As small as a blade of grass

"My name is Eliza Synclaire." Again she curtsied but from his etiquette lessons, Adrian knew it was more than that. When a noble is of higher rank than the person they are bowing to, then they only slightly bend down and don't lower their eyes to meet the ground and that's precisely what Eliza did.

"As you might have guessed my father is Duke Synclair." She continued and Adrian's eyes widened. No, he hadn't guessed that! There were three dukes in Gaiwarth Kingdom and each of their family's influence was only slightly less than that of the royal family. In fact, they had all deepened their connections to the royal family through marriage. They were definitely somewhere near the top of the list of people that his parents had warned him to avoid...

But it was probably too late now to run.

"Greetings, Miss Eliza." With a somewhat rusty bow, Adrian racked his brain trying to recall his etiquette lessons.

A shimmer of surprise flashed across her eyes as she asked him curiously "You're a noble as well?"

"Yes." Adrian answered politely, "My father's just a low-ranking country Baron though."

Hopefully, if he said that then she would lose interest but instead she asked,

"From where? Is that why I haven't seen you at any social gatherings before?"

"Errr," Adrian tried his best not to avert his gaze "It's a long way away from the capital. It's a small territory, called Verrnea."

Callan knew where that was. It was a fairly uneventful place that rarely came into official reports or documents apart from the half annual reports that were required to be submitted from each territory and was located right at the edge of the border and next to the vast ocean.

It was also indeed a long way away from the capital so Adrian must've traveled quite the journey to get here. Yet even then, his hair still smelt fragrantly of dandelions and salt.

But Eliza obviously didn't know where it was as she chuckled lightly, "It must be quite far away then." She commented lightly.

"It is." Adrian answered.

Eliza's eyes skimmed over Callan for the first time before she let out a deep and sorrowful sigh.

She really didn't want to tell him as he seemed very untrustworthy but since the cute boy had insisted he tag along then she didn't have a choice.

"Not many people know this because I try my best to hide it." She began to speak, her voice airy and eloquent, "But my eyes are a little bit unusual. Ever since I was young, for some reason I've been able to see people's souls. It's a pretty useless power though as at most I can tell if the person has an affinity for the elements or be a rough outline for what their personality is judging by how their soul fluctuates. For instance, one of the older girls who was sitting near me while waiting to be tested had a white soul that was slightly intertwined with the earth, demonstrating her affinity for earth mana. It was also a little bit stubborn and seemed to be rooted firmly in place, so she must be pretty diligent and strong-willed."

Adrian's eyes widened. Surely she couldn't tell that he was a mermaid by his soul right? RIGHT?

Callan also shuffled ever so slightly on the spot. How come he hadn't heard of this before? He'd met Eliza quite a few times before as well as... Duke Sinclaire had even offered him her hand in marriage although he quickly refused that offer.

"And the person standing next to you has a very shiny soul that is heavily intermingled with the fire and light element! It is actually very pretty although judging by its unstable rippling, the person obviously has an untrustworthy personality which is too bad! Wait it looks kind of familiar..."

Callan's eyes snapped open at Adrian's side and Eliza halted her sentence as she was temporarily struck speechless. Her gaze immediately snapped over to Callan and she gave a silent gasp.

A pair of piercing eyes that weren't grey anymore glared down at her, the beast inside them alive and raging. Callan lifted up his finger and placed it against his lips, sending her a clear message; an order of silence and confidentiality.

Eliza suddenly felt that the air had grown extremely heavy and that it was very hard to breathe.

How come this cute boy was walking around with the devil? And how had she not realized it before? She felt like slapping herself but alas, she cast him a worrying gaze and a pleading glance erupted in her silvery-white eyes.

His intention was as clear as daylight so she could only force herself to cough lightly and avoid his deadly stare at all costs.

"I must've got the wrong person. He's very unfamiliar." She corrected herself before continuing on with admirable resilience "Anyway, you get my point. However today for the first time in my life, I came across someone whose soul I couldn't see, so please understand that my panic was warranted. After all, people without souls can't truly be alive so I feared what you might be."

It felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice water over his head and he'd been pummelled by the cubes repeatedly. Adrian stared at her, wide-mouthed.

He didn't have a soul? No... that wasn't possible, right? Even if he was a mermaid, surely mermaids still had souls right?

His fingertips immediately pressed against his neck and the unmistakable beating sensation of the lively pulse beneath them made him relieved. He was definitely still alive!

Callan's gaze also darkened.

"I don't have one?" Adrian couldn't help but mutter softly, "I am alive though?"

"No no no no." Eliza shook her head gracefully and laughed, "That's what I thought at first so naturally I panicked. But after I gazed at you more deeply, I found it. But if your soul is like a blade of grass, then everyone else's soul is like a large tree. To put it into perspective, at first glance your soul is so faint that it appears like you don't even have one. Although it makes me relieved I can't help but wonder how you are still alive. After all, your soul is so weak I can't even see it clearly. In fact, it looks like it might disappear at any given moment, like a little flame flickering atop of a candle's wick caught in a howling wind."

Adrian swallowed unsure of how to react. He believed her but... why would his soul be as weak as she claimed? He had never felt unhealthy before and even right now he felt perfectly fine. Surely a healthy fish such as himself couldn't just drop dead right?"

"W-will I die?" He asked her trying to keep his voice calm as he felt Callan's arm snake its way around his shoulders.

But Eliza simply shook her head and murmured quietly "I don't think so. At first, I was worried you would drop dead right there on the spot but that never happened. Even now, you stand firmly in front of me not looking at all close to death, which is what makes this all the more fascinating."

"Is there any way to strengthen the soul?" Callan spoke up, his warm breath still tickling the tip of Adrian's ear and causing it to slightly flush.

Eliza didn't dare to look at him "Not that I know of. After all, out of all the souls I've seen both human and nonhuman, none of them were quite like yours." Her eyes stared into the depths of Adrian's chest and her voice had a slight tinge of lonliness, "But don't worry. I won't tell anyone and even if I did, it's not like they could verify it."

Although mana devices existed, there were none to measure souls. After all, even for someone who could see them, they were still very mysterious and incomprehensible, like Adrian's had been today.

Perhaps it was a rare outlier and there were more others out there like him that she had yet to see. Plus souls don't change, so up until this point he'd lived his life just fine and dandy without knowing his soul was abnormally small and weak, so there was no reason why he couldn't continue to do so in the future.

As she shared this sentiment with him, she could see that it brought him some sort of comfort, although what worried her even more, was the annoying prince who seemed glued to his side.

Maybe it was because Adrian was spending so much time with him, his soul had shrunken to the size of a pea, Eliza thought to herself bitterly as the three of them headed back to the training field waiting for the examination to begin.