"Hey Percy, how old are you?" Rya asked as she looked at Percy with a curious gaze.

"Huh? I'm eighteen, why are you asking, my lady?" Percy answered while blushing at Rya's question.

"Listen, you have plenty of time to find your next someone. My advice is to be yourself and go out on a limb. It might take some time, but you'll run into your next Bell. As long as you try." Rya smiled.

"Really, but I don't think..." Percy was interrupted by Quinus before he could continue.

"You'll find another, Percy. Don't worry about it. But I'm not going to lie, it's going to be weird not seeing you try to pursue Bell's hand in marriage," Quinus smirked.

"Hey, Prince Quinus? May I ask how old you are?" Rya asked with a raised brow.

"Hahaha, you are a curious one. I'm twenty years old," Quinus chuckled.

"Twenty?! I thought you were older, with how mature and strong your appearance is," Rya smiled in surprise.

"Thanks. I guess... You look pretty young as well. So I'm guessing you're around forty years old?" Quinus said, making eye contact with Rya.

"I-I'm... Twenty-seven," Rya answered back. 'Do I look like an old hag? Forty!? Really!?' she thought to herself in a panic.

"T-T-Twenty Seven!? She's not a fully aged elven adult!" Sir George exclaimed

'They think I'm a child!?' The thought irritated her so much that she had to respond.

"I'm a full-grown woman! Now shut up," Rya responded.

"I'm sorry, Lady Rya... I didn't realize how young you were... I must say, I'm really bad at guessing elves' ages. You look like a 16-year-old human, so I thought your age was around forty to seventy years old... My apologies," Quinus said sincerely.

'Oh!..... Geez, come on, Ryan. I keep forgetting that I'm not human anymore... Of course, Quinus would think I'm older than I look. Dah!' Rya thought while she shook her head. She couldn't believe she jumped to a conclusion without any context.

'But he thinks I look like a teenager? Ha ha. That's cute,' Rya laughed to herself.

"Thank you, Prince Quinus... That means a lot coming from such a handsome man. It was an honest mistake, and I accept your apology." Rya said, smiling.

"Of course, my lady. I apologize again. I should have known better after all these years." Quinus said as he patted Rya's head.

'D-Did he just pat my head?... This is a little strange to get the attention of a man. B-But I feel like I'm being treated like a kid... But... Oh my god, this feels so nice. It's just a simple head pat, and I'm feeling like this. I-It's not his fault. I'm in a woman's body and it would be weird if I tried to correct him. M-Maybe it won't hurt if I let him keep apologizing to me like this.' Rya thought with a smirk as another shiver ran down her spine from Quinus's gentle touch.

She was enjoying her head pats when Quinus asked her. "May I ask how a brave young Dark Elf such as yourself came to be stuck on the 10th floor of the 'Tomb of the Horde' with nothing but the clothes on her back?"

"I-It's a long story," Rya answered while averting her gaze away from Quinus's eyes.

"I'd love to hear it," Quinus asked in a sweet voice.

Rya looked at Quinus, then sighed. "Well, I was attacked by the paladins of the Divine Three. My... friend sacrificed himself by teleporting us to a forest that I had no familiarity with. That led to me being chased by a horde of goblins. At some point, an old obelisk fell over from the goblins chasing me and opened up a hole in the ground which I fell into.... I luckily landed in an underground lake. And that's pretty much it."

Quinus' eyes widened. "You’ve had that many near-death experiences?" He said it in disbelief.

"Yeah, I did," Rya replied, not really feeling the weight of the danger she had faced. Due to Quinus' hand still running through her hair, she couldn't really focus on the severity of her situation when she was feeling so safe and secure sitting next to him.

"I see. How lucky for you," Quinus remarked in a sarcastic tone as he noticed Rya leaning her head into his palm.

Rya realized what she was doing and quickly snapped out of her trance. She felt ashamed that she was letting her guard down when she should be on high alert.

"By the Goddess... The Divine Three have started their purging again," Percy said with a grim look.

"Tsk! The Divine Three!... They would come after us once they wipe out all the other races on Tertius! And we’re a human kingdom!" Sir George added with disgust in his voice.

"Well, Lady Rya. Whatever hardships you had to endure to escape those paladins and goblins to make it to this point. Might be worth it for us to cross paths," Quinus said, trying to lift Rya's spirits.

Rya felt her heart flutter for a moment as her face turned pink.

