Chapter 153 - 55
Inside a hut near the world tree, Ziel is fast asleep on a bed. He was being cared for by Kalya and Princess Freya ever since he lost his consciousness. Ziel slowly opened his eyes and looked around him.
"Ugh!" He felt his whole body very difficult to move. He hadn't experienced a sensation like this in a long time. The last time he felt it was after he managed to defeat Azael.
"Ziel!" Kalya and Princess Freya shouted in unison. They woke up from their slumber after hearing Ziel's groan. They fell asleep from exhaustion after going through all the incidents that happened.
"How long have I been asleep?" Ziel tried to get up from his bed. He forced his stiff limbs to move. After he woke up, his body could heal itself. Gradually his condition began to improve.
"You better rest first. Your condition just got better. You only slept for 3 hours." Kalya tries to prevent Ziel from getting up from his sleeping position.
"I am alright. My condition will recover by itself. Rather than that, I thank you guys for taking care of me." Ziel looked at Kalya and Princess Freya behind her. Even though he was in a stupor, Ziel could tell that the two of them were the ones who took care of him since he was brought to this place.
Kalya and Princess Freya looked at each other and then smiled broadly. Kalya suddenly remembered the promise she had said to Princess Freya.
"Ziel…can you give Freya a chance? I don't know what the marriage system is in your homeworld. But in this world, polygamy is allowed." Kalya talks to him seriously.
Ziel raised his eyebrows after hearing Kalya's words. He didn't expect Kalya to bring up such a topic when he just woke up. But Ziel wasn't mad at her because he knew Kalya must have reasons for doing that. Ziel glanced at Princess Freya, who had only lowered her head for fear of what Ziel would say next. She thought Ziel would reject her again like usual.
"Are you sure about your decision?" Ziel asks Kalya.
"I'm sure!" Kalya answered with determination.
"Princess Freya, I don't know what attracted you to me. If it was because of what happened in the Argaint Kingdom, you might have misjudged your feelings. I'm helping you only for my own sake." Ziel tried to clear up the misunderstanding of Princess Freya's feelings. He never remembered that he had ever done anything that could captivate her heart except for the incident in the Argaint Kingdom. If that's true, then what Princess Freya feels is sheer admiration.
"Not because of that! I've been looking for you for a long time! I've been searching for my destiny since I was little. That person is you, Ziel!" Princess Freya frantically rebutted Ziel's words. She looked at Ziel with teary eyes. She didn't want Ziel to misunderstand her true feelings.
"Destiny?" Ziel and Kalya also don't understand what Princess Freya is saying.
"That… it happened when I was little." Princess Freya began to tell about the events that she experienced when she was a child and met an old man. The old man also talked about her eyes that could instantly recognize her destined person.
Ziel frowned after hearing the story from Princess Freya. He felt that the old geezer was not an ordinary person if he could predict someone's future to such a degree.
"But...that's in the past. What I feel right now is something I sincerely feel from my heart and not from that prophecy." Princess Freya added an explanation. She feared that Ziel would misinterpret his words after hearing his story earlier.
Ziel closed his eyes and pondered what Princess Freya had said. He saw Princess Freya looking at him with a hopeful face and wet eyes. But Ziel could tell what she was saying was honest and sincere. This was his first experience receiving feelings from two beautiful girls at once. The thing that makes it difficult is the ideology of marriage from his homeworld, which only adheres to monogamy and Azael's seal that made him lose his emotions and made him unable to express his feelings properly. Suddenly his heartbeat increased after seeing Princess Freya's face. He already knew what decision he had to make.
"I can't promise you anything for now, but I will protect you with all my strength. That was the thing I also said to Leya. I have my reasons for saying that. Do you want to wait until I get my emotions back and can express my feelings to both of you properly?" Ziel not only asked Princess Freya but also asked Kalya.
Kalya and Princess Freya looked at each other and smiled widely. They answered in unison.
"We will be waiting for you!" Kalya and Princess Freya jump and hug Ziel. while the three of them enjoyed their time together, a voice rang out from the entrance and caught their attention.
"Ahem…can you guys save that scene for later?" Laurel averted her reddened face after seeing the scene before her eyes. She comes there to see the condition of Ziel and Kalya. She was not alone. Princess Iris and Lilith came to accompany her.
"Ahaha...I'm sorry. Is there something important you want to tell me? Didn't you previously say you wanted to return to the castle?" Kalya shyly released her arms from Ziel. She quickly asked Laurel to change the subject.
"Ooh…I've gone back there, but there's nothing important I can do. The elven knights were already doing the castle renovations, so I decided to come back here and see how you are doing. How are you now?" Laurel smiled and walked over to Ziel.
"I'm fine. Thank you for coming to see me. Have you guys checked the situation of the academy people?" Ziel glanced at Lilith and Princess Iris.
"That… I haven't had time to go back there yet." Princess Iris answered him. She averted her eyes from Ziel like she was hiding something.
"Why? did something else happen while I was unconscious?" Although Ziel can feel Kalya and Princess Freya nearby, his senses are limited when he is unconscious. He had previously been unable to confirm the state of the people from the academy. Ziel closed his eyes and checked their condition.
"I think everything is fine there. Why don't you come back with Lilith first?" Ziel looked at Princess Iris and waited for her answer.
