Chapter 212: A Ball in My Name (Unfortunately)
Chapter 212: A Ball in My Name (Unfortunately)
Elyn’s POV
Zorathys sighed.
It was not a dramatic sigh.
It was the kind that suggested I had just added ten years to his immortal lifespan.
"Where," he asked, voice smooth with exhaustion, "do you wish to go, since you refuse to remain on this balcony?"
I folded my arms and leaned back against the cool marble.
"I do not refuse."
"You very clearly refuse."
"I am simply... uncomfortable."
"You cannot hear them."
"I know."
"They cannot hear us."
"I know."
"Then what is the issue?"
I gestured vaguely toward the darkness behind us.
"I know they are there."
He stared at me as if that explanation lacked intelligence.
"It makes it strange," I insisted.
He studied me for a moment longer, then exhaled through his nose.
"Very well," he said at last. "Where do you wish to go?"
I perked up immediately.
He narrowed his eyes.
And perhaps I should have known this, since I always challenged him, but I wasn’t scared of Zorathys. Not even a little bit.
"You have not shown me around the capital," I said.
His gaze sharpened at that.
"...The capital."
"Yes."
"You mean this place where the palace is located?" he asked me.
I rolled my eyes at him. "You know exactly what I mean, Zorathys."
He nodded. "True, I do. But, firefly, you wish to leave the ball that is currently being held in your name... to wander the capital."
"When you say it like that, it sounds dramatic."
"It is dramatic."
I tilted my head slightly. "I am just curious about it. I’ve never left the palace and would like to explore it."
"I knew it," he muttered with a dramatic sigh and a shake of his head.
"Knew what?"
"That you would create work for me."
I blinked at him. "How is showing me around the capital work?"
"It requires walking."
I stared.
"That is your reasoning?"
"Yes."
"You can teleport," I told him. "You were the one who specifically told me that you hated walking and preferred teleportation."
"I know I said that, but you just said you wish to see the capital," he told me. "If I teleport at every turn, you will see nothing but flashes of... well, shadows and lights."
"Okay... so if we can’t teleport, we should walk."
His eyes narrowed. "I am immortal, firefly, but I suspect you are trying a thousand ways to kill me."
I almost laughed at that. "You just said you are immortal, so that means you can’t die."
"I know what immortal means," he said, waving me off. "But I also know attempts on my life when I see one."
Then he scoffed and shook his head, muttering quietly, "Walking, she says."
I just stared at him with wide eyes at this ridiculous display of his aversion to walking.
"Why," he asked slowly, "do you even wish to see it? There is nothing to see."
"That is impossible."
"It is very possible."
"It is different from the human realm," I argued. "The architecture, the streets, the markets. Everything seems different. I am curious."
Just being in the beast demon territory, even though I had not enjoyed it, was enough to make me curious.
"Curiosity," he said flatly, "is inconvenient."
"For you."
"For me."
I leaned forward slightly. "Do you not ever look at your own realm and think it is beautiful?"
He paused, then scrunched up his face.
"That’s too much..."
"...work," I said, completing his words.
He nodded. "What is there to look at when I could be in bed..."
"...or air."
"Mighty comfortable too, the both of them. But as I was saying, what is there to be looking at in this realm when I could be in bed or air, like you said, sleeping and recovering my energy from even being in the presence of those who call themselves nobles?" he asked me.
And yes, I wasn’t surprised at all that he said that. I was getting used to how lazy this demon king was and was very certain he was still even at the ball right now because of me. I do not want to get a big ego from that, but there was a possibility and... it kind of made me giddy.
"I hear looking at the beautiful sky makes you even more relaxed," I told him.
He gave me a disgusted look. I had no idea Zorathys could even make one like that, but even then, it fit him... a little too well.
"One would have to tilt their necks to look up at the sky. I wonder just how much energy that would take. Rather than looking at something which has been the same for over thousands of years, I would rather be in my bed," he told me.
"But teleporting to your bed and even climbing on it..." I tilted my head. "Isn’t that work itself?"
"Firefly," he said as he shook his head, "the things that are work and tedious and make people tired, you do not classify as work, but it’s getting into bed that is?"
"I’m just curious," I told him with a shrug of my shoulders.
"That’s peace, firefly. It’s relaxing just being in the sleeping chambers and getting to drop everything about the tiresome day. There’s no work there, just peace," he told me.
Perhaps someone should take Zorathys and make him do an advert on the effects of being lazy and the joy of sleep.
"And again, firefly, I hate repeating myself, though I do it a lot with you," he told me.
"Just tell me what you want to say, Zorathys," I replied with an eye roll.
"You do know that there is currently a ball in progress," he reminded me. "A ball held in your name, right?"
I opened my mouth to argue, but he continued, apparently on a roll.
"One you apparently dragged me to attend, even though I clearly suggested that it be postponed. I’m not against you leaving a party if you are tired and in need of sleep, but you are not tired, firefly. You just want to leave, and mind you, there are nobles in the hall waiting for you."