Lir stared at the small coffee shops open sitting area, despite the two figures only being back lit with the way they were sitting, he could still tell it was his student, Clara and another person who he surprisingly didn't recognise
The albino had great memory, and given that he practically followed Aradia every where almost everyday, he was familiar with most faces
Lir's head was still reeling from the earlier encounter they had and the new information he found
Back at the water kingdom, his life had been average, nothing out of the ordinary but that isn't always a good thing
Lir lacked ambitions, he didn't know what he was going to do, hell he doesn't even think of ruling over the water kingdom as he believes his dad will probably not give him the throne
Now that doesn't mean he hates him, Lir knows for a fact both of his parents adore him, it has more to do with the fact that Lir really can't lead; and given he never had any particular experience to know the world better, yeah he doesn't blame them
Five months ago, as he was just fooling around, he got called to the main hall to know he was of age to choose a elf to form a soul contract with and thus he finally left his home for the first time in his life
The first four, he will be honest, were just spent exploring the western region. He was amazed by the world outside
If a spirit doesn't choose an elf, they simply spend the rest of their lives without one, it really isn't that deep which is exactly why Lir had come to the decision of just spending his last month in pure bliss
Unbeknownst to him however, he would somehow, one faithful night, meet a chaotic, uncoordinated, impulsive but probably the most honest and interesting person he has ever met
And so, he decided he would follow this red head and made the promise of making her a great mage. But then he found out about the gate-way in her system and then went to the illusion mansion for her to get the help needed first
He changed everything about his plan and now finds that for the first time in his overall boring life, he is actually having fun, he is actually enjoying his life instead of just living
He knows very well that there are only so many days till the month ends, barely a week is left and yet he doesn't wish to leave, he wants to continue to stay with this troublesome human
Lir had yet to come to a decision in this, while it's true spirits don't make deals with humans because of their deep rooted disdain, it is also because the contract takes a huge toll on the human, nine times out of ten they die and if they manage to survive, they only live half their original life span
But when he thinks about leaving this idiot behind and living that bland life again, as selfish as it may sound, he still wants to form a contract with her, so even if there's only a slime chance, he still wants to take it and not harbour any regrets later
Though, with that mysterious person-, Ming Baishi was it? Appearing today and showing them that shard..
Lir finds himself torn between what he should do, if he goes back the likelihood of them ever letting him leave, let alone investigate something as dangerous as this and try to find the sword himself with a human? Yeah, no, never in a million years will that happen
But that doesn't mean just.. ignoring them and doing his own thing is right. It feels just so wrong, it feels like he will betray them
The whole way here Aradia and Lir went over the fact they had agreed to meet that stranger again at tomorrow dawn because he suddenly said he needed to be somewhere
Which is so strange, didn't he just say he got out of the forest? But he didn't have time to say that as Aradia agreed saying it was getting too late and she too needed to be somewhere
Lir understood, she needed to be back before Ellen came back so they agreed on meeting again. As for the legitimacy of Ming Baishi actually keeping his words.. god knows what the red head thought
As they were coming back he was lost in thought and just making some random comments, when he saw the red head stop from his parallel vision, he turned and saw those two people staring back at them
His first instinct was to obviously hide, that is exactly what he has been doing even before meeting Aradia
Although seeing as their gazes travelled towards him after a few seconds, he knew it wouldn't work. The damage has been done
The red head's face was a mix of many emotions as she tried to think of what she should do now. This was not at all what she had wanted, she hadn't wished for anyone to know about Lir but it seems fate was not at all on her side
With a sigh her gaze turned towards Lir, a slight head tilt towards the two people across from them, a silent question
Lir nodded, he didn't really mind people knowing of his existence, if anything he liked it. People's reactions were so funny, it was as if they had seen god
They went over to them and stood in awkward silence for a few minutes
The first to speak was surprisingly the black haired boy Lir didn't recognise
"I.. don't think we should talk about any of this outside.."
Aradia nodded, it was true, this was not the place for whatever questions they had and it was not ideal for Lir to be out
"I'm sure Ellen has yet to return.. shall we head back then?"
Aradia said as she looked at the two, she didn't recognise the boy at first but now she realised it was Al, the weirdo who had made her into a messenger to send a letter to Clara
Appearance wise he didn't look all that different it was more so of the fact that he acted completely differently.. that should have a fun explanation
.
.
.
.
.
The inn room was brightly lit, both the window and door were closed to provide privacy. The soft voices of the people outside were like white noise, but the inside of the room had pin drop silence
Clara sat at the edge of the bed, beside her Al was leaning against the bedpost
Aradia was sitting on a chair in the room and Lir was leaning a little further away. He had taken full from after quite a while, he was as tall as Al
Clara finally broke the silence with a sigh
"Alright, let's just get it over with-"
"Let's go clock wise and ask one question each, sounds fair?"
Al chimed in, the two sisters looked at each other before nodding
"Alright"
"Fine"
"Great, so I'll start first"
Al responded
"You are really a spirit?"
