We arrived at the garden. The little fairies wiped the petals, the big ones trimmed the shrubs and pulled out the weeds, the ones with the best voices sang to the flowers, and all of them sprinkled it with water and magic. The garden was so big that the maintenance was done end-to-end all year. By the point they’d pulled the weeds and wiped the petals to one end, it was time to start the cycle again. To them, gardening was a 24/7 activity.
We asked one of the gardeners where the king was, “Hey, can you point us to the king? He is here, right?”
“The king?” The fairy that was pulling out the weeds looked up at me. “You’re a human. What’s a human doing here?” She asked.
“I’m here to meet the king,” I said. “And give him a gift.”
“Oh, he likes gifts. Hmm. He likes to sit on his boulder. You should go there.” She pointed at the garden hedges.
“The boulder’s in the middle of the garden.” Squirrel reminded me.
“Alright, thanks,” I said and walked into the maze of hedges and flowers.
“Do whatever you want.” The gardener said and went back to pulling out the weeds.

We had to ask the fairies working in the garden multiple times for direction as we maneuvered through the maze of hedges and flowers. A lot of them were curious as to why a human was here, but when I explained I was here for a friendly visit, they were very helpful.

Some were eager to hear stories of the human world.
“You’re from the human world, right? How is the war going? Did the dragons crush you guys yet?”
“War? We’re not at war right now.” Though, soon we will be. But that’s with the demon queendom, not the dragons.
“Didn’t the human queen steal the red dragon’s egg? There’s no way the dragons would sit still.” She said, stroking her chin.
“I think that was a few centuries ago. I think I remember reading about it in the history books. You’re talking about the Elephant Knight,  right? The queen?” I asked.
“Ah,” the fairy scratched her little head, “I don’t know about things like that. I just know you humans were stupid.”
“I think you’re talking about old news. I’m going to go. I need to go talk to the king.” I said and walked away from her.

There were many who asked such incoherent questions about century-old news and just strange things they’d heard. Most were disappointed because I couldn’t answer their weird questions. But eventually, I managed to reach the center of the garden.
I stepped out from the hedges and into the grassy clearing and saw the prince and his two knights. The knights were his guards assigned to him  by the queen. One was in green armor and looked like a child, and the other was in red armor and looked like a middle-aged woman. They were both high-level fairies, around level 80. They stood beside him, looking  bored as I approached them.

The  moment my eyes landed on him, I was smitten. He was sitting naked on a boulder in the middle of the garden with his legs spread apart. His chin rested in his hand. He looked at me with his big beautiful eyes. His eyes were as pink as love. His small lips looked deliciously moist and pink. He had luscious and fluffy pale lilac hair going down to his  shoulders. His skin was soft and fair. He had a flat chest with cute nipples. “A human.” He said, sitting up straight. I didn’t hear a thing  he said because my eyes wandered down to what was between his legs. He  had nice feet and beautiful long legs too, but what was between his legs was the most beautiful peen I had ever seen. It was pink and hung down  like the thick bud of a beautiful flower soon to bloom. It was a succulent sight. I wanted to see it grow and bloom. And his testes were  just as beautiful as his peen.
It was such a beautiful and alluring flower you wanted to tell him to  close his legs to not tempt the maidens. His crotch was both adorable  and manly. I swallowed the pool of drool that had formed in my mouth. Many maidens would’ve thrown him to the ground and raped him silly if not for the queen. And I’d be one of those maidens. But to fuck him without his consent would surely bring on the wrath of the fairy queen. If I attacked him, those two knights beside him wouldn’t just stand and watch either.

