Volume 4, Chapter 18 – The Seventeenth Royal Consort

This is my home. Shouldn’t you be the one to introduce yourself first?

Though she had been momentarily stunned by the emotionless eyes of the golden-haired maiden, Fia quickly recovered. She raised an eyebrow and watched as the maiden gradually approached.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”

This maiden was clearly not a member of the servant staff. If she remembered correctly, the senior maid had said this entire palace was built exclusively for her by the Elf King; no other royals lived here.

“Me?”

The twin-tailed, golden-haired maiden paused, then smiled wryly as if embarrassed, her hands clasped in front of her.

“Ahaha… you’re right, I should introduce myself first. My name is Mizuki.”

“Mizuki…”

Fia repeated in a low voice. The pronunciation was clearly not the elf language, but more like a beast-kin language, similar to Chiharu’s.

As if sensing Fia’s confusion, Mizuki explained.

“I was born in the Cold Moon Alliance, so my name is in the beast-kin tongue. I have an elf name too, but I’m not used to it. I usually just go by Mizuki.”

“I see.”

It was just as she had guessed.

Because this elf’s apparent age was about the same as her own, Fia adopted the casual attitude one would use with a peer. She asked with a smile.

“What are you doing here? I was in the library opposite here for half the day and didn’t see anyone come in.”

“Oh, I came in through that door over there. But it’s amazing that you were able to get into the library. That’s a forbidden place that even requires supervision for cleaning. Why don’t we go sit over there and talk? We can’t just stand here the whole time.”

“Mhm.”

Even though this was her own home, the girl was acting as if she were entertaining a guest. Fia couldn’t help but find it a bit strange, but she followed Mizuki’s lead and sat down at the edge of the magic laboratory. There was a table and chairs made of dark wood here, the color and style of which matched Mizuki’s shrine maiden attire perfectly. If this weren’t a magic laboratory but a shrine with a torii gate, Fia might have thought she had been transported to another world.

“Come, try a specialty from the Cold Moon Alliance. This tea may not be as sweet as the tea from Silvar, but its aroma and aftertaste are much richer.”

While Fia was seating herself, Mizuki had already enthusiastically brewed and served a cup of tea. And just as she had said, the tea she brought smelled more fragrant, with a sweet scent like honey.

However, considering that she was the master of this place, Fia couldn’t help but find the scene incredibly bizarre. It was as if she had returned home to find a stranger in her house, and that stranger was now inviting her to sit down, making her feel like the outsider.

With a rather peculiar expression, Fia tactfully reminded her.

“Um… is this your home?”

“This is the home of the Eldest Princess Dofilia. Don’t you know?” Mizuki’s approachable, sea-blue eyes widened, her surprised expression making it seem like she was looking at a rare curiosity.

This girl didn’t recognize her as the Eldest Princess at all. There was actually someone in the imperial palace who didn’t recognize the Eldest Princess. It seemed the princess still had a lot of work to do to increase her prestige.

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Understanding everything in an instant, Fia couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

“Hah, alright. Then what are you doing here?”

“I’m trying to restore the Holy Tree Dance. Don’t be fooled by my appearance; I am the Holy Tree Maiden, entrusted with the great responsibility of restoring communication with the Elf God—although, I’m an uncertified fake.”

“The Holy Tree Dance…”

Liti had explained it to her back in Byrne City. The Holy Tree Dance was a ritual used by the Holy Tree Maiden to communicate with the gods. In the past, the elf race had been a nation with both a king and a “pope,” and this “pope” was the maiden of the Holy Tree.

Because the maiden could communicate with the Elf God, her words were often more effective than the king’s. However, since the death of the last maiden thousands of years ago, the elves had lost contact with their god, and the profession of Holy Tree Maiden had gradually faded from view. Now, the Elf Kingdom has become a completely secular state. Although the citizens knew of the Elf God’s existence, they were no longer as fanatical as the Milcandis Holy Kingdom was in their reliance on the Goddess of Life.

With the disappearance of the maiden, the dance had also been lost. This meant that her hopes of solving Claire’s curse through the Elf God were dashed. Upon her return, Fia had already planned to find another place where she might find a god after seeing Claire and resolving the kingdom’s internal conflicts.

If the girl before her could restore the Holy Tree Dance, she wouldn’t have to make an extra trip.

Fia’s eyes lit up.

“You know how to restore the Holy Tree Dance?”

“…Only a little.”

Startled by Fia’s sudden enthusiasm, Mizuki answered with a troubled look.

“I’m just piecing it together based on the materials left by my predecessors and my own feelings. If I do the movements correctly, I can feel the call of the Holy Tree. If I do them wrong, that feeling of connection disappears. That, plus some other troublesome things, has made the progress very slow.”

“Troublesome things?”

