The silence that followed has been cracked apart into Zyver's undignified laughter, a laugh unbefitting of a prince like him.
"It's just actually a hare? I nearly drew my sword on that hare." Heriot said while sheathing his blade with a visible embarrassment.
"To be fair, Third Brother, it startled all of us," Zyrcus said assuring, the corner of his mouth was fighting a small smile.
"It startled you to the point that you wanted to make a duel with that rabbit." Zyver said in full of laughter, clutching his satchel as though it were the only thing keeping him upright.
"Laugh it up, Second Brother. Next time something actually dangerous comes through those bushes, we'll see who's laughing then." Heriot said in an annoyed tone.
"I'll laugh regardless of what will happen, but at least i never felt your embarrassment." Zyver said, still making fun of his third brother.
Zaiveil found herself smiling despite the alertness she felt earlier. The familiar chaos of her brothers is making her more relaxed than she expected.
Even their older brother, Herox was glancing back at the commotion, and he even make a small, indulgent shake of his head before returning his attention to the map.
"The stream Elder Nixie mentioned should be just ahead. Perhaps, a mile in, we'll rest there briefly before continuing the loop back towards the boundary." he said, tapping a marked point and showing to the others.
They pressed on, the forest floor sloping gently downward, the air growing cooler and carrying the faint, mineral scent of running water. The trees here stood slightly less dense, allowing thin ribbons of sunlight to reach the ground, illuminating patches of moss so vividly green they seemed almost unnatural.
The stream, when they reached it, ran clearly and quick over smooth stones, the water catching the scattered light in bright, shifting glimmers.
"We'll rest here for a while," Herox announced, already moving to check the surrounding treeline for any sign of disturbance.
Zaiveil knelt at the water's edge, drawn less by the thirst than by simple curiosity, the stream's gentle current was strangely soothing after the tense quiet of the forest around them. She dipped her fingers into the cool water, watching the ripples spread outward.
The moment her skin touched the surface, a faint golden light bloomed beneath her fingertips, spreading outward across the water in slow, shimmering rings, the same warm, familiar glow she'd felt at the Awakening Test, quieter now, gentler, but unmistakably present.
"Zai?" Zyrcus's voice carried a note of alarm as he moved quickly to her side.
"I'm alright, It just, the water reacted to my touch." Zaiveil stared at the glowing water, and she's more fascinated than became afraid.
Elder Nixie approached carefully, crouching beside her and studying the shimmering ripples with an expression caught somewhere between concern and wonder.
"This is not entirely unexpected, Princess, because Havenmyst Forest carries old, ambient magic woven into its very roots and waters. It's why the flora and fauna grows as strangely as it does here. A charm as powerful and ancient as yours would naturally stir something in a place like this, a place filled with old magic." she said after a moment.
"So it's not only the water, there's a possibility that this forest is reacting to me," Zaiveil said slowly, asking such absurb idea.
"Indeed, Princess Zai, there's such a probability." Elder Nixie's gaze lingered on the fading golden light.
"Well actually, I've never seen the stream respond quite this vividly before, even to trained charmers I've been with inside this forest."
"Elder Nixie, Is that kind of thing, dangerous for Zai?" Herox asked, having abandoned his perimeter check the moment the light appeared, his earlier composure sharpening into something more guarded.
"Not really, but it does mean that
we should remain morecarefull. Because If the forest notices Princess Zaiveil then, other things within the forest may notice her." Elder Nixie explain.
The words made the group a little bit uneasy, the earlier lightness of the hare and Zyver's found flowers was fading into a more sober awareness.
Zaiveil withdrew her hand from the water, watching the last traces of golden light dissolve back into an ordinary current, though the faint feeling beneath her ribs, and that same magnetic pull she'd felt since the auction house, lingered quietly, in a patient and unhurried feeling.
"I actually felt it earlier," she admitted, glancing between her brothers and the elder.
"Before we even reached the treeline. I felt like someone or maybe something is observing me." Zaiveil said that made her brothers more uneasy.
"Should we turn back?" Zyver asked.
His earlier enthusiasm earlier faded a lot after hearing what Zaiveil has said.
Zaiveil considered the question honestly, weighing the possible outcome of this journey. But she couldn't kick away the strange rightness of what she'd felt the moment she first suggested to train here at all.
"We won't go back, Second Brother. Whatever or whoever's watching me, it hasn't acted against us. Maybe that being is just curious to us and curiosity wasn't the same as a threat." She said, having made up her mind.
"Besides, we came here so I could understand and control my charm under a real threat and danger. I don't think I'll learn anything useful by turning back home." Zaiveil added, then she rose from the water's edge, brushing damp fingers against her travel clothes.
Herox studied her for a long moment, He's reluctant but there's still an approval passing behind his composed expression.
"Alright! Then we will stay alert, and if anything dangerous and out of our control happened, we will retreat immediately. No exceptions and no complains!" Herox said with full authority in his voice
Everyone nodded as an agreement to his words.
They continued along the stream's edge as the afternoon stretched onward, the forest gradually revealing small wonders alongside its watchful quiet, clusters of luminous fungi tucked into shaded hollows, delicate insects with wings that shimmered faintly like stained glass, the distant, layered calls of birds that Zaiveil had never heard before.
Zyver, recovering his earlier energy, he pointed out each new discovery with barely restrained delight, occasionally darting off the path to examine something more closely before Elder Nixie called him back with gentle but firm reminders of caution.
Through it all, Zaiveil remained quiet, because right now she realizes that whatever's is watching her, it's belonged somewhere deep within Havenmyst Forest's heart.
Whatever it was, it wasn't ready to reveal itself yet.
But it was waiting.
'Was it waiting for me?'