Tristan's defeat was much swifter and harder than he ever imagined.

He tried his best, giving his absolute all, but was still defeated. He never liked to lose before, but these days, he felt losing irritated him even more.

Surprisingly, after his defeat, the king did not say anything more about their fight.

The king merely lowered his sword and approached the Vanyar queen to whisper a few words before leaving. Tristan tried to discern what they were saying, but this time, the queen's expression gave nothing away. Afterward, they all left the courtyard.

Master Ortiz approached him and offered a hand, which Tristan gladly took. After all, his body was currently severely wounded.

"You did really well, Tristan." The master nodded in approval.

"Seriously? I was defeated… I can't even do that simple damn thing!"

"I understand your anger, but let's just get your wounds treated first, alright?"

Master Ortiz helped carry Tristan to find a healer. On their way, the old master talked about how King Callan, even before becoming a king, had shown his talent from an early age. He was a protege and a genius in battle. Despite only being half-elf, the king managed to stand out amongst all the other elven warriors.

In addition, the king had participated in countless battles, therefore he had a lot of fighting experience. Master Ortiz firmly believed that the king was probably the strongest person in all of Arcadian.

In other words, he was not merely a ruler of the empire as he was also its strongest guardian.

listening to Master Ortiz' story didn't even make Tristan feel a shred of awe. Instead, he felt more irritated that this kind of troublesome person decided to intrude into his life. With each word from the master, it felt like his chances towards freedom were slipping away, waving their hands at him.

After limping for a few minutes, they finally seated at a corner of the courtyard. At this moment, Tristan heard hurried footsteps coming closer. He glanced at the source, only to see Layla, his sister running towards him with a shocked expression.

"Get away from him!" Layla shouted at the old master.

Seeing her brother's bleeding body, Lalya ignored the breathless state she was in as she quickly casted her healing magic.

"Calm down, Layla." Tristan said, while basking in the warm green light. "This is Master Ortiz, and he was just helping."

"Ah, is that so?" Layla scratched the back of her head. She turned to the old master and awkwardly said, "I apologize, Master."

The old master merely nodded, not at all offended by her outburst. He could completely understand her worry.

While his sister was busy healing his wounds, Tristan told her the reason for it, "This is all thanks to that damned king!"

"Callan did this?!" Layla looked at the wounds that were literally littering Tristan's body from top to bottom in disbelief.

He stared at his sister with a shocked expression. He was silent for a period of time before narrowing his eyes at the latter.

"… Sis, are you on a first-name basis with that bastard now?"

Realizing her brother's not-so-good reaction, Layla immediately became panicked.

"Errmm… no… well… I mean… I think if you have time to know him better, he's not that bad..."

"..."

Eerie silence ensued between the two siblings, causing the younger to subconsciously hold her breath.

"Layla, what the fuck!" Tristan looked up at her sister. "The bastard has turned you into a freakin fan girl!"

"The hell.. No!... he's like… Old!... I am just saying he is probably not the worse compare to all that tried to kill us"

"Seriously sis… what did he do to you?!"

Tristan's gaze quickly changed her reaction "No… Nothing he did nothing! yes! That bastard king! How dare he hurt my brother!"

His sister's reply only made Tristan even more worried. On one hand, he was actually glad that from her reaction it was apparent that they had been treating her well. However, he was a firm believer of the idiom 'there ain't no such thing as a free lunch'. There was no way the king would be kind to her without any ulterior motives.

Therefore, Tristan really had to find a way to let both of them free from the King's clutch as soon as possible.

While at it, he finally noticed that Layla's healing skill felt much more potent than before.

Out of curiosity, he decided to scan her.

[Human]

[Battle Power: 19]

[Spirit Force: 55]

Tristan was flabbergasted by the number he saw. He was really shocked with his sister's improvement in such a short period of time. The last time he scanned her after the orc camp battle, she only had 12 battle power and 32 spirit force. Within the span of less than one month, she had increased her stats almost twofold.

"Yeah, Tristan, did you notice too?" Layla smiled proudly. "They said that soon, I can reach magician rank 4, and I will be able to cast higher rank magic spells. Isn't that great?"

"Congratulations, sis." Tristan nodded. Of course, he would be happy for his sister's achievements, but one thing was bugging him. Was his sister really special, or was this a normal thing for the humans living in this world?

His train of thought was halted as a figure came approaching. It was Serene, and she came together with who appeared to be an elven healer. It seemed that his 'caring' wife had gone and looked for a healer. But by the time they arrived, his wounds were almost fully healed by Layla.

"Done, you're all fixed, Tris!" Layla patted her brother's shoulders.

"Thanks Layla, you really are my number one!" Tristan said, while looking at his wife out of the corner of his eyes.

He was trying to tease Serene, but to his surprise, the normally ill-tempered elven princess seemed to be in a mood to joke as she calmly reacted to it.

Tristan merely let out a long sigh… There was no way to know what was going on in her head, and he can't stand more drama in his life. Unless she decided to share it, he definitely won't pry her about it.

"Serene, can you at least tell me what your damn cousin wants from me, and why the queen allowed it?"

Serene shook her head and said. "I am sorry, I really dont know. But, they're asking to see you now."

The princess glanced at Layla and said. "They asked for you as well."

----------------------------------

Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,