Chapter 33 Hypothesis And Analysis— And Two Hot Men. God Bless The Matriarchy
Thomas. That was the Irae’s name.
Of course, a certain system refused to acknowledge that as his name, \[YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS A MISTAKE. I WILL UPLOAD IT INTO THE SYSTEM WHEN YOU ARE READY\]
Maeve didn’t care. Not really. She was not stupid to think the creature circling her constantly was a pet, especially after she had studied Amir’s notes.
‘An Irae. 7-8ft at shoulder height. 12-15ft at full length. Molten silver with wisps around it that feel and look similar to fur, floats. Empty eye sockets. Sharp rows of teeth but only by look— indicates no method of feeding. Bears some form of sentience due to mimicry behavior and interactions with Isabella. Has some form of ability to alter the space around it. Solitary creature’
All of that in a few what? Minutes?
That observation skill of his really had its perks, huh? She had to ask him how it worked later.
Lucien probably would have panicked that something was wrong with her then adored the Irae when she showed it affection— or possibly asked for its own affection. That made more sense.
There was one thing he didn’t add which she was sure it must have deduced by now.
It had not attacked Maeve because of the sole reason of her being manaless.
That was one of the main reasons that she had done this in the first place.
Maeve had begun to suspect that she bore no mana for quite a while now. For her presentation day, the orb turning black didn’t cause the nobles to fear her which would have happened if it was something strong or powerful, not with disregard or discomfort.
And the fact that they were calling her a curse or something possessed means they associated her with the Queen… and no one knew what the Queen’s affinity was.
But if Eldoria’s orb had turned black for her own Presentation day, it would have been in the records. It was not.
And the cursed farm lands…
Maeve had deduced that the only reason the lands were feared so terribly was because it was tainted with a curse that fed on mana. It attacked the same way as Thomas did. Blindly. Meeting it had proved her theories correct.
If the grounds were like sensors that attacked at anything that entered its vicinity, like lasers, then it would be completely unsafe for nobles to go in, compared to commoners since they had way less mana.
And did nothing for her since she had nothing to wake its sensors in the first place.
But was that all it was? That Maeve had no mana to begin with? That’s… that’s too much of a liability in this kind of world to begin with.
And did it truly have no effect on her? Or did she actually do something and the repercussions might come soon?
So much thinking happening for one hungry little princess. She didn’t deserve it.
When Amir returned from his hunting, he stared at her with a look that made it clear that he knew she had come to the same conclusion he did but said nothing. Adrian returned, staying silent as well. Maeve realized the men might have had a conversation. She didn’t bother to ask what.
By the next day, they were ready to move. Thomas was not, which in extension meant Maeve could not move. She told them that she wanted to stay more around it, study it more but of course, Adrian did not want to accept it— and Amir seemed glad that she was fine with it.
Anyway, it ended with Adrian having to send the carriage back to Aeltherra and Maeve following Thomas.
She learned that he was like any other animal, except he might have also seen her as a child? In a sense? He took her towards things he believed were food, which proved the sentience part, which also made Maeve aware about the fact that this forest they were in… was coated in large layer of illusions.
Things looked normal… until she touched certain plants and felt that murk all over again. Like it stayed beneath it. Pretending. Molding. Hiding.
And Thomas made that possible somehow.
Which did not make sense. If the lands around were truly cursed, it would not be keeping anything alive. Except… except if it could redistribute the curse somehow… if it instead fed on the curse and therefore fixed whatever problems it had.
But it could not do it perfectly.
Calculations. Investigations.
They met a few other mana beasts— each of them having their bios signifying that they were all ranks below S. It seemed almost as if the lower each rank was, they were more feral— volatile.
Amir never joined in fighting it. In fact, his entire thing to do was taking Maeve up into one of the trees, holding her tight to his chest as he whispered in her ear, “You can do your research all the way up here where it’s safe and also watch him suffer. Better, yes?”
She said nothing, her focus always on Adrian fighting each one.
While Thomas never participated in the fighting with other mana beasts, Adrian did not need its help.
She had heard tales of his fighting but seeing it in person— he fought with a grace she saw only in fencing. He also was never in the defense, like he was certain that there was no reason to defend— and no matter what it was, he killed in a way that made it clear that he wanted it to end as quickly as possible— and as painless.
That’s why the heads went off immediately after.
“He’s still alive,”
Her voice was what pulled Adrian out of his drowning thoughts, his sharp eyes following her as she walked to the creature he had just killed. There were many of them in this area, but they were not much of a hassle so it was not a problem.
He watched as the woman below him pulled the still convulsing body of the… beast to her side. It looked deformed, wrong. It was a terribly grotesque looking thing that any normal person… any noble would feel disgust or irritation by, but instead, she placed it on her lap, gently moving her hand through its chest.
Slowly, he watched it start to rest into her hand, its spasms reducing little, and little—
Then without any warning, she was shoving her hand into its chest and pulling out something that looked as smooth as a pearl.
Adrian looked away. He could never get used to seeing her do that.
When he was looking back at her, the creature had slowly dissipated into ash, billowing with the wind.
His— no. Isabella, or this person who was so completely different from her, felt up her bloodied hand to look at the stone better. How long had they been here together? All three of them? Amir did the hunting. He did the protecting. And Isabella…
He had watched her study every single beast that passed them, sometimes trying to get herself killed by going too close to them just so she could study them better.
She was maddening. Insane. She did not think, she was sleazy, she was selfish, she was—
“It would be best if you stopped fighting them,” Her voice pulled him back to the present again
. As she rose from the floor, he noticed as he always did that her dress looked dirty and rumpled, but for a noble, she didn’t seem to care about it. Instead, he watched her throw the pearl looking thing towards her new… pet, watched as he caught with his mouth before she said, “Amir says we’re close to his home, so it’d be safe if we hold out a bit,”
She wasn’t saying it with a smile like she would have in the past.
Her voice was cool, casual, like he was a subordinate and she had no plans on blurring the line between them.
He said nothing.
“I’d be dipping into the lake with Thomas,” Isabella was already walking away, the beast following her directly behind before she turned and added, “I’m not sure why you’re in the army if you can’t stand killing something, but you don’t have to do it when you’re around me. I’d figure a way out of it instead,”
And that was it.
She was gone.
“I’d be following her,” Amir said. Adrian did not contest.
Not after the small conversation they had held.
‘She might ignore many things but not this one. And you know it. Do you really think she would give you the time of day if she finds out about this with all the things you have done to her?’
Instead, he watched them both leave, wondering what the elf truly was… and if the pain in his chest would ever stop.