...What would you do. If you met someone as complex, hard to understand, and lonely as a Lich?...

The air is cold. Eerie. And calm. The one who's standing before The elf was a mythical creature stronger than normal undeads, it was a Lich. his breath was heavy after he was awakened from his long sleep. the elf princess has nothing to do but to stare at the lich, her eyes were widened as if she was staring something that would take her life.

But—before the lich does something he says something that would surprise the elf... the lich says "I know you... somewhere"

Few hours ago

Eldridge was a hidden but a massive kingdom hidden in the woods. And there was once lived a beautiful elf princess called, maiela blume. With her hair as white as snow, and a clueless personality she's every male elf's dream partner. But something has been bothering her lately—she kept wishing so that she could be outside her own kingdom. being an adventurer she always admired as a child, but her father always says no. so one day, one specific day everything will change for her and someone's life.

One day she hired a tailor so that she could disguise herself as a commoner, and after that she would sneak past the guards at the borders with the motive that she's on a quest. With her clothes of brown mini skirt and white shirt with light armor she successfully deceived the elf guards and escapes her own kingdom silently. Not knowing something will change her life once she started to do what she wants—going to a dungeon known as the veiled crypt. The place where many undeads live to guard one treasure, and maiela who's... well... a clueless elf that just wants to experience action entered the dungeon fearlessly or let's just say... Idiotically?

Maiela didn’t have a real plan. She had food for maybe two days, a sword she’d never actually used outside of training, and the kind of stubborn optimism only someone who had never truly been in danger could possess.

Her “quest,” as she told herself, was simple: go see something exciting, maybe poke around an old ruin, then come home before dinner so her father wouldn’t notice she was gone. Unfortunately for her, the first “exciting ruin” she stumbled upon was The Veiled Crypt — a place veteran adventurers avoided unless they were ready to meet their ancestors early.

At the entrance, she hesitated. The air seeping out from the stone archway was cool, heavy… and oddly sweet, like flowers blooming in the wrong season.

“Ohhh, spooky,” she whispered to herself with a grin. “Perfect place for a future hero!”

Of course, future heroes don’t usually step on hidden trap plates within their first three minutes. The stone shifted under her foot, and before she could squeak out a protest, the floor vanished.

"HWAAAHHHH!!" maiela screamed as she descents to the deeper part of the dungeon and as soon as the slide reaches its end, she fell to a garden of white spider lily flowers that are bright. "Wha-what is this?" maiela stood up by using her sword as the support. She found a massive garden of bright spider lilies inside the deepest part of the dungeon. The garden was wide, but there are still some ruins in that place and but Of course—treasure.

"wow!!! so much gold!" maiela laughed in happiness as she found so much treasure in that garden but something that caught her eye. it was a throne and there was a corpse sitting on it, without any hesitation she approaches it not knowing what danger could happen to her.

"hello Mr skeleton! hehe!" she poked the corpse's jaw, play as a knight while wearing an undead crown, even acted as her own father. "ahh... time to take the loot I found!" maiela put the undead crown on the corpse but as soon as she does it. the whole place started to glow up and winds don't know where don't know how but it blows in like the storm. "MAMA!!" maiela soon regretted her own choice to come here alone, then she was pushed by the wind and fell to the white spider lilies. but before she thinks of escaping—the corpse on the throne begans to scream as it was waking up, the corpse was the brightest thing in that place before—a big shockwave came out of him, enough to give maiela a far knock back to the garden "oww..." maiela tried to stand up from her pain but her movements froze for a moment as she realized... the spider lilies are blooming brighter, the place which is dark at first suddenly became bright. but, there's only one that caught her eye—the lich has awakened. his eyes flew bright green, all that remains on his body was only bones, his size is no different than an undead.

as soon as he woke up, he inspected at his own arms tho right now maiela could escape now but it seems the phenomenon that she just witnessed is enough to make her freeze.

as soon as the lich finished inspecting his own body he wore his robe before flew to maiela. this one move is enough to scare maiela half death. she slowly drags her own body backwards while begging to the lich "please... get away from me!" said maiela in panic, she couldn't even move because of her own fear she experienced in front of that lich.

without wasting time the lich called his staff and... maiela closed her eyes while covering her head in fear "papa... mama... I'm so sorry..." maiela whispered in fear but as the lich gets closer—the lich kneels in front of her before saying something that'll make maiela's eyes widen. "I... know... you..." said the lich behind those rotten jaw bone maiela once poked teasingly. maiela opened her cover and tears were seen on her eyes. she couldn't believe what she just heard, soon the lich repeated his words "I know you... some... where"

Maiela’s fear had boiled over into something else entirely — indignation.

This creepy bone-man had the nerve to kneel in front of her and speak like they’d shared tea together before? No. Absolutely not.

“You—! You stay away from me!” she snapped, scrambling to her feet and swinging her sword with all the skill of someone trying to swat a particularly rude mosquito.

The Lich didn’t even move — her blade whistled past his ribs without touching a thing.

