Prologue
It has been a year since the kidnapping incident inside the nameless forest. During that span of time, no major event similar to the abduction happened to Raine or to anyone he knew. Of course that doesn't mean that nothing actually happened during that one year.
To be honest a lot did happen in the past year---shocking events that could easily be written in the history book.
One example of such an event was the execution of Earl Verzeall; the aristocrat responsible for stealing the ogre tribes' sacred artifact. The reason for his execution was not only because he had the ogre tribe's sacred artifact stolen but because he colluded with a secretive terrorist organization to sow chaos inside the kingdom.
The secretive terrorist organization in question was known as the "Dark Church" who worshipped the evil god; Chaos. As believer and worshipper of the evil god Chaos, the members of the Dark Church believed that true freedom reside in chaos and made it their goal to sow the seeds of chaos whenever possible. The organization's ultimate goal was the descent of the evil god into the mortal world. But in order to accomplish this goal; the world must be embroiled in total chaos.
Most people believed that the Dark Church was an organization filled with lunatics. And who can blame them? After all, the descent of an evil god could spell the end of the world, and no one on their right mind would want that to happen. Unfortunately, the Dark Church has accumulated countless believers from all walks of life over the years. This believers ranges from the most wretched beggars to the powerful aristocrats of high society---making the Dark Church the one of the most diverse and dangerous organization.
Due to the danger posed by the Dark Church; governments and organizations all over the continent put lot efforts in identifying the believers and members of the organization. Because the Dark Church have members from all walks of life, identifying these believers was extremely difficult. To counter this and to discourage the populace into becoming potential believers; harsh and sometimes lethal punishments were met to those who were caught colluding with the terrorist organization.
Which led us to another major event that rocked the kingdom---the purge of the believers of the Dark Church?
After the exposure of the late Earl Verzeall as the person responsible for almost causing a war between the kingdom and the ogres; the enraged daemon king ordered a full and thorough investigation of those involved in the plot. And after deploying hundreds if not a thousand of personnel and many months of investigation, the results of the investigations were staggering to say the least. The investigation revealed that many noble lineages were actually believers and members of the Dark Church which resulted in the purge.
The events that occurred in just a single year were truly shocking. It's just that those events have nothing to do with Raine...
...Or so he would like to think.
In reality, the discovery of the believers of the Dark Church could be indirectly linked to Raine. This was because Raine could be considered as one of the biggest contributor in stopping the war between the kingdom and the ogres.
Even though he doesn't want to admit it; the fact remained that it was him that foiled the attempted kidnapping of the youngest princess, Silvia by the members of the Dark Church. It was also due to his suggestion that the negotiation between the ogres and the teachers of the academy even occurred in the first place. This negotiation paved the way in dispelling the misunderstanding that was formed because of the theft of the ogre tribe's sacred artifact---thus preventing a war that would undoubtedly sow chaos.
Whether he liked it or not, Raine was already embroiled in the conflict between the kingdom and a secretive terrorist organization.
Chapter 1
"Just what did I get myself into?"
Remembering how he unwittingly involved himself in a conflict that involved an evil god; Raine could not help but complained loudly.
"Did you get yourself in another trouble again? Why am I not aware of it?" A woman responded.
"..."
Raine silently stared at the woman, no, a certain female dark elf beside him and snapped back," don't speak like I love to make trouble. I want you to know that I'm a lowkey person that loved peace and quiet!"
"Low-key? Peace and quiet? You? Have you perhaps forgotten everything you've done recently? Should I remind you? For examples; that one time you totally destroyed a training dummy type magic tool because you couldn't control your power; or the time you foiled the kidnapping of a certain noble girl you coincidentally meet at town; or the how you solved a mathematical formula that no one could solved for decades; or that girl----
"Stop! STOP!!! I get it, okay? So no need to remind me! And besides, it's not like I did it on purpose!"
Seeing how the female dark elf was about to go on an endless charade; Raine panicked and quickly put a stop to it with a face dyed in embarrassment.
