"So this girl is a saint and the Duchess has demonic energy in her?" Kiirion's brows knitted tightly together as he looked at Aeson.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Is the plan affected anyhow?" Aeson bowed his head down, his hands tightly clenched. It was a shame for Aeson, he had no knowledge of these matters so he could not contribute much except for providing information.
"Demonic energy is not our field of expertise. The most important thing next is to confirm your theory about whether she is actually the Demon King or not. But now that we have a guess about her identity, this phenomenon reminds me of the War hundreds of years ago. The former Demon King actually tried to seize the World Tree back then and established some kind of connection with it. Maybe that was how she got the World Tree's energy."
"Then... Does Your Majesty have any way to cut this connection?"
"... Don't worry, you are a young elf so you should not get involved in this business too much. Even if you are an assassin, I hope that you get to enjoy a normal life." Kiirion seemed to fall in nostalgia as his voice softened up and his eyes reminisced.
In the end, Aeson really got kicked out of the plan after successfully inviting the people over. To be honest, his role was not anything major in the book and there were many excellent people around him who made him want to be a salted fish in this life. He had the duty to check on their activities to spot any abnormalities and report them immediately. Besides that, he really just spent time flirting with Alfred or sleeping.
"Baby... I think I have to go to the Tower to check on some books." Alfred stroked the soft fluffy blond hair that was resting on his chest. His face contained all regrets and reluctance as he said that sentence out loud.
"Books? What kind of book?" Aeson turned his head back, looking suspiciously at the red-haired man.
"There should be a book about the Demon King. Lucky for us, your lover is so capable that he could access the highest authorized area in the Tower to get that book. Black magic have been forbidden for eons and all of its knowledge was locked away in the Tower, it should have some methods to deal with this Demon King business."
"Black magic? Is it dangerous?"
"…I don't think so. Don't worry, baby. Do you want to come with me?" Alfred leaned his head down, staring at the blue jewels shining brightly.
"I want to… but I should stay." Aeson was reluctant to part but he had to be here to observe Luciel and Liliana. Who knew how those two women of different spectrums of powers would react to each other?
Aeson sighed depressingly at this fantasy world. All of his enthusiasm at the beginning was replaced with exhaustion. He wished to just travel with his sweetheart soon enough. The next world better is modern because he missed the Internet a lot.
The same could be said for Alfred. He was unwilling to go back but he had to solve this crisis if he wanted a peaceful world with the little elf.
And so, they parted the next morning.
As Aeson predicted, the two women were already butt-heading each other.
"Miss, unmarried girls like you should stay away. Aren't you a commoner? Why are you here wandering around? Are you trying to seduce my husband?" In a haughty manner, Luciel crossed her arm with her chin up, displaying her authority as a duchess.
Gaius stood next to her silently his eyes sweeping at everyone as if to warn them not to interrupt his master. One of his hands was on his hip, where the scabbard was hanging.
Fortunately, the crowd was small with just a few people. The Elf King was not here to witness the embarrassing scene of two women fighting over a man as well as Angus.
"Your Excellency, I was only here to announce that it is breakfast time. As I am the only human in the Elf village so I have been entrusted with this task. I did not mean to create any misunderstanding." Liliana patiently replied, hoping that the Duchess would calm down and think rationally. Even though because of the demonic energy around the Duchess made her uncomfortable, Liliana was polite and polite.
However, because of her answer, Luciel was even angrier because it made her look erratic for making trouble. Luciel thought Liliana was cunning, making her the villainess and Liliana the victim.
Aeson could not watch this scene anymore so he had to step in and break it up. He decided to separate the two and let them be apart until Alfred came back.
One had demonic energy and one had holy energy. It was a recipe for disaster if they kept clashing with each other.
"That lady is insufferable! I'm sorry for being rude and talking behind others' backs but she keeps picking on me! Sir Aeson, please tell me if I did something wrong?!" It seemed that the past couple of days was getting on Liliana's nerves as Luciel kept harassing her left and right.
Under the shade and behind the village was a set of stone tables and chairs. No one knew who built it when the elves first came but it had naturally become a part of the village. Due to the entourage of humans coming to the village, no one was visiting that place except for Liliana and Aeson at the moment.
Aeson looked at the ever so soft-spoken girl being frustrated, seemingly her first time being that angry. He softly sighed in his heart and offered some words of comfort with his deadpan face.
"Miss Liliana, it is best that you stay away from that woman. Maybe your natural opposition of powers makes you two fight each other." But that was all a guess on Aeson's part.
