Chapter 174: Family (I)
I was sitting outside, underneath the large tree, enjoying my day. It wasn't often to be spending out in nature, trying to connect with the world. I didn't have much time that it felt like I was losing touch with nature. The soft breeze, the birds, and the insects that would chatter, which I personally felt like it, were as if they were communicating with me.
There were times when I could feel the very energy of the planet itself seeping into my body. It was always gentle at first until I dived deeply into the very core. The rush of energy wrapped around my whole body, making me ecstatic. There wasn't much I could do but to allow the energy inside of me to devour and mingle with it.
For the past few days, all I have been doing was meditating and enjoying the Elven village's pleasantries. The power of nature was powerful in the village compared to anywhere else. My guess was that the Elves built their village over a powerful magic hotspot.
My eyes flickered, opened, and closed. Slowly falling into sleep.
The nature around me became powerful, almost like a lull. I was quite fascinated by the amount of magic that was pouring inside me. I felt powerful, almost as if I was part of the planet itself.
Suddenly, a loud shriek could be heard.
"Berrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Tart came yelling towards me.
I jolted awake. The energy that had swirled around me was abruptly disconnected, making my head hummed with pain. I frowned at his sudden entrance. He came flying toward me, and he glomped onto me with tears. To see such a beautiful face contorted up in sadness, pulled my heart.
"Tart?" I was a bit taken back by his brash attack that almost flung me backward. He had to grab me and pull me into his arms to stop me from falling down. My head was woozy from the sudden spin.
"Berry." He snuggled into my hair. Taking in a deep breath. His beautiful face was terrible for my heart.
"Are you alright?" I asked, wondering what went wrong. Something about the way he was sniffling and crying reminded me of those younger days when he was a child.
"Coco almost killed me."
"Huh?" I was confused at his sudden statement. It was an everyday occurrence where Coco did try to "correct" him to be more of a gentleman, which she was doing a fabulous job of getting him up to her standard. There were times I would hear scary yells that were followed by a scream. I would often cross my hand and pray for his soul, knowing full well that Coco didn't allow me to stop her.
If I was to compare her to the demon king Phil, I would hands down say Coco is the scariest maid ever. There were many times when I would instantly freeze up when she got serious with her job.
"I was just chasing away the Dragon Maiden worshippers, who stole your panties." He bawled.
"Wait, what? My panties?" Then it hit me. I wondered where my favorite panties were, and to be told they were stolen made me cringe. What was wrong with these people? I definitely need to keep my things safer from these damn perverts. Already, dealing with a pervert demon king.
"Yes, they were sniffing it." Tart let me go. He wiped away his tears, looking straight into god knows, whereas he told someone to stay back.
I froze. To hear that someone was sniffing my panties made me scream internally with disgust. I hoped I heard it wrong,
"So, I taught those elven thieves a lesson." He growled. "Make sure they don't ever come stealing your panties again." With an arrogant puff, he pushed out his chest.
Elves….The image about them was quickly deteriorating. To hear that there were elven perverts was mind-boggling, destroying the happy-go-lucky fairy images that I was still holding on to. Now my mental image changed to old foggy farts with white beards and pretty faces sniffing panties.
Ruined.
I sighed. What was this world even coming too? I didn't know.
"So, I brought back mistress panties and went to wash it." He proudly stated as if it was nothing with a toothy grin. "But Coco smacked me with a wooden beam for saying I stole Young mistresses' panties!" He wailed, bursting into tears.
"I see." I contemplated what he had said.
"Coco is always hitting me!"
"Well…." I twiddled my fingers behind my back. "You kind of deserved it." I couldn't help but state it with a slight tinge of redness on my cheeks. Washing my panties was very embarrassing. For Coco to hit him was definitely something she would do because it was an ungentlemanlike to wash my panties. I understood Coco perfectly.
These days, I thought the elves were being a bit too friendly, but now I see that they were trying to take my things. What has the world come to?! I hope to god, I won't be seeing anything else that would burn my mind and make me internally scream any longer, but that would probably be a pipe dream.
"Please teach Coco a lesson." Tart puffed up his cheeks, blinking at me to look cute.
I couldn't help but reach over and grab his cheek. The softness of it was still tender to the touch, and I didn't want to let go.
"Owwww, young mistress!" Tart cried out in pain. He was tearing up in front of me. "It hurts."
I let go. Tapping his cheeks a couple of times. "You shouldn't be washing my undergarments, Tart." I lightly scolded him. "That is very ungentlemanly of you."
"But, young mistress! This is your panties that we are talking about! We need to keep all your clothes clean at all times to make sure that you look amazing."
"Well, thank you, Tart, but I'm sure you don't have to clean my panties. Please leave that job to Coco."
"But, young mistress-"
I held up my hand on his lips. I didn't want him to turn into a pervert, nor did I want him to be touching my panties. It was too weird.
Tart instantly understood what I was about to say, and he shook his head. It was as if I could see his invisible ears flopping to the side, defeated.
"Behave, Tart."
"Yes, young mistress."
I raised my head and patted him on his head. Tart rubbed his head against my hand.
"Berry." Phil's voice growled behind me.
I stopped patting Tart on the head and turned to see Phil looking down from above. He was frowning very deeply at Tart as he glared.
"Phil? What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised to see him perching on a tree that I was under.
"I was here the whole time."
"Seriously?" I didn't feel his presence throughout the whole meditation. I was quite taken aback that he was able to allude to my detection. Not many escaped my ability to sense creatures and people.
"Yes, since this morning."
"I hope you aren't a pervert as well," I mumbled under my breath.
"I'm quite sure you were the one who came here." Phil smugly grinned. "I was just enjoying my morning day, and you came stumbling in."
"I did not stumble," I replied back in a hurry. "I just lost my footing."
"You can say that." Phil shrugged his shoulder. He then reached out to grab hold of Tart's nape. Pulling him back, he threw him across the ground.
"Why did you do that?!" I was appalled by Phil's sudden action.
"Because he was acting like a pervert." Phil gracefully wiped his hand and smiled. It was as if he did the right thing. He brushed off his hand and gave his hand out toward me. "Come, we got a quick meeting."
"Who?" I reached my hand up to grab a hold. He pulled me up to my feet.
"Someone who will lead me to my father and the council." Phil's face darkened. There was a heavy air around him that told me that he was bent on finishing what he had started.
His family complications were tied tightly like an ugly knot. Born to be thrown into a political marriage that his mother didn't want. But in exchange, I fell in love with someone else. Out of jealousy, the father killed her, and the council black mailed her. The complications of the marriage between Phil's family were entangled with darkness. Was it something that I felt sorry for? A bit, yes.
A sad love story between two different people and a politics that made this tragic. This wasn't the typical love story that one would find in a fairy tale. I didn't know who Phil wanted to kill, but I assumed it was finding the truth and destroying the elven council that pushed his mother and father.
I was curious as well.
"Tart, go to Coco. I'll be back."
Weekly Power Status
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