If she could establish contact with the Elf God, the Elf King should be giving her the green light all the way. The royal authority was already as stable as it could be, and the Holy Tree was so withered it looked like it could die at any moment. The choice should have been obvious.

“I don’t know if you noticed just now, but I always keep my eyes closed when I dance. That’s because if I open them, anyone who accidentally sees me will become mentally and physically exhausted. The kagura is not just a ritual to communicate with the gods; it’s also a form of magic. It consumes the maiden’s mana and energy and subtly influences those around her. I think the reason the maidens of the past could command others was probably because their dance slowly planted the idea of ‘I am a god’ in people’s minds.”

“I did see a little. Your eyes just now were completely different from how they are now…”

When Fia had first seen Mizuki’s eyes, they had been filled with a coldness and stillness, as if she were not a living being with emotions. But in less than a second, that inhuman atmosphere had vanished.

The words had barely left Fia’s mouth when Mizuki, who had just sat down, shot up from her seat like a panicked child. She frantically grabbed Fia’s arms, looking as if she were about to give her a physical examination.

“Y-you saw?! Are you hurt? We need to perform a purification right away! The Eldest Princess’s bathhouse… there’s definitely not enough time! We should go to my place—”

“Calm down. I’m not hurt.”

Fia grabbed Mizuki’s hands in return. Mizuki’s hands were already on the sash of her dress. If she didn’t stop her, her own dress was about to be stripped off. She was no exhibitionist, and Mizuki’s hands were tickling her.

Mizuki’s face was full of suspicion.

“Really? If an ordinary person had seen that dance just now, they would have already fainted. Even someone with some strength might suffer from a hidden, undetectable illness.”

“I am not an ordinary person.”

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Even the despair demon general, a master of mental magic, couldn’t affect her with it, let alone Mizuki, who only had the mana of a Second-Rank.

To get Mizuki to calm down, Fia had no choice but to place her hands on her shoulders and guide her back to her seat. The feedback from her hands was that of an extremely slender frame. Mizuki was probably even smaller than she looked; it was only because her shrine maiden’s robes were so wide that she appeared to be about the same size as Fia.

However, to Fia’s surprise, Mizuki reacted as if she had touched a red-hot iron. She instantly broke free, shrinking back several steps with her shoulders hunched.

“P-please don’t touch me!” she exclaimed, her voice several degrees louder, her expression full of panic.

How strange.

She wasn’t a man, and they were about the same age. That gesture hadn’t been particularly intimate.

Could it be that because elves didn’t reject same-sex marriage, her actions had offended Mizuki? Or did Mizuki have some sort of aversion to women?

That was quite possible.

She had been too forward.

With a somewhat awkward expression, Fia scratched her cheek.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you disliked women.”

“No… I don’t dislike you. It’s just… because of some things, I’m doing this for your own good.”

This “for your own good” was probably related to the dance. Just like how looking into her eyes could alter one’s subconscious, touching her probably had some terrible consequences as well. At least, that’s what Fia assumed.

As if sensing the atmosphere had become delicate, Mizuki slowly walked back to Fia’s side. Like a child admitting a mistake, she cautiously tilted her head to observe Fia’s face.

“Um… you’re not angry, are you?”

“No.”

“Aren’t you going to ask why?”

“Is it because you just finished the kagura? Speaking of which, you’re covered in sweat and look tired. Do you want to wipe it off?”

As she spoke, Fia handed Mizuki a handkerchief. Just as she had said, Mizuki’s forehead was beaded with sweat, and her golden hair was stuck to it. Standing so close, Fia could even feel the heat radiating from her body and a subtle, milky fragrance. It was different from Liti’s childish, milky scent; Mizuki’s was more mature, making Fia feel a little self-conscious, and stirring up strange thoughts.

“Thank you.”

Mizuki took the handkerchief, wiped her forehead, and then sat down, looking embarrassed.

“Actually, it’s not because of the kagura that I didn’t want you to touch me. I don’t know who you are, but you’re a new face, so you probably haven’t recognized me yet. I’m actually His Majesty the Elf King’s Seventeenth Royal Consort—of course, I haven’t had the wedding with His Majesty yet, so I’m only a consort in name. But if outsiders were to know that someone was being overly intimate with me, his fiancée, your position would become very delicate. They would point fingers at you… You know, elves aren’t like other races. Even between the same sex, being too close can cause all sorts of problems.”

“Huh?!”

Fia nearly spat out the tea she had just drunk. She slammed her cup down on the table, her brow furrowed.

“You’re the Seventeenth Royal Consort?”

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“Yes. Because my affinity with the Holy Tree is very strong, I was fortunate enough to be chosen by His Majesty. I was originally a commoner. It was His Majesty who gave me a life free from want…”

“But you look younger than me! You’re not even an adult!”

Fia’s voice grew louder.

Although she already knew the Elf King was promiscuous, and had heard from Anastasia that her old man had recently taken a seventeenth wife, she hadn’t expected that wife to be a minor. She could no longer look at the Elf King as a normal person. He was old enough to be Mizuki’s father.