Lir rolled his eyes
"No shit, Sherlock.. and a water one at that"
Since he and the red head talked telepathically, he had started to pick up some paraphrases and words and this is one of them
Lir had seen the red head use it wherever someone said something obvious and just decided to do the same
In any other context Aradia would have been proud but with the confused gazes of the two people in front of her, she wanted nothing more than to choke that stupid pixie
"S.. Sherlock? What is that?"
The albino realised what he had done and played it cool
"Two questions, but water kingdom words"
'talk about absolute bs'
Aradia thought, giving him a side eye
Al hesitantly nodded, letting Clara go next
"Are.. you the one who's been teaching me?"
Lir simply nodded
It was now Aradia's turn
"What's your real name?"
"It's Aster, though Al is a nickname rather than a fake one"
Finally, it was Lir's turn; although he didn't really have any questions to ask to decide to just go along with it
"How do you two know each other?"
"Childhood friends"
"Partners in crime"
Clara and Aster stared at each other. Clara looked annoyed at his cheeky answer whilst Al looked hurt
"Uh huh.. alright, your turn again"
'this feels more like a game than a conversation of letting secrets loose..'
"How did you meet?"
"Well, one faithful night, she just kind of ran into me"
Aster didn't seem to believe that but seeing as Aradia nodded along he decided to let it slide
"How long have you known each other?"
"A month or so"
This time it was the red head answering
"The letter that day plus you going out at night, it was because of him, yes?"
Clara nodded
"Why do you two meet secretly?"
This made everyone pause, it wasn't obvious but with a little bit of observation it seemed to point towards that thought
"It's a long story.. but if you must know, I'm the second son of the Viscount Angis, my step mom would kill me if necessary for her own son to be the heir so I choose to lay low and yes, meeting with my friend is also not allowed"
Silence once again filled the room. Aster didn't like to share his family problems with anyone, even Clara so saying all this now made him feel iffy. But to his surprise the two didn't react at like, it was like they heard something of this sort everyday
"Okay.. last round ladies and gentlemen?'
Seeing as no one spoke Al asked his last question
"Why are you here? I mean spirits don't like to socialise with humans"
"We don't, I came out for the first time in my life to find an elf but didn't find one"
Seeing as he won't elaborate, Al just nodded
"Why are you following my sister?"
Clara asked, her gaze was fixed on Lir, it felt like she was about to burn a hole in his face
"I.."
Lir didn't shift his gaze, instead he asked the red head what to say
'half lies'
"Well, I wasn't all that interested in finding an elf to form a contract with anyway and when I met this red head, I wanted to learn human manners and see why our kind hate them so much- plus who knows maybe I'll find a spouse while I'm at it"
Aradia choked. This guy was crazy
Clara and Al stared flabbergasted, saying something like that, he was asking for a misunderstanding
Clara instantly looked at Aradia, communicating with her eyes, asking if what she thought was true
Aradia obviously denied, and her sister sighed a breath of relief
The red head sighed as well, but for a whole other reason
"Why are you sharing all this? You could have very well just cornered me, asked what you needed and left, why the exchange?"
Aster responded with an air of a pure noble. It was a drastic change from the earlier impression the red head had gotten
"Because it's fair, but really, it's because your sister is involved and you, of all people should know what she is up to as well. After all, concern goes both ways"
Lir asked the last question, though rather than a question, it was more of a statement
"Whatever was spoken in this room should not go out, no one and their mother can't know about my existence or the fact you are meeting up with Clara, the Duras Duchy heir, right?"
Al hesitantly nodded, the water spirit was right, if anyone got ahold of any of the two facts all of them were done for
He would probably die, Clara's position would take a hit for the worse, Lir would probably be captured or something just as horrible and Aradia's name would be all over the place for all the wrong reasons
Truly, politics and society is the worst
Having made their agreement, the tension in the room subsided
Clara had wanted to ask another question but decided to save it for another time, for now she just wanted to rest
Bonus:
Aradia: Ceil is asking where babies come from
Clara: too young, tell him about the stroke
Aradia: K
*Aradia to Ceil*: your mom slept with a stroke
*Clara spitting out her tea*: nO
To be continued...
What's up? I actually posted on time? Shockers
Anyway, it's me Yan and you know what? I'm FUCKING SICK AGAIN LIKE WTFFFF ahm- got my period again, I swear to god this shit was made to be a torture technique AND I'm so dizzy
Also this is my first time feeling dizzy, I'm a bit nervous ehe
But yeah if you think this chapter is boring, writing sucks, lacks humour, sorry
I'll do better next, next week I swear
Anyway, since I missed it, late Eid Mubarak hope you all had fun because I just stayed home
Look I love staying home but even I sometimes just wish I could go on a vacation instead
Also, it's so hot like not even "oh it's spring, it's hot" nah bitch it's hotter than your mom-
Ahm-, sorry for being so immature lol my mind is not cooperating bro
School apparently opens from tomorrow, guess who'll be absent, that's right mf it's me
Attendance makes no sense, like if I still pass with good grades, which btw is the only thing that'll matter in the future, why the fuck are you getting so worked up over that bruh, you mad? Go cry about it
Anyway, you know the drill
Once again please forgive this lowly author for any grammatical mistakes
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it (I did not)
Have a good day, afternoon, evening or night
And I'll see you all in the next one
Peace.
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