Unwilling to handle the awkward silence any longer, I repeated my question, this time less certain of myself.

“So… why… why did you exactly think that… taking me into your family is necessary again? Ah… not that I didn’t appreciate the sentiment… I don’t have a family… since...” — I said, already embarrassed, more focused on carefully voicing my thoughts than what those thoughts exactly were.

Emrum’s smile strained as he asked, stepping closer to me.

“What do you mean by that, Lora? We saw you in a shameful position. Our act of accidental impudence has besmirched your good name as a young maiden. This is a serious matter!”

Wait… so he was seriously talking about that!? — “Ah… you mean that, it’s not a big deal… you know… It’s not like I was buck naked or…” — I shut up seeing the drastic change in my friends expressions.

They seemed genuinely speechless for once.

The silence stretched uncomfortably, then Emrum jolted up as if whipped by an invisible person.

“Selora!” — He shouted.

“Yes?!” — I squeaked back, hastily covering my ears from the unexpected raise in octave.

Emrum unleashed a long-winded lecture at my head.

“Stop acting like you don’t realize the potential consequences! We cannot let ourselves to treat this lightly, especially in the present political situation. If the wood elves hear about this… Aside from that, this could make it impossible for you to find a proper elf man to take your hand!” — Emrum explained, feeling ashamed of even mentioning it. And I sensed an incoming headache just realizing what all this was about. — “By the way… I thought you had a family. What do you mean you don’t have one anymore? What about your magic-tutor at least?”

I grimaced, just remembering my previous lies… Oh well…since the cat is already out of the bag, I might as well say it… — “Yes, about that… I kind of lied…”

“You lied?” — The dwarfs asked simultaneously and I could only nod. Was it that surprising? I blushed under their combined stare.

“I didn’t know what to say… I was alone in an unknown place… surrounded by dwarfs who I didn’t really know if I could trust.”

I decided to make my actual past from Earth into a carefully woven lie that could potentially explain some of my eccentric nature to the dwarfs.

“I was afraid to admit that I was alone… or that I never even seen another white elf beside me in my whole life… You see… I was raised by humans in a small village hidden among the mountains. Almost everyone I know of has died from old age years ago. Along with my human magic-tutor. I didn’t want to bother their grandchildren with my presence, nor did I desire to see them grow old and die in front of my eyes while I barely changed. It was too painful to remain there, so I left.”

“In my wanderings, I have searched many forgotten places and found more than a few magical grimoires, some containing ancient and long forgotten magic. Attempting to learn one of those led me to my current predicament. The rest you are already aware of.”

Emrum took a shaky breath, accepting the new truth quite easily. — “So that’s how it is… now I see why you were so determined to be treated as an adult… if you were raised up as a human, you basically have the mentality of a grandma.”

I chuckled at that. How close, yet how far that was from the truth… If only I could tell him.

Tymur took that moment to seize the conversation. — “That’s fine and we will talk it out later. However, for now… we should resolve the issue about the clans. You see… we kind of panicked after that incident, knowing that elves, by that I mean elves that are raised by other elves, tend to take this type of things very seriously. Of course, dwarfs do as well, but not to the extent of elves. There were even a few wars in the past caused by similar misunderstandings.”

By that he means attempts at peeking… I am pretty sure about it.

Now I am starting to understand the reason for their nervousness.

However, I did not hold such grudges. I came here with the intention of rallying an army against the growing darkness, not to cause further conflicts between the peaceful races of the realm.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that every stupid thing in this world ended up causing at least one or two wars. Are these people actually complete idiots?

Tymur continued his words. — “That is why we consulted with the commander for the best possible approach of this sensitive topic.”

My eyes widened. Disbelief was mirrored in my silver eyes.

“You did what? You told about that to Balgrun?” — I asked in a somewhat shrill voice. They talked about this with that man. Why do I have a feeling that this could only end up in a catastrophe…

Emrum spoke up, this time somewhat defensively. — “Well, yes, it seemed to be the wisest course of action. Balgrun is the oldest among us and has the most experience in such delicate subjects.”

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What does that even mean? Is he a repeat offender? I don’t know what to think about that… Balgrun and the word delicate didn’t seem to be mentionable in the same room, or cave, to begin with.

Emrum continued. — “He said that we should take responsibility for besmirching a maiden’s honour and avoid any further repercussions by either taking your hand in marriage.” — WHAT? — “An act that was not possible since we were already married.” — Bless the shapers for small mercies! — “Or taking you as an honorary member of one of our clans, which would serve as an equivalent exchange to right the wrongs.”

I blushed hearing that ridiculous statement again… B-besmirching my ass! Nobody even touched me. What is that imbecile talking about? Are morals really so different here that I can’t make sense of it?

“S-stop saying that…! Nothing happened. There is no reason for…“

Tymur scolded me from the side with a serious expression. — “You should take this more seriously, Lora. It is a very dishonorable act to look at a young maiden without proper clothing, especially for married men. This crisis is very much alive even if you are for some inexplicable reason not bothered by it… We can be seriously punished for such an action, especially after telling it to the commander. There is no turning back now. If you refuse us the chance to compensate you, our wives will beat us to death, even if we get home alive.”

