Seraphina hurriedly nodded. “Then hurry up and do it!”
Movira cast a meaningful glance at Seraphina, the corner of her mouth curling into a smile that was neither quite a smile nor not.
Receiving that ill-intentioned smile, Seraphina immediately thought of those so-called equal-exchange “rewards.”
Knowing that Movira would not move until she made a promise, she could only let her shoulders droop a little dejectedly and mutter in a small voice:
“Fine, fine… then make it three times…”
“And one more thing.” Movira slowly added, the magic at her fingertips only a final push away from completion. “The punishments for the rules you previously broke total four times. Don’t forget those.”
Seraphina waved her hand a bit impatiently. “I know, I know. Do you know how annoying you are?! Just hurry up already! But I don’t know that Elf Queen, so you’ll still have to handle the communication yourself.”
At those words, Movira once again stopped the process in her hands, turned around, and looked slightly down into Seraphina’s eyes. “If I have to be the one to speak…”
“Hey!” Seraphina caught the implication and rounded her eyes. “Are you going to take advantage of me even for this?!”
“How could I? Am I that bad?”
Seraphina answered without thinking: “Of course!”
This puffed-up appearance made Movira laugh softly.
She stopped teasing her and turned to complete the final steps.
Because the distance this time was truly too far, the magic channel took quite a while before it stabilized.
From the other end of the channel came a clear, pleasant voice that was as lively as a young girl’s.
“What is it, Movira? It’s rare for you to contact me first.”
Movira got straight to the point. “Ailia, there’s something. Regarding your side—has there been a missing male elf in recent years?”
“A male elf?” The other party’s words carried a trace of hesitation yet lost none of their seriousness. “Wait a moment…” She seemed to turn toward someone nearby, her voice growing a little more distant. “Bring me the Moonlight Tome. Mm.”
Seraphina guessed it was probably a register recording the information of their clan members.
A moment later, Ailia’s voice became clear again. “Mm, it has indeed been a long time—nearly ten years ago. At that time there really was a male elf who lost contact after leaving the Miracle Forest. What’s the matter? Have you discovered something?”
Movira briefly recounted the situation of the teacher in Lina’s memories.
Ailia spoke thoughtfully:
“This… based on these vague descriptions alone, it still can’t be confirmed whether it’s that person. But whether it is or not, I have an obligation to investigate his whereabouts and bring him back to the forest! I will take action, and I also hope we can share intelligence regarding this matter.”
Just then, another voice came from the other side: “Your Majesty, an urgent letter from Her Highness Astreya has arrived…”
“My apologies, Movira. I still have urgent matters to handle on my end. In any case, thank you for the information!” The moment the words fell, the magic communication channel was closed.
“Highness… Her Highness Astreya?!” Seraphina cried out after the channel closed.
She could hardly believe that the refined and elegant Astreya’s true identity was actually… a princess?
“What’s so surprising about that?” Movira said while completely erasing the channel. “Aren’t you one as well? The last time I went to the Miracle Forest, I already heard rumors about Astreya, though I didn’t know the name—only that she was an elf who had stayed in the human world for many years and possessed tremendous attainments in nature magic.”
“Ah…” Seraphina thought for a moment.
She had previously heard Astreya reveal a little about her own identity, and even then she could guess that her status was not ordinary.
But suddenly hearing the address of “Highness” naturally left Seraphina surprised.
“Alright. But…” She then replayed the earlier conversation in her mind and asked, “So that’s the Elf Queen you mentioned before? She doesn’t sound… like a particularly ‘big’ person.”
Movira nodded. “Mm. Ailia only ascended the throne not long ago—roughly thirty or forty years.”
“Ah?” Seraphina froze. “That’s still considered recent?”
“What’s wrong? The lifespan of elves is already incomparably long. This little amount of time, in their eyes, is probably equivalent to three or four years for humans? Or maybe even shorter.” Movira appeared quite calm; this itself was something completely natural.
“Then… how long have you been the Demon King?”
Movira pointed at herself, her eyes seeming to recall an extremely lengthy stretch of time. “Me? Actually, I can’t remember clearly either. Anyway, it should have been a very, very long time.”
“Then the previous… Demon King? There was one before, right!” Seraphina leaned forward a little and deliberately lowered her voice. “Did he… die? How did he die?”
At those words, Movira’s gaze shifted to Seraphina’s face.
The reflection in her eyes made Seraphina’s spirit inexplicably blur for a moment, but it quickly dissipated without a trace.
She shook her head. “He died. As for how he died… it was too long ago. I’ve forgotten.”
“Of course she forgot…” Seraphina sighed and murmured to herself.
The Demon Realm had never had any historians recording its history. Most historical events were passed down by word of mouth, and their authenticity was greatly discounted.
“There’s nothing to do for now, so we can only wait for Astreya to arrive or for some other intelligence to appear. In that case, we might as well handle some of our own affairs.” Movira immediately changed the subject and said to Seraphina.
“Our own affairs?!” Seraphina instantly sensed something in those words and hurriedly put distance between herself and Movira, even raising her arms in front of her chest. “Wh… what affairs?”
Looking at Seraphina’s conditioned-reflex reaction, Movira felt a bit both amused and exasperated.
She had truly been thinking about these proper matters!
“Hmm? I meant the Ashen Corridor, the magic academy you want to open, and… the swordsmanship and such that you previously wanted to learn. Why are you so scared? Could it be… that you’re thinking of some bad things in that little head of yours? It seems I really do need to carefully check the contents of those books. Seraphina has been led astray by them!”
“No!”
After a moment of impulse, Seraphina urgently reached out as if to cover Movira’s mouth, yet her fingertips trembled and withdrew just before touching the corner of the other’s lips.
A flush of shame dyed her entire face red; her eyes darted about, not daring to look at the other directly.
“It’s… it’s still because of you! …You’ve already… done so many bad things to me before…”
The more she spoke, the smaller her voice became, until the final words were almost mumbled inside her mouth. “You… you also have responsibility! …You have to take responsibility too!”
Movira hooked Seraphina’s chin and drew the other fully into her gaze. “Oh? Just now…”