Chapter 173: Packaging
I never could've realised such a change could happen to one person after so long. I stared back at the gift package that was returned to me.
Esmeralda was a different woman than Cathy and that made me all the more curious to go closer.
Cathy was someone I wanted to protect but along the way, she proved to me that she could do that all by herself. She was also surrounded by help there.
I needed to be something more than a protector in her life. The knock on my door returned me to the case at hand.
Eagerly, I closed the files on my table. "Come in, Levine." I left my seat and drew out a chair for him.
He walked in, his posture straight for someone who reported limp for a while now.
Seeing the seat drawn out, he smiled briefly but it faded the moment he sat down. I returned to my seat. "I read your file but I also need to hear extra information from you."
"Yes, I confirmed that there were some suspicious activities within the Dark Elves of the Elf Territory. Their herbs are very potent and very specific scents. Their intentions are unknown but it could be troublemaking. Dark elves have a stage that—"
"I know." I raised my hand. "But the Dark Elves have been alive for years, centuries even. They surely know how to handle that time of the decade they have every few years. Why do we get affected by it this time?"
Dark Elves, their way of origin wasn't perfectly defined. Only their cousins, the Elves, would know but those Dark Elves rarely ever let themselves be caught in this nonsense.
Hence this attention seeking must be intentional. "Is there a way you know to cure it?"
Levine raised his brow as if what I asked was insulting. He exhaled.
"I am not half Dark Elf. I am half Elf. Also, it is very likely that they're the only ones who have the cure to their herbs. It affects animals only at the moment."
'At the moment' was the main issue. How far would they go and why will they need to go that far? I cleared my throat and pushed a file to Levine.
"You feel better so this is another mission for you. I will ask Johan to check more witnesses about the case of the Dark Elves. Good job on your first mission."
His eyes boredly scanned the file before they narrowed at her name, then it softened again.
That reaction annoyed me but I let go of the file all the same. There was more reason why he was the only one who could do this.
"I doubt you know, but I am good friends with the baker, the uncle of your friend, Esmeralda."
His eyes widened slightly when I called her real name. He looked out the window, but nodded. "I accept the mission."
He barely even heard what it entailed yet accepted it? Of course, that was what I expected.
I leaned on my table. "Just in case she ever gets approached by an elf, I'd like to intercept them and alert me."
His head snapped back to me. "Intercepted by an elf? Why would an elf try to speak to her?"
"Well, she's a Blood-Hound wolf and the very first ones to know the effects of Blood-Hound wolves were Elves, as the first few were close to them…."
I trailed off when his expression morphed to concern, confusion and then flat expression.
Did he not know about her secret? Then why has he been protecting her all the while?
I couldn't help but smile, angling my head.
"You seem clueless, Levine. Did she never tell you?"
He hesitated, before shaking his head. "I do not know what you speak of, but I can assure you she's not any of that. She's just a normal girl."
A smile widened at a corner. What a harsh realization awaited him. Esmeralda was far from being a normal girl.
In fact, even while she was Cathy, she was still never a normal girl.
There was no other explanation to how she was already an awakened Blood-Hound but no one could tell apart from those seven immortals.
"Either way your mission here is simple. Even if you don't think she's any of that. She could still be targeted so please defend her."
He still had a suspicious gaze on me and I easily let him since he really knew nothing. "Why do you care if she's targeted? She isn't so this feels—"
"Unnecessary?" I finished, even if I knew that might not be what he wanted to say.
"As I said, I am a friend to her uncle and I recently visited and so are people of concern. There's no reason to disbelieve me."
His eyes never left me and I kept eye contact. He sighed, looking away and got up from his seat. "I will accept the mission. Am I supposed to report back to you?"
"You can report back to Janeya since I'd be too busy." I said, so he could be more efficient. If he knew he had to report back to me, he could keep any information to himself and likely endanger her life.
"Alright. I'd take my leave."
I nodded and watched him leave the room. I felt my wolf nudge me inside but my conscience was clean.
I asked him to go there, even if I knew it would keep him outside of the region, for the sake of the one important to me.
With those immortals there, even if he should get targeted by the Dark Elves, they should do their best to protect him.
They knew of his connection to their Mistress.
After working on the last files, I left the office for much needed work.
It was easier to concentrate these days when I didn't have to worry about her safety amid the Rogue's Son disappearance.
I didn't necessarily trust Wraven's intentions, but they didn't involve her death.
Also, the Rogue Son wasn't strong enough to kill her and didn't feel like he would want to.