“Frital, The Capital of Leonia Kingdom, was first mentioned in 450 BS, after the establishments of first Human Kingdoms in the World. The city was a Capital of 3 different Kindgoms since then, the Leonia family being its current rulers. The Palace of Frital, also known as ‘The Pearl of the West’, albeit the smallest of the Royal Palaces of the World, is also the most beautiful one. The Palace Gardens are said to contain plants from every corner of the Mainland (including some from Dralarag, after the generous donations of Lord Michael Kreshorok, after the death of his mother, who remodeled a part of the gardens to allow those plants to grow properly). The Leonia Royal Family uses it to this day as a spot for banquets and ceremonies.”
̶ Palaces of the World, High Chieftain Ton’Darros Graphat, 770 AS
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Apparently, this ‘dinner ceremony’ is to be held at the Palace Gardens. These ‘Gardens’ are apparently special places where only plants grow. Who dedicates that much grounds to plants? Also, aren’t plants dangerous? I mean, sure, there are some flowers that women love to have at home, but a plant that doesn’t try to kill you is a rarity. I mean, I grew up close to a Bilespewer marsh. The stench was horrific during the summer! It took 10 years of rigorous campaigning to remove them all, and we lost an entire colony of Flame Imps in the process.
I lost 12 Imps to the Widower that we planted in our ‘Garden’ already. The thing eats like a person. They wrote that she likes ‘Gardens’. Let’s see what is so special about them.
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The carriage is moving incredibly fast through the streets. The Demon is just sitting opposite to me, looking through the windows. Does he seem… surprised? What do the Demon cities look like? Nobody has ever seen one, the Demons preferred to meet us at our forts, rather than let us venture in their territory.
We’re sitting in complete silence; I’m not sure why. He seemed so full of himself and used to being in public at the Church; looking at him like this you’d think you were watching two completely different people.
“Hey, what is that thing called?” He asks, pointing his finger at the watermelon vendor. Is he asking me what a watermelon is, or what a vendor is?
“The green, round stuff, in the stall, what are they?” Yep, the watermelons.
“Watermelons.”
“What do you use them for?”
“Eating?”
“Is it a fruit? How does it grow?”
“Yes, it’s a plant; you get a bunch of them when you plant the seeds in the ground. They grow them at farms. The inside is watery and sweet, used to refresh yourself during the hot summer days.”
“What do you feed them?”
“What do you mean?” How does one feed a plant?
“Well, what do you feed them to grow?”
“You put the seeds in the ground, and water it regularly? It grows in about three months.”
“So you don’t have Plant Imps?”
“What are Plant Imps?”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Well, the Imps you feed to the plants obviously. You put a whole colony of them, they forage on shrooms, mana, and trash, you have workers weed them out a hundred at a time and feed them to the plants. Simple. Kids love it, they invented a game around it: ‘Feed the Imp to the Grappler’; the winner is the one who manages to not use magic to escape the vines. Ah, good times.”
What the hell is he talking about? Feeding the plants? Imps? Grapplers? What kind of monstrosities do they have there? What am I going into exactly?
As our light conversation came to an end at my new husband apparently reminiscing about his childhood, we enter the Palace Gardens. I always liked it here, the peace, the beautiful smells, the silence. I even trained in here for a while. The oaks have grown so much since I was a child, my father had planted some whenever each one of us was born. ‘Let your lives be stable as these trees, and may you take your own roots one day, like they take roots now’ he said.
The Gardens have been fitted with so many tables, almost every noble from our country and even some from other countries have come. To come here to see the Princess getting married, this is bigger than what we had at my sister Magdalene’s wedding. Or was I smaller back then? I’ve noticed that recently. That ‘huge’ tree I used to climb when I was 7 is now within the grasp of my hand. It’s funny really. I’m going to miss this place.
I suddenly realized, we actually talked to each other. About watermelons! He’s taking me away from my home, and I’m explaining what a watermelon is to him! Is he using magic on me? Is there a kind of magic for that? How could have I been so stupid! He is definitely dangerous, I need to watch what I’m doing.
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Huh, watermelons. I wonder if I’ll get to taste one.
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He grabbed her and carried her off! Who does he think he is? What did he do to her? A bride is supposed to arrive to the dinner followed by her family, and a lot of guards. He literally waltzed in, killed that huge thing that cannot possibly be called a boar, took her in his hands, walked out, then they rode in his own carriage. With no guards! What if we had a spy in the wedding? How can he be so careless?
And then he just nonchalantly says that they’ll go to the dinner themselves, and to start preparing this filthy thing on the floor. What are we supposed to do with it?
As I’m thinking about this, I almost walk into that blasted shadow of a servant. How does he do that?
“Lord Renald, may we take the Hellboar to your kitchens? We have brought some cooks to prepare it, and it will be ready shortly after dinner begins.”
“Fine, just wipe this mess up.”
“Certainly.” With a flick of his hand, three Demons walk into the Great Hall. One pulls up the cart with the carcass and takes the head with him, while the other two start chanting something unintelligible. Suddenly, all the blood starts moving towards them and starts flowing upwards towards the pots they carry. The. Blood. Flows. Upwards. What in the World is that?
They then walk out, no words to be spoken between the four of them. I turn to look towards the servant Demon and find myself alone in the Hall. Blasted Demons.