Keyrin sat in the room, waiting for Trey to return from his studies. For a long time now, she had been thinking about the dream she had two months ago and still couldn't decide whether she should tell Trey about it when he came back.
As he had asked, she went to the library and tried to find information about the capital of the departed Avili race. However, with his level of access, there was extremely little information available, and all she managed to find concerned only what had happened to their lands after the exodus.
One book claimed that the capital was surrounded by a curse, and only one chosen by the gods could pass through it. Another stated that the capital had been plundered by the remaining races and then, as revenge for the Avili's departure, destroyed by a supreme spell.
After the library, Keyrin went to search for a weapon for Trey, but she couldn't find anything worthy in any of the shops. So, she carefully tried to gather information through familiar merchants—both about the Avili capital and a suitable sword.
Knowing the greed of merchants and understanding perfectly how their minds worked, Keyrin only tried to collect scraps of common knowledge or information they might personally know.
According to the merchants, the lands of the Avili were now inhabited exclusively by monsters. Since the Avili had lived closer to the mountains, none of them had seen the capital itself, but many claimed that the sky above the place where it was supposed to be was constantly distorted. And that could only mean one thing—there truly was a barrier there.
Lost in her thoughts, Keyrin failed to notice how much time had passed until it began growing dark outside.
Touching her blouse and glancing at the time, she felt anxious thoughts beginning to stir inside her.
Personally, she hadn't known Trey for very long, but comparing his life before becoming chosen by Hes and after, the days around him had clearly become far more chaotic and unpredictable. Keyrin was even beginning to feel as though he literally attracted all kinds of trouble and dangerous situations.
Perhaps the reason was the energy of chaos residing within his body. That, she did not know.
Hearing one knock followed by another, Keyrin adjusted her blouse and skirt before heading to open the door.
She doubted it was Trey. He had keys, which meant someone else was standing outside.
With every step, her heart began beating faster. As she approached the door, Keyrin felt her hands starting to tremble involocuntarily.
Trying to calm herself, she opened the door slightly to see who had come.
Peeking outside, Keyrin saw her sister and Cassandra standing there. She hadn't expected them to come so soon after the duel.
"Are you going to let us in?" Cassandra asked, placing her hands on her hips. She fully understood that Samantha and Keyrin still had a conversation ahead of them, but clearly not right now.
Keyrin shifted her gaze to Cassandra, silently nodded, stepped away from the door, and opened it wider to let them in.
Once the girls removed their shoes and walked to the center of the room, a tense silence settled over the place.
Keyrin and Samantha stared into each other's eyes while Cassandra inspected the room more carefully, clearly searching for Trey. But he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Trey?" Cassandra asked, scanning the room again. Other than the three of them, she couldn't hear anyone else.
Keyrin turned to her with a surprised frown. She had been certain Trey was still at the academy.
"He isn't here. He left for classes this morning and still hasn't returned," Keyrin said thoughtfully, looking at the girls.
Samantha and Cassandra exchanged glances. They clearly remembered the last time they had seen him—during the day, when he was heading to combat magic. After that, Trey had seemingly vanished.
They themselves had training for the upcoming academy tournament and were only free after the other stufons had started heading home after classes.
"We saw him during the day when he was heading to combat magic. After that, no," Samantha said thoughtfully, brushing her fingers across her lips.
Keyrin began recalling who might have been teaching Trey's combat magic class. There weren't many possibilities left, and she sincerely hoped it wasn't that very monster of the academy.
"Fine, let's go ask his classmates," Cassandra suddenly said in a casual tone, rising from the sofa.
Keyrin and Samantha both looked at her in confusion.
Exactly which classmates was Cassandra planning to ask where Trey had disappeared to?
"Why are you both looking at me like that? Did you forget he's in the elite class, and they all live in this building?" Cassandra asked in surprise, gesturing around the room.
Keyrin understood what Cassandra meant. Who, if not his classmates, might know where Trey was?
But another question immediately arose.
What exactly were they supposed to say to those stufons?
"And what are we supposed to tell them? 'Hello, could you tell us where your classmate Trey is? He didn't come home, and it's already dark?'" Samantha asked sarcastically, watching as Cassandra noticeably began blushing.
Unlike them, Keyrin truly had a valid reason to search for Trey—she was his servant.