During the span of one year, Raine was unwillingly involved in countless incidents. Even though those incidents were not as big or as surprising as the execution of a powerful noble; or the discovery that the Dark Church was the one pulling the strings all along; or the purge of several noble lineage; it was still enough to put Raine in the limelight---far from his claim of being low-key.
"Still, do you really need to monitor me all day? It's been almost a year since you started guarding me, you know?" Raine asked with a helpless sigh.
The female dark elf, codename, Number Four, whose real name was Tiana stared at Raine for several seconds before responding with a straight face:
"It's my mission to protect you so it does not matter what I think. Besides, I don't really mind since the mission was easy and the pay was good. Not to mention the big fat bonus I would receive at the end of the year!"
"That's the real reason, right?! You money-grubbing dark elf!"
Hearing the dark elf, Tiana's response; Raine could not help but give a "straight man" reply.
It has been almost a year since the crown prince, Silvio assigned the the female dark elf, Tiana as his bodyguard.
Even though Raine and his older sister Cloudia was against it; prince Silvio still insisted that Raine's contribution in foiling the Dark Church's plan to sow chaos in the kingdom was so big that the Dark Church would surely seek vengeance against him.
Left with no choice, the siblings could only reluctantly agree...
Speaking of Tiana... Raine could not help but wonder at how different his impression of the dark elf walking by his side to his impression of her when they met for the first time.
Back then, Tiana looked quite mature and flirtatious in her body-fitting and skin tight black suit which was very different to the somewhat tomboyish and conservatively dressed dark elf on his side.
Well, it's not like Raine did not understand why. As a secret agent working for the kingdom, Tiana must make use of her advantages in order to increase her chance of survival even if it means flaunting her beautiful figure.
In his previous world, female agent and spies (in books and movies) used their feminine wiles to seduce and eliminate their male counterparts from opposing factions. In Tiana's case, she used her looks mainly to distract her (male) opponents when fighting. She said that she had disposed many opponents using that method.
As expected of a dark elf... They like to play dirty...
Raine was not sure which of the Tiana’s personality was the real one: The somewhat tomboyish and conservatively dressed Tiana; or the mature and flirtatious Tiana; or maybe, both?
Raine felt like the real Tiana was the person walking by his side but of course, he could be wrong. After all, this impression of his stemmed from just one year interaction with her.
"By the way, Tiana. Isn't your birthday just a few days from now?" Raine suddenly asked.
"Eh? How did you know? I don't remember telling you about it." Tiana asked back looking a little confuse.
"That's because I asked Silvia about your birthday," Raine answered.
"I see so it was the little princess... To be honest, I never actually bothered about my birthday. We elves don't usually celebrate our birthdays yearly like humans do. After all, our life span's very long. Why did you ask about it anyway?" Tiana asked again.
"Well, since you've helped me a lot during the past year. I felt like I should give you something as a token of gratitude." Raine answered while scratching the back of his hair looking a little embarrass.
Tiana was a little taken back by Raine's honest reply and then a charming smile suffused her lips.
"Oh my, aren't you a sweetie? So tell me, what gift do you have for me?" Tiana asked with eyes glowing like a child.
"That's a secret! You'll just have to wait till then!" Raine replied mysteriously.
Tiana scoffed and pouted at Raine's reply. But knowing his personality, Tiana could only look at her charge with dissatisfaction.
"It better be good!"
Before long, the two reached the school gate. There, Tiana told Raine that she would be around if he needed her help, and then left.
This has always been the arrangement between the two. Since Tiana's not a student nor was she part of the academy staff, she could not accompany Raine inside the classroom. But thanks to her sensitive identity as one of the kingdom's agent and Raine's bodyguard; Tiana was given a lot of freedom to do whatever she deemed necessary inside of campus.
"Good morning, Raine!"
Raine was greeted by his classmates the moment he entered the room.
Returning the greetings, Raine took his seat and was instantly surrounded by his classmates who wanted to know about a certain incident that happened during the weekend.
