"Hey, isn't it not allowed to commit murder within the bounds of that forest?" his partner asked.
"Humans couldn't, but the beasts…" He let out a vicious laugh.
"We only need that woman alive." He said as they disappeared as fast shadows in the open ground.
Not far from where the two men had conversed was a young lady, with her stunning burgundy hair and hazel eyes. She was none other than Lainie, the lass who sold Eli the violin.
She had heard the whole conversation made by the mysterious men and was in panic. The beautiful lady was in danger!
She was actually on the way to withdraw an ample amount of cash from the sale she made yesterday. As she went home, the whole family cried in joy to finally have the money to treat their dear father. They all thanked the heavens for allowing them to meet their benefactor.
However, who would have thought that she, Lainie would witness some wicked men to harm their family's benefactor!
"What to do? What to do?!" She paced back and forth in the open ground.
"Argentum!" Lainie recalled the conversation of the two men.
Her benefactor was somehow related to the Argentum. Not wasting any more time, she sprinted to Argentum, praying that she would meet someone who could help her benefactor.
She ran with all her might until she reached the shop's entrance, almost out of breath. Entering the shop with utmost sense of urgency she immediately approached a shop assistant.
"Please, call the store chief, I bring an urgent matter!" She pleaded to the shop assistant, who was shocked that some lass just abruptly grabbed his hand.
Looking at her almost breathless, he thought that what Lainie would bring was really urgent, but that wouldn't be enough for her to see the master.
"May I know who you may be, young miss? So I could fully inform the head." the shopkeeper calmly asked with a business smile.
"Uhm, I am sure that the chief do not know me… But this is really an urgent matter! Allow me to inform him!" Lainie pleaded.
She didn't even know who she was looking for, she was just taking a gamble in finding help in Argentum, based on the information she heard.
"No can do, young miss, you have to identify yourself first, in order to get an audience with the store chief." The shopkeeper gave an apologetic response.
"Lives of people are in grave danger right now!!! Please!!!" Losing hope as she was rejected, Lainie panicked and shouted in a hurry. She moved and tried to bypass the shopkeeper towards the store office.
"Young miss, please calm down.." The shopkeeper gently blocked the panicked Lainie.
"What's the matter?" A young man's cold magnetic voice was suddenly heard, startling the two. He looked towards them with a stern expression.
"Sir Randel! It's like this, this young miss insists on meeting the chief for an urgent matter. But she failed to identify herself," The store keeper helplessly explained.
"The lady, my benefactor, is in danger! Lady Liza is in danger!!" Lanie was almost about to cry as she was both in extreme panic and intimidation by Randel's cold stare.
"Lady Liza?" Randel was confused. He didn't know of any lady connected to the Argentum nor the Forgeworn clan named Liza.
"Yes, I sold her a violin yesterday. She was my benefactor.." She tried to explain, "Just now, I saw Lady Liza and her husband ride a giant bird towards the Silver Dew Forest."
"Go on," Randel lifted one of his eyebrows indicating that he had her attention.
Randel finally recognized Lanie as the seller of the violin Eli bought last night together with her 'husband' the Third Prince, he more or less understood the confusion.
"But near me, two cloaked men were having a conversation about sweeping out the whole forest to capture the Lady! They will use beasts to kill all her companions and capture her!!!" She said in distress, shivering in fear, deeply pleading towards Randel to believe her and take action.
"Nel.." Randel said with a grave expression.
"Yes, Sir Randel!" The shopkeeper replied.
"Assist the miss to master, inform him that I went ahead to Silver Dew Forest!" He said while looking towards Lainie indicating that he understood what she said.
"Yes sir!" The shopkeeper replied and proceeded to lead Lainie to Grandpa Andi's study.
Randel could't afford to inform his master anymore, he immediately turned into a shadow and rushed his way to the forest. Hoping that he would outrun the men and warn Eli and the Prince of the danger approaching them.
--
It was already lunchtime but Leon and Olivier didn't show any signs of going home.
