Chapter 10 A little seduction
Lyriel blinked, then looked down at herself, the oversized shirt nearly swallowing her frame. The shorts were held at her small waist by a belt so they wouldn’t slip.
"I... they were the only clean clothes," she said quickly. "He was only helping me."
Mira arched a brow. "Helping? Please. If any other girl showed up half-drenched in the rain, he'd have pointed her to the nearest inn. But you? He takes you in, lets you stay, and you think that's not love? Looks at you... you're..you are so... beautiful."
Lyriel bit her lip, glancing down at the strawberries. "He doesn't act like he's in love. Sometimes he's distant, quiet, maybe annoyed."
Mira frowned. "So… he's hiding his feelings? And you, my dear angel, have to help him find them again."
Lyriel blinked, intrigued and horrified. "Help him...how?"
"With a little seduction," Mira said matter-of-factly, as though it were as simple as brewing tea...that bitter tea!
Lyriel's eyes went wide. "Seduction? you mean seduce Eli?! "
Mira gasp at how she uttered the word so loudly, catching the attention of fruits vendors around. She nudged at Lyriel to lower her voice.
Lyriel tugged at her shirt nervously, lowering her voice into a whisper, "Seduce Eli?" The thought felt foreign, wrong, and yet Mira spoke as if it were a matter of simple practicality.
"I… I can't," Lyriel said softly, keeping her voice measured, trying not to draw further attention.
Mira burst into laughter. " Oh, sweet heavens, you really are innocent."
"I can't do that to Eli!"
Mira sighed and sat down on the stool, arranging her fruits on the table. "Oh, come now, Lyriel. You think he won't grow bored? Men like Eli… they need excitement. And if you don't give it to him, he might just..." Mira's smile sharpened, her eyes glittering in the sunlight, a flicker of mischief beneath the charm. "send you away."
Lyriel felt a cold ripple run down her spine but forced a calm tone. "I appreciate your concern, Mira, but I won't manipulate anyone. I simply… can't do it."
A merchant's bell rang nearby, a boy raced past them chasing a stray chicken, and Mira's laughter cut through the market's bustle, cruelly amused. "You're not manipulating anyone. Being nice… isn't always enough, Lyriel. Sometimes, you have to be clever."
Lyriel straightened, her resolve firm. She stepped back, ignoring the curious glances from passing villagers. "I… I need to go."
As she turned, Mira's voice called after her, "If you ever change your mind… You know where to find me."
Lyriel paused for a moment, shadows of doubt flickering in her mind. Was this how humans behaved with people they barely knew? Giving such strange, careless advice? she wondered, but only sighed and walked away.
Lyriel had only meant to take a quiet walk through the village, letting the air clear her thoughts. But when she returned to the cottage, a peculiar emptiness greeted her. Eli was still nowhere to be found! The wooden door creaked faintly as she stepped inside, the familiar warmth of the hearth doing little to soothe her nerves.
Her gaze wandered, landing on a small bookshelf she had never paid much attention to, tucked into the corner. Curious, she approached it, fingers brushing over the spines of the books. Most were written in letters she could not decipher. She pulled one from the shelf and opened it carefully. There where drawings of mystical creatures across the pages—griffins, Vampires, dragons, and most entrancing, a mermaid, her long hair floating as if underwater. Lyriel traced the outline of the drawing with her finger, captivated.
She turned the next page, and her breath caught in excitement. A small fae was drawn there, wings delicate and beautiful, her posture graceful and light. Lyriel's eyes widened, and she squeezed the book closer to her chest before leaning in again, heart fluttering.
A Fae!
Just like her.
For a moment, she forgot the quiet cottage, forgot the empty room, forgot Eli's absence. She traced the tiny wings with her fingertip, a smile pulling at her lips, "How did humans draw this so perfectly?" she wondered. The arch of the wings, the glow around the body, even the way the hair seemed to float as if caught in a breeze—it was all so accurate it made her chest warm.
She had never expected humans to know what her kind truly looked like. Yet here it was, right in front of her… hidden in Eli's books.
Time passed quietly as she flipped through the pages. Outside, the wind rattled the windowpane, and somewhere far off, a dog barked. Eli still hadn't returned! She closed the book and wandered further into the cottage, exploring corners she had ignored before. That’s when her eyes fell on a closed drawer, a strange light peeking out from the corner. Something about it seemed...different.
She slid it open carefully, expecting to find a bag of gem stones or something of that sort, but what lay inside the drawer made her gasp in surprise. Nestled inside on deep blue velvet was a dagger. Its blade glowed faintly, a soft, eerie light that seemed to hum with a low vibration. It was the most powerful and majestic weapon she had ever laid eyes on. Though the weapons of light, hidden beneath the kingdom of Eloria, were far more powerful, this was a dark weapon, hauntingly beautiful and strangely...alluring.
How did Eli come to possess such a weapon? Without thinking, she reached in and picked it up with her bare hands.
The moment her skin touched the hilt, a sudden, searing heat shot through her palm. "Ahhh!" She cried out and dropped it instantly, the dagger thudding softly against the velvet. Pain flared across her hand, her palm turning red as the burn spread. She stared at her trembling fingers, breath unsteady. The glowing dagger laid innocently where it fell, as if it hadn't harmed her at all.
The door slammed open immediately, and Eli appeared in the doorway, his eyes instantly locking on the dagger. "Lyriel!" His voice was sharp.
Before she could say anything, he moved quickly and picked up the dagger. Its glow dimmed under his grip. "How dare you touch it without my permission?" His eyes were fierce. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
Lyriel looked down at her burned fingers, the pain throbbed lightly, and she swallowed. "I… I just wanted to see it," she whispered, her voice small. "I didn't know…"
"Some things aren't toys, Lyriel! They aren't for curiosity! This… this is dangerous!" The anger in his voice made her flinch. She had never heard him yell so harshly.
Lyriel's gaze returned to the dagger, which had lost its glow in Eli's hand. The rest of his words barely reached her ears. She felt awe, fear, and a strange longing all at once. She realized, with a sudden clarity, that this cottage and Eli himself held secrets far beyond anything she had imagined.
And in that moment, she understood she was only beginning to scratch the surface of a world far more mysterious, and more wondrous than she had ever known.