-----Katia's POV-----

Alma and I were sitting with Lucía at a table in the middle of her room.

 

Her room is what you would expect from a young lady. There's a lot of stuffed animals on her gigantic bed.

 

There's a balcony with very nice views of the Nueva Cádiz.

 

There's also a changing room, but we haven't gone in there yet.

 

We have been in her room for a couple of hours now. We drank some tea and ate some cookies.

 

Erli? He's also here but…

 

"Gawrgaru… To think you would have the gall to call me after all the disasters you caused in Aerelieth… Yeah, let's talk..." Erli had received a call on his personal telephone conch. He had a sinister grin on his face.

 

Yeah… Erli is currently busy… It is better not to bother him too much when he's like that.

 

In his twenty years of life, I have only seen him angry three times if we count this one.

 

Coincidentally, the only people who have managed to make my very patient and caring master angry are Sir Gawrgaru and his father, Duke Grogar.

 

"Yeah, I don't care that there was a snake monster there! Explain to me in twenty words or less why you thought that using explosion magic in the middle of the city was a good idea!" Erli was completely enraged.

 

I looked at my best friend, Alma.

 

"He was talking with the owner of the Tailor's shop to invest some money..." I smiled bitterly.

 

"Damn, another building destroyed… I kinda get why he's angry… Lord Kynai must also be having quite the headache thanks to this." Alma said with a flat tone before taking a sip of her tea.

 

Lord Kynai is Erli's father, my employer and my future father-in-law. He was the one who called us previously to inform us of what had happened to the Tailor's shop.

 

"A doppelganger of Lady Luna? That's not an excuse! I received a message from the Guild and my own father that your party was already rescued from Slime Rocks!" Erli was frowning…

 

It seems like his conversation will last for a while…

 

"Umm…Is Erli… Okay?" Lucía asked in the Common Tongue.

 

Alma and I looked at each other before smiling bitterly.

 

I then looked at Lucía and shook my head.

 

"Bad stuff happened at home…" I replied in the language that my master called: “Spanish."

 

"I see…" Lucía replied in common.

 

Erlan has been teaching us a bit of Spanish and teaching Lucía the Common Tongue in the last few hours while we wait for Lucía's parents to arrive.

 

It has been really fun so far! I'm sad that our fun was interrupted by the call of Erlna’s father…

 

"So, what do you think? Do you want to bet on who will make the first move?" Alma asked with a grin while looking at Lucía and then Erli.

 

"She will. I mean, she's already worrying a lot about him. And she looked really annoyed when they were talking to that knight at the gate. Not to mention that she's already bold enough to hold his hand. She's a formidable foe." I nodded to myself.

 

You could say that I have always had a special affection for Erlan. Ever since he was born, I took care of him and gave him as much love as I could.

 

It wasn't until he became an adult that I actually started seeing him as a man and not the cute kid who ran after me in the halls of the mansion.

 

Ehh? How old am I…? That's a rude question…

 

Fine...

 

I'm 47 years old. I'm still considered very young though, so the age difference between Erli and I is not a problem! It might be for humans, but for elves it is really common to be several decades older than your partner.

 

You could even take his parents as an example! 

 

Erlan's father is 80 years older than his mother.

 

For the record, Alma and I are the same age.

 

"So you think she will make the first move? I'm more inclined to say that he will do it." Alma looked at our young master.

 

"Gawrgaru… Do you really want me to tell Gwendolyn what happened to her favourite fan?" Erli threatened Sir Gawrgaru.

 

I was staring at his back while he was talking with Sir Gawrgaru.

 

Hmm… It is true that he has been openly flirting with Lucía ever since we met her…

 

"10 silver pieces." I said to Alma.

 

"Deal." She nodded with a grin.

 

Hmm? Am I actually jealous of Lucía?

 

I am a bit jealous that he's not flirting with me all the time, but it's not the end of the world, you know?

 

After all, we already do several things that most couples do. We hold hands while walking together, I can hug him whenever I feel like it and we also sleep on the same bed every now and then.

 

That means that I'm several steps ahead than little Lucy!

 

I'm just waiting for the day where he will be comfortable enough to take the next step with me.

 

I don't blame Erli for wanting to wait though. His parents are conservative when it comes to relationships. One wrong move, and he would be forced to get married.

 

I don't want him to be forced to marry me, I want him to ask that himself.

 

Alma surely feels the same thing.

 

For the record, Erlan's parents got married because their own parents found them doing the deed. Erlan's mother, Lady Merna, told me the story in great detail...

 

"Begging won't give me back my investments, you bastard!" Erlan was using some foul language that he rarely used.

 

He's really pissed…

 

"Let's have a face to face talk when I return to the Sky Archipelago. If I don't see you, or your father as soon as I'm back, I swear that I will go to Senzawa Island and sink what's left of it myself!"

 

I looked at Alma and we both smiled bitterly.

 

Umm… Erli can get very intense when he's mad… I love that side of him, but I prefer to see him smiling like he always does...

 

"Is it that bad…?" Lucía asked in Common while looking at Erli. She struggled a bit to talk...

 

"Of course this isn't about that grimoire! In fact, why are you even mentioning that now? Do you actually want me to murder you!?" Erli's face was completely red.

 

Ah… Sir Gawrgaru hit a nerve… He shouldn’t have done that...

 

"How about we change our bet to see how long will Sir Gawrgaru last when they meet…?" Alma asked with a bitter smile.

