Further ahead, unknown to Dyon and Ri, a little girl was trembling with her back against a tree.The little girl was truly beautiful for lack of a better word. Her hair was such a light shade of pink that it was nearly white. Her eyes shone the same color, almost like small pink diamonds twinkling as her eyes watered. She held her little hands to her chest while she slowly backed away.
Her clothes were a ragged grey and her pure jade-like skin was matted with patches of mud and sc.r.a.pes of greenery. It was clear she had been through a lot and her day was only getting worse.
"what are you doing out here little girl?"
A young man sat on the back of what looked like a white tiger. Its teeth were crystalline and its striped were a striking gold. It stood at 2 meters tall and was 4 meters long, allowing the young man to sit cross legged on its back.
The young man himself had bright red hair, his eyes shining the same color. His build was robust and large and his ears were long even among the elves. He had a ma.s.sive battle axe strapped to his back with a handle as thick as his large wrists.
The little girl was too afraid to respond. Her shivering only increased when she realized a tree had stopped her from being able to back away any further.
"It would be a shame to let a little girl with such potential slip away to the Norville family. Come. I"ll bring you with me. I"ll care for you and raise you. Once you"re old enough, I"ll take you as my concubine. Isn"t that much better than living as an orphan?"
The little girl shook her adorable head. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she couldn"t say anything. Even her sobs were caught in her throat.
She had just found out that she had lost her parents. With no one able to support her living under them, she was forced to return to her village. But, with no one to protect her on the way there, she had stumbled around and ran into this situation just when she thought she was finally close to home. Yesterday was supposed to have been her 5th birthday, but instead, it was one of the worst days of her life.
She fell to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest as the young man and his beast slowly walked towards her.
Suddenly, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She shuddered, looking up in a pair of hazel-green eyes. She couldn"t help but jump towards the first source of warmth she had had in years, sobbing uncontrollably.
Dyon held onto her, letting the girl cry and ignoring the confused young man behind him. He was a bit surprised that the small girl had trusted him so easily, but he refused to let anything more happen to her.
"It"s okay, I"m here," he said softly, picking the little girl up into his arms.
Ri stood off to the side with tears in her eyes. It wasn"t the first time she had seen a situation like this. War Orphans were becoming more and more common place in the Elvin Kingdom. What hurt Ri the most was that there should be laws put in place to help the families of those who lost their lives fighting for peace… but instead, orphans were treated as nothing better than slaves to be sold and traded. Whether that be because they had powerful potential and could boost the strength of a family, or because they were extremely beautiful or handsome and could warm their beds.
Dyon turned around, holding the sobbing little girl and gently rubbing her back. But, despite his delicate actions, his eyes were filled with fury.
"Because you"ve decided to be a slightly less than absolutely disgusting creature, I"ll give you 5 seconds to leave this place immediately. If you test my patience, I will kill you. If you speak, I will kill you. If I see you in my line of sight after these 5 seconds, I will kill you. If I can hear you after these 5 seconds, I will kill you. 5…."
Ri was stunned by what she heard. She knew perfectly well which family this young man was from, and the Grimbold family didn"t take kindly to threats. But, despite what she thought was going to happen, the young man"s tiger shivered, feeling Dyon"s sovereign air. His will was absolute.
The tiger, against the wishes of his master, immediately turned tail and sprinted away, disappearing in a blur of white light. Maybe it was because the young man never had any intention to fight, or maybe it was because he himself was embarra.s.sed by his actions, but, he made no move to stop his beast from running.
Dyon didn"t blink an eye at this as he focused on comforting the little girl. Soon, the little girl stopped shivering. She felt a gentle flow of will enter her. Dyon mixed his aurora and celestial will to give her a comfortable feeling, allowing her emotions to calm.
"you can use your aurora like that too?..." Ri was surprised, but this allowed a small smile to grace her lips.
The little girl looked at Dyon with her adorable little hands resting on his broad shoulders. Her eyes blinked, with a purity that you couldn"t help but smile about.
Dyon smiled, "what"s your name?"
"L- Lyla…"
"Do you have somewhere to go?"
"N-no… my parents…" the girl was threatening to start crying again.
Dyon gently wiped her tears with his thumb, holding her steadily, "my parents died too," he said softly, "I don"t have family either, do you want to be part of my family?"
Lyla looked at him with her large blinking eyes. Her little arms wrapped around Dyon"s neck, "yes…"
Dyon smiled, "okay, from today on, you"re my little sister. I promise to protect you like a big brother would, okay?"
Lyla"s small voice echoed in Dyon"s ear, "big brother, what"s your name?"
"my name is Dyon Sacharro."
Her next words made Ri break down in tears, "okay, from today… I"m Lyla Sacharro."
Dyon held the little girl in his arms like he was holding the most valuable thing in the world. Tears threatened to come out of his eyes, and in the end, they did.
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The tears, they won"t stop :"( she"s too adorable
How disgusting though. To literally "groom" little girls and boys for this nonsense, ugh.
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