Noah had been more than a bit curious about the dress code of Oz for important meetings and gatherings, and he couldn’t help but say… he was really impressed by what he had been presented.
A white suit with golden streaks, closer to a military outfit than a traditional suit worn during meetings on Earth. It suited the theme that the Emerald City and Oz as a whole followed. Donning the given suit, Noah couldn’t help but think it was quite stylish and fitting for him. His body was not too muscular but they were detailed enough that it was easy to see he didn’t wield a weak body underneath all the clothes.
His short silver hair and charming blue eyes gave him the appearance of a young and zealous general returning from war. No matter how one looked at it, Noah looked more like a dignified noble than anything else.
Eve had been silent for some time now but Noah did not mind the Parasite Queen keeping to herself. Despite sharing the same body, it wasn’t as if they conversed with each other nonstop without any rhyme or reason. They could go on for days or even weeks when on the deserted planet without relaying a single word to each other unless something important occurred that required both of their input.
Adjusting the white gloves included with the outfit, Noah looked at the mirror and couldn’t help but grin at what reflected back.
“Mirror, my dear mirror, who else but me is the most handsome human in the world?”
Sadly, or perhaps thankfully, the mirror did not answer. However, Noah took the silence as his win. He was indeed the most handsome human in this world. The fact that he was most likely the only human left in this world, did not matter now, did it?
“I will take your silence for an inability to find an answer to my question.” He laughed out loud before walking out of his assigned quarters.
He had a date to attend today, after all.
———
Leaving the abode, Noah waited for someone to come and pick him up. While waiting for his guide, Noah couldn’t help but wonder if a pumpkin carriage would soon arrive and lead him to his date, due to that, he couldn’t help but be disappointed when a rather lavish, and normal-looking carriage came to a stop before him. Thankfully, while it did not seem magical in any way, the seats were extremely comfortable and the short ride that accompanied was a pleasant experience.
The place where Noah was escorted to was an open-air restaurant close to a cliff, giving a direct view of a pristine lake that stretched far and wide, as well as the ethereal moon overhead.
It was a very romantic and private setting, and Noah found himself being more than a bit appreciative of the decorations and the scenery of the restaurant.
Stepping out of the carriage, Noah now had a white mask covering his face. It was a night with the themes of a masquerade added to it, at least that’s what the mask on his face suggested.
Before him, he could see people as far as his eyes could witness, all of them mingling and chatting away in their dignified and varying attires. Most of the attendees were seated in their respective seats while a select few chatted while standing or roamed and surveyed the wide area of the restaurant.
Small round tables were placed sporadically in an organized fashion and near the cliff was the stage where music groups took their respective positions and entertained the guests with their musical talent.
Noah was quite lucky as… just as he arrived, the so-called musicians of the town of Bremen were set to begin their performances.
What was more surprising was that they did not look much like animals, nor were they in a style similar to lions.
On the stage, Noah could see four people who looked more human than anything else. The only difference that deviated them from their human origins was the few animal traits that covered their bodies here and there. One of them had a slender body with a pair of white wings, one had cat ears and tails and a rather voluptuous body while wearing a low-cut purple dress that matched the black cat ears.
The third was the tallest of the group and had a horse-like tail and the last one was wearing a collar around her neck while her tail and ears were of a gentle brown.
Indeed. For some reason, the four musicians were four beautiful women rather than four farm animals as was detailed in the fable. A stark contrast from his expectations.
Well, I guess I should have learned my lesson by now.
This was another timely reminder to him that he could not afford to think that he had an advantage just because he knew some fairytales that just happened to match with the different groups of people in this world, not to mention the fact that he wasn’t really all that disappointed at being wrong in this case. After all, unlike the tentacle face idol he had seen on the net, the four women in front of him were far more visually appealing.
Capricornus would have had a stroke if he saw those ears and tail.
Noah couldn’t help but chuckle in reminiscence of his fellow Constellation and listened intently to the music presented by the renowned musicians, the highlight of today’s event.
“What, may I ask, prompted this laughter?”
A woman wearing a black cocktail dress and a half-black mask stopped next to him and queried with a voice full of intrigue and interest.
Noah shrugged as he replied, “Nothing much, was just reminded of a friend of mine. He would have loved to be here.”
The woman nodded sagely, “Faunari are indeed a very popular race in this galaxy.”
“Faunari?”
“That’s the name of the race the Town Musician of Bremen belongs to. Well, it’s honestly a more generalized name used to refer to all of them. After all, the Faunari are extremely diverse, with well over a few hundred subspecies in existence and more being discovered as we explore the Sea of Stars. As such we simply refer to all of them by one name.”
“I see.”
Noah started walking and was followed by the woman, “So, waiting for anyone in particular?”
“Well, I was waiting for a certain woman but she seems intent on playing a prank on me. So Dorothy, shall we start our date?”
***
Smiling, he gave a pointed look toward the masked woman. His words prompted the woman to immediately raise her hand, signaling a sign of defeat. At the same time, she couldn’t help but touch her mask and even try to adjust it, thinking that it had come off.
