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Aina then greeted the demons. Mary, Lucia, Mist, Celeste, and Celica and her mother. Surprisingly, she didn't reacted in any weird way against them and greeted them all happily. Mary has a brother we found in the dungeon break back then, but he was no present here I guess.
"Elven Royalty…" Celeste was surprised. "I guess you were really a princess of the elven country, huh?"
"Ahahaha… something like that, maybe." I sighed.
"She's indeed one! In fact, she's the youngest princess." Said Aina. "And you dear… your soul has a lot of black spots, you've been a very bad person, haven't you?"
"Ah…"
Celeste was suddenly surprised by Aina's sharp abilities to observe a soul's composition.
"That's… yeah…" Celeste sighed. "I've been a terrible person."
"I can tell… But I can also tell you're changing, bit by bit. Such a beautiful change… I guess the beauty of souls is how much they change." Aina said. "They have given you a second chance, so make sure to not waste it, okay? You're all below my protection, so nobody should dare lay a finger on you."
When she finished greeting everyone, Aina quickly walked back to the airship. Our entire camp had already packed everything in just an hour, and my aunt quickly invited us all inside the airship. The entrance was beautiful and the interior even more.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were all decorated with a hard and mystical wood emanating a large quantity of mana everywhere. This was Spirit Wood apparently and was made specifically to resist the winds of the sky.
The interior resembled a beautiful and refined building, with furniture everywhere, even bookshelves. There were long corridors, rooms everywhere, and there was also an enormous hall with hundreds of tables and seats where chefs served people delicious food.
This was really premium to the core, a flight in an airship didn't simply include being brought to one place to another, but you were literally treated like kings while doing so!
"Through here… the guards are going to guide you all to your rooms…" Aina said.
The people quickly dispersed all over the airship, which was mostly empty to fit everyone inside. Even as big as it was, the people we brought with ourselves was barely able to fit inside. There were thankfully enough rooms, as long as they shared them between each other.
"You've really brought a lot of people this time, Faylen…" Aina sighed. "My little sister always playing as the hero…"
"It wasn't exactly my idea, completely… Allan, Shade, Nepheline, and Ninhursag also agreed to it. Sylphy too." Said Faylen. "If we leave these people here, you know what will happen to them, right?"
"I know…" Aina sighed. "However, it won't be any easier for them back home, you know? Not everyone is… you know, like me?" Sighed Aina.
"I know Aina, you're an amazing person and I feel bad every time I have to rely so much on you… But I'll also use my own title right this time." Said my mother.
"Your own title?" Asked Aina.
"Well, aren't I a Hero blessed by the gods? Aside from being a princess, I am a hero respected by many. I represent the entire elven race in fact. I won't leave others manipulate me anymore. And it's not as if I want to get in the way of our father." My mother said. "I will simply borrow a piece of the country, which rightfully belongs to me as his daughter, and then live there with these people. We won't bother anybody. I swear, we only want to live in peace."
"I know, I know you don't have any bad intentions. That country doesn't have only elves anyways. It has been over a hundred thousand years since the last time we only had elves as population, around 20% of our population is made up of a variety of other races. Discrimination between commoners is rare now, but I guess between nobles it might remain." Sighed Aina.
"I know…" Sighed my mother. "I can tell the nobles will not like how I came back home after marrying a human, hero or not, it won't matter to them, isn't it?"
"And two half-elf children… I'll do everything I can so you're not ostracized by it, but you have to keep your mind strong, slurs and insults… will happen." Aina said.
"I understand… I'll have to tell my family about this… Allan is too temperamental, if he were to hear someone call his daughter a slur he would go crazy." Sighed my mother.
I was spying what they were talking about while looking from afar behind a wall. I don't know if they knew I was spying or not, but it seems they didn't really cared…
At the end, I didn't wanted to listen to them anymore, as I knew mother would tell me about it later. I regrouped with father and everyone else and then had dinner in the airship as it quickly started to move.
I tried to not overthink things for a bit and decided to enjoy the trip as much as I wanted. There were small windows around the corridors, so I was able to see the beautiful blue sky. Sometimes, long snake-like dragons would swim across the clouds, and enormous Sky Whales would often times appear as well.
That night, I slept looking at Sky Whales and the beautiful and endless horizon of the window near my bed, thinking about what I heard my mother and her sister talk about.
So for elves, half elves are an object of despise… is it because they pride themselves in their pure blood, I wonder? It is a weird custom; I shouldn't overthink it.
Though it makes me sad to think my own family would discriminate and hate me… But perhaps I just have to trust my mother on this. Yeah, I guess I don't really have any other option to begin with.
She's been protecting me since I was born, much like father, and has always worked for our safety.
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