"You both are the Patriarch's children, so if we choose to leave you alone and anything happens to you two, we risk getting the ire of the Patriarch and losing a potential leader candidate for the Four-eared elves," Leona added.

Isadora rolled her eyes at Leona. "Though, we aren't gods' chosens, that doesn't mean we are weak, you know," she responded.

"I understand that; however, I don't think your strength means much in a place like this, Princess," Leona responded, a smirk emerging on her lips.

Though she understood what the Princess was talking about, that doesn't mean she agrees. After all, there were divine apostles in this territory whose strength was still unknown to them and individuals capable of utilizing the Vylkr vines with just a single thought.

After witnessing the way Ronan was killed, Leona didn't doubt their strength anymore. Realizing that there might be others like that, even if they weren't as strong, was enough to make her skin crawl.

Isadora's brow furrowed as her expression shifted in annoyance upon hearing Leona's words.

Understanding that the conversation wasn't going to end anytime soon, Lyndon cleared his throat loudly, interrupting Isadora before she could respond.

"Since it's like that, I think we should use this opportunity to look around the city before heading back home to rest," Lyndon responded.

Listening to Lyndon's response, Leona focused on him and stretched out her hand to playfully hold his cheeks. "Look at how cute you are, protecting your senior sister," she replied lightly.

Lyndon's expression immediately became beet red as he froze in his position.

Witnessing this scene, Leona's smirk deepened. As gods' chosen, despite not being close to the strongest, there was a deep ingrained fear and respect in the hearts of individuals around them, regardless of whether they were incapable of utilizing the different ranks of energies or warriors. Instead, they would freeze in fear and die from overwhelming shock if she behaved with any of them like this.

However, as the Patriarch's son who had spent much of his time around various gods' chosens, all feared and well-respected, her actions would only make him blush and shy, which she greatly enjoyed.

A loud snort escaped from Isadora. "If you continue to tease him like that, he --," she said. However, just as she was about to complete her sentence, her words were instantly stuck in her mouth as something immediately caught her attention.

Leona immediately halted her actions, noticing Isadora's sudden change in demeanour. She followed her line of sight to see what had captured her attention.

Lyndon quickly regained his composure and turned to see what they were looking at.

In the distance, they observed a small figure climbing out of the window of their wooden home, quickly followed by another more petite figure. The two children, a boy and a girl no older than ten years old, steadied themselves before scanning the surroundings to ensure nobody spotted them.

Having just turned the corner and standing a few meters away, the children didn't see Isadora and the others.

Seeing no one was watching, the children dashed off in a specific direction.

"It seems Father was right," Isadora sighed, shaking her head. "Come on, let's go get them before they do something stupid," she added, walking toward the children to prevent them from straying too far from the Four-eared elves' residence.

Leona and Lyndon nodded in agreement with a solemn expression as they followed suit to catch up with them.

....

"Got you," Lyndon said as he captured the little boy while Isadora swiftly intercepted the girl. Leona took her place before them, blocking their escape route.

"Hey, what's going on? Let us go!" the little boy asked, struggling against Lyndon's grasp. His sister, whom Isadora caught, remained frozen in place.

"Alright, go on. Give me one good reason why I should let you go," Lyndon responded, turning the boy to face him directly.

The little boy froze when he saw Lyndon's face, clearly recognizing him. He then shifted his attention to the other individual who had gotten hold of his sister before turning his head backwards to take a good look at the woman who had blocked their path, prompting him to gulp loudly as he caught a glimpse of the big metal bracelet on her wrist and the large sword strapped to her back.

The little boy immediately lowered his head. "Please, don't hurt us! My sister and I weren't planning to do something bad," he said pleadingly.

Realizing that the boy had recognized them and seeing his fearful reaction toward Leona, Lyndon sighed. "Don't worry, we're not here to harm you," he reassured him.

Lyndon then released the boy, who rushed to hug his sister, who was simultaneously freed by Isadora.

"Alright, why don't you tell us where you were heading despite receiving the information that everyone should remain indoors for the time being?" Isadora asked, her gaze fixed on the boy's ears, twitching at different intervals.

Though she already knew the answer, she wanted to hear it from their lips and also understand if there was any other reason why they had come outside.

"It's not our fault. Some weird voices were disturbing our ears, causing them to itch fiercely, and we felt like it wouldn't stop until we knew what it was. Also, it felt boring to be inside all day without having anything to do, so we decided to come outside and take a good look," the little boy responded, his voice getting quieter as he completed his words.

Hearing the little boy's words, Isadora nodded. "Well, I can understand how you are currently feeling. See," Isadora said, pointing to her twitching lower ears.

The little boy and girl observed Isadora's twitching ears curiously. Just as her father had mentioned, she was beginning to get control over them, so it wasn't really a problem anymore.

"Alright, now that you know there's no need to worry about your ears itching, as everyone is experiencing the same thing, let's take you back to your parents. They might be looking for you," Isadora said, straightening her back.

However, just as she was about to turn around and lead them back to their hut, she noticed their gloomy expressions, prompting a foreboding feeling to creep into Isadora's heart.