The Lotus Of East Palace
Chapter 2 (Elias)

The girl ran away from me again.

Run away. Run as far as possible. Run until you run out of energy. I don't even have to run to catch you.

Xavier again gave me a troublesome and laborious task. Working with Orient girl who does not want to be invited to work together to find a Princess who has disappeared since more than twenty years ago only capitalized on the hairpin of the Princess.

But if Your Majesty has already declared, then I, the Dog, must obey him.

This is for Elle anyway. For my family. For the sake of this kingdom. For the sake of this nation. For the sake of the whole people of Nordhalbinsel. I can't believe the fate of our millions depends on my success in getting a girl to work with me. I want to laugh at the irony. Elle laughed at the irony.

"I thought that was your skill. Don't you just have to blink one eye to get a girl to bend the knee to you?" He said when I told him what Xavier assigned me.

The thing is, I didn't even have a chance to blink and the girl had already disappeared from my sight like a hare running from a wolf.

I've done all my best for him. I gave her the honor of being the Queen's bodyguard, a job that all the female knights in Montreux wanted. Twenty-three years of our kingdom did not have a Queen, and during that time, the female knight was looked at one eye. But now since Elle became the sole Queen, all the female knights flocked to pose as the Queen's bodyguards. And I, with all my generosity, personally ask General Arianne to make Honey Welsh and one of her closest friends the Queen's bodyguards. I deliberately recruited his friend as well so that he would not feel alienated because he clearly did not look like a Nordhalbinsel person.

I also asked Elle to provide a room with a comfortable bed, good food and abundant, a large salary, as well as not too crowded working hours and leave that can be asked at any time. It was all for that girl, but I didn't want to be seen privileging her to worry that people might hate her, so I asked that all of those things apply to all of the Queen's bodyguards. At least he should have walked up to me willingly and said, "Thank you so much General, what can I do for you?" and I will certainly be polite to him, instead of chasing him like a hungry wolf chasing his prey.

I knew he was the right man for this task. As Xavier said, he mastered various languages and he came from the Orient. At least he knows a lot about his home country. But not only that, I suspect she really knows about Princess Seo-Hwa.

When I first met her and offered to cooperate, she immediately refused once she heard the name Princess Seo-Hwa called. It was like a sacred name that could not be called.

"Why are you looking for the Princess?" Ask. He was not yet the Queen's bodyguard and I met him at Montreux Castle. I have to admit his language skills are amazing. He certainly looks like an Orient man, but he can speak Nordhalbinsel complete with our accent as if he were a pure northerner.

"I can't tell you before you say you're willing to help me. Secret country."

"Then I have to reject your invitation. Just find someone else. I can't help you. Good bye."

You arrogant Orient girl!

I just need to teleport. Sometimes people forget that I am also the son of the Lilithier Grimoire. I can also do magic. A tad. But I only need teleportation magic, so that's all I've been using.

I stepped once and I was in front of the girl. He looked surprised as if he had just seen a ghost. Though he had seen me in my other form but he was not this scared. These few days I have been chasing him with my army. He was always good at running and hiding.

I slowly stepped forward, he retreated. He continued to step back until his back hit the wall behind him. I didn't mean to scare him, really. I don't like to use this way. I don't like to force a girl to follow my will. It was a completely inappropriate act and we northern men know better manners than anyone. You could say we learned manners first before we started learning to talk. But I will do everything for the sake of this country, even in a way that is not good.

I put both my hands on the wall, creating a barricade so that he could not escape again.

"You should come with me." I said with emphasis on every word. This time I will not beg again. I have pleaded with her well enough but she refused. I ran out of ways and started running out of time. I had to force it.

Surprisingly, he did not seem afraid anymore. His eyes full of determination. His eyes flashed with anger and I almost retreated because of it. "I've said it many times! I don't want to!"

"You're in no position to resist, Miss Welsh."

"This is a disrespectful act on one of the Queen's bodyguards! I'll report it."

I can't hold my laughter. He could have said that to me. I gave him this job. Who does he think he can report to? "You may forget, so let me remind you again, I am the Queen's twin sister."

She's quiet. Realize that he has lost. But then I heard footsteps approaching. I looked to see who was coming.

"Am I interrupting something?" The Lion of the South. I should have known he would wander around like this. Also true. I should have prepared for his departure to the Elle residence.

But before I could answer it, before I refocused on the girl, my hands were gripped very firmly. I don't know where that power came from when it was so small. The next thing I knew, my hands were twisted and I fell to the floor. The rabbit had brought down the wolf.

His smile mocked me. The tip of his knee held my body on the floor. The pain is incredible, but I can't fight it. Strange, though I should be able to get rid of it easily. It's not that I can't, I realize, I don't want to fight it. This time I let him win. He seemed satisfied that he had brought me down.

"Thank you Sir, but you don't need—“ his words came to a halt as he looked at Leon. "For the sake of the Dragon." he covered his mouth with both hands, gasping. His pupils dilated. He got up and I was free.

I watched Honey Welsh who was still glued to Leon.

"More handsome than the one in the painting.." he muttered. I'm holding back the laughter. Oh, excellent. Another fan of the Lion of the South. This guy is famous everywhere. I need to hide it immediately. It could be bad that Elle was involved in a scandal because of her whereabouts.

"I'm sorry?" Leon cringing. "He bothers you?" Ask later.

"You okay?" Ask Leon again.

But just as Leon asked that, Honey Welsh had already sprinted away from us. I prepared to teleport again, but then I remembered the task from Elle. I must immediately prepare for Leon's departure to his home. I'll catch up to that nimble bunny.

