The light emanating from the bracelet gradually faded… and so, Milin turned her head to gaze out the window.
Outside, the night view of Fenglin City, the capital of the Elf race and the heart of the Sea of Trees, slowly unfurled.
This city did not have streets or buildings in the usual sense — for it was built among the giant trees of a towering, ancient forest.
The thick branches and root systems of these massive trees were gnarled and intertwined, forming a layered, upward-growing green world.
Milin was currently inside the mansion of the Nereve Family.
This estate almost exclusively occupied an entire towering giant tree, its lush branches holding several buildings aloft in the air… while its trunk contained hundreds of inner rooms, much like a building with ten or so floors.
Her room was a guest suite specifically for VIPs, so its position was near the very top of the giant tree.
If she looked up, her vision could pass over the nearby canopy and reach directly into the starry night sky; but if she looked straight ahead, she would see the only tree taller than the Nereve Family’s great tree —
That was the heart of Fenglin City and the residence of the Elf Royalty — the Crown Giant Tree.
In Milin’s eyes, this incredibly massive tree was shrouded in a thin layer of mist… within which countless faint glimmers of light flickered and flowed.
Not just the Crown Giant Tree, but the entire city of Fenglin looked as if it were floating in the night sky… the lights within it resembling a vast sea of stars.
Gazing at the scene before her, Milin suddenly felt a sense of deja vu.
Milin had been to the Sea of Trees before, but this was her first time visiting Fenglin City… therefore, this magnificent spectacle was unfamiliar to her. It took her a moment to figure out where this feeling was coming from —
It turned out that atop the High Tower of the Red Lotus Palace, she used to look down at Cyrus in the same way.
She loved that city — because that city changed every day, making her feel refreshed and interested every single morning. Which district had expanded, which floor of a building had grown taller… she would carefully check every night.
And whenever she got tired of looking and dozed off while leaning against the window frame, Feiyin, who always attended to her, would walk over and gently carry her back to bed.
She didn’t know how Feiyin managed to carry her to bed without waking her… in short, every time she woke up from a nap, she was sleeping in bed, covered with warm, soft sheets or blankets; and when Mother had time to accompany her in her room, she would laughingly flick Milin’s forehead to wake her up, then take her by the hand and lead the sleepy girl back to the bed.
‘Mother… Feiyin…’
The memories made her thoughts even more chaotic. Her gaze fell once again upon the Communication Pearl strung on her bracelet.
She thought of the face of Lian she had just seen, and the face of Sister Iyue, whom she hadn’t seen for a long time.
‘They must be very, very worried about me.’
The anxiety of those two was already beyond words. An impulse to contact them, to contact Mother, surged in her heart… she rubbed the smooth surface of the Communication Pearl with her finger, but in the end, she still did not inject Magic Power into it.
Because she wasn’t confident that she could maintain her resolve once she saw the worried faces of Mother, Teacher, or her two sisters again, and heard their words of concern.
“Sorry, Mother, Sister Lian, Sister Iyue…” she murmured to herself, “but I have to find Feiyin and get the answers from her. And then there’s that woman… I absolutely cannot let her get away.”
Milin left the window and returned to the table in the room. Exquisite dishes were laid out on her table… but she still had no appetite, just like before.
“Milin, I’ve come to see you… why haven’t you touched a single bite? Munch.”
The room door was suddenly pushed open. Milin turned around and saw her good friend Nephtalia — the Elf girl nicknamed Natalia — walking into the room carrying a porcelain plate.
That plate held half a roasted chicken… and while wearing an exquisite banquet gown, she had a chicken leg she had just torn from the plate hanging from her mouth.
“I don’t have much of an appetite.” Milin quickly smiled at her, while simultaneously worrying about her friend’s safety as usual: “Natalia… why don’t you swallow before you speak? You’ll choke like that.”
As she spoke, she handed a cup filled with wine from the table to Natalia and took the roasted chicken plate from her hands.
“Thanks!” Natalia swallowed the chicken, happily took a large gulp of wine, then sat down next to Milin and handed the wine cup back to her.
“Why don’t you have a sip too? Wine can whet the appetite, and it can also wash away sorrows… maybe after you drink, you’ll have an appetite to eat… Hic!“
After saying this, Natalia leaned limply against Milin. Milin was stunned for a moment and realized that the girl’s face was already flushed red.
It turned out that Natalia was already wasted. A banquet was being held outside, but the preoccupied Milin had found an excuse not to attend… so Natalia had someone bring the banquet dishes to her room.
And now she had personally come to see if Milin was eating well. Although this was likely an unconscious action after being drunk, Milin was still very grateful for her concern.
So, she drained the remaining wine in the cup.
“Ugh… everyone, eat and drink as much as you want! A toast to my good friend… we’re not going home until we’re drunk!”
Natalia suddenly raised her hand high and shouted loudly… she seemed to think she was still at the banquet. After a while, her hand fell weakly back onto her lap.
This look of hers made Milin laugh. She wiped the grease from her friend’s hands and mouth with a cloth, then helped her onto her bed.
“Hic… hic!“
Natalia was clearly dead drunk, as she kept hiccuping. Looking at her like this, Milin couldn’t help but imagine the expression on the face of her poor attendant, Carol, at this moment.
She must be searching all over the banquet grounds for her master right now, with veins popping on her forehead.
And when Feiyin, Mother, and Teacher were looking for the playful, vanished version of herself, they probably felt the same…
“…I should go and call Sister Carol over.”
Milin, whose face was also flushed, stood up to go out, but her arm was grabbed by Natalia on the bed:
“…Milin… don’t go… you can stay as long as you want. We can always eat, play, and sleep together…”
“Oh, I just want to go find Sister Carol — “
Milin tried to gently pull her friend’s hand away, but she found that the grip on her hand was terrifyingly strong.
“…Don’t leave me like Sister did… please…”
“Eh? Natalia, what did you say?”
Milin suddenly heard a mumble that was almost inaudible. To confirm the content, she lowered her head and pressed her ear close to Natalia’s sleeping face.
“…Roasted chicken… I’ll give you one-third… only one-third… okay…?”
“I don’t want that! At least give me half!”
Annoyed, Milin pulled her hand out of the girl’s grip with a jerk.
“So greedy… bad doggy… then I’ll give you half…”
“What kind of dream are you having…! I’m not a dog!”
“Awoo… why does this chicken taste so fuzzy? Didn’t they pluck the feathers? Chef… call the chef!”
“Chef my foot… let go of that!”
Milin slapped the pillow onto Natalia’s face… and as a result, the girl bit down on it.
It took Milin a tremendous amount of effort to pull the pillow out of her mouth before her attendant, Carol, found them.