"Say, aaah," Yiren reached towards the tray, picking up one of the snacks her mother prepared and held it in front of Xuefeng's mouth trying to feed him.
"Your mother is waiting. Shouldn't we stop playing and get ready?" Xuefeng sighed seeing her still in the mood for games.
"We are not done yet. She has to wait if she wants to go with us. Come on open up. I will feed you." Yiren shrugged and didn't stop her feeding.
"Eh, okay… Aaah…" Xuefeng gave up and opened his mouth which Yiren soon filled with a small snack. He chewed it slowly, tasting it and he had to admit that he was starting to like elven food even more and more. Although the ones made by Yiren's auntie were better in taste, these here didn't lose by that much.
"They taste good. Do you think your mother made them?" Xuefeng nodded in satisfaction and asked curiously.
"Let me taste… mhmm, yeah, only auntie and my mother know the recipe for these snacks." Yiren nodded as she ate one herself.
Xuefeng tried to pick another one for himself but Yiren smacked his hand away and said, "No cheating. Only I can feed you today."
She bit one half of the snack with her teeth and reached out for him to snap the other half.
'Is she playing pocky with me?' Xuefeng thought as he has dove in for the snack almost touching her lips and retreated, making Yiren disappointed.
"Yiren, it's rude to let your mother wait for us like that. Let's eat quickly and go down." Before Yiren put another snack into her mouth to repeat the action from before, Xuefeng decided to stop her.
"Okay…" Hearing Xuefeng's scolding she pouted but after thinking twice about it, she realized she actually was in the wrong.
They finished breakfast quickly afterward, without many distractions and stood up to wear their clothes. Before Xuefeng picked up his shirt from the rope on the balcony, Yiren exclaimed as she opened her wardrobe. She pulled out something from inside and skipped towards Xuefeng happily.
"I almost forgot. It might be a little too big because I didn't know how tall would you be, but it should adjust to your build in a moment." Yiren arrived in front of him and gave him a pearl white, long-sleeved armor. It had golden runes embroidered around the chest area and was a little translucent.
"You made it yourself?" Xuefeng asked impressed as he felt the delicate material. It was so soft and weightless that he almost didn't feel it while touching.
"Yep. Auntie helped me a bit, but I did most of the work. It took me a few weeks to sew everything together. Will you wear it?" Yiren nodded and asked with hope.
"Of course! You don't even need to ask." Xuefeng exclaimed and put the armor on without any delay. He was surprised that the moment he was done, he didn't actually feel the armor on his skin.
'I have never seen material like this. It's made out of a weird silk that I have no knowledge of. I also can't get past it with my Qi. It's like there is a barrier all around you. Interesting.' Even Ling was intrigued by the shirt and commented.
"I'm glad you like it," Yiren said while smiling and looked at him expectantly, waiting for the praise.
"Thank you for the gift." Seeing her sparkling eyes, he leaned over and kissed her deeply.
"You can wear it under your normal shirt as its defenses are pretty nice. Okay, you can go down accompany my mother for a bit. I need to get ready." After the kiss, Yiren smiled sweetly explaining further and then rushed him out of the room. She needed more time to prepare as she was still naked after all.
'Put the necklace on top of the armor else I won't be able to use Spirit Awareness,' Ling said after he left the room.
Xuefeng nodded pulling it out, then put on his own shirt on top of Yiren's gift and went down the stairs. He followed the route he knew from yesterday and soon met the Queen who was leaning by the wall with her hands wrapped under her chest.
"You took your time." The Queen smirked seeing him coming.
"Well, I did speed the things up a little bit else it would take a lot more time." Xuefeng shrugged as he approached the Queen.
They were currently in the corridor leading to the main hall and no one else was currently around them. Xuefeng wasn't scared that the Queen will do something to him as they were in the open space and someone could enter at any time.
Who would have thought that the moment Xuefeng was close to the Queen, she would unexpectedly grab him by the shoulders and cover his mouth with her's? Before Xuefeng could react, he was free again and the Queen acted as if nothing happened.
