“Ha! I am Princess Astria, the great hero of the City of Emerald Shadows, the next Elven King of the Elven race! Ahead lies the domain of the Natural Forest, unauthorized persons are forbidden entry!!!”
The small wooden spear pierced the air.
The little girl in a green dress was imitating the heroes from foreign storybooks, fantasizing about gripping a sharp spear and engaging in a life-or-death battle with an enemy.
Suddenly, the room’s door was opened from the outside.
Noticing the “enemy’s” attack, little Leah leaped forward, thrusting her spear down with the force of a starving tiger pouncing on its prey.
“Come and meet your doom!!!”
Thwack!
The toy in her hand was effortlessly caught by the other person, and she herself was left dangling in the air, looking just like a roast duck hanging in a smoke oven.
“How could this be!!! I actually lost! Grr, just kill me!!!”
The little girl couldn’t accept her defeat.
With a wail, she prepared to meet her end with heroic sacrifice.
Looking at his daughter who was completely lost in her own play-acting, Alvain suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Wasn’t it enough that this silly girl was playing the hero by herself?
How could she cast her own father as the villain?
And shouting things like “meet your doom”…
Sigh~
Is it this troublesome for other single fathers raising kids too?
Alvain picked up Leah, who was dangling in mid-air, cradled her in his arms, and gently patted her back.
He’d heard from others that when a child gets rowdy, doing this would calm them down.
He just forgot that his daughter was already six years old, a girl with a sense of shame.
“Dad, I’m not a little kid anymore!!!”
Leah kicked her little legs wildly against Alvain’s body.
She was a big six-year-old girl now!
How could she possibly need such an embarrassing method to fall asleep!!!
“If we convert an elf’s lifespan to a human’s, you’re actually only…”
Alvain tried to argue, but Leah’s next words made him shut his mouth.
“If you don’t put me down right now, I won’t talk to you for a whole week.”
Alvain expressionlessly put his daughter down.
It wasn’t that he was worried she wouldn’t speak to him; he just remembered a book saying to respect his daughter’s own choices.
Yes, that was it.
“Hmph!”
Back on the ground, Leah was still sulking.
She glanced at her father’s face several times, and seeing he remained unmoved, she angrily kicked his shins.
“Let me give you a hint. What happened six years ago today?”
Leah reminded him with a huff.
If he forgot even this, she wouldn’t talk to him for a week!
No, a whole month!
Six years ago today?
Oh~
So she’s throwing a tantrum about that.
Alvain instantly understood the situation and gently stroked her head with a tender expression.
“Of course I remember. Six years ago today was the day you were born.”
“Today is your birthday. I came to be with you as soon as I finished handling official business, didn’t I?”
“Hmph!”
Leah puffed out her cheeks and let him stroke her head.
Of course, she knew it wasn’t easy for Alvain to come back to be with her in the afternoon, but she still wanted to exercise her right as a daughter to act spoiled.
She placed her small, pink hand in front of her father, deliberately lowering her voice, though it still sounded sweet and childish.
“So, where’s my birthday present?”
Birthday present…
Alvain’s expression froze.
Seeing his face, Leah already knew the answer.
Her small feet, clad only in white tights, stomped heavily on his foot.
“You didn’t prepare one, did you?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“Heh, how could that be?”
Alvain truly hadn’t forgotten.
He just genuinely couldn’t think of what to prepare for Leah’s birthday present.
He should have known better than to spoil her so much before.
Alvain felt a headache coming on, but then he suddenly thought of a brilliant solution.
“How about… my company this afternoon as your father being your birthday present? Is that okay?”
“No.”
Alvain felt a bit flustered.
That wasn’t how it went in the storybooks, was it?
“Sigh…”
Leah let out a resentful sigh.
She wasn’t some unreasonable, spoiled daughter.
Of course, she could understand her father’s difficulties, but she still felt a little unhappy.
She hopped back and sat on the bed, propping her face in her hands, her two small white feet swinging back and forth unconsciously.
“It’s fine, you’re the Elven King after all. All the important matters of the entire Natural Forest need you to handle them. It’s normal you didn’t have time to prepare your daughter’s birthday present~”
Actually, the entire operation of the elves in the City of Emerald Shadows needs my inspection and adjustment.
Alvain didn’t plan to tell his child the truth about the elven race as early as the previous Elven King had.
Rather than becoming an excellent heir, he hoped his daughter could grow up happily like a normal girl.
“Dad, is the Sacred Tree going to bear fruit again soon?”
