Chapter 28 - Outside the mansion

Kelly's pov

It's been nearly a week and Damien showed no signs of visiting the mysterious person behind the letters. If only I could read minds.

I made sure to avoid Damien at all costs, taking different pathways whenever I sensed him nearby. I couldn't risk him getting into my head and finding out my plans. Despite trying to keep my distance, I couldn't help but secretly follow him, knowing he wouldn't disclose the reason behind the letters and why the sender threatened my life.

Although I kept a far distance as I knew very well of his heightened senses, it seemed like he was avoiding me too because he paused one time when I followed him secretly but he never turned around to confront me. I could tell he knew it was me.

In the midst of this intrigue, my days were filled with companionship from Ivy. She filled me with tales of her adventures, revealing that Lyonesse and other kingdoms existed beyond the realms of the human world map. Each kingdom had its own king, except for Lyonesse, a unique place characterized by its absence of a ruler, hence earning the title of the city of equality. She also said time flies faster in the human world, and though she always wanted to visit the human world, she never did, but she didn't tell me why she couldn't go.

I balanced myself on her sofa as she applied makeup to her face, looking all dressed up.

"Where are you off to?" I asked.

"The shops, there are no more supplies left," she said.

"With no maids now, I do the shopping, but Oliver's trying to reason with him on hiring someone to do the cleaning; otherwise, we're gonna be living in the dust,", She said.

"Can I… come with you?" I asked and Ivy turned to me, looking at me like I just uttered rubbish.

"No.."

"Come on"

"No..."

"I'm so bored," I groaned, tugging on the wool-sleeved shirt I had on.

"Play some classical music, learn to ride a horse or better still, practice your transformation some more"

"But I'm still in the house... I need to go out at least" I said

"Lord Damien is in the house, chat with him"

"No, he's not. He went out with Oliver for some business stuff, and he won't be back until late tonight", I said, and Ivy looked at me weirdly, then she laughed.

"Are you stalking him?" She said amidst laughter.

"No…he told me"

"Yeah right," she said, obviously not believing my statement.

"Come on, Ivy, I feel like I'm slowly rotting from boredom", I said lightly, pulling my cheeks, which kinda hurt a little.

"Lord Damien's gonna kill me if anything happens"

"Nothing will happen... I could dress like royalty, or I could hide my scent with mud or some plant," I said, and just then, my eyes found their way to her face in the mirror, and I noticed she seemed to pause a bit.

"Is there a way to hide my scent?" I asked curiously, and she looked at me, and I noticed a hint of 'yes' in her eyes before she looked away.

"No"

"There is...come on, please" I stood up, going to hold her hand, blinking like a two-year-old. My baby eyes always work.

She looked at me and sighed.

"I could hide your scent…" She said, giving me a side eye and my eyes widened in excitement.

"...and maybe leave just the wolf scent so you don't smell like air but it won't last"

"Alright…Let me go get dressed" I squeaked, rushing away.

"Kelly.." I heard but ignored it.

In a few minutes, I was out in my grey-sleeved jacket and black jeans, with a warm beanie and knee-high boots. When Ivy saw me, she stared at me like a bird landed on my head.

"What?" I was forced to ask.

"It's quite sunny outside today, you know that?" She asked, looking at me from my head to my feet.

"Yes, but it's cold,", I said, observing the summer outfit she wore. It only made me wonder why I felt so cold.

"Okay, whatever tickles your fancy…"

She said turning away from me and walking towards her closet. I noticed her rummaging through an old brown bag before walking back to me holding a transparent glass spray bottle with purple liquid in it.

"Here"

"Perfume?" I asked and she nodded. I sniffed it and it smelled divine.

"I just played around with different mixtures of plants and I got that, it's an elf thing," she said

"What's inside?" I asked curiously.

"You don't wanna know, gal," she said, shaking her head.

I applied some on myself and I choked, having applied a bit too much of it.

"Just two sprays would have been enough, Kelly", she uttered, and I smiled, swiping away the perfume from the air.

"All right, you're ready." She said

"We only have till sunset"

It was colder than I expected as we rode on the horse with me behind her. It took quite a while before we arrived at the very busy market. The mansion was quite far from the rest of the world.

I got off the horse, followed by Ivy and what I saw wasn't what I visualised. It was simply normal.

I had been expecting to find extraordinary people, like maybe more centaurs, werewolves, foxes, vampires or even elves, but they were just practically normal people, which made me wonder if we were in the human world.

"What is it?" Ivy asked, having noticed my look of discontent.

"I don't know what I was expecting," I said, a bit disappointed.

"Oh…People tend to just move around like this, it's safer and more convenient, especially in the market where it can be crowded" Ivy said

"What do you mean?"

"Some of the big guys can be a bit oppressive to the smaller guys. The nymphs complain about it a lot, but I could show you somewhere else if we round up early," Ivy said, and I smiled, nodding.

As we entered the shaded building, I couldn't shake off the sense of excitement and curiosity bubbling inside me. Growing up in the comforts of a mansion, I had never set foot in a market before. I didn't quite know what to expect, but it wasn't so bad.

The market was like a maze of different sections, each designated to specific types of foods. The vegetables were neatly arranged in colourful displays, while the fruits exuded a sweet aroma. It was simply fascinating to see how every corner of the market was brimming with life and activity.