Chapter 90. Nicole’s Disappointment

With a heavy sigh, I looked out of the hotel room’s window. The fantasy-like medieval city of Leyfall spread in every direction, looking just as fantastical as I hoped it would be. But… It wasn’t quite as I dreamed about.

For once, people looked at me all weird. It was as if they didn’t want me to be there, and they were letting me know with the powerful glares they were throwing… but I couldn’t understand why!—I mean, yes, I knew why, that old knight-guy from before did explain to us why… but still!

I had even gone out of my way to wear a cute dress just so if a hot chunky man from the other world saw me, he would be immediately infatuated with me and went out of his way to come talk to me. I smiled, and winked, walked just like I’d seen girls online do to pick up guys… but…

None of that worked! The people of this city didn’t even pay attention to me. Only that one guy from the weapon stall talked to me, and he did so only because I asked about his swords—which eventually turned into a really uncomfortable thing when Althea pointed out that his weapons weren’t good enough.

Not that I knew any better about weapons, since even after strengthening my body, and getting really fit over the past few months, I still wasn’t good at all with any weapons besides, like, a gun, but I would rather not use such a thing. I was good enough with my fire.

Regardless, even after going away from that store, people didn’t really seem to want to pay attention to me… and the few good looking boys that there were, only looked at Althea… She always attracted people’s attention.

Getting robbed—or an attempt of getting robbed—also didn’t help with the image I had of the city. It’s such a shock to come here and see all the little things that change my perspective of the whole thing.

I was expecting to see mages, and honorable knights! Strong Beastkin, elegant elves, drunk and loud dwarves, and all sorts of strange things being sold on the streets… but it was only humans… and very few of them were nice to me…

I sighed once more and hung my head down. But after a moment, I raised my head up once more and made a fist in the air to pump myself up again!

All of that was yesterday, it’s all in the past now, and today is a new day where we were going to go to the Imperial Palace, meet with noble men, and even talk to the Emperor. It was as good a chance as any to enjoy my time in this city!

There was a mirror in this nice room, so I walked over to it and inspected myself once more. I was wearing an ‘armor’ for fighting that Asteora got for me. It was called… ‘The Fire Phoenix Battledress’!

At least that’s what I call it. Its real name is something else that I already forgot, because it was super corporate. But it still was good looking, and really comfortable.

You might’ve guessed from the name that I gave it that it should be a combination of orange and red colors to fit a phoenix… But it was all black! Why? Because that’s the thing that Asteora gave me. As for the design, the top was a tight dress with a small skirt that went down to about the middle of my thighs. It had open shoulders, and it connected on the front around my neck, while leaving half of my back open.

For my arms, I had a couple of transparent black veils that went from slightly above my elbows and went down to my hands, where I was wearing a pair of sturdy black gloves.

While as for the lower part, I was wearing tight black pants that… really accentuated my butt. I didn’t particularly like it being like this… but the dress’ skirt covered it, so it wasn’t a problem.

And as for shoes, they were leather-like boots that I could use to stomp all sorts of bugs if I wanted to. They were still very comfortable, which made sense, since if you were going to fight, it was better to wear something that you can easily move in. The original set had some really uncomfortable long leather boots with a heel on the soles, but I couldn’t handle that thing, so I asked Asteora to change it.

It was a fairly cute dress, and it matched with the dark theme that Althea has with her armor.

Now, you might be saying: ‘Wait a minute! How’s that a fire phoenix battledress!? It just looks like a cute black dress!’ and you would be correct… only that it totally was a fiery battledress! See, when I use my fire magic, it reacts to it.

From the veiled pieces of cloth in my arms, a torrent of fire spread, twisting around my arms and then going around my back to connect with the other, giving it the appearance of a floating scarf on my back made out of fire. And from the lower part of the dress’ skirt, a cascade of fire fell down, making it seem like the top had transformed into a fiery coat, or an open-front long skirt made out of fire.

See, now it looks like a proper battledress! Because it also strengthens my defenses with a barrier, making it really good for protection—as long as I can still fight and have mana. It even improves my overall control of fire, and it’s also great to defend against those who get too close. And… It also burns the floor of the hotel room!

With a panicked movement, I took control of the fire on the floor, and quickly deactivated the battledress’ functions. In just a couple of seconds, there was no more fire in the room. Nope, not even a black burn on the floor. That was already there when I got here.

After making sure that nothing was really damaged, I sighed and turned to look at the mirror once more. There had been a few changes with myself besides my control of fire magic.

My hair had grown a bit longer, and for some reason, the tips of my dark brown hair had an orange tinge to it. I couldn’t understand why the tips had that, since if your hair were to change color, it should change at the roots first, right? But apparently, Althea said that it was normal, since for her, Holy Power changed her appearance like that, which is why when she uses her Darkness and Hellfire Power, she also has a change of look.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It had to do with how much affinity you have with the element—or so say both Asteora and Althea. I wasn’t sure about that… but I couldn’t refute them either, so I accepted their explanation.

Besides my hair, the edges of my light brown irises also carried an almost imperceptible orange ring. Althea noticed it right away, and said that it was the same for her Holy Power in the past, only that her eyes were completely golden, just as her hair. It was hard to imagine her looking like that, but just from her appearance alone, I’d say that she probably looked like an angel to the eyes of the common people.

I wondered if other people’s appearances also change whenever they get more powerful with an element, or with their magic, but Asteora said that if people want to change their appearance with magic to have these sorts of things, they can easily do it, but it usually is a thing that you have sustain, and it’s not a permanent change like it was for me.

Makes me wonder if eventually I’ll turn into, like, a flame, or something like that… I asked that very thing to Asteora too as well, since that would be so scary and it would be better to stop increasing my fire magic if that was the case. However, she assures me that that’s not going to happen, and that the changes eventually become a thing that I can control.

