Misaccusations

It wasn't just her face that was white, Adrian noticed. Her eyes were also a shade caught halfway between wispy silver and creamy white and caught Adrian by complete surprise. Those eyes seemed to pierce through every inch of his body like he was hollow and caused a shiver to run up his spine but he quickly ignored this feeling of unease out of concern for her.

"DON'T COME NEAR ME!" Her sudden scream of terror made him flinch.

Her hair was an extremely light shade of blonde but was cut rather short, as she only had a small ponytail tied at the back and her trembling hands were clenched as her nails dug into her skin.

Adrian's heart ached for her. She looked so scared and pitiful ah.. but why did her fear seem directed at him? Surely they'd never met before and he didn't look like a scary person ah...

Suddenly Adrian felt a strong hand on his shoulder pushing him back and glanced over to see the burly man who he'd just talked to, grabbing him strongly. He winced under the pressure that seemed to make his knees weak and panic fluttered inside of his chest.

"Do you know this young miss?" His voice was harsh and accusatory.

The man couldn't help it as he felt a bit betrayed. Mere moments ago, he'd had a favorable impression of this young man who seemed polite and keen, unlike many of the other ungrateful brats his age and yet it turns out he'd done something horrible to such a delicate-looking girl!

It was despicable and unforgivable! He'd seen many expressions of fear before to know that hers was genuine!

Adrian shuddered under the onset of hostile gazes directed toward him and his spare hand gripped the collar of his shirt as he suddenly desired nothing more than to bury his head inside of it and simply disappear.

What had he done? He wanted to cry out! He felt incredibly wronged!

He also wanted to turn around and see Callan but the man, who was most likely one of their testing instructors, had his hand grasping firmly onto his shoulder deadlocking him in place.

"n-no!" Adrian shook his head firmly, "I-'ve never met her before."

Crap...his nervous stutter was coming out.

"Liar." The deep voice next to him growled and Adrian shivered as the hand clenched harder, "She's obviously afraid of you for a reason so just spit it out! Either that or I'll force you to!"

The man's strong sense of justice was toying with his rationality as his hand crunched down on Adrian's shoulder causing him to release a groan of pain. This person wasn't listening to anything he said! And why wasn't Callan saying anything either? Or did he think he was somehow guilty too?

At the thought of this Adrian's heart felt like it was plunging into an endless void.

But as if he'd heard his silent plea, the pain suddenly stopped.

"Before hurting someone innocent, shouldn't you validate the facts first?" A voice as frosty as ice cut into the conversation and a slight breeze whisked past.

One second the man was crushing his shoulder and the next second, he was gently cradled in Callan's warm embrace, his face so close to his chest that Adrian could feel its rise and fall and the fiery heat it radiated. It had happened so fast that he could barely process what was going on but even so, he was glad that it did.

Although he was a bit scared of how cold Callan's voice sounded just now, his body was still as warm as he'd remembered.

The man's eyes darkened. That grey-haired boy had easily snitched the other one away while he was caught off guard. But even if he was on guard, he couldn't state for certain whether or not he'd be able to stop him and he was a B-rank adventurer so how strong was that kid?

"He's clearly not innocent and yet you still try and protect him!" The burly man laughed, cracking his knuckles as if preparing for a fight, "Are you admitting you're his ally?"

Callan chuckled softly, "If you refuse to listen then does it matter if he admits it or not?"

"You-" The instructor hissed, seemingly ready to strangle them both.

So violent! Adrian gulped from hearing the conversation behind him. He let out a quiet sigh of relief at being freed from his grasp as he forced himself to calm down before he turned around to peek at the man, his waist still held by Callan's hand and providing comfortable support. His shoulder still ached lightly but his adrenaline dulled it.

If it came to a fight then so be it! He'd never been in one before but there was always a first for everything! His black eyes glistened under the light of the sun.

And it really might've come to a fight had the white-eyed girl who'd started this whole mess not decided to speak up just then.

Her voice still held a faint tremble but it sounded a lot more sturdy than before, "Wait wait! He's not at fault, please don't fight!"

Just like a magic spell had trapped their limbs, everyone on the spot froze at her words.

The man looked confused, Callan was still angry and Adrian felt like melting away into a puddle.

If it wasn't his fault then why couldn't she say it earlier!

"A-are you sure?" The man gazed at her up and down, concern riddling his voice but also mild annoyance.

So those two were really innocent? He wasn't sure if he believed her!

"Of course!" She quickly scrambled to her feet and straightened her skirt like she was never even fazed before, "I swear it on my family's name!"

Her family's name... then she must be someone important right? Adrian shuddered, hoping that she wasn't part of the royalty he'd been told to avoid although he hadn't heard any mention of one of them having white hair.

"No need to do that." The man responded gruffly before turning his heel and storming off "Just be more careful next time."

He didn't offer either of them an apology! Adrian was astounded at this person's bad temper. Hopefully, not all adventurers were as scary or violent as him.

Callan watched him leave with an icy glare before redirecting it at the girl. He knew exactly who she was but his previously favorable impression of her immediately changed as Adrian's groan of muffled pain still rang in his ears.

Now that the man was gone, the girl glanced over and locked eyes with Adrian and once again he was subjected to that prying gaze.

"Sorry for what happened just then." She bowed her head and curtsied prettily, "If you don't mind, can I talk to you for a bit in private?"

Adrian knew she was talking to him but he still frowned.

"What do you want?" He asked cautiously, remembering how afraid she'd looked mere seconds earlier as the sight had disturbed him greatly.

"I'll tell you if you follow me." She replied curtly, her pale eyes shining eerily in their sockets.

Adrian wanted to refuse but his curiosity nagged at him too much.

"Okay." He agreed reluctantly but felt Callan's grip tighten on his waist.

"I'm going with you." Adrian wasn't gazing at him directly but he knew those grey eyes must be burning in their sockets.

He didn't really mind if Callan followed them but the girl shook her head firmly, "No." She declared, "It's not something for you to hear."

"And why's that?" Callan shot back.

"No means no." She glared at him. Most people would've shy away from her noble aura but it had no effect whatsoever on Callan.

Sensing things were at a standstill, Adrian smiled softly, his soft features melting into a sight that could warm even a heart full of ice.

"I don't mind if he hears whatever you have to say to me." He replied firmly.

Also, he would feel a lot safer if he was there with them, considering what the strange girl had just done.

"Are you certain?" A frown wrinkled her brow as she swept his figure up and down, "You should take my word for it when I tell you that's not something he should hear."

And how is that any of your business to decide? Adrian wondered bitterly.

He wasn't scared that she'd found out he was a mermaid because even if she did he could always deny it. Plus that should be impossible to tell just from a glance right? Even when facing high-level magicians and adventurers, no one had been able to tell, let alone her. And mermaids weren't scary....right??

"Yes." Adrian nodded his head and felt Callan's warm grip that held his waist loosen a bit and whispered softly under his breath "thankyou."

Callan whispered back into his ears, which made them rather ticklish "it wasn't a problem."

The girl sighed as she watched the two of them, then silently accepted it.

"We still have a few minutes before the test begins. Follow me." She cast a glance back at the burly man before walking off.

Although Callan let go of his waist, he didn't leave Adrian's side and they followed her away until they were a safe distance away to ensure their conversation stayed private.

As the girl halted, a curious expression filled her eyes as she stared at Adrian again, or rather at his chest area before reluctantly drawing back her gaze to face his eyes.

Her lips drew back to reveal a row of perfect pearly white teeth and she smiled at him, seemingly ignoring Callan's presence altogether, her eyes not glancing his way once.