Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

As soon as the guard referred to him as a beast, Kane felt his anger surge. The intensity of it almost overshadowed the fact that this man had referred to Ella as a princess, indicating she was likely related to the woman who had tried to enslave him.

Fortunately, Kane managed to suppress his rage before displaying too many outward signs, only narrowing his eyes slightly. He quickly realized these people were probably no weaker than Ella, assuming she was even willing to fight them, which meant he could only hope his princess companion could talk them out of it.

Unfortunately, even the narrowed eyes were too much for them. One of the guards immediately exclaimed, "You dare narrow your eyes, beast! Kneel for your betters!"

Disgust and bile rose in Kane's throat at the idea of kneeling to anyone, let alone these people. Even though he knew he should do whatever was most likely to get him out of here alive, his pride wouldn't let him.

He was ready to die on this hill.

So, he didn't move a muscle. The guard instantly became furious, "You dare?!" he cried out, disappearing from Kane's view.

Yet rather than reappearing in front of Kane to teach him a lesson, the guard appeared back in Kane's view after having travelled only half the distance towards him.

Surprisingly, the wrist of his raised arm was held by Ella. Her arm trembled with effort as she looked at the guard with a cold expression, one far removed from the compassionate and sad gaze Kane had come to expect from her.

"You dare presume to order around my mother's pet?" she snapped icily. "Do you know how many of you are worth one of him?! Comparatively, you are a bug! Would you like me to tell Mother which bug stung her beloved new pet?!"

Kane still didn't like being referred to as a pet, but he couldn't help but look at Ella with amused surprise, and a hint of appreciation.

He wasn't the only surprised one. Both guards paled and blinked. After recovering from his shock, the one stopped by Ella stammered, his voice filled with fear, and his head shaking frantically, "N— No! T— There's no need for that! P— Please, Princess! I spoke out of turn! Don't mention me to her majesty!"

Despite being referred to as a bug, this guard's fear of his queen had clearly been ingrained into his core. The mere mention of her turned him into a submissive mess.

Ella scoffed dismissively before releasing the guard's wrist and waving her hand. "You're lucky I'm in a hurry. Mother has ordered me to bring him to the palace while she discusses business with the Lord of Genes. I suggest you let us pass and wait for Mother to come out."

"Y— Yes, Princess!" the other guard quickly acquiesced, stepping aside. "But at least let one of us come with you as an esco—"

With a withering glare, Ella interrupted him, "You think I need protection!? Even if his soul wasn't marked by my mother, there's no way he could harm me, you imbecile! Stop trying to think and just do as ordered. You'll wait here until my mother is ready to leave. Understood?"

The man gulped and nodded quickly, "U— Understood, Princess. We'll wait for the queen as ordered."

Scoffing again, Ella brushed past them. "Good. I suppose I don't have to report you for insubordination then." The elves became even paler, quickly shrinking and trying their best not to meet the cold princess's gaze.

Even Kane didn't catch any more of their gazes as they preferred to stare at the ground while he walked past them. He barely suppressed the urge to look at them smugly, knowing there was no way that would end well. Meanwhile, he couldn't help but appreciate Ella's swaying form in front of him.

Silently, they stepped into the sleek flying car. The doors closed with a soft hiss, and the interior lit up with a gentle blue glow. The seats were made of a smooth, cool material that seemed to mould to their bodies as they sat down. Kane marvelled at the speed of their ascent, the cityscape blurring into streaks of light outside the windows.

Now away from the building, Ella sighed in relief, her cold expression melting as her sad, yet compassionate eyes returned.

Turning his wolfish head, Kane looked at his depressed partner with a raised eyebrow, "So… princess, huh?" From the start, he had figured she was related to the queen, both due to her appearance and her presence, but 'princess' was still a little surprising.

Slowly, Ella nodded, "Please don't hold it against me…"

Then she turned her head to look at him, "But I'm sure you're not interested in me… We'll be traveling for at least half an hour, so you have some time to ask questions. As I promised, I'll answer anything to the best of my knowledge."

Kane wasn't entirely ready to let this go yet. He wanted to know who he was in bed with; figuratively, anyway.

"Oh, I don't know," he mused softly, although his grating voice made it sound terrifying. "I think you are plenty interesting. For example, that little play you put on back there was far too impressive to be improvised. I think you're more used to acting cold and callous than you are compassionate. So when did you change?"

"I…" Ella began, her voice trembling as she turned her face away from Kane. Her shoulders shook, and when she looked back at him, her eyes were glistening with tears. "You're right. I was no different from my mother or those guards."

She paused, taking a deep breath as if steadying herself. "But I swear it wasn't out of malice or desire," she continued, her voice breaking with emotion. "It was pure ignorance! I was a stupid girl and only realized it a year ago. Now I— I just want to make life better for everyone!"

Kane cocked his head to the side and looked into her eyes. There, he saw the truth of her words. But rather than console her, he shook his head, "You don't need to convince me, Ella. I've been a volfar or whatever for all of two seconds, and currently, I've still written off the entire elven species as expendable, so don't expect me to care about how you treated either of their kinds."

He didn't ask about what happened a year ago because he simply didn't care. Maybe one day he would, and maybe then he'd ask her about it, but not today.

Noticing his indifference, Ella calmed down. There was a hint of relief in her eyes, but mostly sadness and some loneliness. Kane quickly realized this Ella was likely depressed, a notion that made him realize even powerful mystics could fall prey to the destructiveness of emotions.

She turned her face back to the car's interface and shook her head slightly, "You're wrong… I do need to convince you, though perhaps not of my sincere desire to make up for my mistakes." Her voice was filled with conviction and determination.

'I guess she means convincing me not to burn this world down if I ever get the chance?' Kane wondered. Yet, before he could ask what she meant, she continued, "But please… enough about that for now. You have other questions, I'm sure."

He looked at her for a moment, then nodded and acquiesced. "Fine. Why don't you tell me everything you know about volfar and Dreadwolf."