The morning light beamed through the curtains of the inn's window, casting long streaks across the floorboards and onto the bed where she lay.
Elizabeth was waking up. Her hand instinctively reached up, brushing over her chest where the pressure still lingered. She could still hear Hel's voice, as crisp as if it had been whispered in her ear just now.
"Nnnghh..." Elizabeth exhaled slowly, grounding herself in the present.
This wasn't the Rozenheart garden; she was back in the Buckled Hen tavern, but her dream still clung to her like silk.
Elizabeth sat up as she rubbed her eyes. Her short silver-white hair tumbled down loosely, slightly tangled from restless sleep before a soft knock came at the door.
"Liz? You up yet?" It was Kyto's voice. He sounded more casual and grounded than before. "We're grabbing breakfast downstairs. You've got about ten minutes before I eat everyone's rations. And don't forget, we gotta prepare for Vrunemir and his men."
Elizabeth chuckled lightly despite herself.
"Got it. I'll be down soon." She called out, standing from her bed.
Elizabeth caught her reflection in the mirror beside the door, staring at herself.
"Dreams of the past, huh?" She smiled. "Well I do miss everyone and I hope they're doing well."
+
"Can you two stop fighting?" Grimhild was sitting at a table in the inn, reading a book, but Fhiron, and to everyone's surprise, Obsidia, were fighting.
"Grimhild, control your golem!! What's her problem with me?" Shouted the Elf King.
"I did not appreciate you staring at me that way."
Yes. Obsidia was finally awake. Dressed in her typical maid outfit, she had the beauty of a princess; pale skin, long hair, and a white headband.
Fhiron couldn't help but be admired by her outstanding appearance.
"It's not my fault you're attractive for a pile of metal!" He admitted out loud. "Besides, what kind of man wouldn't stare at you?! Unless they're gay!"
"Or loyal to their spouse." Said Jean, sitting next to Grimhild.
"And also that! Exactly what my friend just said!"
Obsidia tilted her head slightly with her eyes narrowing as her tone stayed perfectly calm and cold.
"A servant's appearance is not meant to be ogled. Nor commented on with such vulgarity."
Fhiron blinked, genuinely thrown off.
"Okay, first off, that's unfair! You're not just a servant, you're like a warrior-maid of doom. People are allowed to be impressed."
Obsidia said nothing in response. Instead, she turned to Grimhild with a slight bow.
"Lady Grimhild, I request permission to relocate myself farther from this... creature."
Grimhild didn't even look up from her book.
"Granted. But don't break anything."
"I shall refrain."
With composed steps and not a single glance more at Fhiron, Obsidia walked across the tavern and took a new seat beside Jean, who offered a polite nod.
Jean, without even lifting his head from his tea, muttered, "Poor Fhiron. Shot down by a golem."
"Shot down by a goddess of elegance and murder!" Fhiron grumbled before sitting down, sulking over his half-eaten bread roll. "She's the only person I've ever been scared of that I also kinda want to marry..."
"That explains a lot about you." Said Kyto, walking in with Elizabeth right behind him.
Elizabeth blinked confusingly as her brows raised at the scene.
"What... happened while I was gone?"
"You slept through round one of chaos." Jean said simply.
Obsidia gave Elizabeth a nod of acknowledgment.
"Good morning, Lady Rozenheart."
"Huh? Are you the sleeping woman Chroliosa was carrying around? Um... Just Elizabeth is fine!" She replied kindly, baffled by everything.
Grimhild finally looked up from her book.
"Sleep well?"
Elizabeth hesitated.
"Yeah... well enough."
There was a knowing glance from Grimhild, but she didn't press any further.
"Eat fast." She said to everyone. "We've got work to do. Vrunemir's scouts will be coming before noon."
Obsidia glanced at Grimhild across the table.
"Should I be involved, master?"
Grimhild shook her head.
"No, you may sit out for now. I just repaired you yesterday when everyone was asleep. You need time to regain control of your magic."
Fhiron muttered under his breath.
"She's not joining? Good. At least I don't have to prepare to get murdered by a beautiful machine..."
Obsidia paused just long enough to glance back.
"Do not tempt me, Elf King."
Fhiron held his hands up in surrender.
"Right, right. Loyal golem death goddess. Got it!"
As everyone resumed breakfast, Elizabeth sat down beside Obsidia before Kyto sat across the other side of the table beside Fhiron.
In front of her were her rations.
"Wow, this looks good. What is it?" Grabbing her fork, she stabbed it into the piece of meat on her plate.
