Stellar City, a Middle Grade city under the jurisdiction of Crimson Blood Empire, one of the human Empires in Asela. However, due to the massive number of cities the Empire comprised of, this is one of the cities that the Empire does not bother with. More so, given its remote location in the Empire territory. The Empire won't send anyone of the ruling class to the city unless it is of the utmost importance.

The Ruling Class is made up of ministers, the upper echelon of the aristocracy and the imperial family and their clans. However, most of the small and remote cities are governed by Ruling Clans; which are the clans who have reigned supreme in that city for a long time.

In the middle of the night, within a garden of the ruling clan of the Stellar City, Aasmany Clan, stood a middle aged man, staring at the gray clouds looming above, covering the night sky. This middle aged man is the patriarch of the Aasmany Clan, Bahram Aasmany. For what reason he is standing there watching the night sky, only he knows.

Suddenly, a dazzling gold-silver ray of light shot out of the cloud towards the garden. Witnessing this, Bahram's eyes went wide as he raised his guard.

Surprisingly, when the ray of light was about to hit the ground, it stopped and hovered a few meters above the ground for a moment before the light subsided, revealing a man with multiple bloody scars on his body and a pair of translucent golden wings on his back. But what Bahram is most surprised of is the fact that the man is currently carrying an unconscious girl of around 5 years in age. But this girl had a pair of silver fox ear and a tail revealing that she isn't human.

"Are you the current patriarch of the Aasmany Clan?" The winged man asked with a voice filled with urgency.

Bahram was about to inquire something, but hearing the urgency from the winged man's voice, he swallowed back his questions and nodded.

"Good, then I ask of you to take this child in and raise her as you would your own. Never mention that I was the one who entrusted her with you. She will explain more once she gets better. She may age slower after developing due to her race so you have no need to hide her race." The winged man appealed as he handed the girl over to Bahram.

As Bahram took the girl off from man's arms, he glanced at the scars all over the winged man's body as he furrowed his brows.

"Those wounds look rather life threatening, we should treat th-." Before Bahram could finish his words, the winged man rose up to the sky as his body was basked in gold and silver light once again.

"No need, I am already prepared to forfeit my life for this mission, I simply ask of you to take care of the girl." The man's voice resounded as he flew farther away.

Not long after, numerous ray of light followed behind the winged man.

Bahram stood there, stunned for a moment before he finally recomposed himself and walked back into the mansion. Knowing that he is not a significant character in this world, he dared not to be too deeply involved into the fights which he would not have qualification to directly interfere in.

Suddenly, at the corner of his eye, he noticed a small silhouette at the corner of the garden. He hurriedly turned his head to see who it was. When he saw that it was just his son, Behnam, who is currently staring blankly at him, he sighed in relief before reminding him sternly.

"Keep quiet about all the things you just saw. Right now we are just insignificant people that cannot afford to offend those big characters." Bahram then continued on his way, carrying the unconscious girl, leaving his son to stare blankly at his father’s back.

He brought the girl into an empty room close to his living quarters before telling a passing servant to forbid anyone from entering the room.

Inside, Bahram laid the unconscious girl on a bed before he sat and meditated while reflecting on everything that had just taken place.

But even after he finished his meditation, the girl had not woke up, so he decided to return to his room and slept.

As the sun rose over the horizon, Bahram rose from his slumber together with the resurfacing of the memories from the night before.

Recollecting those memories, he left his room and stood in front of the room where he left the girl at. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door of the room as quietly as possible.

Inside, he saw the girl draped in a white gown as her silver hair glimmered, staring out the window across the door as she was bathed in the shimmering light coming through it. Looking at this picturesque scene, Bahram lost himself for a moment, resulting in him taking a stiff step forward and breaking the tranquility of the scene.

When the girl heard the sound of his footsteps, her body shook as she jerked her head towards him. When she saw Bahram, her pair of gold and red eyes was filled with wariness and a hint of fear as she raised her guard.

When Bahram saw her eyes, he went stiff for a moment before taking a step backward while saying with a coercing voice.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Please do not worry, I mean you no harm.”

Hearing his words, the wariness on the girl's dimmed slightly, allowing Bahram to sigh in relief before continuing.

“My name is Bahram Aasmany, may I have your name, young miss?"

"My name… it is Yvette Celestiel."

"Then can you tell me who you are and what happened to you?"

But instead of answering his question, the wariness within her eyes increased as she moved backward, causing Bahram to smile wryly.

“I was entrusted by a man to take care of you, he also said that you will tell me everything once you woke up.”

Hearing his excuse, her wariness decreased once again. But even then, she still did not give any answer to her question, only to open and close her mouth with no words coming out of it.

Seeing this, Bahram sighed as he could only helplessly say.

"If you are unwilling, you don’t have to tell me anything, but I hope that you will be able to trust me since you have been entrusted to me." He said in a soothing voice as he approached Yvette.

After a hesitating for a moment, Yvette gave a small nod, as if she finally accepted her fate.

