“I’m going to fight the Sacred Tree? Seriously?”
‘Evian wondered if her ears were playing tricks on her. Why would a task like challenging the Sacred Tree—something that clearly required a powerful hero—be assigned to her, an actress who was only a Five-Rank Warrior?’
‘Was she supposed to be a cheerleader dancing on the sidelines? If that were the case, she’d be more than happy to contribute.’
But seeing Isabella’s full mobilization, what she had to do couldn’t possibly be that simple!
“Correct. According to the research of the Sixth Generation Elf King, Sai Lin Na, the controlled elves haven’t lost their ability to generate emotions; it’s just that the moment an emotion arises, it gets absorbed by the Sacred Tree.”
“However, if an elf produces an unusually large amount of emotions in an instant, the Sacred Tree will show a momentary flaw while absorbing them.”
“This also explains why Wendy could see the threads attached to you when you went berserk, but couldn’t see them at ordinary times.”
Isabella explained this to her, feeling a bit emotional herself.
Back then, she had gone to the Starlight Opera House only to use Evian’s identity to get close to her father, a member of the Council of Elders, but Evian not only resolved many of her doubts but would also play a key role in the final battle.
“So, you want me to put on a performance?”
Evian wasn’t stupid.
She immediately understood her duty and let out a sigh of relief.
‘Just putting on a show in front of everyone. I thought I’d actually have to pick up an axe and chop down a tree.’
‘Acting is my specialty!’
“What do you need me to perform? The Descent of the Holy Tree?”
Since the topic had come to her area of expertise, Evian didn’t mind showing Isabella and the others the acting skills she had honed over centuries.
Whether it was obscure legends or grand historical epics, cliché love and hate entanglements or classic foreign works, she knew them all inside out.
No joke, as soon as the music started, her body would automatically move—she didn’t even need to think.
But if the goal was to stir the audience’s emotions, then the Descent of the Holy Tree, which recorded the War of Divine Fire, would probably be the best choice, right?
But soon, Isabella threw cold water on her.
“No, I’ll prepare a new script for you. The content of the script is up to you. I’ll only provide the key plot points and all the resources you need.”
A… new play.
Evian wiped the cold sweat from her forehead expressionlessly.
‘It’s fine. Lady Sai Lin Na also liked watching new plays back then, and I’ve written new scripts before.’
‘Besides, Isabella said she’d provide all the resources I need, so creating it shouldn’t be too troublesome.’
Evian calmed down and asked Isabella for specific requirements.
“First, change the setting of the Sacred Tree to an Evil God from another world. Its goal is not to save the suffering elves, but to turn them into puppets and use them to take over the world.”
This sentence almost scared Evian to death.
‘Th-this… even though that’s actually the truth, the Descent of the Holy Tree is a classic play that has been passed down for 1,000 years. Is it really okay to change it like this? Wouldn’t she get smacked by a branch of the Sacred Tree and turned into a puppet if she performed it like that?’
But their goal was to stir up a storm of emotions in the elves, and who said shock wasn’t an emotion?
Between the big picture and the risk of becoming a sinner in the history of elven theater, Evian hesitated only a few seconds before choosing the big picture.
As for the difficulty of writing afterward, she could worry about that after Isabella finished stating her requirements.
Evian had a feeling that this Empire princess had more than just this one difficult problem.
Seeing that Evian had made the right decision so quickly, Isabella gave her an approving look and stated her second requirement.
“Second, what the Sacred Tree gave the elven race was not just Light Elves, but a pair of twins. After resolving the crisis, these twins became the Elf King and the Chief Elder of the Council of Elders respectively.”
The twins of the Light Elves?
Was that the Dark Elf she had asked about before?
Evian gradually realized that Isabella was telling the true history.
Her expression grew more serious, and she started thinking about how to connect these elements.
‘For the beginning, I can still use the Descent of the Holy Tree directly, but I’ll just need to add an important supporting character alongside the Light Elf.’
‘But the Dark Elf definitely wasn’t just a supporting character.’
