I took a seat on the marble bench in front of the fountain in the courtyard. Kleis brought me here because she believed I needed the fresh air from all that tension from earlier. I wallowed in sadness and stared at the strange neon-colored flowers in the bushes. On the other hand, this happy-go-lucky woman was frolicking and playing with the dogs running around.
I still couldn't believe it, I am in another world. Dragons were hovering in the air and a ginormous planet's silhouette can be faintly seen in the sky. What's more, Kleis' pet "dogs" looked more like a hybrid of foxes and fishes, if that's even a possible combination.
"Are you a princess, Kleis?" I asked out of nowhere. I felt like these people are just leading me on and not getting straight to the point, so might as well be more direct.
"Yes. Or, was, rather." Kleis answered in pauses.
"Care to elaborate?"
Kleis turned around and said, "At the right time, I will."
I slowly took a deep breath, then sighed.
"You brought me here in this forsaken palace or something and forcibly made me your husband. Now, you wouldn't even say anything to me? Is this how the royals act? Because if it is, then I'm out. Go summon another person for all I care." I snapped, a little bit irritated at how Kleis is fond of spinning her words and never really getting to the point. I stood up and marched back to where the mansion doors were.
"My father– he, um…" Kleis trailed off. I stopped in my tracks and waited for her to continue.
"My father was the rightful heir to the throne. Although he is not part of the royal lineage, the Eir kingdom is ruled over by patriarchy, so he is still king. But you see, my mother…" She paused, "She abdicated her position as queen. I don't know much about this story since I was young back then, and nobody would tell me even until now. But after Mother gave up her royal title, we were kicked out of the palace."
"We were still protected by the royal family in some way, but we were shunned by the public for ruining the family image like that. And, my father can't keep his position as king anymore since my mother left the throne already. My mother had the final say regarding everything because of the bloodline rule that we have. And then, after a few years, they both passed away…" Kleis added, getting emotional talking about her past. She wiped a falling tear and resumed with the story, "The one you saw earlier was my uncle, who is currently reigning the kingdom. He visits here often just to check up on me."
I remained standing there still, taking it all in. How heavy must it be to have responsibilities like that, ruling a kingdom and whatever?
"I'm sorry to hear about your parents," I said, taking a step back and returning to the bench.
"It's fine, I was young when they died." Kleis shrugged, forcing a smile on her face. Her once-beaming aura has now been replaced by a brooding, dark energy.
For someone who claimed that their parents died a long time ago, I don't think I have ever seen anyone look that depressed in my entire life. It's almost as if I could feel from her energy that her parents passed away only yesterday.
We both sat in silence for a while and listened to the birds chirping on the branches. I pondered and tried to connect her story with the situation I am in right now, but still, I couldn't think of any reason why it had to be me. Why did I have to be here, too?
"Haruo. One not of this world is one not equal to one of this world." Kleis said and held my hands in hers.
I looked at her and kept wondering to myself how pushy this girl can be. She can easily take someone's hands as if we've known each other for a long time, and that says a lot to me, considering the Japanese culture of being quite conservative even in men.
"Haruo." She repeated, "I've got to be honest with you. I've called you here for a reason that I was hoping you could help me with."
What was that again? Oh yes, kidnapping, illegal marriage, and now favors.
"What do you need? I'm a little busy, you know." I joked sarcastically. Now that I'm in some unknown world, I've got all the time in the world that one could need.
"I need you to marry me," Kleis said with a straight face.
I blinked my eyes and stared at her. "Uhuh, as if you didn't do some weird juju on me already. I thought we were already married?" I asked.
"Correction: we're only half-married since you were unconscious during the ritual," Kleis complained, as if it was my fault I was in that state.
"And there isn't any way for us to annul the marriage or something?" I sighed.
"Not that I know of." Kleis paused dramatically, "But, there is at least a way to take you back to your kingdom, world, or home, whichever is the proper term."
My eyes lit up in excitement, building a ray of hope within me.
I asked enthusiastically, my tone changing pitch in joy. "Really? What is it?"
"I'm not sure since it was written in ancient books. But, I am confident that you need to fulfill your duty here first before you can unlock transcendence. It's what you need to understand the language of the gods." Kleis explained.
But, I couldn't care less anymore about whatever nonsense Kleis was telling me. All that mattered to me right now, is that there is a way for me to go home. I did not care if it was real or not. I just needed that small glimpse of possibility to keep me sane in this mythical world.
The only thing I knew for sure was I first needed to do Kleis' favor in dealing with the whole marriage thing. Then, I am going to do some heroic "mission" perhaps. Am I going to slay a dragon beast, I wonder? And finally, I will "transcend" and understand the godly language to read some ancient books for a spell, probably, to bring me back home.
Sounds easy enough! I think my day job in the financial firm was much more complicated than this.