Chapter 175 - Blush

Seeing her dressed from head to toe with Fur clothing Woldemir made for her a few days ago, made Commander Alia believe her own theory even more. The word about this little genuine heartwarming act made its way to the Castle, but not throughout the entire Kingdom. That's fairly a good thing, because if the word spread wide it would have caused a lot of unnecessary drama.

The word didn't spread because most men didn't care too much about it, they were too busy training or fantasizing about the next meal!And Arem didn't bother to talk about it too much either. He didn't talk about it even though he had the opportunity to see how red Isabel became, when she saw Woldemir Shirtless (Quick flashback, he took off his shirt in order to save Isabel's toes from Frostbite. A worthy warmth sacrifice, it's hard not to appreciate.). Arem was focused more on the fact that a Grand Master sees him as Guard Commander Material, furthermore he wanted to respect both of their privacies. It's not a wise idea to get in trouble with two powerful people only for the sake of banter.

The few who heard about it though,  thought it was a sweet act coming from a man of such a valuable status. But Women are more quick to notice any form of connection between two people, most at least. Even Commander Alia who wasn't used to liking any man up until a few months ago, was able to notice at least a little connection between these two people. I mean, Isabel smacked him a couple of times without a bad aftermath! What other Guard would be able to do such a thing without receiving a beating at least?!

After Woldemir walked away and started complimenting the other 20 Guards who will be joining this task, to cause a spike on their motivation and help them see their worth. Commander Alia turned her attention towards Isabel once more and saw a large difference on her clear skin.

Specifically, on her cheeks! Her dark tone was transformed into boiling red, not for a bad reason though so calm down. They were bursting with a blush! Partially understanding what's going on here, Commander Alia of course had the honour of teasing such a tough woman who apparently seems to have a little soft spot. "Uuuuu.... Someone has the fancies for her Teacher? That's adorable." Her ways of expressing her own theory being proven. More specifically, her way of teasing, got quite the attention from the people nearby even though they didn't understand a thing she is saying. Commander Alia was simply too excited, it was all on her tone! It was high pitched, ear puncturing even! Isabel wasn't a fan.

"Stop. Everyone will look at us and figure out what's going on. He was just here, they aren't dumb enough to put two and two together and figure out what's going on." Luckily the three other Calidum Lutum men aren't included in this task, King Michael wanted these men here along with Woldemir if an enemy actually decided to attack while the two other Ignites are not here.

Although a smart decision from King Michael, here of course means that those three men aren't close enough to lend an ear to this conversation, which was a good stress reliever for Isabel. It would have been really bad if a lot more found out about these little feelings, especially from Isabel's point of view. She simply isn't ready for anyone to know, especially Woldemir.

"Oh. A secret isn't it?" Asked Commander Alia with a Whisper. She got more excited about this than Isabel herself though. The reason behind it, is that she thinks she wasted a lot of time not paying attention to men. Mogranius proved why she was wrong to stay single for 300 years, especially a couple of days ago when they exchanged a few feelings. She doesn't want Isabel to follow her footsteps.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I hate people!" Isabel of course refused what Commander Alia wanted to hear so badly. She isn't used to expressing her feelings or anything about her for that matter. But when she figured out that Commander Alia might have picked up a lot more hints than she is supposed too compared to everyone else, her face became even more red out of shyness and Internal panic. She really doesn't want anyone to find out, regardless of who it is!

Commander Alia stuck to her proven suspicions with a big smile on her face. She didn't regret a moment of it. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" Although this conversation adorable, she did realize that Isabel isn't quite ready to talk about her feelings yet. But Commander Alia still wanted to acknowledge Isabel about the support she is willing to offer. "You know I'm here for you if you need to get all of this cheek exercising excitement out. Or basically if you want to talk about anything."

Isabel didn't hear such support just freely offered to her for quite a while. She has been distant with everyone who wanted to be friends, rather unnecessary. But the point is that this is nice to hear. So without saying a word, she just gave a hug to Commander Alia as a way of thanking her. Woldemir noticed it with the corner of his eyes, but decided not to say anything about it. Maybe he will ask Commander Alia about this when he gets the chance, but for now he decided to keep quiet and enjoy this special moment. He isn't used to Isabel being this close to anyone, she is cold with most, gender neutrally.

Seperating from the hug, Isabel softly expressed. "I will join you on this task, but when we return we will drink some Tea together and catch up." This was a form of accepting Commander Alia's support, Isabel saw how genuine she is so at this point she just couldn't refuse to be closer with her. If not more, she knew that Commander Alia isn't trying to get too close, compared to the men who tried to befriend her before.

Commander Alia on the other hand, was just happy that she will have someone responsible (Apart from herself.) joining this task. It's not easy to control two mildly crazy Ignites, and twenty other men who have become a bit c.o.c.ky because they are being trained by a Grand Master. At this point, Commander Alia will be the mom of this trip. But she was also very happy about the fact that she is the one who actually got Isabel to open up and connect, no one managed to do this for years! Using her soft spot, clearly worked!

Noticing that the two ladies might have cleared out what they wanted to say to each other, Woldemir approached to double check some important steps. He approached and as a first question he asked. "Have you told her that will need to stay in the shadows?" Only to find that they are quite unprepared for this step.

Isabel at this point, was ready to burst out of shyness. She didn't even get over of the blush that developed just a moment ago. So she kept her head high instead of looking down so she can hide her blush better and tried to calm down. To Woldemir, it felt like she is trying to ignore him for whatever reason, if only he knew. Afterwards, mumbling through her sentence a couple of times, she asked Commander Alia to translate.

Without translating, Commander Alia answered for her instead of taking too much time translating. "Yes I acknowledged her. However I think it will be hard to do it." Isabel didn't like it though, she wanted to know exactly what Woldemir is talking about. Because, with a translator present why wouldn't she urge to know? What if he is asking about her red cheeks?

With a worried look all over his face, Woldemir answered. "Um yes that's why I'm here for. Where you are going, she won't have a Forest to hide in." She didn't like how they didn't cover this step yet but he understood why. She is an eight foot woman, it isn't easy to hide her. Apart from her height, she has a skin color that will also make her stand out of the crowd. Here in Ignis, people are mostly used of seeing green people. Seeing an 8 foot tall woman with dark skin and lava like golden veins? She is too unique to fit in the crowd! 

Still refusing to translate even after Isabel swiftly gave her a hard pinch without Woldemir noticing, Commander Alia continued to ask without regret. "So how do you advise us to hide this beautiful lady?"

Picking up a bit of suspicion simply because Commander Alia decided to use the word "Beautiful" all of a sudden. He found it best to ignore such a puzzling shift of wordplay and focused on the idea which can keep her and the rest of the unit safe. "We will use Wagons."