The scene of Duke Damian accidentally hitting the young lady had caused astonishment and silence in the area. This is an unforeseen event. It's not weird for the noble duke to suddenly smack away the young lady as he was suddenly bitten out of nowhere. But unfortunately, the culprit's identity is special, everyone also thought that the duke had made a wrong move. Everyone's reactions were halted in a few seconds.
Silence descended in the whole room. There is also tension building up from the area. Eirwen Night had completely fallen on the ground as he made his move to recall his body's balance. Everyone who knows how to fight could see that this young lady's movements are clean and smooth. She is like a trained fighter who is exposed to the death and blood of his enemies.
Eirwen Night used his thumb to wipe the traces of blood at the corner of his lips, tainting those thin lips with crimson touch with the taste of rust filling his mouth. A devious expression was hooked up on those blemished lips with blood. Mirth, amusement, and eagerness were glinting within those aureate orbs. Like a wild beast who found his playmate.
"Your strength… is not bad~," said Eirwen with a sweet smile on his lips. "Your name?"
Duke Damian greeted Eirwen with an elaborate gesture of respect. Placing his hand above his chest, he lowered his stance a bit before the smiling figure.
"Kingdom of Hart's Duke. Damian Adrienne."
Eirwen returned his gesture with the same movement but with hints of coolness as if not caring for mannerism at all. Despite that, his gestures show elegance which is more natural as if it was his permanent demeanor, imprinted within his temperament.
"Eirwen Night. Accidentally summoned in this world. Man who wears a lady's dress for fun~"
Everyone, including the Saintess Candidates, was shocked by what Eirwen Night had introduced himself as.
"WHAT!?"
"A man!?"
All of those inside the room except the duke had exclaimed loudly. Their shouts resound in all corners of the room. They were all now looking at Eirwen Night with widened eyes in disbelief.
"Sister? Are you really a man?" asked Angela Evans while blinking her eyes in astonishment.
Bela Laurel murmured, "Right~ no matter how good looking he is, Mr. Night is still a male~"
Eirwen ignores the sarcastic tone of Bela as she speaks. Then grinned at everyone as he held the corner of his skirt. With a playful and amused expression on his face, Eirwen filled his skirt showing the king, the duke, and his entourage, his male trousers that cover his private part. The obvious bulge of his underpants shows his real gender.
His action of suddenly lifting his skirt is an unforeseen event by anyone in the room. The females all squealed with their faces turning red in embarrassment and curiosity.
KYAAAHHH!!!
OOH!?!?
FUCK!!?!?
The duke had acted with a split moment of a second. Grabbed the two wrists of Eirwen Night above his head, he was even slightly lifted above the ground. The pulled-up skirt in front of everyone had fallen back down due to the gravity and weight of the dress.
"Don't pull up your skirt, my dear saintess," said Duke Damian without an expressionless face.
On the other hand, Eirwen Night showed an ecstatic smile making his current appearance even more seductive and alluring. They've even forgotten the fact that his original gender is a male.
His naughty foot lightly rubs at the duke's groin but the latter's expression didn't change much. The king and the others who were around them were blushing upon witnessing this scene and averted their sight from the interaction between their duke and male saintess?
Only the archmage who could see the flow of mana reacted differently.
Archmage, Alexis Castel exclaimed, "Duke Damian let him go!!! NOW!"
The king and the duke reacted right away. Backing away with everyone from Eirwen Night. A sudden drop in temperature was felt within the room. Snowflakes hover around Eirwen while smiling at Damian Adrienne. The former sweet smile had completely disappeared, only a detached and aloof face was now before them.
The archmage stood before the king and the duke. He even brought out his wand and wielded it in front of Eirwen Night.
"Who are you? How could you use mana when you're not someone of our world?" asked the archmage.
Eirwen Night ignores the old man who is threatening to attack. He clearly shows no interest to the archmage, Alexis Castel nor in the king, Argus Hart. His eyes only wander towards the duke.
Of course, everyone can see his interests to no one aside from the duke.
Sigh~
The king of hart finally felt what it's like to be ignored thoroughly like this time, he could only gesture at the archmage to step down and let motioned the duke to do the talking instead.
"You can use mana?" asked Damian while staring at Eirwen who started smiling once again when facing the duke.
Everyone thought he was lovestruck but only the duke knew how cold and dangerous the soul was hidden within those golden orbs.
Damian's thoughts: 'His eyes aren't smiling at all. Just entertained.'
