A few days had passed since Ethan last talked to the Chesmire Cat.
In those few days, Ethan trained and refined his Martial Skills to the best of his abilities.
Nicole had told him that there was no way for him to become a master in such a short period of time. Mastery over skills and abilities required a lot of time, as well as experience in combat.
But she also told him that there was a shortcut, and that was to experience real battles.
Battles were very different from the spars, as well as the magical duels in the academy.
The young beauty had told him that only when your life truly hung on the boundary between life and death, where one’s senses are stimulated, would one truly ingrain the best way to fight into the bones.
Ethan knew that Nicole was right, so he decided to just take it one step at a time.
What he did in the Magical Duels might be truly outstanding, but since he couldn’t use magic whenever he wanted, he needed to learn other ways to protect himself.
His clash against the Wendigo had taught Ethan a lot.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, he felt that he was invincible in the academy after being able to attain Partial Resonance.
He thought that anyone he faced could be easily defeated with his Trump Card. But after fighting with the vile monster that abducted Luna, he was humbled and he understood that there was always someone… or something stronger than him.
The young man also decided not to look for Emma because he believed that she would come to him of her own accord when the time was right.
After all, she was his Promised One—whatever that term meant.
‘Only a week before our First Mission starts,’ Ethan thought as he wiped his face with a towel. ‘I hope nothing bad happens during our mission.’
Just as he was about to return to his room to take a shower, Luna entered the training hall with a complicated look on her face.
“Ethan, you have a guest,” Luna said.
“A guest?” Ethan arched an eyebrow. “Who?”
“Emma from Schwartz Manor,” Luna replied. “She’s waiting in the common room.”
Ethan blinked once then twice before his mind registered what the angelic beauty had told him.
“Emma came to see me?”
“Yes. She is waiting outside.”
Ethan thanked Luna and went to see his guest, whom he’d been wanting to see for the past few days.
The moment he entered the Common Room, Emma immediately sensed his presence and greeted him.
“Good Morning, Ethan.” Emma stood up and gave Ethan a brief nod. “I hope I didn’t interrupt your training.”
The young man stared at the Assistant Librarian who had a deadpan look on her face like always. He had seen how attractive Emma was a few days prior, and it left him a strong impression, so seeing her revert back to her old self took a moment to get used to.
“Good morning,” Ethan replied. “Do you need me for something?”
Emma nodded. “Meet me at three in the afternoon behind the library. We can continue the discussion we had the other day.”
Ethan sighed internally because this was the moment he was waiting for. Finally, he would be able to talk to her and ask some of the questions that he had set aside for the time being.
“Understood. I’ll be there later,” Ethan replied. “Thank you, Emma.”
Emma only gave Ethan a brief nod before taking her leave.
When the Assistant Librarian was finally gone, Luna glanced at Ethan with concern.
“I didn’t know that you were on good terms with Emma,” Luna said. “She has a reputation of being standoff-ish in the academy. She doesn’t talk to people and prefers to be alone. How did you two come to know each other?”
“She is an Assistant Librarian, so I see her a lot whenever I visit the Library,” Ethan answered.
He wanted to tell Luna more about Emma, but he held his tongue. Emma had told him to not speak about her to others and his secret relationship with her.
A few hours later, Ethan stood in front of the tree that Emma had taken him to a few days ago. Before he could even knock on its bark, a door appeared and opened wide for him to enter. 𝑶𝚟𝓵xt.𝑪𝔬𝗆
The young man didn’t hesitate and entered the secret Tree House as quickly as he could. Once he was safely inside, the door closed behind him, and the tree reverted back to its original look.
Inside, he saw Emma sitting on the couch. She was no longer wearing glasses, and her hair was neatly combed, showing her beautiful face that only a handful of people knew about.
“Please sit, My Liege,” Emma said softly. “I apologize for not meeting with you over the past few days.”
“It’s fine,” Ethan replied before sitting on the couch opposite Emma’s. “I have a lot of questions to ask you, but first, let’s talk about why you wanted to meet with me.”
