The news of Eirwen Night returning to the kingdom alive had spread like a wildfire in the whole territories under the control of the Royal Hart family. The noble group acted weirdly among the rest of the other factions.
At the King's office, those who were waiting inside felt restless in their hearts. Not just because Eirwen Night who is supposed to be dead then comes back alive, they worry more about whose side he would lean to.
Eirwen Night didn't come directly to the castle as he joined Araysh in the progression of the duke's funeral. Moreover, since Damian Araysh was being summoned to the palace as well, the two decided to come over together.
The place is full of tension and stillness. It only broke the quietness when someone knocked on the door.
Knock. knock. Knock.
"You may enter!" said the crown prince, Viktor Hart, from the inside of the room.
The door made the sound of being open revealing the people outside the room. It was the new duke Damian Araysh and the Saintess Candidate, Eirwen Night. The one who opened the door was Duke Araysh, but the man did not enter right away and instead held the door for Eirwen Night and motioned him to enter first. His head was slightly lower in Eirwen Night's presence. It is an instinctive gesture to show a servile position towards the heavenly-looking man.
Damian Araysh who is holding on to the door, "Please enter first Lord Night." he says politely.
This disguised dark elf gesture made him look like a gentleman towards a young lady. Only those who really know the two would definitely be noticed that Araysh is treating Eirwen Night as someone superior to him.
Eirwen Night didn't even give the man a single glance and just entered the room with nothing but calmness on his face.
Among the people waiting inside the room. The one who reacted first is Angela as expected. She left position and sat down from the couch and ran towards jiejie.
"Jiejie!" Angela attempted to tackle Eirwen Night but Araysh grabbed her by the back collar of her clothes and picked her up like a cat. She dangles in front of Eirwen as a bullied little one.
"Jiejie~" her tone was that of a kicked cat.
Eirwen stares at the young lady hanging before him and the man who picks her up. He could only sigh seeing their contrasting reactions. One looks so expressive while the other looks unsympathetic.
Sighs~
Eirwen says, "You… can let her go. Just put her down slowly."
Damian Araysh followed the order and let go of Angela. The moment the young lady was freed she once again tried to dived towards Eirwen only to be caught by Araysh once again. They two repeated this routine for the third time and then glared at each other.
Angela screamed at Araysh. "What is wrong with you!? Why aren't you letting me hug my Jiejie!?"
Araysh retained his deadpan face except for his glaring eyes, "You cannot hug him. There are people who would get angry." he said.
"Are you saying you would get angry? Who are you to my Jiejie!?" asked Angela Evans.
"Will not get angry. I am nothing to him. But Damian Adrienne had left his will to me saying that I must protect Eirwen Night no matter what." said Araysh.
Angela retorted, "I'm just going to hug him for a bit! Are you saying I couldn't do that as well!?" she asked.
"Not allowed. Keep your hands to yourself, princess," said Araysh.
While the two continue to bicker at the corner, the rest of the people inside the room are staring at Eirwen Night as if they have seen a ghost. Bela Laurel's face was especially pale at this moment.
The two princes reacted differently on the other hand. They were left dazed as if someone had bewitched them. The crown prince and the third prince were looking at Eirwen Night with a love-struck gaze.
The Crown Prince's thoughts, 'Why does she look so beautiful? Is he really a man?'
'A man with this kind of face, he fits to become one of my lovers even more than Bela.' The third prince, Elliot's thoughts.
Eirwen ignored the heated gaze the princes had been giving him and instead greeted the other two which were the king and the archmage. With his usual playful smile, his lips hook up while he looks at King Argus and Archmage Alexis.
Eirwen Night spoke, "Hi~ I'm back! Your majesty and Old man mage."
Hearing the familiar tone and seeing the similar-looking features that they've only used to see in their dreams for the two whole years made these two old men sentimental. They could still remember the scenes that happened during the day the candidates for the Saintess were summoned. It was this young man who had made their lives interesting since then. The interaction between him and Duke Damian had always been a sight to behold.
But now they are less with one, the duke is already gone but at least Eirwen has returned. King Argus and Archmage Alexis showed a delighted smile as they welcomed Eirwen Night back.
King Argus, "Welcome back…"
He took a moment and paused his words only to check on Eirwen's clothing. They were told before that they must call him lady when wearing ladies' clothing. Looking at the loose white robe with snowflakes pattern on him, it looked like a dress but at the same time not.
'What kind of clothes is this? Is it a dress or not? How come there are pants inside?' Thoughts of King Argus.
The archmage's thoughts were going on the similar yet not route as well.
'This type of clothing is not worn by mortals. Did the Ice spirits give it to him? Is that a skirt with pants?'
Eirwen Night who had been observing their reactions since he had entered the room had suddenly smirked. He held his floor-length robes and lifted it but unlike before what welcomed everyone's sight wasn't a pair of trousers but a pair of long pants covering those slender, long legs.
Almost as instinct Angela and Araysh had pulled down his robes covering his legs regardless of whether he wore pants or not inside. Seeing that two people held his long robes down, Eirwen Night could only give up playing pranks with the people inside the room.
The four stunned men were standing stiffly at this moment with wide eyes. This is especially true for the crown prince and the third prince who started blushing after the scene of Eirwen Night lifting his clothing. The king and the archmage calm down faster than the rest as they had witnessed this scene before as well.
King Argus pinched the space between his eyes as it helped ease the pain of his throbbing head. Archmage Alexis acted his age and averted his eyes pretending to be blind but he coughs in surprise as to calm his shocked heart.
