Three hours had passed since the convoy entered the Natural Forest.
Along the way, there was nothing to see but trees after trees.
If not for the occasional sight of a few scantily clad Elves walking through the woods, Winnidith would have thought…
‘But isn’t the Elf race a bit too relaxed about border security? Do they not even station a few guards?’
She shared her doubts with Isabella, and Leah, who happened to overhear, kindly explained it to her.
“First of all, the Elf King can perceive everything within the Natural Forest through the Sacred Tree. If a disaster truly occurs, every single tree in the Natural Forest becomes our soldier. Each one is equivalent to a second-rank Mage proficient in the Wood Element.”
There were at least hundreds of thousands of trees in the Natural Forest, which meant that in a state of war, they could instantly raise the largest Mage Corps on the entire continent!
Winnidith shuddered.
Although their individual power wasn’t great, their sheer numbers were overwhelming!
No wonder she hadn’t heard of the Natural Forest experiencing any wars since that battle a thousand years ago.
“Then there is the issue of a lack of manpower. Elves are indifferent by nature, and sexual intercourse occurs only at long intervals. It takes even longer for a new member to be born into a family. It isn’t strange for the tribe to have not a single newborn in a year.”
In any case, the lifespan of an Elf was generally around 1,000 years.
Even without newborns, the population could remain stable to a certain degree, so no one really cared about the matter.
However, only Leah knew that her father often frowned over this issue, frequently visiting the sacred grounds of the Elf race to ask the Sacred Tree for a solution.
Though, she didn’t understand why her father was in such a hurry.
Perhaps she would find out once she became the Elf King.
‘The Elf King…’
Leah rested her head by the window, her emerald-green eyes reflecting the familiar scenery.
According to the traditions of the Elf race, in more than ten days, she would consume the fruit of the Sacred Tree and take the throne of the Elf King, while her father would turn into nourishment and return to the embrace of the Sacred Tree.
But her father had never taught her how to be a qualified ruler.
Regarding this impending mission, Leah felt a sense of dread alongside her anticipation.
‘I don’t think I can become a qualified Elf King.’
By evening, Winnidith finally saw a giant structure that could be called a city.
From Leah, she learned that this was the only city of the entire Elf race—the City of Emerald Shadows.
The entire city covered an area of 200,000 square kilometers and was constructed entirely of high-density wood and jade.
It was capable of housing 30,000 Elves, making it the most densely populated place in the Natural Forest.
In front of the gates of the City of Emerald Shadows, a black-haired adult female Elf wearing somewhat conservative clothing waited, flanked by ten Elves—five men and five women.
The moment they saw the Imperial Emblem, they collectively spread their arms and bowed in greeting.
“This is the ceremony the Elf race uses to welcome guests, signaling that you are welcome in the City of Emerald Shadows.”
But when Winnidith cast a skeptical gaze toward her, Leah glared back in indignant shame.
“What? Did you think we Elves were all savages who don’t know etiquette? It’s just that there is normally no one in this world worthy of me using this etiquette!”
‘She really did think that.’
Winnidith sheepishly withdrew her gaze.
After all, Leah acted so arrogantly, and combined with the influence of certain literary works, she had thought Vilda was the outlier among the Elves.
‘So Leah is the outlier!’
“Envoys from the Empire, the King has prepared accommodations for you in the Silver Moon Palace. Please follow us to rest for a moment before proceeding to the King’s Radiant Light Palace.”
The black-haired Elf leading the group looked up and smiled.
It was then that Winnidith noticed her appearance bore a slight resemblance to Vilda’s.
After carefully comparing her to the Vilda beside her, Winnidith became even more certain.
‘That is exactly what Vilda will look like when she grows up!!!’
‘Could she be her sister? Given the lifespan of the Elf race, it’s not impossible that she’s her mother.’
“The King has prepared a banquet there to welcome you.”
While Winnidith was still pondering the relationship between Vilda and this mysterious black-haired Elf, the woman’s gaze suddenly focused on the carriage where she was sitting.
In an instant, cold sweat drenched Winnidith’s back.
‘What is that?’
Winnidith’s body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Just now, all the defensive measures on her body had failed.
She felt like a newborn baby facing a terrifying existence.
A lethal threat instantly overwhelmed her sanity.
She wanted to cry out for help, only to discover with horror that her body had somehow transformed into a tree covered in bright red blossoms.