Emrum added his own two cents when Tymur finished. — “Aside from that, it’s not like we can change anything now. The magic of the ring has been engraved into your flesh permanently. Showcasing that you have become an official member of the Dimhollow clan’s main branch family. I told you beforehand that we can’t go back on this decision, haven’t I? It’s not like I could figure out that you didn’t pay attention properly! You have already been added to the runic enchantments containing our family tree. Either you like it or not scatterbrain!”

As the entire picture finally stood together in front of my widening eyes. I realized that the only thing remaining for me was to facepalm… while spluttering out a bunch of incoherent curses at the fools, but above all myself.

Turns out that in this world… sexual revolution was not an existing concept… But then what about the ass praising dude? Should I get compensation from him too? I can’t seem to make heads and tails of this…

“I find your prudish attitude somewhat hard to believe in sight of the fact that I recently heard a guy boasting about how he slapped my ass… than another came up to me with the sole intention of praising the shape of my bottom… right in my face. Should I demand compensation from them too?”

Emrum’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Giving me a strange question. — “Did he do it?”

I blushed slightly from the unexpectedly interrogative tone. Quickly denying it. — “No, he didn’t, but… that’s not the point…”

Before I could finish my words, both of the dwarves relaxed. Making me even more confused.

Tymur spoke up first. — “But, that is a completely different question, Lora. Especially if he isn’t married. Speaking about such things in your presence merely shows his genuine interest in you. It might be still a bit inappropriate since we are unsure how to treat you with your special upbringing just yet… But that won’t always be the case… you could hardly be treated as a clueless child at seventy-two years old even if we decide to look at you from a purely elven perspective.”

Emrum nodded from the side with a strangely conflicted, even protective expression.

“Sigh… I should have guessed… another dwarven custom that doesn’t make any sense…” — I spoke my thoughts out loud, not feeling the strength to hide it anymore.

“Whatever you mean by that… It seems perfectly sensible to me.” — Tymur added from the side, almost frustrated by my confusion. Emrum nodded sagely in the back, saying. — “These are ancient dwarven traditions…”

I threw up my arms dramatically. — ”Fine, I give up…” — There is no reasoning with these guys… and it’s just when I thought I was starting to understand dwarven culture… How ironic…

I looked at Emrum. Our eyes met halfway. — “So, should I call you clan-head from now on? Or what?”

He blushed surprisingly, and looked to the side, mumbling to himself… — “Well, I am not really the clan head just yet. That title still belongs to my great-grandfather. He is two hundred and eighteen years old. You can call me… cough… well, call me as you used to. It doesn’t really matter. Emrum was just fine…”

I nodded slowly, staring at the slight redness appearing on his cheeks just above the thick beard.

I raised up my right hand. Looking at the ring resting around my finger snugly. There were a few words carved into the otherwise standard looking silver ring.

I read them out load, squinting my eyes to see the carvings better. — “The bearer of this ring is considered a member of the ancient and venerated clan of Dimhollow.”

Emrum noted in a surprised voice. — “I didn’t know that you could read ancient dwarven rune writing. How intriguing.”

I looked up, then to the side, mumbling under my breath. — ”That makes two of us then…”

The two dwarves stared at me. Just missing my words, I could see they intended to ask about it, so I quickly attempted to distract them.

“Don’t you need this ring too, Emrum?” — I asked with forced curiosity.

“I have more than enough ways to prove my identity, don’t you worry about that.” — He chuckled.

Tymur added from the side. — “By that he means he has a necklace with the family crest as well. And they already know his face well enough…”

I guess that makes sense.

“Oh, I see… well, thank you. I will keep this safe.” — I said awkwardly, while giving a last glance to the ring on my finger.

What a strange ring. I can clearly remember that at first it was too large, hanging on my finger practically. I was about to take it off when the runes started to shine with a bright blue light… The next thing I knew; the ring was snugly nesting around my finger.

“It is surely convenient…” — I mumbled to myself.

Emrum caught my words and chuckled jovially. — “Yes, the ring is laced with powerful soul and intent recognition magic. Meaning, only those could put the ring on who are given to by one of our clan’s main branch family members, and even then, the person needs to be above a certain rank.”

“Is that so… Then what happens if someone illegitimate attempts to put it on?”

Emrum’s answer came quickly, and it froze the blood in my veins.

“They are cursed, and turn into stone. It’s one of the most powerful magic of the shapers.”

What the hell is wrong with these people? I stared at the ring on my finger, with a hitching breathing.

“You… you might want to say that beforehand next time! IDIOT!” — I shouted at the fool, losing my shit at last.

Emrum winced slightly, his eyes widening, hearing me curse for the first time.

“It’s not like that would have happened to you either way… So I didn’t think that was important, but well, maybe I made a mistake there… I will warn you next time, I promise.”

Whatever…

“Fine…” — Not that there was anything else to say… I was just too flabbergasted by the number of thoughtless actions for one single day…

Both on mine and their sides…