Wearing a plain white halter lace dress with a keyhole around the chest. A warm smile filled her face, rosy lips, a white skin that was near to being pale, and eyes that were as green as grass. She sat in front of Lyon as the wind blew against her long white silky hair.
She was perfect. Her magic was better than the reset just by looking at her aura. Her mana was the purest amongst everyone Lyon's eyes had set on. The sparkle could be seen through Lyon's eye, yet, the appearance of Jiniya would always come to mind.
In comparison, Jiniya had more of a fierce look. Her blue eyes reflected the ocean as her hair represented its depths. Lyon's eyes found flaws within Jiniya's mana but on her, the woman in front of him. His eyes couldn't find any, she was that perfect.
"May I ask your name?" Lyon asked.
Even her surprised look was mesmerizing. She covered her mouth and mumbled a reply.
"Is she embarrassed?" Lyon thought.
The owl had suddenly wobbled causing Lyon to bump directly at her, both their faces were only inches away from each other. The face that she gave off was something Lyon had not seen before, especially from Jiniya.
An older woman's face suddenly appeared from their side. Her eyes looked dull as her mouth laid flat, looking unamused.
"Oh my… aren't you quite daring?" she spoke.
"Mama?!"
"Mama!!" Mili happily cheered..
Lyon immediately lifted himself up and sat properly like a child, cross-legged with hands on his thighs. Mili ran to the person she had called mother hugging her tight even though her height was only above her waist.
"Mama, s'ter been giv Iyon flirti luk!!" she complained.
Mili tilted her head and faced her sister smirking and sticking out her tongue to mess with her. And of course she was not happy with it. Mili's sister jumped out of the owl and stood behind her younger sister, she was about to grab her by the ear. But before she could do it her mother was already giving her a terrifying glare.
"Tch… I sincerely apologize for what you have seen dear mother. But it was an accident" She immediately explained while bowing her head.
"Is that so?... prepare a meal for all of js including our guest, if you truly wish to apologize"
She left without saying another word nor glancing back towards Lyon. She walked as her dress swayed from the wind that blew against her. Walking towards a large entrance. Mili grabbed her upper part of her mothers dress and pulled her closer, kissing her by the cheek as she leaned towards Mili. She then followed her sister inside.
"I-I apologize as well for doing such a disrespectful thing towards your daughter! even though she is correct that it was an accident" Lyon said as he got down from the owl and bowed his head.
She walked closer to him and placed her right hand above his head. Lyon felt a weird sensation running inside of his body, he felt light and was continuously blinking as his vision blurred.
What was it that he was feeling? It was a new sensation. He could feel his mana being drained, despite that he could feel his physical strength being enhanced.
"You're probably wondering what I'm doing, no?"
Lyon nodded, not peeping a word. He continued to bow his head as he thought it might seem disrespectful to suddenly stand straight.
"I am transfering all your mana to your core, hindering you from using the normal amount of magic you use. Though I am allowing mana from this forrest to run inside your body"
"If I may. I would like to know what this process is for?"
"This is to ensure that you can not cause harm to this forest. And also to balance the power that flows in here" She explained.
Lyon heard a snap above his head, his body immediately sprung up like he was controlled. His vision was still blurry that he kept squinting to see the person in front of him more.
"Oh my, You have quite a lovely pair of dark red eyes. Fascinating…"
"I can't seem to see properly, I think mana isn'
She gave him a confused look. It was the first time a case like that had happened. Whenever she did the same thing to others there were no complications such as problems with their body. She doubted his words and pointed her finger towards a vase inside the entrance.
"Can you see that?" She immediately asked.
"See what?"
t properly flowing towards my eye…" Lyon said.
Lyon kept squinting his eyes trying to figure out what he was looking for but his vision was so blurry that he felt he was slowly growing blind. She then stood in front of him and suddenly flicked his forehead. She smiled at him as his eyes turned crimson.
"Has it returned yet?" she asked.
"It seems so," Lyon replied.
Had his eyes glanced upon the wooden tiara above the woman's head he immediately kneeled, arms on the abdomen with his face looking at the wooden flooring. She was surprised by his reaction, she didn't think that he would act that formal.
"Oh my…"
"I apologize for all the despicable actions I have made in front of you. I wish that my actions would not affect the alliance between Avaritia and the people of the Gluttire Forest"
She smiled and bowed as well. Pinching the side of her long white gown white sleeves that was loose around the forearm. Her gown was a lot shorter than the common wedding dress. On her hand were a few hand stitched bracelets that looked like it was made by someone inexperienced or rather a child.She gestured her hand exactly the same time he raised his head. He stood up and looked her in the eye. The owl behind him blew a strong gust of wind as it flew away. It was so strong that Lyon was taken by surprise. His body lost balance and was pushed forward towards the woman.