Eirwen answered, "Yes. Isn't it that glowing thing inside your body. Most people in this world seem to have." he was looking at everyone and even moved his gaze from the two girls who got summoned with him. "These two ladies have some too. But only this little girl had the brightest shade of gold."
Damian asked once again, "How could you control yours?"
"I don't control it. It moves on its own," replied Eirwen while playing with snowflakes floating around him.
This response made the archmage widen his eyes in realization. He stares at Eirwen Night and those snowflakes. He could see that those snowflakes weren't ordinary things. They are ice spirits who were rumored to hate all races of all worlds, especially the human race. They had never appeared or answered anyone's answer before.
"Oh~ these are ice spirits! Amazing~ this is even my first time seeing one!" said Alexis Castel with extreme interest towards the hovering snowflakes around Eirwen. He even tried touching it only for his old hands to be lightly slapped by the latter.
"Old man. Don't touch unless you want to turn into an ice statue for the rest of your life~," said Eirwen.
As if showing proof to Eirwen's words a snowflake lightly touched the tip of the archmage's middle finger and it froze instantly with ice. Unlike normal ice spells, the fingertip of Alexis is forever frozen unless the Ice spirits melt it for him.
Eirwen says, "You should think of a way to melt your middle finger. By the way I'm hungry." while touching his flat tummy.
Seeing a breakthrough that will allow all mages in the world to have contact with the mysterious and aloof Ice spirits, Archmage Alexis tried currying favor with Eirwen Night who had the love of Ice Spirits.
"Should I call you Lord or My Lady?" asked Alexis with a kind smile.
Unconcernedly glance at the old man, "In dress, call me my lady," answered Eirwen.
The archmage and the king exchange an understanding smile. Then they've escorted Eirwen as an important guest he is. Leaving the summoning room with King Hart and Archmage Castel's escort, Eirwen Night and the other two Saintess Candidates had walked away. Duke Damian didn't follow right away, instead, he secretly observed Eirwen Night's figure from a distance.
An unknown voice was heard coming from the shadows within the room.
"Do you wish for this servant to kill me for you my lord?" the unnamed voice asked.
"Not now. Keep your eye on him. Not too close. You'll lose your life if you do." said Damian before walking away.
The banquet at night was successful and the three candidates for the Saintess position were officially welcome by the people living within the palace. The three candidates were given their own room within the palace. They are to stay in the castle until their statuses are recorded. Tomorrow, the appraisal for the otherworlders was scheduled in the Temple of Light. Most humanoid races revere the God of Light, Lucien.
The max level of this world is 999, reaching level 1000 means you had to attain godhood to become a God. Gods don't live in the mortal plane but they sometimes leave an embodiment of themselves within the human realm. It could be in any form or any race as long as an avatar of God stays in the lower plane, the Gods could descend in that body and stay in the mortal world. But the Gods who live in the divine realm rarely descended in the mortal plane.
There are all kinds of Gods in this world called Aerd. But the most powerful Gods are those who reign in the elements of light and darkness. The God of light, Lucien, and the God of darkness whose name cannot be spoken. Lucien is the God of humanoid races while the God whose name couldn't be mentioned is revered by the demon race. The two gods are said to be opposite each other and never got along at all.
At the King's office.
King Argus, Duke Damian, and Archmage Alexis were having a private conversation. Their topic is about the three candidates for the Saintess in the prophecy. This prophecy is something the Pope from the temple of light had received hundreds of years ago. The head priest of each race received this kind of divination. The contents of the prophecy are simple.
{A Saintess from another world can be summoned. There will be candidates but only one among all could be called the True Saintess.}
A stern expression is imprinted on the king's face, "According to the prophecy, there will only be one true savior among the candidates. Who would expect that there would be three candidates?" said Argus Hart while grumbling.
Archmage Alexis Castel rubs his long beard thinking of their kingdom's current situation. "In consonance with the history of their kingdom, it is said that there would only be one real saintess. But it was also stated in the records that most summoned individuals possess special talents upon their arrival in this world. It could mean a rare occupation or an exceptional skill. Though only the Saintess had the ability to cast purification for miasma." he explained.
The Duke of the kingdom, Damian Adrienne was listening to the two people within him inside the office exchanging words. His silent stance made his presence thinner but only he knew that his through going awry was because of that delicate man who likes to wear a woman's dress.
King Argus Hart, "Among the three, whom do you think is most likely to be the Saintess?" The ruler of the kingdom questioned.
The archmage pauses for a moment before speaking.
"It is impossible for Lord Night. He is a male. So, becoming a Saintess is not possible. Moreover, they've all clarified that Lord Night has dragged into this world accidentally thanks to stepping in the summoning circle that appeared under the foot of Lady Laurel.
