The King's Beloved

~ [Music Recommendation: "Avalanche's Theme" by Masashi Hamauzu (Final Fantasy 7 Remake OST) - available in Youtube] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

Rania did her best to stop herself from laughing.

"You said it yourself - you'd rather do it than put me in danger," Rania teased Elliot. "And they only capture women soooo~ that means you're willing to dress up as a woman to fool them into kidnapping you. Right?"

"U-ugh … dress up … as a w-woman?" Elliot's eyes widened. "Why would I - hmm …," he paused for a moment to think. "But if I don't, Rania will do it and that's dangerous! There should be other solutions … what else can we … but this is faster. Do I really have to dress as a woman? Would I even look like a woman if I do so? Ugh, this is so weird".

"Pft! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Rania laughed as Elliot continued to think. Her mischievous mind just imagined Elliot looking more gorgeous than a real woman in a dress.

"I've decided," Elliot raised his head, his calm demeanor back on his face. "Ducis," he called the silent dragon, turning his head towards him, "You do it - dress as a woman and be a bait to those kidnappers". He said all this with a serious face.

Ducis cringed at the idea. "WHAT?! ME?! B-b-but … M-master, with all due respect, but that's something I cannot do. To dress as a woman? Me? The mighty dragon and Guardian of Time and Space? Me?! No!" He freaked out and held his face in shock.

"So, you want me to do it instead?" Elliot raised one of his eyebrows, obviously trying to guilt-trip Ducis.

"A-ahhh … b-but … let Rania do it!"

"No! She's a woman, it could be more dangerous for her".

"Hey! What's wrong with being a woman? I can fend for myself just fine".

"There's nothing wrong with being a woman, I just -," Elliot sighed. "I'm just worried about you. I can't just sit here and watch you be abducted by some unknown man," he grumbled. Then in a soft murmur, "I don't even want anyone else touching you ...".

"Oooh~ so that's what it is. You don't like other men touching me, huh?"

Elliot averted his eyes and turned his head away, trying to hide his embarrassment from her. Rania, in turn, smiled at his sweet sentiments.

"That's so chivalrous of you, Elliot," Rania went nearer and caressed Elliot's cheeks, pulling it gently to look back at her. "But we need to hurry and save those girls. This is the fastest way that we have".

Elliot frowned … but deep inside he knew Rania was right. They couldn't just wait for possibilities or other leads. Time was running, and so were the lives of those girls. For all they knew, something bad could already be happening to them. They needed to move and act faster.

With a deep sigh, Elliot decided, "In that case … let's do it! We're all going to be abducted".

"Huh?! All of us?" Ducis exclaimed.

"Yes. I'm not letting Rania go alone nor am I leaving her behind. And you -," turning to Ducis, "you're not allowed to sit this one out while I … cough … You have to join me and dress as a woman, too". Then, to Rania, he continued, "Seriously though, I don't think we'll be convincing enough. They'd see right through us. I'm tall and my shoulders are broad, my body is far from being that of a woman. My voice, the way I walk and talk … everything is just -"

Rania touched his lips to shut him. "Makeup and magic should do the trick!" she winked and grinned mischievously.

And so, Rania had fun dressing up Elliot and Ducis as a woman while keeping a mischievous smirk on her face. They went to a store to get some dresses fit for them and Rania helped put them on. She only stopped grinning when Elliot removed his shirt without warning, revealing his smooth, fair-skinned, but very sinewy body in front of her face. Rania blushed hard and instantly turned her back to him. Elliot, noticing this, took the chance to get back at her.

"What's wrong, Rania? Why is your face so red?" Elliot leaned over to her ears and whispered, obviously teasing her.

Rania felt electricity run from her ears to her neck and back. Her ears became warm and her face turned redder.

"E-Elliot … y-you shouldn't just nonchalantly remove your shirt in front of a woman - or actually, to anyone at all," Rania barely managed to reply.

"Hm?" Elliot hummed mischievously, and tilted his head, leaning it on Rania's shoulders. Then, he grabbed her waist and gave her a back hug.

