The restaurant Hannah led us to was not the type of establishment I would have expected the noble daughter of a duchy to frequent, but Hannah stated quite firmly that it was her all-time favorite.
Then again, I had no idea what restaurants were like in Graedon, much less in Elyndor. For all I knew, this could be considered high-end.
As we entered, a matronly woman greeted us with a polite smile, a small bell ringing as the door shut gently behind us. She motioned us toward an open area further in. It wasn’t a large restaurant, though a staircase at the back indicated it doubled as an inn. Adjacent to the stairs was a small door, likely leading to the kitchen.
“How many people ya got—oh, Lady Hannah!” The woman’s professional demeanor vanished in an instant when her eyes landed on Hannah’s distinctive golden locks, tied into tight ponytails. “I see you’ve brought guests today. Would you still prefer your usual table, my lady?”
“Of course,” Hannah replied, breaking into a wide grin. “Thanks for always keeping it open, Dorris.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Dorris returned the smile, then glanced at us. “Could I have the pleasure of knowing your guests?”
“This is Lady Lilliana Silverwater, successor to the duchy,” Hannah introduced me with a slight flourish. “And this is Nasq, Nida, Brianna, and Victor. They’re part of Lady Lilliana’s retinue.”
Dorris bowed slightly. “A pleasure, Lady Lilliana. May the fortune of the gods be upon you."
I offered a small smile, but the loud rumbling of Nasq’s stomach prompted me to gesture her forward. “Let us eat.”
Dorris led us to a table at the end of the building, far enough from the stairs to avoid their creak whenever someone ascended. The table was circular and made of a light brown wood, large enough to comfortably seat eight. Hannah sat to my left, and Nida, as always, took my right. Once we were settled, Dorris placed a hand on her hip and leaned her weight to that side. “Welcome to The Last Oasis, finest tavern in all of Elyndor! Now, we don’t have the widest variety, but we have four dishes I can recommend. Each one is delicious in its own right, attracting people from all over Graedon.”
Hannah leaned toward me as Dorris spoke and whispered, “She always does this. Apparently, the owner makes all the employees memorize this stuff. I’ve heard it at least twenty times.”
Dorris continued, “We offer Hunter’s Stew, Dark Bread with Herb Butter, Nightberry Tart, Bone Broth, or Roasted Game Skewers. Our seasonal special is Hunter’s Stew, which comes with Dark Bread and Herb Butter at a discount.”
We ended up ordering the Hunter’s Stew, except for Nasq, who ordered everything, including Elven Wine.
“You’re going to love it,” Hannah assured him. “I’ve had it a few times, and it’s always refreshingly delicious.”
Once Dorris left to take care of our order, Brianna shifted forward in her seat eagerly. “So? How did it go? The meeting?”
“It was… interesting,” I mused, distracted by the warm scent of bread. I wondered how different the food would be here compared to the Duke’s mansion in Sealrite. The food in Sealrite had been mediocre at best, despite the skill of the chefs. Positioned in a desolate desert, it was likely difficult to obtain real delicacies. Still, I felt a bit disappointed they didn’t serve the petal pastries I’d tasted at the banquet. I’d tried finding them while in the city, but apparently, they’d been brought by a guest, and no one could tell me who.
“Did you meet the matriarch?” Brianna pressed, and I noticed Victor edging forward too. He wasn’t one to speak often, but he was always listening. “The rumor is that she’s even more powerful than Duke Alistar was.”
I doubted that rumor's truth and Nida voiced as much. “She was definitely strong, but I don’t think she was that powerful.”
“Duke Alistar was close to the platinum realm,” I noted, nodding in agreement with Nida. “The acting matriarch is in the lower stages of the gold realm. It’s the difference between having one heart ring and already possessing all three.”
Hannah nodded. “It’s true! Grandmother only recently announced she’d formed her first heart ring in the gold realm.”
“Does she know any magic?” I asked.
Hannah shook her head, then shrugged. “If she does, she keeps it to herself.”
“Do any of the successors use magic?” Hannah lifted an eyebrow at my question, but I just stared at her and waited for an answer.
She sighed, lowering her voice. I had to lean in to hear her over the clamor of the tavern patrons. "I’m only going to tell you this because you're a successor and grandmother never told me not to tell you. You all have to understand that grandmother Eliza is not my actual grandmother. The matriarch is very old. There were rumors that if she hadn’t managed to form her gold realm heart ring, she would have been nearing a natural death.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Then she’s at least a few centuries old,” Nida remarked, absently tucking a loose strand of silver hair behind her ear.
With the amount of energy in a gold realm core, a few centuries was a fair estimate, plus or minus a few decades.
“My mother once told me that the matriarch is… or was… Duke Alistar’s great-grandmother,” Hannah explained, her cheeks lightly flushed from excitement. “But I’ve also heard she’s much older.”
“Shouldn’t she be more powerful, then?” I asked, remembering the ancient cultivators on Ordite who were approaching the diamond realm.
“They’re just rumors,” Hannah muttered, reaching for a basket of bread a young man with ruffled brown hair placed in front of us. He offered no greeting and disappeared back toward the kitchen. "That's Simon. Just ignore him. He doesn't talk much."
“Is it possible she’s hiding her true heart core level?” Nida glanced at me questioningly, clearly having no issue ignoring the boy.
“It’s possible,” I replied. “Unlikely, but possible. If she’s reached the platinum realm, I suppose she might have the ability to mask her energy from those in the silver realm like me.”
