Forgotten

Konon's words coated the two Aakdani soldiers with great unease. Anxious, the one with the brown hair was about to draw his sword once again, but he was stopped by the bald man. The knights of Pantera are known as the most honorable and prideful warriors in all of Nusterra. They are famous for not attacking those who do not want to fight, and sometimes almost to a fault. For them, it is a great dishonor to attack anyone behind their back or those that already surrendered. Even though that's the case, they were still feared by everyone and were known as the greatest military back in the age of war more than a millennium ago.

"Sir knight, please. We are merely doing what we are tasked. That girl is a criminal who trespassed your borders, they managed to slip past our security. It is not our intention to enter Pantera illegally. Please, hand over that criminal and we will be on our way."

Tereus took a glance at Aeneas. When their eyes met, the boy shook his head as he and Tiriara were taking care of the girl with silver hair.

"You are in Panteran soil. As the world laws dictate, it is our rules that take precedence. The moment the girl stepped in our land, she's under our custody," Tereus said.

A set of world laws was agreed upon by all twelve rulers from the twelve kingdoms at the yearly summit in Decatris. When it comes to illegal entries to territories, trespassers would be subjected to the law of the kingdom they have trespassed. That is if they were to be caught. On the other hand, if the offenders were soldiers carrying weapons, it is acknowledged as an immediate threat and killing them is justified.

Among the other territories, Pantera was one of the most lenient when it comes to illegal entries. Most offenders were caught, questioned, and investigated. But after that, they'd be allowed to live in the kingdom if they weren't an escaped convict. The few that were found guilty of something would be deported to Decatris and would be sent back to the territory where they committed their crime.

The brown-haired man said that there might be another way. Implying that they had a good amount of gold coins with them. His comrade shushed him, as he knew that bribing a Panteran knight was similar to insulting them.

Konon's expression turned more serious, even Tiriara gulped and became a bit afraid of him.

"We have given you enough warnings. If you don't want to leave, draw your swords, or we'll be forced to execute you even unarmed."

With his hand at the hilt of his sword, the man with brown hair spoke, "What do we do?" his voice was shaking.

"We have no choice," the bald man whispered, "We cannot go to war with Pantera over our king's dumb obsessions," he continued.

"So, we fall back?"

The bald man nodded. He planned to inform his higher-ups what exactly happened through a letter, while he and his friend would disappear for a time so that their king's anger wouldn't befall them.

Some other knights also arrived in the commotion. The two were led to their boat with knights following behind them, while Tereus carried the weakened girl to the manor with Aeneas and Tiriara. 

Near the lake, the two Aakdani soldiers were trying to bring the deceased body of the mother with them, but, Konon told them to stop and leave the body where it lay. They didn't argue further as it didn't matter to them. They already failed their mission of bringing back the girl with the Zeal of the Great Wolf and were sure to be blamed by their superiors.

At the Caspius manor, people were itching to see the unique unconscious girl Tereus carried and laid on the sofa in the living room. They were enticed by her silver hair. Aeneas didn't know how they would react if they found out that the girl bears a Zeal that doesn't belong to any of the twelve Zodiac Gods. She might receive unjustified hatred and be called a demon spawn. So, when Crisa took a wet towel to try and clean the girl up, he blurted the word, "Wait." His sudden outburst weirded them out.

"What's wrong, Aenie?" Lyra asked.

Aeneas whispered to Lyra that the girl had a Zeal that wasn't from any of the twelve Gods. He felt that his mother would be more open with that information since she is a researcher, and because of her personality.

Lyra's eyes widened. She asked Tereus to bring the girl to an empty guest room. 

"Shouldn't we clean her up first, my lady?" Crisa asked. Her daughter nodded in agreement beside her.

"She was poisoned," Lyra said as she opened the girl's eyes and inspected her. Tereus followed her instruction as soon as he heard what she said.

"Bring me a vial of Aenie's medicine."

Crisa also trusted her lady's judgment since Lyra has a fair share of knowledge when it comes to medicine. 

