Pearl paced back and forth on the outskirts of Silverwind City.
Princess Sidonie had met with her three days ago, and told her that her sister, Charmaine, would meet her in this location. After the tournament, Pearl had waited patiently for William to arrive.
In fact, she was prepared to wait for him for two months. When she heard that William had suddenly appeared in Silver Wind Academy, she was both shocked and thankful at the same time.
Shocked because she didn't expect to see him this soon, and happy because she would be able to see her sister sooner. She had also been at the academy when the conference was held because she wanted to find out just what kind of person William was.
The "William" that she saw made her speechless. Not only was that Half-Elf a vulgar person, he was also a bastard that didn't even give the Emperor of the Kraetor Empire face, and called him a Motherf*cker in front of the High-Ranking nobles of the kingdom.
Because of this, Pearl despaired. If her sister was in the custody of such a man, Charmaine would definitely suffer a cruel end!
'I must save my sister no matter what,' Pearl thought as she calmed her anxiousness. 'No matter what price I have to pay, I will buy her freedom from that scum!'
While Pearl was busy thinking of ways to convince William to release her sister, her sharp senses detected footsteps headed in her direction.
"Sister?" a familiar voice called out to Pearl with uncertainty.
Pearl's body moved automatically, and ran towards the pretty Elf whom she hadn't seen for years.
The two sisters hugged each other with tears streaming down their faces.
William watched this scene from afar. He decided not to go with Charmaine when she met her sister to prevent tensions from rising. Truth be told, if his personal maid wanted to leave with Pearl then he wouldn't stop her from leaving.
This was the decision he had made after thinking for a whole day. When he told Charmaine about Pearl's request, the latter's expression became very happy. Although her memories were stripped away from her at the beginning, the strong emotions in her heart in regards to her family had remained.
William told Charmaine that if she wanted to leave with her sister, he would give her his blessing, and not stop her from leaving. The pretty Elf looked straight into his eyes back then. She didn't agree or reject William's words and simply thanked him for letting her meet her sister.
"How have you been?" Pearl asked. "Did that Half-Elf mistreat you? Don't worry. I will take you away from here and deal with him at a later time."
Charmaine shook her head as she stared at sister. "Lord William didn't mistreat me. Although my freedom was restricted, he didn't do anything to treat me like a plaything, like those other noble humans do when they capture our race."
Pearl nodded her head in acknowledgement of her words. Her goal was to take her sister back, so she didn't want to have a disagreement with her before they were safely back in the Silvermoon Continent.
"It seems that I misunderstood him," Pearl replied. "Don't worry, I will compensate him properly and buy your freedom. Charmaine, let's go back to the Silverwind Continent. I promise that this time, I will not leave you alone."
Charmaine smiled, but she shook her head. "I can't leave him right now, sister. I still have to atone for my sins of invading his kingdom. He is the son of our Saintess, Lady Arwen, and our savior, Lord Maxwell. We were the ones in the wrong when we tried to conquer the Hellan Kingdom. We made a grave mistake, and our race has paid for it with countless lives."
Pearl bit her lip. She grew up with Charmaine and knew what kind of person she was. Her sister was arrogant and looked down on Humans. Even though Maxwell had saved them from the Demonic Invasion, Charmaine didn't think much of him.
However, right now, that same arrogant sister of hers was saying that she would atone for the sins that she had made in invading the Southern Continent. For a brief moment, Pearl felt like she was talking to a stranger that she had never met before.
"Charmaine, didn't you hate Humans?" Pearl asked. "You also find Half-Elves disgusting. Why the sudden change?"
Charmaine closed her eyes as she placed a hand over her chest. "Back then, I was still young and stupid. I had been raised in the Silvermoon Continent and didn't know about the outside world. Sister, you didn't see the cruelty the Elves performed while in the Southern Continent.
"We were no different from savage beasts. My eyes have been opened to the truth, and because of this, I will remain by Lord William's side until my sins are finally forgiven. Sister, I can't go with you right now, but I promise, after a few years, I will return to the Silvermoon Continent and find you. Until then, please, let me stay by Lord William's side."
