"Why don’t you co inside? I’ll prepare so tea for you." The village chief offered, cocking her head to the direction of the village hall’s door.
"That.. That would be great." Coco laughed nervously, nodding her head.
"Relax, you’re too stiff." The village chief laughed loudly and walked up the stone steps, pushing the doors open and walking through.
"Forgive !" Coco apologized imdiately, scrambling to follow closely behind the purple-haired woman.
The village chief could only shake her head and lead Coco inside the hall, her footsteps quick and light against the wooden floor.
"Woah.. Look at the designs.." The garden fairy murmured in awe, her eyes wide in shock and delight.
The interior of the village hall was large and spacious, the walls high and the wooden floor beneath the sole of her boots were smooth and polished.
The ceiling was high overhead, the beams that held it up visible above her head.
Rows of benches lined the room, each seat carved from wood with detailed designs that she is sure was handcrafted by talented and skillful artisans.
The room was lit by magical lamps that cast a warm, yellow light across the entire space, creating an inviting atmosphere for every guest that would visit the village hall— each lamp flickering as she passed by.
The sound of her footsteps echoed against the stone walls as she moved, her eyes shifting from left to right.
"Do forgive if you spotted a ss sowhere inside these walls, the young lord had co over for a mont and left ten minutes ago and discussed that he was rather delighted from how everything seems to be doing well for him." The village chief humd out.
"That’s.. Great news?" Coco trailed off, her gaze shifting away from the decorations.
"It is." The village chief insisted with a laugh, "The young lord was adamant on going back to Amberwich City, but he decided against it when he paid a visit earlier."
Coco swallowed, the flow of the conversation making her more nervous than earlier.
"Is that a bad thing..?" Coco asked, ntally punching herself for asking such a question about Rey— if he was the young lord the village chief was talking about.
The chief shook her head and glanced at Coco over her shoulders with a lopsided grin on her lips. "The young lord didn’t want to stay because his friends were staying at the village of Lucus Augusti."
Coco nodded her head in understanding. "Then.. He must have grown fond of the village? For him to stay here even though he was against it at first?"
The village chief opened a door and held it open, gesturing for Coco to walk inside the room and Coco walked through the door, her expression wary as she made her way to the couch in front of a wooden desk.
"I wouldn’t say that he is fond of this village of ours, but rather.." The village chief closed the door and walked towards the desk, "He was fond of soone."
Coco already knew what the chief was talking about by that sentence alone.
"You see, it was Jacques’ and Renaldo’s turn to house the young lord and his attendant last week until this week, but when I asked if he wanted to change ho, he refused ." The chief smiled softly as she took a seat.
"And.. Why am I hearing this? Isn’t this confidential because the young lord is a child of a noble?" Coco asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as the nervousness she was previously feeling got replaced with suspicion.
The village chief paused and blinked owlishly, not expecting for the child of Baroness Hughes to show such behavior to soone like her.
Chief Salamandara howled, laughing loudly and taking Coco aback.
"You’re such an amazing and amusing person, Coco Hughes!" The village chief laughed as she hunched forward, doubling over and slapping her palm against the wooden surface of the desk.
"I have heard that you have changed your ways in life, but I didn’t know that you would beco this interesting." Chief Salamandara snickered.
"Pardon?" Coco blurted out, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
What’s so funny? Coco thought as she frowned, not liking the fact that the village chief didn’t take her questions seriously.
"Ah, no, no, no, don’t mind ." Chief Salamandara chuckled and shook her head, "Please pardon such rudeness, I was rely admiring how open you are with your suspicion because you didn’t do that when you first arrived."
Oh. Coco’s shoulders grew stiff and she sat upright on the couch.
Is she suspecting that I’m soone else now? Coco shivered at that, her blood running cold through her veins as she forced a smile.
Is she soone trustworthy? Coco added to her previous train of thoughts, the smile on her face not reaching her eyes as she kept her gaze glued to the purple haired woman before her.
Do I have to get rid of her..? But that would be troubleso, no? Coco closed her eyes and tilted her head, smiling wider.
"Your adorable smiling face would have fool soone else, Lady Hughes." Chief Salamandara humd out as she leaned her chin on her palm, "But not , not with these eyes, my lady."
As if on cue, the village chief’s golden eyes shone, making Coco’s eyes go wide in surprise.
"I noticed it the mont I saw you that day.. When you visited the village hall and delivered the monster at." The woman’s golden eyes shone brightly as she stared straight into Coco’s erald eyes.
"Your mana is much stronger than before and the color changed.. Coco Hughes doesn’t have green mana wavelengths, she has black ones— the dirty, filthy, garbage ones." Chief Salamandara said, punctuating each word with enough emphasis to make Coco take her seriously.
"So, let’s start once again.. Shall we?" The chief smiled softly as she chuckled.
"My na is Salamandara Sa’kin, the village chief of the hunter village. What about you, stranger? What’s your na?"
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