The King's Beloved

~ [Music Recommendation: "Sunny Mornings" by Peder B. Helland (Instrumental only) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in the loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter XD ~

Rania's head spun from one direction to another as she toured the town with Elliot. Who could blame her? There was so much to see! It was kind of like the City of Tenebris from the Third Gate - just a medieval version. From the outside, one would think that the castle was a bit smaller than usual, but once you step inside, it was huge, and there were lots of places you could go. From the castle gates, different shops lined up - there were shops for clothes and garments, weaponry, crafts, magical tools, accessories, then a couple of restaurants on each corner of the streets. 

After the long line of shops was the town square where the fountain was. There were mini stalls all around the square, and that's where Luna and Ducis stayed to check every booth for tasty foods. On the eastern side of the square, you could see a large museum and library, side by side. While on the other, was the guard's headquarters, another restaurant, and a tall building that looked like an inn. Straight ahead from there was the road downtown, where Rania and Elliot proceeded since the town square was too crowded for them. Elliot didn't like seeing Rania bumping into different people and apologizing over and over, so he decided to go to a more spacious area.

Downtown were more shops, restaurants, bars, hotels and a couple of houses. There was also a merchant's guild that stood the tallest among all the establishments there. On its right side was an alleyway leading to an enormous coliseum. And at the farthest place was the main castle, with its large towers and concrete walls. On its towers were green flags with a white emblem of a horse with wings, and below it spelt a name "Ventus".

"This town is beautiful," Rania smiled as she looked carefully at each shop they passed by. "Oh look! A flower shop! Luna's going to love it if she sees it. Wait - isn't that a Verus Amor flower? The same one you gave me back then?" Rania turned to Elliot.

Elliot checked it out, "Hmm … you're right. It's the same one".

"I thought it's something hard to find. But they've got plenty of it".

"It is hard to find ... an authentic one. Those are copies made by magic, to look exactly like the flower".

"Ohh, I see. How could you tell the difference?"

"The concentration of spiritual energy, and its pattern".

"Pattern?"

"Yes, it's like … hmmm," Elliot thought for a moment, "a fingerprint. Copies will have the same pattern, but the real one would have a unique pattern. Like snowflakes, no two snowflakes are completely identical to each other".

"Wow, that's amazing. How could you see it? Do you have magical eyes?" Rania chuckled.

"Ha ha ha! Maybe, or maybe not. You can see it too if you want, I think. Just concentrate a few spiritual energies in your eyes - oh, your magic activates by speech".

"That's right. Maybe I should name that skill. I'll call it 'assess' - what do you think?"

"Sounds good".

"Okay, let me try," Rania prepared herself and stared at the flowers. "Assess".

As soon as she uttered the word, her eyes began seeing sparkles of golden dust attached on the leaves and petals of the flowers. Elliot was right! They followed the same patterns, confirming that they were copies. 

"Woah! You're right! They do have the same patterns. Seeing things like this, it's like I'm looking at the night sky filled with stars even in broad daylight," Rania gaped in amazement. "I wonder how yours looks like," then she turned to Elliot again and stared at him.

"No! Don't look at me like that -" Elliot tried to stop her, but it was too late.

Rania blinked her eyes in surprise.

"Of course! You have a very high spiritual capacity and concentration … so I won't be able to see you! Ha ha ha!" Rania chuckled. Indeed, she could barely see Elliot - just the shape of his body. He looked like a mannequin covered in golden glitters.

"I told you so, now stop that," Elliot patted Rania and rummaged her hair.

Rania continued to chuckle. "Don't mess my hair," she said, lifting Elliot's hands while stopping her 'assess' skill so she could see the look on his face. And there he was, gently smiling back at her.

"You can adjust it so you would see different things," Elliot continued. "If you want to see the spiritual core instead, just adjust it accordingly, or maybe call it a different way". Then, he noticed Rania was staring at him. "Hey, are you listening to me?"

