Xyrid's Treasure
When we arrived at the cabin, Leonard and I immediately gathered all of our stuffs.
"Natasha..." Leonard grabbed my arm which made me look at him, "I... uh..." he mumbled and turned his head to avoid my gaze.
"What?" he let go of my arm and brushed his ragged, auburn, bangs with his fingers.
"I'm sorry for not telling you the entire truth... I was scared. I'm scared that you're going to leave me." my heart ached as he started sobbing.
"Hey... hey..." I cooed and touched his face, turning his head to face me "... it's fine... it's all in the past. I just want to get to know you more... move forward. I don't care about the past anymore." then I smiled as I wiped his tears.
Do I still want to return to the other world? Why does it feel like I'm just accepting all of this? Well, after all, the Natasha from this world isn't lonely... and I'm envious of her. Call me selfish... but... I'd rather take this opportunity than rot in prison.
When we exited the room, we were greeted by Noah with a big grin in his face.
"What took the both of you so long? Did you make out our something?" he asked and laughed.
"Shut up." Leonard replied and walk towards the door.
"Ohhh... maybe... maybe... Mr. grumpy-pants ain't that grumpy anymore." Noah teased while walking towards the door, following me as I exited the cabin.
"Don't you want to stay in here for the night? I mean, at this time, we won't make it to Xyrid before the sun sets..." Noah said as we left the town.
"We can manage, it's not like it will be the first time where we'll set a camp for the night, right?" I nodded at Leonard's reply.
"That's good to hear. It's not like it will be problem, I'm confident to say that we can safely survive the night out here. I've ensured that everyone who goes to Xyrid will have a safe travel." Noah replied before he laughed. What's with this guy? Is something funny?
I just ignored him and looked around. Of course, I won't see anything awesome. Just the typical forest that I saw when I woke up in this strange world.
As the sun is about to set, we decided to start setting up a camp. When we are setting up a camp, we encountered a group of men wearing a knight suit.
"Oh, if it isn't Lord Noah and Lord Leonardius!" one of them said and they put their hand in their chest and bowed their head.
"Good evening, gentlemen. I presume that you're heading to Xyrid?" Noah uttered... with a grin in his face. Like, seriously? The knights laughed before one of them responded.
"You guessed it. My men and I are off to see Xyrid's treasure." the man, who I assume as their leader, replied. Then they all laughed again. I weirdly looked at them and looked at Leonard. He just shook his head so I just looked back at them.
"We are also heading their, why not join us for the night?" all of them seemed to be thrilled by Noah's invitation. They all nodded and we all began to prepare our camp.
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
When the night fell, we all just sat up around a fire that the knights created.
"I do not mean to be disrespectful, but we are quite curious about the lady in white. Is she the new... uhm... you know?" Frederick, their leader, asked. Well, I also felt that suspicion, Frederick. You've been eyeing on me for almost the whole time, but you can just simply ask or talk to me.
"Oh, forgive me. This is Natasha. The new goddess of Aiclandia."
After Noah said that, they all stood up and bowed their head.
"Please accept my sincere apologies, goddess Natasha. We were not informed of the new goddess' arrival, so I was hesitant." he said, still bowing his head. I became flustered and I felt my cheek burn. I looked at Leonard and Noah, but Noah just laughed at flustered my expression.
"At ease, gentlemen. The goddess seemed to be flustered by your formality. She isn't used to this after all." Noah said while laughing in between. Frederick scratched the back of his head and commanded his men to sit down.
"Anyway, why did you come from the west side of the forest? If you're planning to go to Xyrid, you wouldn't be in this path since the towns here in Ainclandia are all inclined to one direction, which is the north." I looked at Leonard in amusement, "Ainclandia's towns are all aligned to one direction and the surrounding border of it is mostly consisting of trees and some of body parts of waters." he explained when he noticed that I'm amused by what he said.
"We came from the West because there are reported sightings of a dragon in there and lord Qyrwin ordered us to scout the area." Frederick replied.
"Hmmm... is he planning to capture the dragon? For fame and image maybe..." Noah whispered and Frederick nodded.
"Lord Qyrwin said that he wants to have the dragon in possession as a trophy."
"Are you a human?" I interrupted. I'm just curious! You know! They don't have wings, so I'm curious if they have magic or something. They laughed at my question. I just looked at them and when I turned to Leonard, I saw him trying to hold his laughter.
"What? What's so funny?" I asked, slightly raising my voice.
"M-my a-apologies, g-goddess Natasha." Frederick said in between his laughs. I huffed in embarrassment before I stood up.
"Well, whatever. I'm just going to sleep. Where will I sleep, Leonard?" I said and turned to Leonard who is still holding is laughter. I glared at him but he just made a peace sign.
"What's with the random question?" Noah asked while wiping his tears from laughing.
"I'm just curious. When I woke up in... Zada... the people there have wings... while in Ylad, the people don't. So I'm just curious." they seemed to be baffled by what I said. They looked at each other before looking at me.
"We are just humans. I can assure that." Frederick replied, "but, goddess Natasha, I believe that Zada doesn't exist anymore... that's why lord Leonardius here travels around Aiclandia with you to ensure that each town gets the blessings of the goddess from the Aiclandia mountain. If Zada is really inhabited by creatures that aren't human, then maybe it's best to just leave it as it is and not cause destruction to it." he continued. Still confused, I looked at Leonard. He just stared back at me and clenched his jaw.
"O-oh... is that so? Maybe I was just mistaken because I was under the weather at that time..."
"How about we rest for now? I'm pretty sure these knights are all tired from Qyrwin's silly ideas." Noah exclaimed and laughed.
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
I slowly opened my eyes as my sleep was disturbed... then I felt as soft caress on my thigh.
My forehead instantly wrinkled. I slowly turned to see who it was and there I saw Noah lying beside me with his hands on my thigh.
This pervert!
Because of anger, I forcefully pinched his hand. He silently winced and tried to escape from my pinch.
"You pervert." I whispered when I turned to face him. Then he just grinned and chuckled.
"Sorry... I didn't know that you'll wake up."
"Wow. So if I didn't wake up you'll do other stuffs?" I asked with an arced brow.
"Not without your consent..."
"What do you want?"
"I just want to tell you that you are always welcome in Xyrid. I will always willingly serve you if you allow me to." he replied, I almost believed him because of the sincerity in his voice.
"Why are you telling me this in the middle of the night?"
"Like I can say that in front of Leonard. He almost killed me last time." Oh yeah... they almost killed each other.
I stared at him and he just smiled back. Why does it feel like I'm being entranced by his eyes and his flawless features?
"Remember this, once you have tasted Xyrid's treasure. You won't be able to resist it anymore. And I will gladly welcome you in my arms." he cooed which made me feel sleepy. As I slowly went back to sleep, I felt a kiss on my forehead.
"Goodnight, my goddess."