"Arios," Dyon called out to the handsome young man.
"Yes, Successor?"
Dyon waved his hand, "don't call me that, it'll only make me feel bad. Just call me Dyon," Dyon smiled bitterly.
Arios smiled in acknowledgement.
"Since you've were part of the Elvin Kingdom for a while… what do you know about its troubles?"
Arios was surprised by Dyon's question, but quickly continued to answer, "as an outsider… not much. But, over the course of the few months I stayed there, I did come to know of some things.
"For one, their king has been missing for a long while, and with him, his daughter, the princess."
Dyon nodded. He remembered Ri mentioning her cousin. But, considering that was the one and only time, Dyon didn't doubt that this princess was gone.
"The other is that the Elvin Kingdom adheres to very strict traditions in choosing their rulers. Oddly enough, said rulers aren't picked from their most prestigious families, instead, anyone can become king or queen as long as they are a True Empath."
Dyon's face furrowed in thought, 'True Empath?'
Dyon suddenly thought of Jade. Jade could see right through him and could clearly tell when he lied and when he didn't. Even to the point that it was almost as though she could read his mind. Also, now that he thoguht about it some more, she was especially sensitive to his Demonic Will as well... Though he didn't know what a True Empath was, that seemed to fit the description of the words themselves.
But... Something was off.
'When I mentioned Madeleine to everyone, they reacted as though Jade's reaction was law. But, it wasn't that it was because it was Jade, but because she was part of the Eostre family. If a whole major family has the ability to see through people like that, and yet they aren't the set rulers despite this, that can only mean that True Empaths aren't as simple as that…'
Arios seemed to realize exactly what Dyon was thinking. "if you're thinking of the Eostre family, I used to have thoughts on them too. Their abilities are so close to what anyone would intuitively think a True Empath would be, so why weren't they the ruling family if Elvin Kings and Queens were always said True Empaths?"
Arios sighed. "But, I don't have an answer to give you regarding that. The True Empath seems to be a very important being for the Elves, but, at the same time, from what I've pieced together, it has also brought them untold tragedy….
"I don't know why, but from what I've deduced, the Elvin Kingdom can't afford to have a True Empath on the throne without the help of the Celestial Deer Sect… but, the problem is that that Sect was destroyed long ago.
"The reason they needed the sect isn't common knowledge. And what they stand to lose without them is also unknown….
"The last thing is that the hate for the Acacia family is deeper than just the fact the king disappeared. I read an ancient book once, not here, but when I was campaigning with the demon sage, that spoke about the three ancient families of the Elvin Race.
"One was the Florence family. The other was the Mathilde family… and the last, as you've probably guessed, was the Acacia family… The fact the Acacia family is known as an ancient one, and yet isn't given their due respect here, must have a deeper story behind it… That's all I know."
Dyon nodded, 'for one, it wouldn't make sense for a kingdom to let their citizens know how reliant they were on an ally, so it's clear why no one knows the true reason behind the alliance except for a select few. Aside from this, the hate of the Acacia family sounds interesting... it may very well be the reason behind some of these odd occurrences.'
But, Arios' information did give Dyon a new train of thought. Why would a kingdom who knew they needed an ally like the Celestial Deer Sect not help in stopping their destruction? Did that mean that even with the help of the Elvin Kingdom, the fate of the Celestial Deer Sect was set? Or did that mean that they simply decided not to help for some unknown reason? And maybe, that unknown reason was exactly the reason the major families hated the Acacia ancient family.
Dyon sighed, there was no use pondering on this now with no real information. It was best that he went out for now. Ri and Little Lyla were probably worrying.
**
Outside the spatial world, Ri was sitting nervously, staring at the ring in her hand.
The vibrations had long since quietened down, but she had no way of knowing what happened. Since the ring was owned by Dyon, she had no way of entering without his permission, so she could only sit and wait while ensuring the ring never left the cave.
Time passed and soon she was started awake by the pitter patter of small feet running into the cave.
Ri looked up to see Little Lyla skipping in. Without her noticing, the sun had already come up in the sky, and Dyon was still nowhere to be seen.
"Big sister? Where's big brother Dyon?"
Little Black walked beside Little Lyla. Although the little guy was aware of the dangers, he too was worried about Dyon. But, he couldn't very well leave Lyla outside.
Ri looked into the little girl's sparkling pink eyes and stroked her long hair, "big sister's not sure… we can only wait," Ri's eyes glistened with worry.