Hearing his classmates' questions; Raine could only laugh with embarrassment. Although he did not wish it so, the incident that happened during one of his stroll seemed to have somehow reached the ears of his classmates.
And owing to his reputation, his involvement in the incident must have already spread inside the campus.
The incident in question involved a certain aristocratic human girl he had helped while he was on his way to the Blacksmith Guild.
On his way to visit the Blacksmith Guild; Raine witnessed an overused template of a well-dressed young lady being harassed by some thugs.
Even though Raine believed that he does not possessed a heart of justice; it was also against his creed to ignore a crime being committed in front of him. As such, Raine could only sigh inside his heart as proceed to save a damsel in distress.
Raine then proceed to "introduce" the thugs to the floor, and thus saving the distressed young lady. This act of his that stemmed from the goodness of his heart somehow allow Raine to earn the young lady---Sarah's favor.
After the thugs were taken by the guards; Raine asked her some questions and found out in the process that Sarah was the daughter of a baron hailing from the west that was currently living at their family mansion. According to her, she and her father arrived at capital to attend a gathering that's going to be held at the castle. He also found out that the reason she's out on her own was because she escaped her family's mansion due to boredom!
When Raine heard her reasoning, the only thought that came to his mind was that the setting was too cliché!
Anyway, the two was only able to talk for several minutes when her guards and servants hastily arrived and took her back to the mansion. In Raine's opinion, that was the end of it and that his classmates were simply over-reacting.
Raine finally escaped his classmates' "interrogation" after their teacher entered the room. Finally having found peace, Raine let out a sigh of relief as classes proceed as usual.
When the afternoon arrived, Raine was approached by his friends, Cless, Galeon, and Silvia.
"Tiana approached me during lunch time and told me that you have something to give to her for her birthday. Have you already told her about the surprise birthday party?" Silvia started.
Raine nodded at Silvia and answered:
"I've mentioned a gift but I didn't tell her anything about the surprise birthday party. It's a surprise after all."
"That's good. It would ruin the surprise if she knew about it." Silvia nodded in agreement.
The surprise birthday party was originally planned by Raine and Silvia but after hearing about it, Cless and Galeon also joined in on the fun.
Although Tiana did not actively interact with those involved in the abduction incident; a few, including Cless and Galeon knew that Tiana was among the rescuers that came to their aid. Something Cless and Galeon were very thankful for. Also, since becoming Raine's temporary bodyguard; Tiana did have some interactions with them which make the children consider her as a friend.
"Speaking of which, only the venue have been accounted for. What about the food? Since it's a party, food and drinks is a must!" Cless chimed in.
Hearing about food, the silly Galeon's smile widened as he nodded repeatedly in agreement to what Cless' said.
"Do you need help in that matter Raine? If so, I could introduce you to some people," Silvia volunteered readily.
"There's no need! I've already prepared everything. You guys just needed to show yourselves at the venue," Raine assured while sweating coldly.
Raine could not help but sweat coldly after hearing Silvia volunteered to introduce him to some people. He got a feeling that the people she was referring were the royal chefs working at the castle!
His more than one year of interaction with the little princess helped Raine get a good read of her personality. Due to her upbringing, Silvia have little knowledge on how common people think!
Basically, when interacting with her classmates of common birth; this very open-minded princess still uses her common sense as a princess!
One example of this was when their class was planning for an activity for the school festival. Where Raine and his other classmates suggested some relatively safe and simple ideas; Silvia actually proposed a ball!
Yes, a ball. The type of formal gathering where members of high society gathered to dance and socialize!
Fortunately, their homeroom teacher; Mr. Clark manages to smoothly reject her proposal...
"If I let Silvia prepare the food for the birthday party, only the gods knows what kind of high class cuisine she'll have those poor royal chefs cook. Although Silvia is usually very smart, her common sense regarding how commoners think is... quite lacking. And that's saying it lightly..." Raine, thought inwardly while secretly wiping the sweats on his forehead.
Having "foiled" Silvia's plan; the plan for Tiana's surprise birthday party was finalized.
