Chapter 5

Queenza didn't know why, but she felt that the world around her was a little... well, different. It was as if the plants had a beating heart. As if the surrounding nature was breathing, a sign of life. It was as if many eyes were watching his movements.

"Kingsley." Queenza muttered softly as she approached the skeleton walking in front of her. Even though Kingsley is also a strange creature, Queenza feels safer with him.

"Why?" Kingsley asked, noticing Queenza's uneasy feeling. Some time ago, when she had just come out of the canyon, the girl looked normal. But as time left, the smell of fear wafted from her body.

"We're going in the right direction, right?" This time, Queenza completely forgot how horrible Kingsley was. He took Kingsley's arm and hugged him tightly.

Kingsley glanced at Queenza's arm that was hugging his skull arm. "You want an honest answer?"

"Why are you being so long-winded? Just answer."

"I don't know where we're going." Kingsley grimaced.

Queenza stopped suddenly, causing Kingsley to stop and turn around as well. "So we're lost?!"

"No, because I don't know which way to go," he said innocently.

"That means we are lost!"

"When we get lost, we know where we are going, but we are going the wrong way. The problem is, I don't know our destination, let alone the way."

Queenza gaped. "If you don't know, why do you keep going? Why don't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask," Kingsley said lightly as he shrugged and started walking again.

"You still want to walk when you have no destination?"

"Instead, we just stay here and wait for the trolls to eat us. Ah, not us, but you. Trolls don't like to eat bones."

Queenza glared, then reflexively pinched Kingsley's arm. But then he winced in pain. "Finally you realize you are just a skeleton."

"Well, a handsome skeleton."

It felt like Queenza wanted to stuff Kingsley's skull's mouth with the dry leaves around them. But he stopped himself. "I’m sure it came from that way." Queenza pointed behind them.

Kingsley turned to where Queenza was pointing. "No, that's your home."

"Home? That means right, right?"

"The kingdom of the Dryads. Do you want to go back there in your human body?"

Queenza's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. "You must have been asleep for hundreds or thousands of years. There are no kingdoms anymore." Queenza was silent for a moment. "Well, there are still some lands that have kingdoms. But certainly not the kingdoms you mean."

Kingsley didn't answer and continued walking, forcing Queenza to follow him.

"Okay, let's say you're right about the Druid Kingdom or something. Why don't we just stop there? Maybe there's someone who can give us a clue how to get out of this forest."

"I can't. I don't know who's friend and who's foe right now."

"Earlier you said the Druid Kingdom..."

"Dryads."

"Yes, whatever. You said earlier that the kingdom is my home - although I don't understand how that is possible. Doesn't that mean that the people there are my family? Of course they will help you.

Kingsley paused, then turned fully to face Queenza. "This used to be your home. Before you were reborn as a human. Now we don't know if anyone is still loyal to you."

Kingsley's explanation made Queenza even more dizzy, but she tried to digest it, even though logic refused. "Okay, all this is still confusing. Then I'll ask something else. Why do I feel like this forest is alive and keeps pushing me to go this way?" Queenza pointed behind her with her thumb.

"Because you are thinking of going home. Even though you have a human body, you have the strength and soul of a Dryad. Dryads are forest fairies. They can communicate with nature, especially plants."

"So, because I want to go home, hmm-this forest seems to be leading me to the Dryad Kingdom. Is that so?"

Kingsley nodded.

"Was I once that kind of creature? A forest elf, I mean."

"No. You're a half-breed. Dryads can't live forever. But you can."

Queenza's brow furrowed deeply. "Then how can I be reborn? Have I been buried somewhere and turned into an ugly skeleton like you?"

Kingsley growled. "It's a good thing I need you. Otherwise I would have tortured you until you begged to be killed."

Queenza grinned and then punched Kingsley hard in the back. Kingsley nearly fell, not anticipating Queenza's movements. "You couldn't possibly kill me. You said I was your Queen, right? You must have loved me very much."

"Even before that, I was just using you. You were the one who loved me madly."

Annoyed, Queenza let go of Kingsley's arm, which she had previously embraced, and walked forward. "You annoying skull." He grumbled. "You are so arrogant, I swear. I swear you will fall half dead in love with me in this life. And I will just look at you sarcastically."

"Hey, I heard you!"

In his heart, Kingsley smiled as he watched the girl continue to walk while stomping her feet. His annoyed face looked very cute and adorable. But then, Kingsley's footsteps stopped when his sharp hearing heard a sound from a distance.

It was a group of people running in a hurry. The distance was too far, so Kingsley couldn't guess what nation it was. But he was sure they wouldn't pass where he was now.

"KYAAAAA!"

Kingsley turned to Queenza and within two seconds he was standing behind the girl. His skeletal fingers immediately covered Queenza's mouth while his other hand grabbed the woman from behind. Suddenly, odorless white smoke enveloped them both.

Queenza held back a feeling of horror as a creature approached them. Surely, the creature had heard Queenza's scream earlier.

Actually, there is nothing strange about the creature's appearance. Its body resembles that of a very handsome human. What made Queenza scream in fear was the sight of the creature's friend gouging out the eyes of a man kneeling before her with three fingers.

Queenza pressed her back closer to Kingsley's body as the creature stood only half a meter in front of her, sniffing the air. She felt as if she wanted to scream again, but she tried hard not to. Strangely, the creature didn't seem to see Queenza and Kingsley there. Then he turned and went back to his friends.

