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Mera’s house wasn’t large. It was just a very ordinary wooden house. This was once the dark elves gathering area, but it was now a ghost town. Not all of the dark elves were willing to follow the queen so the remainder of them lived in the forest. They were pretty much all killed during the revolt. Those that were willing to obey the queen were controlled by the humans and then collectively slaughtered.
As for Mera… I killed her with my own hands.
Dark elves were originally elves who didn’t stop conducting hybridisation, drank blood, used forbidden techniques in the pursuit of greater magic prowess and fallen elves. In the end, they needed to suck blood on every full moon night to survive. Many houses had a tiny fence with docile sheep inside at their door. The dark elves in the city relied on drinking the blood of animals to fulfil themselves on full moon nights. Elves all become impulsive on full moon nights. They had already been very tolerant by drinking the blood of animals to survive.
However, there were no animals inside the fence by the entrance of Mera’s house. Instead, she had an exquisite flower garden. The variety of colourful flowers competed with each other in the air and swayed with the winds.
That indicated that Mera chose to bite her pillow and blanket instead of drinking blood on full moon nights in order to lead a normal life and be able to fit in with us. Mera wanted to join us. She wanted to lead a normal life. She wanted to live a happy life. She wanted to live like us.
However, she couldn’t escape the fate of being a dark elf. Mera forsook herself when her tribesmen were threatened. She wanted to shed the life of a dark elf, but she died for the sake of the dark elves in the end.
She wasn’t innocent, but she was pitiful.
Mom stood by the door, sighed and softly said: “Mera could be considered the dark elf that was closest to us, right? She couldn’t choose her identity, but she fought for what she wanted. Had it not been for this incident, she should have been able to continue living as a perfumer.”
I nodded. I looked at the place Mera lived and silently pushed the door open. The door was still locked. Mom walked up, and placed her hand on the lock and the lock unlocked. I walked in and looked around at her simple furniture.
Mera’s fragrance still lingered in the air. The familiar scent caused my head to spin and my sight became blurry again. I lowered my head and wiped my eyes, pinched my nose, bit down on my lips and looked around.
Her home wasn’t large, but it was very clean. Next to the guest room was the kitchen. The table wasn’t used solely for hosting guests. Mera also usually used it as her dinner table. I walked up to the table. There was a layer of dust collected since nobody had cleaned for a few days. The flower in the flower vase on the table had also withered. The chair by the side was placed neatly even though she rarely ever pulled it out,
Other than a few simple kitchen utensils, the kitchen was empty. It looks like Mera doesn’t usually store back-up-food. There were some purple marks in the area where she chopped ingredients which I presume was some left-over bits of a fruit. The dark elves had a different diet to us. Dark elves tend to eat raw meat, but Mera’s kitchen was free of the stench of blood. There were only traces of cut up fruits left behind.
I gently touched the purple mark, and I could seemingly see Mera standing in her kitchen alone cutting fruits and vegetables, and then taking them to the table, sitting down casually and elegantly, and begin to eat foods she didn’t like. She would then stand up, walk back here and clean up the utensils.
There was nobody here, just her. Mera must not say a word while she’s at home. Without her, it would be dead-silent. But even so, I believe that every move Mera made was calm and elegant. Even if other people were present, she would walk back and forth in a dignified way. Her erect posture wasn’t for praise, but a dignified air that came from deep down inside her.
Mera must’ve been a proud individual. Mera should’ve been proud of herself since she was the elf closest to us, and felt happy with the life she had.
But she will never appear again.
I could no longer cry. Looking at everything related to Mera’s life, I felt sad, but I couldn’t form a single tear. The pain and bitterness in my heart couldn’t be explained with tears. I stomped on the floor which had become slightly loose and walked up to the side of the stairs. Mera’s room is probably upstairs. Her house wasn’t really a two-storey house. It would be more appropriate to call the top floor an attic than a room. It was formed by the slant roof. My footsteps echoed as I silently walked up the stairs. I think Mera probably would’ve walked up stairs while carrying a candle.
