New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Exhaling a long slow breath of relief, Astaroth let the tension of the last week leave his avatar's body. It wasn't much different from what he did these days, outside of New Eden, but it somehow felt good, anyway.

He let all the stress and excitement of combat leave his body, melting into the steaming hot water, as he lay there, almost falling asleep. Feeling himself slip into sleep's embrace, he caught himself slapping the sides of his face a bit.

"I still have stuff to do after this. Can't relax too much yet."

Washing himself up, Astaroth left the bathroom adjacent bathroom to his room and walked into his room, buck naked. He had thought of using some clothes he had bought when doing a shopping spree with Violette the last time, but on his bed, a set of fresh clothes were already present.

Walking up to the bed, he looked at the outfit. It was nothing too exuberant, contrary to what he would have thought servants would have prepared him, but it was still very nice clothes.

The pants were nice silken pants, dyed oaken brown, with trims of red and gold on them. The shirt, on the other hand, was a two-piece set that screamed opulence in his eyes.

The underpart of the shirt was a white silk shirt with a frilly collar and sleeve hems. It resembled a Victorian ruffle shirt that you would see in pirate movies and whatnot.

The waistcoat that went over it was in tones of red and gold, and Astaroth just knew that wearing this would get him laughed at by his guild mates.

But he didn't want to hurt the feelings of the person who had prepared this outfit for him. So he started dressing.

His ashy grey skin held such a contrast to the white shirt and red waistcoat, that even he found it a bit glaring. But when he stepped in front of a mirror to the side, he looked himself up and down and was quite pleasantly surprised.

'I kinda look like a rich noble from a manga. It's not too bad.'

He felt like something was missing from this ensemble, though. If he was to look the part, might as well go all out.

Looking at the dresser to his left, his eyes caught exactly what that was.

Hanging from a necklace stand, a golden chain with a very recognizable tree adorned with small gleaming white jewels was displayed. Whoever had prepared his outfit had thought of everything.

Grabbing the necklace, he looked at the carefully fabricated golden tree and its multiple small jewels. The darned thing took up almost all his palm, and the sheer size was impressive.

But the details of it were also incredibly beautiful. Sliding his thumb across the tree, he could feel the rough engraving made to resemble bark, and he smiled faintly.

'Whoever did this, did it with love. You can almost feel it residing in the gold.'

Sliding the long chain over his head, he let the pendant drop onto his grey skin and looked at himself in the mirror once again.

The contrast of white, red, gold, and his grey skin was very eye-catching, but he could guess this had been the goal here. He took a quick spin, making sure everything fit well, and grinned.

Looking at his system clock, Astaroth knew he had a few hours to kill, still, before the meeting time. He wondered what he could do in the meantime.

He thought of going on a tour in the city, to see for himself how it had grown since he had last been here, which was theoretically ten years ago. But as he exited his room, a young woman in a maid outfit intercepted him.

"Good afternoon, Sire. Is the outfit to your liking?"

Her bowed figure made him uncomfortable, and he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Please, you can be at ease with me. I may be king, but that is barely in title. Treat me like you would a rich friend."

The maid took a step back from him, breaking contact between his hand and her shoulder, staying bent forward.

"I could never, your majesty. I am just a servant."

*Sigh*

His shoulders dropping, Astaroth opted to answer her question instead of arguing.

"Was it you that prepared the outfit?"

"Indeed, Sire. Is anything wrong with it? Does it displease you?"

A certain nervousness trembled her voice a bit, and Astaroth was distraught.

'What kind of person do they think I am?'

Leaning forward, to put his head next to the servant's head, he could see her shake.

"It is lovely. I only wish it wasn't so screaming in wealth. I am used to more practical clothes. But this is fine. I have to make a good impression on the council for our first meeting, don't I?"

He heard the servant breathe in relief, only then noticing the king's face was so close to hers. As she backed away, she brought her back straight up but kept her head hung low.

"I shall keep this in mind next time, your highness. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Astaroth still hadn't decided on what to do next, but he figured he might as well tour the palace first, and acclimate to the changes here first. So he looked at the maid.

"Can you perhaps show me around the palace? It has been quite a while since I've been here, and I would like to see what has changed."

The maid, still looking at her feet, bowed a bit, motioning behind herself.

"It would be my honour, Sire. Please, right this way. We can start by the upper floors since we are already on the third floor."

Astaroth nodded, walking up to her. Once he had slightly passed her, she followed a few feet behind, guiding him with her voice for where to turn.

They visited the third floor in its entirety, aside from the rooms that were occupied, before going up the stairs to the next floor.