The fact that those two called themselves his wives meant nothing for now, since no marriage ritual had actually been performed.
"I'll go alone. You two stay here. I'm his servant, so it's my duty to find him," Keyrin said, rising from the armchair and heading toward the exit.
But suddenly, she felt someone pulling her back by the arm.
Turning around, Keyrin saw Cassandra gripping her wrist tightly.
"What are you doing?" Keyrin asked, watching as Cassandra pulled her even closer.
Once she was sure Keyrin had stopped, Cassandra stepped closer and looked directly into her eyes.
"We're his wives. Where he disappeared to concerns us too," Cassandra said without looking away.
Hearing that argument, Keyrin merely shook her head. At least it pleased her that her sister wasn't trying to behave with the same forcefulness.
"Have you performed the wedding ritual?" Keyrin asked calmly, watching Cassandra's expression change.
Cassandra released her hand and lowered her gaze. She understood perfectly where Keyrin was leading.
"No, we haven't performed the marriage ritual, and you know that perfectly well," Cassandra said irritably, lifting her gaze again.
Keyrin only let out a quiet sigh.
The difference between light and dark elves had always been especially noticeable. And it wasn't only about who ruled the race, but in their entire perception of the world.
For light elves, the marriage ritual was the fundamental reason to consider someone their partner. For dark elves, however, the wedding ritual was more like a public confirmation that two people had decided to stay together forever.
"Then you understand yourself that you're wives only in words. Until the ritual is performed with Trey, you're relatively free in your choices, and you have no reason to be this concerned about where he is," Keyrin explained tiredly, shifting her gaze from Cassandra to Samantha.
Keyrin, just like both girls, understood perfectly well: Trey had shown no interest in them—neither as princesses nor as women.
They themselves had challenged him and put themselves in this position.
They didn't know how Keyrin had become his servant, but one thing was obvious—she truly worried about him.
"So, the wedding ritual, huh? Once we find him, I'll demand that we perform that ritual, if it's really that important," Cassandra said angrily.
She remembered her conversation with Samantha earlier that day perfectly well and was now only reaffirming her own words.
Listening to their argument, Samantha involuntarily began wondering just how right Keyrin was.
Unlike them, Keyrin truly was bound to Trey by a concrete position. While they had only words, unsupported by anything.
"Cassandra, maybe she's right? Think about it. We know almost nothing about him except that he uses dark magic and that we lost to him. Yes, that happened, but our people will accept us back if we tell the truth—the wedding ritual never happened," Samantha said, lowering her gaze.
She fully understood that she was essentially proposing going against the agreement made between the king and queen of the light elves and the matriarch of the dark elves.
Cassandra turned an incomprehending gaze toward her.
Was her friend seriously suggesting abandoning the oath they had given?
Cassandra could understand her doubts. Samantha had a fiancé, and as far as she knew, their relationship was fairly normal.
But would their rulers accept such a decision?
Regardless of race, anyone who publicly broke an oath and later renounced it risked being branded an oathbreaker. Such people were avoided by everyone.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. The only things binding you to Trey are an agreement and the words of your rulers. But you aren't toys in their hands. Do whatever you want, and with whomever you want," Keyrin said, supporting her younger sister.
Turning around to leave, she suddenly felt someone block her path again.
Turning her head, Keyrin saw Cassandra.
Her face was calm, but her eyes were practically burning from within.
"I'm going with you. And you, Samantha, should think about who would even want you if you're so ready to abandon your own oath so easily," Cassandra said calmly, walking toward the door to put on her shoes.
Samantha silently watched as her sister and friend left.
Cassandra's final words kept echoing in her mind, giving her no peace, and Samantha couldn't find the right answer.
Since childhood, she had been raised as someone who would never contend for power. That role had never been meant for her.
But then everything changed.
Her older sister died, and the right of succession should have passed to Keyrin. However, Keyrin ran away, leaving everything behind and effectively shifting that burden onto her.
Now Samantha was left alone with responsibilities she had never truly been prepared for.
She heard the front door close.
But Samantha never rose from her seat or followed after them.
At that moment, what concerned her was not where Trey was.
Samantha was trying to find the right answer for herself.
The problem was that the right answer simply did not exist.