"Wait? Why didn't you use your Earth Magic on all of those goblins who were chasing you, like when you used those earth spikes to save us?" Sir George asked.

"That's another long story," Rya said with a sigh.

"Tell us, Lady Rya." Sir George insisted.

"Fine," Rya said. "The Goddess of the Dark Elves thought it was entertaining when I was almost killed and raped. She's kind of an ass like that. So after I survived and escaped from the goblins, she gave me my new Dark Earthly Magic as a reward? Anyway, the time you were referring to when I saved your lives, was the first time using my earth magic. I'm glad it worked without a problem."

The three men had a stunned look on their faces as the blood drained from their skin.

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'She tested her spell on us and we were lucky that she didn't accidentally kill us!?' Sir George thought before regaining his composure.

"Haah. Yeah, the Gods and Goddesses can be cruel to us mortals. I'm sorry to hear that, my lady." Sir George said.

Percy still had a look of shock on his face. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I am. So I was hoping to get out of here but I don't know where I'm going," Rya said, looking at Percy.

"You've done well to survive, Lady Rya," Quinus said as he started patting Rya's head once more, sending shivers down her spine.

'H-He's touching me again,' Rya thought, feeling her face warm up again. 'W-Why do I feel so relaxed when he touches me? W-What's happening to me?'

"T-Thank you, Prince Quinus," Rya said with a smile as she snuggled against him. She could feel the warmth coming off his body as he continued his gentle pats. Rya couldn't help but think about how weird it was to be comforted by a man.

'W-Wait! What am I doing? I'm a man, and I'm leading Quinus on.' Rya thought as her eyes went wide. She pulled away from Quinus and then shook her head as if she was trying to get rid of something. Quinus smiles at Rya, thinking that she's being cute.

"S-Sorry about that. W-Why are you guys down here, anyway?" Rya stuttered as she wanted to change the subject.

"Well, there have been a lot of monster attacks happening in the towns of Kishin and Ironside. We're afraid that the adventurers guild failed at culling the horde of goblins, and it was getting worse. We fear that the 'Tomb of the Horde' is preparing for a monster stampede, and we need to destroy the dungeon core before that happens." Quinus explained.

"Oh, so that's why you're here... What's the deal with your cousin?... Marcus, I believe that was the name you called him," Rya asked.

"Ah yes, my cousin," Quinus said as he drummed his knee with his fingers.

"You mean that traitorous dog of a noble?" Sir George shouted.

"Haah... He was hoping to be crowned the next King of Fiafyr. Everyone thought he was going to be the next King because Queen Rianna had seven miscarriages. That was until Prince Quinus was born." Sir George explained.

"Seven miscarriages?" Rya asked.

"Yes, I'm the only child of House Meredydd."

"And one hell of a child, I might add, my lord! No one expected the Queen to give birth after all those times she miscarried. Let alone give birth to a human with a demi-god-level mana vein. King Cyndre and Queen Rianna were ecstatic as you can imagine." Sir George said this with a smile.

"I didn't know that," Rya said as she looked at the ground shyly.

"It's okay, my lady. I'm used to it and I was expecting this to happen. My cousin's betrayal that is," Quinus said as he put his hand on Rya's head again.

'Geez! Why is he patting me again? This is really strange.' Rya thought as a shiver went down her spine. Rya thought she would have felt uncomfortable after a third time being comforted by Quinus, but she couldn't deny that the warmth radiating off of him was making her relaxed.

"Why do you keep petting my head?" Rya asked Quinus as she lifted her head to look into Quinus' eyes.

"The heat coming off of you feels like a warm summer's day. And secondly, your face looks so adorable when I give you a head massage," Quinus said with a smirk.

'I-I was making faces? Dammit! I should stop him, but his hands are really nice and warm. Maybe a few more minutes of this wouldn't hurt.' Rya thought as she blushed and leaned back into his hand.

"I-I didn't think I was being that obvious," Rya said with a sarcastic tone.

"Okay, well, I'll stop if you want me to. Just say the word." Quinus said, pulling his hand away.

"W-Wait," Rya blurted out, surprising herself.

"Do you want me to continue?" Quinus said with a mischievous smile.

"S-Sure! You can continue if you like. Ugh." Rya blushed.

Quinus nodded as he let his hand message her for a couple more minutes before he stopped.

