“Whoa! What’s with this thing? It almost gave me a heart attack!” Lance cried.
“This is Amelia, the griffin I have a contract with.”
“A what?! How’d you make a contract with a mythical beast?”
“It’s a long story, so there’s no point telling it now.”
“Why not?!”
“Kreeeeeeeeeeh!”
Amelia scolded us again with a, “Knock it off!”
That was when another large shadow emerged from the sky above—it was Rih.
“Th-There’s a black one too?!” Lance yelped.
Rih landed next to Amelia and chirped the romantic words of, “What’s wrong, my Amelia?” Amelia was quick to remind him that she was not in fact his. But Rih, the strong-willed griffin that he was, didn’t mind her scathing words.
Lance, on the other hand, was completely dumbstruck by the overpowering presence of the two griffins. “Mell! Why are there two griffins coming after you?!”
“You see, I have a contract with the black griffin as well,” I said casually.
“What?!” Lance took another look at Amelia, Rih, and Zara before letting out a scream. “What the hell is going on?!”
“That’s what all of us want to ask you, I’ll have you know,” Zara answered.
“Huh?!”
The glare Zara gave Lance was scarier than any expression I’d ever seen him muster before.
“Who’re you to Mell anyway?!” Lance asked.
“The two of us live together,” Zara replied.
“Excuse me?!”
“I suppose you could say we have a pretty close relationship.”
“A what?! M-Mell, do you really live with this guy?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
To be more accurate, we also lived with Charlotte and Sir Aiskoletta, but Lance didn’t need to know those details.
“U-Unmarried men and women can’t live together! It’s unthinkable!”
“Isn’t that just a Fore Elf custom? Please refrain from pushing your values onto others. This is the royal capital, don’t you know?”
Lance gritted his teeth at Zara’s remarks. I knew it was probably the last thing Lance wanted to hear from anyone, especially from Zara.
Well, it was unusual for marriages arranged by the parents of both parties to fall through. I probably would have hurt Lance’s pride if I ended our engagement. But he was the one who called off our engagement—not to mention how long I had to live with the stigma of it.
Lance probably couldn’t fathom how much pain I had to endure. The pain of having to bow my head to my parents. The pain of waiting for them to find me a new fiancé.
Or maybe Lance was waiting for my parents to beg his parents to make him take me back. He probably didn’t expect my parents to give up on him upon learning he’d rejected me.
I could practically see sparks flying off the glares exchanged by Zara and Lance.
“Tell me, would you happen to be Melly’s ex-fiancé?”
“Not ‘ex.’ I’m still her fiancé.”
“I was under the impression you ended things with her.”
“What…? Mell! You told this guy our business?”
“Of course. It’s the whole reason I came to the royal capital in the first place,” I said.
“That’s because you didn’t know how to take a joke!”
“A joke?!”
That response came from Zara—his tone deeply intimidating.
“Do you have any idea how much pain your sorry attempt at humor caused Melly?”
“B-But it’s her fault for not hearing me out…”
“Don’t tell me. Did you actually end things with Melly to get her to chase you?”
“That’s because…she was always running around working on stuff! She never stopped for a moment to listen to me! What else was I supposed to do?!”
At the very least, that part did make me feel guilty. My family was always struggling to get by, so once I got started on something, it was hard for me to stop.
“You had plenty of options to discuss things with her without resorting to breaking up,” Zara scolded.
“That’s where you are wrong. I tried to talk to her all the time. All I ever got in response was, ‘We’ll talk later,’ or, ‘Can it wait for some other time?’ And then, every single night, she went straight to bed because she was so tired. We never got a real chance to talk face-to-face!”
Supposedly, it had been solely my fault that Lance felt as though his back was against the wall. Although, Zara didn’t see it that way.
“You’re making it sound like this is all on Melly, but you’re wrong.”
“H-How am I wrong? She would never talk to me!”
“There were plenty of ways you could’ve made time to talk.”