This was too absurd.

“Uh… I’m already three hundred years old.”

“Three hundred?”

Repeating Mizuki’s words, Fia looked her up and down. This body, possibly even smaller than her own, didn’t look like an adult elf in any way, let alone a three-hundred-year-old one. Look at Anastasia and Renee, who were also adults. That was what an adult elf woman should look like.

To still look like a child after three hundred years was truly pitiful.

Because Fia’s expression and tone were filled with disbelief, Mizuki couldn’t help but get a little angry. It was an easily understandable emotion, just as a girl doesn’t like people commenting on her chest, or a man can’t accept being told he’s small. It was a matter of dignity.

Anger flashed in Mizuki’s clear, aquamarine eyes. She put her hands on her hips, her fine brows raised as she said, puffing out her cheeks.

“I am three hundred years old. It’s just that I didn’t have good things to eat when I was little, so I still have this child-like body even after growing up. I’m old enough to be your mother. You should call me Mom.”

True, I should call you Mom.

Fia couldn’t help but finish the sentence in her head. She had never in a million years expected that this girl, whom she had just been treating as a peer, would turn out to be her seventeenth mother.

She didn’t even know where to begin to process this.

Unaware of the storm raging in Fia’s mind, Mizuki was quite satisfied with Fia’s wide-eyed, astonished expression. She puffed out her chest slightly and said.

“You still haven’t introduced yourself. An ordinary person can’t just get into the palace of the Eldest Princess… my stepdaughter whom I’ve never met. If you wandered in here by accident, I can pretend I didn’t see anything, but you have to leave quickly.”

“Mmm…”

Fia was at a loss for words. She didn’t know how to answer. After a long moment of thought, she finally lowered her head and admitted with great difficulty.

“Actually, I am Dofilia…”

Fia swore that this was the first time in her life that she had found it so difficult to admit she was the Eldest Princess. The mere thought of having to call Mizuki “Mother” or “Mom” made her whole body feel uncomfortable, as if ants were crawling on her skin. She wanted to roll around on the ground, clutching her head and scurrying away.

But Fia wasn’t the only one who was embarrassed. Mizuki’s embarrassment far surpassed hers. After Fia admitted who she was, Mizuki was instantly struck dumb, as if by lightning.

It was true that Mizuki was three hundred years old, but she had lived a simple life deep in the mountains and forests and rarely had contact with the outside world. As a result, her heart was not as placid as a true three-hundred-year-old woman’s, nor had she received a proper noble education.

During her days in the palace, she had heard of the Eldest Princess’s fame, but it was so great that she had never placed herself on an equal footing with her. She was always an outsider. So in her mind, if the tall and wise princess were to return, the entire palace would hold a grand celebration. She would be notified in advance and could practice the dignity a mother should have, at least so she wouldn’t be seen as a child.

Therefore, when she saw Fia appear here without a sound, she had arbitrarily assumed she was the daughter of some minor noble who had wandered in by mistake, and had thus shown her true self without any reservations.

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There’s no going back now…

Putting aside the fact that she had just told her stepdaughter not to touch her, the proud and smug way she had just declared she was old enough to be her mother was embarrassing enough.

It made her want to find a hole to crawl into.

After a long pause, Mizuki finally began to react. Her face beet red, she swallowed and twisted her fingers together, saying with difficulty.

“Um… I… should I… can I just call you by your name?”

Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?!

Fia screamed internally.

To call Mizuki, who looked younger than her, “Mother” would make her feel like she couldn’t breathe. To make an analogy, it was like calling Milu and Liti “Mom,” or calling a classmate “Mom.” The image was incredibly bizarre.

“…If you could call me Fia, I would be very grateful.”

“Ahaha…”

Mizuki laughed dryly.

Seeing that the atmosphere was about to become even more awkward, the will of a mother forced her to find a topic.

“Ph-Fia, can you forget what just happened…”

How could I possibly forget?

As if reading her thoughts from her “you’ve got to be kidding me” expression, Mizuki’s cheeks turned red enough to boil water. But she still didn’t give up, mustering all her strength to force a laugh.

“I-I guess you can’t… hahaha… Fia, you returned so quietly… I wasn’t prepared at all…”

Please stop trying to ease the tension.

It’s only making it worse for me.

Fia begged internally. She couldn’t accept the fact that this petite girl was her mother.

I should just find a topic and get out of here.

It seemed even the gods couldn’t stand this uncomfortable atmosphere. A savior appeared beside the two of them.

“Is this—Mother Mizuki? It seems I am not the most well-informed person.”

Appearing at the end of the magic laboratory was a slender young man with a strong will in his eyes. The smiling youth led a group of people quickly to Fia’s side, then bowed deeply.

“I am late, esteemed Sister.”