Seven Devils and a Rose

Unsurprisingly, I found that I was nervous as we headed toward the north wing of the palace. So much so, in fact, that my hands were shaking.

Why? I was only going to see the seven lords, wasn't I?

To be interrogated and…

Shit!

I clutched at the skirt of the gown and told myself to take deep, slow breaths to calm down. They weren't going to eat me, for God's sake, just ask me questions.

Yet the thought of telling them that I wasn't a part of this realm, that I had travelled from another world, just kind of made my head spin.

How would they react to my revelation? After all, my last one, which was exposing my true gender, had turned into a disaster that nearly brought the city down.

I felt Aria's hand enveloping mine. I turned my eyes to her and saw her giving me a smile to ease my nervousness.

I returned a small grin, and then we four entered the seven lords' quarters.

At the door, the butler greeted us and then ushered us along the great hallway toward a room that I had not been in before. There, the butler loudly announced our arrival. Once he stepped aside, Leona and Brenna entered, followed by Aria. Of course, I was last and hiding behind Aria.

"My lords," the three girls said as they curtsied low.

I curtsied as well, still hiding behind Aria. I assumed the lords couldn't see me because Lord Geoffrey asked, "Alfie?"

Aria stepped to the side then, revealing me behind her.

My head downcast and my eyes on the floor, I hesitantly stepped forward to present myself.

Suddenly, in the room was a hushed silence, and I thought, For God's sake, someone say something, because it was damned uncomfortable being the center of attention.

Finally, because I couldn't stand it, I lifted my head.

The moment I did so, I saw seven pairs of eyes on me, followed by a lot of sucking in of breaths.

There they were, the seven lords, right before me, gazing at me as if they had never seen me before. Well, of course they had never seen me like this before, at least not this dolled up anyway.

Knowing how I had been pleasantly surprised to see myself this beautiful—not that I was tooting my own horn or anything—then it must be quite a shocking surprise for the lords, indeed. I supposed it must be something akin to a frog turning into a prince. Or in my case, a princess.

I licked my lips and said, "My lords," as I curtsied once again, my cheeks blushing hot.

"Holy fuck!" was the first thing that came out of Lord Ethan's mouth. "Holy fuck!" he said again, as if he couldn't believe what he saw.

"Holy fuck is right," Felix said, chuckling.

Now standing straight, I said, "Well, this is getting awkward. You all have summoned me here, my lords, so if you're not going to hurry up and interrogate me, I'm leaving."

Suddenly, Lord Geoffrey burst out laughing.

Felix came forward then and took my hands into his. He said, "This is unbelievable."

"What's unbelievable, my lord?" I asked.

He chuckled. "That my little elf is, in fact, a beautiful angel." He cocked his head to one side. "Hmm, I believe you still haven't given me that morning kiss today, darling."

I frowned at him. Seriously, he wanted that morning kiss now? In front of everyone?

Caleb appeared and tapped Felix on the shoulder. He said, "Now is not the time for that."

Felix sighed. "Yes. Sure." He winked at me. "Then after."

I grinned at him in response, not missing the fact that his hair was still crimson. How come it hadn't changed back to dark brown, which was his usual color, after he had been de-berserked?

Then I noticed something else, too. Felix was wearing one emerald stud earring, with the design of the Acaedien motif like mine, on his left ear. Why was he wearing a qi suppression item?

I flicked my gaze to Caleb and noted that he was looking at me in that loving yet dark, intense way, which indicated to me that he would like to whisk me away and kiss me senseless very soon. Of course, his ardent gaze made my tummy flutter deliciously.

It was then I noticed that his eye color was grayer than ever, that it looked more like the color of steel. His hair, too, was even darker, and he was also wearing one emerald stud earring in his right ear, with the Acaedien motif design like mine and Felix's. Was that a qi suppression item as well?

I wanted to ask if this was the case but decided that I'd do that later. Now was not the time, as Caleb had said.

Felix led me to the other side of the room near the fireplace, where there were seats. There, he told me to sit down on the sofa. When I did, he took the seat next to me on my left. Caleb then came and sat next to me on my right. Meanwhile, Aria, Leona, and Brenna also sat down on the sofa opposite us.

Taking up a position in the armchair to the right was Lord Geoffrey. In the other one to the left was Lord Noah, with Aaron half leaning on the side of the chair to Lord Noah's left. Both Lord Victor and Ethan were standing and leaning against the windowsill.

