There was a small window on top of the bed, letting the moonlight shine through and create a serene atmosphere. Two people were snuggling with each other in the quiet and cozy space.
"So what did you find out?" Aeson asked impatiently.
There was a tug on Alfred's clothes which signaled his eagerness to know the method.
"Well, when I went to the chamber, I found a book with all the forbidden knowledge since the last war with the Demon King. The previous heroes managed to seal him with the Eternity spell, which can trap any soul in a distorted space so they can't escape. That spell was extremely powerful and required a lot of power which led to the heroes' deaths too." Alfred's voice was low and alluring, explaining everything he found in detail as he felt that he could never hide it from the little elf.
"WHAT? DEAD?" Aeson jumped up in shock. No way! Even if he wanted to collapse the plot to get the energy, he did not want to harm anyone! Especially his lover!
Alfred could sense the uneasiness and growing concern of Aeson through the distressed blue eyes. Whenever he looked into them, he could tell that he was the most important person to the little elf. Who cared if they only met just for a few months, when he laid his eyes on the little elf, he knew that they belonged to each other. Even though it did annoy him that it was not him who met the elf first because he had heard some elves whispering about Aeson's loyalty to the Elf King, his savior.
"Don't worry, this was an old method as they didn't have enough time to prepare for the spell. The war was a place of constant winds, their time was tight so they sacrificed themselves. But we have time." Alfred once again pulled the elf back, making Aeson's head buried in the firm chest of the wizard. It really made Aeson curse in his mind, why would a wizard be so buff?
"So, what do we need to do first?" Aeson struggled to speak with his muffled voice, he tried to shake off the large arms hugging tightly to his waist and head. But of course, Alfred only let Aeson breathe but did not let him go. Only a few weeks away from the elf already tortured him so how could he part with him even a tiny bit? He almost got caught by those elder wizards and almost got dragged back to his job. Thinking of the previous days when he slaved away without Aeson was unimaginable. He shuddered at that thought and kissed Aeson's cheeks a dozen times to comfort himself.
Aeson was suffocated. His arms flailed around but to no avail.
"Enough! I miss you too but tell me quickly! What do we need to do first!!"
"Hahahaha, okay, okay." Alfred finally let go of the poor elf. Because of his movement with limited oxygen supply, Aeson's face flushed red with a little bit of sweat working upon his face. Alfred looked at him greedily but pushed down his desire to focus on business, if not, he felt like he would really be hated this time.
"First off, we need to determine the soul residing in Lady Roth's body. If she was only contaminated with dark magic then this method wouldn't work. Her soul has to be the Demon King."
"...What if it's not the Demon King's soul? We can't deal with the fact that she is sucking the World Tree's livelihood?" Aeson got worried. The identity in Lucia's body seemed to be complicated. She was supposed to be a transmigrator but then she suddenly got a connection with the Demon King. The problem was that she became a noble with high status and if something happened to her, it could spark conflict between humans and elves.
"Then it would be simpler, honey! That book of dark magic had everything! No wonder they locked it away so tightly. It explained that the soul needed to sustain itself so it sucked the power of life around it, but how could an ordinary woman have such a strong soul to suck the World Tree's power? I suspect that we will use that method after all."
"Really?"
"Yeah, now, let's rest, it's nighttime already." Alfred began to pull Aeson close again but his hands were swatted away. His eyes shook and a pained expression appeared on his face.
"Don't give me that pitiful look. Go take a bath first!" The furious elf pushed the guy off the bed and pointed toward the washroom. He had lived through apocalypse worlds without water supply before so he could tolerate anything but just yesterday he washed the sheet so he did not want to let the dirty man ruin his efforts.
Alfred looked in the direction of his finger. He finally stood up and strutted slowly toward the washroom. However, his head kept turning back with pitiful eyes, making Aeson hallucinate into seeing an abandoned dog. This dog man never changed.
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The next morning, the village started to become hectic because it was finally the departure day of the Duchal couple. They have been staying here for an extended period of time which could raise suspicion. If not for Angus's excuse for a honeymoon, Luciel might have found out something was wrong.
Luciel was overjoyed to finally see Angus acting as a true husband, no longer as per agreements, she happily agreed to stay longer but still kept her vigilance on Liliana with her dagger gazes.
The elves were preparing a small farewell party for the departing couple, flowers were hung up for decorations and a light feast was cooking with its aroma wafting in the air. Meanwhile, Kiirion was conversing with Angus and a person in a cloak. That person was no other than Alfred.
"So you will follow me back?" It was Angus who just spoke.
"Believe it or not, I don't want to." Alfred rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, exhaling in frustration.
"... Yeah, it is quite hard to believe. You are famous for putting your nose in everything."
"I was like that, wasn't I? It's just that I didn't have a reason not to." As Alfred said this, his eyes softened and a light smile appeared at the corner of his lips. Angus looked at Alfred's expression with complication in his eyes, maybe a little bit of confusion, a little bit of clarity, and a little bit of envy.
"Ahem, ahem, gentlemen, please get back to the topic." As Kiirion felt the main point slipping far away because of the two incompatible humans, he had to drag them back.
