>>Amber

Hael and Queen Helena glared at each other while everyone else in the room was horrified and they weren't just terrified, they were also confused. The soldiers couldn't believe their ears just like how I couldn't and they began to whisper amongst themselves.

"He's Princess Hestia's son?" A distant voice reached my ears but I didn't turn to look at anyone. I let them whisper.

Princess Hestia? Is that Hael's mother? But where is she? Wouldn't she know about Hael being here?

"Didn't he die?"

And what's with this? Did the elf people think Hael died? When? How? He must be young then, since he was a teenager when he came to the Cory Manor.

"But no one ever found his body, so maybe he didn't die?" No one confirmed it? They just assumed he died and took it?? That sounds so suspicious!

"He looks like her,"

"Maybe Princess Hestia lied about him being dead." Oh? But why would she lie? I glanced at Hael.

Or is it that she hates him too?

....

No... I hope not...

"But why would she lie?"

"Wait, wasn't it Queen Helena who said he was dead?"

"Didn't she just make the announcement?"

They were very busy gossiping when Hael spoke again and the voices immediately died down.

"That woman is not my mother," He said calmly. From all I've gathered, his relationship with his mother wasn't very good. That must be why he didn't understand Rika's words and her 'treasure'

"..." Helena only grimaced at his words. They seemed to have hurt her but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to say something back to Hael. As if his words were true. Not literally, but maybe figuratively. Then she sat back down on her chair, "Sorry, I-" She placed her hand on her forehead, "I didn't mean to yell." She closed her eyes for a second and rubbed her temples.

"It's alright," Hael's poker face remained but I noticed his earring. It was when the light hit his crescent moon shaped long earring that I noticed it again. He wears that a lot, "No offense taken." He passed her his professional smile, "Should we get to business now."

The Queen let out a deep breath, "Yes," She removed her hand from her head, then straightened up, "You want a piece of the mana core?" She asked the question for affirmation.

"Yes," Hael replied, making everyone in the room nervous.

"Is he nuts?" And the whispering started again which he efficiently ignored. I knew he could hear everyone, he just chose not to pay attention to anyone at all.

"Why would anyone demand our mana core?"

"We'll have to wait and see what he wants,"

"Why do you want it?" The Queen asked and all the ears in the room stood up. There was an anticipation which was broken by the speaker very easily.

"Personal reasons," Hael replied, "Why? You're not going to give it to me?"

"Not without knowing why," She answered with a serious look, "The mana core- even a tiny piece from it is too strong for a person to handle. Especially if the person is a human." My heart skipped a beat at her words.

"My reason for using it will not be disclosed in public," Hael replied with a stern look, "That's final." I understand his part. He doesn't want to expose me. If word gets out that it's for me, everyone will start to doubt my powers too.

"And I won't give it to you without knowing what you're going to use it for." The Queen stated and Hael shrugged.

"Fine then," He turned to his heels, "We'll be taking our leave," He glanced at me, "Let's go,"

What? Wait- really? He began to walk out and I was about to frantically follow behind him when the Queen stopped us.

"Stop!" She roared and Hael paused in his stance. With his hands behind his back, he turned his head to look at her mischievously. It looked like he knew she would stop us.

"Why?" He asked.

Sly bastard, you knew she would do this, why are you asking her?

"Everyone, please leave the room." Her request made all the soldiers and her advisors look at each other in concern.

"But, your highness-" The people tried to protest, but before the first person could even say her first statement Helena raised her hand to stop them all.

"Do not question me, and leave the room." She said the words in a normal voice, but anyone could tell from her tone that she wasn't going to tolerate any statements or misbehavior. The elves turned on their heels and began to walk past us to leave the room.

It was nerve wracking how all of them stared at us when they walked past us, because they were looking at us as if we had committed some sort of crime.

Are elves usually this hostile towards humans? Or is it just me?

As soon as the room was empty, Hael turned around and walked towards Helena

??

I followed him and he stopped at a pleasant distance away from the stairs, "What are you going to do after finding out what I'm going to do with the mana piece?" Hael asked the question first.

