Chapter 46:

Daylight in Winter

Snowflakes began to dance, falling from the air with the light wind pushing them along, floating past like little ballerinas moving across the stage. The sweater around Silas’s shoulders was warm, and he could not help but reach his hand out of the opened window, his elbows resting on the wooden frame of the window ledge. A clay mug rested on the wooden table next to his hip, wisps of steam dancing in the air as the shallow wind pushed the streams along.

A single snowflake fell down onto Silas’s pale hand, floating until it rested on the tip of his right knuckle. As he looked outside, the snowflake on his hand slowly melted, the water cooling his reddening fingers. His cheeks were flushed red with cold, and he finally retracted his hands, the tips of his pointed ears turning red with the wisps of icy air drifting into his small room. Silas looked over his shoulder, taking a passing glance at the clock on the wall before he sighed and turned back, leaning out once again to close the wooden window as he prepared to leave.

It had been a month since Silas returned to the Faelfier Kingdom. Having been able to sleep in his own bed in his apartment, Silas felt a sense of comfort he felt he had lost while traveling through the Yursear Kingdom. When he had finally returned home, he was not sure what he would find. With that thought, Silas sadly assumed his position in the military was gone, since he had left for so long, and he could not control his anxiety at the image of his apartment, which would be as empty and decrepit as the night he had lost Emmeline.

To his surprise, waiting for him at the front gate was Adora and her family, who waved and called to him as he approached on his horse. By then, it was only him and Meredith still traveling, having parted ways with Eva and her group at the border of the Falfier and Yursear kingdoms. Meredith raised his eyebrow and glanced over at Silas, surprised by the show, but Silas shyly smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, his face tinting into a red hue. As soon as Silas dismounted to walk through the front gates, Adora ran to him and threw her hands around him, the force of her running into him almost taking Silas off his feet. As he stumbled to adjust his footing, Meredith dismounted from his horse and glanced curiously at the two. Adora’s mother and father took the moment to introduce themselves to a surprised Meredith.

After a tight squeeze and a hard slap on the back that Silas knew would leave a distinct red mark in a few hours, Adora loosened her arms and stepped back from Silas, “I’m glad you didn’t break your promise. I didn’t want to have to break your pinkie.” As she said it, she held up her fisted hand, her small pinkie wiggling happily in the air.

“And I didn’t want mine broken.” Silas said with a smile, his eyes twinkling as he stared at his close friend and his home, “I’m glad to be back.”

“I know,” Adora said with a happy sigh, interlocking her arm with his while Silas grabbed the reins of his horse with his free hand, “C’mon, we’ve got to let everyone know you’re back. Your squad is still waiting for you.”

Silas pulled back slightly from Adora in surprise, “My squad?”

“Yeah,” Adora glanced over at Silas, her eyebrows furrowed, “You didn’t think I would let you come back to no job, right?”

Silas smiled and shook his head, “I don’t know how you do it, Adora. You always have new surprises up your sleeve.”

“You’re welcome.” Adora sang, her short legs managing long strides from her strict military training. While Silas looked forward, a bittersweet smile on his face as he glanced around at his familiar surroundings, Adora quickly glanced back before turning her face forward again, joking and laughing with Silas as she slipped her free hand into the fitchet of her tunic, where her fingers brushed across three forlorn citizenship tokens. She pulled her hand out before Silas could notice, and her arm fell limply to her side.

...

Training resumed shortly after his return, and it seemed the training was harder coming back, especially since he was not able to use his broken right hand, but Silas dedicated most of his free time to the training arena after his return. He would practice not only his sword skills, but a combination of his mana and physical attacks together. His inability to control and harness his mana to the fullest extent had bothered Silas the whole trip back to Meuridge, and he had come to the conclusion that the only way to protect himself and return to his search for his family was to harness the power he was given as an elf. Many nights, Adora would pull him out of the training area to make sure he ate his meals on time. Many nights, after drinking heavily, Silas began to tell Adora about the events of the previous mission, including his intense battle with a high-standing noble. She immediately took him to her home, where her father, the chief physician for the royal military, inspected his wounds.

Having been taken to Adora’s house, he was not spared in the least. Much like Adora, her father was thorough and tough, which, like his daughter, contrasted his softer appearance. Barbaras’s black hair, which was usually pulled back by the glasses constantly sitting on the top of his head, was tied back into a loose bun. His thin lips were pulled into a tight grimace as Adora told her father everything Silas had told her, and his bright, green eyes snapped over to Silas over and again with a sharp glare of fatherly disappointment. Like his daughter, Barbaras was short, but his imposing demeanor muffled any protests from the soldiers he medically examined every day. Barbaras, like his wife, stayed close to his western elven roots, and chose to wear traditional west elven clothing, which included a long, straight-collared robe with buttons on the shoulder, and matching black pants. The loose fit of his robe hid his trim figure, but his strong grip and steady hand left no question to his skill as a doctor.