There were five people, about five meters from where Kingsley and Queenza were. Four men and one woman. The four men looked very human. Only the woman seemed to have long ears and a tail. Two men, including the one who had approached Kingsley and Queenza, stood on either side of the woman as if guarding her. Meanwhile, another person still stood upright in front of the man who had lost one of his eyeballs.

"This is a warning because you broke the rules." The man who was still holding the bloodied eyeball said loudly.

"I will never do it again," the woman's voice sounded very weak. "So please let him go. You can punish me."

"No." The man who lost his eyeball said with gasping breaths, indicating that he was in extreme pain. "Don't hurt me, Chenna. Just torture me as much as you want."

The man standing to the right of the woman whistled softly. "What a romantic couple. I’m touched."

" Please. " There was a sob from the woman.

"Laws are not made to be broken. That is why we are here, to ensure that the peace is maintained and the law runs as it should." The man squeezed the eyeball in his hand until it shattered, then turned to the woman. "There will be no mercy for violators. According to the rules, you will be crippled and returned to your people to serve as a warning to others. And your partner..." The man looked back at the man without eyeballs as he drew his long sword.

Seeing this, Queenza could already guess what would happen next. With tears streaming down her face for who knows when, Queenza turned around and buried her face in Kingsley's hard chest while her fingers squeezed the jacket Kingsley was wearing.

CRAAASHH.

"NO!!!"

A small sob escaped Queenza's lips. Kingsley pressed gently and firmly on the back of Queenza's head, burying her face in his chest.

"Don't make a sound."

The two words sounded in Queenza's ears, but were more like a gust of wind. But she was absolutely sure that it was Kingsley's voice.

"You heard that, right?"

Kingsley noticed the man to the left of the Harpy - the same man who had been checking their location.

"Maybe those trees. We're not far from the Dryads' territory." The man on the right said, then grabbed the woman's arm roughly, dragging her behind him. It seemed as if he had no will to live since his partner was slaughtered before his eyes.

"But that scream - I was sure someone was here."

"So what?" the man who had just killed casually wiped his sword. "It's good if someone sees. So he knows what the consequences will be if he breaks the punishment." Then he put his sword back into the scabbard that hung from his waist. His long black cloak fluttered as he walked. "We are leaving. Let the human corpses become food for passing trolls or Ogres." In seconds. The three men were gone, carrying the woman.

For a moment, Kingsley remained silent, listening. After making sure there were no creatures around, he slowly released his embrace on Queenza's body. But Queenza didn't want to let go and instead gripped Kingsley's jacket tighter.

"They're gone." Kingsley's heart warmed as he saw Queenza clinging to him. Always like that.

Queenza still doesn't want to distance herself.

"Don't you want to go home?"

Queenza tried to answer through her tears. "But you don't know which way."

"I already know. What I’m looking for is over there. The border between this world and the human world."

Queenza looked up suddenly and looked at Kingsley with her wet eyes. "Are you serious? Does that mean I’m in another world?"

"Well, that's how it is."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Queenza wiped away her tears, then turned around. "We'll just go... kyaaa!" He turned back to Kingsley and hugged him tightly.

My goodness! That... that must be the man who was brutally murdered earlier.

"It's just a corpse. He's dead."

"Precisely because it's shot..." Queenza shuddered.

"Just walk behind me if you're afraid."

"Can't you go somewhere else?"

"The border is near the corpse. They just came from the human world, so I couldn't feel their presence until you called earlier." Kingsley held Queenza's finger, then walked ahead. "Just close your eyes."

Queenza complied, clutching one of Kingsley's arms. He walked only by instinct and the pull of Kingsley's hand.

The border is there. It's just a thin line that only certain creatures can see. Kingsley had previously intended to find the boundary not to take Queenza home, but to absorb the energy there.

Kingsley's great strength, plus Queenza's power that he got from making love to her, allows Kingsley to absorb the energy between this world and the human world. This energy will help him know general things that have happened. Usually in the form of vague flashes that later appear as memories. But it's enough to get an idea of what the world is like now.

"Are we there yet?" Queenza asked after a while.

"Almost."

"Have we left the body?"

"Right beside you."

"Argh!"

Queenza screamed and pressed herself closer to Kingsley's side. Without realizing it, Kingsley smiled happily.

"Well, here. Now I need your blood."

Hesitantly, Queenza opened her eyes, but didn't dare look around, just straight into Kingsley's eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Hold out your hand. You must let your blood fall here. Just a little."

Queenza glared. "I don't want to! It must hurt." His voice became pitiful.

"Your body is covered in wounds, but you didn't complain before." 

Kingsley pointed out that the wound on Queenza's arm was the worst, now covered with the medicinal leaves Mochi had found. "Maybe it won't hurt as much if it's from the same wound."

Queenza stared. What wouldn't hurt too much if your wounds that haven't dried up had to be hurt again?

"Are you going home or not?"

There was always a sigh of defeat on Queenza's lips. "Okay, I will go home. But only my fingertips."

Kingsley immediately grabbed Queenza's hesitantly outstretched hand and rubbed the tip of his index finger over her sharp teeth. A drop of Queenza's blood fell directly on the thin line connecting them. Then a thick cloud of black smoke appeared, covering and swallowing the two of them as they started to lose consciousness.