He closed his eyes and braced for impact as he was about to collide with her large chest. But unbeknownst to him, what happened earlier wouldn't have any repetition. His face slammed against the hard wooden floor. He cackled as he realized what had just happened. He stood up and introduced himself despite it being way too late.
"I apologize for the last time for showing such disgraceful actions. But, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Lyon Aschere, the personal knight of her majesty Princess Jiniya Avaritia. It my greatest pleasure to meet the Mistress of the Glutirre Forest, Lady Odagaia Florentina Alugreta"
"Oh my~ I haven't heard my name being spoken in full for quite some time now. Was it Arthur who had told you my name?"
"Yes, He taught me everything I know about from martial arts, to swordsmanship, to even magic despite our differences. Though a large portion of my knowledge about history came from either research or from class"
"Well, aren't you quite a smart child? Why don't we continue our conversation inside, dinner's about to be served"
She walked inside while Lyon followed behind. They were in a very peculiar structure. It's interior design was diverse, in the kingdom houses or buildings would use stone and bricks to build the structure, painting it afterwards to give it color.
But this place was different. Its color was so natural that you can even smell its glamorous scent. Plants were everywhere, may it be vines, flowers or even leaves that were the size of a child. It was extravagant, the light was slowly getting dimmer due to the halls having a large wall in between windows.
The hall led to the center of the tree where the ceiling would reach the sky and a spiral staircase on the side that would lead to the bottom of the tree. In the middle was a small box, filled with books. Lyon leaned his head inside the box and saw the titles of the books. He was surprised to see that those books had come from avaritia.
"Lyon let us enter" Odagaia called him out.
He nodded. They entered the large room where a long table was placed at the center of the room which could accommodate around a hundred people. A long wooden seat extended from both ends of the table while three throne-like wooden chairs were at the other end polar to where Lyon stood. The design was extravagant as vines that glowed were dangling from the ceiling.
Plants that reflected the moon's light illuminated the lower section of the room. The table was filled with plates, drinking glass, and food that could feed the whole kingdom of avaritia for a week. He was astonished with how much food was present on the table.
Lyon was given a seat beside Mili who was happily sitting on her chair, playing with a doll made out of flower petals. Mili waved her hand towards him and he waved back. She leaned towards him and whispered.
"The food here is nasty"
She made a disgusted look before playing with her doll. Odagaia sat on the other chair beside Mili. The eldest daughter sat on the chair beside her mother as people began to swarm the room. In a matter of minutes the seat was already full. Everyone was hitting their spoon and forks, the sound should've been noisy.
But it sounded more like a ritual. He watched as they began chanting, hands waved above the food while the three people beside him held hands and closed their eyes. He wasn't informed that such a thing would occur.
"Is this what they call culture shock?" He thought to himself as the chanting went to a halt.
Odagaia stood up from her seat and raised her hand towards the ceiling and bowed her head. She spoke in such a weird tone with a language that Lyon was very unfamiliar with. The vines that glowed began flickering and so did the plants on the floor. Had she finally stopped they immediately cheered.
Odagaia gestured her hand and threw a sparkling powder over the food. Everyone began chomping on the food. Each putting in mountains of food on their plates at a single time and eating it like their stomachs also had stomachs.
"This place is extremely very different from Avaritia, is it not?"
"Yes, I'm quite shocked to see so much food on the table. I'm quite dumbfounded" Lyon replied.
"Well, you should start to eat. Because this food won't last long with these people around"
Lyon took his plate and started scooping food. There were a variety of dishes from vegetables to fruits to different types of meat. Looked at his side and saw Mili frowning while glaring at the food.
"Are you alright?" Lyon asked.
Mili's face suddenly changed when she looked at Lyon, she placed her finger on his lips, shushing him completely before she stood from her seat and left the room. Her mother watched her every step until she disappeared to the balcony at the side of the room.
Lyon placed his plate on the table and was about to follow her when he was suddenly called out by Odagaia. She waved her hand telling him to just eat. He obliged but his eyes would continue to glance on the balcony once and a while.
It was only a matter of time until everyone was finished eating. The plates were sparkling clean as they ate even the tiniest bit left on the plate. They would even lick the sauce on the plate, that he never saw happening with the commoners and nobles.
He wasn't aware when he was eating but when he had finished he was shocked to see five plates stacked in front of him. He placed his hand on his stomach thinking that it would've grown from the amount of food he had eaten. But it did not, it kept its shape so that he could feel his abs as he rubbed his hand against his stomach.
"Lyon, there is something I need you to do…" Odagaia suddenly spoke.
Chapter End.