Rania froze on her position. In her mind, she thought, "T-this is too much! I … ahh! Why is he so good at giving people heart attacks?"

Ducis narrowed his eyes seeing the two of them flirting in broad daylight.

"So, are we doing this or are you two just going to flirt all day?" Ducis asked them.

Immediately, Rania and Elliot separated. They continued dressing up afterwards and went on as planned. 

Rania dressed Elliot in a trendy long-sleeved red dress with small black spots as design, very much like the Fendi dress. Elliot had a slim waist so it looked perfect with a black belt but he got uncomfortable wearing it above his waist so he removed it. Rania cast some magic to stick fake breasts, or water balls kept intact by thick plastic rather, on his chest, much to his annoyance. She also put some silver accessories on his neck and wrists, a dark brown wig on his hair and a touch of makeup on his face. He didn't need much though since Elliot had a perfect v-shaped face and a tall bridged nose. Just a bit of rosy eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and gradient red lipstick made him look so gorgeous. Too beautiful in fact, even more beautiful than a real woman! Rania did her best to hold back her laughter.

Ducis, on the other hand, was another perfect man to disguise as a woman with his long black hair. Rania made him wear a black maxi dress with halter top that extended to his feet and golden accessories paired with black gladiator heels. It made him stumble while walking so they changed it into a flat one instead. Rania added a flower pin on his hair, fake water balls breasts, and some mature makeup on his face. He, too, looked stunningly beautiful, if only he'd smile - his face was in a complete disgust from beginning to the end of the makeover session.

"Ugh, this is so uncomfortable," Elliot and Ducis grunted.

After the long preparation, all three of them headed towards the darkest alley in Ramus City and waited there as they pretended to chat nonchalantly to lure in the kidnappers. Just as they predicted, they took the bait.

While the three of them were chatting, a dark mist spread around the place, making them sleep and three knights came to take them immediately. They weren't affected by the mist though, rather, they pretended to be affected by it. The knights took the three of them towards a large deserted warehouse where other newly abducted women were located. As they pretended to sleep, they heard a bit of their conversations.

"Is this the last batch for today?" one of the knights, who looked like their leader, asked.

"Yes, sir!" the other saluted. "Not many women go to the alleys anymore after the case of missing women was known to the public. We're lucky to find these three. It seems they're travelers and didn't know of the situation".

"Good," the leader of the knights nodded as he rubbed his chin. "Sigh … this is a problem though. The Commander is requesting for more and more women these days. We need to think of a way to lure them into secluded areas or other ways of abducting. Maybe we should start scouting women who live alone and abduct them at night while sleeping".

"U-ugh," the other knights trembled. There was hesitation and guilt drawn all over their faces.

"S-sir … should we really keep on doing t-this?" another young looking knight asked. His lips trembled for so many reasons his heart couldn't bear. "I mean …"

The leader of the knights sighed deeply. His face wretched as he replied back to him.

"How I hope we have other ways than this …"

Silence fell among the knights.

A few moments later, the knights transferred all the women towards a large cage with a magic circle drawn on its floor. With Caligo's skill, Elliot communicated telepathically with Rania and Ducis.

"Rania, Ducis," Elliot called the two of them through his mind. "Let's keep on pretending to be asleep. I want to get to the bottom of this and see where they're taking them. This is a serious problem that needs to be taken down by the roots".

"I agree," Rania replied. "Saving these women right now will only heighten their security and may cause unnecessary troubles for us. We need to get to the mastermind - to that Commander they're talking about".

"Uhm," Ducis simply hummed in agreement.

Later on, the magic circle lit up, transporting all of them into another dark place they weren't sure where exactly. Elliot tried to observe the area by slightly opening his eyes that he purposely covered by the wig he wore so they wouldn't notice he was awake. Rania and Ducis did the same. They couldn't get much lead unto where they were but …

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Suddenly, a painful shriek of a woman could be heard echoing through the whole place. Rania, Elliot, and Ducis were appalled the moment they heard the anguish in the woman's voice.