On their way to meet Quetzalcoatl; Millonia, Haletha and Arieda were looking at Valeria curiously. Layland's farewell with the girl was by no means ordinary. Although none of the girls had kissed him on the lips, the fact that they had kissed him stood. The trio wondered why Valeria didn't show any displeasure toward what she had witnessed.
Millonia still remembered when Valeria told Layland she wouldn't mind him having another woman—she especially marked this word—but she didn't think Valeria was serious about it. The deeper your love for someone, after all, the more painful it is to realize they still look at other people than you.
Valeria was a different kind of woman—Millonia was extremely aware of it—but she didn't expect this side of Valeria. Valeria was ruthless and unforgiving. She had thought Valeria would be more territorial. 'Does she not truly love Layland?' she even wondered. She soon shook that notion off her head as she could see how deeply infatuated Valeria was with the Demon.
'Maybe, that is the reason why she acts unlike herself. Her love for that bastard is so big that she is stupid enough to sacrifice her happiness,' Millonia mused with a scoff. 'Though I can't blame her in the end. I, too, have the same thought.'
As her mood turned sour, Millonia put an end to her musing. She glared at Layland's back in disgust and it made the Elf beauties beside her wonder what caused her mood to change so suddenly.
Arieda soon ignored Millonia and skipped to Layland. "Hey, do you think I can follow you also? I am already a grown woman. You've promised me, haven't you? You will take me on a journey with you," she said.
"The decision is not on me. I don't mind bringing you along, but—"
"Grandpa will decide whether you can come or not," Aurelia finished Layland's words quite defensively. She felt quite bad for Arieda but didn't want to have one more person to bother her time with Layland.
"Ah. Then, I will beg Lord Quetzalcoatl to allow me."
"Even if he does, I won't allow you to go," Haletha retorted, surprising everyone, especially Arieda. "The battle that we won made me realize something: I could die any time. Therefore, I have decided to impart my knowledge as a Queen to you and train you to become a Queen befitting of Lysimork."
Arieda wanted to protest but Haletha quickly shot her down. "I don't intend to die soon, but I am not strong enough to decide when I should die. I don't want to restrict your movement and impudently carve your life path, but you are still weak. You need to be strong to be able to enjoy your freedom."
Arieda remained silent ever since. She couldn't argue with her mother's sound logic. A few more minutes passed and they finally met Quetzalcoatl. It had required them to ask five different servants about his whereabouts to find him. As Layland and his party did, he also enjoyed the festival to the fullest.
They found him standing in the middle of the Sky Garden which was located on the highest point of the tallest and biggest tree in Lysimork. He had a bottle of liquor in his hand and he calmly drank it while stargazing which shouldn't be enjoyable because of the tree leaves that almost covered the sky.
"I have been watching you for the entire day," the old Dragon remarked solemnly.
"Hearing you say 'I have been waiting' would have been better," Layland retorted. "What are you? A stalker?"
"Damn it, brat! How dare you fool around with that many women while already having a Goddess as your soulmate!?"
"I don't. We are just extremely close friends."
Quetzalcoatl cringed as he looked at Valeria. "I am sorry for you, lass. You deserve better."
"I deserve the best and he is," Valeria retorted much to Quetzalcoatl's bewilderment.
Realizing that he would only make himself worse if he continued talking about Layland's love life, Quetzalcoatl cleared his throat and turned to Haletha. He thanked her for the amazing festival and expressed that he would like to stay longer if his granddaughter had not expressed her desire to visit him.
Aurelia scrunched her nose at the way Quetzalcoatl made it look like she was eager to visit him. She was displeased but didn't say anything. In a way, her visiting Ne Okozmo also brought her and Layland closer. Though, that might not happen if Millonia followed along.
'Well, whatever. What can a thirty-year-old baby do in the presence of this experienced woman?' Aurelia thought to herself, ignoring the fact that she was inexperienced in romance.
"Hm…so, you want to use us as a preemptive measure only?"
"Simply said, yes."
By the time Aurelia stopped musing to herself, Millonia had asked the million Peculia question to Quetzalcoatl. She immediately looked at her grandfather's reaction. Nothing could be observed, but she was expecting him to reject the idea. After all, her grandfather was a stubborn conservative.
