Wandering away into the fairy forest
Carmalo couldn't stand being in this land any longer. He had mentioned the name Liveda to calm her down, but now Marley Crush Roberto, who also hailed from Harz, had arrived. It was no wonder Carmalo sensed him as a threat. That wretched Prince had been secretly seeing his sister. They were all seated at the dining table, and Carmalo noticed some exchanged glances between the four of them.
"Who missed me? No one at all. You all seem so happy," Carmalo directed his gaze towards a female. She was beautiful, but not his type.
"Ah, who let the beast return? I guess we'll all be her breakfast now," Roberto teased her, and she smiled.
"Sweetpi! Come and hug your mom. Honey, I've missed you a lot. Handling three males on my own has been tiresome. This day is turning out to be better than I expected. Come, come and embrace me so I can introduce you to our guest," she smiled broadly and hugged the queen, king, and Roberto before taking her seat. Liveda remained silent throughout, which puzzled the king, queen, and Roberto. Even though she was his favorite, Roberto didn't welcome her. She seemed tense when she saw him, but pretended that everything was fine.
"This is Luciana, she's 15. She went to study in the human world, just like Berto. She will be joining all of you at the Institute since school starts next week," Carmalo and the others nodded as the king spoke firmly.
"And this is Marley, she's close to Roberto. The lady with green eyes is Mariline, she's Liveda's friend," the queen said but was interrupted by Roberto.
"And the young man over there is Carmalo, and he hates Liv and me," Roberto grinned, and Carmalo hissed. Liveda looked at him as if she knew him. The tense atmosphere was overwhelming, and Carmalo understood her mindset. He didn't blame her. Considered the most attractive guy in town, with his green eyes and brown skin casting spells on girls, he smirked at her. She looked away, embarrassed. She looked adorable, but unfortunately, she wasn't his type. He desired someone with a more voluptuous figure. Luciana was slim and cute, though Carmalo must credit her for her hips and small waist. He shook his head to clear these thoughts.
After lunch, Carmalo decided to go for a tour around alone.
"Tour, I guess. You know what I mean," Carmalo winked at her, and she rolled her eyes. Everyone knows Carmalo as the ladies' man, so he doesn't blame her if she misunderstood. He really is going for a tour. Carmalo walked through the colorful trees, genuinely impressed by the view.
Suddenly, he heard a prick behind him, so he turned around, but there was nothing there. Continuing further into the shallow woods, he spotted a light—or at least, he thought it was. As he got closer, he noticed it had tiny hands, legs, and wings. It was a fairy. Carmalo reached out his hands to touch the extraordinary creature, but it emitted a sound like an alarm. Seconds later, the ground shook, and fairies began emerging from all sides, surrounding him.
They no longer appeared cute; instead, they seemed dangerous and ready to attack. Carmalo conjured flames in his palms, further provoking their anger as they bared more of their sharp teeth. Now it seemed that he was going to be devoured by these angelic devils. They launched their attack, and Carmalo fought back, burning their wings and hands, making sure not to kill any of them. He was outnumbered and believed it was the end for him, but then a much brighter light appeared, nearly blinding him. It was a lady wearing a silver crown.
Her wings and eyes were a golden hue. She possessed elf-like ears that had a slight pinkish tint, her skin polished bronze in color. She appeared to be around Carmalo's age, and he couldn't help but be captivated by her beauty and her extreme curves. The bloodthirsty fairies surrounded her, bowing in reverence. As they soon retreated back into the ground, she turned to Carmalo, inching closer and carefully landing on the ground.
"The behavior of my fairies was ill-mannered, and I apologize," she bowed her head. Carmalo nodded and smiled.
"I might have looked like a threat to them. I only wanted a closer look at them; I have never seen such a creature before," she looked genuinely shocked.
"Are you not from Harz? my fairies are everywhere. How come you haven't seen them?" she looked into Carmalo's eyes and waited for his reply. For heaven's sake, the woman needed to stop looking at him like that, he thought to himself.
"Actually, I arrived yesterday. It's my first time here. I'm from Harz, but I lived in the human world all my life," Carmalo replied.
She muttered an "oh" and "sorry."
"I'm Leba, queen of fairies. I'm 14, and my mage ability is to control nature," she said. A nature mage plus fairy queen. Carmalo was fascinated.
"I'm Carmalo Grunch, a fire mage, and 15 years of age. I didn't want to come to Harz, but now that I have found you, I don't think I have that mindset anymore." She giggled but turned serious, like she realized something.
"Carmalo Grunch, like Lord Valix Grunch?" she asked. Carmalo had heard of that dude as the Elimen of old times, but he didn't care about his family's back history. However, he guessed he had to now since Mari was the chosen one. He nodded, and she jumped in excitement.
"I never thought I would meet a Grunch. You guys are legendary. Can we be like best friends?" she asked. Carmalo began laughing. She acted unexpectedly. For a queen, it was very unethical to act like a simple Grunch male was a celebrity.
"You have a cute smile too. Are all Grunch males this cute?" Damn woman, she was already hitting on him hard.
"We are only two males, my dad and I," Carmalo raised both hands to symbolize two people.
"I have to go, Malo. We will meet again," she said, and hurried away, making him concerned. Carmalo watched as she flapped her wings and disappeared into the skies. What made her to leave like that? This place wouldn't be as boring as he thought.
"Do you like her?" Carmalo was startled by Luciana's voice. What was she doing here? Was she following him?
"Princess Luciana, did you follow me?" he asked, raising his brows. Her face looked flushed, and he knew the answer to that. Hold on, if she was following him, how come she didn't help him when those things were attacking?
"Let me guess, you're wondering why I didn't help you, right? Well, the queen wouldn't sense the danger if she isn't summoned. Now you can figure the next thing out," she had summoned Leba.
"Thank you," Carmalo muttered. They stayed silent for a while, and he cleared his throat. "Er, we should get back, else your brothers will have me for dinner," he said. She laughed, and he compared hers with that of Leba. Luciana looked cute and sounded good, but Leba's laugh felt warm and better.