Chapter 87

It’s gone, truly gone now, it seems.

He saw his bare chest in the mirror; the black spot from before hadn’t reappeared.

Adrian heaved a sigh of relief that seemed to pour out of his entire body. Immediately after, a draining sleepiness hit his mind. He yawned, then winced as he moved his bandaged hand.

It had healed somewhat, but not fully, he could still feel aches forming in his fingers and sharp pain whenever he moved it. Seeing this, he decided to use his gift to heal it completely, wanting nothing more than to sleep peacefully without the pain waking him up. He could just covered it up better tomorrow.

He willed his gift, a power tied to life itself as Elves seems to think, and one the Light Church might have answers for to awaken. Already familiar with how it worked, he expected a gentle warmth to wash over his hand...

"!!"

Adrian felt a gush of power, something that couldn't simply be described as warmth, but intense heat wash over his body and pour into his hand.

He watched as the bruises, small cuts, and pain in his hand vanished instantly. His hand returned to form or rather, as his eyes narrowed to examine it, an even finer condition than before.

He could feel a faint, unusual heat emanating from his hand, something that had never happened when using his gift in the past.

"What's this?"

His gift felt more active... more radiant than before. Was "powerful" the right word? It was merely a sensation for now, if he wanted to know for sure, he would need a significant injury to test if any deeper changes had occurred.

"Is this related to the black spot from before? The corruption?" He mumbled. That was the only recent anomaly that could have affected his ability.

Had it really disappeared, or had it merely corrupted his gift? Perhaps "corrupted" wasn't the right word, but rather... altered?

If that was true, then what had his gift become?

Drowsiness made it hard to think clearly, and he didn't dare sit or lie down on the bed, knowing he would drift off immediately. He paced around the room until he made a decision. He initially headed toward the sword rack in the corner, but considering it too much, opted instead for a dagger resting on one of the drawers.

The smooth, well-crafted blade caught the flickering light of the lamp and candles.

He ran his finger along its sharp edge, forming a small cut that wasn't deep enough to bleed, before sitting down in a chair and placing his other handthe one that hadn’t been injured before, flat on the table.

Holding the dagger in his freshly healed hand, he raised it and pointed the tip down. Before bringing it down, he paused and tilted his head.

"Should I do five-finger fillet to make it surprising and fun?" He mumbled.

He shrugged and plunged the knife straight down into the back of his palm.

"Fuck!"

It was only after the pain hit, as blood poured down and the blade pierced straight through his hand, that he realized he probably didn't need to injure himself quite so drastically.

Too late for regrets.

"Ah, fuck..." Adrian cursed again. Pain wasn't new to him, but that didn't make it any easier to brush off.

Sweat beaded on his forehead. He released a shaky breath and yanked the knife back out, splattering blood into the air before using his gift.

Once again, intense heat surged into his hand. He watched as the gaping hole immediately began to heal, the flesh practically wiggling as it pulled back together, rapidly erasing the wound.

He wiped the remaining blood away to find his hand in top condition.

Now he could confirm it, something about his gift had changed. It had become significantly more powerful. While he could always heal wounds with ease, even he could feel a stark difference between how it worked now compared to before.

Was this the change the black spot had brought? A stronger healing ability? To him, it didn't seem fundamentally different, he was still healing wounds the same way as always, just slightly faster.

Adrian narrowed his eyes at his hand before giving up with a shake of his head. He couldn't think clearly tonight, and his mind was exhausted even if his body was fine. After quickly cleaning himself up, he collapsed onto the bed and immediately drifted off to sleep.

---

The next day, Adrian found himself atop a wall playing chess with the princess while breaking their fast, with food readily available at the call of servants.

“How soon will you be going back to your territory?”

Adrian looked up at the princess after moving his knight. “After all my affairs here are done.” He glanced briefly toward the town and beyond, where he caught a glimpse of the tent horde in the distance.

The tourney had finished, yet the people's excitement was still high. He reckoned it would take a couple more days before everyone, lords and commonfolk alike began to leave.

