Chapter 7: The Offer

Many pairs of eyes had been staring at me all the time, no matter where direction I looked. I can hear gossips and whispers coming from different voices, which really unpleasing to my ears.

I'm inside the capital of the Deravon Kingdom, with a group of daunting knights surrounding me. I raised my head since I've been looking at the ground the whole time, and I can see the castle in the distance.

I've been called by the king, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing. I have a bad feeling about what was going on right now, especially they didn't let my brother come with me. It's really hard to convince him to stay and wait for any results, but in the end, he accepted it. I don't want to cause any trouble, so it's better to follow for now.

After a long time of marching to the castle, we finally made it. The tall polished door made with different kinds of metals in front and the kingdom crest in the middle unintentionally made fun of my height.

Then, it was opened, and a room greeted me with its gigantic size. The marble pillars on both sides of the room, supporting the weight, were about ten times taller than Dalary, or any other tendrins.

At the left, vertical glass windows tried to reach the pillars but to no avail, and just arched at the top, while the red curtains with golden trim hid some of them.

On the right were large portraits of the royal family from generation to generation, wrapped in golden frames with pleasing carvings. But only a few of them smiled at those paintings. The rest of the marble walls were covered by gigantic red banners, with the same trims as the curtains on the edges and the kingdom crest in the middle.

The large golden chandelier on the ceiling made out of crystal glass, with small decorative candles placed around it, gave light to the whole room, as well as the candles plastered at every corner using holders.

The floor was pure marble tiles in the palette of dark gold and crimson, while it was covered by the red carpet that reached the door, too precious to step on it.

Then, finally, displayed in the middle that caught my attention ever since I entered the room, was the throne. It was placed at the elevated part of the room, connected by small wide steps of stairs.

It was mostly made out of pure gold that was used for decorations, especially the carved kingdom crest on the vaulted top which have the same height as the windows. The seat has red cushions, to make it comfortable. There is also a chair beside him, but smaller and shorter.

Sitting there was the man that rules over Deravon, the man who called for me, King Gandior.

"Oh, Meria Arcson. It's nice to see you here." He greeted as he stood up to properly present himself, giving me a wide smile that I didn't even know if it's sincere or not.

"Your majesty." I kneeled down and bowed at his presence. Even I don't like giving anyone respect, it would give me a lot of trouble if I won't play along with the situation.

"Come one, raise your head." He said in a friendly tone, trying not to treat me like a peasant as I am. To be honest, the friendly attitude he was showing made me uncomfortable. "I want you to be comfortable. Feel yourself at home."

He clapped both of his hands twice and a couple of maids started showing up on the door behind us. They walked forward, pushing metal carts filled with various servings of sweets and side dishes. I couldn't help but stare at the moving food, following where they will be headed. It seems like I couldn't get my eyes off of it.

"These are some of the most expensive cuisines in all of the Deravon Kingdom. Please, help yourself." He said, which made me stop drooling. I started to grow suspicions over this setup. If he's like that, then he might want something from me.

"Please… tell me," I said. "what do you want from me?"

He didn't answer and just gave me a silent reply. Then, a wide smirk plastered on his face. Cold sweat dripped from my head.

"Well, I'm just trying to show the hospitality inside the castle, so you don't have to worry after you'll accept my deal." He said.

"Deal?"

"I'm here to give you an offer, Meria Arcson." He started getting to the point, which made my heart beat faster, as I didn't experience any kind of trade before. I'm a librarian who waits for her salary, not a vendor who knows to trade. If only Dalary was here, she knew how to be careful.

"I'll provide you anything: good food, and nice clothes." He started explaining. "I can even give you a plot of land in one of my fiefs to start a business."

When I heard his offer, I couldn't help but think all of it by myself. If we have our own plot, then Farin wouldn't have a hard time being a farmer for a rude local lord, he will have his own land and have his own workers.

"And…" While I was busy thinking about our future, he spoke. Is he offering me more? "I can provide you your training as a professor, absolutely free."

I widened my eyes at his statement. As far as I know, the only one that I told about my dream was my brother, Dalary, and Sir Leonard, unless they spread it into the entire capital, which is absolutely unnecessary to talk about. It's just a personal goal, that is all.

"H-How do you know that?" I asked, hoping to find an answer.

"I have ears and eyes everywhere, as long as you're inside this capital." He said. I frowned, but I prevented it to not be seen and just forget about the subject. I'm not that desperate to know about who was betraying me right now, so I just switched to another question.

Anyway, about that great offer he was giving me, I'm sure there would be something that will be taken away. It was always like that.

"Exchange for what?" I asked.

"All I want from you is very simple." He answered, walking towards me with grace and elegance. I was about to step backward, but the knights stopped me from moving further.

