A Villainess Should Be Strong

By the end of the text, Theo was crying hard, but he immediately shoved the letter away from his teardrop's falling line in order to not ruin the writing that was spilled into it. He no longer cared about his appearance and just wallowed in sadness as he crouched down, the pendulum that was bestowed to him clutched tightly inside his grip.

Theo wailed in sadness, whereas Estelle was caught in a flurry of emotions. Going by the letter and Tertia's timely escape, she should be the fated woman. Not to mention, Tertia did mention the Constellation's Leader, which was one of the identities that she assumed as Estelle Clareste.

However, how did the woman predict all of this? How was it possible that Tertia knew that she would come here one day, and even knew that she was going to offer strength to her? Was it a hope? A mindless prediction, a wish? The woman, who declared herself as a 'shopkeeper', was extremely confident in her writing, as if she was stating nothing but facts.

Other than that, there was also the matter about Theo's status. The great dragon, Ehrendil's son. Was that Theo? Tertia, on the other hand, was the friend of both Ehrendil and his mate. How could she be a simple shopkeeper?

By the letter, it seemed like Theo met up with Tertia not as a child and his father's friend, but as strangers. However, they still managed to become close. But what made Estelle wonder was the intention Tertia approached Theo with. If she fully knew who Theo was, then could she really say that their relationship was based on genuineness and does not have any underlying motives?

Estelle kept her silence and let Theo bask in his moment, knowing that the boy had to be given time to process and accept everything. Nevertheless, the quest Tertia gave to him in the parting words was for him to follow Estelle after he read it and acknowledged her disappearance. Thus, it was unlikely that Theo would refuse at this stage.

Not only did Tertia personally tell him to do it, he also no longer had a home to go back to, no longer did he have Tertia to take care of. Of course, the perfect solution was to follow Estelle and start a new chapter in his life. That was, if Theo stepped out of his shell by even one simple push forward. Everything had been set up for him. The encouragement, his own status, Estelle's arrival, all that was left was for the little boy to actually march onwards and gain strength as told by the uncanny shopkeeper.

Tertia. The teal haired beauty that ran a simple store. By no means would she be a normal person. By no means.

Estelle thought about Alyssa, the one who recommended this store to her in the first place. She wondered if Alyssa was also in this problem. Thus, as Theo remained still and unable to respond to Estelle's calls, she ended up having to write a letter specifying that she would be heading back towards her inn first to handle some matters, and that he was free to visit her after he regained his consciousness and got better.

After looking back at the shocked child one last time, Estelle finally turned around and got out of  the store and started walking back to her inn. She opened the door to Alyssa's inn, which triggered the chime of a clear resonating bell. Inside, Alyssa was still behind the counter, humming a beautiful song as if she had no knowledge about the things that happened to Tertia and Theo.

Estelle dragged a chair and positioned it near the counter, so that she could hold a conversation with Alyssa. Alyssa noticed her arrival and behavior, raising a brow subtly at the actions. The woman observed Estelle's expression for a few seconds before striking up a conversation with her since Estelle did not say anything despite getting closer.

"What happened? You look particularly unwell. Could I help you with something? You are a newcomer in Vaitral, so you must've encountered an unfamiliar thing that shocked you, or something similar to that, perhaps? Don't worry, you will get used to the living conditions here if you really set your mind to it. I will fetch you a beverage, you can share your story to me," Alyssa was a rather talkative and friendly person, and she uttered words of worry and consolation in the speed of a bullet.

To this, Estelle's response was still a bit dazed, so she let the older woman go back behind the counter and fetch her a warm drink, which turned out to be a mug filled to the brim with hot chocolate.

"Here, have some. I brew really good hot chocolate. Everyone loves it, I assure you. Drink it and calm down, you really don't seem like yourself," Alyssa leaned against the table, her bright eyes staring at Estelle in confusion. Although they had only met for a couple days, Alyssa had a special talent in socializing and could make anyone feel like they were already acquainted for years in a short time span.

Estelle did sip the drink, and she found the warm liquid to be soothing. Taking a deep breath, she began to speak.

"You.. why did you recommend me to seek Tertia? What do you know about her?" she asked. Her mind wished for the woman to know something about Tertia, and that reason was why she was led to this fate.

"..Tertia? What, did you encounter something bad from her? Tertia, hmm? She is.. a store owner. She never gets out of her own store, but she regularly orders food from my pantry. That's how I got to know her, and she also told me stories of her own life. Although I can't say that I am extremely close to her, I do worry and feel sympathy for her. If you came here bearing that strange face, then I reckon that you had been told about her story, right? Were you discouraged? This is Vaitral, and naturally the laws that are enforced here would be a bit.. no, a lot different from what you know in the past. That's why not a lot of people encourage you to visit Vaitral, because the truth is that the strong rules the world here. They could randomly attack a woman like that and get out scot free. Imagine, having your entire life stripped off of you, your colorful senses deluded, and relayed with a curse that would continuously harm you. If I was her, I would also be in despair,"

Judging by her words, it seemed like Alyssa wasn't told about the attacker's identity and the duo's status. If she was, then she should've specified the characters.

"Can you tell me more about the Great Dragons?" Estelle questioned.

"Hm? Why are you asking out of a sudden? Curiosity? Well, I will tell you. First.. This land's protector, Ehrendil. HIs color is greyish. Grey with accents of vermillion and yellow. Ehrendil is the largest out of the four great dragons, and he is also the strongest in defence. That is why, our land is known to be the safe zone, because Ehrendil is hovering over it. However, recently, the great dragon hasn't shown himself.

Next, Eneiryn. Like his element, he is like a fiery volcano. Parts of his body is actually covered in hardened lava, and his body temperature is known to be very hot, that if he descended upon a grassy land, the plants would catch on fire and spread his wrath everywhere.

Then, there's Evalir. Evalir's color also aligns with her element. Her scales are icy blue, and her eyes are sapphire. Her eyes are renowned to be one of the most beautiful pair in the entire country, and it is said that one look into her eyes could petrify you solely because of its beauty. Her temperament, however, is a replica of her ice cold power. Ones that could speak to her are little, and she likes seclusion the most out of the quartet. She lives in an ice palace and likes to stay in her humanoid form rather than her draconic form.

Lastly.. Ephylth. The Great White Dragon. Just by her name, you should already know what color she is. Obviously, her scales are white. However, it is said that the golden accents that she possesses on her body are made out of the hardest material to ever exist in the world. It is scattered around her body sporadically, but her horns are also made out of this golden material, and a lot of people have confirmed that these pair of horns are impregnable. Once, the great dragon destroyed and entire gigantic boulder that was set to hit Vaitral using her horns to shatter it, and then relocated the shattered fragments using her power with the aid of the other great dragons. This was one of the most devastating disaster to ever happen to Vaitral, and a lot of lands were destroyed as a result of it. "