18. Friend and foe

It was taking longer to clean the area, so Mona was just sitting idly on the top of a huge rock in a corner. She's watching everyone do their own duties. After the Grand Duke and the marquess left, the constant glances she had been receiving lessened. She guessed it was due to the absence of the Grand Duke.

'Of course, seeing their master talk to someone like me is really surprising.' Mona thought to herself.

It was noon when the two left, now the sky was colored in purple and reddish hue. Dusk is slowly approaching and the dimmed surroundings are now being illuminated by the fire that burns the monsters.

Even the wind started to become colder.

Mona hugged her knees while looking up at the sky. A few twinkling stars are already visible, yet their lights are faint. She shifted her head to her left when she felt a movement.

It was the captain of the Adri Knights.

"Please, use this if you're cold." He said while handing her a black hooded cloak. "Although the fire can warm you if you move closer, the smell of burning flesh will surely disgust you."

Mona accepted the cloak and uttered a 'thank you'.

Her clothes are actually three-layered. The first is her undergarments which consist of a chemise tucked inside ankle-length underpants; the second was the inner clothing, a long sleeves tunic on which the hem reaches down to the ground, with slits from the hips down to the end, worn with a belt on the waist; and lastly, the outer clothing, a robe that can cover her entire inner garments.

But even though her clothes were like that, Mona still draped the cloak around her. Her clothes are all made of linen and silk whose textures are thin and smooth, so Mona could still feel the cold breeze of the approaching nighttime.

She hugged herself more after wearing the cloak and settled herself on observing the flickering fire from the distance.

Lionel continued to stand on Mona's left side silently. He was staring at the woman whose face was being lit by the glow of the fire. Before leaving, the Grand Duke secretly ordered him to protect the lady from any malicious intent. He could understand the Grand Duke's intentions since many are still reluctant to accept and believe that this woman was different.

What he could not understand, is why his master was willing to keep her under his wings even without a royal order.

Lionel knew his master had received an order to protect and send the lady to the holy nation from the emperor directly. But that was already two years ago.

'Is protecting her now still part of that order?' He asked himself.

"You can leave now, sir Captain. I'm not going anywhere."

His thoughts were cut off by Mona's voice.

"Do you not want a company?"

Mona smiled faintly and shook her head. "There is no need. I am content with being alone."

"Ah." Lionel doesn't know how to respond to that.

Observing the lady, he found her words convincing. Her face was not showing any emotions except a faint smile she showed him earlier. Even that smile gives off a quiet and lone vibe. Lionel realized that he only saw the woman brimming with emotions whenever she was with the Grand Duke.

"There is nothing to do, anyways. All of the corpses have been burned already, and we were just waiting for that fire to finish." He answered and gestured towards the big fire.

"I see. But are you okay being stared and glared at?" Mona asked him, noticing some eyes had begun looking in their direction already.

"I can see them stealing glances; they are probably curious about you. And about the glare, I don't see anyone, though?" He answered and looked around.

Mona pointed a direction to him. "That lady with the black hair keeps glaring at us."

"Ah. That's my younger sister." Lionel responded and grimaced toward her sister. "Please, don't mind her. She's a bit childish."

"Really? How old is she?"

"Nineteen."

"Wow. She was just nineteen years old but she already looks so amazing at her magic."

Mona witnessed how the captain's sister commanded the group of magicians and used magic. She could also feel an immense amount of natural mana within her.

"She does. She was born gifted in the field of magic." Lionel replied, sounding like a proud father. He then glanced away from his sister and looked at Mona, firing his own question. "How old are you?"

Mona glanced at him briefly and looked away. She was contemplating how to answer that question.

"This body belongs to a twenty-one-year-old lady. But my soul is twenty-six already." She decided to answer that way.

Mona actually preferred the twenty-one, just to look and sound younger. But she answered with her real age, just to feed the captain's obvious curiosity.

"So... you are basically twenty-six years old," Lionel replied while nodding his head. "You were older than the lord."

Hearing this, Mona's head whipped towards him immediately. And with large opened eyes, she asked. "How old is the Grand Duke?"

Lionel almost burst into laughter watching the lady's expression. He scratched his nose while hoping that she wouldn't notice his goofy grin.

"Twenty-four."

"You're kidding! That man looks so done with life already you'd think he had lived his prime!" She yelled, unbelieving of the captain's words. "Though his face looks younger, I always believe that looks can be deceiving sometimes."

"So, you thought his grace was actually older?"

"Yes."

Lionel grinned and asked her again. "Then, how old do you think I am?"

