"Let's talk about the important stuff," Clara said. "What I sent you here to do."
Ning laid back on the seat and looked at her with a curious look on his face. "Can I ask, how old are you exactly?" he inquired.
Clara raised an eyebrow. She thought for a bit and said. "Something like 43 years," she said.
"Did you leave this place when you were 17 then?" Ning asked.
Clara's eyes narrowed in surprise. "So you found something?" she asked.
"You're part of the Grazer family, aren't you?" Ning asked. "The one that used to be the ruler of the Whiteowl region, but was instead wiped out in a fire that appeared out of nowhere and killed everyone?"
Clara glared at Ning for a while before sighing. "Yes, I am from that very same family. The one and only member of the Grazer family that still remains," she said.
"I see," Ning said. "I assumed that after I learned about the family and what had happened in the past."
"Forget the past and talk about what's happening right now," she said. "I've already moved on from my identity as a Grazer."
"Oh," Ning was a little surprised. "Alright, so here's what I found out."
He told Clara everything he had found out. He told her about the Foremans, about the 30-year agreement they had with the Black Royal family of the Blackhawk Dominion, and how there was a rumor that a son of the Grazer family was still alive.
"I see," Clara said with a thoughtful look after hearing everything. "So they don't want me to make a return and become the ruler of the Whiteowl Region, huh?"
"That's what I heard," Ning said. "Do you think you want to? I hear that they have an agreement with the Black Royal family, so if you were to go back, you could become the ruler."
Clara quickly shook her head. "That's not even a possibility," she said. "The moment I get on the throne, they will kill me. Just like they did my father and my family."
A deep sense of pain and anger flowed in Clara's voice that Ning could very distinctly capture. She was remembering her past and the traumatic memories flooded her mind.
Ning heard what she said and looked at her closely. "So it wasn't an accident?" he asked. "What happened 25 years ago was actually an attack on your family?"
Clara nodded. "Yes, we were attacked in the middle of the night. The people that attacked us were so strong that we couldn't even find the time to fight back."
"Before I knew it, my father had already died, and later my mother died while trying to send me and my twin brother away," she said, tears slowly filling her eyes. "My brother was caught in the fire when the building collapsed on him. I tried to help but… the fire was too strong. With someone's essence amplifying the heat, my brother died burning alive."
"I merged into the shadows and ran away in the middle of the night. Running forever and ever to get away from them," she said. "I didn't want them to find me ever, so I disappeared to the north."
"Did you never think about coming back here for revenge?" Ning asked.
"I did," she said. "But no matter how much I hated my enemies, I always knew one thing. I was never strong enough to defeat them. So, I never tried."
Ning thought for a moment. "I get that you were never strong enough to defeat them, but you could have at least tried to go find help. I don't think the royal family would hold back if you let them know what had happened," he said. "The Foreman would definitely get punished, wouldn't they?"
Clara scoffed a bit. "The Foreman? Why would they get punished?" she asked.
Ning paused for a moment. "Are… are they not the ones that attacked your family?" he asked.
"Don't you think I would have found allies to come to my cause if that was the case?" Clara asked.
"Then… the enemy is someone so strong that you can't look for help?" Ning asked before slowly dismissing the possibilities until he landed on one.
"The Black Royal family?" he asked. "Are they the ones that attacked your family?"
"Yes," Clara said. "I'm surprised you got it so quickly."
"Wh-why would the Royal family attack you?" Ning asked.
"Two reasons from what I understood over the years," Clara said. "First, the Whiteowl region is the best region other than the Blackhawk region when it comes to natural geographical defenses thanks to the mountain range to the east.
"And second, the Black Family were getting scared that we were getting very strong very fast, and soon enough we would become stronger than them and become the true ruler of the Blackhawk Dominion."
Ning's eyes got serious. "Why would they think that?" he asked. "Were you guys powerful?"
"They were mostly scared because after a terrible earthquake more than half a decade ago, one by one, people with Shadow Essence started showing up in the family," she said. "We started trading with the other continent and bought a lot of shadow skills, which we trained in."
"It was very soon understood that Shadow Essence was quite strong for many things, and that scared the Black family."
"Their fear truly became existential when they realized that we had unearthed an Essence Crystal cave in our family ground where the Essence was over 95% shadow," she said. "The discovery was mostly kept a secret, but someone must have told the Black family sometimes after that."
"3 months after, our family was attacked and everyone was dead, but me," she said. "I alone ran away with this ring full of the Shadow Essence crystal. Ever since then, I've been doing my best to try and survive. I had even forgotten about revenge as it never seemed possible."
"And yet, somehow the past doesn't seem to want me to move on," she said. "Fine, if they want to drag me back, I'll come back, and I'll bring back everything I have tossed away with me."
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