Lady Laurel on the other hand acts strange. when she first introduced herself this morning the etiquette she had used is something only those in noble family practices. She is someone from another world, there is no other way for her to know things about our world, Aerd!" elaborated by Archmage Alexis.
"This… I've also noticed! Her posture and mannerism are well trained. It shows that her practice of this protocol had been ingrained in her bones. But that is supposed to be impossible! She had just arrived in our world today!" presume the ruler of kingdom Hart.
The archmage continues to give his temporary hypothesis about the candidates, "Meanwhile, Lady Evans seems the most normal among the three. She seems to be a young lady who is suffering from a weak physique but thanks to being summoned into our world, her sickness seems to fade the longer she stays in Aerd. A kind-hearted gentle young lady. Based on this old man's observation, Lady Evans had a higher chance of being the Saintess in the prophecy."
This wording is almost flawless except for the short time of observation. King Argus nods his head silently in agreement with Alexis Castel's explanations.
Commented by King Argus Hart, "Lady Evan's way of greeting from before seems to be well-practiced and comes from their original world. Unable to hide her fear that her petite figure was trembling the whole time made her look pitiful. It is because of this that I've left more maids to look after her well-being. She is only a child after all. The problem is…"
"Lord Eirwen Night. His identity and existence are a bit mysterious. He says that he accidentally got dragged into our world but… based on Lady Laurel's reaction during the banquet obviously the lady hates Lord Night. They don't get along well which means Lady Laurel can't bring Lord Night with her during the summoning.
Or maybe like they've explained before, Lord Night's summoning is an unforeseen event. Not only that, the spirit of ice loves him a lot. No, it's more like the spirits all wanted to serve him as their ruler. Most spirits are fussy, they would just suddenly appear unless they truly like you. The spirits have a preference as well.
Wind spirits like the Eleven Races, who excel in speed more than humans.
Earth spirits like the beast race as they were the strongest among all races. They were battle maniacs and had a special skill called bloodline limit 'Berserk Mode'.
Fire Spirits and Water Spirits were friendly towards humans.
Light Spirits only like those who were blessed by the Light God.
Dark Spirits like death and blood the most. They love the demon race who excel in killing and murder for this reason.
But Ice Spirits are aloof. They hated all types of race and never came out when called. But their strength could rival those light and dark spirits when talking about strength and Lord Night is the only being in Aerd that had to receive the unconditional love of that unapproachable ice spirit. Even Lord Night had the lowest possibility of being the prophesized Saintess, our kingdom needs him!" declared Alexis Castel as the oldest mage living in Aerd.
This proposition coming from the Archmage made King Argus frown. Just meeting Eirwen Night once, he could already say that that enthralling young man can't allow himself to be chained in their kingdom. They couldn't just kill him out of nowhere. As they still haven't learned anything about the extent of his capabilities.
But the ruler could still remember the unreasonable interest of Eirwen Night towards the highest-ranked duke of their kingdom, Damian Adrienne. If not for the undying loyalty of the Damian Clan to the throne, the king would be afraid of this family's existence. Especially for this young duke, who attained his current standing by his own achievements at such a ripe age.
King Argus moves his gaze to the young duke not far from him. The Archmage is partly interested as he wanted to know why Lord Night seems to like this young duke when they've only met for the first day this day.
"How about you, Duke Damian? What do you think about the Saintess Candidates?" asked the king of the land.
Duke Damian calmly gave his opinion.
"My suggestion is to put Lady Evans under solid protection. Not only towards the people of this land even against the other candidates. Not only does she fit the bill of being the saintess the most, but among the other candidates' Lady Evans is also the weakest of the three. She had frail willpower and can be easily controlled. There isn't much that can be said about her.
Next, put Lady Laurel under secret surveillance. Records her daily life in detail and observes whether she had the possibility of being the one in the prophecy. Her actions before and then what she had done during the banquet this evening. You can clearly see that despite her ordinary appearance, she had quite a scheming mind but this person could be controlled as long as there are benefits."
King Argus Hart and Archmage Alexis Castel agreed to the preposition Duke Damian Adrienne had spoken. But they've also noticed that he didn't evaluate Eirwen Night.
"What do you think about Eirwen Night, Duke Damian?" asked the king.
The duke responded, "Only three words could be used to express my opinion about Eirwen Night."
"What are the three words?" asked Alexis Castel.
Damian Adrienne answered, "Unpredictable and Dangerous."