Princess Iris was silent and didn't know what to say. She keeps averting her gaze and refuses to make eye contact with Ziel.
"She didn't come back because he was worried about you, Ken!" Suddenly, Dryad's voice was heard in the room. Greenlight particles gathered and manifested the figure of Dryad behind Princess Iris.
"Kyaa! Miss Dryad, please don't appear out of the blue! And please don't say nonsense to him!" Princess Iris jumped in surprise after Dryad suddenly came behind her. Her face turned red after hearing what Dryad said.
"Ooh…so what I said was bullshit, and you don't care about him?" Dryad smiled teasingly.
"That... I'm worried about him." Princess Iris couldn't help but admit it in front of Ziel. Her face was as red as an apple.
"Ehehe… why are you so worried about him?" Dryad keeps asking Princess Iris. She chuckled as if she had just found a new toy.
"Stop it, Dryad. Thank you for worrying about me." Ziel saw Princess Iris hiding behind Lilith. If Ziel doesn't stop her soon, Dryad will keep teasing Princess Iris. He saw that Princess Iris had almost reached her limit. Even though his emotions are currently sealed, that doesn't mean he is a stone who doesn't know Princess Iris' feelings for him.
Princess Iris didn't say anything and just gave a slight nod. Her face was extremely red and seemed to have reached her limit from the Dryad's teasing. Kalya and Princess Freya just smiled wryly at the behavior of Princess Iris.
"You can go back there first. I don't want the academy people to panic and start worrying about your safety." If Ziel returns with the girls, he will be the center of attention or suspect the other teachers. He wouldn't think about it if Clara was with him right now.
"Are you all right?" Princess Freya asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. I'll catch up as soon as you get there." Ziel got up from the bed and started to stand up. He showed her that he was fine.
"I understand." Princess Freya nodded and hugged her in front of many people. Kalya and the other girls were amazed by his brave act.
"We go first. You have to catch up with us soon." Kalya also ventured to do the same thing as Princess Freya did. She doesn't care about being the center of attention. Ziel nodded in response. They reluctantly left Ziel along with Dryad and Laurel.
"So, what exactly do you want to talk about?" Previously, Ziel saw Dryad wanted to ask something when she appeared here. But she gave up her intention after seeing the many people.
"Hehe…as expected of Ziel." Dryad chuckled and suddenly sat down next to Ziel. Laurel was still there and was astonished at the Dryad's behavior.
"You will make others misunderstand our relationship if you act like this." Ziel was used to Dryad's behavior, but Laurel was different. Dryad was the queen of the spirits, a being who was revered and respected more than the queen of the Elven Kingdom. The elves view Dryads as gods who protect the forest and their safety. But the god they revered was currently actively approaching a man, especially someone who already has two lovers.
"Ooh, I forgot that there are still elves left. You can go now. shoo... shoo." Dryad waved her hand like she was shooing her away.
"That..." Laurel hesitated to leave them alone in that place.
"Nothing strange will happen. You can go." Ziel knew what Laurel was thinking. In addition, Dryad also doesn't seem to want their conversation to be heard by others.
"He's right. Nothing will happen between us." Dryad clung to Ziel and pressed her chest against his arm.
"Hmm..." Laurel became increasingly suspicious of what they would do after she left the place.
"it's enough. Otherwise, we would never have started our conversation." Ziel sighed heavily and flicked Dryad's forehead. Ziel stops her from keep to playing with Laurel.
"Ugh! All right, all right, you can go now. I was joking with you." Dryad rubbed her forehead like someone in pain. But she smiled, feeling nostalgic for Ziel's treatment of her.
Laurel let out a sigh of relief, but then her face turned red after hearing that Dryad was toying with her. Laurel bowed her head to Dryad and quickly walked away from it to hide her embarrassment.
"I thank you for saving me and the world tree, Ken." Dryad immediately hugged Ziel tightly. She did it not for fun this time but sincerely from her heart.
"You don't have to think about it. Didn't I promise you?" Ziel let Dryad hug him. Dryad was the only person who recognized him in this world right now.
"I still want to say it." Dryad tightened his hug on Ziel.
Ziel kept quiet and let Dryad vent her emotions. After a while, Ziel finally opened his mouth.
"So, what exactly do you want to talk about?" Ziel immediately asked Dryad. He didn't have much time and had to follow Kalya and the other girls back to the building where the academy people lived.
"Ziel, what exactly happened to you all this time?" Dryad let go of his arms and looked at Ziel seriously.
After hearing Dryad's question, Ziel immediately told what happened to him after he killed Azael. He got Azael's curse, was betrayed by humanity on the Clorius continent, and finally decided to reincarnate.
"How dare humans do that to you!" Dryad gets angry and releases her spirit power to the surroundings. He didn't expect that the human that Ziel protected would betray him.
"Don't worry. I haven't thought about that. Right now, I want to live my life well and calmly. But I didn't expect trouble to always come to me." Ziel felt tired from the incident after incident happening around him.
"Maybe it's part of your destiny, Ken!" Dryad smiled a little in response.
"Putting that aside, I want to ask you for help, Dryad." Ziel's face suddenly turned serious.
"What's that? I will do whatever I can for you!" Dryad spoke with determination.
"I want you to help me with this." Light emitted from Ziel's body and formed a figure.. Dryad was speechless after seeing it.