I went down on one knee, bowed my head, and greeted the king respectfully. “I, Sherrie Hooper of the humans, am honored to meet the king of the fairies: the great Somerled Fólki Applerain.”
“I’m not the king!” He yelled and stood up. His manhood bounced as he stood up… It was so hard to focus.
“Ah, right.” I had made a mistake.
One of his guards took this as a chance to talk some sense into him. “Somerland, the queen has-”
“I’m a prince. I have not married.” He said, squaring his shoulders. “She may claim whatever she wishes, but I have not agreed.”
“Right, then, prince,” I said, trying to appease the king. “It’s a great  honor to meet you.” The king that is acting like a brat is close to 200 years old, but for the fairies that live for a millennium, he was a teenager/young adult.
“Hmm. Why are you here, human?” He asked, walking closer to me. I stopped staring at his junk and looked up at his beautiful eyes.
“Ah, right.” I took off my backpack. “I brought you a gift.” I took out the preservation box filled with human sweets and held it to him. “These  are the finest sweets we humans make. Please enjoy them.”
“Oh, sweets.” He took the box from my hands and opened it. “They do smell nice.” And while drooling, he mumbled, “Look, I’m not a kid  anymore. You should bring me meats…” Then gulping down the saliva, he  asked, “Why is a human giving these to me?”
The king doesn’t like people who ask for things in return but loves gifts and loves people who give them. If the queen had known that before  meeting him, he might’ve become very loyal to her. But she only learned of his nature after she’d already demanded things from him, and now,  though she sends him many gifts, he acts coldly to her. I stood up. He  was an inch or 2 taller than me. I looked into his eyes and said, “Because you are beautiful, my prince.” And gently caressed his arm.
I felt the two guards’ auras spilling out, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I stopped caressing him and took a step back to appease them. It didn’t matter if I managed to win the king. If those  two were to attack me, I was doomed.
“I have had many fairy women tell me that before, but you’re the first human.” He said, and I smiled. “So, this is just a gift?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then I’ll give it a try.” He smiled happily, looking at all the sweets. He took out one of the cake bites and took a bite. Hearts  appeared in his eyes, and he proceeded to put more in his mouth. “These  aaa kin-do-f goo.” He spoke while chewing.
“Please don’t talk while you’re chewing your majesty. It’s unbecoming of your stature.” The little knight in green armor said.
“Num ahouv you am.” He mumbled something at her and continued to eat the  sweets. He returned to the boulder, sat down, and ate one sweet after another. He mumbled something, “Num am um am um,” at me as he ate.
I didn’t understand a word he said. I just nodded and said, “Ah, yeah.”
He nodded and continued to eat.
The squirrel on my shoulder whispered into my ear, “You did a good  thing. The prince loves sweets.” I said nothing back since I already  knew that.
When he finished eating, he dropped the box, let out a little burp, and  said, “That was good.” The red armored fairy handed him a bowl of water and a towel to wipe his mouth with. One of the gardener fairies had brought it over while he was eating. He quickly wiped his mouth. “So, human, you came all this way just to meet me?” He asked, jumping to his  feet, happily jiggling his manly bits in the process.
“Yes, prince,” I said truthfully.
“Hmm.” He came closer to me and looked into my eyes. “A human thinks I’m beautiful. Am I that beautiful?”
“Yes, you’re very beautiful,” I said, caressing the side of his body. I felt the sting of their auras again and withdrew my hands. Then he touched me instead, cupping my chin; he kissed my lips with his  beautiful lips. He tasted sweet. I sucked on his tongue and wished it’d  never end. But the two guards pulled him away.
“King! You can’t just let her fool you like that!” They screamed at him as they yanked him away.
He struggled against them and said, “No, one is fooling me. I want to make love to her!”
“You can’t! The queen would never accept it! You should ask for something! Something very rare and worthy of you! Something the queen  would accept.” The green armored one yelled at him.
I licked my lips, just wanting to taste more of his lips.
“Let go of me! Didn’t I accept a box of sweets? Isn’t that enough? Just tell her that was the favor.” He wanted me too, but these two women won’t let it happen so easily. I wished they’d go away, but I also understood them. The king was too liberal. The women wouldn’t mind that  kind of behavior from some man with low experience points, but from someone like the king, it was unacceptable.
