Chapter 42: One Request

Elias was still looking at the piece of cloth brought by Group 5. He tried to remember whether he’d ever seen a rose emblem like that before, but after a while he still couldn’t recall it.

"Is that all? Nothing else you guys found? For example, a place that’s colder or damper than the area around it?"

The leader of Group 5 flinched a little at the question before answering.

"Nothing, Sir Elias. If there was, we would’ve written it down. But for this find, we didn’t need to note it specially, since it’s easy to remember anyway."

"Hmm... Alright. For now, you guys can go rest. I’ll think about this first."

"Yes, Sir Elias!"

After the soldiers left, Elias picked up the cloth and looked at the rose emblem printed on it again.

’Ugly as hell, honestly.’

He tried to recall whether an emblem like that had ever shown up in his memory, but there was still nothing he could remember.

’No idea who they are, but looks like something happened to them in this forest.’

Elias set the cloth on the table, then leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin. A few possibilities crossed his mind, from a group of explorers who’d run into trouble to a bunch of people who’d entered the forest on purpose to do something.

But he didn’t have enough information to be sure of any of them.

"Haah... I haven’t even found a clue about Heartbloom, and now there’s another problem."

Elias turned his eyes to the map of Blackwood Forest spread out on the table. He actually wanted to go search for Heartbloom by himself right away, but leaving the camp without knowing what was going on around them wasn’t a good idea either.

Besides, he still had to wait for reports from the other groups.

’Hope they find something useful.’

Elias picked the map up again and started checking the routes his soldiers had taken. He tried to think of other places they could check, especially if the current search didn’t pan out.

Even so, he still hoped one of the groups would find a clue about Heartbloom.

Either way, the time they had was running short, and he still didn’t know where the flower could be found.

"Well... better if I just go see it myself."

Elias then put the map and the items Group 5 had found into his storage pouch.

As he was about to walk out, he only then noticed that Evelyn and Elysia were standing behind him. That startled Elias a little.

Either way, it was because he’d been so focused that he hadn’t noticed what was happening around him.

"Lady, I’m going to the place Group 5 found."

Evelyn just smiled like usual, tilting her head a little.

"Then I’ll come with you."

Elias nodded in agreement right away. If Evelyn came along, that meant their fighting strength went up, and so did his chances of surviving.

Unlike Evelyn, Elysia only lowered her head a little and turned her face away when Elias looked at her.

Elias was clearly confused by Elysia’s behavior, which wasn’t like her at all. Maybe Elysia just wanted to stay at the camp, that was what Elias thought before he saw Elysia’s puffy, slightly red eyes.

Either way, from what he could see, it was obvious Elysia had just been crying.

But the problem was, Elias had no idea why she’d been crying.

’Shit! Did I make her cry again? What did I miss this time?’

Even though he didn’t know why she’d been crying, Elias still panicked, afraid that he was the reason. So just in case, of course he had to try talking to her first. If her reaction and answer were different than usual, that meant something really was wrong.

"Lady Elysia, are you—"

*Flinch.

When Elias stepped closer and raised his hand, Elysia flinched and hid behind Evelyn.

Seeing that, Elias could only freeze in disbelief. He felt his heart crack a little because Elysia was avoiding him.

*Crack...

’Yup. Guess it was me.’

When Elias was about to approach again, Elysia shouted at him.

"Don’t come closer! Go away!"

"!!!"

Elias froze again with his mouth hanging wide open. This time, his heart shattered completely.

*SHATTER!

"L-Lady..."

"What? Don’t talk to me and don’t come near me."

"B-but why? Did I do something bad to you?"

Elias immediately started sniffing himself all over, fast.

*Sniff, sniff...

"Do I stink?"

"Pfft..."

Seeing Elias’s silly behavior, Evelyn laughed a little, while Elysia just stayed quiet, still behind Evelyn.

After making sure that he didn’t stink, Elias looked at Elysia again, still hiding behind her sister. He couldn’t think of any other reason why Elysia wouldn’t want him near.

Elias let out a small sigh before walking toward Elysia. He ignored Elysia’s words telling him to keep away.

"Stay where you are, or I’ll cut off your arm."

Elias stopped moving at once and stood up straight. He might’ve ignored it if Elysia just kept telling him to stay away, but once violence got involved, Elias didn’t dare.

’I’m weak against threats.’

Even so, Elias couldn’t just stand there without apologizing. Regardless of the fact that he didn’t know what he’d done to make Elysia cry, one thing was clear, he felt like he was the one at fault. He had to apologize!

"Lady... I... I’m sorry."

"..."

Elias scratched his head while speaking, but Elysia was still hiding behind Evelyn and didn’t answer.

"Maybe I did something that made you cry. Ah... Not ’maybe’, I definitely did..."

"..."

Feeling that this might be tough, Elias finally mustered the courage to go further.

"As an apology, I’ll do one thing you want."

"Alright, I forgive you."

’That was fast!’

Elias could only smile wryly as Elysia came right out from behind Evelyn and forgave him.

On the other side, Elysia had actually forgiven him already. In fact, after remembering what Evelyn said, she realized that Elias had been thinking hard for the sake of their mother and the two of them.

Then why did she hide behind Evelyn when Elias tried to come closer?

At that moment, she was still a little afraid of him. But after making sure Elias wasn’t scary anymore, she felt a bit calmer.

She also wanted to forgive him once Elias said that. She’d just fallen silent for a moment, thinking about what words to use to answer. But while she was still thinking, Elias suddenly said he would do one thing she wanted.

To Elysia, something like this only came once in a thousand years.

Basically, this was a rare chance! No human would waste something rare.

’I didn’t plan this, but it really works in my favor.’

Evelyn glanced at Elysia with a wry smile when she saw her sister’s sparkling eyes.

’She’s really taking advantage of this...’

* * *