Chapter 1159: Meeting The Elven Queen

With Alyss’s torture quickly resolved behind closed doors midst a series of cries, their outfits were finally decided.

First was Allura.

With her size and stature, one would think that finding right outfits for her would be difficult.

However, that was a problem that Velouria had long resolved.

Before her passing, she had actually made a series of outfits that could be mixed and matched in a multitude of ways.

Naturally, they were all tailored to her size.

Even if she grew, these garments would adjust themselves.

The outfit she chose in the end was a black dress with pieces of silver armour covering her right shoulder, her chest and waist. The contrast between silver and black was enough to make the jaws fall as Allura had also decorated herself with an Ayrian necklace as well.

She tied her hair into a tall pony tail while adjusting her bangs so that it matched Alice’s hairstyle.

One of her eyes was partially hidden while the other had a confident shine in them.

With one hand on her hips, she was about to light up a cigarette when Karya shot her a glare.

While Allura chose an outfit to highlight her status, Karya opted for something simple yet noble.

A white dress with golden accessories to highlight her status as the Lord of Life.

Aside from a couple of accessories since it’s a formal setting, Karya kept her attire mostly simple. Devoid of frills and ribbons, her approach was like a palette cleanser after seeing Allura.

Next was Alice.

True to the nature trained by Velouria, Alice dolled herself up to high light her ’main points’. That being her natural cuteness despite being a murder machine.

Even Karya had to admit that Alice was a good looking girl. If she sat still with a gentle smile, there’s no telling how many hearts she would steal.

IF.

Alice wasn’t like that. To put it simply... there was only one word to describe Alice’s behaviour.

Ruffian.

Hooligan even.

She had a wide grin on her face whenever she spoke. The topic of her words were usually unfiltered, even before her current state and she didn’t shy away from laughing heartily, especially when drunk.

Of course that’s not to say there weren’t delicate sides of her. Everyone had seen her delicate side peek through.

But most would see the ruffian rather than the maiden.

Not only that, but if you try to treat her as a maiden outright, you’re just begging to be taken advantage of by the ruffian.

The outfit Alice chose was one that took inspiration from both Kaden and Allura. The ’real’ parents that took care of her.

A black dress with a heart shaped neckline, exposing the skin around her collar. White ribbons wrapped around her hip, accentuating her small waist. From the distance, it almost seemed as though Alice was wearing a corset yet this was her natural body.

Attached to this dress was a set of long sleeves that faded from a semi transparent black to a soft silver. Naturally, these sleeves are bigger than usual as they are some of her favourite types of sleeves despite seemingly being inefficient and a bother to most people.

Each shift of her arm would cause light to catch on the fabric of the sleeves, causing it to shimmer as though it’s covered with a sea of stars.

Around her neck, that Alice usually kept open and uncovered due to... reasons, she decided to take a step forward.

A black laced collar decorated with floral patterns and a small red gemstone brooch just beneath the throat with a black ribbon bow.

It felt a little uncomfortable and made her skin crawl yet when she saw Allura’s happiness seeing the overall outfit, this feeling faded somewhat.

Then there was the skirt. The skirt itself flared outwards from the waist into a short overskirt while beneath it, layers upon layers of soft silver and dark greys that reached her knees.

And finally, a pair of simple black tights with a pair of black dress shoes.

Next to Alice stood the highlight of today.

The girl who had to suffer through Allura’s dress up and finally changed into an outfit Allura was satisfied with.

Like Alice’s outfit, Alyss also featured black and white only in reverse.

A short white dress connected to an ornamental collar around her neck. Bare shoulders into a pair of long white gloves instead of sleeves. Around the wrists, black star like patterns similar to the Crown of the Abyss coiled up the arm.

Around her waist, black feathers seemed to wrap around her hip, resembling a cluster of feathers that had been pressed into a dress. From behind, layered decorations flowed into a set of elongated coat tails of black and silver.

One thigh was wrapped with a black strap with silver details while the other was covered by a long white thigh high stocking. On its surface, black and silver details could be seen around the top and the ankles which led to a set of silver heels.

