章 44: Candidate

"Ma'am, we've found a cat beastkin that we need you to question."

"Another? That's the ninth one we've found in this town alone. I didn't realize there were so many of them up north here."

The woman talking was an elf dressed in a red robe, although she had few similarities to Elaina. The ears weren't nearly as sharp and her hair was a dark brown compared to the lustrous golden colour of Elaina's hair. Also she wasn't nearly as pretty.

She was reading some papers at her desk, and didn't even so much as glance our way when we walked in.

"Ma'am, this one is special. She was seen coming in from the north," the fox knight that took me here replied. He was standing behind the two of us as we sat down on the wooden chairs in front of the elf behind her desk.

The elf looked up at us, her eyes dull before widening in shock when her gaze met mine.

"Your Highness?" The elf asked, still a little stunned.

"Umm, are you talking to me?" I pointed at myself.

The elf shook her head. "Sorry. You just look a lot like someone I know. It seems Sir Julien, that you've brought a promising candidate. And an elf as well for some reason."

Candidate? What did that mean?

"So, what would an elf and beastkin be doing in the north I wonder?" The elf continued staring at me and I resisted the urge to flinch back from her gaze.

"We were just sightseeing the mountains. They are quite beautiful," Elaina replied, her voice calm as she stood a little in front of me.

The elf across from us smirked and raised her hand. One of the rings on her hand had a gem growing bright red. "You're lying."

I heard Elaina clench her teeth. Unfortunately, I had no way to help her.

"So would you like to tell me the real reason you came from the north?"

"W-we're escaped slaves from the north." I saw no choice but to tell the truth.

The fox knight behind us scoffed. "Escaped slaves? You expect us to believe that? Those merceneries were certainly not ordinary people."

"Sir Julian, she's telling the truth." The elf said as she studied the now-green gem on the ring, her green eyes flickering. "Now then, just one last question. What colour is your hair?"

I gulped as she stared at me. "Umm, its brown."

The gem flashed green and I had to stop myself from sighing in relief.

"Sorry, let me rephrase that. What is your natural hair colour?"

"B-brown?"

I winced as the ring glowed red.

The elf rose from her seat and walked around her desk to stand in front of me. She grabbed a bit of my hair, rubbing it with her fingers. "I would rather your tell me so we don't have to hurt you, little girl."

"It's pink. Her natural hair colour is pink. Now, will you please unhand her," Elaina said beside me with a hint of irritation.

The elf woman laughed a little as she let go of my hair. "And here I thought this was all a waste of time. There are dozen of towns being searched up here in the north. To think I would be the one to find you."

"You were looking for me?" I asked. Why would they be here for me?

"More specifically, the crown princess was looking for you. Besides the empress, only Princess Aurelia has the ability to deploy so many knights to search for a single person. And I'm sure you know why she is looking for you…"

So the royal family was looking for their lost son. But how did they know I was related? I had just arrived at the southern continent today.

"Now will you come with us willingly? Or will we have to force you?"

"She'll go but I'm coming too," Elaina responded for me.

"Excellent." The elf grinned. "Julien, tell the others we're heading back. And have someone contact Her Highness. We've found the girl."

*******

I looked out the window of the carriage, taking one last look at the town of Ashur. I was getting tired of travelling. And carriages too. The last time I had been in a carriage, it had ended with me being kidnapped.

"Why did you agree to go with them?" I asked Elaina who was sitting next to me as I pushed away her head as she tried to kiss me.

"Why not? Its not like the princess is going to kill you," she said.

I smacked away a hand trying to crawl beneath my shirt. "We know nothing about this princess. What if she decides to execute me for stealing her brother's body."

"First, they would have to prove you stole the body. Which you didn't. Not technically at least. Who knows, maybe you actually are this prince and you can't remember because you lost your memories."

"But I know I'm not. I might not be able to remember anything, but I know I don't belong in this world."

"Sure, but can the princess prove that? More than likely she doesn't even know that you're in the prince's body anyway. The prince was a boy."

"I'm a boy too!"

She patted my head. "Of course you are, sweetie."

I slapped her condescending hand off my head and returned to staring out the window. Elaina returned to cuddling me from the side, her head pushing into my shoulder. As I felt a hand try to slip beneath my butt and another begin to stroke my thigh, I realized this was going to be another long trip.

A really long trip.