As the group walked away from the scene, the others could only wander what they were up to.
Anastasia was among said people who was curious as she walked over to Juliet who normally sat under a tree alone and just observed. "Say, what do you think they're doing?" She asked in a low tone to which Juliet simply shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Who knows, why not ask him yourself?" She replied with complete seriousness.
She stood out more so than any of the aristocrats present, the girls in particular. Not because of her beauty but because of her mannerisms.
When the other aristocrats arrived, they had the secured an area of the river ahead for washing their bodies and clothes as they too had gotten dirty from the journey. Unlike them she would leave momentarily to just wipe her body with a piece cloth and that was all.
Her armor and weapons remained untouched, this kind of behavior shattered the image most of the commoners had regarding her. Some found it appealing others not, it was simply a matter of taste.
As for the other aristocrats they didn't particularly care about her behavior and only paid attention to her due to her recent closeness with Anastasia.
Since the two arrived they remained close and often sat and ate together. Anastasia found comfort in knowing she wasn't the only one who knew of Aron's full capabilities and that he was scheming something grand.
She no longer spent much time with Esmeralda due to the change she had regarding Aron. Unlike before she didn't say hateful things about him and even defended him as being misunderstood.
What was there to misunderstand about someone who enslaved her and made her go against her family? Anastasia couldn't get along with Esmeralda her long time friend due to this and found it better to hang around Juliet who seemed neutral towards Aron.
…
Whilst new bonds were forming and old ones cracking, Lady Rose, Aron and Evanora went into the tunnels before having Aron close the entrance.
Once inside she explained the contents of the message regarding Sayiva and the war which at least brought light to the matter regarding the elf they met in the Komi Islands. "To think she was she was the Queen of the Aethelians." Aron muttered with furrowed brows but it at least meant what she had told him had more chances of being true regarding a way to Limbo.
"From what I know she shouldn't be the Queen or wasn't… strange. Anyway's she's infamously hated by both Aethelians and humans of the Drotzi continent because she is the princess the former Lachestrian King had fallen for, leading to the war between the two races." She explained while tapping her chin as if something didn't add up.
"I would have thought it was a different person if it wasn't for her blatant hate towards the major families of Ettenheim whose founders are responsible for the death of her lover. Still this doesn't change our plans at the very least the two parties will weaken each other immensely correct?" Although the news was unexpected it didn't really put a dent in the plan they had going forward and Lady Rose nodded at this.
"It doesn't, but see if you can learn more from the Aethelian duo we have among us. There is very little knowledge regarding Sayiva and Aethel, it's why the revelation of her being queen is so surprising." She added to which Aron nodded, he could see the the need to learn more just in case.
After reaching this conclusion the duo went about to discuss the plan regarding the ruins further in depth. The current plan was simple, since they were many groups it was best they don't reveal the knowledge regarding all the ruins present on the map as the suggestion to split up may be brought up.
Instead they'll use one as the main attraction and claim they found knowledge about another in said ruin. It was simple and not full proof but without physical evidence no one could do a thing.
"With that let us spark a few rumors to further distract the more simple minded individuals." She suggested causing Aron to look at her with a brow raised. "How exactly?"
….
The answer to this presented itself with him having to sit down with Evanora on his lap facing him. Without hesitation she began licking and nibbling on his neck.
Aron didn't comment on this odd sensation he felt and instead just held Evanora's slim waist. Next he felt a sudden softness against his back, this came from none other than Lady Rose who hugged him from behind and pressed her body against him.
All three had been clothed and Lady Rose in particular even kept her gloves on to ensure no skin contact was made. Normally one would find such a scene and relate it to intimacy but all three had such straight faces that it was hard to imagine that was the case.
They continued to go about this for a bit longer until. "That should suffice." Lady Rose muttered before pulling away first, she brought her sleeve close to her nose and seemed satisfied with having Aron's scent lingering on her.
Aron didn't even need to ask as he understood what she was trying to do immediately. With his scent on them both and the marks on his neck then it would be easy to make people think something was up, even if they found it hard to believe they would at the very least consider it a possibility.
However even after Lady Rose had spoken Evanora continued to nibble and lick Aron's neck softly, not wanting to pull away. "We're done Evanora, you can stand." He said to her more clearly thinking Rose's choice of words was a little too complex for her to understand.
Evanora pulled away with visible reluctance on her face. "Evanora thinks you taste good." She complimented before giving him a thumbs up with a blank expression on her face.
"Is that so?" Aron replied rhetorically before standing as well and patting the dust off off his clothes. "It's evening already so we should head back." Lady Rose suggested to two.
…
Meanwhile back at the riverbank, Claudia and Henry's groups had arrived on the scene. Surprisingly unlike the other large groups, these two were the only ones to not suffer a single casualty.
The first thing Henry did upon arriving was going over to his sister Anastasia to make sure she was safe and sound and ask about the general situation.
"….so he just left with Lady Rose and Evanora without explaining why?" Henry asked while rubbing his chin in thought.
Anastasia had explained that nothing of note had occurred and that it's only the trio's sudden movement that caused everyone to wonder what could be happening.
After being updated about the situation from Jin, even Claudia looked a bit perplexed as to what they went to do. For thinkers like her she immediately began to think of just what Aron could be planning.
Before anyone could go any deeper into thought the trio soon arrived back at the riverbank and caused some shocked expressions to look there way. For those less skilled they only need to look at Aron's neck for their imagination to go wild, meanwhile for others like Jagu, Mirai, Sharla, Jin and even Juliet they could smell Aron's scent lingering on the two women.
"Well I'll be damned." Jin was first to comment before chuckling with a grin on his face.
For others they didn't know what to make of this, Anastasia was especially speechless. Was Aron really lustful? Why hadn't he ever ordered her to please him before then? Something didn't quite add up. Of course it could be that he merely wasn't attracted to her in that manner but her pride as a woman refused to believe such an option.
Claudia was another who subconsciously furrowed her brows at this scene and crossed her arms. Something about seeing those marks on his neck left a sour taste in her mouth like she had been wronged in so many ways.
"I see everyone is here, good. The initial plan was for us to move deeper into Aethelian territory but a recent discovery has changed this train of thought we have." Without wasting time Lady began to address everyone, even though some still had their imaginations running wild.
"During my journey here I stumbled upon a map detailing a possible ruin. At first I found it didn't make sense due to the routes marked which I couldn't find on the surface, it was only thanks to Aron and his group that I learned they existed an intricate tunnel system below the Veldra Community."
"With this map we shall begin an expedition into the tunnels for said ruin. The tunnels are rather compact so we cannot bring everyone, some need to act as lifelines, gathering and delivering food and water from the surface into the tunnels to where the expedition group is settled. Another group will remain on the surface indefinitely scouting the area for us and keeping a lookout, I'll leave the selections up to you." She quickly explained before going silent and walking back to her usual spot.
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