"What topic? It's as simple as that! I will go to his castle and do a little magic to see the soul of that woman. After determining the status of it, we will proceed to do either plan A or plan B. Everything has been prepared. The tower has been notified of the presence of dark magic already. Either way, it has to disappear." Alfred shrugged his shoulders, he really felt like this business was so simple. Even though he felt like it, he could never say it this way in front of his sweetheart because he could tell the importance of this incident for his sweet little elf. Never would he have thought that his heart would be so thoroughly captured in such a short amount of time.
"I won't follow you back technically. I will be there the day after you arrive."
"...Alright, as long as you don't raise any alerts." As much as Angus hated to admit it, Alfred's talent as a wizard was undeniable with the acknowledgment of the whole continent. The Duke was only a little worried about his sudden want to follow along because he brought only a few servants with him. That Gaius boy was quite sharp with his intuition, even Angus had to admit it, so he was afraid that Alfred might somehow be discovered.
"Then the elves will be on standby when the time comes. I will give you the Fruits only when the plan starts." Kiirion said his last remark before the group of three tall men standing in an inconspicuous space dismissed.
Angus and Kiirion returned and pretended to exchange pleasantry. Luciel looked at the two handsome men with satisfaction. With Gaius next to her, she pictured herself inside a harem of these men which made her incredibly smug. It was a shame that she lost track of the wizard, she thought he would be more grateful for the precious fruit she gave to him.
Gaius stood aside with no visible emotions on his face until he saw a sliver of blond hair shining under the rising sun. It was beautiful. His feet subconsciously move towards the owner of that blond hair.
Aeson just finished packing to travel to Angus's territory with Alfred and it made him quite hungry. Alfred was busy and he was not in the mood to cook so he decided to join this goodbye feast. As he was pondering which one he should eat first, a presence alerted his senses.
He could have said something until he noticed it was Gaius walking toward him so he just assumed the guy was going to grab some food. But, when he turned to grab a piece of bread, his wrist was caught all of a sudden.
'This guy truly is dangerous!' Aeson whipped his head back to look at the guy with a frown. The grip was too strong so he could not shake it off even with his elf physique but fortunately, he did not seem to have any intention to harm him.
"What. Are. You. Doing. To. Him?" A low and ominous voice with a warning tone spoke behind Gaius's back, helping him snap out of his stupor. His head immediately ducked down, only daring to look at the ground at the moment.
"I-I'm sorry, sir..." Even though his strength was strong, his voice was shy and tiny.
"Why did you grab me?" Aeson had already put down his plate and looked at Gaius with a puzzling look. Did this guy somehow sense something would happen to Luciel because of them? It was said that he had a really strong intuition of an animal in the original plot.
Aeson's thought was obviously different from the one in the robe that just warned Gaius. Alfred was still covered with the cloak, with his changed hair color to blond, as he possessively pulled Aeson into his embrace.
He was only gone for a moment and his cutie already attracted others. He should have not gone back to the Tower at all. In the future, he would have to stick to his cutie to cut those eyes full of desires off of his treasure!
"N-nothing sir, I was rude... I-I'm sorry!" He apologized loudly before turning his back and running away.
Aeson: "..." Why did it seem like he just bullied the guy?
"What's wrong with him? I have never talked to him before." Aeson scratched his head in confusion.
"... Maybe he wanted to grab the bread but you were about to take it." Alfred dropped a light kiss on Aeson's cheek.
Aeson: "..."
GROWL.
Welp, that was embarrassing. He was really hungry until he was interrupted of his breakfast by some guy who wanted to fight for bread.
The frown at a possible rival faded as he heard the adorable sound from his cutie's stomach. A light chuckle came out as he let go of Aeson's waist. The plate that was put down was picked up again by him. The plate began to be filled with all of Aeson's favorite food.
The elf looked at the man picking his food with softened eyes. If he had a mirror and he could see himself at that moment, he would be surprised at how they could give someone diabetes.
"You're the best!" Aeson jumped Alfred and hugged the man's waist tightly from behind. He rubbed his head with squinted eyes on the strong back contentedly.
Gaius, even though he left, could still see those interactions in the distance. An unknown bitterness bubbled up inside him. He did not know why but he wished to be the man in the cloak. He felt it was so familiar like that picture should have been him and that cute elf...
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" I will be on my way then, thank you for your generosity for the past couple of weeks, your Majesty." Angus saluted the King as him about to mount his horse. Before he got up on the horse, his eyes swept through the crowd to land on the platinum head but unfortunately, that head was not looking at him at all.
Sensing the Duke's strange emotions, Luciel immediately got on the carriage and urged the driver to go.
"I have really enjoyed the excellent treatment here, your Majesty. But we must go as we spent too much time here. I hope we could still keep in contact as before." Her expectant gaze disgusted Kiirion, he had been observing her during those weeks which help him determine the jealous, vile and cunning nature of this lady. However, his courtesy allowed him to maintain his neutral expression when he lightly nodded.
The Duke couple was finally on the road back, with a tail behind them.