Chapter 0: Prologue

(Traditional fantasy. This book contains no elements of transmigration, system, or leveling. Gender-bender harem, controlled flow transformation.)

The blazing fire lit up the chaotic city, the massive Sacred Tree shrouded in smoke as flames raged. Sounds of battle and screams rose and fell.

The once-glorious and bustling Silent Forest was now filled with wails and panic. Countless civilians either burned to death in the fire or were buried beneath the ruins.

All these civilians had a pair of pointed ears, completely different from normal humans.

Yes, they were Elves.

And this was the Elven Capital.

Amid the thick smoke outside, a girl different from the other Elves sat dazedly in her bedroom, gazing through the window at the distant flames.

Pale golden hair cascaded down her back, her petite figure sat on the bed, eyes vacant.

If one looked closely, they could see her limbs, scarred beneath her luxurious Princess dress, and a hideous scar on her chest.

Even more incredible, as an Elf, she actually had a slender, milky-white tail behind her, with a heart-shaped tip at the end.

The girl was in the Inner City of the Silent Forest. The fire hadn’t spread here, and now the Inner City was utterly silent, not a sound to be heard.

Most of the Mages had been sent out to extinguish the fire, leaving only a few Guards behind for minimal security.

“Princess!”

With a thunderous bang, the door was thrown open, shattering the silence. An Elf, clothes stained with blood, rushed toward the girl, shouting urgently.

“We’ve come to rescue you!”

“Rescue… me?”

The girl was stunned. Her vacant expression shifted as she looked at the Elf.

She knew this Elf. He was the one who had argued with her Aunt in the Royal Court some days before.

He usually wouldn’t even spare her a glance, but now he was so eager to save her?

“I don’t want to. I can’t leave.”

She spoke stiffly, then turned her head away from the Minister, refusing to look at him.

“I’m going to tell Aunt you’re trying to take me away from here.”

Her Aunt—the current Elven Queen, ruler of the entire Elven Kingdom—had raised her since her parents died.

Her Aunt’s personality was strange, often leaving scars on her body. She didn’t know why, only that it always hurt when Aunt did these things.

“Tch!”

At the mention of the Elven Queen, the Minister’s face instantly darkened.

He ignored all formality and began cursing at the girl.

“You little bastard, do you really think you’re worthy of being the Princess of the Elven Kingdom? If not for the dignity of the Royal Family, we’d have dragged you to the gallows and executed you long ago!”

“Now we’ve gone to all this trouble to create chaos and loosen the Inner City’s defenses, and you say you don’t want to leave?”

“You mongrel, you’re just a worthless wretch. Can’t you see? You’re nothing but a half-blood! A freak among us!”

As he spoke, the Minister strode directly up to the girl, a cruel smile on his face.

“Now, whether you want to go or not, you’re leaving. If we could harm Royalty, I’d have stabbed you to death right here.”

At the Minister’s words, the girl’s vacant expression finally wavered.

“Go? Go where?”

“Anywhere but the Elven Kingdom.”

The Minister replied, grabbing the girl’s wrist and yanking her off the bed.

Outside the door, the girl found the vast Palace eerily quiet—no sound at all, a stark contrast to the chaos and wailing of the Outer City.

“Did you set the fire?”

The girl suddenly thought of something and asked.

“So what if we did? So what if we didn’t? Either way, we achieved our goal.”

The Minister didn’t even look back, dragging the girl forward.

“What about the innocent civilians?”

“Not your concern.”

The Minister found it amusing that the girl could worry about civilians at a time like this.

“What? Still fretting over the civilians?”

“As Princess, it’s my duty to care for my people.”

Her tone was still rigid, like a doll.

It wasn’t her fault.

Living deep within the Palace, she’d never interacted much with others.

She’d always had to figure things out alone in her room, with no one to teach her.

Her Aunt only let the Teachers teach her Royal etiquette and some basic knowledge.

“Ha. Care for your people.”

The Minister snorted.

“You know as well as I do—those civilians have always resented you. Haven’t you ever heard their insults?”

“I have. But as Royalty, I must fulfill my responsibilities.”

“Tch, enough. I’m hopeless when it comes to you.”

Listening to her, the Minister felt an inexplicable irritation.

“Once you leave from here, someone will meet you outside, then…”

He looked at the girl’s delicate face and the Crystal Pendant on her neck.

“The farther you get, the better.”

“Squawk! Squawk!”

Sharp bird cries exploded in Weibai’s ear.

Sleeping soundly, Weibai shuddered, wanting to open his eyes, but his heavy eyelids felt glued shut.

He could only wave irritably toward the source of the noise.

“Go away, don’t be so loud.”

“Squawk!! Squawk! Squawk!!”

The slapped crow shrieked twice more, refusing to give up on awakening the tranquil soul.

“Keep squawking and I’ll stew you.”

Weibai threatened with his eyes closed.

The crow wisely shut its beak, hopping around near Weibai.

Elves’ affinity with nature surpassed all races; they could freely converse with plants and animals.

This was why Weibai could argue with a crow.

After a long while, Weibai opened his eyes, yawned, and rubbed them sleepily.

He stared blankly at the sun overhead, his just-awakened brain slowly loading.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

After a moment, his mind finally caught up. He scratched his head.

Suddenly, the tuft of hair on his head stood straight up.

“Hey! Anthony! It’s almost noon! Why didn’t you wake me up for work sooner?!”

The tuft trembled violently as a pair of fair, slender hands seized the drowsy crow beside him, fiercely interrogating it.

“Squawk! (You said you’d stew me!)”

The startled crow protested, its pearl-like eyes full of grievance.

“I was joking! You should’ve pecked me awake!”

Weibai, exasperated, tossed the pitiful crow aside, picked up the no-longer-glowing pendant from the ground, and fastened it around his slender neck.

In an instant, something invisible was absorbed by the pendant.

At the same time, a green light enveloped Weibai.

When the glow faded, the girl’s body had transformed into a boy, and the cool Elven clothes were replaced by plain fabric.

This pendant was mysterious.

It could suppress the Elf bloodline within him, allowing him to move freely across the Kingdom Continent as a Human.

Anthony’s beady eyes watched all this, seemingly unfazed.

When he sensed the familiar aura vanish, he blinked, fluttered his wings, and perched on the boy’s shoulder.

“Don’t go wild on my shoulder.”

Weibai warned.

This crow had a history of making his clothes stink.

The Café must be packed by now.

I shouldn’t have lazed around.

Weibai had never been one to sleep in.

His years as an Adventurer had made him a morning person.

But in Elf form, he lacked such self-control, often sleeping until noon and waking up irritable.

He rubbed his forehead in annoyance.

It felt like his stats dropped a grade in Elf mode, turning him into a pure little girl.

Thankfully, he’d picked a hidden enough spot.

If someone found him—alone, powerless, and in low-intelligence Elf mode—he’d probably end up skinned and turned into Magic Potion.

The bodies of Long-lived Species were the rarest ingredients in Alchemy.

Due to their unity, Human Scholars and Alchemists had never managed a full study, making a living Long-lived Species a precious research resource.

Plus, Short-lived Species propaganda painted the Long-lived as cold monsters.

Almost all Short-lived harbored hostility toward them.

As the sun rose higher, Weibai quickened his pace.

He’d worked hard to get this job and didn’t want to be fired after just a few months.