers were able to prevent me from going blind."
Harriden’s dark hair stood on end as he gloated about taking down a monster even B-ranks would struggle with at just 15 years of age.
"Whoa! You must be really strong. Most of the adults here can barely take down a half-ancient Elder Direwolf." Sylvia was quite amused by his ingenious feat. Most people their age would run and piss their pants if they found themselves in such a situation.
"You... believe me?" Harriden asked incredulously.
"Here, I do—"
"If I told you what I really am, you would also find it hard to believe." Sylvia’s eyes drifted away.
"Hit me," Harriden replied.
Sylvia told him about how she appeared on the Weisston noble family’s doorstep and they took her in as their own. Also how she was trying to learn about this world that she found herself in, plus she also had hidden abilities.
Harriden listened to her explanation carefully without batting an eye.
"Must be real tough, putting up with their glares, huh?" Harriden let out a sigh. After everything she said, Harriden’s first reply actually surprised Sylvia.
"I couldn’t help noticing how you were being looked at in the hall," he added.
"You really are something else." Sylvia’s crystal blue eyes sparkled.
From there, Harriden and Sylvia immediately hit it off. He told her all sorts of things about the world. It was getting late, so they had to depart, but the grand ball was a five-day program, and this was just the first day.
The next day, a large crowd gathered around a finely designed carriage. They all sang praises of the elf queen and her daughters. To their disappointment, only the elf queen’s last child got down from the carriage. The crowd quickly dispersed as if they were running away from some kind of disease.
The young high elven lady didn’t seem too bothered. After all, this was something she was already used to.
"Stay away from that freak before she starts yapping about the inconsistencies in your spells."
One thing people despised was the truth. Claire could look at a spell in one glance to tell why it was so weak. Normally, she was supposed to be called a genius, but her capabilities transcended the realm of geniuses. Since they couldn’t measure her, they decided to call her a freak.
Claire’s eyes were devoid of any sign of emotion. They were completely blank. She was all too used to being called a freak.
’I have shown them up to five percent of my capabilities, yet they are already so scared.... What a bunch of weaklings.’
Claire was capable of things that their half-wit brains couldn’t even comprehend. Her mother warned her not to show them what she could actually do. But she chose to test their reactions—and she was awfully disappointed and soon came to regret her rather subpar decision.
Sylvia was rather inquisitive at this stage of her life, so she chose to approach Claire directly with the questions she had in mind.
"Hi there. I’m Sylvia." She stretched forth her hand—she was expecting a handshake, but Claire instead looked at her with a cold gaze.
"Have you come to mock me like the others...?" Her gaze drifted forward.
"I’m really not in the mood for that... so I would prefer if you would leave me alone," she continued in an ice-cold tone.
"Ehh... I believe mocking someone that’s better than oneself is exceedingly foolish." Sylvia couldn’t care less for mockery.
"Hmmm... interesting perspective." The moonlight reflected in Claire’s grey pupils.
"I’m listening." Claire was intrigued by Sylvia’s reply and chose to give her a listening ear.
"They said you could see the flaws in other people’s spells, or rather assess them?" Sylvia asked.
"Yeah, I can. I presume you want me to assess your own spell?" Claire got a whiff of what was going on. This was the very first time someone had actually willfully come to her to have their spells assessed.
"Yes.... But we can’t do it here. Let’s head a bit further into the garden."
Sylvia wanted to be far away from the masses to prevent any complications. When they got to the edge of the garden, Claire stopped abruptly.
"You might have managed to cancel out the noise of your footsteps and breathing, but I can still see wisps of your mana." She turned to the wall of flowers.
"Harriden, it seems she caught you," Sylvia laughed.
’So she knew that someone was trailing us and let them be?’ Claire felt a strange presence following them since they departed earlier.
Harriden came out from behind the flower wall, both hands in his pockets and a light smile on his face.
"You noticed me earlier, so why didn’t you call me out then?" he asked.
"I didn’t feel any hostility—"
"And what’s a dark elven noble doing by himself without guards?" Claire smirked.
"What’s the first daughter of the High Elf Queen pretending to be the third daughter doing alone in such a place?" Harriden sneered.
’It’s obvious they know each other, and they also hate each other.’
Sylvia wondered what the dynamics between them would be....
— End of Chapter —
