ELFORIA

The Girl In The Forest

It was a dark and cold night inside the forest, when an unconsious body of a woman suddenly popped out of nowhere. Despite the dirt, her magnificent beauty cannot be denied. From the natural red lips, pale white skin, sharp nose and her white hair that frames her face perfectly.

An ethereal beauty indeed.

Few minutes later the woman opened her eyes revealing her beautiful golden orbs. She looks like she woke up from a very deep slumber after a long time.

****

An unusual night that's quiet and creepy, to the point that the only thing you can hear is the chirping of birds and the sound of the crickets.

That may sound creepy to others, but for Eloise, it was a normal and peaceful night.

A peaceful night she enjoyed while living in a secluded and isolated forest.

Many said that an ugly and vicious witch is living deep withing the forest of Valleria.

So many Elforians have already tried to find and capture the said witch, but none of them came back, and that only made the rumors to become more and more outrageous as it widely spead around the whole Elforia.

While everyone was busy cursing the said witch, the person in question was peacefully sipping on her hot chocolate.

Totally unaware of the bad rumors that is spreading about her.

****

In The Forest Of Valeria

Eloise's House

A girl in black dress can be seen sitting quietly while sipping in her favorite hot chocolate.

It was snowing outside and the wind is cold and chilly, the perfect time to have her favorite drink.

After finishing her hot chocolate, she stood up and started heading to her room.

'Time to sleep.'

"I should go to the market tomorrow." she murmurs while remembering her empty cupboard.

It's been so long since the last time she went out to buy things that she need, and it's too much of a hassle to go out to hunt because she'll probably just encounter dozens of inedible monsters.

"I'd rather eat snow that their disgusting meat." her face crinkle when the memory of the past came back to her.

Eloise then lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling for awhile, her head full of random stuffs. It was until she turned in her side and saw her reflection on the mirror.

'I miss her.'

There was once a time when she would look at the same face for a long time, admiring the smile that also brought joy to her heart. Something she could no longer do now.

Eloise sighed, "This is annoying."

Pushing back the thought at the back of her mind, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, as soon as Eloise woke up, she got ready to go to the market. Since the snow is strong inside the forest, she wore an extra-thick coat.

The cold doesn't bother her, but standing out from the crowd by wearing thin clothes on this season will surely does.

From inside her house, Eloise teleported just a few meters away from the entrance of the forest. Making sure that no one saw her suddenly popping out from nowhere.

In this world, there is no magic. Meaning, teleportation is something that would make an Elforian freak out.

Eloise stealthily went out of the forest and made her way to the crowd, mixing in with the citizens.

The Forest of Valeria where she lived is located in one of the most prosperous city here in Elforia. The City of Surs, govered by the Duke of North whom she forgot the name of.

The market was bustling, many vendors are shouting here and there. The light from each store also looked beautiful from the slightly dark surroundings caused by the heavy snow.

"I hope the snow ends early this year."

"Pots! Glasswares! Our products are of high quality imported from the great city of Gladia! Come buy!"

"A hot bowl of noodle is what you need for this kind of weather! For only three copper for a bowl! Our noodles are the best!"

" Mom! Can you buy me this toy?!"

" Hey! Don't pinch the fruits if you're not planning to buy it!"

"Now, this is why I hate mingling with people." Eloise sighed.

Having no choice, she made her way through the crowd and looked for the things that she need. Let's just finish what I came for and get the hell outta here.

"How much for the meat?" Eloise asked the vendor while eyeing the frozen boar meat.

"Our meat are one of the freshest in the market miss! It's only ten copper per pound." the young boy said enthusiastically.

'He's too active.' Eloise sighed for the nth time this day.

"Give me ten pounds of it."

The smile on the young boy's face widened and he immediately cut the meat then weighed it before putting it in a cloth. "Since you bought a large amount of meat, I'll give this bag to you as a free gift! Please come again pretty miss!"

After paying, Eloise once again walked around, looking for a*****e that sells spices this time.

'Hmm... Where was it again?'

Maybe it's really been so long that she forgot where her favorite store is located. She roamed around for about another fifteen minutes before she finally found it.

She immediately told the shopkeeper the spices she wanted to buy then went to buy a few boxes of her favorite chocolate drink. Eloise also purchased some herbs and other stuffs after that.

After shopping, she was about to go back to the forest when something caught her attention.

It is a shop surrounded by a large crowd.

'Ice cream eating competition? In this weather?'

Who in their right mind would participate in such a weird competition right? Only fools would. Of course, our beloved female lead is one of those fools.

Eloise immediately made her way to the store, 'I hope they have chocolate flavored ice cream.'

"That guy is insane! I saw him won this ice cream eating contest a few times now! Doesn't he get sick eating all those ice cream in this weather?"

"Just look at him, gobbling it all up."

"This is amusing to watch. But I personally wouldn't risk my life for three pieces of silver coin."

" That's a huge amount, but meh."

" I heard he's hired by the owner of this shop to keep anyone from winning."

"Once again, the winner is Billy the Ice Cream Devourer!" After hearing the ridiculous title, Eloise immediately face-palmed.

'That s**t sounds like some s**t that came out of a chinese novel.'

"Is there anyone else who would like to challenge him?"