She leaned closer and stared at his ear for a few seconds, still unable to make sense of it.
It was too realistic.
The pointed shape, the delicate curve, even the slight movement when he turned his head…
everything looked completely natural.
She slowly reached out again, curiosity overpowering her embarrassment.
“How did you make them look like that?”
Her fingers stopped just short of his ear.
“They really look real…”
She tilted her head, examining it from a different angle.
“There has to be something attached here.”
She glanced around the room, searching for the hidden camera she was now convinced had to be somewhere nearby.
Maybe this was some elaborate prank.
Maybe a camera was hidden behind one of the curtains.
Maybe someone was filming her reaction right now.
Her attention returned to him.
For the first time, instead of focusing only on his ears, she actually looked at him.
And she stopped.
He did not look like someone wearing a costume.
His long black hair fell loosely around his shoulders, thick strands framing a face that looked almost unreal in its refinement.
His skin was strikingly pale against the dark colour of his hair, and his sharp features seemed too carefully defined to belong to someone she had simply encountered by chance.
Then there were his eyes.
A clear, unusual shade of green stared back at her beneath dark lashes, calm and watchful.
They weren’t the eyes of someone playing along with a prank.
They were studying her.
Judging her.
Trying to understand her.
Her gaze slowly travelled lower.
He wore layers of pale, flowing fabric embroidered with intricate golden patterns, the dark details beneath it contrasting sharply with the cream-colored cloth.
Several delicate necklaces rested against his chest, threaded with deep blue stones and gold ornaments that caught the light whenever he moved.
Even his earrings were unlike anything she had seen before…
long, elaborate pieces of gold and blue gemstones that looked less like accessories and more like something that belonged to royalty.
She blinked.
Once.
Then again.
There was no wig.
No costume seams.
No obvious makeup.
No camera crew.
No explanation.
She looked back at his face.
For the first time since waking, she wondered if this was real.
Her voice came out quieter.
“…Who are you?”
He looked at her as though the question itself were strange.
Before she could say anything else, he spoke.
“What language are you speaking?”
She froze.
“What?”
His expression remained unreadable.
“I asked what language you are speaking.”
She stared at him.
English.
Obviously.
She opened her mouth to answer, then hesitated.
“English.”
‘Well…
I thought he was a foreigner, so….’
‘Hold on?
What language is he speaking?’ She tried to recall his words, but she couldn’t identify the language.
‘This is so strange.
It is like I somehow just understand him.’
The word ‘English’ means nothing to him.
He became silent for a second, studying her.
“And which kingdom do you belong to?”
She frowned.
“Kingdom?”
“Yes.”
He said it as though the answer should have been obvious.
She stared at him for a long moment.
Then the first real wave of fear finally settled in.
“Wait…”
The unfamiliar chamber surrounding her.
The strange architecture.
The enormous bed.
The golden ornaments.
The pointed ears.
The clothes.
The man standing before her.
Nothing about this place belonged to her world.
She swallowed.
“Kingdom?!
We choose the president by voting…”
“Presidents?
Voting?”
His brow furrowed.
“There are no presidents in Aelthara.
There is a throne…
and only the strongest may claim it.”
His grip tightened around her wrist as she tried to pull away, making her flinch.
“Aelthara?
I’ve never heard that name before.”
“You speak of a world I have never heard of, governed by customs I cannot comprehend.”
He released her wrist, but his gaze remained fixed upon her.
“Now, tell me how you came to be here.”
His eyes narrowed.
“And do not insult me with another story you expect me to believe.”
‘She speaks as though she has never heard of Aelthara.
Stranger still, she speaks of choosing rulers as though the very concept of a king is foreign to her.’
He studied her face in silence.
“Where is this?” She covered her eyes with the backs of her hands, rubbing them as she hiccuped between sobs.
She struggled to speak through her tears.
“There is no such thing as a kingdom on Earth…”
“Earth?”
The word was unfamiliar.
“I have never heard of a realm called Earth.”
She was now confused.
‘Come on!
What would be the most important question in a situation like this?’
“H-humans?
Are there humans here?” she asked the question, which seemed the most important one to her, but she didn’t know that this was the worst one of them.
Eryndor went still.
Then he tilted his head slightly.
‘Why ask about humans so suddenly, especially in this situation?’
“You ask that as though you have never encountered one.”
“Humans.
I know their kind.”
His jaw tightened.
“They reek!!
No Elf could mistake their scent.
Vile, weak creatures that reek of decay and lies.”
She blinked.
For a moment, she could only stare at him.
Then the corner of her mouth twitched.
“How did I even get here?
Did you kidnap me?”