Winnidith’s pupils suddenly contracted as she returned to the real world.
Her armor was intact, and everything that had just happened seemed like a hallucination.
Outside, the black-haired Elf’s voice remained gentle, though a hint of doting toward her subject was mixed into that gentleness.
“Additionally, Princess, the King has specifically entrusted me to inform you to head to the Radiant Light Palace immediately upon your return. The King said he is very dissatisfied with your behavior this time.”
“Oh~”
Upon hearing this, Leah’s face immediately slumped, her natural expression appearing completely unaffected.
Winnidith moved her eyes.
Vilda was nervously pinching the hem of her skirt, Isabella was sitting elegantly on the sofa, and even Arns, who was guarding beside the carriage, had relaxed slightly because they had arrived at the City of Emerald Shadows.
She was the only one who had been affected.
‘Could it really have just been my imagination?’
As soon as that thought occurred to Winnidith, an uncontrollable stabbing pain throbbed in her head.
Winnidith knew what this was.
Mages with powerful innate talent possessed a mysterious ability called Spirit Perception.
When a situation became serious enough to threaten a Mage’s life, Spirit Perception would trigger a warning.
‘It’s not an illusion!’
Cold sweat dripped down Winnidith’s face.
That momentary illusion just now could have actually taken her life without her even knowing?
She didn’t dare be careless.
Taking two deep breaths to stabilize her condition, she prepared to activate her Elemental Vision.
As the mana flowed through her body, a transparent film gradually formed over her eyes.
Through this film, the true form of the world was revealed before Winnidith.
From a very young age, Winnidith had noticed she could directly observe the arrangement of elements that composed the world.
She called this “Elemental Vision.”
This was also the reason why, at such a young age, her insights into the path of Magic surpassed those of most Mages.
Once she activated her Elemental Vision, she finally saw clearly what had tainted her just now—a surge of Dark Element that was rapidly disappearing.
Winnidith’s brows furrowed slightly.
Among the eight great elements, Light and Dark were recognized as the most difficult to master.
Both were highly bound to deities, and almost only a Divine Envoy was qualified to use them.
If that was the case, was this female Elf a Divine Envoy of the Elf race who specialized in the Dark Element?
But didn’t the Sacred Tree worshipped by the Elves govern the Wind Element and the Wood Element?
Winnidith couldn’t figure it out, but her intuition told her that if she continued to dig deeper, she would come into contact with something she wouldn’t be able to escape.
Winnidith only wanted to live her luxurious life as a young lady, so she obediently gave up thinking and deactivated her Elemental Vision, just in time to collide with Leah’s gaze.
“I’m leaving now. I’ll see you later in the Radiant Light Palace.”
Although she knew she would soon face her father’s scolding, Leah still forced herself to muster some energy to say goodbye to Winnidith.
While she didn’t have much affection for the human race, she quite liked this silver-haired girl who was beautiful, could set aside her noble pride, and whose chest was only slightly larger than her own.
“Then I shall take my leave as well. I look forward to seeing the dazzling appearance of both your highnesses at the Radiant Light Palace.”
Since Leah was leaving, there was naturally no need for Vilda, her personal maid, to stay.
After bowing slightly to the two, she followed Leah back to the Elf welcoming party.
Throughout the process, Winnidith looked Vilda in the eye without any reservation.
However, whether she was hiding it too well or truly had nothing to do with it, Winnidith couldn’t see any panic or false emotions in those eyes.
‘What on earth is going on!!!’
As soon as they left, Winnidith immediately threw herself onto the sofa, scratching her silver hair in frustration.
They hadn’t even entered the City of Emerald Shadows yet!
Did so many things have to happen?
“What’s wrong? I saw that your expression was off just now. Did you find something?”
Isabella sat calmly beside Winnidith.
She had noticed Wendy’s abnormality earlier, but she hadn’t asked directly while Leah and Vilda were still there.
Winnidith originally wanted to say it was nothing, but on second thought, since the other party had already come knocking on the door, wouldn’t she just be waiting for a total party wipe if she didn’t share the information?
No, no, no!
She didn’t want to be the kind of idiotic teammate that makes people’s blood pressure rise!
Winnidith’s waist snapped upright.
She grabbed Isabella’s hands firmly, looking at her with a very serious expression.
“Bella, listen to me. Just now, I saw…”