"How did you do that?" Zaelyane asked, dumbfounded.
Rion opened his arms wide and answered with a grin, "I just did what you and your people do."
Hearing his answer, her confusion increased even further. She slowly sat down in her chair and asked in a low voice, "That shouldn’t be possible for a human..."
He lowered his arms and shook his head. "It’s not."
"Then how are you doing it?" She asked while frowning.
He jabbed his thumb at the left side of his chest and asked, "Do you think I am still a human?"
Her lips fell shut, and she stared at him with a worried expression. Rion was already different than others, and it seed that every day he was stepping even further.
As she thought that, she understood why Rion had locked himself in the room.
Her gaze t his, and she asked, "Did you form an ether core?"
’She guessed much faster than I had predicted,’ he thought as he sat down in his chair and answered with a nod, "I did."
"I see..." she whispered. "I’ve never seen anyone who is neither an elf nor an ether beast and still has an ether core."
Rion scratched the back of his head. "Well... Even I didn’t know that this was possible."
"So what kind of changes have you noticed?" She asked flatly.
He placed a hand under his chin and rubbed it as he answered, "Hmm... I feel much calr and closer to the world than before, I can do invocation and sacrificial sorcery, and that’s about it."
"It seems you have beco similar to us elves," she mumbled.
"It does." He nodded.
The wooden floor creaked, and both of them turned their heads to the left. Their gaze fell on Yuura, who was walking towards them while yawning and rubbing the sleep off his eyes.
Rion smiled and mumbled, "You are awake."
Hearing Rion’s voice, the sleep disappeared from his eyes, and he muttered, "My liege, you are back!"
Rion vanished from his chair, appeared before Yuura, and pulled him into a hug as he spoke, "Yeah... I am back."
Yuura frowned and looked at Zaelyane for the answers about why his liege was acting like that.
To answer him, Zaelyane shrugged her shoulders and went back to reading her book.
He shot her a disappointed glare, and Rion spoke, "What’s wrong? Do you not wish to hug , Yuura?"
His expression darkened, he shook his head, wrapped his arms around Rion, and stamred, "I-I do!"
As the two hugged, Rion whispered, "I am sorry for dragging you here."
Yuura frowned. "You don’t have to be—"
However, Rion didn’t stop. "I am really sorry, Yuura..."
Yuura fell silent for a few monts as his eyes turned puffy. He dug his face into Rion’s shoulder as tears rolled down his face and he mumbled, "D-Don’t say that, Rion... I didn’t co with you just because you had asked ."
"I ca because I wanted to. Even though I miss my friends, my family, and my tribe, I know my liege does it as well... yet you are doing everything you can for the tribe. Do not put down my choices by apologizing to ."
Hearing his words, Rion’s lips arched upward, he tightened his arms around him and said, "I know you don’t want this, but I am doing it... I am a selfish guy after all."
Yuura shook his head. "You are not a selfish guy, my liege."
Rion broke the hug, grabbed his shoulders, and made him look into his eyes as he spoke, "I am. I am the most selfish person you’ve ever t."
Yuura chuckled, tears streaming down his face, and asked, tilting his head, "Why are you crying then?"
Rion forced a smile and answered, "Sothing fell in my eyes."
Hearing his absurd answer, Yuura burst into laughter and muttered while grabbing onto his stomach,
"Sothing fell in your eyes? Hahahaha! My liege, you hold the strength to destroy mountains. What could that sothing be that, haha, it can hurt your eyes?"
Rion smiled. "It must’ve also had the strength to destroy mountains."
Yuura laughed even louder and mumbled, coughing through it, "Please stop!"
Rion let go of his shoulders, patted him on the back, and turned his head towards Zaelyane.
Zaelyane quickly hid the smile she had, but Rion still sensed it and decided not to ntion it.
She looked at him with an impassive expression and asked, "What is it?"
"I think we’ve had enough staying in your motherland," he muttered. "Or do you wish to stay for longer?"
She shook her head. "We would move as you wish."
’Why do you not wish to stay longer? This is your motherland...’ he mumbled in his head, but didn’t voice them.
Rion looked away, walked back to his room, and said, "Then you should inform Malikeya that we would be leaving tomorrow."
She nodded, stood up from her chair, and left the hut.
"Would you be fine, my liege?" Yuura asked with a worried expression.
Rion glanced at him with furrowed brows. "Why wouldn’t I be?"
Yuura opened and closed his lips a few tis before he made up his mind and said, "Here, you can at least feel Dora’s presence... if we leave, you will be left alone."
’Heh. To think I was calling Yuura a child, oh how stupid I am!’ Rion thought.
He turned his gaze towards the heavenly tree and explained with a small smile, "I wish to stay, but if I remain here, how would I find the giants and the cure? How would I stop the duke from taking our kingdom?"
Hearing him, Yuura scratched the back of his head and whispered while looking away, "Aren’t you supposed to be the most selfish person?"
Rion chuckled and said, "That’s the advanced art of selfishness, you make others think that you aren’t selfish while only doing things for yourself... Most people fall for it; you shouldn’t."
Yuura’s expression turned impressed. "Oh... I still have to learn a lot from you, that’s why I will always follow you."
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