"He why?" Ask Leon.

"You're the reason! She's Honey Welsh. The Orient girl Xavier said probably knows something about Princess Seo-Hwa's whereabouts. I asked her to come to my team to look for the missing Princess. I finally got to meet him after days of him avoiding me. But you're instead—" Calm down. I need to calm down. There's no point in me venting my frustration because my quarry left after seeing the Lion. There is still time to hunt. "That's it!"

...****************...

It was too early and I was busy.

After sending Leon to the Elle residence, I returned to the headquarters of the Wolf Squad on the top of Elbrus mountain. Now they are over two hundred. And my father has entrusted me to lead them all.

In the past, only the descendants of Winterthur were allowed to use our powers to transform into Wolves and hunt. The strength of one Winterthur wolf was equivalent to ten humans. We are fast and deadly, and when we are wolves, we are more inhumane. We will not hesitate to kill our enemies. We hunt the black witch or whoever our King wants. In other words, we are the hunting dogs of the King. We are loyal to the King. But since King Vlad, his father Xavier, gave the death penalty to all of the Winterthur Clan except the Wolfgang Winterthur family, we were short of members. Only my father and I inherited that power. Strength or curse, the same.

When my father became a General, he divided his power among those who were willing to serve for the King. Under my father's leadership, many wanted to obtain the strength of ten humans. To be invincible. Become like me and my dad. They only needed to do the blood oath to always obey the King. And once a month at night, we'll turn into wolves all night. Our animal instincts rose and completely lost our human nature. We will be released to hunt black magicians in the border region. If on those nights there was a man wandering about where we were hunting, how unlucky that man was, he would be killed instantly. That is why the King forbids anyone to roam the border region the night we turn into animals completely.

We eat humans, of course. Not only humans, but animals as well, even if an ancient monster were in front of us, we would probably eat it. We eat whatever passes in front of our eyes. We are not always hungry and can even endure hunger for months after a hunting night. But when it comes time to hunt, it will be difficult to control yourself.

The difficult thing was to train the young wolves of their— who had recently expressed his vow. They are not used to it and always hungry. And I don't want to have to train them to control themselves.

When I arrived at the top of Elbrus, I was already in the form of a wolf. My snow-white fur is really powerful to dispel the cold air of Elbrus that can normally freeze humans. The Wolves who were already more experienced and could already control their hunger were placed in one of the Winterthur residences. But the ones at the top of Elbrus, far from human civilization, were the young Wolves. They've all gathered. They were all younger than me. The youngest was still eleven years old, little Demyan. He had cream-colored fur similar to his eyes. And he could at least shut up. Run around and about and roll around in the snow like a puppy.

Be quiet!

Simultaneously they were all silent on the spot as soon as they heard my command in their heads. Is correct. They will all obey my orders. I am their leader.

General, when can we hunt again?

Is correct. Let's hunt. We hungry.

Let's go to Schiereiland and find a snack there.

Oh my goodness these kids! It could be bad if they get to Schiereiland.

General, we heard our seniors went hunting these past few days. Why weren't we invited?

Their seniors mean the wolves who are more mature and can already control themselves so that they will not eat just anyone. Anyway I'm taking them to go after Honey Welsh. Not to eat.

Not time. Answer, briefly.

What about that hairpin? Are we going to find the owner?

Little Demyan who is always curious and always excited asked about Princess Seo-Hwa's hairpin. But even I have trouble tracking it. The age of the hairpin is already years. The fragrance of Princess Seo-Hwa who was still left in the hairpin was already covered by other scents. The flops were once sold in a market in Orient. Cheap antique market on the edge of town for tourists. Xavier, who was visiting the Orient, as usual, went to the outskirts. It was there that he found the hairpin and felt interested in buying it. I must admit that hairpins are indeed beautiful, jewelry craftsmen in our country will certainly not be able to imitate the work. She originally intended to buy the hairpin for Elle as a souvenir. Not to be worn by Elle, but for her collection of antiques in her home. Elle liked such strange items, there were many in her house. But then the all-knowing Elle said that the hairpin was supposed to be worth one of our homes. The hairpin belonged to a member of the imperial family, made of pure gold and studded with diamonds as well as five rare gems that filled each flower petal at the end. And from then on we knew that the hairpin belonged to Princess Seo-Hwa who disappeared.

Maybe because it's been in the market for a long time, maybe it's been bought by someone else and then resold, there are many scents mixed in the hairpin. So lately I've been handing that hairpin over to Elle. With her magic, she was able to find Princess Seo-Hwa's scent and remove the other scents so that me and the wolves could track her down. As soon as I'm done with the wolf training at Elbrus, I'll charge Elle for the flops. Although I'm sure Elle hasn't done her job yet because she's very busy. Especially because now he had to teach magic to Leon and welcome Prince Yi's entourage.

I must also challenge General Arianne to answer his support for bringing his troops to Noord if Prince Yi's forces really come to attack. I understand Montreux is still in trouble because of the plague attack some time ago. And Arianne lost some of her girls because they chose to serve as the Queen's Guards. But we need it at Noord. My army and Tyros alone will not be enough to overcome Prince Yi and his army.

Maybe I should go to Montreux first before dinner with Elle and Leon tonight. There's so much I have to do. I have to pay Xavier more for this.

The general? Demyan broke my daydream.

Yes, Demyan?

Her hairpin. Are we going to track down the owner?

Sure oes. Imminent. We'll look for him to the end of the world if we have to.

...****************...