Adrian huffed a small laugh that he hoped sounded real enough.
His Grace Prince Bennett had just told a joke that seemed to be common in the capital.
Looking around, Adrian realized he was the only one who had truly laughed, the others merely smiled. He grumbled internally, how was he supposed to mimic their subtle reactions when he was the lowest-ranking lord in the room?
Finding an opening, he bowed to Earl Winthrope, who was conversing with Lord Corvus, and slipped away from the group. He released a quiet sigh the moment his back was turned.
He felt a strong urge to loosen his collar, but resisted.
As a servant passed, Adrian took a cup from the tray. Wafting the wine, he noted its distinct aroma, clearly higher in quality and far more expensive than what was served in the main hall.
He drifted toward the few familiar faces in the room. As much as he wanted to approach the elves, he knew he had to bide his time. Taking a subtle glance in their direction, he caught the eye of a female elf before quickly sweeping his gaze away.
"Lord Harrow, Sir Dexton." Sir Harold greeted, pausing his conversation with Lord Tuckstone and Sir Collins, one of the knights Adrian had briefly gotten to know during the hunt.
Lord Tuckstone and Sir Collins nodded in greeting.
"Greetings. What are you discussing?" Adrian asked, with Dexton standing attentively behind him.
"Just some martial matters..." Sir Collins replied.
Soon, they were engrossed in a discussion on swordplay and jousting techniques. Adrian listened intently, though he had won the joust, he knew it was more a victory of endurance than raw skill.
The conversation flowed naturally, and the atmosphere remained warm and easy, accompanied by soft music from a band in the corner of the hall. Before long, both Adrian and Dexton were conversing comfortably with the rest of the hunting party.
A knight laughed boisterously at his own joke while the others only offered polite chuckles as he launched into tales of his service in the war against the Breakstone Kingdom.
Seizing the distraction, Adrian, who had been the knight's primary audience, discreetly slipped away from the group. He directed his steps toward the small, isolated party nearby that few had dared to approach.
The elves.
Keeping his gaze steady, Adrian approached them slowly, he already gave some sign to his knight to leave him be with this. Throughout the evening, only a handful of people had spoken to them, and those interactions had been brief at best.
As he closed the distance with a polite smile, the elves naturally turned toward him, offering welcoming expressions.
"Friend Harrow, welcome to our group." spoke Sir Sylwen, the only elf whose name Adrian knew.
Standing among them, Adrian couldn't help but feel like an unrefined commoner standing beside noblemen who had never known a day's labor.
‘Why do they all have to be so damn handsome and beautiful?’ he thought, struggling to suppress the urge to ask if ugly elves existed.
"How are you all, Sir Sylwen?" Adrian nodded to the elf he knew before turning to the others. "May I know the names of your companions?"
The elves exchanged brief glances before introducing themselves.
"Lyris." spoken by the sole female in the group.
"Valen."
"Thalion."
"Faelor."
"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Adrian said. He hesitated, pondering how best to broach the subject, when Lyris, the elf he had briefly spoken to during the hunt spoke first…
"Are you here on your own accord? Or merely offering polite greetings as the lords behind you intended?"
Adrian was stunned by her bluntness, but he welcomed it all the same, finding it quite refreshing. He was about to state his intentions when he paused, catching the subtle implication in her words.
A moment later, he answered, "I am here for myself."
The elves exchanged another round of looks.
"Harrow… Lord Harrow, who was your mother?" asked Thalion, a stern-faced yet undeniably handsome elf.
Taken aback by the randomness of the question, Adrian answered, "Carol Harrow. What can one glean from that, I wonder?"
"Do you reside in the south? Near the mountains?" another elf chimed in.
"No, quite some distance away, though not far enough. Lord Bronsone fits that description better." Adrian replied, his brows furrowing.
The elves traded glances once more, and this time Adrian caught the visible puzzlement on their faces.
"We can glean nothing from those names, Lord Harrow." Sir Sylwen spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "I am afraid the mystery of your nature, which I’m sure you plan to ask us, is something you yourself must understand better than us."
Taken aback by them already knowing his purpose, Adrian brows knitted, but before he could speak, Lyris cut in.
"Perhaps you could give us… hints, as you humans like to use, about yourself."
Adrian felt the collective gaze of the elves lock onto him, a unmistakable glint of curiosity in their eyes.
He paused. How could he possibly reveal or even hint at his gift? Not even Ela, the person closest to him in the world, knew of it. Yet, if he remained silent, he would get no answers.
