One side

The few weeks that flowed after were most bizarre and surreal. 

It took him a while to understand what Amelia meant on that day.

'That girl is fucking weird...'

Everything was fine at first, but after a few weeks or so, this half-blooded elf Emma's behavior gradually changed. The most obvious was her attitude while conversing with him and with Amelia. There were worlds of differences! She'd smile at him, cling to his arm, and agree with whatever he said. There was this bright smile on her face whenever he showed up and the huge amount of attention she gave to him... That felt kind of friendly at first, but as time passed, it became weird... Even more when she started dressing weirdly.

He didn't really dislike it much. To him who only knew the few members of the elf village, meeting someone new and interacting with her was enjoyable to him. The girl too, wasn't bad. Though she could never rival Amelia in any aspect. 

'But she's way too... I don't know...'

What was she thinking, trying to hold his hand or get close to him all the time? Despite not wanting to marry Amelia, he was still engaged with her. He couldn't betray that trust by doing something that crossed the lines. Not even if he deeply loved that other person.

As if that wasn't enough, Amelia also acting strange. 

'I mean, why would she suddenly start avoiding me?'

People were so strange. So hard to deal with and impossible to understand. 

It was a good thing that the house was built somewhat distant from the other houses as it was supposed to be the home of a village chief, or else, they got exposed in the first few days. 

Sighing to himself, Claus was reminded of his previous conversation with his best friend just a few minutes ago. 

-Why were you looking for me? I'm busy, we can't hang out. Come after a few hours or so? If you've got free time, spend it with Emma.

Why would he spend his time with Emma? Arguing with Amelia was much more fun than that!

'And how long will she keep staying in this place? Isn't she bored? I don't think finding his father would be so hard... Why is Amelia taking so long to identify him?'

Maybe she enjoyed being friends with Emma so she dragged things a bit more? Since he'd seen them secretly conversing a few times. 

But he doubted that to be true. Claus had this continuous ominous feeling that told him something was wrong.

'Whatever.'

There was no helping it. Shrugging his shoulders, he headed in the direction of the house where Emma stayed. Amelia could come there after she finished her work.

What followed next was out of the scope of his imagination. Even after years, he couldn't understand how things flowed in that direction. The last thing he remembered was the figure of the girl leaning towards his ears, whispering something to him, who didn't know why he was feeling light-headed and couldn't lift a limb, limply sprawled on the ground. 

"Don't worry, I've got permission from your fiance~"

"...Yes?"

"I've heard what that girl has done. About that rumor that spread around the village not long ago."

"...What are you doing?"

A hand ran across his face. The boy shivered in disgust. 

"They say you are incapable of doing-"

"Hey, where did you hear that from?"

"And what if that's proven wrong in a rather unholy way?"

"W-what?"

"What do you think the elders would do? There is no way they'd kick me out of this place if I'm the mother of an elf, hm??"

As she moved closer, Claus attempted to pull himself back, yet his body didn't listen to his will. 

"...What... have you done to me?"

Was he fed some sort of poison? There were plants capable of paralyzing elves, but to be fed with one in such a situation...

"Don't worry, the effects will wear off in a few hours. Until then, everything is finished."

"...You are crazy."

Did she lose her mind after falling in love? The whole while she was there, she appeared to be a kind and obedient girl who was desperately searching for her father. 

'No. It's for something else.'

She clearly had that numbing medicine prepared prior to entering this village. She had planned this out from the start. She'd fooled them both. 

They were so stupid. 

This person had grown up with humans. 

Those creatures were vile. They used trickery on a daily basis. They weren't like elves. The elves were straightforward in their every action. They weren't two-faced. Even if they were hostile to someone, they wouldn't act oblivious to their intentions. 

Elves never learned to use such disgusting schemes.

"Don't worry, you'll enjoy this as well."

The girl moved even closer, causing all of Claus' hair to stand on their ends. He searched for a way out, but there was none. His heart raced in fright while watching how the girl was positioning herself in a rather disgusting position. Horror and helplessness surged up his every fiber.

"I-I'll give you what you want." In his last attempt, he tried to convince the crazed half-blood, "You want to be accepted in the village, right?"

She was a half-blood. Someone who the elders wouldn't let stay in this village. Probably humans too, didn't want her around since she had such different features. But what if she was more than just a half-blooded elf? 

"I'll make it possible for you!"

"Oh, will you?" Emma raised a brown, face full of scorns. "Can you do such a thing when you couldn't even break your arranged marriage?"

"...."

He was done for. 

In the most embarrassing and disgusting way possible, he was done for.

"Well then~"

It was just then-

Slam

"CLAUS! Didn't I tell you to come back to me once you're..."

Slamming the door open and rushing inside was Amelia, who was filled with rage and bursting from anger.

But then, her jaw dropped.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The next few moments weren't very vivid in his memories. The only thing he could remember were a few screams, a sudden quake, and an outburst of aura. An earsplitting roar echoed in his ears before a breeze touched his cheeks. 

The wall next to him was blown away. 

"....."

"....."

He was rescued, it seemed.

And Claus never saw Emma after that.

She ran away as if she was never there.

By the time the villagers gathered around, Amelia sorted out everything to seem as if the wall was blown away when they were sparring. Considering the many spars they had in the past which led to not so few losses, it wasn't hard to regard this incident as one of them. 

Though only two people knew the truth. 

"...I didn't know she'd do such a thing..."

With Amelia's immense Natural Blessing, healing the poison off him wasn't any problem. Once that problem was solved, the two were left baffled in a damaged house. 

"I only told her that I see no problems with the two of you getting closer since I thought she was a decent person with feelings, you know? She appeared like a nice girl and you didn't dislike her, so I thought... I said to her that I can handle the elders if things get serious... But, uh..."

"We only knew her for a few weeks, Amelia!"

"I... How would I know? I've never met someone for barely a few weeks! How would I know her true colors will show after a while???"

They both had such familiar foolishness that Claus couldn't blame her for that. That was their first experience in meeting someone outside of the village.

"Seriously? Amelia?? What the hell were you thinking? Matchmaking? Is that your new hobby?"

"...." The girl whispered her answer in a barely audible voice, "I thought it would be better for you... Since you don't want us to marry..."

"That doesn't mean you can force me on someone else!"

What if she didn't arrive on time? His future life would be ruined. It would be over for him!

"...Yes. I'm sorry. I never imagined for such a thing to happen..."

Since then, the two never brought up the topic of that girl ever again. Even after confirming that the elf she was searching for was long deceased, they didn't try to look for her to convey the news. If anyone knew that they allowed a half-blood in and let her stay in the village, they couldn't run from a huge punishment. In addition to that, that memory wasn't really a nice one to Claus, so they decided to both forget about it. 

Ever since both dodged any questions regarding the marriage issue by bringing up multiple excuses. 

"Cough! Huu... Claus..."

Barely grasping his shirt and gesturing him closer, the village chief uttered a few words through her repetitive gasps for air. 

"Leave... The jungle... D-don't, cough, head to t-that mission..."

To venture deep into the forest in search of a sacred bird; was his mission. A mission that was no different than sending him right to his death. 

"A-and never, cough, and never return."

Having used up all her power to heal the ill elves and having fallen on a deathbed as a result, Amelia uttered her last words to her friend before he left the jungle for his mission. 

He shouldn't die, nor can he live in a destroyed village. It's better if at least one person survives. It'd be good if he could take her sister as well with him.

"Don't worry, huff, It's... better this way... Just how, cough... how you... you wanted..."

Since no arranged marriages can take place if one side of it is dead.