Elven Forest (4)
“Your Highness, that…”
I pinched Lucia’s face, beaming: “Ah, we need to look into it. However, Mom will be with me, so there’s no need to fret. It shouldn’t be anything dangerous. We’re just checking the local mana signals. It could be some species that’s undergone some weird change causing the problem. The white deer have been locked up, so there’s no danger there. Sorry, Lucia, you’ll have to stay home alone again.”
Lucia hopelessly smiled and then hugged my arm: “It’s all right. I’m used to it. I feel reassured knowing that Queen Vyvyan will be with you. You don’t bring people with you when you go out, which is what worries me most. The eastern forest isn’t a dangerous place, either, so I’m not concerned.”
I wanted to stay with Lucia for a few days before setting out, but I only planned to stay in the elven lands for two weeks. I had already spent a long time living idly with her, so I didn’t have any time left to delay the investigation. Mommy Elizabeth already sent a letter rushing me to come to Hilles City to participate in Daisy’s baptism. I needed to quickly resolve the mana issue and then rush over to Hilles City.
The white deer had been captured and detained in the palace. The main reason for that was there was nowhere else to lock them up. The white deer were recuperating at the rear of the palace. Although they weren’t enjoying the living conditions of the White Deer King, they weren’t living in terrible conditions. They, at least, didn’t need to worry about food, water or hygiene. Their mana was abnormal; however, there was nothing wrong with them. They were a little annoyed about being locked up, but that was the extent of it.
I saw the white deer. Indeed, they didn’t suffer any abuse, but neither could I discern if there was anything different about them. The mana signals from the eastern forest remained even after they were taken away from the area. In saying that, the signal significantly weakened thereafter. My suspicion was that there must’ve been some odd mana source over there. Since the white deer had left, it lost its catalyst.
Mommy Vyvyan had the most powerful mana sensing ability. She just needed to go to the area to locate the strange mana source and then deal with it. Mom originally planned to sort it out after I left; she didn’t expect the soldiers to encounter the White Deer King.
The incident left the White Deer King quite distressed even two days after the incident. She lost her appetite and refused to come out. In the past, she would boldly run and jump around on the lawn without any qualms while her home was being cleaned at noon. The gardeners might’ve been irate about it, but nobody dared to complain. It was sad to see she refused to come out after the incident; she was afraid of running into those soldiers again. Mommy Vyvyan gave the soldiers a command to not hurt the white deer, most definitely not me and ensured the command couldn’t be overwritten. Hence, the White Deer King’s safety was guaranteed. Unfortunately, the mental trauma still lingered. As such, I had to ride a horse, which was something I hadn’t done in a long time, to head to the forest.
Mommy Vyvyan didn’t bring imperial guards along. Lucia had to stay in the imperial palace to take care of the girls. Honesty, I was reassured leaving Lucia behind in the palace. The elves imperial palace was different to humanity’s royal palace. People made an attempt on my life despite Mommy Elizabeth being present there. Nobody would come after Lucia in Duargana, though. As long as the Galadriel Tribe existed, all elves would admire and respect them.
Lucia didn’t say anything after learning I wanted to deal with the mana issue. Instead, she considerately approved. The problem didn’t seem hazardous to the three of us. We all knew Mommy Vyvyan was powerful. The most dangerous thing to Mom was me almost leaving in a huff. Everything would be fine as long as she could convince me to stay.
I was unable to detect the mana fluctuations. I didn’t qualify to be an Elven King. Nevertheless, Vera seemed to be sensitive to it. Every time Mommy Vyvyan approached Vera, the latter could detect the former and would open her eyes even when she was asleep. By that alone, Vera should be able to become a great ruler for elves as Mommy Vyvyan was.
“We’ll head to the forest tomorrow. I’m not sure how long it’ll take, though. That said, I’ll do my best to be as quick as I can.”
Lucia found my wishy washy speech irritating. She stopped me from trying to approach her again and helplessly smiled: “With Her Highness accompanying you, you’ll be fine. This sort of thing has already happened many times. Your Highness, this is just a simple trip. There’s no need to make it out to be some sort of life and death separation. This shouldn’t even be classified a problem, since Her Highness will be able to resolve it as soon as she goes over to the forest. If she’s fast, I imagine it would only take moments to resolve.”
“For real…?”
“Of course. It’s Her Highness we’re talking about. As long as she is with you, I can’t think of anything that could harm you. The dragons might have a chance of hurting you, but Her Highness is the supreme sovereign here in the elven lands. Nobody will be able to hurt you. I firmly believe that.”
Lucia set Nona, who was asleep, down into the cradle. She leaned over to give her girls a kiss: “I won’t disturb your sleep tonight, then. You have to wake up early tomorrow to leave. It’s a long trip; you must make sure to take care of yourself. You haven’t fully recovered from the incident with the dragons, after all.”
“You don’t impact my sleep at night…”
Unwanted heat flitted across Lucia’s face. She hammer fisted my arm with her small fist: “We can’t do that too much!! It hurts… And, I pass out every time… I really can’t figure out how that woman is able to stand it… In any case… not tonight! Also, you haven’t fully recovered, so if… if… if you insist… A full-moon night is coming soon…”
I kissed Lucia’s face and smiled: “Your words. Not mine.”
“You just went through that with the dragons. You sure are physically healthy, Your Highness.”
“You’re my wife, so of course I have energy for you.”
Happiness bloomed on Lucia’s face. I intended to turn in early tonight. I kissed my girls and then left the room. Mommy Vyvyan wouldn’t perform night invasions on me during my recuperation period, so I felt reassured. At least, I could get some quality sleep at night.
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“It’s ready… Everything is ready… Everything is ready… Those elves sure are such fools. They’ve followed my designs perfectly… Their benevolence will be their undoing. Their benevolence will destroy their family and friends, their family and everything they currently have… None of this belonged to them to begin with! I’ll definitely scorch this land. I’ll definitely turn the glorious white city into a cemetery. I swear it! I swear it!”
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