Chapter 179: Past

“You… you say you have a daughter? And… and two of them?!”

Sophia was shocked.

In fact, after her mouth fell open, she didn’t close it again.

She looked like she couldn’t quite believe it, but Enya gave a firm answer once more.

“Yes, I have two daughters.”

“The eldest is named Estelle, and the second is Rosily.”

Enya was very calm when she said this. She was already used to it.

Sophia didn’t know how to continue the conversation; she was completely stunned.

By the time Sophia recovered from the news that her predecessor already had two daughters, the soup bowl in her hand had already gone cold.

A long silence followed.

After finishing the pot of fish soup and sitting by the campfire for a while, Enya told Sophia and Nina to go rest in the cave while she took the first watch alone outside.

Sophia wasn’t actually tired, but she eventually agreed.

She rose from the campfire and walked toward the cave formed by the rock fissure, not forgetting to pull Nina along as she went.

Nina reluctantly put down her bowl and followed behind Sophia, but she kept looking back at Enya, who was still sitting by the fire.

Upon reaching the cave entrance, Nina shouted at Enya’s back, “Hey, Mother Dragon, remember to call me if you have a midnight snack!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll call you, Nina.”

Enya didn’t look back but simply raised a hand and waved.

Nina turned around, satisfied, only to see Sophia glaring at her. Nina gave a silly smile and huddled close to Sophia.

“Sister Sophia~”

Sophia narrowed her eyes and held a stern expression for a moment before finally sighing.

She reached out and rubbed Nina’s head vigorously. Seeing that acting cute and playing dumb worked, Nina immediately doubled her efforts, but Sophia suddenly pinched Nina’s round little face.

“That trick won’t work on me.”

“Oof~”

Nina tucked away her little schemes and followed Sophia into the small stone cave.

With her height, she didn’t need to bend down at all, while Sophia had to lower her head slightly to walk inside.

Finding a relatively flat spot, Sophia pulled a rolled-up set of bedding from her small waist pouch—one that hadn’t been washed in a long time.

Outside, Enya sat by the fire.

She didn’t pay any mind to the golden birdcage covered with cloth, nor did she think about Sylvia. Instead, her mind was occupied with thoughts of Eliv.

The meeting between Enya and Eliv could be traced back to six or seven years ago.

At that time, Enya had left Tarlonde Academy City and entered the Northern Mountains alone to search for Magical Beast materials for her exams.

During her search, she was pursued by a Seventh-rank Magic Beast.

For the Enya of that time, that was a hellish difficulty two ranks higher than her own — a powerful enemy that was virtually invincible.

While fleeing, she ran into a mysterious dense forest. Within that forest, there was a pool of water so clear that the bottom was visible.

Enya was dirty all over, and being someone used to cleanliness, she felt very uncomfortable.

So, she took off her clothes and went into the water.

As soon as she jumped in, she discovered that the miraculous power within the pool was actually repairing the injuries on her body. Even her accumulated fatigue quietly vanished.

Enya was amazed and began to play happily in the water, completely unaware of the woman watching her from the shore.

When Enya finished washing and prepared to head back to land…

Eliv pushed her straight to the bottom.

Dark brown branches formed a cage, trapping Enya under the water.

No matter how she attacked the wooden cage, it was useless.

Enya couldn’t hold her breath any longer and was forced to swallow a mouthful of water.

Then, due to oxygen deprivation, she lost consciousness.

Before passing out, Enya had only one thought in her mind: ‘My life is probably going to end in this lake.’

Later…

Later, she woke up and found herself floating on the surface of the water.

A beautiful female Elf with light green hair that almost reached the ground sat on a rock watching her, her pale, white feet soaking in the water. Eliv’s emerald eyes stared quietly at Enya, while Enya stared back with a dazed expression.

‘Wait, didn’t I die?’ she thought at the time.

Eliv teased her playfully, “Was the Holy Water tasty?”

Enya’s face turned red and then white.

She was embarrassed, annoyed, and helpless; she knew she likely couldn’t defeat the mysterious Elf before her. So, she could only ignore the comment.

Don’t let the Elven Saintess’s pure appearance fool you; she was actually quite mischievous and sharp-tongued!

After swimming to shore, Enya wanted to leave, but Eliv refused to let her.

After that, she became like Eliv’s toy.

If she wasn’t being taken to soak in the water, she was being forcefully fed various herbs and fruits.

Enya didn’t dare to disobey; what if Eliv got upset and trapped her underwater again with a wave of her hand?

She didn’t know how long she lived with Eliv, but that period was actually very carefree.

There were no schemes or deceptions, only the tranquility and indifference of nature, to the point that she lost track of time.

Enya also discovered that many miraculous changes were occurring in her body.

Her skin became softer and smoother, her body carried a faint fragrance, her movements were much lighter than before, and the cultivation of her Magic Core was progressing at lightning speed!

When she asked Eliv how much time had passed, Eliv said it had been about six months.

Because she had been missing for half a year and missed the very important Grand Exam, Enya’s enrollment was canceled by Tarlonde.

The identity Antiros had arranged for her suffered a social death. Later, she was taken by Eliv to the Elven Kingdom.

‘Antiros… was this all your doing behind the scenes?’

Back to the present.

Enya’s gaze shifted from the campfire to the sky.

As the night deepened, the brilliant river of stars became even more prominent.

The stars she had spoken of with Eliv were part of her unique cosmic perspective.

The planet beneath her feet was tiny in the vast universe, even less than a grain of sand in a desert.

Yet even this planet had many unknown places, and these unknowns were treasures waiting to be discovered.

She had told Eliv that she wanted to see this magnificent world…

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of footsteps on the gravel ground drifted over.

Enya tilted her head to look, but she didn’t see anyone. The owner of those footsteps was already behind her.

Enya tried to stand up, but a pair of slender, small arms wrapped around her neck at that moment, and a small body pressed against her back.

Nina rested her head on Enya’s shoulder.

“Mother Dragon, Nina hated you at first. It was because Sister Sophia was very curious about you. Once Gold Elves become curious, they will dig to the bottom of things to understand whatever sparked that curiosity.”

“Nina thought you would take Sister Sophia away. Nina likes Sister Sophia. But Mother Dragon, you’re actually quite nice. Nina likes you too now. You should come home with Nina.”

Enya remained silent for a moment. After letting out a soft sigh, she spoke.

“Nina, let’s go somewhere further away to talk. It’s not good to speak here; we’ll disturb your Sister Sophia’s rest.”

“…Okay.”

Enya stood up and walked into the woods with Nina on her back.