“…Are you even aiming?” he asked, voice rasping through his jawbone.

That only made her swing again. And again. And again. She missed every time.

Finally, her pride couldn’t take it. “Fine! If I can’t hit you… I’ll erase you!”

That’s when she started reciting. The Lich’s green eye-flames flickered in alarm. He recognized the words immediately — a sealing incantation far too strong for any novice.

“Wait—WAIT! Stop that!” He surged forward, reaching to grab her wrists.

She only shouted louder, her voice echoing against the stone walls.

“YOU’LL BRING THE CEILING DOWN, YOU FOOL!”

Too late. A blinding flash swallowed the garden of spider lilies, followed by a boom that rattled the deepest stones of the dungeon. When the dust settled, both the Lich and Maiela lay sprawled in the ruined flowers, groaning in mutual pain.

“…Ow.”

“… I told you so,” the Lich wheezed.

They sat next to each other, the faint smell of smoke still hanging in the air from earlier’s… incident. Maiela’s cheeks were still pink, not from the heat, but from the embarrassment of what she’d done.

The Lich broke the silence first, his voice echoing slightly from inside his hollow skull.

“What’s your name, elf?”

Maiela kept her eyes fixed away from him, lips forming a small pout.

“Maiela… Maiela Blume…”

Then, with a grumble, she glanced sideways at him.

“By the way, what’s your name, bone man?”

The Lich straightened, as if genuinely offended, and edged half a step away.

“Don’t… call me a bone man, you disrespectful child…” maiela protested“Hah? What are yo—”

“Now shush, will ya?”

He raised a hand, cutting her off with the tone of a teacher scolding a particularly loud student.

“Humph!” Maiela puffed her cheeks even more, turning away in exaggerated defiance.

There was a pause. The Lich’s glowing green eyes dimmed a little, and he muttered under

his breath:“My name is… my name is… I forgot.”

“...Eh?” Maiela’s head whipped around, eyes wide.

The Lich’s bony shoulders lifted in a lazy shrug. “Been dead for… a few centuries. Things slip.” of course this makes maiela more... frustrated“Eh?! You can’t just—forget your own name!”

“Apparently, I can.”

He tilted his skull slightly, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

"Hmm... if you don't have a name right now... how about giving you a name?" she stood up in front of her with pride. "eh? A name?" the lich scratches his skull in confusion. "Yeah! You're a lich right? let's see... lich-kun? Or... lichen? Or... AHA! What about lich-sama?" she leaned in to the lich with a sparkling eyes like a child.

"lich-sama? Hmm... I kinda liked it..." he looked up at her after he says it. "heehee! nice to meet you lich-sama!" she offered lich-sama a handshake, without any hesitation he accepted her handshake offer. "may I ask why do you came all the way here? it's quite a dangerous place if you're not careful..." he stood up and walk to her slowly before stopping in front of her.

"fufu~ because... I wanted to become an A-ranked adventurer!" she poses while her eyes shines as she feels pride flowing inside her. "hmhm~ lich-sama! do you have a dream?" she leaned in to him again making lich-sama confused. "a dream?" he lowered his head while holding his bone chin before looking at his arm. "maybe... if possible... I wanna become human again... gain back my humanity" he gripped his arm making a crack as if he missed his past body. "then let's work together towards our dream! lich-sama!" she acted as a child as she jumps happily in front of him.

"work together?" he asks her in curiosity.

"yes! I will help you be human again IF! you help me become an A rank adventurer!" maiela grabbed his shoulders in pride to convince lich-sama.

"alright then... looking forward to work with you..." he gripped his palm firmly to show how determined he is.

The warmth didn’t last long. “Alright, elf, let’s get moving. I’ll take us back to the surface.”

The Lich waved his skeletal hand in a small circle, green runes forming in the air.

Maiela tilted her head.

“Wait, what do you—”A flash of green light. FWUMP. The Lich vanished.

She blinked. “…Did that bag of bones just—”

A screech echoed through the tunnel.

She turned around. A horde of ghouls was already pouring in from the shadows, their rotting jaws snapping.

“Oh no.”She ran.

The ground quivered as giant spiders skittered down the walls, their long legs clicking against stone. “SPIDERS?! WHY IS IT ALWAYS SPIDERS?!” Maiela shrieked, swinging her sword wildly without even looking.

The ghouls chased her. The spiders chased her. Something worse snarled deeper in the dark, joining the pursuit.

At one point, she tripped over a rock, rolled, and came face-to-face with a slime.

“OH COME ON!”She kicked it away and kept running.Her lungs burned, her legs screamed, and she could swear the dungeon was laughing at her.

Finally, the faint glow of daylight appeared ahead. She stumbled through the exit, gasping for breath, covered in dust, cobwebs, and slime goo. And there, leaning casually against the dungeon wall, was the Lich.

“You made it. Took you long enough.”

Maiela’s jaw dropped.

“YOU TELEPORTED?! YOU LEFT ME IN THERE?!"