 

"Yeah… Let's change the bet..." I nodded.

 

"Gawrgaru… That's erm… That's a funny name." Lucía tilted her head.

 

Alma and I nodded.

 

"Yeah, his family has a tendency to give their children strange names." I explained to Lucía but I was not sure if she would understand me.

 

"I see…" Lucía nodded.

 

"Heh! Their names are not the only things they have a reputation for and yet, the heir of the family must be currently trembling in fear thanks to our young master. Man, that tournament was wild…" Alma said before drinking more tea.

 

Remember the grimoire that Erlan mentioned? Well… It was a very expensive grimoire that had taken months and lots of rare materials to make. Erlan still needed a few more ingredients to fully finish it.

 

I think the total cost for the grimoire was about 20 gold pieces, I think…

 

I don't know much about the specific details, and to this day, Erli refuses to talk about it, but Sir Gawrgaru somehow ruined the grimoire. It was apparently completely destroyed.

 

Erli, didn't take that too well… He spent days without sleeping, planning his vengeance...

 

Well, that very same year a tournament between the academies and universities of the Sky Archipelago was scheduled. That was when Erlan enacted his revenge...

 

Gawrgaru was going to participate in that tournament, which made Erlan, much to the the surprise of everyone, participate in that tournament.

 

Everyone but Alma, his parents and I advised him against participating, since he wasn't in any combat classes.

 

Well, I don't think you can imagine the look of surprise of everyone when he made it to the finals alongside Sir Gawrgaru.

 

The finals of the tournament were supposed to be a team battle royale between the remaining schools, but it somehow ended up turning into a duel between Erlan and Sir Gawrgaru.

 

It was… How to say this…? Not suitable for children? Very brutal? Cruel? I don’t think there’s a suitable way to describe what happened there…

 

Much to everyone’s surprise, Erlan came out victorious  in the end and Sir Gawrgaru ended up a bit traumatized. He trembles in fear every time he sees Erlan.

 

It is a bit funny how a mountain of a man suddenly trembles in front of an elf with a delicate complexion. Sometimes I pity him. Only sometimes though.

 

“I know that you’re on your way to Conshire Isles. I want to see you and your father there by the time I return to Sky Archipelago. If I don’t find you there, there will be actual consequences, Gawrgaru. Just try to remember what happened after the tournament in the infirmary… Have a good time thinking about that. Good day.” Erlan had a very sinister smile on his face while the call ended.

 

I swear I could hear some screams of terror coming from the telephone conch…

 

Alma, Lucía and I just looked at each other while smiling bitterly.

 

What happened at the infirmary? I have no idea… Perhaps it is for the better to never know what happened there… 

 

Erlan sighed heavily before taking a deep breath to calm himself...

 

I immediately stood up and walked towards him to give him a hug. He didn’t refuse it.

 

“Want some tea?” I asked him

 

“Please… With lots of sugar...” Erlan seemed a bit tired.

 

“Understood.”

 

I kept hugging Erli for a bit before I went to the table to prepare his tea. 

 

When he’s agitated or worried, he likes to have sweet drinks to calm himself. He always ends up putting in more sugar than he should, so his drinks are a bit… Poisonous for other people…

 

Curiously, he doesn’t do that with coffee. He doesn’t like sweet coffee.

 

Erlan took another deep breath before taking a seat again.

 

“Do you want some cookies as well? These are pretty good.” Alma offered a plate filled to the brim with cookies to Erlan.

 

Erlan just nodded while smiling bitterly.

 

Alma just pushed the plate a bit to put in between her and Erli. The two of them immediately started eating.

 

“Erli… Everything alright?” Lucía seemed worried.

 

“Yes, thank you for worrying about me. I’m sorry for that shameful display…” Erlan seemed genuinely apologetic.

 

“Is that so? Are you sure everything is okay?” Lucía asked in Spanish.

 

Erlan nodded.

 

“I just have to settle some things when we visit our homeland. I will deal with it quickly, so don’t worry.” Erlan replied in Spanish. He had a charming smile on his face.

 

Yup, that smile is just as lovely as the first time I saw it...

 

Ah yeah, I barely understood a bit of what he just said.

 

“Here’s your tea!” I said to my loved one as I delivered a steaming cup of sugar covered in tea.

 

“Thank you very much!” Erlan smiled at me before taking a sip of his “tea.”

 

Lucía smiled bitterly as soon as she saw the mountain of sugar. She must have realized by now that stressful situations make my beloved Erli yearn for sugar.

 

“Thank you Katia, you’re a lifesaver!” He had drunk his tea in one gulp.

 

I simply smiled in response and bowed.

 

“Oi! What about me!? I offered you my cookies and everything!” Alma got a bit annoyed.

 

“Of course, thank you so much, Alma.” He smiled at her.

 

I definitely prefer this Erli over the enraged one!

 

Just while I was thinking of that and Lucía was about to speak, there was a knock on the door.

 

“My lady, the Count and the Countess have arrived. They are waiting for you and your guests in the ballroom.” Helena, the head maid of this castle, spoke through the door.

 

Naturally, I didn’t understand what she had said. Well, I only understood a few words…

 

“Yes! We will be there soon!” Lucía stood up and immediately grabbed Erlan’s hand.

 

She smiled warmly at him.

 

Alma and I made eye contact… I was grinning from ear to ear. 

 

Hehehe! It looks like I will get some silver pieces after this!