49 An Unwelcome Transformation – Chapter 49

The moment I said that, I shut my mouth immediately in dread. What the fucking hell? I had just baited him into it.

Lord Noah said, “Then you don’t mind if I check, do you, Alfie?”

Before I could make any move, Lord Noah snatched the hat off my head, and my hair tumbled and spilled down my shoulders, lying there about me in all its long, silky blackness.

A hushed silence descended over the room, and I felt like crawling under the table and hiding, so embarrassed I was.

I felt everyone’s gaze on me—hot and intense—like I was an alien who had just descended on the Aurora Realm, which wasn’t exactly that far off actually.

I turned my attention to Lord Noah and stammered, “It’s all your fault, my lord. You gave me that hair potion as a gift, and now look at what happened. If I hadn’t been so busy yesterday and this morning, I would have cut this long hair off by now, and nothing like this embarrassing situation would have taken place.”

It was Brenna who spoke first. She said, “Alfie. Your hair is beautiful. I never realized it before, but it’s so dark, and it suits you.”

Aria nodded. “Like Lady Yuki Hoshi of Yamato, one of the Great Ones of the Aurora Realm. I remember seeing a painting of her somewhere in our gallery here in the palace. She has dark hair and pale skin just like you though your features look nothing like her. She’s a full eastern while you’re mixed-raced, after all. Her nickname is Snow.”

Lady Yuki of Yamato? Snow? Was this woman somehow connected to the seven lords of Acaedien? If so, then it would explain why both Felix and Caleb had reacted the way they had when I had accidentally told them that my middle name was Yuki back in the woods when they had first taken me back to their camp.

Wasn’t it strange that I happened to have the same name as a woman—a Great One, which sounded important—from this realm?

I turned my attention to the seven lords. I looked at Lord Geoffrey first, followed by Lord Aaron, then Lord Caleb, Lord Ethan, Lord Noah, Lord Victor, and lastly, Lord Felix. They all were silent and simply staring at me as if they were shocked to see me like this. Well, of course they’d be shocked. I was supposed to be a boy, and now that I suddenly had this very long hair…

Then again, why should I be receiving so much attention from these lords just because I had this long hair? Surely, if any other boy were to suddenly have their hair grow long—due to the accidental use of Lord Noah’s hair potion—then the situation would just be brushed aside, wouldn’t it?

I said, “I’ll have it cut tomorrow.”

Suddenly, I felt Felix’s hand touching my hair, gently stroking the strands. “There’s no need. Leave it as it is.”

I heard some grunted replies from the other lords. I glanced at Caleb and noticed that he was still staring at me as if he couldn’t take his eyes off me. Perhaps with this long hair, I reminded him and the other lords of this Yuki of Yamato. Which would be the reason why they were shocked and couldn’t stop looking at me.

Of course, that didn’t sit well with me. After all, I didn’t know if looking like this reminded them of all the sadness and heartache or the happiness when they had been with this Yuki of Yamato lady.

Then Lord Geoffrey said, “Shall we dine?” And a moment later, delicious dishes of exotic food were brought out and laid across the table. There were roasted meats of all sorts, along with vegetables cooked in many ways, different types of breads, savory baked goods, and so much more. This, to me, looked like it could feed an entire army of people, but I wasn’t surprised that it was just for the eleven of us, since I knew from Aria that the seven lords, as powerful demons, needed a huge amount of sustenance to feed their dark qi.

It wasn’t until midway through the meal that I felt the atmosphere become light and cheerful again, after the lords’ shock of witnessing my long hair.

Lord Victor had asked to swap seats with Felix, and surprisingly enough, Felix agreed. Once beside me, Lord Victor proceeded to chat with me, asking me various questions. Of course, I answered him as much as I could between eating, and when he touched my hair, a voice snapped from across the table, “Victor!”

It was Caleb, and he look pissed as hell.

“Ahh, sorry,” Lord Victor said with a chuckle, releasing my hair. He leaned in close to me and whispered, “Looks like someone is pissed he doesn’t get to touch your hair first.”

