Chapter 97: The One Morning I Should Have Stayed in Bed
Chapter 97: The One Morning I Should Have Stayed in Bed
Elyn’s POV
Last night was a chore. I should have known that it would be, but it seemed like maybe I had used a blindfold and placed it over my eyes and forgotten the fact that Azerion did not have a place to sleep.
He did not have a bedroom. And that was where the issue started yesterday. In fact, that was what the whole issue was about.
He insisted on sleeping on my bed—which I refused, by the way—and then I had to start explaining the reason why he wouldn’t be able to sleep on my bed, which was basically just one reason, to be honest, and it was that I just didn’t want him to do so.
Well, thankfully, I was able to convince him and had Versha prepare a separate room for him, which he slept in.
And I was finally able to sleep.
It was morning now, and I was back in the office with Morthen, who adjusted his glasses, and Rin, who was glaring at Azerion because he had claimed the couch in the office was his and not hers.
Rin had sat there first, but he pushed her off—and I don’t mean he did it in a gentle way. No. He pushed her off, and she fell on the floor.
Instead of Azerion apologizing, he stuck his tongue out at her and made himself comfortable on the couch, spreading his small frame on it as he started eating from the snack box I had Kethra make just for him.
I pretended not to see anything because I wasn’t about to start my day with a headache... okay, so maybe I already had a headache from just watching the both of them struggle for ownership of the couch.
I turned to Morthen, who placed various papers in front of me.
"What are these?" I asked him with a frown on my face.
Vaelory was standing right next to me and peered over to see what was written on the papers.
Morthen adjusted his glasses. "Since the introductory ball is coming up, I made a list of all the various demon nobles who have a grudge against each other, so you know who to avoid when speaking with different demons."
I stared at him with my mouth ajar, then looked back at the papers. Let’s get one thing straight: for a moth demon who had compound eyes, Morthen’s handwriting was magnificent.
It was so elegant that I had no choice but to be drawn to the mountain of papers he placed in front of me.
"You wrote this?" Vaelory asked him in shock, which very well mirrored my own.
"Yes, I did. Is there a problem with it?" Morthen asked her.
Rin, ever the gossip, moved closer so she could see what was going on better.
"Your handwriting is beautiful," I told him, and Vaelory nodded too.
"We demons have beautiful writing," Rin said from where she now stood right beside me.
"We humans have too," Vaelory told her.
Rin made a disgusted sound. "With how spineless you are, I doubt you have beautiful writing."
Vaelory gave Rin a glare. "My handwriting is very beautiful, thank you very much. And not that I’m spineless, but what does being spineless have to do with beautiful writing?"
"Handwriting represents who a person is. That’s what the last human I ate told me," Rin said to her.
Vaelory jumped in shock, putting distance between herself and Rin.
"You absolute demon!" she said, like the words were a prayer used to banish demons.
I expected her to add something like begone, you demon! I command you! but she didn’t.
Rin tilted her head, then blinked those black orbs. "I am a demon... what do you mean by absolute demon?"
Vaelory opened her mouth to explain, then closed it because she apparently didn’t have anything to say—or maybe she just didn’t know how to express herself. Yeah, we’ll go with that explanation.
"I thought your kind only steals jewels. Since when do you guys eat humans?" Azerion asked Rin.
Rin glared at him. "Shut up, snake."
"For the last time, I am not a snake, you raven," Azerion told Rin.
Sensing another one of their stupid arguments coming up, I quickly turned to Morthen.
"You were telling me about the different dukedoms in the realm yesterday, and now you’re giving me papers about who has a grudge against whom. Why?" I asked him.
"Well," he said as he adjusted his glasses, "we will continue the lecture on the different dukedoms in the kingdom, but I wanted you to have this too. We only have three more dukedoms to talk about, and the last dukedom has basically nothing to talk about, so it’s mainly two."
"What do you mean the last dukedom has nothing to talk about?" I asked him with a frown on my face.
"The last dukedom is—"
His words were cut off by a rapid knock on the door. We paused, and Azerion’s eyes grew into slits.
I gave Rin a nod, and she opened the door. Immediately, I was met with the sight of Naviel.
And he didn’t look like the Naviel I was acquainted with.
"Naviel?" I called out in shock.
"My lady," he said wearily.
His cheeks were sunken, and his eyes looked like they were about to vanish. He looked malnourished, all skin and bones, and his clothes were even falling off him.
I stood up immediately as Vaelory gasped in shock at how Naviel looked right now.
The put-together and beautiful Naviel I knew was different from the one in front of me now.
"What’s wrong?" I asked him as I closed the distance between us. "What happened?"
Naviel held onto me when I came close. "Please, Your Highness. Please get the king. I’m about to die from being overworked. We need the king, please," he told me.
His voice sounded like that of an old man who had used smoke to destroy his lungs.
"You are the only one who can help us," he said, and collapsed immediately.
Vaelory screeched in shock, and I recoiled as well.