Hao Xuan could feel Ryfon's absolute resentment towards this man through the tone of his voice.
Under the cover of the night sky, the only sound was coming from the crackling of the firewood and Ryfon's deep breathing.
"That bastard, if only he wasn't here," Ryfon mumbled to himself before letting out a deep breath and calming himself down again.
"I'm sorry for losing control. Since you're doing all this for me, I at least owe you the truth," he apologized before continuing his explanation.
"My 'Royal' father has five wives, my mother is fifth and the youngest one. As you might have heard, Elves had rather low fertility rates so one Elvish female can only bare two or three children at the most. My mother had me and my older sister some three hundred and fifty years ago."
"We are the youngest of the royal children and hence, least powerful. Even now I have only met my mother a handful of times. I was raised by my older sister Zenthia. She was but a child when I was born but compared to others, she was much more mature."
"Seeing the strife and abuse that was common among the royal children, she kept me away from all that and protected me. To me, she was more of a mother than the woman who actually gave birth to me."
Ryfon's voice became soft when he talked about her and even a smile appeared on his face without him realizing it.
"She was beautiful, my sister, and more powerful than anyone could have anticipated. She had to be to survive in that hell hole while protecting me. She was born with a rare physique that had never been seen before. She was about my age when she broke through the Sain Lord realm with all five Laws fully refined, creating a 'universal truth'."
Ryfon used a few terms that Hao Xuan hadn't heard of before. He took a mental note of them to ask about them later.
"Her accomplishments were only shadowed by her beauty which was enough to catch the envy of even the heavens. And because of it, my uncle who was supposed to be her Dao protector, her teacher, fell in love with her."
"It was a commonly known fact among the inner circle of our clan but no one dared to speak up. He was too powerful. Even father gave his blessings. That was the first time I saw her cry, when she heard about her own engagement through a royal decree. She was sold off to a man she had no feelings for, all in the name of the Clan."
Ryfon clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles became white, his fingers digging into the flesh.
"But fortunately, the heavens had something else in store," he relaxed his hand and laid back at this point.
"She had joined the academy as an elder, teaching classes about 'Mutated Flora' found in the most recent expedition in the uncharted territories where she met a human. A 'dashing young man' she described him as," he chuckled.
"He was the prince of a lowly grade-2 kingdom from a corner of the continent who had just come out to broaden his horizons. He also had a unique constitution that allowed him to talk to plant life. And for someone like my sister who was a maniac about plants, he held an advantage that no one could ever overtake."
"They started spending a lot of time together. Every time she would come back home and tell me the things they talked about and the discoveries they made. I had never met him back then but he sounded like a very nice man," Ryfon smiled recalling those blissful days.
"She fell in love with him without even realizing it. Actual love I mean, the kind that you can't live without. I had never seen her as happy as when she talked about him, it actually made me a little jealous haha."
"But she was already engaged, and to the first General of the Elven Empire to boot. He could wipe out a dozen grade-2 kingdoms with a wave of his hand, so what good could a prince from such a power do? Nothing, absolutely….nothing."
"They couldn't run away because no one on the continent would go against the Biric Clan for two nobodies, so they decided to just follow their hearts. I remember begging her to rethink her decision when she told me about it, but her answer left me speechless."
"She looked at me without a hint of worry on her face and said "I'd rather live a hundred days with him than an eternity without him." I had never seen someone so sure about anything before," Ryfon sounded a bit despondent at this point, and how could he not?
"They eloped in secret and soon after, she became pregnant. When the news of it reached my father he was… "incensed" to say the least. He went out himself and found them living in a small cottage on the outskirts of a little village not far from the Royal city. I along with some of my friends including Cornelia (Mentioned around chapter 378) went out to try and stop him however we could."
"At that moment I thought he would actually kill her. Knowing he was coming, they didn't run away or try to hide anymore but instead welcomed him with open arms. They both stood in front of their little cottage, a royal princess from an empire that owned thousands of kingdoms a prince of small power, living on a piece of land that wasn't even fit for them to step on."
At this point, Ryfon started laughing like a lunatic.
"Hahaha, the look on father's face. He who had lived for thousands of years was left completely and utterly speechless by their actions. They weren't afraid of death, only of living apart from one another. Seeing her fearless face and the new life that was inside her, even he could not bring himself to harm her."
"Standing in front of them he could do nothing else. "Go. Leave this place and never come back. You and your offsprings are banished from Biric Clan for all of eternity," the Father decreed. He ordered us to cut off all contact with her. I guess he isn't completely heartless, eh?" Ryfon finished with a scornful comment.
But Hao Xuan's brows knitted in a tight furrow, "That sounds like a happy ending to me. She went back and lived with the prince in his kingdom, what's the problem?"
"The problem is that she is back here somehow. I don't know if that bastard kidnapped her or what, but she and the child she gave birth to are both here. At the time he didn't make any movements because of father's orders but something obviously changed."
Ryfon looked towards Hao Xuan with a determined gaze, "This is my story. The sister who is my most precious person is being held by him, and her daughter is here on the planet. But I can't trust anyone. That man's hands reach much further than I thought. So, I need to ask you just one question Hao Xuan."
Hao Xuan already knew what he was going to ask and he couldn't help but let out a breath of relief.
"Ask away then."
"Do you work for or are in any way associated with the First General and the Commander of the Elven armies, to the man named Shen?"
A silence fell over the camp as Ryfon stared intently at the man sitting across from him, his heartbeat increasing by the second. About ten seconds later Hao Xuan's lips parted and a sentence came out.
"No you absolute fuckwit, I don't know that asshole!"
