The King's Beloved

After the emotional scene in the car, the team finally arrived at their destination - a luxurious hotel with a revolving restaurant at the very top. The whole place glittered and sparkled with all the expensive furnitures, intricate designs, and state of the art facilities. Even the servants who attended to them when they entered inside, were all pleasing to look at.

Despite the beauty of the place and every single person that could be seen all around, Elliot still stood out among them. Yes, to the point that random women who couldn\'t help themselves, approached him.

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"Hey handsome," a woman wearing a very tight red dress that had barely any clothing covering her chest, seductively called out to Elliot. Her chest was too exposed that almost half of it could be seen. If that wasn\'t enough, she deliberately crossed her arms, pressing her chest together. She was beautiful though, and her body was a perfect 36 - 24 - 36. "Why don\'t you spend the night with me? I won\'t disappoint you".

After her, came another woman who had an even larger chest, and another, tall, skinny one. One after another they came swarming unto him to the point that they fought and argued with each other.

Elliot was confused as to why strangers were talking to him.

Rania, Ducis and Luna got separated from Elliot, due to the crowd that swarmed at him as if he was a celebrity. They tried to help pull him from the crowd but they couldn\'t get near.

Standing tall from the crowd of already tall women, wearing heels, Elliot shoved them away with his arm and passed through. But someone suddenly grabbed him by the arm and purposely hugged Elliot\'s arm, burying it between her large chest. It was the girl wearing the tight red dress.

Elliot felt utterly disgusted that his face furrowed and he instinctively shoved his arm away. His force was too much that the girl lost her balance and fell, kneeling to the ground. The other women laughed at her.

In his distaste, Elliot shouted, "Don\'t touch me!" His voice scared the rest of the women who were about to touch him as well.

The crowd finally opened up and Elliot walked towards Rania, Ducis and Luna.

After the short commotion, they went straight to the elevator that carried them up to the uppermost floor, where the revolving restaurant was. Servants came and led them to their seat.

"Wooooow!" Luna gaped as her head spun around slowly. "This place is amazing! Look at all those shining things … And the food! They look so delicious, uhmm!"

"Yes, they look scrumptious," Rania agreed. "There\'s a lot of different cuisines here too. I\'m not sure what to call them though. But oh well, the taste is what\'s important". Then, she sliced the steak that was on her plate, picked it up with a fork and put it in her mouth. All her movements were flawless and elegant. She stopped for a moment to judge the taste, "Hm! Not bad! It\'s really tasty".

Elliot, Ducis, and Luna followed. Their faces lit up after tasting the food. It really was delectable, as expected of the top restaurant in the whole Tenebris.

After having their fill, the butler invited them to the shopping mall to buy clothes and anything that they may like. Elliot and Rania wanted to say no but Luna was faster and she immediately agreed. She really wanted to try out different Magi clothes and accessories and look at the flowers shops and other things that caught her fancy.

Like a kid who\'s experiencing her first time inside a mall, Luna ran around looking at different shops and asking lots of questions to the sales representatives. Even Ducis got curious and checked out the shops. It was a breath of fresh air for Rania and she laughed watching Luna and Ducis agreeing on doing something for the first time.

"Rania, are you feeling okay now?" Elliot looked at her with worry in his eyes.

"Yes, I\'m okay now. Thank you very much, Elliot". Rania smiled warmly towards him. "Why don\'t we go and check them out, too?"

And so, Rania and Elliot wandered around the mall together since Luna and Ducis were nowhere to be found. They went into different shops, mostly those that sell food or apparels. Elliot went in for the food to learn different tastes and recipes, while Rania wanted to see how Elliot would look like in a human\'s clothing. And as she guessed, celebrity idols would be still be ashamed to stand beside him.

When they were finally enjoying wandering around, trouble suddenly came.

"Well, well, it\'s great to see that you\'re enjoying it here," the City Lord greeted Elliot and Rania. He was followed by a bunch of bodyguards and other servants.

Elliot gave him a scowl as he stepped forward and covered Rania with his back.

"Aww, you\'re still angry with me?"

"Are you not going to introduce yourself?" Elliot sighed.

"Oh, right. I thought my servant already introduced me".

"What\'s your name? Aside from City Lord?"

"Hmm … my name? Now, now, I\'m a really important person so I can\'t just say my name," he playfully dodged the question. "But if you join me for a moment, I might consider telling you. Only us though, the woman can stay to continue shopping or go back to the hotel. My servants will accompany her".

"No," Elliot immediately answered.

"Elliot," Rania whispered to him. "Why don\'t you go with him and see how we can get to the temple? We\'re looking for another guardian\'s temple right? He\'s the City Lord, he\'ll know for sure".

Rania was right and Elliot couldn\'t refute her. Even if he was so worried of what might happen to her alone. Ducis and Luna were missing, too. If they got separated more, he didn\'t know what he\'d do.

"But …"

"Don\'t worry, I\'ll be fine. I can use magic now, right?" Rania assured him.

Elliot breathed deeply. As much as he\'s worried, he also respects Rania\'s decision. "Alright, if that\'s what you want. But promise me, you\'ll be careful".

Rania nodded. Elliot held out his pinky fingers.

"Hm? Hahaha! You remembered!"

"I always remember". Elliot shrugged.

After doing pinky-swear, they both went on their way. Rania decided to go back to the hotel instead and asked the servants to look for Ducis and Luna. While Elliot followed the City Lord to wherever it was, he was bringing him.