章 22: 22: Getting to Kelvin town
Elysia felt listless as she was carried out of the forest on Lord Sorias's back. The deal had been made and the contract had been signed already.
'I cannot back out of it now,' Elysia could only moan about her lack of foresight as she exited the magical protection of the forest.
"Lord Dirac, you are bac..."
Head Butler Hector's voice stopped as soon as he caught sight of the huge beast following his lord. Elysia was sure that the situation would have been funnier had she been able to see the Head Butler's face.
For some reason, Lord Sorias had decided to spend his first day in his beast form rather than his human one.
"M-My lord, have you finally decided to take a familiar? You should have told me about this earlier and I would have helped you…"
"Hector, you talk too much. Just shut up for a second." the Head Butler clipped his mouth shut before Lord Dirac continued, "Prepare the room adjacent to Elysia for occupancy. Lord Sorias is her familiar and will stay near her."
Elysia watched as the Head Butler tried to wrap his head around the new change. She could see that the Head Butler was not happy with this news.
"B-But…my Lord…..Surely the lady doesn't need a familiar? Lord Dirac must be the first on in line to get a familiar and.."
"Hector, did I stutter in my words? If you have a problem with my decision then you should address it to me in private. For now, do as I asked you to."
Elysia felt bad for the Head Butler. It was clear to her that the Head Butler was not trying to make things difficult for her but he was genuinely trying to follow the rules set forth by the nobility.
Generally, the first one to get a familiar in the noble house should be their house head. Lord Dirac was disregarding all the rules for her sake. (Not that anyone would say anything to him. They were too afraid to lose their lives.)
"Don't mind Hector's words too much. He is a little sensitive at times."
Elysia wanted to say that she would not mind the Head Butler's words but it would be a lie.
So she chose to remain quiet instead. The silence was often the best way to mask the truth and make everything seem like it was alright.
"Seeing you both trying to be careful around one another is tiring. Lucas, I am taking Elysia inside and we are going to sleep. From what I gathered, we will be leaving for Kalvin early tomorrow."
"Do as you wish."
Elysia watched as Lord Dirac left the scene soon after. She didn't even get scolded for the stunt she had pulled in the forest before but it could also be because it was already this late.
The sun was already setting in the sky and Elysia felt her body starting to ache from all the extra activities she had done today.
"Lord Sorias…er, Sora, should we go in as well?" Elysia corrected her way of calling her familiar halfway.
Lord Sorias's encouraging smile made Elysia feel better about the informal way she had called the great beast.
"Let's go in. I am hungry and I want to wash my fur off. I should also take my human form now so that I don't startle the people inside." Elysia had nothing to say as she watched the Forest Lord transform into his human self.
The rest of the evening was uneventful and Elysia did not have a familiar dream in the night. Things were as quiet as she had expected them to be.
But the feeling of unsettlement Elysia felt inside her heart could not be shaken.
_________________________________
When Elysia woke up in the morning, she felt like she had been hit by a carriage. There was a layer of sleep still making Elysia's senses feel doozy.
But it had nothing on the headache brewing at the back of Elysia's head. It felt like something was probing her with a needle and it was irritating Elysia a great deal.
The sun was still not up in the sky when Elysia woke up but she pulled herself out of the stump she was in.
"Ely, are you up yet? We need to get going soon if you want to reach Kelvin town today. I heard from Lucas what is going on already so I don't need a briefing from you."
Sora's loud voice reached Elysia through the door. It was as clear as she remembered it being and it helped Elysia make up her mind and finally head toward the bathroom.
"Lord…..Sora, kindly head downstairs if you have freshened up. I will be down shortly."
Elysia's footsteps echoed in the empty room and she quickly headed toward the washroom. The cold water should be enough to wake her up.
Elysia did not hear Lord Sorias's retreating footsteps, nor did she hear his verbal confirmation but she was sure that the Forest Lord would follow her words.
After all, standing in front of a door for who-knows-how-long was not something a Forest Lord was used to. He would get bored easily.
So Elysia decided to take her time in the bathroom. She was not sure how long she took in there but it could not have been any less than half an hour at least.
Elysia opened her door without paying attention, only to stumble upon something small in her way.
"Ely, you are half-blind. Pay attention to where you are headed and stop trying to squish me all the time." Elysia tried to stop the scream that was building up in her throat but a little sound escape her mouth.