Walking out of the classroom, the four children walked towards the school gate. There they saw Tiana waiting while conversing with an elderly gentleman in a butler's outfit!
Chapter 2
Seeing the elderly gentleman dressed as a butler, a frown appeared on Raine's forehead.
"Good afternoon, young master. Greetings to you too, your highness." The elderly gentleman respectfully greeted.
"What are you doing here, Walter?" Raine asked while looking slightly displeased.
Despite sensing Raine's displeasure, the elderly gentleman, or rather the butler, Walter still retained his impeccable manner and smile.
"The old master and the old madam wish to invite you to dine with them tonight." The butler, Walter answered respectfully.
Hearing this, Raine could not help but sigh a little. The old master and old madam that the butler, Walter mentioned were Raine's maternal grandfather and grandmother---Sui's parents.
Raine's mother, Sui, hails from a powerful aristocratic family---the Zehras. Her father, Lord Sandmann Zehras, was a marquess while her mother was marchioness Aqua Zehras. In other words, Sui was a high ranking noble lady!
The event that leads to this revelation happened seven months ago when the butler, Walter suddenly visited Raine's dormitory. At first, Raine was very confuse since he never met the old butler before. But this confusion turn to great surprise when Walter introduced himself as his maternal grandparents' butler!
When Raine found out about this, he was greatly shaken. He knew from the very beginning that both his father and mother were no ordinary hunters. His father was a respected hunter of their village with a bit of prestige built up during his adventuring days. While his mother was their village's sole but highly-skilled apothecary who was also extremely proficient when it comes to water magic. Although his father was the pillar of the family, it was known to the siblings and the villagers that their mother Sui was the boss of that pillar!
But to think that his mother, Sui, came from such a high ranking noble lineage...
After knowing the truth, Raine's impression of his henpecked father, Cyrus, increases quite a bit. After all, he was able to hook up with a powerful noble's daughter despite being a commoner and an orphan at that!
"Well, he's still a henpecked husband... Although, an impressive one at that..." Raine lampooned inwardly.
The setting of romance between his father and mother was quite cliché and overused.
An orphaned young man looking for his place in this vast land meeting a sheltered but headstrong young girl of noble birth. After adventuring together for a many years, a feeling much stronger than friendship bloomed inside the hearts of the two people hailing from vastly different social hierarchy. But due to the difference in their social status, there were people who were against their relationship which includes Sui's parents and fiancé.
Yes, his mother was engaged and had a fiancé before meeting his father. But it was an engagement decided by her parents and not something that Sui wanted. Accordingly, Sui's headstrong personality was a loggerhead to her parents' wishes. To escape the unwanted engagement (and her fiancé), Sui, a senior student of the Royal Academy of that time chooses to become a full-fledged hunter---exploring the land. She joined her former classmates who also chooses to become hunter and form a party. And among the party members was her future husband and father to her children, Cyrus.
Of course, things were never easy for the young couple. Sui's parents were powerful nobles and had sent many people to bring their daughter back. Among the people who were seeking the young couple was none other than Sui's fiancé---a young noble whose family have ties to the military---the Ellsan.
But after some dramatic turn of event, the couple manages to resolve the problem with the Sui's fiancé.
How you ask?
Through a duel between gentlemen. ..
After catching up with the two; Sui's fiancé challenged Cyrus to a duel of which the latter accepted. And after a duel that lasted for half a day, Cyrus won while the fiancé, being a gentleman accepted his loss with dignity.
One might think that Sui's fiancé accepted his defeat quite easily. But there's actually a reason for it. The fiancé in question, Ernest Ellsan, was also secretly against the arrangement the same as Sui. Due to his status, he could not just renege from the agreement as the honor and reputation of two aristocratic families were at stake.
But Thankfully, Sui didn't have such qualms, and quickly ran away. This give Ernest a reason to end the engagement. But to save both his and Sui's reputation; Ernest must put on a convincing show. That's one of the reason he also pursued the young couple.
