Natasha the Halve

Me and Lapia made it to the first floor and we fed the group's mounts ourselves.

A couple staff members were making rounds near the animals in the rest post.

Sonya behaved pretty good. I assumed that was because she was raised by the farm I bought her from with that purpose in mind.

Pochi was chilling next to her, eating thick slabs of meat Lapia gave him.

Pokora's mount, the odd feathered armless dinosaur-looking beast, was a little hyperactive. It only reacted to me when I offered the fruit Lapia handed me after she failed to get its attention.

[Trokoa, Lvl 836]

Impressive, I nodded as it chew on the Oloyas.

Sonya tried to get my attention several times as I fed the other animals and I found her jealousy cute. The Ratnak growled at me and slapped my legs a few times with whines.

I gave her some affection for a few minutes and left when she was satisfied. I followed the Elf's recommendation and wore my Starforged Eternium armor. She wore a white Ezh'de, complimenting her tanned skin very nicely.

Out in the street, an opulent carriage was parked in front of the building. The door opened and Alastor came out.

“Your Excellency,” he bowed to me and Lapia. “Lady Lapia, good morning.”

Lapia gave an elegant bow in return, “Good morning to you, Gentleman Alastor,” she spoke Kator.

I gave the man a nod and greeted him in Kator as well, “Good morning.”

“If it's not too daring, I'd like to escort you to the Royal Palace,” he gave us a polite smile and gestured to the carriage. “Is that welcomed?”

I nodded, “Sure. Would be pretty nice.”

Alastor turned to the carriage and went in.

Lapia closed into me and whispered, “Remember, Natasha. You bow to nobody.”

I gave her a smiled and a quick kiss, “I know, Lala.”

We followed the man into the vehicle and sat down opposite of him.

Alastor knocked the ceiling and our trip began through the busy morning streets of Paarjo.

“Your Excellency,” Alastor looked at me, “If you have any questions about His Majesty the King, please ask them. I may not be able to answer everything due to not having the authority to do so or simply because I may not know the answer.”

“How old is he?” I relaxed on the seat and placed a hand on my girlfriend's thick thigh.

The Elf held my hand and caressed my backhand with her fingers.

“His Majesty the King turned one thousand three hundred and seventy two last winter,” Alastor slapped me with the numbers. “He inherited the crown from his Royal Mother Her Majesty the Queen Felicia Igne Lumin II.”

“I see,” I nodded, contemplating on age and time.

“May I ask something?” Lapia joined.

Alastor nodded.

“Has His Majesty the King come into contact with any Cursed One or Undead in the last century?” she fixed a lock of hair behind her left ear.

“That is not the case, Lady Lapia,” the man replied with certainty. “Nor has the Royal Guard done so.”

What would a proper question even be? I don't know about any magical illnesses and I'd bet any regular old ailment could be easily cured by anyone with the Cleric base class. Alyssa healed Yolin's eye like it was nothing back in Mountroad.

“Has he had a change in behavior?” I chose to go for a more abstract approach.

“Not that I know of,” he replied then thought for a second. “It has come to my attention that His Majesty the King's temper has become... slightly volatile the last few weeks.”

“Okay,” I looked outside through the window. “That's a start.”

The trip continued with me and Lapia asking about the King's diet, his regular schedule, his sleeping habits, and more on the broad side.

“When did all this start?” I asked after around forty minutes.

“The first day of the third month,” Alastor let out a defeated sigh, his ears drooping down.

If not for the circumstances, I would have offered him some tuna or catnip.

Close to my birth... I contemplated.

The vehicle stopped moving and I looked outside again.

A very tall and wide palace sat behind spacious gardens. I had expected the King to live in a castle or something along those lines. Though extremely impractical in a floating city and more specifically considering how cold it gets in winter, I still expected it to be a medieval-looking edifice.

The walls were a gentle sapphire blue similar to the Watchers Offices I had seen so far. The material was clearly the same as the rest of the city, and the blue coloring made it look a little more official in my eyes. Along the walls, the red ship and pickax dotted the almost completely blue building, making it a little more eye-catching than it strictly needed to be.

Considering Paarjo was founded after the ban on war it made sense to build for a more practical purpose instead of the classic militaristic approach a regular castle is built for.

The building was some ten stories high. The height of each made it a bit difficult to gauge as the visible windows were pretty massive by themselves with them being a little over three meters tall. The gates facing the streets were massive, and quite the amount of statues dotted the gardens and some were placed on the walls in little spaces that looked exquisitely carved out.

The figures were all Tigea, with tall feline ears and thin tails. Some wore armor, some wore dresses, some wore business-like uniforms, some wore robes, and some wore light clothes that looked like suits. The different styles of clothing didn't discriminate in sex; men wore robes and dresses, and women wore armor and business-like uniforms in equal amounts.

The gardens looked meticulously cared after and presented a wide assortment of trees and bushes in different shapes and colors.

A surprisingly low chain-link fence separated the street from the palace. It was low enough that I could jump over it with no real effort. Closed gates every twenty meters offered a possible entrance and heavily armored people stood like statues next to each of them. The levels of those I could see were in the 280 range on average and their classes were mostly Warrior-based.

“We're here,” Alastor announced after I took an eyeful of the building. “Paarjo's Royal Palace.”

He opened the door and left the vehicle.

Me and Lapia followed and I looked around.