The Lich tilted his skull slightly. “Well, yes. I assumed you’d manage. You’re aiming for A-rank, aren’t you?”

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!” she shouted, flailing her arms so much a bit of slime flew off her hair and landed on his skull.

The Lich paused, then flicked it off with one finger. “…You’ve got spirit, I’ll give you that.”

Maiela’s glare could’ve melted steel.

“Next time, we teleport together, got it?!”

The Lich’s eyes dimmed in mock thought.

“…We’ll see.”

The moon hung low, casting silver light over the quiet forest. Maiela sat slumped against a tree, still catching her breath from the three-hour sprint to the surface.

Her boots were caked in mud, her skirt was torn, and her hair… well, it now contained an impressive number of twigs. A short distance away, Lich-sama was leaning against a boulder, staff resting at his side. His glowing green eyes studied the dark horizon, where faint torchlight flickered in the distance.

 "They’ve sent search parties." lich-sama says in a low tone as he saw maiela's guards from her kingdom are searching for her not far away from them.

Maiela groans, rubbing her sore legs "You think? I bet they heard my screaming halfway across the kingdom." Lich-sama responded with "If they find us, they’ll find me." His voice was unusually low—serious.

"And if they find me… I don’t think I need to explain what holy fire does to my kind."

Maiela looked down, guilt biting at her. She’d wanted adventure—freedom—but she hadn’t thought about what would happen to him if the guards decided he was a threat. "Then… we just have to make sure they don’t see you."

Lich-sama snorts "You? Protecting me? I must have hit my skull harder than I thought."

Maiela puffs her cheeks "Hey! I can be serious when I need to!" A torchlight flickered closer through the trees. She instinctively moved toward him, grabbing his bony arm.

Maiela "Stay close to me. If they spot us, I’ll… I’ll say you’re my… uh… court mage! Yeah!"

Lich-sama with a deadpan says "I see. And the skeletal face, missing nose, and faint smell of the graveyard won’t be suspicious at all?"

Her fingers lingered on his arm for a moment longer than she realized. Maiela softly, avoiding his eyes "Just… trust me, okay?"

For a moment, Lich-sama didn’t answer. Then he nodded once.

Somewhere behind them, a guard shouted.

They moved deeper into the shadows—her steps light and hurried, his gait calm and unhurried—as if neither wanted to admit that being this close… felt oddly comforting.

after few minutes of getting deeper into the woods they finally found a safe place though they were chased by some of her guards earlier... but atleast they're safe!

lich-sama moves away from her a bit "good... we could stay here for a while..." he snorts as he felt relief of escaping maiela's guards. maiela responded with "yeah! but... I only brought one sleeping bag with me... so—" before she could even finishing the sentence, lich-sama responded "don't worry... these bones could sleep on the ground... I'll go get some firewood" lich-sama left her for a while... making her a bit annoyed also... flustered.

few minutes later

the fire on the campfire crackles as it lit before both of them. maiela felt the warm immediately as she leaned her hand to the campfire, lich-sama opened his hood and looked at maiela as his eyes glow. "maiela... was it? why are you eager being a great adventurer? aren't you a princess?" as soon as maiela heard that... her warm smile was replaced by a deadpan as she hugged her leg before saying "I'm always separated with other kids... and when I'm at school... I'm getting bullied but my maids and guards are there to protect me... making all jealous" maiela looked at lich-sama as she tilted her head "your my first friend in my life... I escaped my kingdom so I could feel what it's like to be an ordinary elf like everyone else..." maiela let out a breath "but... looks like being an A-rank adventurer is impossible for me..." as soon as lich-sama heard that... he puts his hand on her head and begins to pat her head gently before comforting her with soft words behind his boney jaw "who says being an A rank adventurer is impossible? you will be one..." maiela upon hearing that while being headpatted felt a little... joy "b-but... it's hard... and I'm just a clumsy and stupid elf princess..." lich-sama sits closer to her before comforting her "that's the key... 'hard' it's not impossible... but hard... that means there's a chance you will be an A-rank adventurer! and Don't you worry about being clumsy and stupid... that's a beginners starter pack" maiela's face started to heat up as she swatted his hand while having her face really red "w-what are you saying!? wait what am I doing!?" lich-sama upon hearing that wheezed as if he was mocking her, maiela looks away from him and wrapped herself in her sleeping bag "don't be awake for too long, idiot" she closed her eyes after saying that.

"I'm an undead alright? undead's need no sleep" he stood up before maiela—grabs his cloak and begs him "don't leave me... please" she says it before turning around in her sleeping. lich-sama laughed softly before grabbing his staff and covers her with a barrier spell to keep her safe in the night, lich-sama kneeled down slowly behind her before asking "tomorrow... you wanna train your skills? I could teach you physical and magic training but... I think it'll not be eas-" before he could even finish his sentence, maiela's eyes lit up as he mentions training! even hard ones "TRAINING?! and uhh... I don't care how tough it is, besides... what's the worst that could happen?"

lich-sama wheezed "oh it'll be bad... trust me, elf"