They sat comfortably in Eli's living room and leisurely enjoyed their tea, occasionally asking how she had lived her life in this serene area of the Silver Dew Forest, and how Wisey and Baobao helped her in her daily activities.
"I see that you were able to get two contracted companions. Have you undergone the aptitude assessment yet?" Leon asked Eli as soon as the conversation led to summoning.
"I actually haven't.." Eli helplessly responded as she scratched her head.
A trace of surprise could be seen in Leon's eyes.
He then gestured towards Olivier and said, "My Aide Olivier was officially a B class summoner, but his abilities are already within the A class."
"You need to have an assessment to know how much effort you need in order to improve." He continued.
"Then how do I do that? I haven't attempted to get an aptitude assessment." Eli inquired.
"I could assess your level right now… Olivier, could you also assess Eli's companion outside?" Leon responded implying that he and Eli needed privacy.
"Yes sir!" Olivier respectfully responded and asked Baobao and Wisey to lead the way.
Soon only Eli and Leon remained in the cozy living room.
"Free Lady... No!.. E-Eli.." Leon was actually still embarrassed that he was addressing someone not only with their name but their nickname.
Since that night, he was already used to address by her alias as 'Free Lady', as she insisted, and formally as 'Lady Elise'. To the Empire, calling each other with only their names or nicknames was the most intimate form of addressing a person.
"May I have your hand, please?" He respectfully asked Eli's hand, to which Eli obliged. Leon closed his eyes and focused on assessing Eli's aptitude.
Following this, Eli felt a gentle surge of mana flow inside her body. A light breeze blew in the living room encircling the two. As soon as his assessment was finished, the breeze also disappeared from the room.
Eli was actually curious about the result of the aptitude assessment, she looked towards Leon with anticipation.
Leon was in deep contemplation. After a few seconds he said with a conflicted expression on his face, "La...Eli.."
"Another reason why I asked for privacy is first to confirm something to you.." Leon asked with a grave expression. "Did you awaken your abilities as an Asani and change your constitution?"
Eli was shocked by the Prince's sudden inquiry, although she wasn't really the one who changed her constitution, it was still true that it was an Asani's ability.
"I-i.." tongue tied she wasn't able to answer Leon's answer straight.
Leon smiled with understanding and said, "Do not worry if you couldn't explain it now. However, the reason I asked is because of your data during your stay in the Riverfort hospital."
"Your assessment was actually an F class. But now, you showed that you could actually contract two beasts, this means that your class actually upgraded."
"It was actually normal for people to upgrade from F bracket to D class. However, you have actually jumped straight to C class. An entire two levels within four months!" Leon said with worry.
"Eli, I am worried about the people who knew of your data from Riverfort and your captor... They might assume that the abilities of Asanis are true and may expose you and Little Han in more danger." His voice was full of concern, as he trembled in perturbation.
"This… Leon, what should I do?" Eli was also in distress.
Threat after threat appeared everywhere that made her feel so scared.
"For now, just keep yourself from contracting any more companions. I will soon ask Grand Master Farauld to issue you an official D class result."
"But do not worry, I will soon teach you about summoning arts, from the basics down to the advanced level." Leon said, trying to ease Eli's anxiety.
He tightened his grip on her hand, as if trying to envelope it with all the protection he could possibly give.
"Summoning arts.. I thought that after I finished contracting, there's no more to it.." Eli said with a curious expression, still oblivious that she had been holding hands with the Prince for too long.
"There's a lot more to learn on summoning, Eli…" Leon replied with a gentle expression, while tenderly looking towards Eli.
"After summoning you must figure out how to synchronize your mana with your companion, so that you could control the mana flowing out of your body to supply to your companion. Then-"
"Master!!!" A sudden shout was heard from outside interrupting the two.
Eli and Leon looked at each other then hastily walked out to see what was happening.
They saw Randel, walking towards the entrance wearily. He was drenched in sweat, almost out of breath.
A grave expression of panic could be seen in his whole being. As soon as he saw Eli he tried his best to squeeze out the words,
"Haaah… Lady... Elise.... Flee!!!"
