Svelte occasionally came out to me next to the tree. He later explained what he was actually doing in Artirias. He needed to help transfer his farm from the Vastlands to Soltica. The small cabin was his way of getting a break from everything. It made sense to hear that he was a Lord working within two countries. He only had one living relative which was Ufret and had been offered arranged marriages many times. Unlike Ufret's attempt to keep the family name by kidnapping women, Svelte wanted nothing to do with marriage until he worked out his own living situation. He wanted to live peacefully, almost as if he would've liked to be alone, at least until he found me lying around. Then he said something that still sounded a bit bizarre to me.
I let out a short sigh. "Well it does explain how you're related to him. Yet you're supposed to be the emperor of the undwater kingdom between the two countries?" My eyes stared at him in disbelief as I let it sink in. "Also, I wouldn't have notice you were a merman since you have shorter hair…"
"I like it short, better to work with." Svel touched his hair. "Does it look bad?"
"No, it looks great!" I vigorously waved my hands around. "Another thing, why is it so sparkly?" I noticed it again after light hit a few strands.
He stared at me, confused. "What do you mean? You and I both have the same shine. Merfolk have hair and scales such as this, not most though. It's a lot more common among royalty." He looked around me and tilted his head. "Although, I've never seen anyone with as much shine as you do, it's... strange but unique."
I took a chunk of my hair from my shoulder and squinted my eyes. "Oh yeah, I guess you're right." There were giant areas with sparkles but even like microscopic too. "Well, do only Merfolk have these features? It would be weird to walk into someplace they don't allow certain races and be identified as one so easily..."
"Not that I know of no, but I heard that angels and a few other acended beings have similarities to us in human form." Svelte rose up from next to the tree, he could tell it was getting dark. "We should start heading back inside." He extended his hand towards me and I looked up at him.
My entire body felt at peace, I was happy, I could tell by the way my insides were all tingly. I thought back to that moment I saw him extend his hand out to me, gently pulling me up to help guide my way to the cabin. Later, I was sitting on the bed, ready to leave the next day to visit his farm. I was already there for three days, and finally I'm able to go out more than just the flowerbeds.
"Stay here for a second, I'll be right back." He left me standing next to the doorway outside the cabin, quickly returning with a small bag. "Alright, do you think you can make it with your staff?"
I clenched it in my hands, mentally preparing. "Maybe...?" My eyes moved to look at my staff, realizing the beauty in it. Golden and shimmery, like our skin and hair. "I'll be fine." I turned to look at him but then immediately heard a whistle come from something he held. It was basically just an instrument to whistle. A few seconds later, we began walking like it was nothing.
"I highly doubt you'll manage with just the staff, so I called out my stead."
The galloping of hooves were loud and clear after I saw a horned beauty rush toward us mid walk. A white unicorn, It's mane was long and curly, the color of light yellow and cotton pink. Staring into its eyes were like gazing into rainbows.
"This is Fleit." I could hear his voice letting up again. "Unicorns were constantly hunted and sold throughout the black market, so I was fortunate to find him lying around."
"Woah... He's gorgeous..." Svelte gently pulled me by my hand to get closer. "Wha- Wait, what are you doing?"
"You can pet him, he won't bite." His mouth softly grinned as I allowed myself to pet Fleit.
He was so soft, and his rainbow eyes that stared were shut. He practically allowed me to pet him further.
I laughed and continued, it was such an experience. "I can't believe I'm actually petting a unicorn right now." My voice was cheerful and quickly went to a whisper. "This is so cool! You are a beautiful unicorn Fleit." My little giggles followed.
"Well, how about I help you get on top of him?" He gestured to the white saddle. "Come on, It'll be alright."
"Wha- I..." I didn't know how to feel about being able to ride a unicorn but since it helped getting there faster I knew not to argue.
Svelte helped me get up before he got to sit behind me. I could already feel secure while his arms surrounded mine. He handled the bridle with ease. It was a bit awkward with the staff in front but we managed. It didn't take long until we were able to see the ranch ahead. The scenery of green grass and animals wandering around gave me a sense of excitement. My mind wondered how everything worked in such unity.
"Alright, we're here. The Difoue Branch Farm." Svelte smoothly dropped from Fleit and helped me down as well. Fleit lowered himself to make it easier and swiftly walked around, saying his goodbyes. "Thank you Fleit, go let Rufuss know we're here."