An idea struck him.
He shifted his bandaged arm, gazing down at it as he spoke. "My hand will heal, as will my other injuries… I am quite resilient, you see. Much more so… than ordinary men, I would say."
As the words left his mouth, the memory of the black spot that had appeared and disappeared on his chest flashed through his mind. He needed to ask them about that as well.
He looked back up, hoping his hint was subtle enough.
Sir Sylwen’s brow furrowed, while Thalion and Valen began whispering in hushed tones. Faelor and Lyris simply regarded him with deep, contemplative stares.
And so, while Adrian waited in silence for their response…
Princess Skyla, along with Lord Jayson, Lord Bennett, and Lord Corvus, were conversing, and the central topic of their discussion was Adrian, who was currently deep in conversation with the elves, lasting longer than any human had ever managed to speak with them in this hall.
"What could they possibly be talking about?" Lord Jayson mused. Gossip wasn't something he typically indulged in, but at the moment, he found himself inclined toward it.
"Lord Harrow possesses qualities no ordinary lord has." Lord Corvus noted. Coming from him, that was high praise indeed.
Prince Bennett looked at Lord Corvus in surprise before turning his gaze toward Lord Harrow in the distance. "I confess, I did not pay much mind to Lord Harrow initially. But to win the joust, gain praise from you, and capture the elves' attention, it seems I was shortsighted."
Lord Jayson turned to him. "He surprised us all. And it seems he has more in store, something he is actively hiding." He then turned toward Princess Skyla. "What do you think that might be, Princess?"
Princess Skyla shifted her gaze away from Lord Harrow and the elves, answering flatly, "Something that interests the elves, at the very least, and something Lord Harrow himself has an idea, even if he doesn’t have all the answer.
Lord Corvus narrowed his eyes as he chimed in. "Whatever he is hiding, it couldn't be that insignificant, now could it? And if it is truly extraordinary..." His lips curled slightly. "...then Lord Harrow is indeed no simple man."
In his mind, it was only right that the man who had defeated him possessed such depth.
"Perhaps we can simply ask him? We hardly need to gossip like common ladies." Prince Bennett chuckled.
"He will not tell you." His sister stated simply.
Prince Bennett was taken aback. "Even if we question him thoroughly? Would he dare lie to us?"
Princess Skyla gave him a pointed look before Lord Jayson interjected, "He likely wouldn't tell the full truth, even if asked directly."
"He would lie to a prince? A mere baron from the distant south?" Prince Bennett asked, incredulous.
Lord Corvus shook his head while Lord Jayson offered a calm smile. "Everyone carries their own secrets. even our most trusted and devoted servants. Lord Harrow strikes me as a man who keeps his own counsel. Look at him, he has had ample opportunity to curry favor with all three of us, yet I can sense he wants nothing to do with high nobility."
Prince Bennett frowned slightly, prompting Lord Jayson to chuckle. "Do not dwell on it overmuch, Prince Bennett. After all, he is merely a baron near the southern border of the realm."
There was a subtle edge to his tone, one that only Princess Skyla managed to catch, though she chose to leave it unsaid as the conversation naturally drifted to other topics.
__
“Just as darkness grows, a light must shine nearby. The world holds secrets that even we long-lived elves do not know, yet one of nature’s prevailing truths is the balance of all things. If there is light, there is shadow. Where there is decay, a new surge of life follows. In the same way, if a deep corruption lies underground, then a light must exist above.” Sir Sylwen spoke at greater length than he ever had before.
Adrian was stunned, his mind racing as he processed the information. He immediately arrived at a startling realization and blurted out, “Are you saying that I- that whatever is special about me is a reaction, a balance to the dark corruption underground?”
Catching himself midway through his sentence, he managed to pivot just in time.
“Perhaps. But again, only you can truly answer that, as we do not know for certain…” Sir Sylwen shook his head lightly before a thought struck him. “Perhaps you should seek someone from the Light Empire.”
“The Light Empire?” Adrian’s brows knitted as everything he knew about them resurfaced in his mind.
The Light Empire was the largest country on the continent and naturally the strongest, with a history dating back to the dawn of the New Age. The church that spanned the Sunhaven Kingdom was merely an extension of their vast influence.
Situated to the northwest, right beside the Breakstone Kingdom, their territory surpassed every other realm in scale.
What was most notable about them, however, was their founding purpose, the empire was supposedly established with the sole purpose of humanity's guardian, a bastion meant to lead the fight should the Dark Age ever return.