Chapter 22: Third ML Unlocked

"I have to tell Troye this, wait, would he even care?" 

"His grace should be aware of this fact, so should his royal highness and the emperor. A few weeks should be enough time to gather information, it's most likely that they didn't want havoc to spread among the people." Reinhart calmly explains. 

Demons weren't a new subject, especially in the North where they ran amok the most. But, they were stupid, the only thing that demons had was a shit ton of strength and magical resistance. Yeah, demons could resist most typical magic types like wind or fire, but crumpled against holy/light magic. Moreover, although resisted, they could still get injured by magic if strong enough and if magic couldn't work, then stabbing could. 

However, an actual leader to help and direct these monsters was a game changer. Who could do this? Did a demon develop enough to gain conscious and actual thoughts? This wasn't something Selina could handle by herself or simply deal with later, this matter involved the faith of the kingdom and possibly even more than that. 

Selina's internal panic was noticed by Reinhart. She placed her hand on her shoulder, although a small gesture, Selina felt calmer knowing that she had such an incredibly strong person to protect her. 

"Thank you for the information and apologizes for intruding. We'll get going." Selina says goodbye to both Alan and Nora and she leaves.

"Come back soon, pretty sisters!" Nora chirped as they departed. "I want more food~"

Alan sighed, ruffling Nora's hair. Once the two were out of sight, his expression darkened. Snapping his fingers, his jet-black hair shifted to a dark brown, and his amber eyes dulled to a grayish blue.

"Amelia Amister," he murmured, his voice tinged with intrigue. "How fortunate we met."

…

Selina went home with Reinhart, but they went on separate paths. She immediately ran to Troye's office while Reinhart went to the training grounds.

*Knock Knock* "It's Amelia."

"Sigh, you may enter."

Selina pushed the door open to find Troye sitting behind his desk, papers scattered before him. He didn't look up as she entered, his tone already carrying his usual disdain.

"Your grace, I'll cut to the chase, the animal kingdom was attacked by demons, and I know that you know so what will you do about it?"

"First of all, how did you even acquire such information? It's not like you're useless self would help or anything." Troye was as bitchy as ever.

"Noah told me, but that's besides the point, explain now." Eh, Noah owed her one, he's smart enough to cover for one little lie.

"Half-blood, I don't need to explain anything to you. How dare you think that you could order ME of all people. Your shamelessness knows no bounds." Troye spews out.

"Troye, please, just this once let me know what's going on." Selina pleads, her pride diminishing. 

"...Get out."

Selina glares at Troye before leaving without any formalities. Ugh, that motherfucker, but it was partly her fault for believing he could change. Selina also wanted to confront him over the events that occurred in the library, but she decided against it. She didn't want to reveal anything to him, her trust in the duke was at an all time low. 

Selina angrily walks to her chambers, changes, and heads to the courtyard to relieve her frustrations. She watched as the poor knights were getting trained to oblivion, but it wasn't her business. She didn't want the same treatment from Reinhart afterall. 

Grabbing a wooden sword, she began striking at a training dummy with brute force, each swing fueled by her anger. Crack! The dummy splintered under her blows, collapsing into a heap, oops.

This attracts Reinhart who rushes towards Selina's direction. "Lady Amelia, have you learned nothing at all?!" Reinhart wasn't mad, just disappointed…okay maybe she was a little mad. 

"I'm sorry, it's just that Troye pissed me off." Selina didn't hide her hatred at all, her facial expressions signaling that she wanted to talk about it really badly.

"...Would you like to tal–"

"YES! So, I entered his office and wanted to get information on y'know, the demon attack that ended who knows how many lives in the beast kingdom. What if their next attack was towards the humans? Is Troye preparing? Is Noah doing anything? Is anyone doing anything at all!?" Selina takes a deep breath then continues.

"And do you know what this piece of work tells me? NOTHING, he told me nothing at all. Why?! It wouldn't cost him anything, just because he hates me. I'm just so, ugh."

"...Lady Amelia, don't destroy the dummies, it won't aid your skills and the funding comes out of our department. I need to do something just…don't make a mess."

"Alright, I'm sorry Reinhart." Selina sincerely apologizes.

"It's fine, mistakes can happen." Reinhart walks away.

Selina continues her training, looking at the other knights for reference. She wanted to know where the redhead was going, but knew it wasn't any of her business. They have gotten closer over the past month, but there was still a distance between them.