Barbaras ignored Silas’s complaints of perfect health and checked him over with a watchful eye in his home clinic. “There are signs of healing in your hand here, definitely the work of mana, but be careful when you use it. Continue to keep your hand wrapped and keep the splint on until I say otherwise. I would say you need to reduce your training time, but I know I would be speaking to the wind to ask such a thing of you, so all I will ask is that you use utmost caution with this hand, and stop if it begins to hurt.” Barbaras continued to speak as he rewrapped Silas’s bruised hand, “Don’t make me send Adora after you to keep an eye on you.” Barbaras had not seen Silas since his trip to the Yursear Kingdom. Seeing the young elf with such brutal injuries on his arms and hands, Barbaras even made Silas remove his shirt to inspect his ribs, which were bruised from the battle with Clarence. “What did you do to yourself?” Barbaras was unhappy with Silas’s condition. Seeing his injuries, Silas could only explain that he had run into some Yursinean knights while abroad. Meredith stood off in a corner of the room, watching intently as the doctor worked.

His abdominal muscles were lightly injured, but there were bruises peppered around his chest and arms, the deeper wounds still healing with dark purple and red colors blooming around them. Though the cuts had been disinfected and treated long ago, many of them were still slowly healing, even using the mana supply in Silas’s body. Fortunately, all of his life-threatening injuries healed, and Barbaras was only able to chide him for his other wounds.

Adora was relieved with the good news from the preliminary checkup, but Barbaras shooed her out of the room soon after Silas removed his shirt. “You may be his superior, Adora, but you’re still a woman. Don’t make Silas uncomfortable.”

Grumbling, Adora left the room after shooting a quick peek at Silas, who smiled crookedly.

After his body was completely checked over, Barbaras chided Silas for almost half an hour, stressing the importance of being careful with his body and not overusing his mana. Silas could not get any words in, other than the occasional head nod in response. It was not until the sky began to darken that Adora’s mother stepped in, suggesting that Silas should return home before it became too late.

With that, Silas dressed himself, quickly thanking the stubborn doctor with genuine gratitude. “Thank you, Barbaras. I always appreciate your stern kindness.” Silas smiled, taking the medicines and placing them in his leather satchel before bowing his head slightly and cupped his hands in front of him, following his elven traditions. “I’ll be more careful from now on.”

There were not many chances for him to be careful, however. After returning with Eva’s group, the tension between the Faelfier Kingdom and the Yursear Kingdom worsened. As the marriage selection for the future wife of Prince Clarence of the Yursear Kingdom began, invitations were sent to all of the neighboring kingdoms, requesting them to send a candidate for the position of the future queen of the Yursear kingdom. The Faelfier Kingdom had difficulty finding a suitable candidate to be sent to the kingdom for the marriage selection, as the princesses and noble ladies were reluctant to participate, mostly from fear of the backlash from Yursinean citizens from their strong dislike of Faelfier citizens. It was finally decided to send the niece of the king, Marchioness Olicia Hallan, as the official Faelfierian candidate. In addition, a countess from a smaller noble family and a well-known duchess from an industrial family were sent as candidates, though they were considered only place holders for the kingdom and a sign of good faith.

The nobles of elven ancestry had protested about sending any candidates to the Yursinean scum, but the Faelfier Kingdom was stern on its position: it would help and house any elves that asked for help, so long as they remained silent and uninvolved in the relationship between the two kingdoms. Any elves that were against the two kingdoms fostering a more positive relationship were threatened with expulsion from the kingdom. With the Faelfier Kingdom’s vast overpopulation problem, it was considered an intelligent move by some politicians, but the response from the elves was too great, and the idea was quickly closed before it could gain any more traction, for fear of mass rebellion.

The underground rebellion was still alive and thriving in its dark conditions, but it was quieter with its movements, leading some to believe that they had given up on their cause. Silas, knowing some of Eva’s plans, was quick to listen for any news of Eva and her movements, but no one had heard news of any rebellions. After waiting for nearly a month, Silas finally heard word of Eva’s return to Meuridge after scheduling some nearby performances in the kingdom. With Meredith now living in the Faelfier Kingdom, Silas was able to contact him about reaching out to Eva, but he was also currently waiting for a response.

