BXBX NOVEL Chapter 137 Conflicted Feelings
Clara walked into the bedroom with Wolfy in her new outfit.
Clara wore a long-sleeved black dress with her embroidered purple gems and now violet frills. The top of the dress as well as the sleeves were slightly see-through and had a floral pattern throughout them. She also had black thigh high socks with a purple stripe around their top.
Showing off her new outfit, Clara gave it a twirl. It was a perfect fit with her purple horns and highlighted hair, giving her a rather classy feel.
Shaman finding herself stuck between 2 beautiful women could not help but blush as she never really realised how good looking they both were.
\'Maybe I should try being a bit more fashionable.\' Shaman found her outfit rather lame and bland.
\'If I\'m gonna look beautiful I have to also have to dress the part. However, I\'m gonna need to go do the dreaded clothes shopping.\' Shaman was not fond of shopping and would rather be doing other things.
Elysia, seeing Shaman lost in thought, took the chance to pounce and hug her causing them to both fall on the couch. Elysia sat up and Shaman somehow ended up laying on Elysia\'s lap. For a single blissful moment, Shaman enjoyed the lap pillow before remembering that they had something important to discuss. Shaman quickly sat up while Clara made herself comfortable on the single-seat couch. Wolfy took refuge on the bed and quietly listened in on their conversation.
Shaman took a deep breath as although she wanted to enjoy herself she had to get this talk over with. Freja also took an interest in Elysia and Wolfy which only meant that conversations were far from over.
"So I have some new pieces of information to tell you about Himeko, which should shine some light on her intentions."
Clara turned her head as the mention of Himeko\'s name left a sour taste in her mouth.
"I understand Clara, what Himeko did to your parents is unforgivable but from your story, there is much more than meets the eye and what I\'m going to tell you might be one piece of that puzzle." Shaman knew Clara would be distasteful towards Himeko and only hoped that Clara would see Himeko in a new light. They may never be able to be friends but at least stay on neutral terms.
*
Clara had a troubled expression as the news from Shaman did reveal some crucial information about Himeko\'s intentions.
"So possibly my parents gave Himeko a place to revive, in exchange for something, to the point they got on their knees and begged for it." Clara was considering this new theory as to why Himeko killed her parents, but it still didn\'t give many hints at why her parents wanted to die.
"This is only just one small piece, we are going to have to go to the demon lands and get answers from Himeko herself." Shaman wished she knew more, but the only way to get more information would be to find where Himeko was revived.
"Tch." Clara wasn\'t happy as she wanted to hate Himeko, but the more she found out about her the harder it was to stay angry.
"You don\'t have to like Himeko but when we do meet her again, please try to hold back." Shaman did not want to force Clara to change as the situation was very delicate.
"I need time, I will be in my room, so if something comes up you know where to find me." Clara\'s expression went cold, and she exited the room.
"Very emotional girl she is." Elysia leaned onto Shaman\'s shoulder.
"Says you, I walk past a girl, and you are shooting daggers with your eyes." Shaman looked at Elysia unimpressed as she was no better if not worse.
"I- uhhhh, you\'re not wrong." Elysia was unable to deny it and now felt a bit embarrassed.
"I\'m surprised you haven\'t tried jumping on Clara because we breathe the same air." Shaman then flicked Elysia\'s forehead.
"Ow! I know I shouldn\'t be like this, but I can\'t help it, you brought me back up from the bottom of the pit I was in, and I don\'t want to lose you." Elysia pouted, giving some insight into why she is so possessive of Shaman.
"You should trust me more, if I didn\'t want to be with you, I would have said so already." Shaman was a little annoyed, but she couldn\'t be angry. Elysia did come from a rather dreadful situation so Shaman understood why Elysia would feel this way
"I will try." Elysia lowered her voice as she was unsure if it was possible. She has been having mental battles constantly, wanting to change her mindset, but was finding it extremely difficult.
"Good girl~." Shaman patted Elysia\'s head and hearing the words good girl caused her to blush.
