Chapter 451: Not human
He had already tried this out when he retrieved Mira, but now he knew he could command only certain parts of his draconic features to appear.
Either just his wings, like before, or now, as his pupils narrowed into vertical slits. A row of emerald-blue scales chittered across his cheeks and arms, and a single menacing horn emerged from the side of his brow.
"W-What!?" Aria, Mira, Tessa, and Isla all exclaimed in shock. Mira was shocked because he now had more than just the wings that she had already seen.
"I got a Dragon Bloodline from the trials," Elion explained. "So now I am not only part human and part Incubus, but also part dragon."
He let the scales and horn recede, and his pupils returned to normal as well.
Tessa stared at him for a few seconds before slowly nodding, "I understand." She looked toward Zenith with an apologetic expression and bowed her head lightly, "I am sorry, Zenith. I jumped to conclusions."
Zenith chuckled, "It is alright, my dear Tessa." In her opinion, it was probably best for them to assume she was just like other demons at first.
If not for the unknown amount of time she had spent with Elion during the loops, she might have still been a bloodthirsty demon like the rest of her kind.
But spending so much time with Elion, even if he did not remember it, he had taught her a bit about the human world, and the effort she had put into learning how humankind behaved had helped to mellow out her demonic side.
She would be lying if she said she did not still feel those murderous urges sometimes. However, her growing stronger and being in possession of the Philosopher’s Stone helped with her self-control.
But she would never tell Elion such a thing; there was no need to worry him unnecessarily. She was fine now.
Regardless, it would be odd for all of them to immediately warm up to Zenith, even with Elion’s reassuring words. It was not that easy to erase years of prejudice, no matter who it was that was speaking
Even if they themselves believed they had thrown those thoughts away, perhaps those thoughts had only been buried deep in their minds.
Elion understood that as well. "I do not expect you all to accept Zenith just because I said so," Elion said. "But I do hope this will make things easier for everyone, and that you will open up to her in time."
"Of course," Mira said with a smile. "As you said, making assumptions based on what everyone else says and thinks is distasteful, and I will do no such thing."
She looked around the room. "And neither will everyone else, right?" Everyone nodded in response.
Perhaps Mira noticed that Isla was a bit too quiet. Among them, she was the only one who had yet to say a proper word, apart from simple greetings.
So Mira decided to put Isla on the spot.
"Now, however," Mira said, turning toward her with a pleasant smile, "I am rather interested in Isla’s story. Do you mind sharing a bit about yourself?"
Isla’s cheeks flushed a bit. She inadvertently looked toward Elion with a questioning, pleading look, asking for his help.
"It is fine, Isla," Elion said gently. "You can share if you want to. If you do not want to, that is fine as well."
He looked toward Mira. "Isla is a bit shy," he said with a chuckle. "She is not exactly a social person."
Mira nodded, "Oh, my bad."
"It is fine," Isla said softly. She lowered her gaze. "My story is not as interesting as Zenith’s, so I do not think you would be interested in hearing it."
Elion raised a brow and frowned. Why did she feel like she needed to have an interesting story to speak about herself?
Was she comparing herself to everyone else, trying to see if she could fit in?
That would not do. It would be terrible if Isla somehow developed an inferiority complex toward his other women for one reason or another.
He also noticed that she was keeping her hands clasped together on her lap. At first, he had thought that was simply the way she liked to sit, but could it be that she was hiding her calloused hands from the others?
Elion sighed softly, "Isla," he said.
She looked up at him. "It does not matter whether you have an interesting story to tell or not. Everyone wants to get to know you and who you are. No one is comparing, and neither should you."
He gave her a kind smile.
Isla’s thin pink lips formed a small O. She smiled wryly, realising that she had misunderstood. She took a deep, shuddering breath as she prepared herself to speak.
Suddenly, her nervousness vanished. In its place, a noble air settled over her. The sudden change surprised everyone, and a few brows were raised.
"My name is Isla Starhaven."
A few glances were exchanged at the mention of the name Starhaven, but they allowed her to continue.
"It is still difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that the place I called home was nothing more than a venue for a trial Elion was undergoing," Isla said. "I do not know whether I can call it a real world anymore. But for me, everything I lived through and went through was no doubt real."
Her hands tightened slightly on her lap.
"With that being said, in the world I lived in, I was known as Princess Isla Starhaven. Or First Princess Isla. Daughter of Melroy Starhaven, the Ki—"
She paused and corrected herself, "The former king of the Kingdom of Veloria." After saying that, Isla stopped speaking, supposedly done with her introduction.
However, a long silence ensued. Mira, Aria, and Tessa all seemed to have the same thought running through their minds.
What did she mean her story was not interesting? She was an actual princess! It was not hard to guess that she was somehow related to the current King Alexander Starhaven, at least the one from her world.
Her background was perhaps even more amazing than Zenith’s.
Perhaps they did not understand the full scope of how it was possible for two versions of the same world to exist in completely different spaces and different time periods, but they had no reason to question the reality of her world.
After all, who was to say the same thing would never happen to them? What if someone came to them one day and told them the same thing Elion had told Isla?
The circumstances might be different, of course, but the world, and above all, time and space, were abstract concepts.
Concepts that were not fully understood even by the strongest beings and the most devoted professionals in the field.
In the end, Mira smiled and spoke first, "An actual royal princess before us," she said lightly. "Should we call you Princess Isla?"
Isla shook her head with a light smile, "I am not a princess anymore," she said, her voice turning a little grim. "You can just call me Isla."
Perhaps she had not quite understood the joke.
Mira’s smile softened. "Welcome aboard, Isla." Her smile brightened again. "Life with Elion is never short of excitement, but I do hope you know what you signed up for."
The rest of them giggled.
Elion suddenly felt like he was being personally attacked. If he defended himself, it probably would not end well, so he chose to remain silent and keep the shameless smile on his face.