Chapter 9: The Hemirean Kingdom

There he was, in a massive room rethinking the actions that led to this situation, everything had happened so fast. One minute the King is requesting he spend the night at his castle, and another minute he is in a bed that made his previous bed look and feel like it was made from suffering, and imbued with the wails and cries of poverty.

He couldn’t sleep, or rather, he lacked the urge to. He placed his right hand on his chest and his thumb brushed against something warm and hard. He had completely forgotten about her, Krystal. How could he not, she was unusually quiet throughout the entire trip to the Kingdom which took some hours, maybe she was asleep? He sits up on the massive bed and calls out to her. The silence was deafening until a few seconds later an intense sky blue light erupts from the crystal and illuminates the room prompting Zain to shade his eyes with his right hand. The light died down as quickly as it had appeared, and before him was a slender red haired girl in a pink oversized sweater, white frilly skirt and navy blue thigh-high socks. It was his first time noticing it, but Krystal looked sad, and even he felt a tinge of sadness for some reason unknown to him.

"Hey, what's wrong, what's with the long face?" He asks her with genuine concern

"Its nothing. I... No... Its nothing" she rebuffs

But Zain had watched enough anime to know that there was really something going on with her, and he knew exactly how to get her to talk

"Well, if you say so then. I'm going to sleep"

He could already tell that Krystal was showing signs of being a tsundere, and he knew that if she really had something to say, she'd say it soon. Five minutes had passed and she had not returned to the crystal, meaning she would speak right about... Now

"Ummm... Hey, you still awake?"

"Yeah, ready to say what's on your mind?" Zain sits up

"Ummm" Krystal appears uneasy as she fidgets and fiddles with her fingers

"Well, it appears you still haven't made up your mind. So if you'd excuse me, I've got to sleep"

"I'm sorry about earlier" Krystal instantly blurts out as Zain is about laying back down.

"Sorry? For what exactly?" Zain was utterly confused and had no idea what she was apologizing for

"Well... Earlier today you wanted me to teach you magic... And... I..."

"Oh that? Neh, its nothing, I'm over that"

"But, you were upset...with me..and-"

"Maybe I was, but not anymore. I mean it was even better for me, learning magic myself, now I have a good grasp on how it works a bit. So all's well that ends well"

Zain had noticed that she was finding it hard to speak up and surely he wasn't the kind of guy to derive pleasure from her struggle so he had to interrupt her

"Now then, how bout we get some rest?"

"I'm never sharing a bed with you, perv"

And with a bright flash of light, she vanished back into the crystal. Zain laid back down and smiled

"She blushed"

The night passed by in the blink of an eye and the chirping of birds welcomed Zain back from the land of dreams. Just a few minutes after waking up, he heard a knock on the door

"Come in"

A young girl in a maid outfit walked in with a large tray, a tray so large that it made me wonder how someone so petite like her could lift it so easily. She got closer and dropped the tray on the bedside table and that was when I saw it, not her boobs, well I mean she really has nice boobs, but no. Her golden eyes, white cat ears and a long fluffy white tail.

"Nya!?"

She shrieked a bit and was blushing slightly, but was still in a bent position over the tray.

"Umm... Please could you let go of my ears?"

"Oh, my bad. I'm sorry"

I got carried away and grabbed her ears. That was inappropriate of me, but they were so soft.

She stood up and stepped back a bit

"Please enjoy your meal

I took a look at the tray, and I have to say, as big and as extravagant as the tray looked, the contents were smaller than anyone would expect. There were grapes, strawberries, some bread, a large barbequed steak coated in a clear golden liquid, a bowl of what looked like soy sauce, a golden jug of what I believe is wine and a fancy glass cup, some cutleries and a napkin.

The aroma it gave off was too good to resist. I eagerly cut and took a piece from the steak

"THIS IS DELICIOUS!!!" were the words that escaped my lips involuntarily, but I noticed that those words made her ears flick and the tip of her tail wag, her expression also lightened. I'm guessing she's the one that made this.

I ate non-stop until there was nothing left in the tray but empty plates and used cutleries. She poured out some wine into the cup for me. It looked sparkly and had an apple-like aroma. It had a bright red color from the top, but the hue towards the bottom was darker and the bottom was crimson. I took a sip and it was delicious as well, so this is what royalty tastes like, I can get around living like this.

The jug was finally empty while I, on the other hand, was full. She spoke as she was arranging everything on the tray

"A bath will be prepared for you shortly, I will be back to inform you when it is ready"

She picked up the tray, and was about leaving

"Hey, wait a bit..."

She stiffened up and slowly turned around, almost as though preparing for the worst

"Yes, sir?"

"What's your name?"

"Umm, I'm just a humble servant here. There's no need for the King's guest to know my lowly name" she said while fidgeting with the massive tray in her hands

"Please, I insist. I want to know the name of the person that prepared such a beautiful meal"

"H...How did you.."

She was stunned at this sudden revelation. My guess was on point then

"M...My name is Livia"