“And are your affairs plenty?” the princess asked.

‘You are one of those affair’ Adrian thought, not daring to voice it aloud. “Plenty enough. I did gain quite a reputation in the tourney.”

He wasn’t lying. The sheer volume of attention, invitations to talk, spar, and meet was overwhelming. If not for the princess, whose priority stood above all else, he would have had to navigate every single request or find a polite way to decline.

As much as he wanted to leave early, he resigned himself to it. This was likely the liveliest event he would attend for a long time, so he might as well put up with it. 

“Did you think you’d gain such fame when you came here?” The princess finally made her move, her pawn threatening his bishop.

“No, I never expected much when I arrived. I didn’t know what it would be like.” Adrian replied easily, moving another piece.

As the princess pondered her next move, he stole a glance at her. So far, she hadn’t brought up his situation with the elves, a silence that somehow felt more ominous than if she had simply asked. He could only wonder what her angle was.

“Tell me about your territory...”

It was a topic he hadn’t expected, but he welcomed it. As the words left his mouth, a wave of homesickness washed over him, for his quiet castle which, though small and once unfamiliar to him a year ago, was now home, especially with Ela and Alex there.

It was a pity they couldn’t come.

Surprisingly, they spent the better part of the morning simply discussing his domain, as well as the prince’s up-and-coming port city, though mostly his own land, how he managed it, and the like.

They played several games, with Adrian winning every one, though he could tell the princess had genuinely improved.

Soon it was late morning, nearing noon, and their meeting came to an end. Before she departed, the princess turned to him. “I truly wonder what secret you’re hiding, Lord Harrow.”

With those words, she left, leaving Adrian alone atop the wall to ponder what she was planning.

--

He had a brief reprieve to eat lunch before heading toward the yard where Lord Corvus had asked to meet him.

On the way, with Dexton behind him, several lords and ladies accompanied him, some even inviting themselves along the moment they heard he was meeting Lord Corvus.

He could only comment inwardly that he didn't mind the attention from the ladies.

Soon he arrived at the yard, making his way to one of the training grounds where Lord Corvus was practicing. As soon as he stepped inside, he felt the gazes of the knights and soldiers upon him.

Some whispered to their peers, others narrowed their eyes at him, and a few looked on with open admiration. 

He truly had built quite a reputation.

His only solace, gathered from conversations with the lords and ladies was that word of his invitation to the elven kingdom hadn't spread. It seemed the royal siblings and Lord Jayson had kept quiet, and he doubted the elves were prone to gossip.

Or could Sir Sylwen have known this would happen? No, they shouldn't be familiar enough with human culture to anticipate that, unless they had spent significant time in human lands.

Adrian, keeping his hand bandaged to maintain appearances despite it being fully healed, was unable to join Lord Corvus in a spar, much to his disappointment.

The lords and ladies who had followed him kept their distance while still making their presence known to Lord Corvus.

"I heard about the offer." Lord Corvus said, wiping sweat from his face. Dressed in a simple tunic that accentuated his muscular build, his look drew swoons from the watching ladies nearby. Adrian's mouth twitched before he turned his attention back to Lord Corvus, though not before spotting someone else among the onlookers.

Lord Thomas, noticing Adrian's glance, offered a wry smile and a nod.

"It was a most surprising offer, Lord Corvus."

"Hmm. Are you part elf?" Lord Corvus asked point-blank, unconcerned whether anyone heard, though no one was standing close enough to eavesdrop.

Adrian choked. He hadn't expected that question at all. "No, of course not."

"Then you must be something else." Lord Corvus replied, retrieving his black spear and swinging it in a wide arc.

Adrian was baffled by how easily Lord Corvus accepted the extraordinary compared to the others. Noticing his expression, the older lord snorted.

"There are plenty of extraordinary things in the world, Lord Harrow. Are you familiar with the rumor that Breakstone Kingdom was supposedly founded by giants?"

"Yes."

"Then do you know that its royal family are true half-bloods?"