Little Lyla patted Ri's face in her usual adorable fashion. "Big sister, you're too beautiful to be sad, okay? I'm sure big brother will be fine."
Ri smiled, chuckling to herself. "I should be comforting you little girl, don't look down on your big sister."
Little Lyla giggled as Ri pinched her soft cheeks.
Almost as if on cue, Ri's hand was suddenly invaded by a comforting warmth. Looking up in confusion, she found pure hazel-green eyes looking into hers with a playful look in them.
"You're beautiful and your hand feels so good in mine. You're quite good, aren't you?"
Ri's eyes flashed with happiness as she finally realized it was Dyon, but his words made her roll her eyes. Taking her hand away, she gave Dyon a stern look. "You think you can just leave us for an entire night and pretend like nothing happened?"
Dyon raised an eyebrow, but soon noticed that the cave was much better lit than it had been when he left. He could only scratch his head awkwardly in acknowledgement.
'I guess learning 3000 names and partial backstories took more time than I thought… but, I can only imagine how powerful an army of generals would be. It's well worth it.'
Picking up Little Lyla into his arms, Dyon smiled. "We should get you back, hm? We wouldn't want Ms. Everdeen to get mad at me for you missing your lessons, right?"
Little Lyla smiled, and wrapped her arms around Dyon's neck. But, much to the surprise of both Ri and Dyon, she fell asleep almost immediately in that position.
A tinge of guilt invaded Dyon's heart. It looked like the little girl hadn't slept that night either.
Dyon sighed. "It looks like Ms. Everdeen is going to be quite angry with me. But, I can't send her to lessons like this. She's too tired."
Dyon rubbed the little girl's back. Lyla had found a strong hold on Dyon's heart and he wasn't willing to see her suffer at all. He berated himself for not at least coming back to let them know he was okay… but it was too late now.
Ri flicked his forehead. "You seem to forget that you have people who care for you now. Don't be so reckless next time."
With that line, she walked out of the cave, expecting Dyon to follow her.
Watching Ri's alluring back and swaying curves walk away, Dyon smiled to himself, 'I guess I do, hm?'
Along the way, Ri asked Dyon about what had happened. Dyon, wanting to be honest, told her it wasn't something he could tell her the full story behind just yet. But, he reassured her that it wouldn't be a recurring problem.
The demon generals had only been trying to grab Dyon's attention. They had been awake for days, but he still hadn't checked in. Since they were vaguely aware of the fact they had been out of it for more than a year, they didn't want to wait too long for when Dyon next checked on them. So, they stirred a little trouble.
The only thing really on Dyon's mind now was feeding them all. He had no choice but to keep them within his ring so as not to alert the Elvin Kingdom. At most, he could bring out Arios since he had once been here, so his existence wouldn't be questioned too much. In the end, he decided that he might as well feed them like kings. He once again inwardly thanked the Heaven's Wine founder for unwittingly being his benefactor.
As Dyon was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a strong grip on his arm.
Dyon looked over at Ri confusedly, not understanding her actions. But, seeing the horrified look on her face, he immediately followed her line of sight.
Still holding on to Little Lyla, Dyon trembled violently.
There in front of them, the fences of the orphanage he had built were destroyed. Half of the house was charred black from an obvious fire, and there was layer after layer of feces piled onto the front lawns, peaking through the windows, and even filling the doorways.
Huddled outside, hundreds of shivering children sat together, looking at the scene with tears in their eyes.
Dyon quickly scanned the crowd. He had memorized the faces and names of every child he had taken in, so the first thing he wanted to make sure was that none of them were missing.
Taking a deep breath, Dyon did his best to calm himself. He didn't want his anger to awaken Lyla or frighten the already scared children. They were lucky enough that none of the children seemed to be missing, he didn't want to make a bad situation, worse.
But, the next sight Dyon saw nearly made him lose nearly all control.
Ms. Everdeen, the sweet old lady he felt like he had just spoken to. The same old lady he had watched through Little Black take such good care of the children. The same old lady that reminded Dyon so much of his own mother...
Hung by her neck from a tree.
Her face was in ruins, nearly unrecognizable. Her clothes had been stripped from her. Deep cuts littered her once fair and fragile wrinkled skin…
Tears of anger streamed down Dyon's face as he felt Ri turn her gaze away, burying her head into his shoulder.