I don’t know if I should trust her or not… Althea doesn’t seem to trust Asteora too much, despite being old friends, so… I’ll keep an eye on my changes and stop myself if I ever feel like I’ll turn into something like a walking candle.

As I was thinking about the possibility of turning to a candle, a couple of knocks came from the hotel room. I turned to look at it, but before I said or did anything, a voice followed up.

“Nicole,” Althea said from beyond the door. “We’re leaving soon. Are you ready?”

I looked at the clock in the room, next to the large TV. It was morning in this city, but it felt like it was night time for me due to jet lag. The walking from yesterday helped in easing myself into a new timezone, but I could still feel a little tired.

Regardless, I wasn’t going to let the tiredness get the better of me! Because ‘I’m a lancer!’ as they say back home.

I quickly moved to the door and opened it for Althea.

She was wearing her usual black armor, the ‘The Darkest Knight armor’ that she got from Iggy and Bobby. I couldn’t see the super big sword that could float on her back, but with a quick glance at her hip, I realized that it was likely stored in the Magic Pocket that the whole set was stored in whenever she wasn’t wearing it.

There was a certain feeling… I felt somewhat strange looking at her wearing that armor, and when I turned to look at the way I was dressed… It somehow felt wrong to be dressed this way to meet an actual emperor.

“What’s wrong?” she asked when she noticed the way I was acting.

“Are you really sure that we should be dressed like this to meet the Emperor? Wouldn’t it be better to go dressed in something more… formal?” I asked, looking at her from her black metal boots to her usually stoic face. “I did bring other dresses… we could still change into those…”

She slightly tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow as she did, clearly showing that she didn’t understand why we would do that. “This is perfectly fine.”

“Eh… but it’s an emperor… y’know… shouldn’t we be dressed with actual dresses…?” I insisted, since I still felt like we shouldn’t go wearing combat gear.

“There’s nothing more honorable than a knight wearing her best armor,” she insisted with a nod, “Besides…”

I waited for her to finish, but she just frowned and pursed her lips a little, so I just asked, “Besides… what?”

She closed her eyes, crossed her arms under her chest, and scoffed. “That boy doesn’t deserve anything more than this. If he were to see us wearing suggestive clothing, I’m sure that he’ll demand to marry the both of us.”

“Really?!” I exclaimed in surprise.

If that was the case, then I think I should absolutely wear the dress I got from home. It was the same dress I wore for prom, but hey, it still works, and since I’m in much better shape now, I would look even sexier! If what Althea said was true, then I could marry an emperor!

“Maybe I should change into—”

“No,” Althea quickly interrupted, giving me a cold look that I feared I might not be able to melt regardless of how much I increased my fire magic. “You deserve someone better than that boy.”

“E-eh… well… I’m flattered that you think that, but… You know that’s an actual emperor, right?” I followed up.

She sighed and shook her head. “Just because he marries you, you wouldn’t turn into an empress.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Isn’t that what you become when you marry an emperor?” I asked something that was obvious. Or at least I thought it was.

“No, that’s reserved for the first wife, and it must be from one of the noble houses, or a princess from another kingdom. Every other woman that marries the emperor simply becomes a concubine. You’d carry no more power than any other woman, and you'd have to compete with every concubine for the emperor’s favor. You don’t deserve that, Nicole,” Althea calmly explained.

“Well… when you put it like that…” I said with a soft voice.

I couldn’t help another sigh as I let my shoulders sag a little. It seems like even with the Emperor, the image that I had for this place was getting even more disappointing. Althea noticed my reaction and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s okay. I’m sure you’ll find the perfect man for you. You’re a great girl, and you deserve someone that will give his heart completely to you,” she said with a soft voice.

“Awh,” I replied. It was rare to hear Althea give such encouraging words. “Thanks.”

She nodded with a soft smile, removing her hand from my shoulder and looking to the side. “If there’s nothing else for you to do, then we should get going. Oliver’s already waiting.”

I gave myself a few pats to make sure that everything I needed was in my pockets, and with a nod, I closed the door behind me. “Let's go.”

* * *

“Be honest with me, Oliver…” I said, leaning over on the car’s chair to be close to him, who was sitting at the passenger’s front seat of the car. “It’s totally fine for us to be dressed like this, right?”

“It’s fine,” he said for like the tenth time after I asked. “I told you already. You’re Asteora’s disciple. Not even the Emperor can argue with her about how she does things, and you’re included in that.”

“Are you reaaaaally sure?” I asked once more.

“Yes, yes,” he replied again, nodding as he did. “The Emperor wouldn’t dare to criticize you for your attire. As long as you’re not dressed in something outrageous, then you’re fine.”

“Hnnghh…” I pouted with a frown. “I just don’t want to be kicked out… y’know?”

Oliver chuckled and shook his head. “They would never dare offend Lady Asteora like that.”

“But, I represent her, right? So if I’m not dressed properly then—”

“Kicking you out for the way you’re dressed is only going to sour the empire’s relationship with Asteora, and by extension me,” Althea said, placing a hand on my shoulder so I would sit back down. “Stop worrying.”

“But it’s an emperor… y’know…” I whispered, wringing my hands in anxiety.

Althea chuckled. “He’s still just a man. And the people surrounding him are nowhere near as powerful as Asteora—who’s going to be there as well.”

I tried to take a few deep breaths, placing a hand on my chest as I tried to calm myself. She was right. No one was stronger than Asteora, and if I was under her, then people weren’t going to get angry just from the way I was dressed.

“We’re entering the Imperial District now,” the driver, Theo, said, and my anxieties came back to me as I looked at the ever growing Imperial Palace.