Wait.. Then.. Does this mean that this man is one of the elves Ryukiyo imprisoned? Rukiyo thought
She felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped on her body at the thought, her body going completely still as she glanced at the green haired elf who has done nothing, but stare at her with a scrutinizing gaze.
And it felt as if he wasn't just scrutinizing her, it felt like he already knew what's wrong with her.
If he is exactly who she thinks he is, then..
"Did you try to kill Ryukiyo?" Rukiyo asked, her voice cracking, suddenly remembering something strange from earlier.
The throbbing headache she currently has, it wasn't just a headache because when she touched her head earlier, she felt something sticky and wet on her skin.
A headache doesn't feel like that when you try to soothe it by cradling your head, right? Rukiyo asked herself, needing some kind of confirmation that she wasn't brought back to this terribly written novel world of hers because the original character had died.
If Ryukiyo did die.. How could she? Ryukiyo is a dragon and she's an almighty being.
A dragon can't be killed by a mere elf or a human.. She wrote the book to make the antagonist win against the heroine, who is an incredibly beautiful demon, a few times.
Besides, Ryukiyo didn't get killed at the end of the book.
She was forced to go back to the heavens before getting plunged back to the underworld, by her fellow dragons, to punish her for her sin of consuming the flesh of three races.
The heroine of the book saved the elves that were imprisoned by the dragoness and all of them decided to be hers for saving them, saying that they could wait for her no matter how long it takes.
They are elves so they live for a long time.
However, among those ten husbands, she remembered vaguely that Ryukiyo has an elf husband that has beautiful green hair and a pair of gold eyes, but.. She doesn't remember describing such a character that detailed him to be this goddamn hot and attractive yet, so soulless.
The elf has the appearance that can be compared to gods. He is incredibly handsome.
Putting his looks aside, the heroine already has a couple of men vying for her love when she rescued the elves from Ryukiyo, so when they decided to be hers after getting rescued from Ryukiyo's clutches, they were immediately cast aside and became extra characters.
They were mentioned from time to time to emphasize how good of a woman the heroine was throughout the story, and thinking back about it.. It was just bad writing.
If this is how this elf looked without properly describing them, then I wonder how the male leads and heroine would look like. Rukiyo thought, the corner of her lips twitching upwards, the mere thought of encountering such fine specimens making her smile.
Speaking of which, Rukiyo may have been immersed in her thoughts, but she noticed that the elf still hasn't responded.
Is this a normal behavior for elves like him? She thought and couldn't help, but wonder.
She kept eyeing him like he was hiding something terrifying— which he is, because he refused to answer her question, but she has to know if he tried to kill Ryukiyo and ended up being successful with it, because if he did, then she's fucked in the ass.
"No." The elf answered, his handsome face twisting into a frown as he stared back at her. "Well.. I tried, but it wasn't successful."
The relief that flooded Rukiyo's bloodstream was immediate. She doesn't like the thought of standing right before the elf that was smart and strong enough to kill a dragon. She will have to run away if he is.
"On the other hand, it seems like someone else had taken over her body instead." The elf muttered, beautiful golden irises narrowed into a nasty frown as he looked at her from head to toe. "You seem quite similar to her.. I can't put my finger on it."
You were successful, alright. Rukiyo thought, wanting to say the words outloud, but if she did, then there's a high chance that she would get killed by him as well.
Clearing her throat, she decided to just.. Lie.
"I.. I switched with her." Rukiyo mumbled and lied through her teeth, her eyebrows furrowing as beads of sweat formed in her forehead. "She said something about committing an act that is considered heinous in this world, but I didn't get it and still was forced to take her place? I don;t know.."
Lie till you make it. Rukiyo said in her mind and tried to hype herself up, forcing her voice to sound confident and believable.
She can't have a crazy elf chasing her down and trying to kill in the near future.
Rukiyo forced her eyes to meet the elf's and flashed him a strained smile. "Ryukiyo is not that bad for a person, right..? She seemed nice while she was talking to me, after all.."
But as soon as she said those words, she fought so hard to not cringe.
Nice? Ryukiyo? That sex offender? She was trying to rape these poor elves, you woman! Get the hell out of here with your lies! The woman scolded herself in her mind, her fingers twitching against the damp earth to stop herself from physically smacking herself.
"She switched with you?" The elf asked and narrowed his eyes at Ryukiyo, unable to believe that an almighty dragoness would do such a thing.
"Are you a human?" He prodded, leaning forward and staring deeply into her eyes.
"I— I am?" Rukiyo stuttered out and fought the urge to back away from him, but a part of her knows that if she did so, then he will only move forward and try to pin her down to get some information out of her.
"How long are you going to stay in her body?" The elf inquired, eyebrows furrowing.
To Rukiyo's relief, he backed away from her and gave her some room to breathe fresh air, which she happily did.
"I.. I don't know, sir." She mumbled, forcing her voice to become weaker.. "T-To be honest, I didn't want to be here, but I had no choice.. She said that she was a goddess, so she had to repent.."
To make one lie believable, one must commit to the act.
In dire need of proof to convince the elf before her, she quickly travelled down her memory lane for a sad memory about puppies, kittens, fishes, hamsters or any pets dying— just to make her eyes sting and produce a good amount of salty tears.
She remembered Hachiko, a good movie about a dog. The memories about the movie successfully brought her tears out and she didn't waste any time to use it,
"I.. I wanted to protest.. I have a lovely family waiting for me back home, but r-really, what can I do against a goddess? I was scared.." Rukiyo croaked out, her tears falling from her eyes.
Fake it till you make it. Rukiyo hissed in her mind, forcing the tears to come out of her glands, so she can convince the elf that she's nothing, but a pitiful human.
If she managed to play her cards right, then she would be able to set those elves free and live a happy life somewhere without having to worry about them coming after her to end her life for the years of suffering and torment.
But that thought left her mind when the elf only stared, assessing her quivering body and the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
She swallowed, thinking that she failed, but with a sigh, he closed his eyes and nodded. "So, she's still a ruthless and cold-blooded dragoness even if she already went to another world.. How typical of her."