I gazed at the large buildings surrounding the vast lands. Horses, and a couple of unicorns in one patch. Cows, pigs, chickens, in multiple others. "This is amazing..." I latched onto my staff, slowly walking around towards a fence for the horses. "Everything is just... breathtaking..."
Svelte walked with me and I could hear him let out a little chuckle. When I looked at him though, it didn't seem like he made any expression. "I've never showed anyone yet, I planned on keeping everything in Soltica. No one other than my cousin, Ufret, and my services have seen this."
I suddenly felt lucky to be one of the few. "I'm glad to have the honor of witnessing this." I smiled and looked back to the horses. "Thank you for saving me, Svel."
"I'm sure even if I hadn't you would've lived. Come now, let me show you around." Svelte gently grabbed my hand and guided me into the first building.
No matter how hard I tried to contain it, I was remarkable. Even when he finished the tour around the pigs that began bathing in mud, I saw it as pure beauty. Nature was wonderful, and I only got to experience the least of it until coming into the new world. Once we finally made it back to the cabin, I was exhausted and plummeted into the bed.
"So... Tired..." My face was stuffed into the cushion. "Thank you Svelte..." Turning my head, I watched as he picked up my staff.
Placing it to the side, he sat on the bed with me. "I don't think you can take a nap without breathing properly."
"I don't think I can take a nap without you taking my breath." I sat myself upright on the bed, my exhaustion speaking for me. "You're so handsome, it's so weird. Oh well, you've been cursed with good looks."
"Thank you...?" He couldn't tell if it was an insult or a compliment. "Anyway, you should lay down now." He helped adjust me in the bed and covered me with the blanket.
I quickly fell asleep within seconds and woke up a little later when the smell of dinner traveled through my nose. "Mmm..."
Svelte turned around, hearing my grumbles. "I didn't think you would actually wake up to the smell of food." He slightly shifted himself to see my lazy eyes.
"Sum wice n spices..." I dragged myself out the bed and sluggishly tried grabbing my staff. My hand kept missing the staff and after multiple tries I finally grabbed something. "Huh?" I stared at my hand, holding a wet cloth. I screamed and threw it ahead of me. "What was that?!"
I saw Svelte in front with a wet cloth spread across his face. "Mhm." He took it away and dried himself with his sleeve. "Well, it's good that it woke you up."
"Svel? Oh, oh no, I'm sorry." My hands covered my gaping mouth.
"In a way, it proves that you've been reincarnated." Svelte went and hung up the wet cloth to dry. "Merfolk here find comfort in any moisture when outside the main waters."
"That's kinda..." I sniffed the air to the delight of grain and spices. "Food!" I grabbed my staff and waddled over to the table.
"You can't eat too much this time, I only made enough for a couple of servings." He sat down and put the food onto our plates.
I collapsed my hands together and closed my eyes before eating. "Thank you goddess; for allowing me to eat this wonderful meal once more." Then, I finished it in a flash. "Thank you Svel, I will never eat anything but your cooking."
"What if I'm never able to cook for you anymore?" He slowly ate his fill. "Anything could happen."
"I'll make sure nothing happens! I cannot live without your cooking." I crossed my arms and nodded.
"Well, be prepared to leave by sunrise. I'll also be baking a few batches of cookies to bring with us." He noticed my eyes wide open at the thought of cookies. "They're for Al Krelin and his acquaintances. I heard by the time I would've arrived, they'll be having a celebration in a few days from then. I wanted to contribute."
"I'm so lucky to have a generous savior!" I was beaming with joy, and I skedaddled my way back to the bed.
Svelte headed to one of the separate rooms after washing everything again. Later that night I was too excited to sleep, staring at the ceiling, fidgeting with my fingers. I even played with the ring on my staff a bit, there was just nothing to do. Then, I got up with my staff and went outside. The sun was gone and the air was still. I heard rustling come from a bush, and saw a glowing light blue slime droop itself out. 'Well, that's weird, what's a slime doing here?' I stared at it from far away, but it started to move my direction. 'Wait, why is it getting closer to me?!' I tried backing into the outside of the cabin.
"Blurble bloo!" The slime quickly began to jump and plop itself continuously towards me. The size was quite terrifyingly big, but not really.