Lord Geoffrey began. He said, "You understand why you're here, Alfie?"

I nodded my head. "Yes, I understand, my lord."

Lord Noah said, "From the beginning, tell us how you came about finding Yuki's necklace. You said you found it in a hot spring pool?"

I nodded my head, my heart racing as everyone was looking at me expectantly. I said, "Yes, I found it in a hot spring pool." I smiled nervously as I clutched my hands together. "But first, you need to understand that what I'm about to tell you all might… surprise you."

More like shock than surprise, actually.

Lord Geoffrey nodded. "Yes, go ahead."

I moistened my lips, and once I'd managed to settle my nervousness and calm myself, I started my tale.

"As I told Lord Felix and Caleb when they, err, found me in the woods, I had been away from home, studying at university. It was my first year, and I was doing well at settling in on campus and making new friends. When I finished the end-of-year exams, I took a flight to St. James Island where my parents live, their new home."

Brenna asked, "You took a flight to your parents' home? But how? There's no commercial airship in Aurora Realm yet. At least not one we know of."

I kind of knew that that question was coming the moment I happened to mention flight.

I said, "I'll explain it later. For now, I'll just go through my side of the story of how I ended up here."

Everyone nodded.

I continued. "On St. James Island, my parents' house has a bathhouse that's detached from the main building. Dad renovated it into a hot spring pool, which I loved, by the way."

Aaron asked, "Dad?"

I said, "Dad is another word for father in my world."

Notice I used the words my world?

Of course, none of them noticed, but I digress. I continued with my story.

"That night, I took a bath there, and while I was enjoying myself, I saw it… the necklace. It was lying at the bottom of the pool."

Lord Victor said, "Someone must have thrown it in there."

Lord Noah said, "For you to find, Alfie."

I said, "I don't know, but I… At the time, I thought that the best thing to do was to retrieve it for safe keeping so that I could return it to its owner."

Lord Geoffrey nodded his head. "Of course."

Now then, I thought, to the most important part. I took a deep breath and said, "When I picked it up, there was a humming noise that I'd never heard before. And then…"

Felix asked, "And then?"

Everyone was silent, watching me, waiting expectantly for my next words.

I said, "And then I saw this bright aurora in front of me. I was awed, to say the least. Because I was curious at the same time, I put my hand through it and I even… I even walked through it, and then…"

I sighed, my body tense. "And then I was in another bathhouse that wasn't in my world."

By this point, everyone was looking at me in confusion. Thank God, though, they weren't that eager to ask me to elaborate.

"Then I heard noises, like rifles going off, engines rumbling, and men shouting. I thought it was World War III or something. When I came out, I fully comprehended that I wasn't at my parents' house. I wasn't on St. James Island. I… I wasn't in my own world."

There, I'd said it. Done!

Silent. Everyone was still watching me.

Finally, Caleb asked, "That night, you happened to realm travel into our world?" He sounded perplexed.

I nodded my head. "Yes. You see, I'm not of this world. Everything here is so new to me."

Aaron held up his hands and said, "Wait a minute. You mean you're from another world?"

I nodded my head.

Lord Ethan said, "This is so fucking confusing. How the hell does one even cross between two worlds? It's hard enough just keeping this one safe and alive, let alone breaking the barrier and traveling between worlds."

Lord Victor nodded his head in agreement.

I said, "I'm telling the truth, my lords. I am not of this world. I'm an alien here."

Brenna asked, "What's an alien?"

I said, "A foreigner. Someone who is not a citizen of this world."

Lord Noah said, "The only way to know if what Alfie's telling us is true is to use mind raiding."

Aria said, "But I have done that, my lord. I did see Alfie from a faraway land that is very different from ours. But I assumed that it was just another small kingdom that has very different customs to us. Also, what I saw then wasn't very clear."

Felix said, "Probably due to the magic illusion protection spell that was on Alfie at the time."

Everyone nodded in agreement at that.

Lord Noah said, "Then why don't we use mind raiding again? This time, we'll use my power to project Aria's sight for everyone to see."

I widened my eyes. Wow! You can do that?

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Caleb said, "But only if you consent, Alfie."

I thought about this for a moment and then nodded my head. After all, I didn't want them to keep doubting me and my story.

"Yes, I give you my consent to raid my memories and project it for everyone to see."