“I didn’t have any other options! I never even got a chance!”
“I’m talking about making time to talk, not finding time.”
“Making time? What do you mean?”
“If Melly’s busy with work and the like, then you could’ve lent her a hand. In fact, you could’ve used that time working to chat with her. Whether it’s cooking, laundry, or cleaning, time flies in the blink of an eye when two people get to spend it alone together. Then you get the job done twice as fast and have extra time to spend with each other.”
Lance looked irritated, but was otherwise lost for words.
“But, more importantly, let Melly go. Now.”
“Shut your mouth! This is between me and her, mind your own business!”
“I can’t just walk away when Melly is upset.”
“Enough out of you! I’m going to—”
“Kreeeh, kreeeeeeeeeh!”
“Stop this right now!” Amelia shouted.
“Kreh kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreh kreh kreh!”
Even Lance didn’t know how to respond to Amelia’s incessant squawking.
“Kreh kreh kreh kreh, kreh kreeeh!”
“M-Mell, what’s your griffin saying to me?”
“Um…”
I was embarrassed by the idea of translating her cries. But if I didn’t explain it to him, Amelia’s lecture would go to waste.
“She’s begging you to listen to the woman in front of you and to stop fighting.”
“Huh?! I am listening! And we’re not fighting. I’m just trying to take her back to the Fore Elf woods.”
“Kreh kreh kreh, kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreh!”
“All right, I’ve had enough of your annoying chirping.”
“Kreh kreeeh!”
Although Amelia could understand Lance, Lance couldn’t understand her. That was probably why she felt like she was talking to a brick wall.
That was until Rih, who’d been quiet, sprang into action—spreading his wings and jumping into the air. He flew close to the ground and swooped straight at Lance and me.
“Whoa!”
I thought Lance and I would topple over, but something caught my arm.
“Melly!”
“Zara!”
Zara swept me off my feet, cradled me in his arms, and dashed away.
“Kreh, kreh!”
Rih was swiping his talons at Lance, alternating between each paw as if he were trying to land punches. Of course, Rih’s blows weren’t actually connecting with his foe. He was just trying to buy us some time to escape.
Rih returned to Amelia’s side once he was certain that Lance was too frightened to make a move.
After Zara set me down, Amelia came up and nuzzled me.
“Kreh kreh!”
“Amelia!”
I hugged her soft feathers. Amelia explained that she brought Zara with her when she had sensed that I was in danger. Rih had followed shortly after hearing Amelia’s cries.
“Amelia and Rih, thank you.”
But this wasn’t the time to get emotional over the griffins’ kindness.
“Damn it… What the hell’s wrong with that black griffin…? Ah!” Lance quickly got back on his feet and glared at me from a distance. “Mell, you—”
“I’m sorry, Lance. I’m not going back to the Fore Elf woods. There are people I love and cherish here in the royal capital!”
“You really think that’s going to change my mind?”
Lance’s trip from the forest to the city took a month. His intention to take me back with him wasn’t some half-hearted belief. He was so stubborn that it was impossible to convince him no matter what I said. Then how do I get out of this situation?
Lance’s shouting had attracted a crowd. With my sensitive elf ears, I could make out their whispers about the lover’s quarrel they believed they were spectating.
Frankly, I was mortified. I wanted to make a quick exit from this situation as soon as possible.
Then, the image of a person—the one person Lance could never make back down—appeared in my mind. I didn’t hesitate to propose my idea.
“My boss…”
“Hm?”
“If my boss says it’s okay, I’ll go back to the Fore Elf woods.”
“Really? You mean it?”
“Yes, but only with his permission.”
“What about if I have to convince him? If I manage to persuade him, you’ll come back with me, right?”
“That’s right.”
I believed in Captain Ludtink. He would never tell me to go back to the Fore Elf woods.
When I looked at Zara, he nodded with a relieved look.
I just knew things would work out. This was Captain Ludtink we were talking about after all.
🥞🥞🥞