At first, Ernest plan was to challenge Sui to a duel, and purposely lose. He would then make a claim that Sui's refuses to marry him because she doesn't want to marry a man weaker than her. Even though his reputation would still somewhat take a hit by doing so, it would still be acceptable since. After all, for a powerful race like that of the daemons, power also plays a big role when choosing a partner.
But when Ernest finally catches up with the two; the person who accepted his challenge was not Sui but Cyrus. This makes thing less complicated since duel between love rivals was very common. As long as Cyrus defeated him in a duel, Ernest could immediately back away from the engagement saving both his and Sui's reputation. Of course it also meant that Cyrus would shoulder most of the infamy of stealing someone else's fiancé. But since Cyrus readily agreed to the duel, it means that he already accepted such outcome.
Another thing to note about the duel between two love rivals was than no one held back. Yes, even though Ernest planned to hold back at first and allow Cyrus to win; Cyrus quickly notices his plan and urges him to take the duel seriously.
Out of respect for the courageous man with grassroots background; Ernest fought the duel without holding back. But at the end, it was Cyrus who came out victorious.
Although greatly surprised at first at how powerful his rival was; Ernest was actually delighted despite his defeat. With how everything turned out, Ernest could put his plan in motion with a clear conscience.
Making good of his promise to Cyrus and Sui; Ernest convinced his parents to break his engagement with Sui. And with the result of the duel made public; the Ellsan' and the Zehras could only break the engagement and end the pursuit as continuing doing so would only damage their respective family's reputation. After all, for the daemons, the result of a duel was considered immutable.
Of course not everything turned out okay. Sui's action of running away and hooking up with a commoner angered her parents which forces them to disown their daughter.
Everything that Raine knew about the event was explained to him by his older sister, Cloudia. Just like Raine; she too was approached by her grandparent's butler several months after entering the Royal Academy. This allows her to meet Sui's parents for the first time. But after finding out that her grandparents disowned their own daughter after following her heart; the stubborn Cloudia refuses their offer to live with them.
Despite Cloudia's rejection though; her grandparents did not gave up and had been giving her expensive gifts in an attempt to placate their hard-headed and stubborn granddaughter. Of course with CLoudia's personality, the expensive gifts where all returned with a message that states that she would only forgive them if Sui does as well.
And since Sui haven't said anything in years, this complicated relationship persisted till this day.
Honestly, Raine is of same mind as his sister. Unless the relationship between his grandparents and mother was mended; he too, would minimize contact with them.
Of course this doesn't mean that he disliked his grandfather and grandmother. In reality, he actually find their characters to his liking. This was quite different from the cruel parents who unhesitatingly disowned their own daughter out of anger.
As the saying goes, time heals everything. And from the looks of it, his grandparents' anger already subsided and was now regretting their decision to disown their daughter.
"I should really do something about this. Honestly, things had gone far too long..." Raine inwardly thought. "I should have a heart to heart conversation with mother when I have a chance," he added.
Raine look at the expectant Walter and inwardly sighed, “Please tell my grandparents that I'm thankful for their invitation but I won't be able to join them for dinner since there's something that I need to do." He said.
A disappointed look appears on the old butler's face but cleared up after hearing Raine's next words.
"But I should be able to go next week," Raine added.
"I understand... Then would it be possible to forward the same invitation to the young lady?" Walter asked after pausing for a second.
"I can't promise that but I'll mention it to her after she returned," Raine replied.
After getting a good reply from Raine; the butler, Walter boards the awaiting carriage with feathery steps.
Raine, Tiana and his friends who were silently listening at the side stared at the leaving carriage with complicated expression until it was out of sight.
A minute later, Silvia also boards another carriage that was waiting for her after saying goodbye to her friends without mentioning anything about what had just transpired. It was as if they have tacit understanding of the matter.
Well, even if they do wanted to say something; the children still chooses to hold their tongue as interfering with other people's family matter would be very impolite even if the people involved were their closest friends.
After seeing Silvia's carriage off; Raine and the others started walking towards their dormitory in silence.
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