*
Not having much to do, Shaman and Elysia cuddled on the couch waiting for Freja since she still had more things to talk about. It involved both Elysia and Wolfy which made her worry since Elysia is from a dangerous family. Wolfy was not too much of a concern as the Freya Forest would allow him to evolve. In fact, a new system message has already come up on his status screen.
[Visit the dark forest springs]
Knowing that this place was originally called the dark forest, they believed Freja would know where this spring would be. Himeko also suggested that Wolfy was a part of a race of wolves related to Freja.
\'Hopefully, Wolfy can get a nice power boost and even a new element.\' Shaman shared skills with Wolfy so if he were to learn a new element, she would also have access to any of the skills he obtained.
Elysia was falling asleep while in Shaman\'s arms but then a familiar voice echoed in the room.
"Awww, what a shame I was hoping to find you getting it on in bed, but instead you\'re cuddling on the couch." Freja had returned and Shaman was already itching to run away as the last thing she wanted was to have fun in bed with Freja.
"And I hope you never see us!" Elysia, hearing what Freja said, quickly looked over the couch with an annoyed look.
"Pffhahaha, I am only kidding, but still be careful I might not be able to help myself." Freja gave them a pat on the head and Shaman let out a sigh as Freja was truly unpredictable.
"Now that I have some free time let\'s talk about why you are with one of the most hated families in the fox realm. You are lucky I didn\'t kill Elysia on sight, but seeing as you\'re together there must be more to it." Freja sat down on the couch across from them and Shaman instantly got nervous alongside Elysia.
"Judging by how you\'re already sweating buckets I assume you already know who Elysia is and are aware of her situation." Freja could see by their face how panicked they were.
"Y-yes, but Elysia is a runaway who just barely escaped while her parents were killed by the other family members." Shaman spoke for Elysia as it was already hard enough for her to listen.
"hmmm I see, so they were never truly wiped out just like I thought and it seems like quite of few of them are in hiding." Freja thought out loud while Shaman was still stressing about what was going to happen with Elysia.
"I won\'t harm Elysia seeing as she wants nothing to do with her family and could be of great help instead, but you are going to need to dye your hair when in public. Same with you Shaman, people do not know of your existence and your hair is a dead giveaway, you\'re lucky that you were in the human territory till now, otherwise someone would have eventually realized your position." Thanks to the lack of knowledge the humans had of the fox realm they were able to walk around freely without any issues.
"We met many beastmen in the human cities but how come they never recognized us?" Shaman was rather curious as to why it was only the people within the fox realm that would recognize them.
"Well, the royal family don\'t really rule over the territory, they just manage it as they want the people to live freely. This doesn\'t mean they don\'t have a strong presence, but you could say not everyone knows them well as they don\'t appear in public often."
"Most people just know that the royal family protect them and try their best to improve the lives of their subjects. The common folk won\'t know you are royalty but anyone of high significance or who works for the royal family will instantly recognize you." Freja gave a quick explanation that made it sound like the royal family were rather isolated from its people.
"It is also the reason why people have not noticed their disappearance as the palace is isolated and surrounded by a forest like my little empire here. The higher ups kept it a secret, so no one is panicking just yet, but I have no idea how long the information can stay secret. I am doing my best to fill in the role, but people are going to start asking questions." Freja had seemingly taken on the responsibilities of the royal family for the time being.
"So pretty much I could walk around freely but it would only be a matter of time before some recognise that I\'m royalty?" Shaman found it odd that people don\'t really know the royal family.
"Yes and I can already see the question you\'re about to ask. I\'m going to be honest, I have no idea how your mother does it." Freja let out an awkward laugh as she did not know how Cecilia ruled without showing herself.
"Oh, well if everyone is happy it doesn\'t really matter?" Shaman knew it would be a headache trying to fully understand and was simply grateful that she isn\'t risking her identity.
"Yes, you are going to have to ask her yourself as you will most likely take over one day." Freja held her forehead as she\'d rather not think about how easily Cecilia was able to run the place.
Shaman froze for a moment upon hearing those words as she hadn\'t realised that one day she will have to take the throne. She also had no siblings making her the only one to be able to inherit the throne.
"Can I just let someone else do it?"