The King's Beloved

~ [Music Recommendation: "Ponyo Comes" by Yasushi Toyoshima (Ponyo OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in the loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter XD ~

Clavis woke up early the next day. Careful not to wake Selena who was hugging him tightly at that moment, he removed her arms that were wrapped around his waist gently and slowly. He stopped midway when Selena grunted, holding his breath in the process. He only continued removing her arms when he was sure that she was back to sleeping soundly.

Clavis had no time to do his usual morning routine of sipping his coffee while reading a book. So as soon as he finished bathing himself, he changed into a normal human's clothing - a blue polo shirt paired with white pants, leather shoes, and a non-magical human's watch. Yes, he conjured them all by magic, copying a design from one of the nation leaders he remembered before, when they gathered them and talked to them. Little did he know that he looked like a celebrity being overly handsome even in simple clothing. To top it off, he tied his hair into a neat ponytail, only leaving his soft fringes on his forehead, and a couple of locks on both sides of his face since they were too short to reach the hair tie.

Aside from looking like one of the humans, he made sure to conjure human currency. Realizing it was illegal, he destroyed them and created gems instead. He thought getting money exchanged from it would be better and more "legal". Lastly, he picked a place to visit from a map he got in the archives - it was a map of the Earth. After much consideration, he decided to go to a western country, the United States, located in the continent of North America.

Finally ready to depart, he created a black hole since the distance he was going to was quite far. Magi uses black holes for long distance travelling and teleportation for short distance. He jumped into the black hole and in just a matter of seconds, he was already in one of the largest cities on planet Earth.

"So this is what a human's city looks like," Clavis assessed as he spun his head around the whole city. There were lots of skyscrapers, street lights, people walking on the sides, cars on the road, and shops all over the place. It was a picture perfect city and the sound of a bustling crowd could be heard everywhere. It was no longer the ruins it once was after the night of invasion. "Hmmm … humans easily adapt to circumstances and I see that they have already rebuilt what was broken," Clavis thought. 'Well, it never would have happened if they only agreed to let us silently take the spiritual energy from their planet. It's wasted on them anyway".

Clavis started walking and surveying the whole area, looking for the game that Selena liked. He passed by a couple of apparel shops, restaurants, coffee shops, malls, bars, and many others. He pondered while he walked.

"Last Dream … role playing game … with lots of installments. I wonder what it looks like?" Clavis asked himself. "With the human's advancing technology, I'm guessing it would be something that has to do with that. It's not like Selena would dress up as a certain character and fight. So it should be something controllable". On and on, his mind wandered what the game could possibly look like and how it could be played. He only stopped thinking when he saw a large clock with its small hands pointing at eight. "Ugh, I don't have all day to think about this. It's better to ask".

Clavis looked around him. His feet seemed to have brought him inside one of the large malls in the city. He turned his head to look for someone to ask only to find everyone staring at him.

"Huh? Why are they looking at me?" Clavis asked himself. "Do I look weird? I'm wearing the same clothes as they do. I may be taller than most of them but the difference is not that much".

"Ahm … sir," a group of young women approached him. They were giggling and pushing each other in front of him.

Clavis was taken aback but he managed to keep his face calm.

"Why are these girls biting their lips and moving their bodies in a weird fashion?" Clavis thought. "Is it an illness? I should get away from them".

"Can we take a picture with you please?" one of the girls blurted out. Her face was so red and some sweats could be seen from her forehead.

Unfortunately, before she finished her words, Clavis already turned away and walked the other way. He didn't want to catch whatever illness they had, according to him. Noticing this, one of the other girls quickly grabbed on his sleeves, trying to make him stay. The moment her fingers brushed on his sleeve, Clavis turned to her and glared menacingly to the point that he looked scary. The girls jolted.

"Don't touch me," Clavis commanded as he pulled his arm away. He turned his head away from them again and continued walking.

The young girls were left frozen on the spot for a few seconds but then came squealing afterwards, as if they saw a celebrity. Clavis was annoyed by the noise but oh well, he was in the human's world incognito - he shouldn't make any ruckus or it might trigger another war.

A few hours passed by and Clavis still had not found the game. Thanks to not being able to use magic, he had to walk by foot just to look for it. The enormous size of the mall didn't help as well. Good thing he was smart enough to memorize the directory and the floor plans so he didn't need to visit the same place twice. But still, he was getting nowhere. He tried asking a couple of people but they kept fawning over him that his questions were left unanswered. Losing hope, he sat down near the fountain located at the center of the mall. He did manage to find a shop to exchange the jewels for human currency at least.

"Haaah," Clavis sighed deeply. "Where on earth is that game?"

"What game?" the man who was seated at the far end of the bench asked. "You've been sighing for a whole minute now. I thought it's because of a girl, but oh no, it's a game! What the freaks! Ha ha ha! You're a weird handsome dude!"

"Oh, that's … well, I'm looking for a game called 'Last Dream'. Any idea where to find it?"

"Woah! Whoever's playing that among your peers has great tastes!" the man exclaimed. He had this jolly and friendly face that one could easily get along with. "Perfect timing, too! They just released their latest installment - Last Dream 7 Remake, part 2!"

Clavis eyes twinkled in anticipation. "Where?"

"It should be in the game zone area," the man answered quickly. "Oh, this mall is pretty huge. I can take you there if you want".

Clavis was surprised by his kindness. "If it's not that much of a bother".

"Nah, it's fine. I'm waiting for my brother but he's running late anyways".

"Thank you".

Clavis followed the man and shortly after taking the elevator and walking past a couple of shops, they arrived at the game zone area. The man continued walking towards a store that had lots of posters on its clear windows. When they entered, a sales representative assisted them. Clavis stated what he wanted to buy and the representative guided them to the spot. There, the different video games stood like thin books on a shelf but amongst the featured ones was the game Clavis was looking for.

"I see, so this is how it looks," Clavis thought to himself. Turning to the representative, he said, "I'd like this one".

"Sure, sir. Is there anything else you'd like?"

The man who accompanied Clavis nudged him and asked, "Do you have the console for that?"

"Huh? Console?"

"Yes, the thing where you insert the disc and play".

"Oh, that. I don't".

"You better buy it then. You can't play the game without it".

Clavis turned to the rep again, "And the console, too. Also, add every installments of this game. And also some other games similar to it. Oh wait, maybe I should just buy everything?"

"A-all of them?" the rep's eyes shot wide open.

"Are you some kind of millionaire or something?" the man he was with was surprised as well.

It wasn't a million but Clavis earned a couple of hundred thousand dollars from the gems he sold. And he nonchalantly put the cash on his wallet, and the excess, since it didn't fit, on a case given to him for free by the shop owner.

"Is that too much? Then maybe just those in the same genre, or games that women would like".

"Y-yes, sir! Right away!" the rep ran and immediately prepared everything.

Once done, Clavis paid for everything in cash. He didn't even need the remaining money on the case, so he just gave it to the man that helped him.

"What is this?" the man asked.

"Some change, I don't need it anymore so you can have it".

"Huh? No, I'm good, man. I didn't help to get something in return," he waved his hands disapprovingly. "If you got extra money, you can put it in a bank or something".

Clavis paused for a moment, appreciating the kindness of a human stranger. And with a sincere heart, he said, "You're a kind human. Thank you".