âArenât you just jealous of me?â she giggled. âEven though I am younger than you, I am more powerful than you. Since youâre so busy playing servant of His Majesty, you donât get to strengthen your powers. I bet you will be defeated even if I give you a handicap of using only weak spells.â
âWhy donât you try it?â
âI donât want you to go to His Majesty crying and complaining about me like in the past.â
Erlos frowned. âYou keep reminding me how unlucky I am to have spent my childhood with a cunning fox like you.â
âCunning?â she chuckled lightly. âWell, foxes are meant to be cunning. Thatâs our nature.â
âReason for the hate is clear then. I hate cunning ones.â
âItâs more like you cannot be smart so you blame me for being cunning. I thought you would have become smarter when we meet this time butâ¦â she sighed loudly.
âYou donât have to worry about me. One doesnât need to go to the mountains to get stronger. Soon, the day will be there when you will regret boasting your three tails.â
She giggled sweetly. âBy then, I might grow all my nine tails.â
Erlos didnât reply to her and continued to direct her to the top floor of the southwest wing of the palace.
âWhat is His Majestyâs mate like?â she asked. âI heard sheâs human.â
âExactly the opposite of you,â came another hateful reply from Erlos but Isa seemed to be unbothered by this.
It was not the first time these two were arguing as they were used to it. He could not help but hate her and felt annoyed at her presence, but she enjoyed annoying himâeven becoming entertained the more he showed he hated her. Their rivalry was as natural as breathing for them.
âThat means she is like you,â Isa mocked.
âYes, she is my soul sister,â he replied with equal annoyance.
âAlways crying and complaining, lost, powerless, depending on His Majety for everything, brainlessâ¦â
âMind your words. She isââ
âI was describing you, not her,â Isa countered immediately as she smirked.
Erlos didnât argue and they reached the hallway leading to Emberâs bedchambers where a blue-haired elf servant came across them.
Clio immediately greeted the red fox. âLady Isa, good to see you back.â
Isa smiled and replied, âI am here to visit His Majestyâs mate.â
âUmmâ¦Ah yes, let me first inform Miss. She is in her study.â
Saying that, Clio left to go to Emberâs study where she was standing on her balcony, enjoying the pleasantly cold breeze.
Clio informed her, âMiss Ember, Young Lady Isa is here to visit you. Shall I let her in?â
Even before Ember could reply, Reya, who was accompanying Ember by standing at one corner of the balcony quietly, immediately spoke up, âWhy does sheâ¦?â
Clio gave her a narrow-eyed look, telling her to keep her mouth shut, and then returned her gaze back to their master. Ember had a puzzled look, surprised to know that this newcomer wanted to meet her when they didnât even know each other.
âHis Majesty must have sent her to visit you. Erlos personally escorted her here,â Clio informed her.
âHis Majesty sent her to me?â Ember thought. âFine, let her in.â
In a while, a beautiful young woman looking about the same age as Ember entered the study with Erlos following her. Ember could barely catch what the two were saying.
ââ¦Are you allowed to enter here?â
âDidnât you hear Sire ask me to send you here?â
âNo male wants another male entering the private place of their mates. I wonder if His Majesty even considers her his mate.â
âYou donât need to judge what he thinks of her,â Erlos said and smirked, âShe is the first female Sire takes care of personally and I even saw him allowing her to sleep in his bed with him.â
Hearing that, Isa felt a little angry but she was good at suppressing her true feelings behind a smile. They soon reached the balcony where a young woman with green eyes could be seen standing by the railing.
The two females stared at each other.
âSo you are His Majestyâs mate? You have the most beautiful eyes.â
Isa put on the brightest smile on her face as she entered the balcony, while Erlos stayed inside the study with a decent view of the balcony. He didnât trust Isa and was always wary of her intentions. The sweeter she sounded, the more suspicious he grew. Experience from childhood with her had made him cautious of her.
âThank you, Young Lady Isa.â
âI heard His Majesty has a mate and became curious to meet you. I hope you donât mind that I made a sudden visit. Meeting you now, I say, itâs so good to see you.â
Ember smiled back at the beautiful red fox in front of her. She looked like a pretty doll, and she was also polite and well-mannered. It made her wonder why Reya and Clio looked anxious seeing her.
âSame here.â Ember only nodded as she only stared at this sweet, young, elegant and beautiful girl. It made her wonder if they could become friends.
âHow about we have tea?â Isa offered.
Even before Ember could instruct her servants who were standing like guards of their master, the elves immediately moved to get tea and snacks. As they passed Erlos, they saw him giving them a light assuring nod.
When the servants left, Isa walked closer to Ember. âYou know, you are pretty famous among the people. On the way here, I heard a lot about you, like that you are human but you have some special power inside you.â
Ember shrugged bashfully as she could not deny it.
âGood to know. At least, you are not a weak and useless human.â Her voice was as usual sweet but filled with a tinge of mocking.
Ember blinked in surprise. She could not say anything as she was not used to interacting with strangers and guessing their intentions. Though Isaâs words felt somewhat uncomfortable to hear, her naive self did not know that this fox was mocking her for being a human.
Isa walked closer to her and looked at Emberâs neck. âWow. How pretty. What kind of mark is it?â
âItâs a mark given by a mate whenââ
âThat I know. What I mean is what is the meaning of this bond. Each mate mark always has a certain meaning, kind of like a symbolic brand describing their bond, but I had never read about this mark.â She then moved her curious gaze from her neck to Emberâs face. âDoes it mean that there is no meaning to the bond you share with His Majesty?â
Even Ember was unaware of what this mark meant and why it was not mentioned in that book she read.
âWell, it wonât be surprising if there is no meaning to this bond. His Majesty had not marked you out of love but just on a whim to check if a human can survive. Now as you have survived, he has no other option but to keep you here.â
A sharp voice resounded. âIsa! Youââ
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