With his question, Mona looked him up and down. His brownish curly locks that reach to his nape are swaying by the wind, half of it is tied in a messy bun above his head. His eyes, bright green in colors mixed with the reddish glow from the distant fire, and his wide grinning smile, showing a perfect set of white teeth radiates a very youthful impression.

Mona answered while caressing her chin. "Hm. Twenty?"

Lionel, hiding his goofy grin with his hands, completely burst into laughter.

"Don't laugh and tell me if I'm correct," Mona asked, frowning.

"Ehrm! Twenty-eight." He answered while straightening his face, to stop himself from laughing.

Mona gaped and replied. "No way! You're older than me?"

"It seems so."

"You look younger!"

"Thank you."

"How come?"

"I was simply born with a slow aging appearance."

"You mean baby-faced."

"No. I'm an adult already."

"Nah. I mean a face with the skin of a baby."

"If you called it like that in your own world, then that must be it."

Mona nodded. The captain's face is indeed a baby face.

"His grace' personality sometimes really clouded his real age. It is because he was raised as a successor at a very young age."

"So, that is how it is," Mona replied.

'He was stressed at a young age. Poor guy.' She thought inwardly.

Their conversation was stopped when a knight approached and called the captain to inform him that the incineration was already completed.

Lionel just then noticed that the sky had completely filled with stars and the surroundings had gradually become darker. The fire that lit up the surroundings is now gone. The magicians are now preparing to open a portal that will lead them back to the duchy.

It was nighttime already.

And yet he did fail to notice the time passing by so quickly.

He was surprised to realize that his conversation with the lady entertained him, to the point of forgetting his environment. He looked back and saw Mona glancing at the portal made from a natural magic spell.

Her face showed worry, so Lionel asked her.

"Is there something wrong?"

Mona glanced at him and smiled awkwardly.

"Ahm. Sir Captain, how far is the duchy from here?"

"Miles away," Lionel answered at the sudden question.

"Oh. How many days can it be traveled by horse?"

He furrowed his eyebrows but replied nonetheless. "Three to four days. But with the portal, we can arrive in just a few minutes."

Mona nodded and showed a crooked smile.

"Sir Captain, magic doesn't work on me. I can't travel through portals made from natural magic."

She finally declared her worries.

She heard a loud and sarcastic sigh in the background. When both of them looked in that direction, they found it was actually the captain's sister.

"You came here through a portal; did you not say earlier?" She said condescendingly.

"Shelly," Lionel called out to his sister, silently sending her a warning not to be rude or pick a fight.

Hearing what the captain's sister said, Mona confirmed that she was indeed listening to her conversation with the Grand Duke earlier.

"The portal I use was made from divine mana by the first high priest himself. That's why it worked."

"Hah! So, you're saying you can't travel with natural magic users?" Shelly yelled annoyingly.

Mona's eyebrow twitched at her words.

"Don't twist my words, kid." She replied coldly.

Some of the people around them flinched at her voice. So, she sighed deeply and calmed herself down. She doesn't want to become any scarier than she was to them right now.

"You can try if you don't believe me. Magic just doesn't work on me."

"What kind of magic?" A seemingly kind magician came over and asked her.

"Any kind." She answered straight away.

"Let me try then." Shelly stepped forward and held out her stuff.

Due to her actions, Lionel rushed in front of Mona and blocked her. This enraged his sister.

"Brother!"

"Stop this. If she said it won't then let's believe her."

"We won't if we don't see it!" Shelly yelled back.

Lionel was going to answer back again when he felt a tug on his sleeves. He looked back and saw Mona holding the hem of his sleeves.

"Let her. I won't be hurt. Since it won't work anyway."

He was hesitant to step aside, but when Mona nudged him to step further, worrying that the magic might hurt him, Lionel had no choice but to believe in the lady.

Her face was not showing any fear at the stuff that was generating a ball of voltaic yellowish light at its end. The head of the stuff was pointed at her.

When the sphere was complete, a blinding light shot out towards Mona, who covered her ears at the deafening sound of the attack and closed her eyes tightly.

Mona knew she wouldn't feel anything, even after being attacked with such power. She only closed her eyes because of her light sensitivity, but opened it again after a minute passed.

When she did, her vision was occupied with the dark bluish color of a cape, worn by someone standing in front of her.

She could hear the silence and feel the tension in the atmosphere.

Everyone was speechless. Waiting for a certain man to open his mouth.

That man turned his head on his back and met her eyes. His face was dark, and his lips were pursed tightly. He glared at her.

At first, Mona thought that he would yell at her. Since he looked like he would explode anytime. But the Grand Duke looked away again and ordered his knights in a cold yet furious voice.

"Bring me a horse."