“Oh? You can see through my mask? It should have been equipped with a facial and voice distortion mode as well as a mode that could affect perception.”
“Well… I was indeed not able to discern who you were with your face or whatever. I just was able to recognize your scent.”
“My scent?” Dorothy froze a little and fought the urge to act unladylike by bringing her armpit close to her face to sniffle. Seeing her action, Noah could only chuckle and shake his head, “Do not worry, you have a very interesting scent. One close to lavender. Very subtle and calming. I quite like it, in fact.”
“Well… I have received many different kinds of praise, but I have to say that this is indeed a first experience for me.” Dorothy said.
“I hope I wasn’t rude.” His eyes twinkled.
“Oh no~ Far from it. I like novel experiences. This helps me calm down and survive my usually dull life.” She found this exchange quite entertaining.
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“I would have never thought that the life of a Queen would be dull.”
“Well, you would be surprised. I have not much to do most of the time nowadays, and I cannot go on adventures like I used to do with my friends. Since Oz is currently an absolute monarchy, there is no one to fight against me. Even the few fights we had were mostly small skirmishes where I did not need to intervene. As if all that wasn’t enough, Scarecrow, Tin and Lion are so skilled I have nothing much to do outside reviewing the fatalities as well as reviewing and approving documents these days.”
Dorothy looked up at the large silver moon and couldn’t help but sigh out loud, “One of my wishes was simply to become a renowned adventurer. Now, though, I guess I overshot the dream by quite a bit, don’t you think?”
“Heh, I would say you did more than just overshoot your goal.”
The pair shared a small chuckle filled with mirth and started a small discussion as the enchanting music captivated their hearts. They did not speak of anything important, in fact, only conversed about the recent intriguing topics of the galaxy or shared some funny moments they experienced.
It was an agreeable night and Dorothy assured him that no one could hear their discussion as she had placed a barrier around them to filter out the sound. Magic was truly an interesting thing.
“Did you know, one of the Pendragons, to get a woman he loved, decided to buy her entire planet and then acted like a normal man while he tried to gain her love? An entire population of more than 10 billion people were used as nothing but actors and artists.”
“That sounds… creepy, to be honest.” Noah could not imagine the thoughts behind an action of such a grand scale. But then, remembering that one prince had an entire museum made out of planets and entire solar systems, he realized that he had to change his perspective when it came to the Pendragon family or rather the galaxy as a whole.
“It’s indeed quite creepy. The Pendragon family is filled with rather, well let’s say, eccentric people. Thankfully they are overall, acceptable rulers. Things are a little different with the Federation, however, as well as the Guild and the other behemoths of the Galaxy.”
Since the Federation was a coalition of an extremely high number of planets, in essence, they were nearly at the same level as the imperial family. The reality, of course, was vastly different than what was simplified.
“I am pretty sure the Imperial family owns or is in alliance with more than 30% of the Federation.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle as she shared the information. At the end of the day, even the Empire despite its absolute monarchy was not a perfect monolith. There were simply too many planets and systems for it to control. For obvious reasons, the situation was far worse for the Federation since each of the systems had its own independent laws and regulations as well as sovereign power.
“If the Empire and the Federation went into war, 9 out of 10 times, the Federation would lose.”
“And yet the Federation still exists to this day.”
“That’s but a given. The Federation reached the level where they were weak enough to not be a threat to the Empire’s rule but too strong to simply be crushed like a fly. The Empire would need to sacrifice much in order to win and the act itself would leave them vulnerable to others who wish to overthrow their rule.”
“People like you?”
Dorothy smiled meaningfully, “I am not really interested in reaching that far. But I like the situation we are in. We are one of the powers sandwiched between two behemoths. Technically, we belong to the side of the empire, and I was even awarded the noble title of Duchess. But I also have stakes in the Federation and my influence in the Guild is nothing to scoff at since I was once a high-ranked Adventurer and Mercenary of theirs.”
“A woman of many talents, if I may mention.”
“I am glad you understand this. I am just as beautiful as I am talented too.” She grinned, completely unashamed at praising herself. However, her smile soon slipped a bit and a bit of gloom soon mixed in, “Oz is walking on a tightrope. Every waking moment is dedicated to making sure we reach a power level sufficient enough to keep our independence while not ruffling too many feathers.”
Her voice was still bright, but it was easy to see the lethargy in her eyes as she unconsciously massaged her brows— the mind of a ruler was always under constant pressure indeed.
“It seems quite hard.”
“It is. Sometimes, I regret becoming a Queen, you know? People only see the glitters and the honors of being a ruler but they do not see the tears and the sacrifice I have to make. One nod from me and tomorrow an entire star system could be erased. A wrong word from me and a massacre could occur. A mistake and all of Oz could be lost. It’s tiring and vexing on top of it all.”
Noah drank from his glass in silence, listening to the grievance of the young queen, “But even though it’s hard… Even though I have considered giving up many times and simply fleeing from everything, I did not.”
