"Really, he said that?" Morax asked the Death Lord that he had ordered to pick up the mirror at the Glory Shelter.
"Yes, Your Excellency," the Death Lord replied as he bowed in a respectful manner.
Morax snorted as he waved his hand to dismiss the Death Lord from his throne room. When his subordinate was no longer in sight, the Dread Lord inspected the mirror in his hand before nodding his head.
"It is indeed one of the mirrors that I was looking for," Morax muttered. He then raised the mirror above his head, where it floated towards a pedestal that matched its design.
Four out of the nine mirrors had been found and Morax was quite happy about the performance of the people in the Dead Lands.
"When everyone else is trying to gain my favor, he alone doesn't think too highly of me," Morax muttered as he sat on his chair. "This Half-Elf is either trying to anger me, playing hard to get, or simply doesn't care.
"If he is trying to anger me then his plan is working. If he is playing hard to get then he is a fool. But, if he simply doesn't care then this is where the problem lies…"
Morax would rather believe that William chose to go with the first two options instead of the third. The two choices were still within his scope of understanding, but the third made the Dread Lord feel wary.
When William had arrived in his throne room along with the members of the Alliance, he didn't show any expressions of reverence or fear towards him.
The other Leaders of the Shelters, including Avril, Eldon, Swiper, Lindir, and Wade, all showed signs of wanting to form a closer relationship with him, but William only had a calm expression on his face, as if he didn't care for riches, honor, or any other kind of favor that he could gain by forming a good relationship with him.
'Does he really think that converting my subordinates to his side will save him from my wrath?' Morax mused as he lightly tapped the arm rest with his finger. 'Or perhaps he discovered something? Impossible!
'A lowly mortal couldn't possibly know anything about me. Still, I should probably dispatch a few observers to watch his every move, just to be on the safe side. I must not do anything until all the mirrors are collected. As long as I have them in my hands, I won't have to fear or run away from anyone again.'
Morax clenched his fist as he looked at the mirrors that were on display above him.
"Soon," Morax said softly. "I will have my revenge soon."
——
Inside the Glory Shelter…
"I hope you get well soon," Avril said. "Here. take these berries. They have healing and restorative properties. I'm sure that when morning comes, your fever will be long gone as well."
"Thank you, Avril," Raizel replied as she accepted the beautiful Elf's "get well" presents to her. "You're a Godsend."
"You're exaggerating."
"Hehehe."
Raizel ate one of the berries, and handed one to Lilith as well. The moment the berry entered her mouth, she felt a soothing sensation pass through her head and down to her spine. The migraine she had been feeling disappeared, and her expression became rosier.
Seeing the great changes that were happening in Raizel, the Amazon Princess also ate one of the berries and immediately felt its wonderful properties wash away the pain she was feeling.
"Looks like the medicinal effects are working," Avril smiled as she nodded her head in satisfaction. "With this, both of you are on your way to a full recovery."
"Thank you very much, Avril," Raizel said with sincerity. "I will repay this favor in the future."
"Oh? In that case, I will look forward to your repayment," Avril replied in a teasing tone.
"Thank you as well, Avril," Lilith commented.
Avril nodded with a smile. "You're welcome. It is only natural that we help each other in our time of need, especially here in the Deadlands."
The beautiful Elf then shifted her gaze to William who was leaning on the wall across the bed. The Half-Elf had his eyes closed and seemed to be dozing, but Avril was sure that he was very much awake and paying close attention to their conversation.
"Aren't you afraid that Morax will take offense to you, for not personally handing the mirror over?" Avril inquired.
"I wanted to meet him, but I couldn't leave these two sick girls at the moment," William replied without opening his eyes. "They're helpless without me, so I can only stay here and ensure that they don't bite others."
Lilith and Raizel rolled their eyes at the slanderous accusations that were being thrown their way. Avril only covered her lips and giggled because the two ladies' reactions, and William's words, were quite funny.
Several minutes later, Avril bid Raizel and Lilith goodbye, and left the room accompanied by William. As they walked in the quiet hallway, the beautiful Elf glanced at William and asked a question.
"Hey, do you think that Morax will stay true to his word and let us all leave this place alive?" Avril inquired.
"Maybe," William replied. "I haven't known him long enough to know whether he is a man… rather a Dread Lord of his word or not."
Avril reluctantly nodded her head in agreement to William's answer. For her, this answer was acceptable, so she didn't decide to ask more about his opinion in regards to Morax. Instead, Avril shifted her question to his relationships.
"Tell me, between Raizel and Lilith, who do you prefer the most?" Avril asked. "Or perhaps, you have set your sights on both of them? I can tell by the way they look at you that their relationship with you is very close."
William smiled as he answered Avril's question without looking at her.
"Raizel is like a little sister to me," William replied. "We are close because we treat each other like family. As for Lilith, well, that girl wants me to be her mate. Right now, I am thinking about whether I should accept her advances or not."
"Hoh~ I guess this is the problem when you're popular with the ladies."
"Well, It's not my fault for being born handsome, you know?"
Avril rolled her eyes at him as they finally arrived at the entrance of the Glory Shelter.
"I can take it from here," Avril said. "I know that you are a gentleman, but there's no need to escort me all the way back to my Shelter. I don't want the fever of two sick ladies to worsen because of jealousy."
William only chuckled to Avril's words as he escorted her up to her truck.
"Listen, William." Avril stared at him with a serious expression on her face. "Beware of Swiper. I'm sure that he's planning to do something bad to you. It is also possible that Morax might be helping him. So, for your safety, try to patch things up when you meet with him to claim your reward."
"Understood," William replied. "Thank you for your concern."
The beautiful Elf gave William one final goodbye before returning to her shelter. Her reason for coming was to check on Raizel's condition, as well as to know William's thoughts about the Dread Lord.
Right now, the Alliance was in a cooperative relationship with Morax, and if possible, Avril didn't want any problems to occur anytime soon.
Also, the request she had asked of Morax still needed fine tuning. Because of this, she would do her best to prevent conflicts from arising, especially when the very thing she had wished for was still not in her hands.
William watched Avril's entourage go with a solemn expression on his face. Right now, he didn't know who among the Leaders he could trust, not even the beautiful Elf who seemed to be keen on forming a good relationship with the Glory Shelter.
'Right now, the only people I can trust are Lilith and Raizel,' William thought. 'As for the other Leaders… involving them in our plan is too risky. It will be best if we keep the information we have to ourselves.'
The Half-Elf sighed before returning back to Raizel's room. He had made a promise to Cathy tonight, and the pretty lady was very eager to share her blood with William.
Also, tomorrow was the deadline of the agreement he had with Lilith. He promised her that he would not run away or evade the issue.
Truth be told, William had already made his decision.. He was just waiting for the right opportunity to give his answer to the Amazon Princess, who was feeling under the weather.
