The moment we stepped out of the tent, glaring morning light greeted us. Once I had gotten used to the brightness, I blinked as I gazed across the camp in front of me and beyond in awe. In the distance and through my blurry vision, I saw the hues of color, which I assumed was the aurora I had witnessed last night. Even now, during the day, it was still breathtakingly beautiful. Though, I must admit that its presence was not as prominent and flamboyant as it had been during the night, since the sun was overshadowing it.
"Have you never seen the barrier before?" Felix asked, his hand still wrapped around my wrist.
I flicked my gaze to the man. The aurora is a barrier?
"I saw it before," I said but didn't mention that my first time had been last night.
"Then you know it's dangerous to go near it. You must have been told that you cannot pass beyond."
I licked my lips nervously and lied through my teeth. "I think I was, but..." I chuckled nervously. "At the time, I wasn't really listening. Why can't you pass beyond the barrier again?"
"You'll die," he said bluntly. "It was dangerous last night, finding you so close to the barrier." He turned to look at me. "You said you were in a bathhouse? There's one so close to the barrier?"
I blinked because the new information about the aurora made my head spin. Firstly, you'll die if you pass through the barrier. Then how did I ever cross over if not via the aurora? Secondly, Felix didn't know that there was a bathhouse with a hot spring right on the line of the light.
Suddenly, many questions were popping up in my mind, and I wanted to know more. I thought about asking Felix but decided against it because he didn't look the type to want to answer me. He'd just think that I was dimwitted or something, since it looked as though anyone who lived in this realm should know the basics. I decided that I'd ask Aria instead, when I had the chance.
I sighed. It looked like returning home wasn't going to be an easy endeavor after all. And here I had thought that I could just return to that bathhouse in the woods, hop into the hot spring, walk through the aurora, and, voila, I'd be back home.
Felix must have heard my big, disheartened sigh, because he asked, "What's wrong?"
Gosh, he had sensitive hearing, didn't he?
I said, "It's nothing, my lord."
He gave my wrist a light tug and pulled me toward him. Then he took the opportunity and wrapped his powerful arm around me as he drew me in close.
Squeezed tight against him, I said, "It's hard to walk, my lord."
He said, as he stroked my hair, "Felix Worthington, that's my name, little elf. Just call me Felix."
I raised a brow at him as we walked down the hill toward the clearing below. Despite the fact that I myself adored elves in general and I liked to dress as one when it came to cosplay, I was just not a fan when it came to Felix referring to me as little elf.
I decided to bargain with him. "I'll call you Felix if you call me Alfie. Because you know, I'm not little, nor am I an elf."
He chuckled. "Ah, but you do look a lot like an elf. Such an adorable little thing."
I sighed. "My lord? Do we have a deal or not?"
He came to a halt suddenly, which surprised me because I had to stop along with him, being tightly embraced in his arms like this.
As I stood there, watching and waiting for him to respond, I felt the warmth of his fingers behind my nape, digging into my hair while his thumb rubbed the sensitive spot behind my ear, which made me quiver.
He said, a grin playing about his lips, "Are you bargaining with me, little elf?"
Is he doing this to annoy me?
I nodded. "What if I am? Now, what's your answer, my lord?" I emphasized the words my lord to irritate him as well, since he seemed to imply that he didn't like me addressing him as such.
He leaned his masked face close to me and said, his eyes twinkling, "All right, then. I'll call you Alfie, but in return, you'll call me Felix and give me a morning kiss daily."
I could only stare at him, flabbergasted. He is joking, right? Surely, he has to be joking.
Kiss him? Every morning? I didn't even do that sort of thing to my parents when I had been little. At least not on a daily basis. And why had he already assumed that I'd be sticking around to warrant giving him morning kisses? I was no longer a suspicious person in this land, after all, which meant that I could venture wherever my heart desired. Of course, what my heart desired most was to find a way home, back to St. James Manor where my parents were.
"I beg your pardon?" I couldn't help but request a repeat.
He didn't seem to mind reiterating what he wanted. He said, "I'll call you Alfie. In return, however, you'll call me Felix and give me morning kisses."
I suddenly burst out laughing. I couldn't help myself. I didn't know if this was this land's culture or their ways of doing things or not, but I still found it weird and rather amusing. After all, I barely knew this man, and why on earth would I agree to do such a thing as to give him morning kisses daily, simply because I wanted him to address me as Alfie instead of little elf?
When I managed to stop, I said, "Why would I kiss you, Felix? And I'm a boy. Why would you want to kiss a boy?"
Then it dawned on me. Is Felix gay?
He chuckled. "No, I'm not attracted to men, little elf."
I blushed. Did he just read my mind?
"Then that's fine," I said. "Problem solved. You're not attracted to men, and I'm definitely a man." I even banged my small, delicate fist against my chest like the mighty Tarzan to demonstrate that I was all male (which I wasn't) and filled to the brim with testosterone (estrogen and progesterone, actually).
"There isn't any problem in the first place," he said.
I stared at him. Is he even listening to me?
"Now, will you give me morning kisses daily or will you not?"
I shook my head in the negative. "No, I will not, Felix." It was then that I realized I had just addressed him as Felix and not my lord. What the hell! I just got caught out by myself.