Dawn- An age of Darkness

I had roughly half an hour of freedom. 

Afterward, I'd have to deal with the ministers. 

Then my noon practice with Alisa and then another session with the ministers, lunch, and finally afternoon practices with the elf. 

Sigh. 

"What the hell am I doing with my life?"

Even from way up here I could see thousands of people going on about their days. 

Some were shopping, children were playing around, and some people were even going on dates. Yeah, having better vision only made me feel more jealous. 

Why I couldn't I find peace like that?

I guess in a sense, death wasn't bad. But I just had too many regrets. 

"That really is the question, isn't it?" Zack came into the room, bowed. 

"It's okay, no need for bows."

The door was opened, and he did knock, I might have just ignored the sound. 

"I never thought you'd actually be such an important person. So, you were a pirate and then you became the king of Alfeim, somehow?" He seemed very skeptical of the fact. He didn't disrespect me though.

The fact that he was still speaking frankly with me, made me both happy and a little better. I guess he thought me more of his brother's friend than the king. I was fine with that and a little glad too. 

"The archduke of Alfeim. And no, I wasn't a pirate. I just tagged along with them with a geezer: or more like the geezer dragged me along."

Sometimes I actually missed the geezer. Only sometimes though. 

Only sometimes, okay!?

"Isn't that the same as being their king?" Zack chuckled. "Well, I saw you looking down in the hallway. I know we don't have much in common or to talk about- since well, he's dead." He got a bit sad. "If you ever need anything please don't hold back. Perhaps you don't see us the same as your loyal subjects' but- I assure you, we the demi-humans are really grateful to you and your fellow companions. If it weren't for you guys, this country would have been destroyed in the turmoil." He bowed on his knees. "And I'm really glad that you freed the princess and brought her back." I guess now he was switching to his duties. "Thank you."

Come to think of it, wasn't I forgetting something?

What was I forgetting?

"No problem." It probably wasn't that important anyway. I yawned. "Guess I'll head over to the throne now."

I felt a bit better. I guess getting thanked for the stuff we did, was a good enough reward for me to at least try.

"Oh yes, the maid and the princess's escorts have finally returned. They are on their way to the throne as we speak. I was on my way here to give you that report."

Oh shit, no wonder I felt like I was forgetting something. 

***

The maid was back and though she was surprised to see me atop the throne sitting next to Viola, she didn't make much of a scene of it and bowed. 

Apparently, most of the escorts escaped with their lives intact. They were led by a dark elf who claimed to be a servant of the lord of darkness.

Apparently, that was the nickname Ve chose for me. 

We weren't in eighth grade you know!

I didn't have the capacity to throw a fit anymore though. At this point, I just gave up.

"Your journey must have been tough. Forgive me for not being able to send a rescue party for you."

It wasn't like I forgot you or anything, okay?

Okay!?

"Your highness, just the thought alone warms my heart. And seeing you-" She smiled as she looked at Viola and me. "-Take her responsibility eases my heart. Ah, truly you two were made for each other. You two truly look splendid on the throne!" She finally let out a tear. "I assume I can hope to see a new prince or princess before long?"

Well, that was a roundabout way of asking whether we were doing it or not. 

'Why the hell are you looking at me like that?' Seriously, why would anyone in their right mind want me to sleep with a kid for crying out loud?

Viola blushed and didn't say anything. Seriously, something was wrong with this world. 

It was too late for me to realize that though.

I really wanted to pop her bubble but- "Only the future shall say!" For now, I just needed to get out of here and keep this charade up for as long as I could. "I have magic practice so-"

So I just got off and ran for the lift. 

***

A few days passed. 

My practice went a lot smoother now that I had both of my hands. Especially the spear practice. I was getting more and more decent at it. Sometimes I even gave Ve a run for her money- for three whole seconds!

Okay, probably wasn't the best of achievement. Because after those three glorious seconds, she pounded me. 

Magic practice was also going smoothly and I had even more of a larger mana pool. Apparently, the more I strained my body with divine mana the more my mana increased. I couldn't do the only thing that I actually needed to do. 

Perfect!

Imbuition process kind of went better too. And it wasn't that straining anymore. Partly because of the curse and partly because of my deeper understanding of mana. 

I could now manage five minutes. If I practiced like this for maybe a month more, I could potentially double or even triple this number without seriously straining my body.

That was actually great news as Imbuition combined with the stones were overpowered cheats. And I needed all the strengths I could get. I still had doubts about my own strengths and fears, but for the time being, I kept practicing diligently.

Alisa made some attempts at trying to seduce me. Sometimes she even crawled up in the bath or my bed. And sometimes, I was definitely tempted. 

Obviously, I didn't do anything to her- the girl I saw as nothing more than a sister. 

Those bunny ears were very tempting though.

***

The sword practice actually became a lot different now that I had both of my hands. The half-elf was almost always coming at me trying to kill me. And I often got poisoned. She held nothing back. She wasn't teaching me a new style, rather she was just helping me refine my existing one.

We were kind of equal if I used Imbuition but without that, she always had the edge: and she was fast! And boy was she scarier than Lianne by a mile.

At least I was still learning something. I most certainly hope so.

All in all, things weren't so bad. And they just kept on moving. The sorry state of this place had improved significantly. The ministers were actually kind of capable- and Viola wasn't the pampered brat I thought her to be at first either. The number of guards increased too though most of the newbies were just plain rookies.

But as the end of the week draw near, my worries kind of increased. 

'Guess I'll be leaving this place for good, soon.'

Tomorrow I had to head over to the capital of Destoa but- what then? 

I didn't know what I'd do. And I didn't have much time. 

I'd already talked to Viola about everything. I'd told her that I won't live long and I'd leave this place in two days: I also told her about me not being from this world and all that. She actually listened to me rather attentively and without making a fuss. In the end, she just said, "You already promised me that you'd come back alive. If you can't even keep a promise, then you're not the man I fell in love with."

It kind of stung but it was also encouraging. 

With loads of worries and pains, the day finally passed and morning came again. 

'Imma try my best!'

***

The Destoa party would consist of all three Demigods, a minister, Zack, and lastly Biteria. 

Viola wanted to come but it was a bad idea and even I knew that. So I didn't give her my permission. 

And since I was the king, she couldn't disagree. 

"Will you come back here?" Viola asked, looking at me expediently.

Currently, we were atop the castle near the top of the tree. The wind was kind of strong and Alisa was pulling me towards Ve.

I really didn't like taking off from branches like this, but I didn't actually have a choice. 

My eyes were twitching and it was getting harder and harder to maintain a straight face.

Besides, they the hell were two bunny girls pulling me? 

"Well, I still have loads to do and I have to drop those two back, so yeah, I'll come back." I probably wouldn't stay though. 

Viola had something to say, but she kept quiet. She just sent us off with a smile. 

Finally giving up, I got on Ve's back. 

For once, I didn't actually scream as I held Ve tight. I had enough of fears. It wasn't like I suddenly got less afraid. I just dealt with it and kept everything inside. So needless to say, I was screaming 'AHHHHHHHH!' all the time, but in my mind. 

My only comfort was being sandwiched between two bunny girls.