Mag, who stood beside Anna, was also peering out of the window. Light rain had begun to fall soundlessly onto the square outside, and there was no one to be seen on the streets.Probably not. After all, he strongly implied that this trip was going to be extremely perilous for him, Mag thought to himself. However, he forced a carefree smile onto his face as he looked at the concerned Anna, and said, "It"s alright, he must"ve been delayed by an important matter along the way. Even if he doesn"t come back today, he"ll be back in the next few days."
"Really?" Anna looked up into Mag"s eyes, attempting to gauge the authenticity of his words.
"Of course." Mag nodded firmly. In reality, he didn"t even believe his own words. Blour might not be the most reliable person that he knew, but he could tell from Blour"s parting words that day that he had set out on a rather dangerous journey.
"Alright, then I"ll wait for him for a while longer." Anna turned her gaze away from Mag and continued to look outside.
"Alright." Mag nodded, and he also stood beside Anna in front of the window.
After coming to this world, Mag had met a lot of people. Even though many of them couldn"t even be considered to be friends of his, he still couldn"t bring himself to be completely unconcerned for them.
The rain gradually began to increase in intensity, and visibility outside the window was slowly worsening, but the sorely awaited sound of knocking on the door still didn"t arrive.
Mag glanced at the clock on the wall, only to find that it was already 12 am. He heaved a faint internal sigh as he stroked Anna"s hair, and said, "Go to sleep now. He"ll come back for sure."
"Ding!"
The sound of a bell rang out from outside.
"It"s Uncle Blour!" Anna"s eyes lit up as she rushed over and pushed open the restaurant doors.
The rainwater was swept in by the wind, splattering all over Anna"s body. The bell hanging by the door was tinkling from the wind and rain, yet there was no one standing outside.
Anna stood at the restaurant"s entrance with a blank expression on her face as tears and rainwater slid down her cheeks.
"He"ll come back." Mag gently closed the door before carrying Anna upstairs in his arms.
He changed her into a set of dry clothes and dried her hair before gently placing her on the bed. Amy and Ugly Duckling were already sound asleep beside her.
Mag tucked Anna in under the blanket, and said in a gentle voice, "Go to sleep. Perhaps he"ll be back when you wake up tomorrow."
Anna blinked her red eyes as she looked at Mag, and asked, "Uncle Mag, am I a cursed elf? Anyone who"s close to me is destined to suffer a terrible fate, right?"
"Of course not. Anna is a good girl, not some cursed elf." Mag shook his head with a gentle rea.s.suring smile.
"Thank you, Uncle Mag." Anna slowly rolled over and faced away from Mag.
Mag stood beside the bed and looked at Anna with a sympathetic expression. Just what kind of horrendous experiences could bring such a small child to develop such dark thoughts about herself?
…
In the Wind Forest, at the foot of the Tree of Life.
Irina was planting flowers around the base of the Tree of Life when Firis rushed into the cave. She was panting heavily as she said, "Princess, after the deal from three days ago was canceled, there has been no news about it since. Perhaps they were intimidated by you. However, however…"
Irina put down her small watering can and nodded with satisfaction as she looked at the two exuberant flowers planted in the soil. Only then did she turn to Firis with furrowed brows as she urged, "Out with it! However what?"
"However! I heard that they"re trying to get you to attend the king of the Roth Empire"s birthday banquet in 10 days as the representative of the elven race," Firis finally finished her sentence.
"Really?" Irina was rather surprised to hear this.
Firis nodded, and confirmed, "The new is already circulating around. Apparently, this was a suggestion raised to Her Majesty by Mistress Helena."
Irina furrowed her brow with a contemplative look on her face, and she murmured, "What is that old witch, Helena, plotting now? She"s proposing for me to attend the banquet? She"s definitely not doing this with any good intentions."
"I also think she"s plotting something nasty. Princess, you have to be careful." Firis nodded with a grave expression.
Irina"s expression became even more serious as she speculated, "Could it be that the old witch knows that she"s too hideous to represent the elven race, so she"s asking the young and beautiful princess to travel to Rodu?"
"Princess, your thought processes are just as inexplicable as ever." Firis buried her face into her palm. She felt as if the princess had a different reflex arc compared to everyone else.
"I wanted to make a trip to Rodu anyway. It"s time I gave those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds some payback for what they did three years ago." Irina chuckled coldly as she said, "Firis, you keep an eye on things here and report to me immediately if you receive any more news."
"Yes, Princess." Firis nodded firmly.
…
Within a cave that resembled a starry night sky, the black-robed Hetty looked up at Helena with a perplexed expression, and asked, "Mistress Helena, why would you propose for Irina to represent our elven race and travel to Roth Empire? There have been rumors circulating in the past few years that the queen is displeased with her. If we get to her to represent the elven race and attend the king"s birthday banquet, then those rumors will have no legs to stand on. Surely that"s not a good thing for us."
"Hasn"t she always been itching to go to Rodu? I"ll grant her that wish." Helena stood on a tall platform and looked down at Hetty as if she were appraising a black rat, and she said, "Those people aren"t as pathetic as the likes of you. They"re not that easy to kill, and if they"ve been forced into a corner, they"ll definitely strike back."
…
On the seventh day, there was no news about Blour.
On the eighth day, there was no news about Blour.
…
On the 14th day, there was still no news about Blour…
Anna was no longer asking Mag if he had heard anything about Blour. However, she would sit at the restaurant"s entrance for half an hour every day as if she were waiting for something.
At times, Sally would also sit with her at the entrance, and the two of them would wait together in silence.
Mag had made a trip to the elven emba.s.sy and met the elven amba.s.sador, Yngwie. However, Yngwie told him that he also hadn"t heard any news about Blour.
Even though he didn"t want to admit it, it appeared that Blour really wasn"t going to be able to come back.
…
During lunch, Mag announced, "I"m going to Rodu with Amy tomorrow to cook for the king on his birthday banquet, so the restaurant will be closed for five days. Babla, you can continue to live in the restaurant with Anna. I"ll leave you with the keys and some money. If you don"t want to cook, you can go eat at another restaurant. Miya, you can continue to open the ice cream shop or close it for five days as well to give yourself a little holiday; it"s up to you."