As our lips parted, I took a second to process what just happened.
That was my first kiss, both in this life and my previous life. With someone who had a harem, no less.
'Wait, does he actually have a harem, though?' I thought, recalling the events that occurred at the beginning of our battle. He didn't have his written female fanclub following after him when he arrived, 'Have the contents of the story changed?' I considered, looking at the contrast between the novel's main character and the man in front of me. Though they were both named Grant, they couldn't be any more different.
'Oh, whatever. I'll just go with the flow,' I decided, tilting my head and smiling cutely at Grant, "Hey, aren't you supposed to kill me? What will your kingdom say when they see my head still on my shoulders? They're gonna kill you if you return home safe and sound."
Grant lifted my chin and shrugged, "Eh, whatever. I'll come up with an excuse like you disappeared into dust after my last stab."
"That'll make me look like such a coward," I sighed, hugging one of his arms. I couldn't help but squish a bicep, "I always wanted to say this, but you're so big and muscular…" I muttered, quiet enough for him to not hear, "...Steroids?"
Grant stood there, deadpanning, "Suck it up, unless you want more heroes coming after you."
"True… it's gonna be so annoying," I groaned, then smiled, "Hey, you know what my longtime dream is?"
"Hmm?" Grant began playing with my hair, but listened intently.
"Travelling the world," I said, the stars above reflecting in my eyes as I looked above into the vast world the sky expanded to, but I never could since I reincarnated into this life.
He stopped stroking my hair and smiled, "Then let me take you away from here," he lifted my hand, his golden eyes staring into mine sincerely, "Let's explore the entire world together until there is no place left undiscovered."
My heart skipped a beat as I held his hand harder, "What are we waiting for, then? Let's go."
Grant lifted me in a princess carry, obeying by my wishes, "As you command, Great Abyssal," he teased, walking towards the throne room's only door.
Over the years, I've learned something about the hero— he knew nothing about being humble, turned expectations into reality, and he proved his capabilities whenever he was underestimated. Yet he would never mock others for being weaker. His humor was beyond questionable, he was a sword fanatic, and he never got mad. Grant was an entertaining person to be around and, for that, was exactly my type.
After arriving at the throne room's grand door, he held me close enough so that I could open it for us. As I did so, I met the face of my flabbergasted abyssal elf attendant, Varus, whom I beat into servitude about 10 years ago.
"G …G," he barely managed to get out due to the utter shock, "G-GREAT ABYSSAL? WHAT THE FU-"
"Hey, V!" I smiled jovially, "How long have we been in there for?"
Varus shut up so fast, he almost coughed up blood, "Eurgh, ahem. Ahem, uh. I-It has been about two years, Great Abyssal," he stuttered, just remembering to bow appropriately.
"Wow~ time flies by," I whistled, "Keep the place clean while I'm gone. Yeah, V?"
Varus fell completely speechless as he watched the hero carry me out of the fortress.
…
The area I ruled was not a part of the demon's territory but nowhere near the heavens. It was more of a perfect midline between the two. The Abyss was the exclusive habitable area of the Silent Void. The capital, if you will. While all other areas of the Silent Void were dazzled in millions of nightmares and horrid monsters, the Abyss lay somewhere deeper and contained a purer essence of darkness.
I tapped Grant's armor to let me down, and he obeyed my command.
Looking around the eerie darkness surrounding us for miles, I observed the forever night sky that drenched the land with its soft moonlight.
With the flick of a wrist, I summoned a dragon from the darkness. Creatures of the abyss were made up of those who have lost their minds or have been forgotten by the world; lost souls and poor wretches who crawl beneath the surface to forever despise the light. It went to show how contradictory it was to love someone like the hero who shone so brightly. As the ruler of the abyss who has fought against the most powerful creatures, the territory heads, as well as the previous Great Abyssal, I have been bestowed a special authority exclusive to myself that controls all that resides in the Silent Void.
The dragon bent low enough for me to step on. Grant offered me a hand as I ascended its back, to which he followed up afterward. I had no idea where the hero's kingdom resided due to my obliviousness towards anything unrelated to the Silent Void. After sitting down on the dragon's back, I tucked my hair and looked back at the hero, "Um, lead the way?" I meekly asked, embarrassed by my lack of knowledge of the outside world.
Grant smiled, sitting down with me, and held my waist. He lifted my finger to point in a certain direction, "That way."
Silently directing the dragon's ascent in the direction he guided me, I let myself fall back into Grant's chest, hearing a quiet clank of our armor hitting each other's.
…
After getting lost a few times due to the unchanging appearance of the Silent Void, we finally made it out at around 9 hours with top speed on our mount. At last, we arrived at the expansive kingdom that stretched for hundreds of miles. Considering how alert we would make the kingdom with our incoming dragon, I had the creature dip down into a nearby forest for our dismount.
The descent was beautiful. Over a waning sunset, clouds faded into the horizon, and lush leaves blanketing the sculpted hills below melded into the great beyond. I felt my heart beat faster. It had been twenty years since I stepped I've seen such beauty that I had to pinch myself to ensure I wasn't dreaming.
It was a sight for sore eyes.
Climbing off of the dragon, I had Grant take a step back. He watched as I dissolved the dragon into the ground to make its way back to the center of all that was dark. Yawning and stretching from the long ride, I turned to find the same man rolling around in the dirt.
He stopped as he caught my blank expression.
"To make the battle to the death more believable."
"...I'm not saying anything."
Grant remained silent as he continued rolling.
…
After denting and scratching his armor, the warrior threw himself to the ground again before getting up. I kept a straight face while watching his actions, only saying anything after he got up; "Hm."
"...We don't talk about this."
"Hm," I vaguely noted, not promising anything. Exhaling slowly, I leaned back on the spot I stood, "Anyways, I won't be able to go in with you like this, so…" my words trailed off with a snap of my fingers, morphing into a crow.
Flying up to sit on Grant's shoulders, I felt his large hand on my head, "Wow, I can't believe I got a pet bird on the way back from my battle with the Great Abyssal. I think I'm going to call you Birdie!"
Annoyed to hell at his crappy name choice, I scratched his face, leaving a deep, bloody gash. I utilized my skillset including telepathy to communicate with him, repeating his words from earlier, >To make the battle to the death more believable.<
"Ow!" he cried, sniffling, "What a mean Birdie."
I couldn't give a crap about his feelings as we progressed through the forest to reach a path that led us to the kingdom. Pleasantly surprised by Grant's sense of direction, I bestowed him another great scratch to the face, reusing the same excuse of 'making the battle appear more believable.'.
…
As we approached the kingdom entrance, I had Grant grab his arm and limp on his right leg. With so much blood gushing down his face and his armor mutilated, he appeared to be on the brink of death.
There was a long line of carriages, carts, and migrants trailing up to the gate who were all getting verified and checked by the guards stationed up front. The entrance to the kingdom was outlined with a grand arch. Though it was wide, it was guarded well with soldiers lining the ground, and more guards covering the top of the walls, each standing no more than five feet from each other.
The guards at the gate took immediate notice as the hero approached the entrance.
"Lord have mercy!" a soldier screamed, "White hair and golden eyes… it's the hero! He's alive! Over there!!"
Everyone in line snapped their heads to where the soldier was pointing, and shouts of joy and horror were tossed through the large crowd.
"I can't believe it! He has returned from the Abyss!"
"My, he's covered in blood! And his armor— someone, quick! Call a healer!"
A few of the soldiers split off from the castle security to attend to the hero who appeared to be on the verge of fainting. And faint he did.
'This guy seriously deserves an Oscar…' I thought inwardly.
...