"AAAHHH!" I held my staff and ran away as far as I could from it. "Is it gone…?"
I looked around and the slime was nowhere to be seen, but what surprised me was that I didn't even know where I was. In slight panic I walked around with the staff and still didn't know where to go. 'Oh no… I'm lost…' My eyes were watering and I began to cry; I was scared to be alone. My greatest fear flooded over me. "S-Svel...? Hello...?" I could only hear the sounds of nature clicking in the darkness.
"Blurble blurple blouie?" A high-pitched noise came from behind.
I turned around to see a much smaller slime. I flinched, but then I looked at it closely. 'Wait a minute, that's basically the same color as the last one, and way smaller…' I leaned forward, realizing how much I ran and plopped myself to the ground. "But I still don't know where I am…" I sniffed and quietly cried, wiping my tears.
I then feel light pushes on my leg, to see the little blue slime next to me. It felt warm, I'd expected it to feel cold or something, but it was nicer than I thought. The fear of being alone washed away with the touch of a slime. It made me feel a lot better after a while to have some company. "Thanks, little buddy." I smiled and pet the slime. It didnt feel what I expected, wasn't goopy or anything just a smooth wiggly surface. After a few seconds; letters like a hologram popped up.
"Will you be my master, miss?", I looked at the slime and looked back at the words. It wasn't too clear to me, but I felt like in my heart I said yes. 'Slime + Lixlore, contract has been made.' The little blue slime started glowing white around it and popped. It reformed into a rainbow glittering slime, shining bright in the dark night.
My arm covered my eyes. "Woah…" It was beautiful, the colors were like liquid swooshing around inside.
The rainbow slime quickly slid up to the top of my staff, over the ring. I watched as it seemed to have crystalized itself like jewelry. Then, it continued glowing as a source of light in the growing darkness. I sat there on the grass, feeling this warm, comforting light. Out of nowhere, I heard a familiar voice calling my name. 'Is that... Svel! He's looking for me!' I stood up and tightly gripped my staff, walking around to follow the voice.
"Svel!" I yelled back as I brought the staff around, guiding myself in the darkness.
With few more attempts to call back; I kept dragging myself along. In the distance, I'd finally been able to view someone walking around. Following the sound of Svel's voice, I spotted him running around. Moving quicker, I use my staff as the light from the slime grew.
"Svel!" I call out to him, stopping to wave my staff. "I'm over here!" The weight of holding it in the air made me drop it down a bit hard. Svelte finally noticed me and came dashing. He stopped to breathe, resting hands on his knees. Walking slowly with my staff, I got closer as my heart began beating like a drum. 'I bet he's mad that I wandered off…' I gripped my staff, waiting for a form of punishment. "Svel I-" I start.
Instead of punishment, I was surprised with a few words of comfort. "You're not hurt, are you?" He looked me up and down, probably checking for any injuries. "I didn't even realize that was you screaming back there." He gestured to the cabin, still catching his breath.
"I'm not hurt anywhere, but aren't you mad at me?" I looked at his worried face, realizing that wasn't the case.
"What would I be mad at you for?" Svel slightly tilted his head in question. "You were probably scared by something unfamiliar to you."
"Well, I wandered off…" I tried to make sense of it at least. My mind thought back to the scolding in my past life.
"This is a new world for you, Lix. The only thing I'd be mad at you for is a crappy personality. I'm just glad that you're unharmed." He sighed in relief shifting his body towards the cabin far ahead. Svelte turned back to me. "Let's head back, shall we?"
"Oh, okay." I smiled as we walk back.
With that out of the way, we made it back to the cabin in one piece. Svelte's worrying gave me a sense of solace. All I wanted was freedom, and now I have it, thanks to him. The struggles I had in my past life were disappearing into nothing. His first concern was if I got hurt, not even bothered about my inability to walk properly. I looked at him packing his things up in bags for Soltica.
Svelte glanced back at my blank stare. "You can wash up first." It was a little awkward with my silence. He calmly walked away into the other room and stayed there for the night. "Don't drown, good night."
