Alnea truly could not understand what the girls were talking about. Especially Cecilia. He had never seen her act so irrationally stubborn, refusing to accept the woman despite knowing that she was right. She did not even try listening to what the woman was saying. And though Yuri had agreed to let the woman into their mansion, he could see the reluctance on her face. Erwein Forest…
Alnea looked at the woman once again. Truly looked at her, without the filters of bias. Her pale white skin—not as pale as Yuri’s, but paler than Cecilia’s— forming a contrast with her dark black hair, curling around her ears, coupled with the dimples on her round, fleshy cheeks, and the soft, warm light in her eyes, was giving her a strange charm. A beautiful charm, that kept calling for his attention. Not that he would admit it to either Yuri or Cecilia.
Besides, her beauty had nothing to do with why he had agreed with her. She did have a point. And the first lesson that his master had ever taught him was recognising his mistakes. Still, he was not foolish enough to admit the woman’s beauty to the girls. Though, on second thought, the woman did not look too old either. She was probably around seventeen to eighteen years old at best. Calling her a woman…
Alnea almost burst out with his Aspects, as he felt a gust of cold wind running up his back. It was only when he saw the source of that cold wind—Cecilia’s glare— that he calmed down a little. But not much. Even Yuri, with her puffed up her cheeks, had turned away from him with a hum. Only the blue robed girl was still smiling at him. For his own sake though, he decided that it was for the best if he continued addressing the blue robed girl as a ‘woman’.
“You three continue talking. I’ll go in first.”
“No need to be shy, little brother,” the blue robed woman said, and moved, as if trying to get closer to him, only for both Cecilia and Yuri to step in between.
“Although we have agreed to let you in, we still cannot let you get close to him.”
“What are you two thinking?” the woman said, snickering at Cecilia and Yuri. “How old is he? Fourteen? Fifteen? He is just a boy.”
“And yet you are still interested in the boy.”
“…You are misunderstanding me, little sisters,” the woman said with an aggrieved expression on her face, as she entered the mansion after Yuri and Cecilia, allowing the doors to close behind them. “I just want to get to know my little brother a little better.”
“He is not you little brother,” Cecilia said through her gritted teeth. “Only Se—
“Calm down, Lia,” Alnea said, patting Cecilia’s shoulders to bring her attention to himself. “I know you are worried for me, but it’s fine. Have a little faith in me. I can handle myself.”
“You don’t know her. She—
“It doesn’t matter if I know her or not. What matters is you. As a Wanderer, you should never let your emotions overwhelm your Heart. At least not the emotions which are contrary to the core of your Heart. Or have you forgotten what happens when a Wanderer loses control of his Heart? Have you forgotten what happened to the Whitebud patriarch?”
“Are you talking about the Reinhart Whitebud?” the blue robed woman said, shaking her head with pity in her voice. “I heard about him too. Poor man.”
“…How did you hear about him?”
“Oh? Are you finally willing to talk to me?” the woman said, with the right corner of her lips turning upwards slightly. “Unfortunately, I cannot answer your question. It is a trade secret of the Erwein Forest. Of course, if you choose to join the Forest, then—
“No need,” Yuri said, with a blank look on her face. Even her voice had become bland. It was as if all the emotion that she had been showing till then was just a farce. Alnea knew though, that she must have just supressed all her emotions in her Heart. Or maybe she had just seen through all her thoughts emotions, bringing them under her control. She did have a Clear Heart, after all.
“Since it is a trade secret of your clan, then you should keep it to yourself.”
“…Now you have gone back to being cold again,” the woman said, pouting in dissatisfaction. “You have even stopped pretending to be nice with me.”
“It is hard to be nice with someone who is trying to take away a part of your life from you.”
“…It seems like the infamy of my clan precedes me once again,” the woman said with sigh. “I do not know how much you know about my clan, but let me assure you, we never force, or coerce anyone. If I decide on your friend, he has to agree with me first before we can imprint on each other. And even then, there is strict procedure to follow. Not to mention that I have not decided on him yet.”
“Then why are you here?”
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“Like I said, I want to get to know him better. Although the talent he has shown is more than enough, I do not know anything about his character. This will be a lifelong decision for me too. You cannot expect me to make it on a whim, right?”
“…Your words do nothing to rest my worries.”
“…I do not know what you girls are talking about, still, I can see that you are not going to come to an agreement anytime soon,” Alnea said, as he sat down on one of the eight golden cushions in the main hall of the mansion, motioning for others to do the same, trying to divert the topic. Fortunately, all three girls chose to play along with him, wondering what he was up to. Though, from how quickly Cecilia and Yuri moved, taking the cushions beside him, forcing the blue robed woman to sit across them, he began to wonder if he had been thinking too much.