Pearl clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. The more she listened to her sister, the more she felt that she was talking to a different person. This was when she realized that something was very wrong with her behavior.
"What did he do to you?" Pearl asked as she grabbed Charmaine's shoulder and held her in place. "What did that bastard do to you?!"
Charmaine gave Pearl a pained expression. Her sister's fingernails were digging on her shoulder and it was very close to drawing her blood.
"S-Sister, it hurts," Charmained said as she endured the pain.
Pearl saw her sister's face filled with suffering so she immediately let her go and back away.
"I-I'm sorry, I got carried away."
"It's fine. I know that you are having a hard time understanding my words, but this is what I really feel at the moment. I can't go with you, I'm sorry, sister."
Pearl closed her eyes and controlled her raging emotions. A few minutes later, she looked at Charmaine and her face was filled with determination.
Without warning, she threw a jab, aiming at Charmaine's chin. Due to how sudden her attack was, Charmaine was caught unprepared and was hit perfectly, which made her stagger backwards.
William's personal maid felt dizzy and she was unable to raise any form of resistance.
Seeing that her sister was still conscious, Pearl gave a follow up jab and hit Charmaine's jaw, shocking her brain, and forcing her to lose consciousness.
"I'm sorry, sister," Pearl said as she carried the unconscious girl like a sack of rice. "I will bring you back to the Silvermoon Continent and have the elders cure you. Whatever that bastard William did to you, I'll make sure that he will pay dearly for his transgressions."
Charmaine was unaware that her sister had already decided to take her back to their hometown by force if necessary, regardless of her opinion. Although Pearl made sure to control the strength of her attack, it was still enough to cause stress to her brain, which made her faint.
Pearl had only been able to run for a few steps when the lady she was carrying suddenly disappeared without a trace.
She hurriedly scanned her surroundings, only to see someone walking in her direction.
Pearl squinted her eyes and used Hawk's Eye and Improved Concentration to see who the person was.
It didn't take long for her to recognize the familiar red hair and light-green eyes that were looking back at her with a disapproving gaze.
"It's you," Pearl said. Her tone was laced with anger as she glared at the Half-Elf that had caused the downfall of the Elven Invasion. "William Von Ainsworth."
William continued to walk with a steady pace. His eyes never left Pearl's face as if he was scrutinizing every expression that she made.
"I agreed to your request and allowed you to meet your sister," William stated. "However, I don't remember agreeing to a kidnapping. You have overstepped your bounds."
"Overstepped my bounds? You did something to my sister and you have the nerve to say that I overstepped my bounds?" Pearl sneered. "The one who overstepped their bounds was you! What did you do to my sister? If you don't give me a proper answer, I will…"
"You will what?" William interjected. He had enough of Pearl's nonsense and wasn't in the mood to argue with her. "You're going to kill me?"
"Yes! I will kill you!"
"B*tch please. I am the protagonist of this story. You're just a side character so know your place!"
William's outburst made Pearl unconsciously take a step back. She had faced many strong members of the young generation during the tournament, but William's countenance made her feel that she was up against a strong opponent.
"I already gave you a chance to meet your sister," William said with indifference. "You also heard her answer. She didn't want to come with you. Since that is the case, I will not allow you to take her away."
Pearl gritted her teeth and summoned her bow. 'If I can kill him, my sister will be freed from his clutches.'
William sighed when he saw the Elf was preparing to fight him.
"You want to fight? Fine," William sneered. "I'll gladly play with you."
Several portals appeared above William and several Pegasus flew out of it, with riders mounted on their back.
Pearl's eyes widened when she saw that the mounted warriors of the Pegasus were Elves!
"Surprised already?" William chuckled. "There's more where that came from."
An overwhelming presence descended upon Pearl as another portal appeared right above her. Before she could even draw her bow, she saw a rainbow-colored wrecking ball charging in her direction.
"I'm Rolling!"
That was the last thing Charmaine heard before she was knocked off from where she stood, and her world descended into darkness.
