Beautiful Qi - Chapter 16

Ten minutes later, Brenna and I headed out of the clinic. In my hands, I held a facecloth, along with a toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste. Along the way toward the river to clean myself up, I practiced with my zooming in and out, locking on images of mountains in the distances (which I could bring up a little closer to examine the unique, pointy peaks), trees with bird nests, wildflowers with bright colors, and even small bees sucking on nectar. I must admit I was getting used to the lenses and the zooming function.

Brenna said, “Looks like you’re having fun with your new lenses.”

“Very much so.” I turned to her and cocked my head to one side as I looked at her intensely.

“By the way, I can just call you Brenna, right? I mean the fact that I’m from another kingdom means that I have no idea how I should address people in this kingdom.” I gave her a lame excuse. I couldn’t possibly tell her I was not of this world and, therefore, had no clue as to how one addressed another here.

Brenna smiled brightly, her cheeks blushing red. She said, “Yes, just call me Brenna. In fact, it would please me very much if you do so. Miss Kent is just so stifling.”

I nodded. “Then Brenna it is. And you’re already calling me Alfie, so that’s fine.” I took the opportunity and asked, “So this kingdom… Acaedien, I believe… How does one address the higher-ups? My lords?” That was what I had heard when Aria was addressing Caleb and Felix.

Brenna nodded and said, “Yes, when we’re addressing the higher-ups, we use my lord.”

I nodded in understanding.

Brenna continued. “So when referring to them, it’s his lordship.”

Again, I nodded.

“I was just wondering…” Brenna began.

I turned to the girl with raised brows because she sounded rather hesitant. “Hmm?”

Brenna blushed profusely and said, “I mean, it’s really none of my business or anything, but… You were referring to Lord Felix as just Felix. I mean we, as in Aria, Leona, and I, are fairly close to all seven lords, but… We don’t call them by their first name alone.”

Oh dear! Was she trying to tell me I was being impolite and ignorant or something? Had that been why they had looked so astonished when I called Felix by his first name alone?

I felt the need to explain it wasn’t my fault, but that brute’s. Thus, I cleared my throat and said, “Felix told me to call him that. I mean, I did call him my lord before, but he insisted I call him Felix.”

“I see,” Brenna said, frowning. “It’s unusual for Lord Felix to do that.”

“Is it wrong? For me to call Felix by his first name alone.”

Brenna shook her head. “No, not at all. If Lord Felix insisted on you calling him by his first name alone, then that means he must like you a lot.”

I was dumbfounded. So one referring to another by their first name in this kingdom meant they were very close, as in best friend close? Which meant Felix liked me a lot? But we had only just met. Then again, that man’s behavior was rather very odd from the beginning, going around and kissing the life out of me like it was the most natural thing in the world. Did he go around kissing other people like that, too? Gosh, I hoped not.

Wait! Why did I even care if Felix went around kissing other boys and girls like he kissed me, with such wild abandon and passion that it made me weak? It was none of my business, right?

Right?

Brenna continued, oblivious to my flushed face and quivering body while I thought about that bastard Felix.

“The seven lords call each other by their respective first names because they’re very close. I mean, they have ruled this kingdom together as a team for such a long time, after all.”

Finally managing to calm myself down, I cocked my head to one side. So there were seven lords who ruled Acaedien together, like some sort of government. Or perhaps like the knights of the round table in the Arthurian legend. Sounded interesting.

I asked, “There are five more lords?”

Brenna nodded. “When we return to the palace, you’ll get to meet them.” She chuckled and blushed severely. “Would you like to know who they are?”

I thought about this for a moment and then nodded. I wanted to learn as much as I could about this kingdom, if I was to be staying here for a little while during my research on how to get back home.

“Yes,” I said.

We had reached the river now, and the sound of water trickling was soothing and pleasant to the ears. The scenery here was beautiful and peaceful, with lush greens and tall trees surrounding us.

Brenna came to sit on one of the large boulders, tucking the fold of her long skirt neatly beneath her.

Gazing at her, I thought the girl looked just like a beautiful maiden in a painting. Then I began to wonder what type of moisturizer she, Aria, and Leona used to make their skin so fair, soft, translucent, and damned smooth. I had only ever treated myself to a full-body beauty treatment once a year, but I doubted even those girls who had theirs done regularly, even with top-quality products, would end up looking like goddesses…like these ladies.

Brenna played with the long strands of her lush brown hair as she began the tale of the seven lords.

“The head is Lord Geoffrey Lancaster, Lord Aaron’s older brother. You can say he’s like the father of all of us Acaedien citizens or the captain of our ship.” She smiled fondly, perhaps thinking of him and his kindness toward them. “He really cares about all of us, and it was he who brought the other six lords together and made our kingdom the way it is today, wealthy and prosperous.”

I see. So Lord Geoffrey Lancaster was the head of the kingdom, then? A position that was similar to a president, perhaps?

Now, in my mind, I imagined this very important man exuding power wherever he went. Physically, he’d be tall and well-built with a stern yet fatherly face. He’d have intelligent eyes, gray or salt-and-pepper hair, and of course, wrinkles that defined age and wisdom. To me, I would imagine him to be slightly older than my own father, at least past sixty years of age.

Just by Brenna’s tone of voice when she was talking about him—in that loving, adoring, and respectful way—I felt this man was a perfect head of the monarchy.

Brenna continued. “Then there’s Lords Ethan Sherwood and Victor Rutherford. They’re best friends, and most of the time, they act as a pair of envoys when negotiating with other kingdoms. Lord Noah Wakefield is our head magic researcher and my boss. I’m a healer and his assistant, by the way. He’s the one who figured out the way to stabilize our world during the apocalypse. And lastly, there’s Lord Aaron Lancaster, who, with Lords Felix and Caleb, is one of our head warriors and controls the kingdom’s army.” She chuckled. “Not that the other lords aren’t warriors, of course, it’s just that these three specialize in war, whereas the others have their own respective fields.”

By this point, my head was pounding with the overload of information about the lords. Even though it wasn’t in-depth, I still found it overwhelming. There were seven of them, after all.

I realized by the end of Brenna’s passionate speech about her beloved lords that I was both scared and excited to meet the other five. I thought if I could get one or two of them to become my allies, then my chances of finding a way home would be higher.

If I were to have a choice, my first pick would be Lord Noah Wakefield because he was the head magic researcher and I’d need someone like him to aid me. Next would be Lord Geoffrey Lancaster because he was the president of the kingdom and a father figure to everyone. Then I wondered if he could become a father figure to me, too. Once he came to like me and we became very close, I could tell him where I came from. Then, voilà, he’d decide he wanted to help me since I was his newly adopted son (daughter) and he didn’t want me to suffer. He would go all out to aid me in finding my way home back to Earth, to St. James Manor.

Yes, I must admit I was rather deliriously happy for a moment there, thinking about that possibility. But then I shook my head at my thoughts. Right, I had to slow down and get ahold of myself. Apparently, my imagination had gone haywire and now came up with the most stupid things. As if Lord Geoffrey Lancaster, the head of the monarchy, would randomly adopt me as his son. That was just too far-fetched to say the least.