Dylan was genuinely surprised when the Queen, whose name was Sasha, invited him to dinner. He knew that in three days he'd be facing her—and the other elves—for his trial. But that was three days from now, not on the very same day he got out of prison! The only thing running through his mind was that those bonus points in Charm must have influenced the Queen's behavior.
"It has to be that," he thought. There was no other explanation.
They walked to the Royal Palace, a structure built inside a massive tree! Inside, there was more than just the Queen's residence; it housed the administration for the tribe and the surrounding settlements. The Queen's home was at the very top. To get there, they climbed a spiral staircase constructed right against the trunk. It took about three minutes to reach the summit.
As they walked, the Queen chatted with Dylan, trying to make conversation. "You've never been up here before, have you?" she asked. "What do you think? Beautiful, isn't it?"
Being a low-ranked elf, Dylan had never entered this part of the Royal Palace. At most, he'd been to the first floor for basic administrative services. The area they were heading to now was extremely restricted and heavily guarded. Dylan could feel the guards glaring at him with undisguised disgust.
"Yes, it's an incredible place," Dylan said, looking down. "It's really high."
The Queen laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "Isn't it? I get scared looking down sometimes, too. I know exactly how you feel."
When they reached the end of the stairs, they faced a set of double wooden doors. Two guards stood there, and upon seeing the Queen with Dylan, they frowned.
Sasha turned to the guards who had escorted them and said, "You can return to your posts."
The guards bowed, shot Dylan a nasty look, and left. Even though they hated the idea of leaving him alone with the Queen, there was nothing they could do. Her word was law.
Sasha then opened the door to her quarters. She looked at the two guards stationed at the entrance and said, "You two can leave as well."
This time, they complained. "But Queen, you can't stay alone with him. You know how dangerous that is!"
The Queen smiled at the guard, though deep down she was slightly annoyed at being contradicted by a subordinate. "Rest easy," she said. "Nothing will happen to me."
Once again, the guards had to accept it and leave. There was no chance of arguing with the Queen. That would be madness.
Dylan stood there watching it all, thinking the guards' concern was unnecessary. The Queen had a relatively high level. She was stronger than her guards, meaning if Dylan were actually some villain, he wouldn't stand a chance against her in a fight.
Sasha turned to him, opening her arms. "And here we are, my home. What do you think?"
The place was worlds apart from Dylan's house. While his was small and simple, the Queen's was enormous! It even had an open-air section like a balcony, similar to a penthouse apartment. There were multiple rooms inside, a study filled with books, a magic fireplace, a functional kitchen, and to Dylan's surprise, a bathroom! This world had used magic to solve various problems. Plumbing for basic needs was one of them. Magic could heat water, cool it, clean away waste, and so on. It was really useful.
"This place is huge. Do you live here all alone?"
"Well, yes and no. If you must know, I don't have servants living here with me." Sasha paused, narrowing her eyes slightly. "But my daughter, the Princess, lives here with me."
Dylan already knew that. He just wanted to avoid talking about the Princess right now. His situation was complicated enough, and he didn't want to screw up his life any further. The atmosphere seemed to get tense for a brief moment.
Sasha, noticing this, let out a cute laugh. "Relax, I won't hassle you about that. I called you for dinner, and that is what we're going to do."
When she said that, Dylan couldn't help but notice the table set up, loaded with food. The Queen had prepared dinner before she even went to get him. Dylan just smiled and followed the Queen, sitting down at the dining table.
On the table were various fruits he had never seen in his life but now recognized thanks to the memories of the body's previous owner. Besides the fruit, there was soup and grilled fish.
"I'm not the best cook in the world, so forgive me if it's not to your liking," Sasha said.
"I'm sure I'll love it. But tell me, I imagine there's a reason you called me here. I don't like being left in the dark," Dylan replied.
Sasha picked up a red fruit and took a bite. Dylan noticed her plump lips and how the fruit juice made them glisten, making them look even more enticing. She took a deep breath and said, "Well, I'll be honest with you. I know you had sexual relations with the Princess in secret. She told me herself."
Dylan froze. No one had seen them, so theoretically, there was no proof against him. But if the Princess had told the Queen, well, he was screwed! He assumed she would keep it a secret since sleeping with an elf like him could tarnish even her reputation as a Princess.
"I can explain," Dylan said with a sheepish smile. "Please, hear me out."
Sasha, seeing Dylan's nervousness, shook her head. "Relax. I didn't say anything about punishing you or anything like that."
"The Princess and I were together, and it just happened... wait, what?" Dylan couldn't believe it. "What did you say?"
The Queen burst into laughter. "You heard right. The Princess is all grown up and knows right from wrong. So, if she decided to have something with you, well, I can only imagine she saw something interesting."
The atmosphere shifted drastically. Dylan could feel a certain charm in the air, as if the Queen's words had a hidden meaning. He didn't know how to react in this situation.
"Haha, I guess she didn't see anything special. Maybe it was just the heat of the moment, I don't know..."
The Queen then said, "Let's enjoy dinner, and we'll talk about that later."
Dylan served himself a bit of everything. Everything was delicious. He didn't know if it was because the Queen was a great cook or if his hunger was just monstrous, or maybe both.
At some point during dinner, Sasha got up and fetched a bottle of wine. "I bought this wine in the human city about 10 years ago," she said. "Let's enjoy it tonight."
She poured a glass for both of them. Dylan tasted the wine; it was very good. Better than any he had tasted during his life on Earth.
Sasha didn't stop at one glass. She had several, and soon started to seem more relaxed than usual. So much so that the neckline of her dress had slipped down a bit, and she didn't even bother to fix it. She could feel Dylan looking at her breasts, and she liked it. Her nipples hardened under his gaze. It was possible to see the outline of her nipples through the fabric.
As a man, Dylan was nervous and slightly aroused to be in the presence of such a beautiful woman. His mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour, thinking about the possibilities of that night.