The royal guards wearing koala costumes knelt on the ground as they obeyed King Adamos' order. Their knees were frozen as they awaited for their King's next command.
Meanwhile, Evie's pale feet were frozen, too. But it was not in honor of the 'King of Edin'. It was in shock, as she has never been in such a ridiculous situation in her entire life.
It was not too long ago when their plane crashed. And now here she was on an unknown island, held captive by an unknown King.
Adding more to her confusion, the royal guards started whispering an unknown language and giving her a strange look. They seemed to keep repeating the word "Yuka" repeatedly while glancing at her and then the King.
Evie drew in a deep breath as she cleared her throat. She does not know what Yuka means.
Just then, King Adamos faced the guards with an icy demeanor. "There is no proof yet that she is Hyouka. Keep this to yourself. Do you understand?" he ordered in a booming voice.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the soldiers shouted in unison.
Evie's small forehead scrunched up as she took a look at King Adamos. 'Of course I am not Yuka. I already told him that I'm a stranger in this land.'
But his aristocratic face was void of expression. Instead, he repeated his command to her. "Follow me." Then he walked ahead, expecting her to obey him.
The soldiers stood up and bowed again in reverential respect to their King.
Evie bit her bloodless lips as she thought, 'He seemed harmless. And if he is really the King of this land, then he must know everything, including the plane crash. I might as well go with him. And maybe I could ask for his help so I could get back to Hawaii.'
Evie ran so she could catch up with King Adamos. His steps were long, being the giant that he was.
As she ran, she couldn't help but wiggle uncomfortably. Wearing a dress is uncomfortable enough for her. And to top it off, it is a dress made out of leaves.
She wanted to ask the King if he gets itchy too. Or he's just controlling himself not to scratch his butt because he was in front of his loyal guards. He seemed to be comfortable with what he was wearing right now.
But it was not the right question at that moment. "Where are we going?" she asked as her eyes roamed around.
They were already far from the soldiers, and the colossal trunks of trees behind them were now hiding them from their vision.
To Evie's surprise, an enormous bird landed in front of them.
It was not the size of a parrot. But of an elephant. It looks terrifying, with its two wings and long tail that appear to be blazing as they flapped. Fortunately, its fierce features tapered down as its feet landed on the ground.
Evie's hand flew to her chest as she controlled her thumping heart. 'Am I in Jurassic Park? I didn't know that these kinds of creatures still exist!'
The bird tilted its neck and screeched as if it was magnifying its majestic self all the more.
'Ostriches are larger than humans. But they can't fly. Pterodactyls are small and they were extinct since 65 million years ago. This must be one of the 1% unknown bird species that were not known to humans.'
Evie's eyes widened in astonishment at the unique animal in front of her.
King Adamos must be thinking that she was afraid, as Evie seemed paralyzed on her feet, so he said, "Her name is Acyon. She doesn't cause harm to anyone unless they provoke her." Then he gave her a knowing look.
He appeared like he was reminding her of what she had done to him a while ago, making Evie clamp her lips. Then he added, "We will ride on her back to Paradis."
With that, one of Evie's feet unconsciously stepped backward.
She has just survived a plane crash. And now she's traveling in the sky again.
'But if I didn't come with him, where else would I go? There is 80% probability that I can get out of here if I'll stick with him,' she contemplated.
Seeing that she was still apprehensive, King Adamos extended his hand to her.
But Evie immediately waved her hands as she made her conclusion. "No, I can manage. I don't want to electrocute you again."
She has no problem with the bird. What she was struggling with was the flying itself. And whether it's one or the other, she didn't need any help. She could survive it by herself.
King Adamos seemed astonished at his reaction. But he withdrew his hand away and put it behind his back, together with his other one, before he cleared his throat.
Acyon didn't make any move as King Adamos climbed her up. But as soon as he sat on her back, she made a loud screech as if she was telling everybody that she was serving the King of the land.
King Adamos didn't offer help to her anymore, probably since she had already refused him a while ago.
Evie drew in a deep breath as she made a decision to fly again. Somehow, her apprehension turned to excitement as she thought that this was her first time to ride a gigantic bird. She has been riding machines for years.
She tried to climb up Acyon. But her strange actions must have made Acyon uncomfortable. While Evie was crawling up, Acyon's wings shot up, almost throwing Evie away.
Fortunately, King Adamos grabbed her hand just in time as he blurted out in a deep voice mixed with both irritation and concern, "There are certain things that you cannot do alone, my lady."
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You don't need someone to complete you. But you need someone to make things a little better every now and then.
Thanks for reading our chapter today. Hope you have a lovely day ahead!