I filled in Brianna and Victor about the successor meeting until Dorris returned with the bread boy from earlier, both carrying plates that filled the air with savory warmth. I scooped up a spoonful of stew, making sure to get a large piece of venison. The moment the broth hit my taste buds, I realized how ravenous I was. I was in the middle of scooping another mouthful of the delicious stew when I spotted the dark bread and went to grab it. My arm did not move, reminding me that I no longer had a left arm and jolts of phantom pain thundered through my arm. I flinched at the invisible pain, dropping my spoon with a messy clatter of noise and stew.
I took a breath, calming the mixture of rage and mounting irritation. I picked up the spoon and resumed my dinner. If anyone noticed or heard, they said nothing. Hannah gave me a playful glance, though it was clear she hadn’t realized my arm was missing yet, hidden as it was under the heavy brown cloak.
I knew someone would notice eventually. Though I felt no shame over my missing limb, for some reason, I hesitated to reveal it openly. Nida put down her own spoon, reaching out to grab a couple slices of bread and slathered them with the whitish green herb butter. She handed one to me, then the other to Nasq, and kept the third for herself.
Perhaps it was something in the herb butter, or it could have simply been the feeling of fresh bread warming my exhausted soul, but the phantom pain receded with each bite I took. Nida, seeing me devour the bread, slathered a few more pieces for me. I thanked her with a nod, though I noticed Hannah looking at us curiously as if she wanted to say something. The somber look and the venom in Nida’s eyes, however, seemingly clued the girl into keeping her mouth shut.
After a while, Hannah, clearly unable to hold her silence any longer, slapped her hands against the table's surface with a bright grin. “Sooooo, where to after this? The blacksmith? Clothes?”
“Blacksmith,” I said, swallowing more stew.
Another pause. Then, with an almost childlike excitement, Hannah asked, “Lady Lilliana, do you have a plan yet?”
“A plan?”
“Yes! A plan to become the duchy’s heir.”
“I am already the rightful heir,” I answered, finishing the last bit of my stew. “Why do I need a plan?”
“Oh, come on, my lady. You must have some strategy. I’ve heard stories of your adventures in Sealrite and Silverwater long before you even arrived here. Do you realize how far your name has spread? I swear I won’t tell anyone your plan—" she paused. "Well, except for Grandmother Eliza, if she asks." She paused again then said sheepishly, "And maybe my mother.”
I sighed, pushing my empty bowl forward. “Lady Hannah, if there is a plan, do you truly believe you are already one of my confidants?”
“I guess not,” Hannah said with a pouting purse of her lips. “I wouldn’t tell, though.”
“Just tell me about the other candidates.”
“Oh, right! I forgot you asked about them.” She cleared her throat. “You’ve likely noticed, but Darrow is the frontrunner. Grandmother Eliza has been training him since he was a kid to become the next Duke Alistar.”
“His guard is unusually powerful,” I observed, and she nodded her agreement.
“Sir Alaric is a high-stage silver realm core user, having been trained directly under Duke Alistar for over a decade. He’s one of the duchy’s best knights.”
“That explains his role guarding Darrow,” I murmured. “He’s protecting the most likely heir.”
“Yes, and he’s under Grandmother’s orders.” Hannah waved her hands in the air until the bread boy scurried back and she ordered something called a Frost Cider.
“Yes. That, and he’s under orders from the matriarch, obviously.” “Glory and Ginny are fairly high in the successor hierarchy too, but they can’t use magic. Darrow is unnaturally gifted in his ability to use mana and energy. The only other person in his age group I can think of that matched his capability is Morgana Silverwater.”
She had my interest; now she had my full attention. “What do you know of Morgana Silverwater, Lady Hannah?”
“Oh, I shouldn’t have mentioned her. I’ve heard rumors about how they treated you—”
“How strong is she compared to me?” I pressed, interrupting the babbling girl.
“Compared to you?” Hannah tilted her head, peering at me thoughtfully. “My lady, if the tales of your exploits in Sealrite are true, I doubt Lady Morgana Silverwater could even lay a finger on you.” When I didn’t respond, she shrugged. “From what I know, she finally created an energy core, but only after fleeing from the Silverwater territory and training under Duke Goldenhearts himself. I believe her mana core has reached the second realm, though—that’s where you’d need to be cautious. Oh, and you'd need to be wary of her skill with fire affinity. It's unmatched since both her energy and mana are fire-attributed.”
So it is possible to have both a mana core and an energy core at the same time.
“How did she create two cores?” I asked.
Hannah just shrugged again. “I honestly have no idea. I haven’t even managed to form a single core yet, for either mana or energy.” She frowned, falling silent for a moment, then brightened as if the sadness had never been there. “But Grandmother Eliza probably knows. You should ask her—if you get the chance, that is,” she added with a grimace.
I chuckled and turned to the rest of the group. “Finish up. I’m ready to get some armor and weapons.”
With one of my hands gone, I’d need to compensate with a weapon. A one-handed sword or something similar would be preferable, though a short spear could also be useful. Maybe both, just in case.
“Brianna, can you go pay the waitress?” I asked, as Nasq finally leaned back with a satisfied sigh, patting his temporarily bloated stomach. Brianna nodded and stood to pay, with Vincent rising to join her, scanning the room as if daring anyone to try and rob her. “How far is Blackwell’s blacksmith from here?”
Hannah tapped her chin. “A few minutes? Just a few blocks away. Not far at all.”