On the other hand, Aeneas was confused. Indeed, the possibility of the girl being poisoned wasn't farfetched since the two men who were chasing them were both Zeal-bearers of the Noxious Scorpion. Using their Zeal, they could turn their body liquids into toxins, the maximum potency differs from each bearer. Within their capabilities, Zeal-bearers of the Noxious Scorpion could adjust the lethality of their poison at will. For all they know, the two that were chasing the girl and her mother could've managed to poison them with something that would only weaken them.

Aeneas also had another speculation, whereas the purpose of his mother's words was just to create a ruse. He thought that Lyra must've also wanted to keep the fact that the girl bears a Zeal from a forgotten God hidden from the others.

A commotion could be heard outside the main residence. Arsen has arrived. He was speaking with Konon and the other knights who brought the corpse of a woman with them. Konon explained to Arsen what happened. Although he has a higher rank than Arsen, he asked him what he thought. As the lord Caspius, though young, was still proficient both in battle and leadership.

After their conversation, Konon asked permission to let Tiriara stay, the girl didn't want to come with him back to the Chronis manor. Arsen accepted his request with a smile, saying that their manor had been a second home for the girl ever since her first visit and that she could stay however long she wanted. He also reassured Konon that they'd look after her.

Konon bowed, "Then, I'll be back after reporting the incident to lord Nireus," he said.

Arsen nodded and returned the gesture.

As Tereus laid the unconscious girl in a small guest room with a clean bed, Lyra asked everyone to stay outside. Crisa offered to help her clean the girl, but, Lyra smiled and told her to leave the pale of warm water with a towel and that she was going to do it herself. 

While the others were leaving, Aeneas remained standing beside his mother. Tiriara grabbed his hands and tried to pull him out of the room. 

"Wait, I have something to ask Mother," Aeneas said as he removed Tiriara's hands.

"Oh, okay."

Everyone left, but Lyra and Aeneas could still hear them standing behind the closed door.

"You should leave as well, Aenie."

Aeneas walked closer to his mother, he whispered as he didn't want the others to hear his words, "Are you doing this because she has an unknown Zeal?" 

Lyra nodded her head, "You should leave as well," she said, and with a smile, "Ah, go get your brother and uncle for me, please."

"Is it the Zeal of the Great Wolf? Can I see it?"

His mother's eyebrows furrowed, "Where did you hear that?"

Aeneas told her mother that Tiriara sang the verse of the Proud Lion in the song Zeal of Power, but her version has a second part that talks about a Great Wolf.

"I see. Now, be a dear and go get your brother and uncle for me."

"But, you didn't answer my question."

Lyra placed her hand on her son's face, "We'll talk about this later. Do what I asked you, and don't tell the others about the Zeal you saw, okay?"

Aeneas sighed. Then, he nodded to his mother before leaving the room. Following his mother's request, Aeneas looked around for Arsen and Donos and summoned them to Lyra.

When Arsen saw the others standing outside the room where the girl rested, he asked them to leave as it was an important matter. He convinced them saying that they'd discuss it after figuring things out.

Inside the room, Lyra was cleaning up the girl when Arsen and Donos entered. She listened outside to see whether someone was still there.

"I asked them to give us privacy, Mother."

Donos leaned on the wall, his arms crossed together, "So, what's going on, Lyra?" he said.

Lyra stopped, she was holding the damp towel when she turned to them.

"This girl bears the mark of the Great Wolf."

Arsen was confused, "Is it a demon's-" Arsen paused, cleared his throat and corrected himself, "A Zeal of a forgotten God?" 

Many believed that Zeals not belonging to the Zodiac were from demons. But, Lyra always believed that they were just from Gods who were forgotten. She also despised hearing people pertain to those Zeals as demon's mark.

Meanwhile, Donos seemed to know about what Lyra was talking about.

"The Great Wolf, Lupus. Although he is almost forgotten, there lies a village in the Great Verdant Forest where people bearing his Zeal live."

"And how did you know that, mother?"

Lyra told Arsen that it wasn't just her that knew about the village. The Panteran king also knew about them and swore to protect their village from the outside world.

"Why would the king do such a thing?" Arsen asked.

His mother began to tell a brief story about the hidden village where bearers of the Great Wolf live.