"I have to do something about this…"
Neoma sighed softly as he looked into his eyes. It was definitely odd seeing himself like this.
'I look like I am possessed… I guess that kind is true.'
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"Hey, Alvis… Is there a way to hide my eyes?"
The youth asked his system buddy and didn't receive any clear answer. After a few seconds of waiting, which was not usual since Alvis always immediately gives a reply, Neoma felt something in his hand.
He raised his hand up, palm facing up. He saw a black cloud floating on top of his hand and moving around.
Neoma's heart began to beat faster due to him slowly becoming more and more worried about the black cloud in his palm. He was worried that something was wrong.
However, he was worried for no reason.
After a few seconds, a black mask landed in his hand. It looked like a wide ribbon, which had no holes for his eyes to see.
'I suppose this would work too.'
Neoma thought as he held the ribbon with both of his hands. He placed it over his eyes and tied it in the back, his white hair contrasting with the dark colour of the mask. The mask covered his eyes and went slightly above his brows.
'I thought I wouldn't be able to see anything. Well… It's not that great either. But better than I thought, I can't complain.
'Plus, Alvis will be controlling me then, so I suppose I don't exactly have to see much. Mhm. It shouldn't be a problem for Alvis if he gave this to me.'
"Turn off autopilot mode."
Neoma ordered his system buddy and saw the mask disintegrate into specks of black dust, which faded away as they slowly fell to the ground. His eyes were now back to normal – the sclera of his eyes returned back to their usual white colour and the irises of his eyes were dyed their usual turquoise colour.
'The mask will definitely arouse suspicion if anyone sees me wearing it in a fight… But it still is better than letting anyone see my black eyes. Even if they won't assume that it's anti-magic, they will surely think I'm a corpse controlled by a necromancer…'
Neoma let out a small sigh and closed the doors of the closet.
"Oh, right. Alvis, what date is it now?"
╭────── • ◆ • ──────╮
Today is the 22nd of Maious, 1503!
Current time is 22:43:07!
╰────── • ◆ • ──────╯
"Huh… I see. This means that event is going to happen in a week from tomorrow."
...
It was now the next day and Elin was leading Neoma down the hallways of the royal palace towards the king's office.
As the two were walking down the hallways, all of the servants greeted their princess; however, their eyes lingered longer on Neoma. They could tell that he was a human. He had short round ears and was only around 170 centimetres tall. Probably a couple centimetres even shorter. For an elf, unless there were complications during birth or you had a genetic disorder which affected your growth, such a height would be considered abnormal.
However, there was another reason which made the elves completely certain that who they were seeing was just a human.
'Does he have that little of magic in him that I can't even detect any of it?'
Some elven servants wondered as they walked past Neoma who was ignoring everyone's cold gazes. He felt uncomfortable with so many elves staring at him. He could feel their glares and looks of disgust burning right through his soul.
Knock, knock, knock.
They soon stopped by tall dark wooden doors engraved with all kinds of symbols. Most of them were meant for protection, sealing the room when Kyros, the king of the elven kingdom, was either working inside or away, not letting anyone in who didn't have his permission.
"Come in."
A deep voice replied to the knocks on the door. Elin didn't wait for anything and opened the door once she heard her brother's words, walking inside first. Neoma followed after her, closing the door on his way in.
The man sitting by the desk didn't seem to notice the human in his office as he continued to scribble words on papers. By his side stood an elven servant with his greying black hair pulled back in a low ponytail. The servant seemed to be waiting for the king to hand him a few documents.
Kyros and his sister, Elin, did not look like siblings at all despite the few small features, such as their eye and nose shapes, being the same. Unlike Elin, who had fair skin and long blue hair, Kyros had darker skin and short bright red hair. His eyes looked sharp and were of the same colour like his hair, the colour even closer to the colour of fire.
'He looks the same as on the cover of the novel…'
Neoma thought as he looked the elven king up and down. Despite his physical appearance being completely different from that of an average elf, the youth couldn't help but think that Kyros was handsome.
'I don't know if I want to be with him or be him…'
Neoma's thoughts started to drift the more he looked at the king.
Kyros' appearance was considered abnormal by many elves. However, this was proof that Kyros was truly a blessed of the god of fire, which was yet another abnormality in the world of "The Elven Hero".
Since elves were creatures that were extremely close to nature, the elements which they could control easier were water, wind, and earth. The subelements, even though they were rare, were ice and plants.
The elves didn't consider fire as an element of nature. They saw it as something which destroyed nature. After the kingdom of Aekodora had found out about Kyros being the blessed of the god of fire and had the ability to control fire, the kingdom was in an uproar.
Elin didn't say anything after walking inside and just waited for Kyros to finish his work. After around 5 minutes had passed, Neoma was already whining inwardly.
'My legs hurt… Why can't we sit down?'
Just as he was about to complain more to himself, Kyros let out a sigh and handed the papers to the servant standing by his side.
"Bring it to the accountants. I approved of the project, but the budget for it needs to be smaller."
Just as the king finished speaking, the servant took the papers and bowed, quickly leaving the room.
Kyros raised his eyes up and noticed his sister with a stranger in his office. When his and Neoma's eyes met, the youth quickly bowed to the king of the elven kingdom, his heart now beating fast.
'Such pressure…'
"Sorry, I hope you weren't waiting too long. I was too focused on the paperwork… I don't even remember saying 'Come in'. I guess it's just a reflex at this point."
The king apologised to his sister, his voice sounding tired.
"It's alright… It is weird seeing you work so hard."
Elin chuckled as she made the comment. Kyros rolled his eyes as Neoma straightened his back.
"The officials were bothering me this morning… I guess I had a few documents and problems accumulated."
"This morning?... Kyros. It's Sunday now."
Elin spoke with a worried look in her eyes.
"Sunday… Oh. It's already Sunday…"
Kyros looked out the window, noticing that it was indeed now morning again. He had not even noticed when night came.
"Anyways, who is he? Did you find him yesterday in the Forest of the Crescent Moon? Did you come here to– oh my…"
The king cut himself off as his eyes widened.
"Fascinating… I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me, but you truly do not have any magic in you. How are you still alive?"
Kyros asked as he got up from his seat and approached Neoma, towering over him.
"I apologise, Your Majesty… But I can not remember anything."
Neoma replied as he felt beads of sweat dripping down his back. He knew he shouldn't be so nervous and scared of meeting Kyros. He wasn't an elf who discriminated against humans or was a dangerous person. However, he was a king and a protagonist. The pressure the human felt from him was almost to the point of suffocating.
'He's strong… Extremely strong.'
Neoma thought, not even daring to look back up at Kyros.
"Is it a problem if he stays here? Until we figure out what happened to him. I'll personally take the responsibility if he causes any harm."
Elin spoke up as she looked up at her brother who was closely observing the human before him.
"Hmm… What's your name?"
Neoma heard the question and gulped slightly, keeping his eyes glued on the ground.
"Neoma, Your Majesty. My name is Neoma."
The youth introduced himself and the king slowly nodded in response.
"Alright, Neoma. I'll remember your name. You shall stay in my palace until we figure out what happened to you."