Hearing the gossip, Silas became more and more worried for his family. Though from what Eva had said, they were hiding as refugees somewhere in the southern Khymal Empire, there was no telling when the entire continent would or possibly could turn against the elves. The only way he could make sure they were safe was to find them through Eva and bring them back to the Faelfier Kingdom. If at all possible, he would try to make a new home for them all together, just like in the past.

For now, he could only pray to the gods that they were safe in the south kingdom, and hope that Eva would have a positive response to his letter.

…

Two weeks had passed before Clarence was deemed able to travel back to the Yursinean palace, and Beau was careful to lead the prince in a nondescript carriage, followed by only the bare minimum of guards in order to avoid raising suspicion. The majority of Clarence's heavy injuries had healed enough to allow him more mobility, and the doctor assured the captain Clarence would be able to travel to the palace so long as he did not hurt himself again.

Theo, a mysterious companion of Alywin, had been using elven magic to disguise himself as Clarence’s body double while Alywin and Clarence left the castle. Theo had stayed in constant contact with Alywin during his absence, but when Alywin suddenly stopped replying to his messages, Theo had become increasingly concerned. The gem he was using would only last for so long, and the longer he was in disguise, the more likely he was to be caught. He had barely managed to keep Clarence’s demanding young siblings away by faking a contagious illness, but Theo’s luck was quickly running out. As Theo planned alternative actions he might need to take, he finally received a short letter from Alywin, describing their return would be delayed, commanding Theo to continue his duties as “Prince Clarence.” Using the cover of his contagious illness worsening, Theo waited patiently in the room until just short of four weeks, when Clarence and Alywin had finally returned to the castle with an indignant Captain Laurent.

As the knights returned to their stations, finishing their tour of guarding an ill, distant cousin of the prince, Alywin led a covered Clarence and a displeased Captain Laurent, who refused to leave them until Prince Clarence was safely back in his room, through many hidden corridors and dark hallways.

“How do you know about all of these pathways?” Captain Laurent asked, trying to hide his bewilderment as he stared at Alywin’s moving figure.

“I make it my job to know.” Alywin said with a laugh, walking forward confidently in the dim light coming through small cracks in the walling. Even Clarence was unsure of where many of the corridors were or where they would lead to, but he did not doubt Alywin’s ability to find his way around anywhere with a little time and light.

“Is that how you both managed to slip out of the castle unnoticed?” Captain Laurent asked, looking around in the dim light as his eyes began to adjust.

Alywin did not stop walking, but his tone dropped as he turned his head to glare at the captain, “Keep yourself out of this, captain, or I’ll leave you in here to find your own way out. Who knows,” He said with a shrug, turning his head forward, “Maybe you’ll be able to make a home with the spiders?”

“Calm yourself, Duke Cyneric. My only interest is making sure the prince is safely returned to his room.” He glared over at Clarence's hooded figure, who could feel the captain’s eyes on him, but chose to ignore it, “Though I may not be in the castle most of the year, I am still a royal knight, and I will act to the knight’s pledge.”

Alywin snorted and kept walking until they reached a wall. He stood in front of it, glancing back to make sure he still had his two companions behind him, before he knocked lightly twice and waited a few moments. With no sound coming from the other side of the door, he pushed in on a brick in the middle of the wall. Suddenly, the wall began to shake slightly and groan, before it popped open, startling Clarence and Beau.

“What in the king’s good graces?!” Beau said as the wall creaked open, leaving them out in the open.

Inside Clarence’s sitting room was a familiar figure, waiting for their arrival.

…

Hello again! Thanks all for your patience! Hunny and I are back from Arizona (I miss the weather already oof). Lovely cities, I really enjoyed visiting family and doing a bunch of stuff outside! I did not see any snakes or scorpions, thankfully ^^; Now my calves look amazing too, thanks to that 11 mile bike tour! ♥ hahaha

Speaking of back, there will actually be one more chapter before the next arc due to a giant-ass point I missed (￣ ￣|||) So, one more! I actually got around to writing three chapters last week, so I might be able to do a double update if I can get those edited, meaning it would be the last chapter of this arc and one of the next! That'll be a talk with Hunny first/ seeing how this week is~! ☆⌒(>。<)

Webtoon is also going... slowly. Hunny is now working full time, and my hours are flexible, so we're doing stuff in between working. I'm actually getting my archery cert soon, so part of my job will be teaching that! WIPS will be coming soon. I only have two long pages done out of 10?? Not sure yet where we'll stop, but it's hard considering it's only two of us, mostly just me for now since Hunny's working so much ;; We'll keep working hard!!

Always, thank you for reading!! ♡ ～('▽^人) Your support means a lot to us! Even to my friends and family who are reading this (WHY DID YOU TELL ME NOW!?) ＼(º □ º |||)/ thank you ♥ Much love, all! ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