The monarch's gaze suddenly leaned anxiously into the well-groomed courtyard outside.
"And who's passionate about cutting greens there?"
"Taylor, my gardener... Don't you recognise Arlow's adopted son?"
"What? I don't... Apparently, the boy has matured too much in an attractive form! - the King muttered puzzledly. - Isn't this young man too chic for such a job?"
"Do you like him as a man?" Ray raised his thin eyebrows in surprise. "Do you want to get to know him better?"
"I appreciate your irony, my angel... but such beauty makes me envy! - the monarch's face was slightly distorted by a grimace. - It seems to me that you are close! Why does this Taylor work for you? And Arlow isn't jealous of you to him?"
"We are close as friends... I gave him a job because he himself asked to help me. Nothing like that!"
"Is he married?"
"I don't know much about his personal life, but Taylor is always in the attention of many women."
Eriolan, intrigued by the mysterious gardener's personality, unexpectedly stumbled upon him one day in the garden, as he suddenly emerged from behind a bend in the hedge, pressing something to his chest.
"Ah, milord!"- The broad-shouldered blue-eyed young man respectfully nodded to the monarch. - Do you walk alone in our garden?"
"Taylor? I don't remember you well... when Arlow adopted you. You've grown so fast! What do you have there?"- Eriolan asked in confusion, staring at the moving lump in his hands.
A pair of purple eyes of a cute black-haired creature stared at him from under the blanket with curiosity.
"My firstborn … Illy!" - Taylor purred in a satisfied tone.
"So this is your son!? How did this happen?"
"Nothing complicated, milord... It happens quickly with an abundance of girls in love. Are you so surprised by this fact?"
"Of course I'm surprised... Taylor! You know, my people are not too prolific! Unlike me... I have a lot of descendants. And it's good that you're married, it turns out!"
"Where to go from the hot love of women, my lord?" Taylor was slightly embarrassed, puzzled by the monarch's comments.
"Let me find out then... how close is your relationship with Ray?"
Taylor froze in silence, dumbfounded by the request.
"Answer!" - Eriolan's eyes sparkled jealously.
"I'm... his gardener! What did you think, milord?"
"Great! Is there a lot of people like you on the southern continent? Blue eyes are considered a rarity! And your son has lilace eyes! How so!? As far as I know, southerners are exceptionally brown-eyed! My courtiers have assured me for so many years that there are no other colours of the iris!"
"It's really rare, my lord! And it's very important for you... I could explain why I look like this if you believed me!"
"Then take the trouble to tell me... I'll try to believe!"
"My soul has a special origin... I'm a Phoenix and I came to this planet to look after Ray."
"Oh... I didn't know! So you're a warrior of Rohen, the heavenly Lord!?"
"That's right... and here in this reality I'm in the service as a security guard and... a gardener!" Taylor grinned with a bright smile.
"I didn't even suspect it... his guard in this world..." Eriolan thought hard. "And you've always known about it, since childhood?"
"No, milord... I recently recalled ... I just found myself in a lucid dream in the Realm of the Lord and my realisation woke up about who I really am... This is not the first time such an incarnation, in general, it's my job..." Taylor explained slowly.
"I haven't been invited to this kingdom yet... my lucid dreams are always deserted, I'm always alone in a ghostly world."
"Probably... Overlord is in no hurry to introduce you to his subjects... it's hard to say why... If you've already accepted his patronage, then surely Rohen will soon move you to Amriobraes."
Soon indeed Eriolan found himself in a very realistic lucid dream, where the Lord met him in his fantastic palace. Everything around was flaming and moving smoothly in different colors and shapes, not chaotically, but harmoniously, as if in a collective dance.
"That is my Realm! Make yourself at home," - Rohen smiled welcomingly and, throwing off his cloak blazing with purple tongues, suddenly spread his large black feathered wings, stunning the guest.
"Do you have wings!?"
"Yeah… Now you see me as I am in all my glory! Are you scared or something!?"
"I did not expect. They are beautiful, but black!"
"Dark purple actually! Would you like to see the color white? It doesn't suit me... The image of the God of War should frighten enemies, although nothing can frighten terrible creatures."