Good Lord, why am I getting so thrilled and hot and turned on simply because two men are searching my back for the sign of a spell?
Finally, Caleb said, "Nothing. I see nothing."
"Hmm." Felix agreed. Or was he just grunting?
I heaved a big sigh of relief and turned, my arms still crossed over my front, clutching and hiding my sensitive breasts and aroused nipples.
My eyes downcast—because I didn't have the guts to look at either Caleb or Felix in the eyes—and my voice weak, I asked to confirm, "There's nothing on my back?"
Silence.
I frowned.
I asked again, "Caleb? Felix? You two didn't find any strange sign or symbol on my back?"
When once again neither of them answered me, I finally shifted my gaze to look at them. That was when I saw that they weren't paying any attention to me. Rather, they were staring at my chest.
I panicked. Oh God! They can see me, can't they? They can see my woman breasts! So I had no stupid magic illusion spell on me after all.
I wanted to dig a hole and hide because, obviously, I couldn't face the fact that Caleb and Felix, and soon everyone else, saw me like this, half naked, a woman. The thought that they found out I was masquerading myself as a boy and never told them the truth didn't sit well with me.
I said, my voice shaking weakly, "Please, stop staring."
Felix asked, his voice hoarse and dark, "Where did you get that necklace, Alfie?"
Necklace?
I glanced down at myself and saw the ruby rose necklace nestled against my chest.
I said, "It's not mine. I found it in the hot spring."
Felix leaned in and reached his hand out.
Oh shoot!
I freaked out. I knew he was aiming for the necklace, but I couldn't afford to let him, considering the chance that he'd accidentally touch my unusually sensitive breasts in the process.
I made a quick escape by passing Caleb and even the perplexed-looking Aaron. Felix was after me in a split second and caught me by the waist before I could disappear from their sight.
He said, "Little elf, let me have a closer look at that necklace, darling. Now, be a good boy."
I shook my head. "Only if you let me go, Felix."
Lord Geoffrey was heading toward us across the pool now, seeing the sudden commotion.
He asked, "What the hell is going on? You two have already checked Alfie's back, and there's no sign or symbol of the spell. Felix, leave Alfie be."
Caleb said, as he turned to the other lords, his voice shaky, "It's Yuki's necklace. Alfie has Yuki's necklace."
Like he was on fire, Lord Ethan swiftly stood—water splashing about everywhere—and swore, "What the fucking hell?"
"You have got to be kidding me!" Lord Noah uttered in disbelief.
"Yuki's necklace? But I thought that bastard Philip stole it," Lord Victor said, perplexed.
"What the hell?" Aaron turned his eyes to me, more than a little astonished at the information.
By this point, I was already on Felix's shoulder—yet again like a sack of potatoes—and he was heading toward the pool where all the lords were apparently waiting for me to be delivered to them so that they could inspect this necklace I had on me.
I said, "Not the pool. Felix, I already said I'll let you have a look if you put me down."
The man laughed. "Not a chance, darling. You'll only run away again."
Of course I'd run away, you brute, since I am half naked. To be surrounded by seven men and with me half naked like this was just too much to handle. Yes, I understood that they couldn't see me as a woman due to the spell, but...
I lied. "I promise not to run away."
He finally let me down, and when I landed, I found that I was already in the pool, thigh deep in water. By this point, Aaron, too, was in the pool, with only his pants on and his top bare. I had no idea that he had been undressing himself to join the others.
With both hands clutching my chest, I said, "You brute, Felix. Now I won't let you look at that necklace. Not even a peek." I haughtily turned and started heading back toward the stairs of the pool. But of course, that bastard Felix would have none of it and embraced me, preventing me from escaping, his hands tight about my upper arms.
He said, "Sorry, little elf, but I need to have a look at that necklace now. It's important."
I struggled in his clasp and even went so far as to bite his arm to make him release me. But of course, the man was a demon lord, and within no time, he got me still in his arms, with me all wet from head to toe, chest heaving, and out of breath.
My long hair was damp and wild, the strands clinging to my pale, water-soaked skin.
Felix said, "That's a good boy. Be still now."
Indeed, I stayed still since I was exhausted after our wrestling match in the pool. Well, I wasn't surprised at the outcome—with me being the loser—since our builds and strength were completely different, him at the man-of-steel end of the spectrum and me... Well, I was just your average nineteen-year-old girl.
Felix's hand gently touched the pendant of the necklace, his fingers lightly brushing against my breasts, which in turn made my body run hot.
He lifted the ruby pendant, and it was then Caleb came to stand right in front of me. He said, "It's definitely Yuki's necklace. The one we gave her..."
I was confused and lost as to what this all meant.
The necklace I was wearing belonged to Yuki? As in the Yuki of Yamato, one of the Great Ones that Aria and Brenna had talked about during dinner this evening? But how could that be? I mean, I had found that necklace back at St. James Island on Earth, not here in the Aurora Realm. I had thought that the necklace belonged to one of the two men who had helped Dad renovate the bathhouse back home.
Lord Geoffrey said, "Let us have a look."
Caleb flicked his eyes to me and said, "Can we?"
Still tightly imprisoned in Felix's ironlike arms, I nodded my head. "Go ahead."
Caleb leaned in close until our faces were inches apart, and then he unlocked the necklace from about my neck. As he removed it, I felt something strange happening to me.
A sudden burst of heat started burning around the area of my chest where my heart was. Within an instant, that sensation became stronger and started scorching me. The unbearable, excruciating hotness exploded and radiated, flowing throughout my body like an electric shock. The intensity was so overwhelmingly painful that I felt paralyzed. I couldn't control myself and screamed my head off as my body shook like I was being possessed.
I screamed so loudly and so hard that my throat became sore, my voice cracked, my head spun, and my mind receded into the darkness.
Suddenly, all I saw was the burst of white light around me, and it was spreading, stronger and wider and higher. At the same time, the heat and pain in my body were getting more intense so that tears started brewing in my eyes. I was crying and screaming at the same time. I felt so much agony that I could die.
"Alfie!" I heard voices shouting my name urgently. "Alfie!"
"What the fucking hell is happening?"
"Alfie!" This one sounded scared and worried.
Suddenly, it stopped. Suddenly, the pain eased. Suddenly, it was gone. Just like that.
Exhausted and in tears, I stopped screaming as I collapsed into someone's arms. Is it Felix? I didn't know, and I pretty much didn't care. I felt that dead within that split second of time.
"Alfie!" I heard Felix's voice calling my name urgently, his arms tight around me.
"Alfie!" I heard Caleb's voice as he touched my face to get my attention. He sounded worried. He sounded like he was about to cry.
Imagine that. The almighty tsundere Caleb crying because he was worried about me. That'd be a sight to be seen for sure.
"Alfie!" I heard Lord Geoffrey calling me. "Open your eyes, love."