"Well, let's continue this once we finish taking down the dungeon core," Quinus said as he pulled his hand away.

Rya felt a little disappointed that her head pats were over. Once she had some time to herself she started to wonder about something.

"Hey? Why did you even bring Marcus on this quest in the first place? He's not exactly the most reliable person."

"Because he and his family, House Revealia, have an artifact that can pinpoint where the core is hiding. And he's a capable Wind Mage. My Uncle, Duke Alaric Revelia, claims his son is a human with an Elite level vein. But we are not sure that he's that lucky to have the third strongest vein for humans," Quinus answered.

"That would make sense that the dungeon core wouldn't be out in the open to be destroyed. So what does Marcus' artifact do exactly? Do you know how it works to find a core?"

"They kept that a secret from everyone in the kingdom. We think it can track something that the dungeon core emits. But we're still unsure of what it is," Quinus said while scratching the back of his head.

Rya smirked, "Sounds like their artifact can pick up on ether particles. If you can track that, then you could find the dungeon core."

"Ether particles? That makes sense. So his artifact must be able to detect the flow of ether," Quinus said as he scratched his chin.

Sir George smiled while he shook his head. "Yeah, that may be the case. But we don't know for sure. All we know is Marcus' family owns this artifact, and says it only works for them."

"Well, I can sense ether particles. I just need to relax my mind and focus. Then I can see the flow of ether." Rya said as she closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

"Lady Rya? You can locate where the core is?" Sir George asked as he watched Rya close her eyes.

Rya nodded, "Yes. I'm not sure how far away it is. But I definitely can see the particles. I'm sure I can find it with enough time."

"Lady Rya," Quinus said in a calm tone while he walked in front of her before going down on one knee.

'W-What is he doing? Oh wait, is he going to propose to me? No. That can't be right.' Rya thought as she looked at Quinus in confusion.

Quinus gently took Rya's hand.

"I know we already owe you a life debt for saving our lives. But will you please lend us your aid this one last time, in our hour of need?"

Percy and George followed their prince's lead and were kneeling behind him. Rya had a grin on her face as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.

"Okay? Let's say, I do aid you one more time, what would I get out of it?" Rya sighed while looking at Quinus, who kneeled in front of her. He looked up into her eyes.

And with a stoic temper, he said, "If it's within my power, I'll grant anything you wish for... My lady."

Rya's heart skipped a beat when she stared deep into his golden eyes.

"A-Anything? Anything at all?" Rya stuttered as she stared at Quinus, who was still kneeling before her.

Quinus gave a big smile as he stood up. "If it's within my power. Yes, anything."

Rya felt a shiver run down her spine as she stared up at the handsome man with reddish-brown hair. She quickly took a couple of breaths to calm her racing heart.

'Don't screw this up, Ryan! You can get a place to stay out of this. Hopefully, rent free... Y-Yeah! This is just a simple transaction, that's all!' Rya thought as she felt her anxiety rising.

"Then I'll help you. If I can have a place of my own in the Kingdom of Fiafyr?" Rya asked as she glanced at Quinus, who smiled at her as he bowed his head.

"Would it be satisfactory for my lady if she was given a place in the Maldura Royal Palace, where me and my family reside? We can offer food and clothing while staying with us, too."

"Well, if the space is adequate, then we have a deal," Rya said as she nodded her head.

"Then from this day forth, you shall be a citizen of Fiafyr, Lady Rya. It is my pleasure," Quinus stated as he smiled at Rya. She was happy to be getting her own room to stay in. But that's when she realized something that she overlooked. She had given them the wrong name and would most likely have to live with it for the rest of her life until she turned back into a man.

'Crap! So much for not hanging around them... No, that's not right either! Not only I'm going to be hanging around them. I'm going to be living with them!... Why didn't I correct Quinus about my name?... If I do that now, I'll just look like a moron! UGH!' Rya shook her head at her own mistakes. 'No! It's not worth it! I'll just look pathetic if I do! I've made my bed and I'll have to live with it for now.'

"O-Okay, my lord," Rya said as she blushed at Quinus.

"You can call me Quin, my Lady."

"Oh, okay, well, you can call me... Rya," She smiled as she watched Quinus bow his head again.

Quinus looked up at Rya. "Well, now that we have a deal, why don't we finish the meal that Sir George has made for us? We'll need our strength for the road ahead. I know you have a lot of questions, so let's eat and talk."