She looked toward the stage where the musicians were working on animating the venue, “All because… I love this planet. I love the people who live on this planet and it’s my responsibility to ensure a certain quality of life for my people. Also, having all this power can be pretty amusing you know?”
Noah nodded, his eyes a little vacant, “I did not grow on the planet where Morgiana found me.”
“... Oh?” Dorothy was surprised by the sudden admission, she already understood that Noah had many secrets and that he was not likely to divulge those secrets to her so this came off as more of a surprise than she would be willing to admit.
“Would you care for a dance?” Rather than continuing his words, Noah questioned instead and while Dorothy was taken aback by the change in topic, she extended her hand all the same, “I would be honored.”
A confident smile stretched Noah’s lips as he took her hand in his, and the two of them started a slow dance under the soothing tune. Even in his past life, Noah had not exactly been trained for such occasions. However, dancing was nothing but coordinating the movements of one’s body, and he was a professional in the art of moving one’s body.
With a hand snaking around her waist and the other interlaced with hers, the two were at so close they would have been able to feel each others' breath if not for their masks. For an instant, Dorothy even regretted asking to add this masked theme. Noah’s face was quite a delight to the eyes, and she felt she could never get bored while gazing at his immaculate face.
At the same time, she was quite glad to be wearing the mask. A duality of thought, she knew, but her face felt far too heated under the cool breeze for her to be comfortable showing anyone her expressions right now. She was not ignorant of social etiquette and had shared a dance with many dignitaries over her life. From princes to warlords to even kings and emperors, none of them were able to make her heart flutter so.
As the Queen, she had been nagged again and again by her retainers about searching for a companion and having an heir or simply cloning herself or simply fertilizing her egg in vitro by using one of the most compatible males. Some even suggested using another woman as a surrogate mother to make sure Dorothy didn’t weaken her own body.
All proposals lacked even a shred of romanticism, expectedly so when your main adviser was an AI who only cared about efficiency.
“I was born and raised on what you guys would consider a low-level civilization or rather, it wasn’t even a Type-I I’d assume? So I guess it’s even lower than what you could call a civilization by the galactic standards.”
Noah’s voice brought Dorothy’s mind out of the gutter and all her focus was attuned to his voice, “I don’t want to enter too much into details about my life. This isn’t a sob story after all. All that matters is that one day, my planet was invaded and thus we had to fight to protect it.”
“Invaded?” She was surprised.
Noah ignored her question, he did not wish to enter into too many details about the matters of his past, “You already should have guessed by now, but I am from Sol-III. However, what you might not have guessed is that I am not a descendant.”
Dorothy was confused. That did not make sense in terms of timeline, the planet where they found Noah was at a distance of 4.2 light years from Sol-III. For Noah to have reached that planet without any warp device and with a low-level space program, it would have taken 81 350 years at minimum and this was if everything went perfectly well with no particular problems along the journey. If not, even one million years might not have been enough.
Dorothy looked at Noah quietly but soon, her mind calmed down, “I guess I should call you grandpa?”
Noah couldn’t help but choke on his saliva, “I… did not see that one coming.”
“Well, learning that you are most likely a few thousand years or perhaps even a million year old entity is quite shocking but to be honest…It’s not that shocking in this place. I mean, were you ever on the verge of cutting the head of a chicken and suddenly heard him plead for his life?” She laughed, “80% of Oz’s civilians are vegetarian or only eat imported meat because many were traumatized like this.”
Her voice was lighthearted, making the heavy atmosphere dissipate somewhat. Noah could see what she was doing and he was happy for the gesture.
“What I don’t understand is. Why are you telling me this, now?”
“Because I want to trust you.”
His voice was blunt, “I do not plan to settle in Oz. I want to travel and explore the stars. I also have many secrets but few secrets can be kept forever. This is why I need allies. Trustworthy allies, people I can give my back to with no fear.”
“And you choose us?”
“Yes. I have been removed from human interaction for years and as such, I hold much distrust. Even now, my guts are twisting because I feel like I am giving you too much information. But… trust and loyalty are not a one-way street. I cannot expect people to trust me when I do not trust them.”
He closed his eyes before opening with determination, “I do not want to lie to you more than necessary. I am still wary. Even now, I am holding a few more secrets. Very big ones.”
“So do I.” She squeezed his hand, “Allies do not have to share everything because they are close, you know? There is nothing wrong with keeping some secrets. All that matters is that none of those secrets can harm the other.”
Noah lowered his head and the two of them gazed into each other eyes, they held contact for a few seconds.
“Of course, I wish to be more than just an ally to you.”
People said that the eyes were the window to one’s soul and at this moment, all Noah could see was joy and benevolence as well as understanding and acceptance. Of course, there was much more in those eyes as well. Feelings that Noah did not think he was ready to deal with at the moment.
“I plan to leave soon. I will have to discuss it with Morgiana after this.” In the end, Noah was the one to break the strange atmosphere that was slowly creeping up between the two of them as he looked away and to this, Dorothy only had one thing to say,
“Coward.”
For once, Noah had no rebuttal to her words.