Even though he wasn't telling me yet, I knew what he wants from me. When we had enough distance, he leaned forward, letting me see through his brown eyes.

"I want you." He said. "I want you to stay in the castle and to provide every sample of your body to experiment."

I knew it. I knew that he came here for my magic. Before I discovered that I possessed it, no one would gain interest in me. No knights to come over my house and separate me from my brother. No people would gossip every time I show up in the capital. If I don't have the magic, I would be normal. And I wish that would be the case.

"If we knew how you gain magic despite being a human, we might evolve into another level of creature." He started explaining his reasons, which I don't have any interest in every word he is saying. "Imagine… in the future, humans would have equal power with the encantors… and they won't ever discriminate us anymore. We'll even rule over them."

I gritted my teeth in the creepy things he can see in the future. The Above gave us roles and purposes to live differently from other races, and what he was planning to do would break those rules that we must follow. It must stay harmonious and balanced, or else, everything will be in chaos.

And his hypocritical statement made me sick. He's having problems with the discrimination between our race and the encantors, but he will never resolve the inequality between the peasants and the nobles. At least he would do that first before overcoming the other races through power.

"So what's your decision?"

Despite I hate the reason behind those things, I'm not in the position to fight for it. I was too weak and scared. I couldn't do anything. All I can do right now was to do everything for the benefit of my brother and me.

I lowered my head, looking at my feet, as my mind wandered around the offer.

"I…"

***

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Dalary asked as she just finished watching her friend being taken to the castle of the Deravon Kingdom. Despite the large crowd compiling in the square, she still could see it because of her height.

She rested her chin on her tree palm while she was sitting on her open wagon, along with her horse. She, too, never trust anyone inside the capital, except for the Arcson family, who kindly accepted her despite being a tendrin.

"Dalary!" She heard a loud voice coming from afar, calling out her name, much to her surprise. She turned around to see a man that she would never expect to come on her aid. Her cheeks started to get hot and red because of the sudden encounter.

"F-Farin!!" She exclaimed as she blushed.

"Where is Meria? Have you seen her?" The man asked while she tried to breathe some air after a long time of running from Coira to Deravon.

"S-She's inside the castle." She answered as she decided to grow some leaves all around her body. After enough leaves, Farin can finally take some deep long breathes normally.

"Is that so?" He muttered, gritting his teeth as he stared at the visible castle. Then, he turned around to see the tree girl, holding both of her shoulders, which made her jump. "Dalary…"

She couldn't help but feel the heat and her heart to beat faster. She didn't expect that she would even be called through her name.

"I need you to do something for me." He added, which made her even red.

"N-Need… me??" She stuttered, thinking about any possible things that Farin would request her for. Even if it would make her marry him or be stuck in a cage with him, she would accept it.

"Can you do it for me?"

***

"I…"

My mind was stuck with a lot of things right now. I wanted to accept the offer since that would help our lives. We would be local lords if we put enough effort. But…

Then, I have to stay inside the castle, without Farin, without anyone that I can talk to. I have to be here alone, inside a room where all I had where maids and butlers that I didn't even know. And worse than that, I have to sacrifice some of my body for the experiment that would just lead to a more chaotic world than right now.

I promised to not leave my brother alone. He lost his parents because of a disease, and I'm the only one he can treat as a family, and he wouldn't want to lose me. Even though it's not by blood, he's still my brother.

"I'm sorry but I have to decline, your majesty," I said as I bowed, which made the atmosphere surrounding us to become heave and silent. No one dared to interrupt my statement, so I explained further.

"It's a great offer, but I just… I can't just leave my brother alone." I added, raising my head to see him, now with a disappointed face to me. "I promised to be by his side, so I will. Even if it's hard to live, it's better to live normally."

"Thank you for your time." I bowed once again and just waited for his reaction. I know that he wouldn't let it go just like that. He might offer me some more of what he has, just to let me stay with him. If he will let my brother stay inside the castle, I guess that works too.

Then, after a long time of waiting, he sighed.

"Fine." He said, closing his eyes, disappointed with what my decision turned into. He stood up once more from his throne and faced me.

"If you wouldn't accept the offer… I'll just have to take you by force."

My eyes widened because of what he said, and then, suddenly, two of the knights behind me grabbed both of my arms, causing me to not move.

"Let me go!" I yelled at them, but to no avail since they would just listen to King Gandior. He walked closer to me, not giving me space to breathe, while I just gritted my teeth.

"I thought that deal was enough to lure you…" He said. "…but I guess, you're such a stubborn one."

As he finished his sentence, someone struck me behind my head, causing me to feel pain. Then, after that, my whole vision went black.