The buildings around the palace were incredibly tall but the same grayish white as the rest of the city. Most I managed to see had the red pickax and ship on their walls, probably official buildings by the lack of pedestrians in the nearby streets.

“If you would,” Alastor called to us and walked to one of the gates, then opened it.

The guard next to it saluted him, then bowed to me, “Your Excellency! Welcome to Paarjo's Royal Palace! It's an honor to have you here! I hope you enjoy your stay!” a high-pitch female voice came out of the person.

“Thank you very much,” I replied and walked past her, following the Minister.

Lapia walked right behind me, looking around as if to find something.

I copied her and noticed that the inside of the fence had glass bottles with water in them hanging on it.

“What are the bottles for?” I pointed at one, turning to Alastor.

The man was glancing back at us with an amused smile, “A precaution.”

“For what?” I tilted my head, wondering what would require glass bottles of water.

“They'll come out soon,” he gave an ominous answer. “You'll see for yourself.”

“Should I be worried?” I inquired, feeling a bit queasy with the way the man was acting.

The man turned to me with a worried expression on his face, “I beg you not to hurt them. I assure you on my life that they are no threat.”

“Alright,” I gave a non-committal nod.

We continued walking through the gardens towards the palace.

I gave the statues a close look. The material was similar to marble but completely different at the same time. It lacked the obvious stains marble has after a while. It also looked a bit like glass in how the light reflected off the surface. The details were immaculate and intricate, perhaps a step above Michelangelo and Bernini.

Compared to the two artists that managed to create the most Human-like sculptures, the ones in front of me looked like they would wake up from a long and satisfying nap at any moment. Their clothes looked like I could take them off and wear them myself. The technique gave off the feeling that if I were to touch them, the skin would sink under my finger or they would slap my hand away as a reaction. The fur on their bodies gave off the impression of the wind rustling the individual hairs.

I hadn't felt that when looking at the statues on Earth. These were truly breathtaking.

I stopped and inspected a statue of a young man dressed in armor, “What's the material used?”

Alastor chuckled and walked back to me, “The artist of this particular piece chose an Ergite core, crystallized Inperim for the middle layer, and E'eral marble for the surface. These statues have intricate enchantments inside that can be activated for easy moving instead of having to carry them around. They were made before storage items.”

I looked at the statue's face for a few seconds and experienced a little uncanny valley at how realistically the expression was carved.

“Impressive,” I breathed out.

“They really are,” Lapia next to me agreed.

“I'll be sure to extend those compliments to the artist's descendants,” Alastor let out a polite laugh and fixed his posture, “I'm sure they'll be elated.”

We continued walking while I looked at the statues lined on the sides of the path we were walking.

I noticed one was a voluptuous woman wearing a Victorian era dress and had a very strict face. It gave me the feeling of 'dommy mommy' and I checked the base of the sculpture. It had 'Queen Abrielle Rodon Lumin II' written on a metallic plate. Alastor had mentioned she was the one that turned the now depleted mine into a forced labor prison. She looked like the kind of person who would do that.

Once we reached the gates of the Palace itself, Alastor nodded to the two guards standing watch next to it.

The two individuals saluted and opened the large door.

Their outfits were more refined that those the Watchers wore; red silk with blue details.

[Shishi Tigea, Lvl 300 Royal Guard – Crusader]

That's cool, I gave the man to the right a nod. Like a mini boss. Maybe he's all serious and celibate, too. Nice to see the station is added to the class. Unless the class itself has the station in mind?

We followed Alastor through the threshold and a wide hall welcomed us.

It was pretty massive. Beautifully crafted chandeliers hung from the ceiling and a plethora of art pieces decorated the space. The floor was tiled in squares of red and blue. The large windows bathed the interior with the light of the morning suns.

It looked like the kind of place to have a ball.

Loud steps came from a staircase in front of us.

A female Tigea was coming down, looking at us with the pompousness of Royalty.

Oh, shit. The Queen? I panicked a little.

[Dhar'Ji Tigea, Lvl 198 Financial Analyst]

What? I took a second to process the class.

The woman wore a tasteful dress that revealed the soft curves of her body and reached her calves. High heels covered her feet and she walked straight like a rod with her hands locked on the front of her stomach. Her hair was snow white and her skin was a beautiful brown. Her feline ears were taller than any I had seen so far, and her fangs peeked from between her lips. Her eyes were a shocking turquoise that squinted at us.

A tiny tiara sat on top of her head. The band was a gentle gold and ten coin-sized precious stones were embedded on the material. They had a magical shine to them.

Star Tears? I wondered.

She glanced at Alastor and waited.

“Her Excellency Natasha Novak, Halve Warrior!” the man announced, bowing to the both of us. “Lady Lapia Pofeta of House Pofeta from the Ancient Queendom of Maaruhk!”

The woman in front of us arched an eyebrow and scowled.

“Her Highness Princess Agnes Igne Lumin XVII,” the man introduced her.

Lapia bowed to the woman.

I didn't.

“What is a Noble from another country doing here?” her voice was thick with disdain, looking at my girlfriend.

“She's my partner,” I interjected, taking a step forward. “Are we not welcomed here?”

The Princess looked at me and gave me a sneer, “And what is a Warrior going to do to help my Royal Father?” she gave me a glare.

Be understanding, Natasha, I gave the woman a gentle smile. Her dad is facing severe health problems. Anyone would lash out at uncertainty.