“Thank you for your concern, Lady Nephtalia… I don’t need a break. Also, you just ate the breakfast I was supposed to deliver to other guests.”
Carol put the letter away and rushed over to snatch the meal cart away.
“What does it matter… You can just go to the kitchen and ask for another portion.”
“If you love eating so much, why don’t you just move into the kitchen?”
“That seems like a pretty good idea.”
“Don’t seriously consider it. You know the Head of the Household would never allow it.”
After that sentence, the dining room fell briefly quiet… leaving only the sound of Nephtalia chewing her bread.
“That old woman…? She can barely walk anymore, what spare energy would she have to care about such things.”
“I really can’t stand you. I mean it, I really can’t.”
Carol pushed the meal cart, intending to leave the dining room.
“Ah, get me another portion too… no, two portions. Milin might want more as well.”
“…I will only get Lady Milin’s portion.”
After Carol left, Milin stared boredly at the garden landscape behind the glass… because she had lost her conversation partner.
She had wanted to chat more with Nephtalia, but whenever it was mealtime, her mouth was usually stuffed with food.
“Are you finished eating? Natalia.”
After a while, thinking she was probably done, Milin turned her gaze towards Nephtalia… and saw a familiar scene.
She was staring at that hairpin again… the one from last night, the hairpin inlaid with an emerald-green gemstone.
It emitted a serene and profound glow. Milin saw Nephtalia’s gaze linger on it for a long time.
“…Natalia!”
Nephtalia ignored her. So, she had no choice but to pat her friend’s shoulder, emphasizing her tone:
“Hey.”
“You’re looking at it again.”
“Ah… sorry. I was lost in thought.”
Nephtalia seemed to snap back to reality only then.
Milin stared at her for two seconds, then took a sip of the honey from the cup in front of her.
“Nope.”
Then she put the cup down and asked bluntly, “You have to tell me.”
Nephtalia was slightly taken aback and looked at her.
“Tell you what?”
“That hairpin.” Milin pointed at it. “You were looking at it last night, and now you’re looking at it again. It’s very beautiful, sure… but not to the point you can’t hear me talking, right?”
“Ah, this is a gift from my sister.”
“Sister… Sister Iyue?”
“Yes. It’s Iyue Nairfu.”
Milin thought she would brush it off simply like she did last night… but she didn’t. She placed the hairpin on the table.
“This is something she gave me a very, very long time ago… so long I’ve almost forgotten when. You mentioned before that she and your Lian sister seem to be in the Sea of Trees, and that they’re coming to find you?”
“…That’s right.”
Milin looked at the hairpin, then raised her head to look at Nephtalia.
She suddenly realized something—she did know that Natalia and Iyue were sisters… but Natalia was the one who told her.
And in the past, when she was with Iyue, Iyue had never mentioned anything about her family.
“You two… were you close?”
The moment the question left her mouth, Milin regretted it a little… but Nephtalia didn’t show any displeasure.
“We used to be very close.”
She answered softly.
“And later?”
“Later, she abandoned me.”
It was a simple answer, almost dismissive. Milin couldn’t detect any emotion from her tone.
“Natalia…”
*
On the forest path.
Lian and Iyue were riding side by side.
The three squads of the Ranger Corps seemed to have received reports from the elves this morning… Two of the squads separated from the group to carry out missions.
Only the squad led by Alexis and Se La remained.
They led the way ahead, while Iyue and Lian followed behind them, maintaining a considerable distance.
And Lian could easily tell this space was deliberately left.
“Iyue… what did you do last night?”
Lian asked. Last night, she vaguely sensed Iyue entering and leaving the tent… and Iyue’s current expression clearly revealed a trace of fatigue.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I went out for a walk.”
“It wasn’t just a walk, was it? Otherwise, why would we need to keep such a distance from them now?”
She paused, then asked again, “Did you… talk with that Captain General Alexis about something?”
Iyue nodded. Then she told Lian about her conversation with Alexis last night, only omitting the parts about herself and her family that she wanted to tell Lian personally later.
“I see. Our original goal was to find Milin and capture the Demon Race… but is this really okay for you?”
Lian thought for a moment, then looked up at Iyue and asked.
Iyue knew she was worried about her because of the events, the changes in Jingye Village… that’s why she was looking at her with such concern, asking this question.
“Yes, I think this is fine… I don’t want to get involved in the family’s struggles, and I don’t want to stand in opposition to my younger sister. But more importantly… I don’t think I have the qualification that Alexis spoke of.”
“How could that be… you’re the hero of the elves. That Captain General, even though she kept provoking you, she also acknowledged your identity, right? That’s why she extended such an invitation to you?”
Lian looked completely puzzled… so Iyue prepared to explain it to her.
“That Captain General Alexis, she is a branch member of the family. She only has half the blood of the Nelf Family. People like her need to prove they are worthy of that surname.”
“And from what I know, she earned the right to use that surname by risking her life to hunt dangerous high-rank Demon Beasts.”
“Th-then, you’re also a branch member of the Nairfu…”
Lian thought of their first encounter with Alexis, the tense dialogue between the two. Then she thought of how in that Jingye Village, no one knew her surname—
Finally, she thought of that tombstone carved with unfamiliar characters bearing the names of the deceased, and the name Iyue wrote when signing for those two human girls.
“…You, don’t tell me you were only recognized as a member of the family because you helped us defeat the Demon King? But when Xenia first mentioned you to me, she clearly referred to you by the Nairfu surname…”
“That was Her Majesty the Queen’s kindness. At that time, I truly did not have the qualification to call myself by the Nairfu surname… at least, that’s what the family thought.”
“That’s too much! Both being branch members, Alexis only needs to defeat high-rank Demon Beasts to get the surname, but you had to accomplish a feat like defeating the Demon King to be recognized by the family?”
“I am not a branch member. My mother was a direct descendant of the Nairfu family… the biological daughter of the current Head of the Household.”
“Then why—”
“Because my father was not an elf. My father was of a different race. He wasn’t even from Aitixila. He came from beyond the distant sea… a foreigner from a land whose location is unknown to anyone.”
“He was a human.”
Lian’s eyes widened. This was something Iyue had never told her or their companions in the Brave’s Party.
“So, I am a Half-Elf. The existence most shunned by the elves since ancient times… and even more so, the most hated anomaly by the bloodline-proud Nairfu family, the one who tainted the pure bloodline.”