Chapter 77 - What Happened To Them?

After leaving the inn and the open ground, Lia and Zion walked on the street filled with elves. Most kids with shiny green eyes and white hair were wandering around with their parents having similar hair color. Rare of them had blonde, yellow, and pinkish hair mixed with a tint of white. Some of these kids were crying with beads of tears dropping from their eyes while they pointed at a particular shop filled with chocolates. A few couples were entering a shop with ancient Chinese dresses hung at the top of the ceiling within the shop. Many mannequins were placed inside right in front of the glass wall.

At this time, Lia entered a restaurant followed by Zion, who acted as a perfect servant while bowing his head. None of the passersby cared to glance over at him. For others, humans were an invisible, worthless existence that should be ignored. No one would think highly of a human being, and it was expected for them to be slaves. Since Zion knew about this, he didn't dare to act otherwise and continued to lower his head throughout his journey.

He could see humans, but they weren't allowed to walk down the street like other elves. They were instead cleaning floors in several shops. These humans would always get the lowest grade of work. Zion pursed his lips, seeing that.

Finally, the two of them sat at a table. When the detective took a seat in front of the princess, almost all of the guests eating food inside paused their actions and stared at the human in shock. There was a human who dared to sit with their master! How rare!

They were ready to watch the show of how a master would scold his human servant for such a small thing, but unfortunately for them, Lia just smiled and called the waiter.

Zion felt everyone's gaze, and he closed his eyes. That was a small mistake on his part. He shouldn't have sat down with his 'master' on the same table. How could he forget that he was also a human who should have been mistreated in this world? But when he glanced at Lia, who didn't care about those gazes, his shoulders relaxed, but he still kept his head lowered.

"Bring tea for my servant and me," Lia said as soon as the waiter came and waved her hand.

The waiter, an average elf man with a thin body and white hair, looked dumbfounded at the princess. No master has ever ended up providing their servants with so much facility. All the humans were supposed to follow the rules, including waiting for the master even to eat their food. They were slaves, so this was a common occurrence in this world.

But when this waiter saw the princess treating her servant in such an elegant manner, surprise flashed in his eyes. Other humans wiping the tables and floor stopped their work and glanced at Zion with envious eyes. They had never expected to see a day when a slave would receive so much respect!

The princess finally couldn't take it anymore and cleared her throat. The waiter glanced at her and scratched his head awkwardly. "I apologize for our misconduct." Then he glanced at the human workers and glared at each of them. "Get back to work!"

Lia didn't say anything and stared at the man with cold eyes. This village was on the outskirts of the Viridis Kingdom, so the residents here were accustomed to seeing people from other races, especially the Dhampirs, wandering around the town.

The waiter finally went back to his work and came back five minutes later with two cups filled with tea. The entire time, Zion acted like an obedient slave and refused even to raise his head. He didn't even touch the tea handle and take a sip. Since he was aware that the humans who acted on their own accord were treated as unique species, he dared not to serve as someone exceptional. He had to act low in case he ended up attracting the attention of the criminals like in the previous case.

Lia saw the human's action and rolled her eyes. "You can have the tea, servant." She specifically pressed onto the word servant.

Only then Zion raised his hand to drink tea from the cup.

While they were drinking, Lia took a sip and stopped the waiter again. "Why aren't any Dhampirs around here anymore? The last time I traveled here, I could still see at least a dozen of them in this restaurant. But today, no one is here. Why?"

Although she knew why the Dhampirs weren't here, she felt acting like a traveler was the best way to ask about what happened to the kingdom after she and her servant left. Come to think of it—she still hadn't asked him his name. She briefly glanced at the human who was drinking quietly and turned back to the waiter. She would remember to ask him about this later.

The waiter heard her words, and a trace of sympathy flashed in his eyes. "You must be a traveler, so you don't know. Something major happened in the Vanne kingdom. I really feel pity for those still alive."

"What happened to them?" Lia feigned an expression of shock and said, "I have been traveling for almost a year and was just going to return."

"No!" The waiter got anxious in an instant. "Don't go. Would you please keep traveling or settle in some other place? You are always welcome in our Viridis Kingdom! Our queen has been very compassionate to Dhampirs. It's better to stay far away from the Dhampir kingdom!"

"Why?" Lia squinted her eyes.

"It happened about ten days ago. Suddenly, a Dhampir messenger came here, all injured. He had his arms and stomach wrapped up in a bandaid. As soon as he arrived, the chief of this village came forward to receive him, and we got the most shocking news of all!" The waiter lowered his voice while glancing left and right. "The Dhampir king, Rhesus Vanne, is dead in an attempt to save the kingdom from an enemy who suddenly declared war! Prince Heath is still in a coma while they're tending to his wounds, and his son is missing. Princess Edda is in shock, while the elder princess is also missing. The remaining surviving Dhampirs and a few humans are staying in the outskirts of the kingdom. The worst thing is that the citizens who weren't able to escape were killed on the spot by the enemy! The black robbed soldiers are scattered all around the kingdom, and they are still on a killing spree!"