On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Arieda\'s mother gazes at us with her chillingly cold, silver eyes. The other Dark Elves immediately kneel on the ground respectfully, whereas Eliseus, Vibiane, and I keep standing while looking at the Queen neutrally.

No matter where we are, Cursed Creations only bow to one person—the Demon King. We don\'t bow to any ruler other than our Demon King—not even the other Demon Kings—which is why we don\'t kneel in front of Arieda\'s mother.

Of course, we are sensible enough to be not provocative. Although we see Arieda\'s mother as our equal, we still respect her as someone strong, which is the reason why she doesn\'t feel offended in the slightest.

"I am back, Mother!"

Arieda runs toward her mother excitedly. She looks like a kid who has something to tell her mother about, and that makes Elorand nervous—I can feel it.

When she reaches her mother, her mother picks her up and hugs her tenderly as if she is holding a priceless treasure that can never bought by money. Her mother puts her down after a few seconds, and she looks ready to talk.

"Hush..." Before Arieda can say anything though, her mother puts her finger in front of her lips. "Let us talk later. Let me greet the guests... And my old friend."

"Oh! I almost forgot that!" Arieda knocks her head delicately. "Pardon me for not introducing them to you, mother!"

"It\'s alright. I have known one of them, and I will get to know of the other two myself."

Turning her gaze away from Arieda after she pats her head, the 6 feet tall Dark Elf, Arieda\'s mother turns to us. She walks gracefully at us, but her pace is not deliberately slowed down to look like that.

She just naturally looks graceful and I can\'t help nodding my head in appreciation. Her face is still stone cold, but it doesn\'t diminish her beauty in the slightest.

Never have I thought I would encounter someone so terrifying and beautiful aside from Valeria, of course, this soon. She has all of the charm that every woman may dream of, and she fits how everyone thinks a Queen should look like.

Boing! Boing!

She has nice assets too, but like the other Elves, I don\'t pay much attention to them. Her eyes captivate me more than her assets; I have seen enough to no longer be amazed at how plump they are.

The other more important reason why I don\'t pay much attention to her assets is, of course, because I don\'t want to die. The aura she is giving off is enough to tell me she is not someone I should ever piss off.

Still, my disinterest in them is the main reason why I don\'t look at them.

\'Wait... Why am I trying so hard to justify why I am not looking at the Queen\'s tiddies? It sounds like I am looking at them but trying to convince the others otherwise instead! No. Why does looking at tiddies seem like a great sin?!\'

I discard my useless thought as soon as the Queen stops five steps away from us. The Queen smiles at us, before opening her mouth in the next second.

"Welcome to our Kingdom, our distinguished guests. My name is Haletha Envenaddle. I am the Queen of the Envenaddle Family and the first ruler of Lysimork."

Arieda\'s mother, Haletha, puts her right hand on her chest and bows slightly. We nod our head collectively, and introduce ourselves one by one, starting from Eliseus.

"It has been a long time, Haletha," Eliseus remarks casually.

"You look as beautiful as twenty years ago, Eli." Haletha walks toward Eliseus, and hugs her like a close friend. "I have been waiting for the day when I can properly thank you for a long time. You just left without saying anything that day."

"I was not expecting any reward when I saved you back then. That\'s why I immediately left after taking you here." Eliseus lets go of her hug, and looks at Haletha neutrally.

"Fu-fu-fu..." Haletha covers her mouth as she softly laughs. "You are just the same as twenty years ago."

Moving her feet slightly to the side, Haletha faces Vibiane, who is on the left side of Eliseus. Vibiane gives Haletha her usual friendly smile, and it also makes Haletha smile.

"My name is Vibiane, Queen Haletha. It is nice to meet you."

"What a sweet soul you are." Haletha pats Vibiane\'s head for some reason. "I can say you are the purest Monster I have ever encountered in my life."

Maybe, Haletha says that because she can feel the faint trace of the extremely diluted Divinity in Vibiane\'s blood. She must have also figured out the reason why, because she is now looking at Vibiane pitifully.

I can even weirdly sense her giving out a motherly aura, and that further convinces me that she knows what Vibiane actually is.

Turning my head from the two, I look at the spot where Arieda is standing on ... Supposed to. I can\'t find the kid anywhere, so I wonder where she has gone to while her mother is busy greeting the guests.

"Are you looking for Arieda?"

"... Yes." I stop wondering as soon as Haletha stands in front of me.

"Don\'t worry. She must be currently changing her clothes to look more presentable."

"She has quick feet, doesn\'t she?" I remark slightly in amusement.

"She does. Fu-fu-fu." Haletha giggles softly. Presenting her hand, she says, "Who are you, young Warrior? You don\'t seem like you are from this world to me."

"I don\'t look like I am from this world? That is such a roundabout way to tell me how otherworldly I am," I remark jokingly.

Looking at the extended hand in wonder of what to do, I do what cultured people on Earth did back on the old days. Taking Haletha\'s hand, I pull up my mask slightly, and kiss it tenderly.

Pulling my face away from the hand, I slowly let go of it, and pull down my mask afterwards. I look at Haletha to see her reaction, and find her blinking her eyes in, what I say, bewilderment.

To prevent the awkwardness from budding, I immediately introduce myself. "My name is Layland Kleinhaus, Lady Haletha. Kleinhaus is just a surname I gave to myself—it is not the name of a fallen Noble family or anything,"

"O-Oh... Yes. That sounds outlandish yet very beautiful." Haletha nods her head slowly, a tinge of red decorating her cheeks. "You are the most well-mannered make Demon I have ever encountered."

"I thank you for your sincere praise, Lady Haletha."

"You can just call me Haletha."

"Very well, Haletha." I put my hand on my chest politely.

"..."

Haletha looks taken aback—probably because of how quick I call her by her name casually—and I pretend I don\'t notice it. She has given me the permission to call her casually herself. I can use it whenever I want; even right after I got it.

"Kuhum! Why don\'t we all come inside?" Haletha steps back and smiles at us once again. "I want to know what has happened to my daughter, so I hope we can talk about it while having a meal."

I turn to Eliseus in wonder of what her answer will be at the invitation. We still have a mission we have to accomplish after all.

Much to my surprise, she nods her head immediately as if she has forgotten about our mission. I don\'t bother to remind her about it though. We have a strong alibi for why we are late; A Dark Elf Queen\'s invitation is not something that you get everyday.

"Very well, follow me, everyone." Haletha beams, before looking at the Guardians coldly. "You can return to your post."

The Guardians nod their head and immediately leave the Palace ... At least, that is the case for every one else, except Elorand.

"Elorand, we will have a serious talk about your performance later."

"... Yes, my Queen."

The muscular Dark Elf looks like he is about to cry. I am sure he will cry on his bed as soon as he disappears from our view.

Haletha then turns to us; she has lost her cold look. She looks at us with a small smile, before taking us inside the palace.

I sense a very strong Barrier protecting the doorway, but it immediately splits open when Haletha is just a step away from it. I pass through the doorway not long after, and it makes me wonder where the Rune for the Barrier is inscribed on.

I find it nowhere to be seen, so I conclude it must be made using an Energy that my mask cannot detect. There are two types of Energy that my mask cannot detect—Divinity and Nature Essence—and I don\'t know which of them.

Upon entering the palace, I immediately look around the hall. It is big enough to host more than 10,000 people.

It is decorated with all kinds of shiny crystals that light up the room in gold. There is a big chandelier hanging from the ceiling—the crystals are also the ones giving out light.

"It is a magnificent palace."

I have to admit that even though the Demon King\'s Castle is bigger than the palace, the latter looks more awesome than the former.