Liliana with eyes holding frustrated tears tremblingly looked at the cute elf in front of her. Her hands rubbed her face aggressively as she exhaled deeply at the same time. She had to calm down because she felt that woman was not worth her anger. However, she still felt wronged nonetheless because she kept being accused of seducing the Duke when all she did was greet them. So, she decided in her heart that it was best to stay away from the Duke from then on because it was too much trouble. This decision led to a sensational 'wife-chasing' legend in the future.
To be honest, whenever she faced the Duchess, she could sense strong malice from her. It made her shiver and scared. She wondered if her feelings were due to her holy power or from the Duchess herself. The picture of the Duke couple was somehow wrong whenever she looked at them. There was a sense of nostalgia but she quickly snapped out of it, lest making the Duchess angrier.
It had been five days since Alfred left. But thanks to magic, Alfred could still contact Aeson even without phones in this era. Aeson learned that Alfred had already made his way to the hidden chamber but due to it being so tightly guarded, it would take some time to open it. There seemed to be a magic circle lock with complex formulas from the previous Grand Wizards left behind and Alfred needed to solve it to access the dark magic knowledge.
As much as Aeson wished that he could help, he could not do anything about that. Slowly, Alfred lost contact as the chamber blocked the magic signal. That was why Aeson had been sighing lately.
"I should stay far away from her for the time being. I can feel my holy power keep seeping out unintentionally the more I make contact with her." Liliana sighed and sipped on the cup of hot tea.
"That would be best." Aeson replied expressionlessly as always with others, but Liliana seemed to be keen on his emotions more now so she could tell he was being distracted.
"Your... lover hasn't contacted you?" She hesitantly asked.
"... yes."
"Are you worried that he may be in danger? But he looks really strong, I heard from others that he was the strongest wizard of this era!" The saint made an effort to cheer him up, which really made Aeson touched.
"I know... but you will worry about the person you love no matter how strong they are." His gaze softened and dyed with a little sadness. His head turned to the side and looked at the sun that was setting down. The whole picture painted a yearning youth that could fascinate people walking by, especially with the sunlight that started to touch his blond hair to make it shine.
Gaius, from afar, saw such a scene. He could feel his heart accelerating rapidly and his throat drying up. Confused by his reaction, he ran back to the village and returned to his master's side.
One of Aeson's brows raised as his eyes glanced in the direction Gaius was at.
'What was that guy doing here?'
"Anyway, I should go back and help Emma with the woods. You should go back too and have dinner. Do you want me to bring some bread?" Liliana patted her dress and got up from her seat.
"No need. Let's go together." Aeson shook his head and they walked together back to the village.
------------
Night came and the moon was shining down. The atmosphere of the village was a quiet one with only the sound of bugs echoing.
In a certain tree house, a little elf was sleeping soundly until he felt a slump on his bed.
Usually, he could sleep through everything but this body was a little too sensitive as an assassin so he immediately opened his eyes. His hand slipped under his pillow and brought out a dagger in an instant.
He turned his body and pinned down the unidentified person with his body and hands. The dagger was pointed right at that person's throat.
"Dear, knife play is a little bit kinky." A low and relaxed chuckle rang out from the person being pinned down.
"Gasp! Honey! You're back!" Aeson's eyes widened with joy. He instantly threw away the dagger down the floor and grabbed Alfred's face.
Aeson turned his head left and right, up and down. Then his eyes scanned from his neck to his feet, not missing a single crevice.
Under such a passionate gaze, Alfred felt a little hot and he could feel his blood rushing down the place that Aeson was currently sitting on. However, the physiological reaction was hard to control so the little elf could already feel it under his butt.
Aeson: "..."
Alfred: "..."
"I guess that you are fine." He got down from Alfred in an instant which made the guy a little regretful.
"Of course, I'm fine. My title as the strongest wizard is not for show. Mwah!" Alfred pulled Aeson by the waist so the elf fell down onto the wizard's body. He gave a big smack on the pink lips and showed a pearly smile.
"...Did you find anything?" Aeson was about to lecture him about his shameless nature but he gave up. Anyway, he also really missed him. Even though, they were only apart for a few days. It seemed like he was also getting clingier as time passed. It was also interesting to see the shameless nature of his lover as Alfred in this world.
"I did. I know how to deal with her now." Alfred leaned down his head and kissed the exposed forehead. His eyes squinted with devilishness.