“How about we skip this topic, and talk about what you were saying earlier?”
“As expected of little brother,” the woman said. “You are so calm and mature.”
“…I would prefer it if you would stop calling me as little brother, and use my name instead.”
“My apologies…”
“Alnea… Just call me Alnea.”
“Alnea… that is a nice name,” the woman said, nodding with a smile. “I am Vestia, daughter of Foriana. As you may have guessed from what you heard earlier, I am from the Weina clan of the Erwein Forest.”
“Erwein Forest…”
“…If you do not mind me asking Alnea, are you from Rianra?”
“…That is not hard to guess, is it?”
“…A boy from an unknown origin, following behind a daughter of the Infinity Snake… The connections are not too hard to make. Or else, why do you think the other clans are paying so much attention to you?”
“What does this have to do with where Erwein Forest is?”
“You will understand in a moment,” Vestia said. “As someone who was not born in an Orthodoxy, you should come into contact with the knowledge about Orthodoxies until you became acquainted with your Serpian friend. At best, it should have only been two to three years since you should have begun learning such knowledge in earnest. And Erwein Forest is located in the Third Sector of the Water Region. Now, do you understand why I asked that question?”
“…To confirm your guess.”
“Do not be disheartened,” Vestia said. “You are doing much better than most of the scions of Orthodoxies I have met.”
“Why? Are you sad that he is not falling for your charms?” Cecilia said, with a hint of pride on her face.
“…You should know that one of the criteria for the women of Erwein Forest to choose their partners is being able to resist our innate charm.”
“I knew that you were a vixen through and through!”
…Were the girls finally going to stop trying to hide their thoughts? Not that they were doing much of hiding anyway. After hearing them argue so much, even someone as dumb as the Wanderers of the Lotus clan could have understood what they were talking about. And he was not dumb.
Yet it was exactly because that he could somewhat understand what they were arguing about that he had to play dumb. After all, the woman might end up becoming their partner in the city. He could not be too rude with her. Besides, this was exactly what his master had brought him to the Lost City for, learning how to deal with other Wanderers. Thankfully, Yuri also understood that truth.
“Calm down, Cecilia,” Yuri said, still maintaining her bland tone. “She is just stating the fact. There is no need to get agitated over it.” Turning towards Vestia, she added, “However, this does not give you the right to provoke my friend.”
Or maybe not. This was the first time Alnea had seen Yuri being so passively aggressive. If it had been any other time, then he might even have taken his time enjoy her new, undiscovered side, but at the moment, he was beginning to panic a little. From what he had observed, although she was a bit provocative, Vestia was indeed a little trustworthy. At the very least, they could use her to learn more about the city, and gather some information.
Yet, from how the girls were behaving, it looked like they had no interest in even talking with her, let alone teaming up with her. Even Yuri was behaving so aggressively… Thankfully, Vestia did not mind their rude behaviour. Rather, after she heard Yuri’s words, she looked more interested in her than before.
“…You do not seem someone like your age, but I guess you are right. I did digress a little back there. My apologies…”
“Cecilia,” Cecilia said. “Cecilia Serpia.”
“You can call me Yuri,” Yuri added. “Due to certain circumstances, that is all we can tell you about us. Even if we decide to team up, you will not be able to learn more about us. So, if this bothers you, then you can take your leave.”
“It is fine,” Vestia said, with her smile growing wider with every passing moment. “Everyone has a secret or two.”
“…As you wish.”
…Alnea was beginning to wonder if teaming up with the woman was really the right thing to do. He had no other choice though, so he could only grit his teeth, and say, “Now, since we are done with the introductions, can we move on?”
“…Impatience is not a trait for you to flaunt, Alnea,” Vestia said, turning back towards him. “But I guess all boys are like that. Besides, life is all about imperfections. The more you learn about yourself, the more you find how much you are lacking, the more you strive to complete yourself. Only when there is imperfection, can there be progress. If you were truly perfect, then I would not have been so interested in you…”
“…Let’s come back to the topic,” Alnea said, signalling the mad woman to rein in her tongue. If she continued with her ramblings, then he was not sure if he would be able to save her from the two girls sitting next to him. Thankfully, Vestia knew when to stop.
“First, let me confirm, are you really planning on entering the inner city?”
“That should be obvious by now,” Cecilia mumbled. “Why else would we let someone like you in our mansion?”
“…Yes, we are going to enter the inner city,” Alnea said, ignoring Cecilia’s mumbles. Although he was a little reluctant to talk with the mad woman too, but as a Wanderer who was willing to help them, she deserved his respect, and sincerity.
“Good,” Vestia said. “Then let me show you the path that you need to take.”