"What was that for…?" Xuefeng asked as he touched his bottom lip.
"What? That was just a morning kiss. After I saw you two kissing I just happened to have an urge for one as well. You got Yiren and already forgot about me?" The Queen acted innocent and pouted pretending to be hurt.
"Isn't that what you wanted?" Xuefeng didn't understand. He had only a few days to stay in this world and she wanted him to satisfy both her and her daughter. Wasn't that too much?
"Well, women are fickle. You never know when they will change their minds. Yiren is coming. Don't tell her anything." The Queen warned looking at the staircase.
"What were you guys talking about?" Yiren asked as she hopped towards them and jumped into Xuefeng arms. She was wearing an elegant dress that was covering more than usual as she decided to leave that only for Xuefeng's eyes.
"I was just asking Xuefeng if he is going to take part in the tournament." The Queen answered before Xuefeng did.
"Oh, he said he will. Xuefeng needs Fate stones for cultivation. He even has an art that uses Fate Qi inside the Fate Stones. It can heal any injury." Yiren nodded as she started praising Xuefeng happily.
"Hey…" "Oh, so you can use Fate Qi? Interesting. I can give you some Fate Stones if you manage to win the tournament." Xuefeng wanted to stop Yiren from exposing him but when he heard the Queen mention that she will give him Fate Stones, he halted.
"How much are we talking about?" Xuefeng asked intrigued.
"Let's talk about it while walking. The tournament is about to start soon." The Queen smiled playfully and walked out of the corridor towards the entrance hall not waiting for them.
"Let's go." Yiren pushed Xuefeng forward happily, excited for today's events.
They caught up to the Queen and left the palace. As they stepped on the bridge they could see from afar that there were fewer people on the streets.
"It seems that the tournament already started, but don't worry. If I want something, they can't say no." The Queen commented relaxed.
"How is this tournament arranged?" Xuefeng asked as they walked.
"It's a simple one lose elimination system. There are usually around a hundred something plus contestants, but you should be fine. There is also a betting system that most elves enjoy. It's controlled by the palace so we earn a lot of Fate Stones from this event. I can give you half of what you earn with your battles, deal?" The Queen explained and proposed with a business smile.
"Well, I will do my best. I still don't know how elves fight." Xuefeng shrugged.
"You will definitely win! I will watch from the side and cheer for you." Yiren encouraged Xuefeng.
Xuefeng smiled thankfully at Yiren and patted her on the head. The guards protecting the bridge moved out of the way when they saw the Queen and bowed greeting them politely. This time they didn't look at Xuefeng with bad intent afraid they would be seen by the Queen.
With the city almost empty, it didn't take them long to arrive in front of the arena. They could hear loud cheering noises already from afar, signifying that the tournament had already started. The arena was placed on top of an old tree that was almost comparable in size to the parent tree. The only difference was that parent tree was still young, radiating with life.
"Come inside, we will find the manager to sign you in." The Queen called out as they approached the gate.
There were some elves standing before the counter and a middle-aged man was taking their bets, noting them on the round token.
"Everyone has their own tokens where the manager marks who they bet on. After that person wins, they earn Fate Stones depending on the odds." The Queen explained seeing him looking and waved at the manager to come.
"My Queen, how can I help you?" Seeing that the Queen came, the manager didn't wait and approached them.
"I want you to sign this kid into the tournament. Announce it to everyone so they have time to place the best. Make it 1 to 10. If he loses they can win ten times of the bet amount." The Queen commanded, shocking Xuefeng at the same time.
'She believes in me so much?' Xuefeng couldn't believe what he just heard. If Xuefeng lost, then the Queen would probably lose a lot of money.
"Alright." The man glanced once at Xuefeng and agreed without any objections. He believed the Queen wouldn't put out a human into the fight if he wasn't at least decent.
"Okay boy, don't disappoint me. If you lose I'm not going to be happy." The Queen winked playfully at him when the manager went away, causing him to regret being greedy for the Fate Stones.
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