A Fairytale In The Making

37. THE ELVE AND THE RYUUZAKI HEIR

My gut feeling told me something was very wrong

Akira's POV

"Rei?" I repeat the name in wonder and confusion.

"Yes, Rei. He is the new friend I was talking about," the midget explains eagerly.

"Why do you think this friend of yours is related to me?" 

"Well, he has red hair too and he looks to be a Dragon-borne," she explains, hope still burning in her eyes.

"The only red-head related to me is my father," I reply simply.

"Oh, is that so?" She visibly deflates again.

"Rei, you say? It would be a bit hard to look for him. You see, most Dragon-borne use Rei as the first part of their names. There is usually something after Rei. Do you know his full name?" I ask, trying my best to help her find her friend.

"He only said Rei," she again answers in disappointment.

This truly wasn't helpful in any way. Even father has Rei as the first part of his name. Hell, even grandmother and great-grandfather had Rei as their name. I doubt she met any of them considering only father was alive. He, too, was not in Azura.

"Well, that's not very helpful. You said he didn't have any visible scales on him, right?" I ask in hopes of finding this guy for her.

Maybe then she'll give one of those bright smiles again. 

It's weird how among her thousand expressions the rarest one was her smile. A real smile, not the fake ones she gives me. The real ones were only reserved for her friends.

"As far as I could see, there wasn't any on his face, neck, or upper chest area," she answered after some thoughts.

"Hmm, I'll have someone look into it," I assure her.

"Thank yo- wait, why are we not going with them?" she says pointing towards the other carriages that took a turn towards the guest castles. 

'Because they are going to the Guest castles and we are going to my house," I say easily.

"Your house??? Why? I was supposed to stay with them!" she huffs out in an exasperated voice as if I didn't know that.

"Change of plans. You will be staying with me," I say while flashing her a toothy smile.

"You can't go against the Headmistress's orders," she shouts in anger.

"Inside the Phoenix City, my wish is the law," I inform her with a mischievous smile.

The damn shorty still vehemently refuses my generous offer until the carriage enters the central castle. Her mouth that was previously occupied with cursing me was now opening and closing at the sight of the castle. It was hilarious to watch how intensely she observed everything as if the castle was some relic from the heavens.

The carriage halts in front of the castle with force, jerking us in our seats. Isolde holds my hands in fright.

'What is it?" I shout in an annoyed tone.

"Pardon me, master but Lord Alver's carriage is blocking the path," one of the coachmen say in a flustered voice.

My heart leaps at the mention of my uncle and I move excitedly in my seat. He was here! So does that mean he is here to reclaim the seat of the Grandmaster until father comes back? 

Yes, that must be it. He is definitely here for that.

I jumped out of the carriage as soon as the door opens. Seeing Isolde's hesitation, I waste no time in forcefully pulling her out of the carriage. I make a run for the central wing without letting go of her hand.

 'Have you finally lost it? Why are you running?" the midget screams from behind me with fury laced to her tone. I look behind to see the wind pushing her unruly hair into her eyes again. With one hand occupied she wasn't even able to fix them properly. So she just gives up and closes her eyes.

I laugh at her attempt at running with her eyes closed. It increases my happiness by tenfold.

We run to the central wing without stopping. We only slow down once I see Mom and Uncle Alver sitting in the living room. They were discussing something in a hushed tone. Both of them get up in surprise when they see me. Their eyes widen once they fall on the girl running behind me with her eyes closed. 

"Little light, just because your father resorted to kidnaping a bride doesn't mean you do the same!" Uncle Alver exclaimed with fake disbelief. 

Almost ten years into his retirement, Lord Alver Faesolor didn't look a day over thirty. The elven blood in him had frozen his appearance in youth even though he was almost fifty. He looked every part the Grandmaster he once had been with head held high in honor. The flowing white robes look to be almost one with his snowy pale skin and white hair. The tall slender figure stands with a comfortable ease. In short, my favorite uncle looked just as I remembered him.

"kidnapping who? This midget? Don't worry, my standards still haven't fallen that low," I say with a smirk.

I didn't have to look towards Isolde to get her reaction. She graciously conveyed it to me with a swift kick to my shin. In response, I could only ungracefully yelp out in pain.

Limping on one foot, I look towards her to see her glaring at me, as usual. Even though her face suggests annoyance, her body language was a clear sign of nervousness. She fidgets with her fingers and volunteering tries to avoid looking at the other people in the room.

Now, what's wrong with her?

"Akira, sweetheart, that was very rude to your beautiful friend whose name I would like to know," my mother says in a gentle tone, probably sensing Isolde's uncomfortableness.

"Oh, This is midge- I mean Isolde. She was assigned to our estate. She will be staying with us. And midget. this is my mother, Lady Cassandra Ryuuzaki," I say with a smile aimed at mom.

"Aren't the kids supposed to be staying over at the guest castle?" Uncle Alver asks, pointy ears moving with curiosity. 

Isolde's ears perk up at that and she looks hopefully at Uncle Alver.

"Yes but Isolde is my very close friend who would be happy to stay with me," I clear up before she could find a way to get rid of me.

She glares at me harder not having the courage to speak up to Uncle and mom. Coward.

"Oh, then that's fine. I hope you enjoy your stay here, sweetheart," mom says with a gentle smile towards Isolde.

Mom claps her hand and immediately two helpers come out.

"Show Miss Isolde the room next to Lady Hikari," mom orders in a soft voice, and the helpers quickly convey. Isolde leaves with them but not without sparing a scathing glare at me. I only give her a wave in reply to rile her up even more.

"Akira, May I have some words with you?" Uncle Alver's voice gets my attention and I turn to look at them.

I hadn't noticed it before but there was an air of secrecy around them. They weren't meeting my eyes. My gut feeling told me something was very wrong.

"Is everything okay, Uncle?" I ask in an unsure tone.

To make it worse, neither mom nor Uncle assures me with an answer. Instead, he just asked me to follow him to the Front garden.

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