"Well, you can come along. I am also interested in what kind of power you have."
"Thank you very much."
Looking at Quetzalcoatl as if he had grown another head, Aurelia wondered if he was messing with her. Quetzalcoatl had never allowed anyone who wasn't a Dragon to visit Ne Okozmo before.
'Why the sudden change?' she mused in disbelief. 'You are just messing with me, aren't you!?'
Ignoring her granddaughter's dumbfounded look, Quetzalcoatl told Layland and his companies to get ready. He left soon after as he wanted to notify his entourage who was still enjoying the festival.
Layland immediately paid his attention solely to Valeria. He had already had everything he needed in his Spatial Storage, so all he had to do before departing was see Valeria off. Since that was also the case with Millonia and Aurelia, they decided to see Valeria off too. They didn't have anything to do anyway, so it was better to see their friend off.
"This time, I will be the one who sees you off."
Valeria, however, had a different plan. Since they would be separated for quite a long time, she wanted to see Layland off. Therefore, she remained until Quetzalcoatl had gathered all of his entourage. She gave him a long hug and kiss which made everyone wonder if they should leave the two alone.
"I expect you to come back stronger," Valeria remarked. "I will teach you things that you are still not ready for when you return."
"I will not disappoint you," Layland stated confidently.
"You should not." freeweb(n)ovel.co(m)
As Valeria let go of her hug, Layland faced the Dragons. Expecting them to use a Teleportation Gate to get out of Lysimork, he was quite surprised when the Dragons assumed their True Form. Quetzalcoatl immediately told Layland and Millonia to get on and they naturally chose to get on Aurelia who looked like a newborn Dragon.
Aurelia's form bewildered herself and piqued Layland's interest. While Layland was imagining how she truly looked, she was wondering how she could transform into a Dragon, though imperfect as it was. After all, she still didn't realize her seal had been lifted. She didn't think it should happen.
"We are departing! Thank you, Lysimork, for your generosity!"
On Quetzalcoatl's cue, the Dragons flapped their wings and took off.
Whoosh!
In the next moment, they disappeared as if they had never been there from the beginning. They flew at such a high speed that no one's eyes could perceive them.
"I guess it is time to give up, huh?" Arieda sighed as she wistfully looked upwards.
"You don't chase him and force him to like you. You have to attract him," Haletha remarked, surprising Arieda. "Right now, you should only focus on yourself."
"…thank you, Mother."
Haletha's encouragement would have been truly encouraging if she didn't have a fiery look in her eyes. Arieda didn't know how to react to the possibility of having to compete with her mother. (f)reewe(b)novel
….
A day and a half had passed since they left Lysimork and they were already 60,000 Absitan away from it. If it was earth, they had gone around it six times.
Layland wondered when they would stop. Although their speed had significantly reduced, they had been flying nonstop at a high speed. Aurelia might have a monstrous stamina but she also needed to rest. He wondered when they would stop.
"I am okay. I can still fly at this speed for another week," was Aurelia's answer whenever Layland asked her if she was not tired. Her answer still surprised her as she didn't know she had such monstrous stamina.
"We are already close. Prepare yourself!"
Quetzalcoatl's warning awakened Layland from his musing and made him turn his attention to the scenery ahead. There were two lone gigantic mountains whose peaks pierced through the cloud. It was dawn, so they could see the sun climbing up to the sky from between the mountains, making them look more profound than they already were.
They were getting closer to it and it made Layland wonder if the two mountains were Ne Okozmo. They were not. A few miles from the mountains, the Dragons sharply turned upwards and soared as if they wanted to conquer heaven. The action surprised Layland and Millonia but they remained unbothered. With Magic, gravity didn't affect them.
They kept soaring for five minutes until they passed through a strong Magic Barrier which wouldn't let anyone in unless they were given access. Immediately, they stopped flying vertically and resumed flying horizontally.
Ahead of them, a floating island that was as big as Lysimork could be seen. The sun shouldn't have reached the place yet, but there was a lone star illuminating the entire island. What a sight to behold the island was. It was mind-boggling that a single Dragon created it.
They had arrived at Ne Okozmo.
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