I raised my brow. Why would Caleb be pissed that he didn’t get to touch my hair first?

When I shifted my gaze to him again, I noted that his gray eyes were glinting again in that dark vibe that both scared yet excited me at the same time.

Suddenly, it hit me. He’d had the same look when he had been passionately kissing me that night a few days ago.

The moment I realized that, my heart skipped a beat, and my tummy fluttered deliciously.

I licked my lips, and suddenly, all seven lords’ attention was turned on me again, and I felt tense, as if there were a powerful and agitating sort of qi buzzing in the air.

Lord Geoffrey stood and said in a hard, commanding tone that I had not heard from him before, “Felix, Caleb, come with me.”

As I watched Lord Geoffrey heading toward the door, Felix and Caleb stood and silently followed suit.

Once the door was closed behind them, I returned my attention to my food, wondering what was going on. Of course, I noticed that the agitated sort of feel in the air had disappeared, too.

I turned to Lord Victor and asked, “Where are they going?”

It was Lord Ethan who answered me. “To talk, negotiate, and make sure shit doesn’t get out of hand.”

Lord Noah said, “Ahh, and here I thought they’d invite me, too.”

“Fuck!” Lord Aaron said darkly. “They’re always leaving me out.” Of course, he was looking at me strangely.

Once dinner was over an hour later, after three of the lords walked out midway through the meal, we—Aria, Leona, Brenna, and I—thanked the remaining four lords politely and returned to our quarters. Of course, none of those three lords who had left ever reappeared, which made me wonder what could be such an important topic of discussion that would take so long to negotiate.

About two hours later, after our tummies had finally digested our big meal and we girls (even though I was supposed to be a boy) chatted, or rather gossiped, about the lords and their shocked reactions at seeing my new look, there was a knock at the front door. Of course, it was just about time for the girls and I to retire to our rooms for the night, too. Brenna rushed over to open the door, and a moment later, I heard, “My Lord Aaron.”

“Alfie…please get him for me.”

I got up from my seat in the sitting area and headed over to the front door. There, I saw Aaron, who said, “Alfie, come with me.”

“To where?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, and before I could say anything, he wrapped his hand around my wrist and led me out the door, without my shoes, mind you.

Behind me, Aria said, “I’ll leave the door unlocked for when you come back, Alfie.”

I waved at her. “Thanks.”

In the exotically beautiful garden with the colorful lights glowing here and there and the stars glittering gracefully in the distance of the sky above, I trailed along behind Aaron with my feet only in socks. I wanted him to slow down but decided not to ask because, damn, he looked…pissed off or something. Was he all right?

“Alfie, do you like me?” he asked out of the blue.

I nodded my head. “Of course I do, my lord.”

“Good,” he said. “Remember that and don’t ever change your mind.”

I was curious as to what he meant by that and wanted to ask him for an explanation but decided against it.

A few moments later I found that we’d returned to the northern wing of the palace where the seven lords’ private quarters resided.

Aaron led me, not toward the dining hall or the drawing room where we had been only a few hours ago for dinner, but to another sector of the residence. We headed directly toward the back, passing by the garden to what I thought was a detached building that looked very much like a bathhouse.

Suddenly, I began to panic and wondered why Aaron would lead me here.

I asked, “Lord Aaron? What are we doing here?”

He said, “We’re taking a bath.”

I pulled back immediately in reaction. “No. I… I don’t need one.”

Aaron wouldn’t let me go and pulled me into his arms. He said, “Come on. It’ll be fun. Everyone is waiting.”

I shook my head as I said, “No. I’m fine. I don’t need one. I just had one.” I managed to escape his grasp and hastily started heading the other way. When I heard his footsteps coming after me, I bolted, running through the garden toward the exit.

Of course, Aaron chased after me. Swift as he was as a warrior, I had no chance against him and was caught in no time. In the end, he hauled me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Aaron!” I demanded. “Put me down, now! I don’t need a bath. I mean it. I already had one before dinner. Please, just put me down.”

Aaron didn’t reply as he swiftly headed toward the bathhouse, and God, I wanted to disappear.