Chapter 196: She’s Like A Small Animal
The dark elf slowly opened her eyes and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Liliac, you ok?" I asked.
She blinked up at me from where she lay on my lap.
It took her a moment before her vision focused on me though it doesn’t look like she was fully cognizant of her surroundings yet.
"Mortal... God? Dream?"
"Not a dream. You passed out. Are you alright?"
"What... What happened?"
I figured it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for me to tell her the reason why she passed out so I decided to lie.
"I just found you lying on the floor here. Have you not been sleeping well?"
She blinked a few times before she finally realised where she was and immediately sat up to scurry away from me, her hands reaching up to pull her hood over her head to hide her face.
"Mo... Mor... Mortal God!! Ahhh! I’m... I’m sorry! I’m sorry!"
I blink at her, finding her reaction to seeing me a little too exaggerated.
Does she actually hate me or something? Or is she really just that afraid of me?
The answer came in the form of her quickly lowering her head, "I’m so sorry, Mortal God!! I... I did not mean to attack you!!"
Ah... Seems like she actually remembered what happened...
I cleared my throat, "Ahem... No need to worry. There was no harm done. I was at fault for surprising you to begin with."
She shakes her head, "No, no... That is no excuse... I tried to hurt you... Oh by the Gods... I have done something unforgivable..."
The trees and plants around her started to shift, banding towards her like they were trying to cradle her and protect her.
Seems like her power is also activated instinctively.
I stood up and approached her, brushing past the plants that were in my way to reach her.
"Liliac..." I called out to her.
It felt like I was trying to call out and soothe some frightened animal or something.
She shuddered but showed no other reaction to my words.
"Lliac... It’s ok," I assured her.
I heard soft sobbing noises coming from her.
Geez... She’s making a really big deal out of this huh...
"Liliac... Liliac..." I called out in soothing tones, trying to mimic calling out to a small, scared animal. "Liliac, look here. Look, look."
She shuddered before raising her head slightly to peek at me from under her hood.
I gave her the most disarming smile I could while stretching out my hand towards her, "Here... It’s ok. See? Take my hand."
She did not move immediately and stayed there, staring at my hand silently for a good few seconds before her hand raised up slowly.
I was celebrating silently at her reaction as I watched her slowly reaching up to hold my hand in hers.
I then slowly pulled her closer, more to get her out of that spot in a more psychological way than to physically move her.
I managed to pull her off the ground to stand her up on her feet, the dark elf still glancing up at me for a moment before switching to look at the ground.
Yeah... I figured it out... I just need to treat her like a small animal and I should be able to get to her.
"Are you alright?" I asked again, this time in a more soothing voice.
She slowly nodded her head, still not able to speak though I could hear soft sobs coming from under her hood.
"It’s alright. See? I’m ok. You didn’t hurt me, it was just a surprise. Just an accident. There, there."
I started stroking her head through the hood which seemed to help somewhat since her sobbing slowly faded away.
It took a while more before she finally recovered enough to speak.
"Th... Thank you... Divine One... I... Please accept my apologies once again. I was... I was surprised and simply reacted on instinct..."
"It’s alright. I understand. As long as you’re not hurt."
She mumbled something under her breath but it sounded like gibberish.
I decided that I should change the topic to distract her before she relapses or something.
"Ahem... What were you doing out here?"
She snaps back to attention and turn to look at the three suitcases that were still left on the floor and I only just realised were packed with different things each.
The one on the left held what were obviously normal clothes all folded neatly and arranged inside the luggage space. The one in the middle was rather odd as it held nothing but books. And I really mean that there was literally nothing inside it but just stacks upon stacks of books.
Why the heck is she bringing so many books along? We’re going for a summit, you know? We’re not moving house or anything... It’s like she’s bringing her entire library with her for this trip...
Then for the third luggage, it was what I had seen before I surprised her. The suitcase was filled with plants that have been weaved to form what looked like armour and clothes with some potted plants simply placed inside the suitcase.
Err... Won’t those plants topple over when it’s on the plane?
Actually... I’m pretty sure Australia has some pretty strict laws against bringing live animals and plants into their borders so I don’t even know if they would allow this...
Though I suppose... They can’t say no if I were to insist on it... But I would rather not give them any trouble for no reason.
"I was... Packing, Divine One."
"Yes... I can see that... But umm... Why all those books?"
"I... I was thinking that I would want to read, Divine One..."
"That’s a lot though... We’re only going for a week or so, you know? I don’t think you will have time to read so many of them."
"I... Don’t? Should I... Take them out?"
"Well... I mean... I won’t stop you from bringing them all if you want to since we can bring whatever we want anyway... I’m just warning you to temper your expectations."
"It’s... It’s alright, Divine One... They also help me... Feel more at ease."
Well, then I guess she can bring as many books as she likes.
"I’m surprised though, what kind of books are you reading?" I asked, moving to try and pick up one of the books from the luggage.
"A... Ahhhhh!! Ple... Please don’t look!!" She screamed, quickly using her body to block me from getting any closer.
Oh... So it might be those kinds of books... Got it.
I quickly cleared my throat to change the topic, "Ahem... What about this other luggage? What are those?"
She looked at where I was pointing and relaxed considerably, "That’s... Just my plants, Divine One."
"I can see that but... Why are they shaped like that and why are you bringing these potted plants along as well?"
"Umm... These are the plants that I like to use with my powers... They... They work the best... And they feel nice as well..."
"Umm... Do you know that the place we are going have strict laws against bringing plants from outside?"
She swivelled her head to look at me, clearly showing that she did not know that.
"That... What do I do, Divine One? Without them... I... I don’t know if I can find new plants there... If I don’t have them... What if I wear them? What about taking them as seeds? Are seeds allowed? Maybe if I just bring a sapling? No, that would be too much as well... A branch? A leaf? How about a leaf? A leaf is ok, right?"
Oh wow... I did not expect that to set her off. That might be the most she has ever said in a single sitting.
I guess that’s to be expected of someone whose powers revolve around plants.
I cleared my throat, "It’s alright. I think if they know you need them for your powers, we should be able to get them past their immigration. Then again... I have a feeling they wouldn’t be checking our luggages anyway."
Liliac lets out an audible sigh of relief before she tensed up, probably realising what she just did as she quickly turned to me and bowed her head.
"Please forgive me for my earlier rudeness, Divine One!"
"It’s fine, there was nothing rude about it. I can understand why you would be worried. Anyway... I just came along to see if you needed help with anything. Do you need help with packing? Maybe you have some requests about your new accommodations? Some complaints?"
She shook her head, "Not at all, Divine One. I... This is much more than I could ever ask for. Thank you for giving me this opportunity."
Since she was doing fine, I guess I should leave her to it since it was clear my presence also made her feel a little hard to relax so I told her to let me know if she needed help with anything before I left.
Right... Time to check on the rest as well.
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