Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: Dark Elf Arc

Chapter 9

Caspian followed the little girl, whose name was Margarett, as she led Elincia by the hand. He glanced at the people they passed. All of them were whispering and pointing. At first, he thought they were whispering and pointing at Elincia because she was an elf, but then he realized that was incorrect. They weren't pointing at Elincia at all.

They were pointing at the girl.

"It's her again."

"The Cursed Child."

"She's cursed."

"What's she doing here?"

His frown grew as he listened to these people. What was this about a Cursed Child? He glanced at Margarett as she held Elincia's hand and tugged the sorceress along. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She had black hair and bright blue eyes. Her dress went down to her ankles and boots covered her feet. She looked like a normal child.

Wait.

Caspian rubbed his eyes and looked at the back of her neck. He could see something poking out through the fabric. Black and shiny, it looked like whatever it was had embedded itself into her skin. Could that be why people called her a cursed child?

Margarett led him and Elincia to a small cottage about two kilometers outside of Lígoton. It was located within a forested area, with a crystal clear lake next to it and a colorful array of flowers decorating the area. The cottage was bigger than most. While it was made of wood, there were two separate sections, a part that resembled a regular one-story house, and an even larger building with a chimney releasing plumes of black smoke.

"Daddy is probably in the smithy," Margarett said as she pulled Elincia up to the front door of the larger building and knocked. "Daddy! I'm back!"

As Caspian neared the door, he heard the sound of pounding. Steel striking steel. However, that stopped after Margarett spoke. There was some clattering beyond the door, then footsteps echoed to them before, finally, the door opened and revealed a large man with hair and eyes the same color as the girl's. A smile was splitting open his face.

"Margarett!" he exclaimed with open arms as though about to hug the girl. He paused upon spotting Caspian and Elincia. "An elf?"

Caspian and Elincia braced themselves for hatred and ridicule as the man stared at them with sharp eyes, but then, as if something had settled within his mind, the man nodded several times. The hatred they had been expecting never came.

"I see. You're the newest sorceress, yeah? Elincia, if I'm not mistaken," he said.

"Um... yes." Elincia looked at the man in shock. "Yes, that is me."

"I had heard that Sylvia announced you were an elf," the man continued. "To be honest, I didn't really believe it at first, but it seems that what the teller revealed to us is indeed true."

His daughter looked up at him with her large, blue eyes. "Daddy, Ele and Caspian don't have a place to stay the night. Can they stay here?"

Elincia looked like she wanted to say something, but she kept her tongue, biting her lower lip as she struggled to keep the words in. The man observed her. Then he glanced down at his daughter, smiled, and placed a rough and calloused hand on her head.

"You know I could never deny you." He ruffled her hair even as he shifted his gaze from the girl to Caspian and Elincia. "How long do you two need a place to stay?"

"Just one night," Caspian said when Elincia didn't speak. "We're taking a train tomorrow."

The man nodded. "I'll let you two stay the night. My home isn't very big, but it's got enough room for two more. My name is Dale, by the way. Dale Kensington."