Chapter 21: CHAPTER 21: PHASE 1 – START!

"After several years, my mother still couldn't produce another offspring. They concluded that their branch of the family wasn't going to be the one to create the heir since the heir can be born from anyone with Winter blood in them, so they decided to just live their life with me and leave it to some other family. In the meantime, Father still tended to his duties both over and underground. A deal that they had with a mafia in another district didn't go quite as planned, and a mafia war broke out between the two groups. This left me alone for a couple of months until Delic showed up. Thanks to his help, my life turned around, and here we are today."

A bell chimes quietly behind my desk, so I turn around to find that it is midnight.

"Well, it has gotten pretty late, and we all have to go to school tomorrow. Let's turn in for the night, shall we?"

The three guys unanimously nod their heads. I take Xander's outstretched hand, and he guides me over to my bed where Delic and Alex are waiting. I lay down, and Delic tucks me in.

"Good night, Viola," Delic says, bowing his head.

"Good night, my Lady," Alex adds warmly, smiling.

"Good night, Master," Xander finishes, waving a hand at me.

The three leave my room, inviting the silence inside on their way out.

In the end, my parents did produce an heir like they had planned. It just didn't go according to their plan. Magical energy really does some weird things. Can I turn into a fox like my mother if I try hard enough? Maybe I could find my mother's family in the woods when I go to the warehouse for inspection. The circulation of questions roll about my mind before I slowly drift off to sleep.

"Master, it's time to wake up."

"But I'm still sleepy."

"I'm still sleepy too, but Delic burst in and woke us up, so if you don't want to have an equally rude awakening, you should get up now."

"Mmmmmmm~"

I groan and roll over covering myself in the blanket. Xander swipes the blanket from me, and I glare at him over my shoulder only to find him smiling at me like another idiot I know.

"Fine. I'm up," I respond, sliding myself to the edge of the bed.

"Will you be going to morning practice, or should we dress you in your uniform?" Alex asks from the bathroom door.

"I won't have any morning practice on school days. Only on the weekends. My uniform will be fine," I answer, walking past Alex and into the bathroom.

This routine is nice. With three personal aides, everything gets done quickly. As much as I would love for this to stay the way it is, I know that Alex and Xander might leave when we rescue their family, so I probably shouldn't get too attached.

The group of mages. They aren't very well known since they don't have a formal organization. It's more like a ragtag group of magic users who dedicate their life to their research and will do anything to further their knowledge, ethical or otherwise. Each has their own research, but all will help the other out since they have a mutual understanding and respect. It will be quite difficult to pinpoint which sector of their group is conducting the dark elf research considering that they have different research locations. If only I could freely walk around the city and search for clues.

'Follow the snow.'

The voice resounds in my head.

Jeez. Even at times like this, my father is still helping me out. He said that it will be there if I am looking for it, but how exactly do I look for snow that isn't there? I can't just casually look around the corner and expect snow to be sitting there especially since it's still hot outside. Father, if you are still invisibly swimming around my head, please help me figure this out because I'm at a huge loss here.

After a long morning of getting dressed, eating breakfast, riding in the car, and heading to class; I finally dip the tips of my toes on the first step of a tall staircase. Unfortunately, I can't fully step on until this evening.

"Hey, do you think something is troubling the Young Lady?" Alex asks his brother as he watches me from his desk.

"I don't know, but she does seem a bit out of it ever since her bath. She has barely said a word all morning," Xander answers leaning over closer to his brother.

"Should we ask what's bothering her?"

"That would probably be a good idea, but she might brush it off like she always does."

"It wouldn't hurt to try, right? We are her aides. Her personal matters are our matters as well."

"Mmmm...I guess so."

Xander, who sits behind me, taps on my shoulder. I don't appear to notice, so he taps a little harder. I still don't snap out of it. My oblivion results in Xander having to pinch my sides which both tickles and hurts. This immediately snaps me out of my thinking, but also ends with Xander getting a reflexive punch in the face.

You are reading story The Winter Vessel at novel35.com

"What the heck do you think you were doing?" I question, jumping out of my desk.

"You weren't reacting when we were tapping your shoulder, so I thought that this would have been a better idea," Xander replies, rubbing his slightly swollen cheek.

"Oh! I'm sorry," I respond as I slowly sit back down. "Did you two need something?"

"Actually, we were wondering if you needed something," states Alex who is helping his brother back onto his chair. "You seemed so out of it this morning, so we thought that something was on your mind."

"Aren't you supposed to share your troubles with us or something? We are your aides, so isn't it our job to listen to your worries." Xander leans his uninjured cheek on his hand.

Was I really thinking for so long that it was noticeable? I don't normally let myself get too involved in my thoughts, but I guess this problem was too large for me to stop thinking about it in the first place.

"I'm sorry if I worried you two. I have just been stuck on how to find the sector of mages that are responsible for taking your village from you guys."

"You can always ask us for ideas instead of doing it all yourself, you know?" Alex mentions.

"Yeah, I mean, we were there when our village was taken. I know that I remember some small details about the mages who were there. How about stop thinking of how to do things alone and start creating ways for your allies to help you?" suggests Xander who is picking at my hair.

These two here. I'm really going to miss them when they leave.

"Okay," I start. "During lunch, tell me everything you two remember about that day."

According to the twins, the group of mages that showed up at their village were in several pairs. Each pair was in charge of one household using magic to chain them together to keep the dark elves from escaping. The rough estimate is around twenty mages present. Even that's a large group for mages since they normally work in small teams of ten at most because the more people they have on their team, the harder it is to keep everything a secret.

All of the mages wore navy blue cloaks that had a metallic gold trimming of the Triple Moon on the bottom edge. The symbol, also known as the Triple Goddess, exemplifies the purity, fertility, and maturity of women. Without a doubt, the mages consist of only women which really narrows down the search but raises the difficulty level because not many female mages conduct research. There is a high prejudice against female researchers in the mage community because male researchers find women to be useless. But now there are almost twenty female mages that we are looking for.

But why go after dark elves for their strength? What is the goal in using them?

Later that afternoon when we arrive home from school, I call Delic and the twins over to my room.

"Delic, did you happen to run across an entry in one of Father's binders regarding a group of mages with the triple moon symbol?"

"Not that I am aware of, Master," Delic replies, removing my blazer. "However, I did find a book that contains information about the recorded mages in the city. Maybe that can help you, but why are you asking me this?"

"The twins have given me a lead on the mages that took their village. Apparently, it is a group of female mage researchers."

"And what made you come to that conclusion?"

"The Triple Moon is a symbol for women about women. I highly doubt men would use such a symbol." I slide my stockings off and toss them on the bed. "Delic, send a notice to the retainers. I will be holding a meeting tomorrow evening to give them their first task as head of the Winter Family."

"As you wish, Master," Delic replies, pulling the large shirt over my head.

"Xander. Alex. You two will join me on my rounds this afternoon and participate in evening training. The time might not be near, but we will soon find your village. You must be ready when the final piece of the puzzle fits into place."

The twins, with sudden determination, straighten up and stare at me.

"Ready whenever you are, my Lady."

"As long as we can free our village, I will follow Master's orders."

"Good," I confirm. I slip off the bed and stand next to Delic. "I know it got delayed a bit, but I will fulfill my side of our deal. The starting phase of finding your village begins now."

---

Become a member of my ko-fi page to read ahead!

You can find story with these keywords: The Winter Vessel, Read The Winter Vessel, The Winter Vessel novel, The Winter Vessel book, The Winter Vessel story, The Winter Vessel full, The Winter Vessel Latest Chapter