In Elysia's defense, she had not expected anyone to camp outside her door and wait for her. She had been so sure that Lord Sorias had left for breakfast already.
"I-I'm sorry? I will pay attention next time," Elysia was sure that no amount of apology could make her situation better.
She had almost hurt Lord Sorias again and she was sure the Forest Lord will be angry this time.
"Don't apologize for the smallest of things. You need to harden yourself if you want to live well in the future."
Elysia heard Lord Sorias's words but she did not pay any special mind to them.
In the first place, Elysia was doing everything she could to survive. The timing for her death had not passed yet so Elysia had to get past that first.
'But Lord Sorias also has a right to worry. He did make a pact with me so he'll suffer after my death as well.'
Elysia had not registered the gravity of what she had done before in her defense, she had not been in her right mind and no one had even given her a choice in the matter of getting a familiar.
But now that her life had been bound to Lord Sorias's, Elysia felt like she should tell him about the upcoming danger.
"Lord Sorias, I want to-"
"Save it for later. We should head to breakfast now and focus on getting our bellies full. Anything else you want to tell me, you can wait till we are in the carriage."
Elysia felt the words in her throat die down at Lord Sorias's serious tone. He did not seem like he was going to back down and let Elysia finish her words.
So Elysia just sighed and went along with him.
Breakfast was just as unpleasant as it had been the day before. The Head Butler and the maids still did not pay any special attention to Elysia and she still avoided the milk-made dishes. (They had increased in number this morning when compared to before.)
Lord Dirac was not at the table since he had work to do and Elysia finished her breakfast in silence.
Elysia finally breathed a sigh of relief once she felt the Dirac mansion. The second Elysia's back touched the carriage seat, Elysia felt the tension in her body drain away.
"Finally, we are away from that darned place. I don't know how Lucas handles living in that gloomy atmosphere all the time. I could swear that those servants were glaring at me that whole time. They don't even respect you, the one who shared Lucas's blood. Lucas should fire them all and get new staff in place."
Elysia almost chuckled at Lord Sorias's complaints. The more he complained, the more relatable Elysia found him to be.
To be honest, many of the points Lord Sorias were raising were ones Elysia had grief about herself. But Elysia was not in any position to say anything about it.
However, Lord Sorias was different. He had a different relationship with Lord Dirac and Elysia was sure Lord Dirac would take his words much more seriously.
"You should ask Lucas to deal with those problems."
"I cannot do that. My relationship with Lord Dirac is not deep enough for him to take my side against the servants who had served his family for generations. Besides, I am going to stay in the Dirac family only until my coming of age so I can bear to deal with this behavior for some time more."
Elysia was not sure why she decided to tell Lord Sorias this. Maybe it was because of his babish face or maybe because Elysia felt a kinship with him.
But Elysia regretted opening her mouth the second she was done. It would not be good for her if her words reached back to Lord Dirac and caused internal strife.
"Don't worry. I won't go babbling to your brother about the things we talk about. But you should think about your future. You cannot allow these fools to walk all over you like this."
Elysia was stunned to hear Lord Sorias's words. No one had said anything like this to her before.
The Head Priest had always asked Elysia to keep her head down and not attract trouble. This was also how Elysia had lived this far.
To change her lifestyle all of a sudden in a few words was not Elysias's style. She was also happier to fade into the background than to show her face out front.
"I don't think I have it in me to fight against this injustice. I am happy to sit back and live my life as I want to."
"So, you are alright with being taken advantage of? You are surprisingly weak mentally but I don't fault you for it. But I am warning you, I am not one to sit passively and I won't stand for being belittled."
Elysia heard those words and she had a doomed feeling.
Lord Sorias's eyes were shining with magic and his words almost seemed like a promise. Elysia was afraid that his presence in her life would spell the doom of her calm life.
But for some reason, Elysia did not feel scared. Instead, she felt excited about the upcoming future.
"My Lady, we have arrived in Kelvin town. Should I call the temple's representative over to us?"
The driver who had accompanied Elysia to her destination asked. He was one of the outer Dirac guards so he was not that aware of Elysia's situation.
"No need. You can go back now. I will return to the estate in the evening so you can pick me up from here as well."
Elysia got off the Dirac carriage in the middle of the empty plaza and made her way toward the temple's residence in the town.
The real work was about to begin and Elysia was sure this would require her full concentration.
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