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"Your highness, could I please ask you to hold onto me tightly? The remainder of the trip may feel a bit uncomfortable for you."
Lucia princess-carried me as she stood at the entrance of the imperial palace. If we switched roles here, we"d have ourselves a beautiful scene…
Lucia tore both sides of her skirt for ease of movement, thereby revealing her long white legs. I embarra.s.sedly hugged her around her neck as she took a deep breath and jumped. In a split second, the strong ripping sound of the air whistled violently right in my ear, and the speed made it impossible to breathe. I don"t understand why it"s so uncomfortable for me when I"m also an elf. Could it be because I don"t have the support of wind elves?
What came next was the crash landing. Actually, it wasn"t a crash landing. Lucia glided through the air, so we didn"t just crash into the ground. Lucia carried me through the air as she watched the eight elders carriages leave. Carrying me did not affect her dexterity at all.
Lucia gently landed and put me down. She just flew through the air while carrying me and yet she still looks half-asleep… Even her breathing hasn"t sped up. Her physical attributes are scary. No wonder she"s a captain at such a young age.
"Please head downstairs. All the books are down below."
The leader of the eight must be the most outstanding one among them. He respectfully bowed towards us and led us into his room. This must be the hollow tree with the best atmosphere in the city. Well, I guess we should call this huge tree his house. I initially thought that this was just a decoration, but once I entered the hollow tree, I dropped my jaw when I saw how s.p.a.cious it was. On the outside it"s just a tree. But, inside it"s no less than the size of a villa.
Elves possess really high-level magic.
Breathing in the fresh air from the green leaves, we followed the elder down his twirling staircase. He pulled out a key and opened the door. As the door swung open, the scent of ink filled the air. Even though this was an underground room, sunlight still shone through. It didn"t look like the room was underground. Was this also the work of magic?
In front of us was an extremely tall book case. You couldn"t possibly see the top of it. This is in no way, shape or form an underground room. It"s a d.a.m.n library. I marvelled at it which seemed to make the elder quite proud of himself. He seemed proud that he managed to surprise me, and said: "It took me all my life to collect all these books. Every elf clan has the books. I have some ancient books in there and I have the one-and-only copy of them, so please do not ruin them."
Lucia suddenly acted a bit anxious, grabbed the collar of the elder, and said: "Hurry up and bring all the books on Earth Dragons here."
I paused for a moment, turned around to look at her as she looked back at me. Her usually sleepy eyes looked terrified as she said: "Your highness, we must hurry back. Her highness just found out that you"re gone. All of the guards are searching for you. I just received the message. We must grab the stuff and hurry back."
I shrugged and casually said: "That"s no big deal, right? I"m not some criminal. It"ll be fine if I just explain it to her."
I haven"t run off to some faraway land, I"m still in the city. And I don"t think mom would be that harsh on me. I"ll just apologise and it"ll be fine. It"s a rare opportunity for me to be outside, so I want to collect all the information and take it back.
"Have you forgotten how scary her highness got when she couldn"t find you?! If we don"t hurry back, and her highness gets mad, she"ll kill everyone who came into contact with you!" Lucia"s anxiety filled eyes scared me. Now that I think about it, mom would definitely do something like that. And judging by Lucia"s expression, she wasn"t kidding.
"Calm down first. Tell her I"m with you and that we"re on our way back."
I have no idea how they communicate but I just hurriedly gave her that command, and turned around to tell the elder: "Bring me a few of your recent books on them and I"ll take them back. I swear I"ll return them to you!"
"Okay, okay, okay! Hurry on back now!"
I just made a little trip outside, how did it turn into such a big deal? I haven"t even left for ten minutes. Mom, you"re too tense! The usual you is a wise ruler, but now you just seem like a tyrant. I think it"s best that I hurry back, Lucia"s expression is about to get worse.
"Let"s go!"
I grabbed the stack of books, took Lucia"s hand and ran towards the imperial palace like my life depended on it.
As soon as I reached the entrance the gate guard looked as glad as if he had just reincarnated and said with a trembling voice: "Your highness, please hurry back!!"
I don"t blame him… After all, if I didn"t make it back, their heads would be the first to roll. I handed the books to Lucia, and said: "Take these books to my room, then come see mo-… Her highness."
"Okay."
Lucia nodded and leaped up as her legs flashed past me. You tore your skirt, so show some self-awareness! And why do I get the feeling you"re not wearing panties?! Do elves not wear panties?! Why did I catch the glimpse of something I shouldn"t have seen?!
I heard the sound of horseshoes behind me. Looks like the guards have finally returned. I turned around and saw the look on their faces which looked like the look of joy when you manage to escape death. I guess Lucia was spot-on. I took a deep breath and sprinted into the inner palace.
"Go find him, you good-for-nothings!! Search the capital! Lock down the capital! He"s my only son, and you people can"t look after him properly?! I swear in the name of G.o.ddess Clementina, if he has so much as a scratch on him, none of you will see another day! Now get out and go find my son!"
I heard a loud shout followed by a loud sound as soon as I reached the entrance. I had a feeling that some sort of plaster type of artwork had just been turned into trash. I pushed the door open to see a few guards down on one knee as she roared at them, and the head of a statue rolling on the ground.
Yep, that"s the supposed statue of the one of previous elf kings which sits on the table by the door… Lucia suddenly appeared from behind and pushed me towards mom, and said: "Your highness, the prince has returned!!"