"You can call me as you wish," said Eirwen Night with a smirk on his exquisite face.
The crown prince, Viktor Hart points at Eirwen Night with a tinted red face. No one knows if he is blushing from embarrassment or anger.
"You are a lady! Why would you lift your skirt up!?" exclaimed Viktor in astonishment.
"Cough~ please have some dignity, Lady Night." said the third prince, Elliot.
Bela complains, "Are you a pervert why do you always lift your clothes to show your gender!? In the first place, a man wearing female clothes is weird!"
She only received a light glance from Eirwen as if disregarding her existence. "It's a hobby to wear female clothes. As for lifting my skirt, it is faster to show them than to explain things," said Eirwen. "Moreover, it is their fault for thinking of this lord as a lady."
Eirwen Night's smile suddenly turned malicious at the two princes' reactions. This time he pulled open his top robe showing his white yet flat chest. Everyone inside the room had seen it. They've all frozen at the sight. It was at this moment of shock that Neige suddenly appeared out of nowhere and instantly pulled close his lord's robes. He even gently rearranges it, removing all the creases on it.
Upon the ice spirit king's arrival, the whole room's temperature immediately drops and everyone inside felt they were being left alone inside a refrigerator.
"My lord, please don't strip in front of everyone. Once those guys learn about this you wouldn't get punished but they might die due to their jealousy," said Neige.
Eirwen Night responded, "Let them be jealous. It is not like they could descend in the mortal realm right away? I have lots of time to run away and not be caught by them."
No one inside the room had recognized Neige except for Angela Evans.
"Big brother Neige~," said Angela as she wanted to jump towards Neige only to once again experience hanging on the air while being grabbed at her back collar like a kitten by the same damn man, Damian Araysh.
Angela flails on-air trying to punch or kick Araysh.
"What the hell is wrong with you now?! Why can't I hug big brother Neige as well?!" said the young lady.
This time Araysh's deadpan face had changed into a cold one as he glared at the young lady.
Araysh says, "Do not touch! He is mine!"
Lady Evans finally noticed that Araysh is definitely angry at her for attempting to jump at Neige. The Ice spirit king, Neige, just gave Damian Araysh a halfhearted glance as if saying 'who is yours?'.
"Hm~ everyone might not know who Neige is, so I will introduce him to everyone. This is Neige, the Ice Spirit King of Ivern. Let's see~ hm, he is my attendant." said Eirwen lightly as he ignored the astonished expression on everyone's faces. Only Angela and Araysh remain unflustered.
"Ice Spirit King!? Attendant!? What are you talking about?!" exclaims the king as if suffering from a heavy blow straight to his guts.
Though they knew the existence of the Ice spirit king, except for a chosen few no one knew what he really looked like and much less knew the king's name. Now they were being introduced to someone they've known as the Ice Spirit King, seeing is not the problem what shocked them is that Eirwen Night had called the Ice spirit king as his attendant.
Everyone's collective thoughts: 'Who am I? Where am I? What the hell is happening?'
The mischievous Eirwen ignores their bewildering expressions and continues to speak one-sidedly.
"As for why he became my attendant, it had something to do with my revival. In short, I've become the lord of every Ice spirit in this world."
"!!!"
"Moreover I only drop by to say that I would no longer get involved with the political bearings of this royal family. I never had the title as the Saintess Candidate so it was really useless for me to get involved in this. But there is something I need for you to remember."
Eirwen took Angela from Araysh's side and placed his hands on the young lady's shoulder while making her face the rest of the people inside the room.
"As for my vote for who I support to become the future Saintess, I will give it to this silly girl. By the way, I will give her a blessing of the ice spirit and all Ice-related races would follow her commands even for a short while. Any attempt of murder towards her means becoming my enemy as well. You guys can keep that in mind.
Oh~ by the way before I forgot. I brought some gifts with me. Neige would distribute it to everyone. Except for the two princes the rest had their part. Well, I've finished what I came to say. I will be going now.
As for those who wanted to know what I would be doing next there is nothing wrong with telling it to you. I plan to play around as an Adventurer." said Eirwen Night.
As soon as his words ended the snowflakes covered him like a veil and then immediately disappeared from within the room leaving only some traces of snow after him. After Eirwen Night had taken his leave everyone's eyes had cautiously moved towards the apathetic Ice spirit king inside the room.
Silence~
Among the rest, only Angela dares to approach the infamous ice spirit king for his short temper. She grabs Neige's sleeves in confusion.
"Big brother Neige! Where is Jiejie going? Why did he suddenly leave?" asked Angela.
Neige replies, "He's on his way to the Adventurer's Guild to register. My lord did say he wanted to become an adventurer."
"Eh? Why an adventurer?" asked Angela.
"That… My lord says it would be easier to run away if he doesn't have an exact location to stay in. As an adventurer, he could roam around the world while having fun." answered Neige.
Lady Evans was stunned with the answer Neige had told her but thinking about his Jiejie's mischievous nature this kind of plan might be a real thing. For his Jiejie whose strength lies in both magic and strength, he would definitely do such a thing.
"Big brother Neige. I heard Jiejie left me a gift. What is it?" asked Angela.
Neige stares at her before looking through his robe and pulls a light pixie struggling within his grip.
Let go of him, you ice cube man.
Where is the demon? I came over only as a messenger and he treats me like a bug.
This lady is not a bug. I'm a pixie. A light pixie!
AH~ I can't breathe. Can't you loosen your hand for a bit?
Everyone looked at the tiny little fairy within the ice spirit king's hand. Her golden color shows her element as light except for her fair skin, everything of her is aureate.