I waddled to the bathroom and took my quick bath; it was weird that my tail didn't transform while in the water. I could tell by it being stream water, we wouldn't transform. This was much better than having all the extra weight. Finally bathing for once felt refreshing, it was cozy and warm. After, I dried off and put my clothes on, grabbed my staff and slowly walked to the bed in the main room. I lie down and stared at the ceiling. 'I'll be fine, everything will be alright…' My mind -and my thoughts- drift off to sleep as my eyes flutter to close. I dreamt about Svel again, and this time he was crying in front of me, but he didn't know I was there. I tried to talk to him, but he kept bawling his eyes out. All I did at that point was hug him, even though I knew it wouldn't change anything, but that somehow made him stop and turn to me. I see his face, expression blank, dripping with tears, and then I woke up. I saw Svel walking around and putting food on the table to eat.
"Does my face amuse you…?" Svel asked, looking at me.
My brows rose and my face felt firm, "Absolutely." I slowly chewed my food and blankly stared.
He seemed uncomfortable with the look I was giving and attempted to eat. "C-Can you not do that?" I carefully blinked, continuing. "Please...?"
I sighed and looked at my plate instead. "Fine... I just can't believe my savior is so handsome." I savored the taste of the food this time since I knew we would be on a long trip.
"Thank you." He quickly realized what I just said. "Why do you keep saying things like that?"
"I love handsomeness." I made a heart shape out of my hands, smiling. "But you're strictly going by a no relationship rule."
"When did I ever say that?" He seemed pretty confused until he remembered explaining his situation. "Ah, yeah, that..."
"I'd love to have someone handsome who cooks amazing food and has a stable lifestyle." I winked at him in the weirdest way.
"As pretty as you are, the only thing someone would say to that," He slightly leaned toward me. "Is you're chasing me for my money."
"Okay fine, I won't chase you." I allowed my dewy eyes to rest on his once more. "I'll admire my savior from afar." My soft smile stuck with me for a while.
I knew in my mind that it was a slim chance to get with Svelte. I never even understood the concept of it all. Romantic relationships were never a thing in my past life. If I ever encountered anything like it, I wouldn't have recognized it in the slightest. Yet I began to like this world, it was quite peaceful to be around Svelte... or so I thought.
We were suddenly on a carriage, beginning our journey to Soltica. I watched as he adjusted curtains that were inside for the windows, it was fancier than expected. The outside was white, with a porcelain-like texture, engraved with gold designs. The interior was a soft pastel red color, and the seats were egg white, filled with similar designs from the outside.
"So... how long is this going to take...?" I could feel my insides disagreeing with the movement.
"Not too long, just about an hour or so until we meet with the harbor." He held a notebook, writing a few things down as we could feel the carriage's rhythm and turns. Svelte could tell by the look on my face; I wasn't feeling well. "Is there a problem...? Should we take a few stops?"
'I'm dying...' I couldn't really make out what he was saying anymore. "Ugh..."
"Lix?" He leaned over to me, catching my side. "Hey..." He stopped the carriage and brought me out to get some fresh air.
It only took so long for me to come back to my senses. "Huh?" I saw Svelte next to me as I leaned against a wall. "Where are we?"
"Does your body normally shut down after sensing danger?" He looked at me, genuinely concerned.
"Did I pass out or something?! I'm so sorry I didn't want to bother you- I..."
"You can't handle carriage rides." He sighed and tapped his closed notebook. "This will be troublesome since we'll be going onto the ship for another couple of days."
"I'm sorry, Svel..." I pouted and slumped my body.
"No worries, I probably should've asked beforehand. I can make you something to help ease your stomach when we get closer to the town."
"Oh, okay, thank you..." I felt bad about making him have to go through that, but it was comforting.
After getting back into the carriage, I shut down again. I woke up in another room, somewhere with stone from the walls to the floors. Everything was still quite nice, decently decorated and neat. Svelte sat across from me on a couch. I notice I was also on a couch and there was a bowl on a coffee table in between us. I'd beeen told to eat it, I knew it was his cooking by the scent so I agreed. The delicious bowl had me awake and ready for the rest of the carriage ride. I still occasionally fell asleep along the way and mumched on a delicious cookie.
"We are now along the borderline of the Artirias Vastlands." Svel suddenly spoke, waking me from my nap.
"Huh...?" I rubbed my eyes and saw the beautiful view through the opened window. "Woah... The sea!" I laughed and smiled at it, so excited.
We were greeted by his crew and brought everything onto the ship. The smell of the water flushed down any anxiety I might've felt on the carriage. Off on the journey to Soltica!