“That is nothing! The queen would bring you an entire carriage filled with those sweets if you asked.” The green armored one yelled at him.
He struggled against them some more. “Let go of me!” But they wouldn’t let go. Getting angry, he lied and said, “You’re hurting me.”
They immediately let him go and bowed their heads. “We apologize, your majesty. We’d never do anything to harm you.” I could sense the fear in  their bodies. They knew what’d happen to them better than anyone if the queen heard they’d harmed the king. It didn’t matter whether it was true; if the king claimed it was so, then it is so.
He straightened his shoulders and asked, “Why should I care what she’d accept. She can accept whatever she wishes with her own body. I am my own man.”
“Please, your majesty. If not for the queen, then think of your own stature. Think about… us.” The green armored one pleaded with him. “If  the queen hears we let you sleep with a human woman for a box of sweets…  Please, your majesty, reconsider.” They weren’t just here to keep him  safe but also to keep an eye on him, after all. When the queen hears of  it, they’ll have to present her with something worthy; otherwise, it wouldn’t end well for them. They had a lot more to be worried about than  the king.
“Why do you let her control you!? Why do you cower in fear!? The entire queendom should rise up against her!” He screamed at them. They continued  to keep their heads bowed to him. They didn’t say a word. “Look at me! I  don’t bow to her!” But they continued to hold their tongue. He looked at me, then at them, then at me, and then back at them again. Finally, he looked at me with a saddened expression. He got closer to me once again and said, “Beautiful human woman, I wish to sleep with you, but I must ask you for a favor.”
“Anything,” I said, caressing his body. The smile returned on his face. This time the guards did nothing but continue to keep their heads bowed.
“What will be enough for that stupid woman…” He looked up at the sky and wondered.
This is why I couldn’t prepare for him ahead of time. It was different every time you met him. He could ask for a dragon’s scale, nectar from the world tree, the head of a red lich, fruit from the bodiless tree, etc. The list is practically endless.
He looked at his guards, then back at me, and said, “Ah, how about the feather of a phoenix.” And I frowned. “Why, is that too much?” No, it was actually rather generous. I frowned because I remembered that the auction house in the capital sold a phoenix feather. If I had known it’d  be useful, I could’ve bought it. Ah, it’s too late now.
“Ah, no. That’s fine. I’ll get you the feather of the phoenix. It might take me a while, though.”
“How long?” He asked.
“I don’t know. Somewhere between a few months and a year.” I said.
“Oh, okay. That’s fine, I’ll wait. I thought you’d say a few centuries.” He said.
“Ah, no.” Humans don’t live that long… For the most part.
He turned back to the bowing women and asked, “Will that be enough?”
“Yes, your majesty. Thank you, your majesty.” They said.
He sighed and said, “You see how things are around here.”
“Ah, yes. I am just happy to have met you, your majesty.” I said with a smile.
He hugged me tighter and said, “Humans are so cute!” The guards were standing up straight again, and I could feel their auras stinging me again.
“You should let her go, your majesty.” The little green armored one said, “She has to work hard on getting that legendary feather. You should let her get to it.”
“You two be nice to her!” He yelled at them while holding on to me.
I could stay in his arms forever, but they were right. “They’re right, your majesty. I have a lot to do now.”
“Oh, are you leaving already?”
“Only so I can meet you again,” I said.
He kissed my face over and over again. “Ah, okay.” He released me. “Please come back soon.”
“I will, your majesty.” I bowed to him one last time. Now that I’d gotten the quest, I had no reason to stick around other than to enjoy the view…

***

As we stepped out of the garden, we met the women pulling out the weeds again.
“Hey,” I said, “do you know where I can buy some rainbow wood?”
“You want to buy rainbow wood?” She asked.
“Yes, I know not many stores sell it… Would you happen to know?” The map I had wasn’t good enough, and in the game, I never spent that long in this city to know its ins and outs.
“A store… Maybe Mrs. O’Mooney’s store.”
“How do we get there?” I asked.
“Ah…” She explained the route to the store, but I didn’t really get it. So I provided her with a pencil and a piece of paper and asked her to draw it. She was kind enough to do it for me.
“Thank you!” I said as I took the map she’d drawn. Maybe I’ll get her a box of sweets the next time I come over.