Evian’s day was the same as it had been for these last 100 years.
Makeup, performance, removing makeup, rest.
Day after day, she never grew tired of it.
The only thing she had to worry about was how to maintain her disguise in front of colleagues and audience members who were becoming increasingly strange.
But it did not matter, for she was the finest actress in the City of Emerald Shadows; feigning emotions was a task as mundane as any other to her.
She wiped the makeup from her face, revealing a delicate, slightly fragile-looking countenance beneath the heavy, vibrant layers.
She did not particularly like her own face, for she always felt it looked too frail; she wished she could look more bold and striking, much like Princess Leah.
But there was no helping it, as this frailty was inherited from her father, a useless man who did nothing but weep during the War of Divine Fire.
That weakness prevented him from becoming an admired hero, yet it was that very same weakness that allowed him to survive the slaughter perpetrated by the First Elf King.
Slowly, she came to terms with it.
Let her looks be weak; at least she had not become a monster like those around her.
In the City of Emerald Shadows—no, in the entire Natural Forest—it was full of such monsters.
They wore the skin of elves, learned their movements, mimicked their lives, and then, without anyone noticing, completely replaced them.
She dared not share this discovery with anyone, because by the time she noticed it, those she knew had already been frozen forever in their most familiar forms.
That was when she faintly realized why the First Elf King had launched that massacre.
But she did not join in, because she was too weak.
She had lived for 400 years since her birth, yet she was completely ignorant of magic, and her Douqi was barely at the 5th level.
With such strength, let alone changing things, she would not survive for long if she even left the Natural Forest.
A young, beautiful, and defenseless female elf who had left the protection of the Natural Forest was one of the hottest commodities in the world.
Besides, big things were for big figures like the Elven King to resolve; a small person like her simply needed to drift with the tide of the era.
Holding onto this excuse to numb herself, she began to mimic those monsters, carefully disguising herself as one of them.
She found that she was actually quite like her father—equally cowardly.
This discovery left her quite disappointed, but she quickly accepted the reality, even choosing the profession of an actress out of self-abandonment.
Only in those moments of performance could she clearly feel that she was still alive.
It was not until today, when she was spacing out after removing her makeup as she usually did, that the Opera House director, Gefeimu, told her something.
“Evian, Princess Isabella of the Empire and Miss Winnidith wish to see you. They are in the Golden Dew Room, so prepare yourself.”
Her brain exploded like a firework.
Inside the Golden Dew Room, two beauties whose extraordinary status could be identified at a glance sat side-by-side on a sofa.
Behind them, a knight clad in silver armor with golden patterns stood with his sword, and the moment his gaze swept over her, Evian felt a stinging pain as if she were being sliced by a blade.
“Miss Evian, please do not be nervous. We are not here today as the Princess of the Empire and the Duke’s daughter; we are merely two ordinary spectators who have been captivated by your performance.”
Seeing her arrive, the blonde one of the two young women smiled first, seemingly trying to comfort her.
‘I would be a fool to believe you! Two ordinary spectators would not bring such a strong bodyguard!’
Evian screamed internally, looking at the two human women sitting across from her, her expression maintaining the smile that had become muscle memory.
“Thank you for your kindness.”
Her tone was flat, avoiding any unnecessary conversation, just as she had been for the past few centuries.
She had met foreign envoys who wanted to see her alone before; those fat ministers from other races always liked to stare at her body with lecherous eyes, though she never knew what was attractive about a body that was no different from a wooden board.
Still, other elves did not show disgust when stared at like that, so she had done her best to ignore them as well.
However, the eyes of these two ladies were not like that; there was only gentleness and a plea for help, like the nuns of the Imperial Sanctuary she had heard about in storybooks.
Isabella did not notice her internal confusion and, after a simple, modest opening, went straight to the point.
“I wish to meet your father, Lord Adonis. I wonder if you could provide an introduction?”
Father!!!
Evian’s mind went blank for a moment; how many years had it been since she heard that name?
Yet, what surprised her more was that the moment she heard the name, she immediately thought of the father she had not seen in 500 years.
Wasn’t it said that if you haven’t heard a name for a long time, you wouldn’t associate it with them?
Scripts are all lies.
Why are they looking for my father?
He is just an ordinary elf.
If there is anything special about him, it is that he experienced the War of Divine Fire.
Are they coming here because of the War of Divine Fire?
Are they reinforcements sent by the Elven King?!
No!
That’s not right!
Now is not the time to think about such things!
How should I reply?
How would those monsters reply if they encountered this situation?
Evian frantically searched her mind for how those monsters would answer such a question.
But there was nothing!
In these hundreds of years, no monster had ever fallen into such panic as she had.
If she truly were one of them, she should be smiling and accepting the request upon receiving instruction!
But she could not do it!
Slowly, the three people sitting across from her realized that her condition was not right.
Was their request that difficult?
Could it make her sweat profusely while still smiling?
Even more strangely, they felt a very obvious sense of anxiety coming from Evian.
Anxiety?
She is not an elf like Vilda or Leah who was born only a hundred years ago, but an adult elf who has lived for 700 years and has vast experience!
“Wendy.”
Isabella’s eyes lit up; she had never expected such an unexpected gain from this trip, and she hurriedly signaled for Wendy to cast a spell.
And the moment she spoke, Winnidith, who shared a telepathic connection with her, unleashed a binding spell to restrain Evian’s limbs while simultaneously activating her Elemental Vision to inspect Evian’s state.
“What are you doing! I want to find the guards! I want to…”
As the flailing Evian’s gaze suddenly collided with the transparent film of light in Winnidith’s eyes, a sharp pain shot through her brain.
In Winnidith’s vision, those transparent threads that had appeared on the opera house audience members appeared once again, but unlike the threads on other elves that were thick as tree trunks, the one on Evian was incredibly thin, like a sapling that had yet to grow.
To this degree, I can sever it!
Winnidith was startled by her own thought, and the next moment, she was shocked to find that the power she had been unable to use was flowing into her hands along with her mana.
It stared greedily at the transparent sapling on top of Evian’s head, spinning twice around her palm.
How amazing.
She could actually feel that this was it expressing intimacy.
Is it wanting to eat it?
The transparent power in her hand rotated rapidly, confirming her thought.
“Then go ahead.”
Without any technique, Winnidith simply threw it out, sending it toward the location of the transparent sprout.
Then, she watched as it bit off the root of the sprout in one mouthful.
“Gah…”
The moment the root snapped, Evian felt something that had always been on her body rupture, and her eyes rolled back as she fainted, giving Isabella and Arns, who were unaware of what had happened, a start.
“Bella, this is…”
Winnidith had just begun to explain when she heard Isabella speak anxiously.
“Get her out of here! The Opera House has already noticed the anomaly, and we cannot stay here any longer!”
Arns received the order and immediately grabbed the unconscious Evian, smashed through a window, and leaped out, while Winnidith held Isabella’s waist and manipulated the Wind Element to fly rapidly toward the direction of the Silver Moon Palace.