Seeing this, Bahram smiled as he continued.

"Alright, you must be hungry after all the things you went through, right?" He offered as he stood up while offering Yvette a hand.

She stared deep into his eyes as if trying to discern his true motives before nodding lightly before accepting his hand.

As they walked through the hallway to get some food, they kept close to each other, as if they're a pair of father and daughter. At this time, Yvette suddenly asked.

"So... what should I call you, sir?" Towards her question, Bahram pondered for a moment before replying with a smile.

"Since you have been entrusted to me, I shall be your new guardian, so you may call me anything which you deem fitting."

"Then... father..." When she said that, a complex light shone within her eyes, but before Bahram could notice, her eyes once again returned to its usual look.

But hearing her calling him father made Bahram felt rather awkward.

When they reached the clan's dining hall, many people were stunned by the appearance of their clan's patriarch together with a female fox beast man child, but nobody dared to question him in fear of angering their patriarch. It is common knowledge in the clan that their patriarch is amiable when left alone, but turns fierce once angered.

After ordering a servant to bring food for the both of them, Bahram led Yvette onto an empty seat. Seeing this, the surrounding people tacitly made space for the pair while occasionally throwing curios glances, particularly towards Yvette who managed to calmly eat while being under the glances of many people.

But halfway through their meal, a wave of killing intent drowned the whole dining hall causing everyone there to go stiff while a few younger children started to bawl.

"Husband~, I left you alone for a day and you already dare to turn towards a little girl?"

Looking towards the source of the voice, there stood a woman draped in a white gown at the entrance of the dining hall who is currently releasing a frightening amount of killing intent that was increasing as she moved closer towards Bahram and Yvette.

"Esfir, calm down." Bahram calmly said as he stood before Yvette, covering her from the oppressive killing intent.

"Oh, I am calm, I am only waiting for your explanation." She then retracted some of her killing intent as her eyes squinted into slits. But Bahram shook his head helplessly and continued

"No, this is not a fitting place for a discussion, follow me to my room." Realizing his predicament, Esfir secretly glanced at the surroundings filled with clan members staring at them, finding Bahram’s words agreeable.

With a sigh, Esfir retracted the rest of her killing intent before walking closer towards Bahram and Yvette. Surprisingly, she just walked past Bahram, who was whispering instructions to a close-by servant, and crouched herself as she stared deep into Yvette's pair of eyes. Suddenly, her body went stiff before she suddenly reached out towards Yvette. But the next moment, her hand froze, as if she is struggling to resist something. Noticing this, Bahram, who sent away the servant, inquired.

“Esfir? What’s wrong?”

When she heard his voice, Esfir’s hand suddenly froze before it slowly retracted.

"Nothing, I just thought she looked really cute and wanted to pet her." She said with a smile, hiding the cold sweat flowing down her back.

“Alright, let us go to my room, I will explain everything there.” Saying that, he left the dining hall with Yvette and Esfir following right behind.

But during the whole way there, Esfir kept on giving an intense look towards Yvette, causing her to unconsciously move away from Esfir. Even then, she did not relent and kept on staring intensely at Yvette.

At first, Bahram did not think much of it, thinking that his wife must have wanted to know more about this girl he took in. But as time passed, he realized that the intensity of her stare did not diminish in the slightest, on the contrary, it increased at the passing of time.

“My dearest wife, I believe that you are making her uncomfortable with that stare of yours.”

At first, Esfir wanted to ignore his words, but after seeing Bahram glaring at her from the corner of his eyes, she could only give a few unwilling glances before looking away.

Noticing this, Yvette threw a grateful glance at Bahram before she kept on walking.

Not long after that short event, the three finally arrived at Bahram’s room. Inside the three sat facing each other with Yvette sitting on the side.

"Now I will explain everything." When Bahram said that, Esfir’s straightened her body and conducted herself in a serious demeanor. Seeing this, Yvette threw a few curious glances at them, as if wanting to know what they are about to talk about.

As Bahram recounted everything that happened that night, Esfir showed many expressions, astonishment, fear, questioning. But even more so, she felt rather complicated over everything. From what Bahram has told her, she concluded that if the people that were chasing after Yvette knew that their clan is currently hiding her, they might come here and try to take her back, even worse, they might even destroy their clan.

When she glanced towards Yvette, she was surprised to see her eyes filled with an almost undiscernible sorrow as she looked at the bracelet on her wrist that's adorned with a sun and moon image. As if noticing her gaze, Yvette lifted her head and looked towards them with indifferent eyes. Seeing this, Esfir felt her chest tightened.

"It's fine, she, herself is currently feeling hardship, being separated from her parents while still being this young must have dealt a heavy blow towards her mind. Either way, I'm happy to have her." Esfir said towards Bahram.

Hearing her agreement, Bahram himself was happy since he already promised that man to take care of Yvette.

From that day onwards, the Aasmany clan had an additional member to their family who will cause a huge change towards their clan and the whole continent of Asela.