Ch. 30 Each Individual Has Two Sides

Aria returned to the ballroom and looked for Quinn. Luckily, she knew her friend's gown, so she had no trouble finding her position.

"Quinn," Aria called as she patted her friend's shoulder, who was currently chatting with the girl's friend.

"Aria, here you are. Where have you been?"

"I'm getting some fresh air outside."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm better now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't mind me."

"If you say so. Anyway, do you remember Iona?" Quinn shifted a little, so Aria could see Iona, who stood behind her.

Aria remembered that Iona never helped her nor defended her when other children insulted her or bullied her. But she also recognized that Iona had never approached her or teamed up with others to taunt her. Iona was like, 'not my business,' girl.

Iona was someone who disliked involving herself in others' affairs as long as it didn't involve her dear ones.

"Hi, Aria. Nice to meet you." greeted Iona.

"Pleasure is mine." came the reply from Aria with a polite smile.

"I heard you love to eat strawberries."

Aria gave Quinn an accusing look. "Did you tell her?"

Quinn gave a sheepish smile as she answered her friend, "We were talking about strawberries in the werewolf realm, and she said they have the best strawberries amongst other realms."

"And I speak the truth," added Iona. "Come over to our place, and I'll treat you to lots of your favorite strawberries."

"No, thanks. But you can send them to my house. I will definitely hoover it with great gratitude." Aria refused the offer to come to the werewolf realm cleverly, making Iona laugh out loud.

"Are you sure you won't regret it? My garden is full of ripe strawberries, and you can eat them on the spot."

"You have a strawberry field?"

"Of course. I am an ordinary human who lives with my future husband in the werewolf realm. When my husband is on duty, I plant any plants behind the house to fill my boredom." explained Iona making a pair of chocolate-like eyes sparkle with amazement.

"She has a green thumb," added Quinn, praising Iona in front of Aria. "You should see her glasshouse. You can find all kinds of beautiful flowers there."

Iona was beaming in delight at hearing her childhood friend's recommendation.

"Yeah, you should come. I'll make a flower crown for you."

"Where is it?"

"Of course, in the werewolf realm."

"..." Aria felt ready to fly and suddenly went limp when she heard the place's location that sounded the most pleasant.

What does she expect? Iona had become one of the werewolves' mates, and the girl had lived in the werewolf realm. Of course, all the fantastic places Iona and Quinn talked about must be in the werewolf realm.

"Why do I feel like you guys are trying to take me to the werewolf realm? I don't want to go there." she already went there and sneaked into the Alpha King's room. Once is more than enough. She didn't want to do it again.

Plus, dealing with the white wolf's enormous body was terrifying. She would only think of it as a mere nightmare and never dare to set foot into the werewolf realm a second time.

She had already returned what she had stolen to the Alpha King, so she didn't have to repeat her sneakiness.

"What a pity. But if you change your mind, don't forget that I am there too."

Even though Aria didn't understand why Iona spoke to her like that, she still gave her a friendly smile.

"How about you, girl? Don't you want to visit me there?" Iona asked Quinn back, making the girl beaming in delight.

"I thought you never ask. I will stay at your place tomorrow night before returning to the fairy kingdom."

"Really? But why do you have to go back to the Fairy Kingdom? I thought you're back here for good."

Quinn shook her head without losing her cheerful smile. This made Aria wonder if the girl would tell Iona about her getting married to a fae.

"My father is aging, and he asked me to accompany him there. So I decided to stay there. After all, I received training in making medicinal herbs and was accepted as a medical apprentice there."

Aria fell silent, knowing Quinn wouldn't tell Iona the real reason.

"Oh, what a pity. I will miss you."

"Aw, I'm gonna miss you too." Quinn wrapped her arms around Iona's shoulders with her right hand and grabbed Aria's arm with her left. "I will miss you both."

The three danced together on the dance floor several times until Douglass, Iona's mate, appeared to do the couple dance with her. Several men also invited Aria and Quinn to dance, but they decided not to dance with any.

Quinn already had a crush and was in no mood to fling with another man aside from her fiance.

On the other hand, Aria didn't know and couldn't tell which one was a werewolf and which one wasn't. She didn't like standing in the same room with the werewolf, especially since many werewolves came into this place. Neither did she wish to find a human dance partner, so she didn't mind accompanying Quinn while enjoying dessert at the sweet corner.

Several other young men and girls approached the two to exchange pleasantries, and both welcomed their presence with open-mindedness.

Aria felt that she could be herself and enjoy this masquerade ball for the first time, which only happens once every five years.

"You were right. I don't regret coming here."

"See? Told you." came the reply with a proud tone. "I know you still don't like seeing werewolves, but with all the people wearing masks, you never know which one is that and this. You can think of everyone here as an ordinary human."

"But still."

"Aria, not all of the werewolf is bad, and not all human is good. If you think that all werewolves are bad people while good-hearted ones are out there, isn't that unfair? Why do you think all elves are good when there are a lot of bad elves?"

"I've never seen an elf do anything bad."

"That's because the elves you meet don't have magic, and even if they do, the human lord has made a ban on them. You would never have thought that there would be so many evil elves cooperating with the dark fae in the fairy kingdom."

Aria glanced at Quinn with a look of disbelief.

"Believe me, Aria. Every creature in the four realms has two sides, just as this world has day and night. There is a good side, and there is also an evil side. We can't generalize them all just because we've been traumatized in the past."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm worried about you. I hope you can get rid of your hatred and don't just look with one eye."

"What does it mean?"

"You will understand when the time comes."

And just like that, Quinn left her with the unanswered puzzle.