She probably sat on the chair to watch the sunset and then head upstairs to silently read and record notes. Or did she bring work back and prepare what her customers would need for tomorrow on her table?
I don’t know the answer. I don’t know what Mera’s lifestyle was like.
There was very little space upstairs. It was just an attic and there was only a small window. A tiny table was placed underneath the window, while a tiny bed was situated next to the table. Next to it was a tiny wardrobe. That was all Mera had in her room. I walked over, looked at the dust collected on Mera’s white bed and fell into a daze for a long time.
How many nights had Mera spent on the bed? If she were to open her eyes while in the small attic, she would see the roof. Didn’t Mera feel lonely? If Mera didn’t leave her home, she probably didn’t utter a word the entire day. Mera truly was the same as me. I have nobody to talk to if Lucia isn’t around while she didn’t even have Lucia. No wonder why she was willing to talk to me. We were the only people who could talk to each other.
I walked up to the table and pulled the draw open. Inside was a book made from cow leather. The small book was very well made. I picked it up and opened it. Inside were beautifully written letters accompanied by exquisite pictures. However, I couldn’t understand. This must be the book that Mera recorded all her potions, perfumes and other things.
This was her work.
A small box was also located inside. It was the small box I saw last time inside her workshop. I picked it up and opened it. The small bottle inside was no longer there. It looks like it was the one used on me. I fumbled through the box. I took note of the two letters on the back so that I could trace it when I went to humanity’s nation.
To the side of it was a stack of paper without any decorations with dates written on it. It looks like it was Mera’s diary.
— I met his highness today. He’s a very interesting person. He doesn’t hate me for my eyes or teeth. While the Lucia girl by his side was scary, the prince was very kind and gentle, just like her highness. He truly is her son.
…..
–I helped his highness kill the Earth Dragons. His performance was extremely cool. I didn’t personally witness it, but I trust that it was true when everybody said he killed the Earth Dragons. He truly is her highness’s son. I’m a bit jealous that such an outstanding man is Lucia’s.
……
–His highness and I had a chat. I didn’t know what sort of answer would satisfy him. I truly yearn for his highness’s kindness. However, I’m also afraid that he will be hurt by it. Letting a kind person get hurt is shameless. If the gods can hear my words, I pray that you can keep his highness safe.
The end.
That was her last entry.
She didn’t record the things that transpired after.
Her simple and proud life was now black ink on a stack of paper in my hands. I closed my eyes and could seemingly see Mera sitting on her chair with a candlelight by the side while she silently wrote about her life with a tranquil smile. There were a lot of blank sheets, but she won’t be able to record anything on them any longer.
Her wardrobe was basically empty. Only a few pieces of clothing were swaying inside. Her gloves and veil were also inside. The empress hid her appearance because people didn’t dare to look at her, while Mera didn’t want to let others see her appearance. She looked so beautiful and dignified, yet she wasn’t accepted because she was a dark elf. I sat on the chair in a daze, not knowing what I was thinking about. Perhaps I wasn’t thinking about anything. I just sat on Mera’s bed silently and wept.
“Son…”
I don’t know when mom opened the door but I heard her gently call me. I stood up, wiped the tears off my face, took in a deep breath to supress my cracking voice and said: “Mom, please arrange for people to come and clean this place. I don’t care about other places, however, I want to maintain Mera’s house the way it was, especially her flower garden. The same goes for her workshop. I want the flowers to be attended to so that they stay the way they are.
Mom looked at me without asking anything. She just nodded and replied: “Alright.”
I then walked up to mom and quietly said: “Let’s go then. It’s… over now.”
“…Right?”
Mom looked at my eyes and nodded with a complex expression. She then wrapped her arm around mine as we descended the stairs and left Mera’s house.
I turned around and gently locked her door again. I then looked at the large field of flowers dancing in the air, wiped my eyes again, and then bid farewell like good friends bidding each other farewell: “Goodbye, Mera.”
However, I knew that nobody would answer me…
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