Alyss pulled her skirt to avoid the wind blowing it up as her face was burning with embarrassment. Not only that, since only one leg was completely exposed, she felt a little ’naked’ on that side.

Compared to the usual fierce and tomboyish Alyss, she was simply another maiden in this moment.

A gap that amplified her adorableness as Alice burned the memory of her embarrassed sister into her mind.

[Can you stop? If you keep filling the archive with so many snapshots of the same outfit I’ll have to allocate another area to it.] Cayla sighed as Alice stuck out her tongue playfully.

’What about you? Aren’t you going to join this meeting? It seems pretty fun no?’ Alice asked curiously but Cayla shook her head.

[I’ll be here to stop the projection if it gets out of control. It’s why you gave me the triggered cast for it right?]

She had been in plenty of important meetings with Gods thanks to Velouria. A meeting with an Elven Queen and a couple of old stooges held no merit for her. Not only that, it’s not like she’s missing out on the contents of the meeting thanks to Alice.

’If you say so. But if you want to come out, just let me know ok?’

With Cayla nodding her head, Alice put her focus back on reality.

The closer they got to the royal hall, the more guards there were. Most of them had a shimmer in their eyes, a sign of people who’ve adapted to the realm to gain power yet struggled to function outside of it.

People that Solana dubbed as defective due to this trait.

But thought they may be ’defective’ at least in the current realm, they were some of the stronger ones.

Alice floated in the air, her fingers forming a frame as she glanced through all of the soldiers.

"Couple of decent ones I suppose." She smiled while Allura clapped her hand.

"Behave yourself Alice, what did we talk about?" She smiled helplessly.

Letting out a slight cough, Alice endured her burning curiosity and floated back to Allura’s side.

As they arrived by the door, they weren’t allowed to enter immediately.

Something to do with having to wait for when they are called through.

Naturally, it annoyed Alice since she could probably squash these people like the bugs they ar-

"Alice."

"Whoops." Alice stuck out her tongue as killing intent had slipped out somewhat, causing the guards around them to shoot pointed glares towards her.

Had it not been for orders to let them through, they would’ve restrained Alice on the spot.

Not that they were capable of such a task.

After waiting a couple of minutes, they were finally allowed through as the giant doors opened with the creek of wood.

Past the doors, the Elves turned their gaze towards the group. Allura and Alice took the first step without fear, almost as though this place was their own backyard.

The others followed though with less ’aggression’ than these two.

Almost immediately, whispers spread amongst the Elves in the room.

Some curious, some displeased.

The hall was split into three main sections. Left, right and centre.

Left and right were split into two floors/layers, Elves in noble attire whispering amongst themselves. Some clustered into groups with a clear leader while others were simply here to watch the drama.

Surprisingly, there were a couple of Lords thrown into the mix. Considering how much of a rarity it was, seeing this many Lords flanking the sides was a rather interesting feeling.

With the exception of one or two, these people were all defectives that only have power within the realm.

Finally, there were the ones sat in the middle.

The queen and the elders who sat just behind her.

Perhaps it was a statement of who was truly in control as the Queen was merely a figurehead to some degree.

Solana and Yuna naturally stood near the queen, probably by her own personal request since they’re also familiar with Alice to some extent. But they weren’t the only guards stood near the centre.

Alice narrowed her eyes.

Each Elder had a Lord guarding them with a couple of hidden Elves tucked in the back.

Suffice to say, this had been the most amount of Lords that Alice had ever seen gathered into one spot.

Whether it was quantity over quality, Alice couldn’t say. At least without fighting them directly. But seeing as how she felt zero threat from these people, it was most likely the case. Only the couple who weren’t limited to this realm may put up a decent fight, Solana included.

But in general, the danger level of this hall was rather tame so Alice found herself naturally relaxing slightly.

With that, she finally turned her gaze to the Queen who flinched slightly from her stare.

She was still a little scared despite having the Lords around her?

Alice narrowed her eyes.

Seems like the Queen understood just how powerful she was.

Otherwise...

How could she not feel ’safe’ despite the Lords around her?