At that moment, Eial decided to just keep his mouth shut and nod throughout the one sided conversation.

“The air within the elven territory has been filled with unusual elemental magic as of late. We have been trying to investigate the source, but as elves usually are attuned to one element, we’ve been having a difficult time navigating it.”

At the backhanded mention of his abnormal magic, Eial’s nerves spiked, a cold sweat forming as his posture unintentionally cowered slightly.

“The issue is that certain elements have certain spikes in different areas, without a clear path. And the amount of magic there is of one element relative to another is subjective per magic user. There is no standard that can be observed— or at least not as quickly as these energies move. That is why you will be very helpful to solve this case, Eial.”

At the last sentence, Eial’s shoulders perked up again and he gazed deeply in what he could see of the guard’s blue eyes that reflected orange with the flame. It was as if his instincts could sense that the other would not harm him. And her words were matter-of-fact, as if the oddity of the elf was a part of him as simple as having blonde hair was a part of her.

Had Vrona’s warnings been wrong? the elf could not help but ponder. After revealing his magic, the reactions he received from the elves had not been awful as he was trained to assume. At the least, he was not tortured.

“We can go over more during our observation tomorrow. Although first, are you still willing to help us?”

Eial shook his head up and down enthusiastically with glowing eyes.

Tapping her foot twice, suddenly, her tone deepened with the unexpected question, “Are you really bonded with that demon?”

Taken aback with the shift in conversation, Eial paused for a moment before he answered in a soft voice, “Yes…”

“Do you care for him?”

“I do…”

An eyebrow twitched. “I pity you. To be bonded to such a demon.” Within the hazy light, Eial thought he saw her roll her eyes as she continued, “But you say he had changed?”

“He has…”

“Then I will trust you on that.”

Immediately, Eial’s eyebrows cinched and he was reminded of a feeling he had back within the queen’s audience— when the guard had vouched on behalf of the elf despite not knowing the other. Without planning to, the question spilled out naturally from his mouth. “Why do you trust me?”

The guard smiled lightly, crossing one leg over the other, leaning in. “I’m attuned to light magic.”

Unsure of what that had meant, Eial put on a blank expression, leaving the guard to blink, equally blankly.

“Do you not know about light magic?”

“No, I was—.” Eial bit his lip, unsure of how much he should reveal and how much should be kept to himself. In the end, he pursued with honesty. “I was only recently acquainted with light magic. I have not read up on it nor do I know much about it.”

Brows raised, Glolieh leaned back and explained, “Well, I suppose it is not the most common knowledge. Light users are in nature moral beings. They can be misguided and make mistakes, but it is all in good intent. We also have the natural ability to judge the intentions of others if we train our intuition, like I have been trained to my entire life. To me, you have good intentions.”

A rosy tint grazed the cheeks of the smaller elf and a shy smile curled his lips. “I have not trained my intuition, but I believe you have good intentions, as well.”

Lifting one edge of her lips to a smirk, Glolieh brought her face closer again. “Don’t trust me too easily, Eial. Maybe this is why you’ve taken quick even to the rascal demon king.”

Eial’s ears perked at the mention of Drokn again. With slanted eyes, he asked, “By what you have said, have you… have you actually met Drokn before?”

Any sense of amusement in the guard’s eyes left and she looked away, as if resurfacing a distasteful memory. “I have.”

Feelings of disconnected connections wandered aimlessly in the elf’s mind. Drokn had only come to the elven territory after the two had met. Or had the demon met elves before in a different circumstance? Unless…

Eial remembered the vague feeling he had earlier in the day— how the guard looked somewhat familiar. Thinning his lips, he asked nervously, “Have we met each other before?”

To that, the guard scoffed out a laugh. “‘Have we met each other?’ he asks!” After finally settling her chuckles, she smiled, only to utter the stiffening words:

“Several months ago, in front of Drokn’s prison cell, you were the one who knocked me out.”