"I didn't ask for your permission. I work for the lady."
Damn it! It's endless if I talk to him. Hah!!
With a fiery heart, Aland left Avelin alone in the room.
"The young master might be sick," Avelin muttered and followed him.
Aland hurried to the dining table. He planned to protest to his mother, so Avelin wouldn't be hired at home.
"Mom! Why are you hiring a 6-year-old at home? He'll just be a burden-"
His words stopped when he clearly saw his grandmother eating with his mother.
Grandma? Didn't Mom say Grandma was out of town for 3 days? It's only been one day since Grandma left yesterday, why is she here now?
"My dear grandson!" Aland's grandmother got up from the dining table to approach her grandson.
"Young master, I brought you medicine!" Avelin came from behind Aland, carrying a medicine.
Aland quickly hid behind Avelin. Avelin responded with a strange look.
"Young master. What are you doing?"
"Be quiet!" Aland whispered.
"My grandson!"
Aland's grandmother is the owner of the Merchant Spiher guild. They sell spices to various places around the world. Loyas Braiy, the mother of Cassey Ghoramain. Loyas Braiy's husband was Dernato Ghoramain; he led the Merchant Spiher guild before he died of illness.
Loyas picked Aland up, hugged him, and kissed his cheek. Aland tried to evade, but he still couldn't fight an adult.
"Did you miss Grandma?"
No!
"Grandma missed you too!"
I said no!
"My dear, that's enough. Aland must be hungry. He came home late last night, so he didn't have time to eat," said Cassey.
"Yes, yes, I understand!"
"My grandson must be very hungry!" she said, carrying Aland to the dining table.
"Aland is really sick. Grandma immediately carried him to the dining table," Avelin muttered flatly."
...
After breakfast, Aland told his mother and grandmother why he had come home so late the previous night. His mother and grandmother were quite shocked because his mother's sibling had borrowed money from a loan shark again, even though Cassey always offered to help him.
After finishing his story, Aland went up to the second floor, straight to his room. When he got there, he saw Avelin looking at photos of Aland from when he was a child.
"Oi! What are you doing in my room?" Aland walked up to Avelin, crossing his arms to emphasize that he was the boss here.
"I'm cleaning your room."
"Hey! Look at you. You said you work for my mother, so why are you in here right now?"
"My mother is downstairs, go see her now!" Aland snapped.
"The young master is truly sick," Avelin murmured, giving Aland a strange look.
"What are you talking about? There's no way I'm sick."
"Someone once told me that if a person suddenly gets angry and then just as suddenly becomes nice, they say that person is ill."
"If I'm not mistaken... the name of the illness is..." She tried to recall something that had slipped her mind.
*What else is she going to say?* Aland wondered internally.
"Ah, yes! Psychosis!"
*This rotten subordinate!* Aland cursed fiercely in his mind.
"I don't know what that illness is, so I brought you all these medications!" Smiling, Avelin held up a bag containing medicine and several supplements.
Aland weakly took the bag. He placed it on the vanity table, then walked behind Avelin and slowly pushed her out of his room.
"Don't forget to take your medicine, okay, Young Master!"
"Yes."
"Don't forget to drink something before you take the pills!"
"Yes."
"Or maybe take the medicine first, and then drink!"
"Yes."
As soon as Avelin was out of the room, Aland slammed the door shut.
*Slam!*
"Don't forget to drink it, Young Master!"
...
Elsewhere, far away in the central plains, a formidable man was carrying out a cleansing, or rather, an execution. Five of his trusted subordinates stood behind him, two of whom were women.
The formidable man and his five subordinates were staring at an Elf male and two young Elf women. The Elf man was slumped on the ground, drenched in blood.
Wounds covered his entire body, indicating a recent battle with the formidable man and his five subordinates.
The formidable man standing in front was Durov Celeste, the father of Aland Ben Celeste and husband of Cassey Ghoramain.
His five subordinates were named Coksa, a long-haired man wearing glasses and Durov's right-hand man; Lauren, a muscular man with a tattoo covering part of his left face; and Hugo, a cold man with an empty stare, whose movements were as slick as an eel.
Ghabi was a White Tiger Half-Beast. Her build was slender yet curvaceous, but her heart was not. She was a cold-blooded killer. Piona was a half-Elf, half-human mix-slender, with a tight, full chest. She always wore revealing clothing, had a black rose tattoo on her neck, and possessed diamond-blue eyes.
"Wh-why are you doing this to me, sir?"
The Elf whimpered, enduring intense pain throughout his body. He was Skodla Retnesis, the chief of one of the tribes residing in the World Tree-the sacred tree deified by the Elf race. He was suspected of collaborating with the evil organization the Celeste Mafia family was hunting: Bless Evil, a group founded by the Demon race.
"... I have always been loyal to you! So why are you doing this to me, sir?" Skodla occasionally glanced at his two daughters, who were huddled in fear by a tree.
"Piona, you cut him up too much!" Ghabi chuckled.
"I didn't realize his body was that fragile. I thought Elf skin was slightly tougher than a sheet of iron," Piona replied flatly.
*How could you do this to me when we are the same race? Even if you are only half-Elf,* Skodla thought bitterly.
Durov approached Skodla and spoke. "I received intelligence that you have allied yourself with Bless Evil. How could I possibly ignore that? You were one of the people I trusted." He stared at Skodla, who was still crawling on the ground, his expression flat.
"I-it's impossible that I did that, my lord! Someone must be framing me," Skodla said.
"These pointed ears still dare to deny it!" Lauren snapped.
Lauren threw an Emerald in front of Skodla. The Emerald radiated an evil power, or demonic energy.
"We found that in your hiding place in the slums on the outskirts of LostArk. The followers of Bless Evil communicate with that stone, don't they?"
"M-my lord! Someone must have set me up!" He hugged Durov's legs.
"I would never betray you, sir! I am willing to be judged before the Word Tree!"
"Please, my lord, believe me!"
"I initially didn't believe this information. But, after seeing the evidence firsthand... I changed my mind," Durov said flatly.
"Before the stone was brought here, a voice came out of it mentioning your name. They said... when shall we destroy House Celeste!"
Boom!
A powerful energy burst forth from within Durov. The energy wave threw Skodla backward, sending him tumbling across the ground.
Seeing their father increasingly injured, his two daughters came out of hiding, trying to help him up and get him away from the area. Their crying was truly loud enough to bother Piona.
Piona threw the two golden Daggers she called Three Eyes toward the Elf children. They were legendary daggers from ancient times, named Three Eyes because there were three eyes on the blade of each dagger.
Skodla detected an object heading toward his children. He quickly turned, tightly embracing the two small Elves.
*Shlick!*
"FATHER!"
The dagger pierced Skodla's back. But it didn't touch a single hair on his children; he had managed to cast a shield over them so the Dagger couldn't strike his two daughters.
"Father..."
"I hate noise!" Piona snapped.