"Yes," Rania nodded. Her smile couldn't be taken away from her lips.

"What is it?" Elliot asked, confused. "Why are you staring?"

"Nothing much. It's just … before, you were gloomy and silent, with very minimal expressions. But now, you have changed - you can smile so happily, and for that, I'm very glad and thankful".

Elliot's eyes widened, and his cheeks blushed after realizing what Rania meant. He averted his eyes from her and nodded shyly.

"Elliot …," Rania called him dearly. "I hope you keep it that way. I love seeing your smile".

"Me, too. I love seeing your smile," Elliot pulled Rania close and caressed her cheeks. "Let's keep on smiling together … no matter what comes our way".

"Uhm, yes".

Elliot inched his face closer to Rania to give her a kiss.

"Ah! Wait, Elliot, w-we're in public," Rania's face flushed red in an instant.

Elliot gave a look that he had completely forgotten they were in public.

"Oh, right, we are. Too bad," Elliot shrugged.

"Phew," Rania held her chest and sighed.

"Ha ha ha ha!" they both laughed at each other.

Then, a woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere and approached them.

"Hello there! Are you two a couple?" the woman asked. Her eyes and hair were brown, and she dressed like a belly dancer, with a red fitted top and hip belt, partnered with harem pants of the same colour, and accessories on her neck, arms, and feet.

Rania and Elliot were surprised by the sudden question.

"Yes, we are," Elliot confidently answered. "Why?"

"Oh! That's great!" the woman clapped her hands. She seemed very amused and cheerful to find out they were a couple. "We're holding an event for couples! If you manage to win, you'd be given premium tickets to the greatest theatrical play in the coliseum that will be held tomorrow! There would be a song from the most famous songstress, too!"

"A play and a song, huh?" Elliot thought. Turning to Rania, he asked, "Are you fond of those?"

"What would be the play about?"

Elliot chuckled. "And there she is, already asking. I guess this means she likes them," he thought in his mind.

"It's about the bittersweet love of a fairy and a dragon!" the woman replied in a sing-song tone.

"A fairy and a dragon? Hmm … kinda reminds me of someone - or some two that I know," Rania pondered. "It's interesting! I want to watch".

"Great choice!" the woman jumped in joy. "Now, all you need to do is participate in this," then, she gave them a piece of paper that read 'Ventus' Strongest Couple Competition'.

"A fighting competition?" Rania asked.

"Yes! You see, we're celebrating the marriage of our king and queen, so we're doing lots of events for couples." the woman giggled. "We're a bit short on participants for this one, though. All the other couples decided to do the singing or dancing competition," she pouted and cried, "we need a bit more participants here if we want to meet our quota. The premium tickets are very expensive".

Rania chuckled at her. "In that case, there should be a participating fee as well, right?"

"That's right! Just 500 golds per admission".

"Did we bring gold?" Rania whispered to Elliot.

"No, but I can make some," Elliot whispered back.

"Isn't that … cheating?"

"Beats me. This is a guardian's realm, so I don't think 500 golds will hurt their economy and throw it off-balance".

"Pft! How convenient. I wonder if I could do that too?"

"Ahm, what are you talking about?" the woman interrupted.

"Nothing, we're joining," Elliot answered her, and from his pockets, he conjured magic to make a pouch with 500 pieces of gold in it, took it out, and gave it to the woman. "Here, our participation fee".

"Yay! Thank you very much!" the woman was so happy. "Come with me! Let me show you where the competition will be held".

Rania and Elliot followed the woman towards the alleyway where the enormous coliseum was. Turned out, the fighting competition would be held in the same place as the theatrical play. Once inside, the woman helped them register for the competition.

"Alright, that's it! It will start in about an hour and a half, so you two can still wander around before that. Thank you for participating!"

And so, Rania and Elliot continued their stroll in the remaining parts of the town they haven't explored.