‘Father, that girl is not corrupted.’
Igni stated.
“Huh…?”
His words came out as a surprise to Kael.
‘Did he just… call her a girl…?’
After all, this was the first time Igni referred to someone other than him as a… living being?
All this while, Igni referred to everyone he met as a ‘thing’, even the King was no exception to this.
It was almost as if he thought of every other human to be beneath him. Kael found this concerning, but he had read about the Dragon Pride, even Veylara said it was normal for Dragons to have such pride, so he didn’t pay much attention to this.
But now…
Igni called Lavinia ‘girl’, it was almost as if he was acknowledging her.
“How are you so sure?”
Kael questioned with a frown on his face.
Even if he ignored how Igni seemed to have acknowledged Lavinia, the very fact that he said she wasn’t corrupted confused him as well.
There was no way to tell whether a Human is corrupted or not without seeing his Bonds, even Igni was no exception to this rule.
Then why was he so sure this time?
Was it because of his Visions? Heck, even Kael himself didn’t blindly trust Lavinia, in his mind, he still considered the very very very small possibility of Lavinia being corrupted.
‘She is loved by the Elementals.’
Igni answered.
“Huh?”
Kael, of course, had no clue what he was talking about.
‘I sense an absurd amount of Elementals around her, an amount that no human has, not even you.’
“What…?”
Kael blinked.
Was Igni saying… her Magic Affinity was higher than his?
But that doesn’t make sense.
Elira had constantly told him how his Magic Progress was faster than hers, of course, Kael knew he was at a disadvantage since Lavinia had affinity with all the Elements, but when it came to Fire Elements, his affinity should be higher than hers.
‘Elementals are the purest form of entities in the entire world. When humans use Magic, they are essentially forcing the Elementals to work with them, however, the moment Humans stop using Magic and actively storing Elementals inside their body, the Elementals try to move away from them.
But she…
She is different, Elementals are not leaving her side, there is only one way that is possible, her heart resonates with the Elementals and that is only possible if her heart is as pure as the Elementals themselves, which is something extremely rare, even amongst other species, let alone the vilest of them all.
There has never been a case where a Human is loved by Elementals, she…
She is an exception.
Corruption is a Vile Power and she is too pure for such power to affect her or the Bonds connected to her. She should have a complete Immunity to it, her Bonds can never be corrupted, even if they consume Seed of Corruption.’
“What…?”
Kael blinked, unable to believe what he was hearing.
“What are you doing?”
Lavinia questioned as she stared at Kael.
“Ah, I was talking to my Bonds, it’s nothing.”
Kael shook his head, wanting no misunderstanding between them.
“That’s not what I am talking about.”
Lavinia replied, her eyes now staring at Kael’s hand, which was still holding a piece of meat in front of her mouth.
“This? I am feeding you of course.”
Kael answered.
“Someone like you should already know, but just in case you do not. The moment I break these chains, everyone will be informed. I won’t be able to feed you then and since you have been starved for three days, I’d rather you eat something before we run away.”
“Run away?”
The Princess narrowed her eyes.
“Of course, you don’t plan on staying here, do you?”
“You will free me?”
Lavinia questioned, unlike one would expect, there was no sign of joy in her eyes. It was almost as if she didn’t believe it was happening.
“Why else do you think I am here?”
Kael questioned back, Lavinia however, ignored his response and,
“Why are you doing this?”
She questioned, her voice full of suspicion.
She didn’t sound like a person Igni talked about one bit and honestly, Kael didn’t find it strange.
The woman was betrayed by her own Father, a man she trusted and loved with all her heart.
Kael had heard stories of how Lavinia stayed with her Father most of the time and spent time with him, to be betrayed by the person she trusted and then be chained in this depressing space…
It would be stranger if she just trusted everyone she was told.
“I need your help.”
Kael answered directly.
“Huh?”
Lavinia frowned.
“I need allies, you are going to be one of them.”
Kael decided to be honest.
“Allies for what?”
Lavinia asked another question.
“Are you going to ask everything right now? Why do you even care? I am freeing you from this hell, is that not what you want anyway?”
“Only fools expect help without paying a price. If I am going to accept your help, I need to know what price I am going to pay.”
Lavinia answered directly, her tone had no emotion whatsoever.
“…”
Kael stared at the woman in front of him in silence.
‘This woman is… pure…?’
He wondered in his head, a little taken aback. All he saw was a cold, suspicious woman who seemed to hate the entire world.
“Just eat, I will free you, get you out of here and we can discuss the rest later.”
“You are willing to set me free just like that?”
“Woman, I do not have all night to sit here and chat, eat.”
“What if I run away?”
Lavinia questioned, once again ignoring Kael’s words. No matter how tempted she was by being presented with something that was not a stale curry and bread, she didn’t give in.
“And how many places do you think you can run away to?”
Kael chuckled.
“I do have a few places.”
Lavinia answered.
“Alright then, run away if you want to. Now will you eat or not?”
“I won’t.”
Lavinia moved her mouth away, she feared the possibility of the tempting food being poisoned.
“…”
Kael stared at the woman in silence.
This… might not be as easy as he was expecting.
Just as he thought of this,
‘Father, Zarak is catching on. Prepare to leave.’
Imperia informed and Kael’s expression changed.
“We need to leave.”
He spoke as he grabbed the steel rod of Lavinia’s cage and tore it open with his bare hands.
It was time to leave.