Chapter 11

<< Immortal realm—courtroom >>

Kira felt her soul leave her body the minute Arata dropped the bombshell, her breath hitched, as the harsh reality of Arata's words hit her.

*No* she panicked mentally. *This can't be*

Her widened, scared eyes moved around frantically, staring as everyone bowed respectfully and were showering praising on her—thanking her for finally coming back—although, she could still see that some of them don't look happy at all.

Kira couldn't hide her fear anymore, she looked towards King Daniil and locked gaze with him.

*I'm human, I'm completely human for crying out loud. What on earth is going on?* she thought.

Meanwhile, King Daniil heard her thought. He quickly got up from his throne and approached her, but she took two steps backwards when he arrived in front of her.

"What is going on?" she asked him, her voice cracking a bit—evidence of her crying inwardly.

King Daniil could feel himself getting sad as he stared at Kira's lost expression, and helpless expression, he knew at once that the sadness he's feeling isn't his but hers. Knowing that she's the phoenix queen has cleared his questions about why he could hear her thoughts, and feel her emotions.

He reached forward to pull her into a comforting hug, but she took another step backwards as she shook head in disagreement.

"Can someone just tell me how I end up becoming your phoenix queen?" she yelled, finally let go of her bottled up tears.

King Daniil exhaled deeply. He doesn't like the pain he's feeling in his heart, but he knew there's nothing he could do to stop Kira from being emotional right now.

"I'll explain everything you need to know later, but for now, just let Aleksandr escort you back to my mansion" he said.

Kira was too sad to think, she wanted to argue and make him explain at that moment, but she's too sad to argue or even control herself in general.

"Please, come with me, Miss" Aleksandr said. Kira simply nodded, and followed him.

King Daniil waited, and made sure Kira is out of hearing when he grabbed the small table in front of his throne and flung it at a pillar.

Everyone cowered away, no one dared to raise their head or utter any words as they felt King Daniil's anger.

"What is wrong with all of you?" his voice held anger. "Have you forgotten she's mortal, and has lived all her life being a mortal? Do you intend to scare her away?"

The courtroom was silent. No one said anything until Dmitri, (god of rain) spoke, although, his head was still bowed. "We apologize, your Majesty." he apologized on behalf of everyone.

King Daniil glared at them for a moment, before storming back to his throne and sat down.

"There are some rules we must set as it seem" he said. "Everyone, to your seats" he ordered.

"Thank you, your Majesty" they chorused as they quickly made themselves comfortable on their respective seats.

Arata signaled the guards to take back the statue, then walked back to her seat afterward.

"Your Majesty, before we set the rules, I have a concern" Boris (god of the netherworld) said, which drew everyone's attention to him.

"What is your concern?" King Daniil asked.

"It's our new phoenix queen"

Mentioning the new phoenix queen piqued everyone's attention further, they became too eager to hear what his concern was.

"We have been waiting for her return because we need her immortal breath to keep the universe's balance, right?" he rhetorically, but his eyes moved around as if he's expecting them to agree with him, and his expectation wasn't in vain as they nodded in agreement with him. "But now that our phoenix queen is human, how do we get her immortal breath?" he finally asked his original question.

After Boris's question, everyone averted their attention to King Daniil, waiting for his response. King Daniil leaned back on his throne, he studied their faces for a moment.

He is also as confused and clueless as them, he doesn't know what he should do to get the phoenix queen's immortal breath since this is the first time in history that there's a mortal phoenix queen, but he must give an answer since they're expecting him to.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Having a mortal phoenix queen has never happened before, this is the first time it's happened, and I believe there's more to this than the eyes can see. I think her being the phoenix queen might mean she's immortal, and maybe something happened along the way that required her powers being sealed away for her safety. After all, let's not forget how the last phoenix queen died"

King Daniil's words seemed to impact understanding in them as they all nodded in agreement. But although, Boris agreed with King Daniil's explanation, he still wasn't satisfied. He further asked. "If her powers are truly sealed away, how or what do we do to unseal them?"

Before King Daniil could respond to him, Arata already did. "The phoenix queen has just returned, and she's still very human as we speak, our world is still very new to her, we haven't done anything to make her feel welcome yet, but we're already talking about how to unseal her powers. Isn't that selfish of us? Shouldn't us also consider the phoenix queen's feelings too?"

"But I just…"

"There are no buts, Boris" King Daniil cut him off. "No one is going to rush my queen because they want to unseal her powers or whatsoever. It is a thing of great joy that she is finally here with us, but we must go with her pace and wait until her powers naturally unseal" he said firmly, staring hard at Boris as if daring him to challenge his (King Daniil's) words.

Boris sighed deeply and nod. "Yes, Your Majesty" he said, then sat back on his seat.

"Anymore concerns?" King Daniil asked, but they were all silent, then he proceeded. "Good, let's set the rules. First, my queen's words are the same as mine, never should any immortal disobey or disrespect her simply because she's still a mortal" his gaze was fixed on Boris as he said this. "You must give the same amount of respect you have for me to her. And secondly, everyone must make her feel welcome and loved, starting from today this is her home whether she is mortal or not. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, your Majesty" everyone (except Boris) chorused.

"One more thing" King Daniil said, looking directly at Boris, who's frowning. "Anyone who's caught disrespecting my queen would be punished severely, eighty-five heavy lightning strokes and two months without in the dungeon. No rank is higher than this punishment"

Fear flashed in their eyes, and they quickly bowed humbly. "We won't disrespect Her Majesty" they all echoed as if they've rehearsed it.

"This meeting is over!" with that, he got up and exited the courtroom.

