Chapter 294: Chapter 294

294 Chapter 294 : Call a truce?

The next morning, Elric, with his disguise still on, left the room in which he and his men and spent the night and made his way to the small meeting room where Alexander and Jonathan were waiting for him.

When the lycan walked into the room, the two men looked up at him and both gave him a smile that made him a little uneasy.

“Good morning,” Jonathan Morrell spoke with a taunting smile curving his lips. “You’re up early.”

“Why don’t you close the door, pull that helmet of yours off and join us for breakfast?” Alexander added on.

Elric stood unmoving for a while before closing the door and pulling his helmet off. He then walked to the table where the two men were sitting and pulled out a chair.

“Care to explain to me what is going on?” Elric questioned the two men who, regardless of the situation, seemed very unbothered. “Why did you cover for me and my men yesterday? And why does it almost feel like you are helping me?”

“I see time away has made you incredibly skeptical,” Jonathan responded before pouring some wine in a cup and offering it to the silver haired man. He smiled when he saw the look of doubt on the man’s face, which was expected of course. “Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned if that is what you are thinking.”

Jonathan poured more wine into his own glass as well and took a large sip. “There, if it’s poisoned then we’re both going to perish.”

Elric hesitantly took the cup and sipped the wine. After his third sip, he felt a little more relaxed and leaned back on his chair.

.....

“You still have not answered my question,” Elric pointed out. “Why did you cover for me yesterday? The last time I checked, all of you Morrells would be happier if were dead.”

“Gods Elric, isn’t that rather gorish,” Jonathan replied. “You may have crossed our family once but that was a very long time ago. Can’t we let bygones be bygones?”

“And besides,” Alexander added on, “we may need your help.”

The lycan stopped his cup in midair and threw his gaze at the twins. “My help? And how exactly would I be of any help to the two of you?”

“Remember how I said we should let bygones be bygones?” Jonathan responded.

“Well we’re afraid our sister may not believe in that theory,” Alexander added on.

“She curries a grudge against you, even though she would not admit it,” Jonathan explained. “And that grudge is going to affect the family if she does not let it go.”

“You see Elric,” Alexander continued. “Word around here travels fast, so we know what your connection is to our niece Eira.”

Elric put his cup down and looked away. It was always so awkward when people brought this topic up, especially people who had been directly affected by his obsession with Melissa in the past. It was a little shameful to say the least.

“Do we like it? Of course not,” Jonathan pointed out. “But does our opinion matter if Eira’s happiness is on the line? No it does not.”

Alexander pushed the plate of cheese and meat towards the lycan and gave him a reassuring smile. “If we are to be honest Elric, we too were appalled by the news that the gods had chosen you as Eira’s bloodhalf. And we too were not in support of it in the slightest.”

“But you should have seen her face when the royal decree for her to be married was passed,” Alexander spoke in a solemn tone. “You could literally see the sorrow in her eyes, and it only got worse with every suitor she yforced to meet.”

“When we realized it was Melissa who was pushing for all of that to happen just so she could keep the two of you apart, we didn’t know how to feel about it.” Jonathan looked up at the lycan with sad eyes. “Is our rivalry really worth it if it puts one of ours in a state of misery?”

“It is not,” Alexander responded. “Eira is like a daughter to us, and our love for her outranks our dislike of you.”

“So if you are really what will put a smile back on her pretty little face,” Jonathan added on. “Then we have no choice but to assist you in saving her from a life of resentment and misery.”

“So what do you say Elric?” The twins spoke in unison while both reaching for Elric’s hand. “Shall we call a truce?”

*

Maxim looked up from the book that he was reading when he heard a knock at his door. That must have been lord Adalbert coming to tell him the final list of suitors had been announced, today was the day after all.

The elf put his book down on the small table beside him and told whoever was knocking to come in. The door opened and in came one of the castle’s butlers who bowed before Maxim politely.

He had not completely gotten accustomed to being treated like nobility, it was something that still felt incredibly foreign to him. After all, his parents were mere commoners, and his sister was nothing but a maid in the Ervelon palace. Being treated like a lord was something that a lowly elf like him never even imagined possible.

“Good morning Gregory,” Maxim spoke kindly. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“My lord, lord Adalbert requests your audience in the dining area,” the butler responded. “It appears there is good news from the palace.”

Maxim smiled and then waved the man away, “thank you, tell him I will be down in a few minutes.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The butler bowed respectfully and left the room, closing the door behind him.

After making sure the butler was far from his doors, Maxim walked to it and locked it. He then walked back to his bed where he lifted his mattress and pulled out a small mirror that Ronda had given to him before he left Ervelon.

The elven woman had told him that this particular mirror was special and infused with elven teleportation magic, but instead of teleporting an entire body, it teleported the face and voice of the wielder. It was a concept that Ronda had taken from the former queen Tauriel’s own magical mirror and perfected it.

Maxim walked back to his chair and looked into it, not long after, Ronda’s face came into view, and as soon as she saw Maxim’s, a delighted sinister little smile curved her lips.

“Well well, hello there handsome,” Ronda spoke in glee. “I was beginning to think you had turned your back on me.”

“Of course not,” Maxim responded. “My sister and I owe you so much, I would never think of betraying you lady Ronda.”

“Very good,” Ronda commented. “Now tell me, do you have good news?”

“As a matter of fact I do, I have qualified for the top ten positions of suitors,” Maxim responded. “It seems I have managed to earn the princess’ trust to some extent.”

Ronda chuckled at the handsome man’s words. “Of course you earned her trust, she’s just as vain and as shallow as her mother. All it took was a handsome face and it was downhill from there.”

“I suppose so...” Maxim responded in a tone that wiped the smile off Ronda’s face.

“Oooh, what do we have here?” Ronda questioned the elven men. “Don’t tell me you’re catching feelings for the little princess. I did tell you not to fall for those slanderous looks of hers, she’s nothing but a little witch.”

Maxim stayed quiet. Had he fallen for Eira? No, he had not fallen for her, well at least not yet. What was troubling him was that despite all that Ronda had said, Maxim had failed to find any reason as to why someone would hate Eira or her family so much. They had been nothing but nice not only to him, but everyone they had interacted with. The elf was starting to think that lady Ronda was just a bad person.

“I have not fallen for Eira,” Maxim responded, “I can assure you that. I will complete the mission, please do not lose your trust in me.”

“You better not give me a reason to doubt you Maxim, keep your head straight and do your job!”

Ronda’s image vanished, reverting the mirror back to an ordinary mirror.

Maxim stood up and slipped the mirror back under his mattress before cupping his forehead in frustration. This was slowly becoming more and more complicated, Maxim understood that he owed Ronda so much, but did that warrant him hurting someone as innocent as Eira. It really didn’t seem fair, but what could he do? Ronda was a dangerous person, if he crossed her, she might harm his sister, because in a way, Ronda was keeping his sister hostage.

“What the hell am I going to do?” Maxim sighed.