Helena watched him keenly, "I have a pretty good idea where you're going to use it."

"Really now?" Hael smirked, "Where am I going to use it?"

"You're going to use it on your human saint." She smirked at us in return, "Do you take me for a fool?"

!!!

My God!!! HOW THE HELL DOES SHE KNOW THAT!?!??!

I turned my head towards Hael in shock but he was calm. Why is he calm? Isn't he feeling even a little scared? Our secret is exposed!

"I had an idea you might have figured it out," Hael smiled and my mouth hung open.

"How did you know?" I couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore and he looked at me.

"Because," He looked back at the Queen, "Queen Helena is pretty smart. I'm going to assume you made that deduction because you heard Amber fainted everytime she healed someone."

Helena smiled, "Yes, and Laila told me how her mana ran out after healing a dead animal."

...

"Does Laila know?" Hael asked

"No," Helena shook her head, "She probably didn't think that far," Her gaze came onto me, startling me, "As to deduct that animal might have been the only thing Saint Amber healed that day."

Damn... She is smart!

Hael let out a scoff, "She definitely isn't the brightest." His expressions then turned serious, "You're right," He looked Helena straight in the eyes, "I plan on making her eat it."

"She'll die." Helena said without a moment's hesitation but her words made my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.

I'll die?

"I won't let her," Hael replied.

"You won't be able to save her." The Queen said, "She'll die the moment her body tries to digest the mana piece."

"I said, I won't let it happen." Hael was confident, "No matter what."

"If you try to save her, you might end up dead as well."

!!!

My eyes grew wide in horror

"What?" I blinked in confusion as the anxiety began to gnaw at me, "He'll die?" I looked at Hael, "You'll die if you try to save me?"

Hael looked at me and shook his head, "I won't die," He pointed at himself with his hands, "Did I die when I gave you that power?"

"This is different, Hael," The Queen stated, "It won't be as easy as saving her after making her ingest an holy artifact."

My mouth hung open. How the hell did she know that?

She looked at me, "Oh, darling, a saint is never born with weak power, so if your powers are weak, it means you're fake." Anxiety pulled on my chest at her statement, "And if you know that fact, the rest isn't that hard to put together." She looked at me like I was some stray cat she was adoring from afar, but I actually felt scared.

"Don't fret over it," Hael said, "The people of power know these kinds of things that aren't shared with other people. That's why she was able to tell what happened."

Oh...

That made me feel a little better.

"Hael," The Queen started.

"I'm not backing off," He said, "You already know, Amber can't heal your elves anyway, unless she takes that mana piece."

She nodded at him, "I know," She stood up from the chair, "I am well aware and I didn't call you all the way here to the elf kingdom just to send you away." She strode down the flight of stairs, "I called you, because I don't want you to die."

"I won't die," Hael replied instantly.

"Oh," She landed on the ground floor, "But you will," She walked up to us, then placed his hand on Hael's cheek, which made him flinch but he didn't slap it away, "You haven't even recovered from the previous ordeal."

Hael's expression didn't change, or maybe he did his best not to show it but I frowned at her words, "What?" I looked at Hael with my brows knitted, "You haven't recovered yet?" He didn't look at me so I grabbed his arm, "Hael, you didn't recover fully after trying to keep me alive?"

I had no idea, he looks perfectly fine!

"..." He wasn't meeting my gaze, and that's all I needed to know.

Helena was right.

"Then why?" I felt sort of betrayed and I don't know why I even felt guilty, but he didn't look at me, "Why are you pushing yourself like this?" My grip on his arm increased, "Hael!"

His gaze finally met mine and I repeated my question, "Why are you doing this?" I looked straight into those majestic gray eyes of his, "Do you plan on dying?" I was getting a little angry.

"No," He replied.

"Then why!?!" I asked, "Why would you do this in such a hurry when you haven't even recovered from the previous event!"

His gaze was on me, a soft expression on his face, but the answer he gave me left me baffled.