Boris, who doesn't like the fact that their long-awaited phoenix queen, happen to be a mortal, exited the courtroom not long after King Daniil left. Others also began leaving in groups of twos and threes, discussing their phoenix queen as they went.

<< Immortal realm—King Daniil's Mansion >>

Meanwhile, Kira has been crying since she returned to King Daniil's mansion, her eyes red and puffy, her nose running, and her face was flooded in tears.

"I can't be the phoenix queen, I'm not the phoenix queen, I swear she made a mistake, I'm not the phoenix queen at all" she cried, resting her head on Isa's shoulder and hugging her tightly.

"But being the phoenix queen isn't bad, in fact, it comes with privileges" Isa said, hoping her words would comfort Kira, but it only made her cry more.

"I don't want any of those privileges, Isa" she coughed as she choked slightly. "I just want to go home, I want to go back to my sister"

Isa doesn't know what comforting words to say anymore, she doesn't know what to do to comfort her but could only pat her back, and helplessly watch her cry.

Just at that moment, the main door opened and King Daniil walked, taking hasty steps towards them. Isa's mouth was agape when she saw her king's worried expression, which is something she has never, none of the immortals have seen.

But she quickly composed herself, she gently removed Kira's head from her shoulder and sprang up on her feet, then bowed.

"Your Majesty" she greeted.

"Out!" King Daniil responded curtly. Isa rushed out as fast as she could, as if her buttocks were set on fire.

King Daniil's eyes were fixed on Kira, he gulped nervously as he approached her, which he found strange because he's never been nervous in his two thousand years of existence. He stopped at a few inches away from her sofa, then squatted and continued staring at her red and puffy face.

"A-are you alright?" his voice cracked.

Kira glared at him, her eyes filled with annoyance. "Is this alright to you?" she gestured at her tears.

"I'm sorry" he apologized in a surprisingly soft tone, a tone he didn't know he has. "I know this isn't what you…"

"Take me home" she cut him off.

He stayed silent for a moment, staring pitifully in her teary eyes.

"Take me home, please" she cried.

"I can't"

"You can't? But you brought me here, why can't you take me home?"

He sat on the space Isa was sitting, but he made sure there's a little space between them.

"I mean, I can't take you home, but not now"

Kira frowned, and sprang up. "What do you mean not now? That lady was bluffing, I'm not your phoenix queen at all" she said.

"Please, calm down, my queen…"

"I'm. Not. Your. Queen. Can't. You. Get. It?" Kira growled, emphasizing on each word as if to make it clear to him.

She grabbed a handful of her hair, pulled on it and began pacing back and forth.

"I know you can't feel it yet, but there is a connection between us. We are fated to be together and there's nothing both of us can do about it"

"Oh, right. I even forgot the part where I'm supposed to be your wife, right?" she scoffed. "I can't believe this, I'll be married to a man who's thousands of years older than me. Doesn't that sound absurd to you?"

Bringing up their age difference silenced King Daniil, he felt a bit sad that she's calculating his age with the mortal's calendar.

"I can't be with someone who's old enough to be one of my ancestors" she said.

"I'm not old if we want to go by mortal's calendar, I should be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old if I were a mortal" he sounded a bit offended that she compared him with her ancestors. "And besides, you are not here alone. I, as your husband, I'm going to feel every single of your pains and emotions" he explained. "I was already feeling them before it was confirmed that you're the phoenix queen"

Kira, who's been crying suddenly, felt her cheeks burning when he addressed himself as her husband. It's true that she thinks he's too old to be her husband, but she couldn't deny the fact that he's handsome and super hot—even hotter than Calvin Klein's models.

"You are safe in my world, my queen" his words pulled her back to reality.

"Then- then, what about my sister? Will I ever get to see her again?" Kira finally voiced her utmost concern.

"That will not be a problem. I can take you home whenever you want to visit your sister, and I promise you that she would never lack anything"

There's a brief silence. "I don't even know if she's doing well as we speak"

"Of course, she is doing well, and she is no longer sick"

"She is no longer sick? Do you really believe your magical powers can heal her?"

"Yes, my queen" he answered.

"It's just your words. How can I believe just words?"

Not knowing what to do or say anymore, King Daniil simply stretched out his hand and drew a circle in the air, then a gigantic mirror appeared in front of them which startled Kira, and she flinched back a little.

"I'm sorry, my queen, did I startle?" he asked, but instead of responding, Kira's attention were on the mirror, with her mouth dropped open.

In the mirror, Yulia was chasing after Ruth in their living room, with a bright smile on her face, and she looks healthier than before.

"Is… Did you really cure her?"

"Yes, my queen"

Kira continued watching Yulia with a satisfied smile, to the extent she didn't realize tears were flowing down her cheeks.

"You don't have to worry about them, I have bought a company in the mortal realm under your name, so, she'll be getting money for upkeep at the end of every month"

Kira's eyes widened. "You did what?"

"While we were in the courtroom, I had one of my subordinates go to the mortal realm and buy a company under your name. Aleksandr told me money is essential in the mortal realm, that's why I bought the company. I'll also have someone move them to a bigger house and… "

"No!" Kira exclaimed. Although, she looked and sounded like she isn't happy about the idea of buying a company under her name, but deep down she's jumping for joy.

King Daniil's expression changed, he misunderstood Kira's tone and thought he had done something wrong. "My queen, is something… wrong?"

"You shouldn't have done that to make me stay" she said.

"But I thought that's the only way you would agree to stay without worrying about your sister"

Kira closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply. "I'll stay, but on one condition"

"What?"