Lucia
Apparently, at Duargana at an unknown time.
The dark elves were a scar that forever existed in the hearts of the other elves. The bloodthirsty elves were essentially the darkest side of elves. They were elves who turned totally fine elves into bloodthirsty wild beasts for so-called power and authority. There wasn’t a single elf who wanted to admit that they once had those beast instincts. Elves always killed dark elves in cruel ways to hide the ugly side of them. However, Vyvyan invested relentless efforts to come to reconcile with Inard’s support. Hence, the dark elves were able to reside in the capital of Duargana.
The dark elves used the blood of domestic animals to fulfil their needs every full-moon night. They would take on the same jobs as other elves. Vyvyan gave an order to all elves that prohibited discrimination and violence against dark elves and citing as justification. Despite Vyvyan and Inard emphasising the rule over and over, the elves discrimination toward dark elves wasn’t so easy to overcome.
Generally wherever humans were found, one wouldn’t be lonely. Duargana was a residence for elves. Due to the relationship between elves and humanity smoothing over, nevertheless, elves and humans began to interact with each other again after fifty years of segregation. Merchants scrambled to get to the elven lands, as they all wanted to make money in the elven lands. Explorers wanted to find things they hadn’t seen before in the forest while lots of passionate men wanted to form budding relationships with female elves. Thus, lots of humans could be found at Duargana.
Every street was bustling and lively, which used to be a rare sight. To be specific, it was the elves who had never seen such a sight. Owing to their more conservative nature, the elves were considerably unhappy. Consequently, many elves moved out of the city and into the forest one by one. The young elves, however, were fond of the different atmosphere and things on offer. A fair number of elves, in fact, even travelled to Hilles City of their own volition to experience humanity’s civilisation for themselves. As such, despite the man in white entering Duargana, the guards didn’t pay much attention to him.
Only one guard was bewildered a human could speak the elven language incredibly fluently and give off the vibe of a member of the imperial family. With that said, the guard was certain the human couldn’t have been from the imperial family because Vyvyan and Inard were the only members of the imperial family. Inard’s son was still in humanity’s lands; plus, his son was still just a child.
The man looked side to side as though he had never seen Duargana before. What was foreign wasn’t Duargana as he couldn’t be any more familiar with it. He often strolled along the street, after all. What was truly foreign to him was the sight of so many people.
A few maids, who were carrying clothing, desperately squeezed through the crowd and rushed toward the imperial palace in a flustered manner. They apologised profusely as they pushed people aside. They all had hot flushes on their pretty faces from running. Humans couldn’t help but glimpse at them for it was rare to see elven maids.
One of the maids yelled, “It’s all your fault, Lucia! Had you not fallen asleep at home, we wouldn’t have needed to wake you up!! We’ve only been employed for one week! If His Highness and Madam Vyvyan sack us, what do we do?!! We went through so much to become maids!”
Lucia turned her head around and shouted to her friends, “Sorry, sorry, but it’s fine, it’s fine. Madam Vyvyan will definitely forgive us!”
Hearing shrieks, Lucia looked back. Thus, she ended up smashing into a horse’s leg. Shocked, the horse instinctively went to kick Lucia, who was behind it. The man on the horse hopped off his horse. He picked up Lucia in his arms and rushed to the side.
“Ah… Th-, I mean, sorry… mm… and thank you.”
Lucia didn’t know how to respond. The man looked down at Lucia, who was in his arms. He hesitated for a moment then revealed a gentle smile. Lucia had an impulse to kiss him all of a sudden, but fortunately, she remained rational and controlled her extremely dangerous impulse.
“Next time, make sure to be careful, Lucia,” the man said.
“Ah… yes, sorry.”
Lucia worked her way out of his arms. The man stood straight up and rubbed Lucia’s head. He softly chuckled: “I’ll be off, then. By the way, if Vyvyan… Her Highness scolds you all, show her, this, and she should be lenient.”
“Mm, bless you. Thank you very much…”
Lucia gave him a small bow. She watched the man mount his steed and vanish into the crowd. Her friends all rushed over at once. Puzzled, they asked, “Lucia, you know that human?”
“N-No…”
“How did he know your name, then? Also, why do you two look so familiar with each other? I would even say that there was a weird friendly vibe between you two…”
“Weren’t you all shouting?! Truth be told, I’m not sure, myself. I’ve never seen him before. It should be our first meeting today, but why do I oddly feel nostalgic…? It feels as though he’s my most important person or something… Aaahhh, but I’ve never been in love, let alone with a human…! There’s this, too. Where did he get this from…?”
Lucia looked at the item in her hand with a blank look. Lucia mulled over it: “It was the man who gave me this necklace. I’ve seen the necklace before, but it was around Vyvyan’s neck, so how was it with a human? To add to that, there should only be one copy of the imperial family’s ornaments and jewelleries. This necklace looks authentic. Why, though, are there two authentic copies of the same necklace? Who is that man? Why does he not only give of a familiar vibe but even have a necklace from Vyvyan? Who is he? What does he plan to do here in the elven lands? Who exactly… is he here for?”
“Ah, whatever, let’s not talk about him now. Whatever the deal is with him, he won’t be a threat to us. Madam Vyvyan is invincible. We need to go to the imperial palace now. We have to ask Princess Vyvyan to forgive us!! It’s all your fault, Lucia! You held us up!”
“Didn’t I already apologise?! Also, it’s not my fault!!”
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