Emma eyed the handsome young man, whom her mark had recognized to be her Master. She hadn’t seen him for the past few days, and there were visible dark circles under Ethan’s eyes, which made her heart ache.
“I know that you have a lot of questions, My Lord,” Emma said softly. “But there are some questions that I cannot answer. I hope that you will forgive me for that.”
“I understand.” Ethan nodded. “First, tell me what a Promised One is. I want to know if you are friend or foe.”
The young lady smiled bitterly after hearing Ethan’s first question.
“In order to answer this question, My Liege, I will need to tell you a little bit about my Clan,” Emma answered. “I belong to the Meredith Clan. The Ancestors of my clan were Shamans and Druids, who are nomadic by nature.
“In the past, they lived peacefully in a small village that is hidden within the Grimwood Forest, but during the Age of Myths, they were forced to flee in order to keep themselves safe from the great battle between the Gods and the Giants.
“The Elves, Dwarves, and Humans sided with the Gods, while the Fomorians and the Monsters of the land sided with the Giants. Our clan is peaceful by nature and didn’t want to fight, so we left our home and wandered the land, looking for a safe place to stay.
“That is when we met the First Lord, who allowed us to take shelter within his Domain. He protected our Clan from the ravages of war and made sure that our clan could live in peace.
“In order to repay his grace, our Ancestor’s decided to have one of our maidens become the protectors of his rightful heir.
“Since then, the Meredith Clan has followed this tradition, from generation to generation. But in this generation, there have been some complications…”
Emma sighed before continuing her story.
“There were some people who didn’t want the Lord’s bloodline to continue and sent countless Wizards and Witches to kill the newborn baby. Because of this, Our Lord’s army, as well as our Clan, fought them back to allow Lady Catherine an opportunity to escape.
“That was the last time we saw our Lady, but she made sure to send our clan a message that you were safe. She didn’t mention where you were or where she was going to hide, but that was enough.
“Our Clan then dispatched several maidens throughout Eastshire, Northshire, Westshire, and Southshire in order to find you. They said that whoever finds you first will become your Promised One.”
Emma looked at Ethan with a smile.
“My mother thought that enrolling at Brynhildr Academy would give me a chance to meet you if you were here in Eastshire. Of course, I am not the only Maiden of our Clan in Eastshire, but they had gone to other places in order to search for you. I’m sure my mother is very happy that her foresight has paid off.”
Ethan kept his silence and patiently listened to Emma’s story. When she was done talking, he learned two important things about his identity.
The first one was his mother’s name.
‘Catherine,’ Ethan thought. He felt a dull pain in his chest after he heard the name of his biological mother. ‘So that is my mother’s name.’
The young man closed his eyes and placed his hand over his chest as he thought about his mother, who went missing according to Emma’s story.
The second thing was the meaning of the Promised One, which explained why Emma referred to him as “My Liege”.
“So, a Promised One is a protector.” Ethan nodded. “Understood.”
Emma wanted to say more, but she decided to hold back for the time being. She didn’t want to overload the young man with information, which might complicate things.
Truth be told, she was very tempted to tell Ethan that the Promised Ones also served as their Lord’s concubines in the past.
But since she believed that he didn’t need this information right now, she decided to keep it a secret for the time being.
“I have another question,” Ethan said. “The Meredith Clan served this Lord, right? Is he a noble? Does he have a territory? If so, where is it?”
“I can’t answer the first question because things might get complicated if you were to know about it,” Emma answered. “As for the second question, yes, he has a territory. In order to reach it, one must first pass through Heimdall’s Gate, which leads to the Central Continent of Midgard.”
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Author’s Note: Reader’s Challenge! If this novel gets 10 reviews, I will post 2 chapters daily for an entire week. After that, I will conduct another reader’s challenge, and as long as you guys hit the targets, I will maintain 2 chapters everyday.
Don’t worry, I won’t ask for anything too extreme. Kekeke! Goodluck, and may you reach the target!