She breathed a sigh of relief. When mom saw me, her anger-filled eyes welled up with tears in the blink of an eye. Her anger which could"ve burnt up the entire imperial palace dissipated without a trace in a single instant.
She pulled me tightly into her embrace and cried on my shoulders. I hugged her back as her b.o.o.bs attacked me, and said: "Sorry mom. I"m sorry for leaving without telling you."
Let"s put everything aside for a moment and comfort her first. I only left for a few moments, heck, I don"t even remember the street and an uproar like this has happened. If I left the city and got hurt, we"d probably have new guards by now, if you know what I mean.
"Silly child! You silly child! Didn"t I tell you not to leave? Why didn"t you tell me you were leaving?!"
Mom cried on my shoulders and hit me on my back with her hands. Mom was really scared. I could feel all of her weight on me because her legs had already given out. I lightly pushed her back and looked at her pale face. I felt bad. I was too hasty this time…
If I act like that, the entire palace will be cursed!*
"Sorry mom, I shouldn"t have left like that."
"You"re my only son. You"re my only one. I just want you to be safe and well." Mom"s hands trembled as she touched my face; her beautiful face smothered with tears. "I beg you, son… For the sake of the G.o.ddess, please don"t make mom worry… You"re my only one… You"re my only son… Please…"
Mom"s cry was shaky, her body looked weak, and her face was covered in tears. I embraced her, then turned around to look at Lucia and pointed to the roof. Lucia nodded and then left the room.
I helped mom onto the armchair, knelt down on one knee in front of her, and said: "Sorry mom, I shouldn"t have left like that."
I don"t actually know what elf etiquette is like, but this can"t go wrong, right?
Mom wiped her tears with her handkerchief as she rubbed my head with her other hand. She took a deep breath in, and said with a shaky voice: "Don"t make mom worry like this. Do you know how scared I was when I found you missing? Don"t let anything happen to yourself. If something happens to you, what reason would I have to live on?"
I didn"t even leave for ten minutes… And I was still in the city, not to mention I had the elders with me. However, I didn"t mention any of this to her. I stood up, walked over to her and lightly embraced her. She hugged me around my waist and rubbed her tears on my chest.
"Mom, I"m sorry, I won"t make you worry again…"
"Uhn…"
Now, feeling relieved, she lifted up her head, and finally wore a smile.
In that moment, an attendant came up to the door and said to us: "Your highness, I am sorry to bother you, but Mr Castell from the human race is waiting to see you."
Mom nodded, stood up, wiped her tears with her handkerchief, looked at me with a smile, and said: "Troy, do I look presentable?"
I reached out to wipe the tears on her cheek. I have to say, the skin of elves feels really good. And then I said: "You look fine, mom. I"ll leave you to it. I"ll head back to my room."
"Okay… Bring him in."
Mom smiled and let go. I bowed and left as Mr Castell came in. He looked like an upright middle-aged man, with his hair perfectly combed back. His black robe didn"t have a speck of dirt on it and he was clean shaved. He saw me come out, so he bowed as he smiled, and said: "It"s a pleasure to meet you here, your majesty. Please allow me to greet you on behalf of her majesty. Her majesty awaits your return."
"Ah? Oh… Uhh… Yeah… It"s nice to meet you, Mr Castell… Umm…" I looked at him, confused. He said a mouthful of things, and looked at me like we were familiar… No… It seemed like the people from the humans" imperial palace were familiar with me… But I didn"t understand anything he said. Her majesty? Go home? Isn"t this my home?"
At that moment, mom suddenly appeared at the door, looked in our direction, and said with a smile: "Has my son caused you trouble, My Castell?"
Mr Castell stood up, put on a respectful smile for diplomatic purposes, and said: "Not at all, your highness. How could his majesty be causing a servant like myself trouble? I was just greeting his majesty, and pa.s.sing on a greeting from her majesty."
I then realised that the two of them addressed me differently. People from mom"s side refer to me as "your highness", whilst Mr Castell refers to me as "your majesty". And the "her" they refer too, in other words, my mother, indicates that I have more than one.
So the queen of elves is referred to as "her highness", while the queen of humans is referred to as "her majesty". That means my mother is the queen of elves and I"m their prince. What"s the queen of humanity got to do with me?
"Please mind your words. According to the agreement, Troy is my son right now. He"s the prince of elves. He"s the son I"m proud of, not her son, and therefore not your prince either. If you"re here this time to visit my son, then please go back."
Though mom wore a smile, I could tell she was fuming. Her long fingers were shaking. I wouldn"t be surprised if the next thing she did was fire a fire ball.
Mr Castell shook his head, and said: "Please calm down, your highness. I only greeted his majesty since we crossed paths. It would be wrong for a retainer to not greet him, so please overlook it. However, what I wish to discuss is indeed related to his majesty."
Mom coldly replied: "Oh really? Alright then, let"s hear what new ideas she"s come up with."
Mom turned around as Mr Castell smiled, looked at me again, slightly bowed and said: "Goodbye Your Maj-… Your highness, I wish you well."
"You too."
Mr Castell smiled, turned back and followed mom. Befuddled, I turned around and walked off to my own room. What on Earth is going on? Is there something going on between the elves and humans because of me? This body doesn"t provide me with enough memories, but it sure does provide me with more than enough problems.
Glossary
*He means that there"ll be vengeful souls cursing them
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