"It's Turkey, pretty good stuff. Never had this back in Alfheim!" Said Fhiron.
"Huh, really? This stuff looks nothing like the Turkey I ate back at home." Said Liz.
"That's because your servants always combined Turkey and gravy together. You never got the chance to see the meat buried under all that sauce." Said Kyto, munching on his bread roll.
"Ahaha! Yeah, I guess you're right. I can't believe you remember that..."
"I remember a lot more than you can think, Liz."
Something about the way Kyto said that made her glance up. His voice had softened just enough to make her smile.
"I guess so. We really have changed a lot, huh, Kyto...?" She murmured.
Kyto shrugged and took another bite of his bread.
"Not really. You still chew like a noble who got lost in the woods."
Elizabeth squinted at him with mock offense.
"You take that back."
"Make me."
Obsidia blinked at them, tilting her head slightly.
"Is this... flirting?"
Elizabeth instantly flushed.
"W-What?! No!"
Fhiron raised a brow.
"I mean, if that's flirting, then someone hand me a hammer because I've been doing it wrong all my life."
"Your flirting is perverted, you irresponsible King." Muttered Grimhild.
Fhiron lifted his brows.
"Perverted?! Then how do the men in Midgard flirt? How about some tips you old hag!"
Lifting her hand, a magic circle appeared.
"Drultoh!"
In an instant, Fhiron was banished from the table and sent somewhere else, far away.
"Huh??" Jean widened his eyes, glancing at the witch. "G-Grimhild, what was that?"
"I banished him to Jotunheim."
"Pfft..." Elizabeth nearly burst out into laughter.
"Deserved." Said Obsidia, cold.
A tear in space appeared in front of everyone as Fhiron soon returned from the realm of the giants, frosted all over.
Stumbling through the portal, he collapsed onto the tavern floor in a heap of frost and lost dignity. Snowflakes scattered around him like little witnesses to his suffering.
"Why is everything in that place so big and angry?!" He shouted as his teeth chattered as he clung to the nearest chair leg like a shipwrecked sailor clinging to driftwood. "A giant the size of a wyvern tried to marry me! I've been stuck there for hours, freezing in their absolute zero temperatures!"
"Hours?" Jean asked, lifting his brows.
"A few seconds here is a few hours in Jotunheim." Said Grimhild.
Elizabeth covered her mouth, trying—and failing—not to burst into laughter.
"You look like you've just fought a blizzard and lost." Kyto said, feeling slightly bad for the Elf King. "Did the giants accept your proposal, or...?"
"Don't joke! It gave me a ring made out of icicles and tree bark!" Fhiron groaned, still shivering. "Grimhild, it's not that deep! You and that Drultoh spell are the bane of my existence! I'm suing you for emotional damage, you witch!"
Grimhild flipped to the next page of her book with complete indifference.
"Counter-sued for crimes against taste."
Obsidia, deadpan as ever, added. "I would advise against trying to flirt with giants in the future."
"I wasn't flirting with the giant!" Fhiron shouted.
Elizabeth had to turn away to stop herself from snorting into her turkey.
The tension that had quietly hovered over the morning now melted like snow on warm stone.
The group laughed with the comfort of shared absurdity. Even Obsidia, for the briefest moment, allowed the smallest smirk to pass her lips, though it was unnoticeable.
"You lot sound like a circus in a hurricane." The Barkeeper, Fienta, commented from the counter.
Grimhild didn't look up from her book.
"You're welcome for the entertainment, everyone here is mentally ill it seems."
Mister Fienta snorted and walked behind the bar, grabbing a small barrel of dried fruit and sliding it onto the counter.
"Keep it down before you scare off the other guests. Or worse, attract more of your kind."
"What do you mean 'our kind'?" Fhiron said, shivering as he sat at the table.
"The loud ones. The dangerous ones. The ones who think flirting is a form of combat." Fienta said teasingly, pointing a spoon at him.
Grimhild finally stood up, banishing her book into her own personal space.
"Enough chitchat. It's time."
The group quieted down before standing up.
Elizabeth wiped the corner of her mouth and stood with the others, having finished her Turkey. "Wait, what's the plan exactly? What do we do?"
"We will join up with Lorence and the other villagers."
Liz lifted her brows in question.
"Other villagers?"
"Mm." Grimhild nodded. "Lorence has convinced everyone in the village to join forces, and fight with us against Vrunemir and his men." A smile crossed Grimhild's face. "This is their chance to protect their village, and we will be doing it beside them."