So she raised her hand and asked how the Dark Elf’s personality should be set.
“Opposite to the Elf King.”
Isabella said decisively. But seeing Evian’s confused expression, she realized her wording was problematic.
So she explained again in detail.
“What I mean is that during the 200 years of managing the elven race, the Elf King gradually developed a sense of belonging to the elves, and all his actions were centered around the race.”
“But the Dark Elf, as the Chief Elder of the Council of Elders, only had the daily task of serving the Sacred Tree. He had no sense of belonging to the elves; he only cared about his twin, the Elf King, and the Sacred Tree. At least at the beginning.”
‘Oh, a big love versus a small love, a classic relationship in romance plays. Usually, the one with the small love ends up as the final opponent.’
Evian’s mind was already drafting the subsequent plot, but then Isabella immediately overturned everything she had thought of.
“Then, as the abnormal behavior of the controlled elves became more and more obvious, the Elf King finally sensed something was wrong. But he alone didn’t have enough power to destroy the Sacred Tree. So the Dark Elf sacrificed himself, giving the Elf King the strength to challenge the Sacred Tree.”
‘…I’d better stop guessing.’
Evian held her head.
‘This is clearly going to be a super long script. If I try to connect all these storylines, it’ll cost me a lot of brain cells. I should save as much as I can now.’
Next, Isabella summarized the actual experiences of successive Elf Kings.
But with ten generations of Elf Kings in nine years, even just describing the key parts would take a considerable amount of time.
“Finally, the story ends with the current Elf King and Elf Princess falling into a disadvantage in the final battle against the Sacred Tree and the Dark Elf controlled by it. They need the elves to rebel against the Sacred Tree that controls them in order to create an opening. Yeah, that’s the end.”
She had indeed talked a lot.
After finishing, Isabella felt her throat so dry it didn’t feel like her own.
Only after drinking a cup of black tea did she feel better.
Evian, on the other hand, was still immersed in the story she had told.
It took her a long time to snap out of it.
“I understand. I’ll figure out a way to perform the script you’ve described.”
Evian was confident about this, but there was still one problem.
“How much time can you give me?”
“If possible, I’d like you to perform on stage within two days.”
“Two days!!!”
Evian shot up.
At this moment, differences in status and the big picture of saving the elves didn’t matter anymore.
Two days!
And that’s creating a massive play all by herself without any professional help!
“Impossible!”
Evian complained stubbornly.
“Do you know how many factors go into a play? Lines, storyboarding, music, movements, props… Even if I gathered all the creators of the Starlight Opera House to work on this play, it would take at least a week!”
“In two days, we can’t even do the first rehearsal!”
Evian plopped back into her chair angrily.
Isabella had some idea of how unreasonable her request was, so she had some expectations for Evian’s reaction.
“Two days is the maximum I can secure for you. Based on the agreement between the Alendine Kingdom and Elaril, Elaril will lift the seal and release the Sacred Tree at the latest in three days.”
She took a light sip of black tea and said calmly.
“The purpose of this play is only to stir the elves’ emotions. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Cancel the rehearsals.”
“In these two days, the envoys of Alendine and the Empire are at your disposal. As nobles, they all have rich artistic experience and can help you with storyboarding and music.”
“The lines, Leah and I will write ourselves. The movements don’t need to be too complicated—just enough to convey the emotions along with the lines.”
“What about the props? Without props, the stage effect will be halved.”
Evian rolled her eyes.
Among the preparations, making props was the most time-consuming. From design and concept to material selection, production, installation, and testing, usually all other preparations would be done before the props were even ready.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
Isabella smiled.
“We can use magic to create a more realistic stage effect, can’t we?”
Magic?
Evian wanted to say that since ancient times, magic had only been used for combat.
Even the most basic first-tier magic, once infused with mana, could easily take the life of a commoner without magical protection.
But soon she shut her mouth tightly, because she suddenly remembered that in the Empire, a type of magic that seemed not much different but was actually worlds apart from traditional magic was rapidly changing the world.
Life Magic.