Leah suddenly asked.
When she said this, her eyes were unfocused, completely failing to notice how Alvain’s expression instantly turned unusually serious.
But he quickly returned to his usual calm expression.
“Mmm, in about sixteen more years, the Sacred Tree will bear fruit. At that time, I will also return to the Sacred Tree and become a part of it again.”
Alvain affectionately ruffled Leah’s head.
“By then, Leah, it will be time for you to become the new Elven King. What a pity, I won’t get to see the moment of your coronation.”
“Sigh~ Elven King, Elven King… Can I really become an Elven King like you, father?”
Since developing a sense of shame, Leah hadn’t been this intimate with Alvain for a long time.
Now sitting together again, Leah could still draw a feeling called ‘peace of mind’ from her father.
“Of course you can. You’re my daughter. When the time comes, you must become the great hero who protects the elven race, just like in the storybooks.”
Alvain encouraged her, but seeing her expression still full of uncertainty, he thought for a moment and came up with a solution.
“How about this? For the next sixteen years, every year I will prepare a birthday gift for you. But I won’t give these gifts to you directly. Instead, I’ll put them all in a wooden chest and give them all to you on the day you become the Elven King. How does that sound?”
“Who piles up birthday gifts like that~”
Leah pouted.
“And by the time I become the Elven King, you’ll have long since returned to the Sacred Tree. How could you still give the gifts to me? Father, you’re clearly tricking me.”
“How could I possibly trick you? Here, watch as your father personally carves that wooden chest for you. We’ll consider it this year’s gift to you, okay?”
“As for how to give it to you… I’ll bury it under the floor of my room. I’ll set up a seal that only you and I can detect. After I return to the Sacred Tree, you can dig it up yourself. How about that?”
“Fi~ine then~”
The little girl pretended to be nonchalant, tossing her hair, but her small face was already flushed with excitement.
Gifts across time… that sounded so romantic.
Little girls Leah’s age loved things like that.
She eagerly pulled her father’s hand, ready to pick out wood and carve the chest right now, though the direction she was pulling…
“Leah, the trees in the Silent Forest are elven elders awaiting rebirth. We shouldn’t disturb them.”
“Giggle~ Dad, your chest carving is so ugly~”
“Wait, Leah! Don’t poke it with Douqi! I finally made one that looks decent. Don’t ruin it.”
In the forest behind the elven palace, a father frantically prepared his daughter’s first gift.
With Leah watching with her own eyes, he buried it under the bed in his bedroom.
And now, nearly sixteen years have passed since then.
Too many things happened in those sixteen years.
The little girl had long since grown into a graceful young woman.
She had her own close friends and understood the responsibilities her father bore.
So, she never again willfully demanded that her father prepare birthday gifts for her.
After all, every year on her birthday, her close friends would give her unique gifts.
Slowly, she had actually forgotten about that promise.
And now, back in this room, back in this spot, the memories of childhood seemed to replay at this moment.
Except the man with wood shavings and dirt on his hands was no longer by her side.
Could it be…
Leah felt a stirring in her heart, her gaze shifting to the destroyed wooden bed.
She moved the broken wooden planks aside and placed her hand on the ground.
The remaining wooden splinters, with her permission, pierced her skin.
Crimson blood seeped into the earth below.
A Magic Array hidden within the soil began to rotate.
The soil beneath her palm gradually parted, eventually forming a small hole about one meter deep.
Inside the hole was a crudely made wooden chest with a small dent on its lid.
The chest had no lock, only a piece of parchment connecting the lid to the body.
Leah took the paper off, unfolded it, and found only a few simple words written on it.
“Happy Birthday to my daughter.”
In the bottom right corner was a line of smaller text—”From your loving father, Alvain.”
Leah expressionlessly folded it, put it in her pocket, and opened the lid of the chest.
Inside the chest, sixteen items were neatly arranged.
Beside them, someone had thoughtfully added labels.
A small emerald green dress—A belated sixth birthday gift;
A necklace inlaid with an emerald—Seventh birthday gift;
A complete set of popular romance novels from a few years ago—Fifteenth birthday gift;
A magnificent sword—Eighteenth birthday gift.
Finally, there was a golden crown.
The label beside it was a bit special.
Besides noting it was her twenty-second birthday gift, there were a few more words.
“Congratulations on becoming the new Elven King, Leah.”
The handwriting was extremely gentle.
One could tell at a glance the blessing and joy in his heart when he wrote those words.