“You don’t understand. The Queen Sister’s mind is already unstable because of the curse. How else could she have said such things to you? Even if you’ve changed like this, you’re still a married man… She’s the queen of a nation, for crying out loud.”
“That did strike me as strange… but after our conversation just now, I’m certain those were her true feelings.”
Alvin kept his distance. He was naturally a young man with delicate, almost feminine features, so even dressed in the maids’ uniform, he didn’t look out of place.
“So did she agree to let you go?”
“She told me she won’t force me to accept her feelings anymore. And she said she’ll investigate those demons… as for me, she said she’ll protect me until she obtains the Nelf family relic for me.”
“In other words, she still doesn’t intend to set you free. You still don’t realize how serious this is.”
Hearing this, Lian frowned deeply.
It turned out that before Senia arrived at the royal bedchamber, following Knight Captain Waletidina’s hint, he had disguised himself as a maid and mixed into the maid corps here.
Normally, such a disguise would never succeed… but Waletidina seemed to have made arrangements in advance, so the patrolling guard knights turned a blind eye and let him into the bedchamber.
Like everyone who had ever met the Hero in the past… this Fairy Prince also mistook Lian for the Hero’s illegitimate daughter at first glance.
And because of Senia’s lesson, Lian didn’t reveal his identity to him right away.
“My sister has become so delusional that she mistakes the Hero’s daughter for the Hero himself and tries to court her…?”
But when he said that, Lian saw deep concern and worry for his family in his eyes. So after some thought, she told him her true identity.
Alvin didn’t believe it at first.
But when Lian brought up many details about the defense of Fenglin City back then, he had no choice but to accept this bizarre reality.
And Alvin told her everything he knew about the curse—
“I already told you… it’s a curse left by the First Queen. She once deeply loved the Second Hero, but in the end, because of the divergent paths of humans and elves, it didn’t end well. That unfulfilled attachment didn’t dissipate when she became Aitixila; instead, it sank into the royal bloodline, turning into an obsession with the Hero.”
“…”
“It’s not mind control,” Alvin continued to explain, “but it’s an amplification, a pull. It pushes the affection in my sister’s heart to an extreme, even overriding her reason.”
Lian didn’t argue with him.
She recalled Senia’s expression just now—it wasn’t the emptiness of someone being manipulated, but a clear-eyed obsession, the intense desire to reach for something she knew she couldn’t touch.
“I’m not sure if what you’re saying is true… but maybe you don’t understand your sister’s real feelings. And even if you’re right, these feelings are hers—her own choice.”
Alvin’s frown deepened.
“If you stay by her side, that feeling will only grow stronger. I’ll say it again—I hope you can leave, as far away as possible… Don’t give her unrealistic hopes and fantasies anymore. With the help of the Knight Captain, we should be able to get you out of the city before she notices.”
“Not necessarily,” Lian shook her head gently. “As you said, her mental state is unstable right now. If I leave, won’t it only make her condition worse? The audience ceremony is approaching… She can’t afford to slip up at a time like this, can she?”
Alvin opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped… He knew Lian had a point.
“Besides, I think she’s still rational. She told me she would investigate those demons and find that relic for me. If staying here can put her at ease… then I don’t mind staying for now.”
“You still don’t understand…!”
“But none of that matters. Back then, I owed her an explanation and didn’t clear things up properly… and that led to this situation. If I run away from her without a word again, wouldn’t that make me a real jerk?”
Her words silenced Alvin. After a long moment, the Fairy Prince let out a light sigh. He set down the cup on the tray of the stand, then lifted the tray again.
“I hope you truly understand what you’re doing, Hero.” He turned to leave. “But I must tell you one thing—if you don’t cut it off when you should… feelings between an elf and a human will never bring a good ending.”
He stared at the patterns on the door, but it was as if he were looking at the face of someone familiar, filled with sorrow.
“I’ve seen it happen… and I’ve seen the product of such a tragedy. Such feelings only bring unimaginable pain to both parties… and leave wounds on the family closest to them that will never heal.”
“Back when you rejected her, I was relieved,” he continued. “Because I knew that if she truly got to be with you… after you passed away, she would probably never find peace or happiness again.”
“At this point… maybe Nefi’s way of thinking is the right one. If we want to free ourselves from this fate, the only way is—”
One glance.
He murmured softly. Then he pushed open the door. Just before leaving, he turned back to look at her.
“You still have some time to think. If you change your mind and want to leave, just light three magic stone lamps by the window. Once I see them, I’ll find a way to take you away.”
The door closed. Lian sat back on the bed, her heart completely unwavering.
She glanced one last time at the still-silent communication pearl on her wrist, then closed her eyes.
But in another bedchamber in the palace, Senia couldn’t sleep.
‘I was overjoyed by her appearance. When I held her hand, the beat of my heart was so clear.’
‘The knights have already gone to investigate the demons near the grand teleportation array as I ordered… And as for the whereabouts of that relic, the chancellor told me he would confirm with the Nelf family. Everything is progressing according to plan, without a single oversight.’
‘Because that was her wish. I am overjoyed to be able to fulfill her wish once again.’
‘But right now, I can’t help but think—if that relic truly falls into my hands, will I really give it to her and watch her break the seal?’
‘If she regains her power, she will leave. She’ll go back to that duchess, back to her child. She might live out her days in peace… or she might step onto the battlefield again.’
‘And I, who cannot leave the Sea of Trees, will remain in this giant tree and deep palace, hearing stories about her from others’ mouths, just like before.’
‘But what if she stays powerless forever?’
‘If I obtain that relic and then suppress the news, telling everyone it’s destroyed or impossible to find, she’ll have no choice but to stay under my protection.’
‘She will need me, rely on me. I can meet her every day, stay with her always…’
‘Even if she wants to leave, it won’t matter. I won’t let anyone find her, and I won’t let anyone but me get close to her. She will never be hurt again—’
She clutched her head, panicked at the thought that had arisen.
‘How could this possibly succeed? Such confinement can’t last. The her I love would never accept this. She would resist… and those who love her, whom she loves, would keep standing against me to find her.’
‘Then I’d end up with nothing. Neither her person nor her heart.’
‘But I can’t bear her disappearing again… severing our relationship with just a letter again.’
‘That letter back then made me furious… but later, when I heard she had gone missing and her family and friends couldn’t find her anywhere, I also sent people to search for news of her.’
‘No word at all. Just sixteen years by elven standards, but it felt like a dull knife slowly cutting into my body and mind, causing me immense pain and torment.’
‘And now she’s here. Within my domain, I just need to take a step to reach her.’
‘How could I not want to extend this time into eternity? But this desire… is it truly right?’
She needed to find the answer. So she got up, draped her robe over her shoulders, and left the bedchamber.
On the covered bridge, she gazed into the distance at Aitixila… the giant tree that her great-grandmother had become stood silently under the moon, its enormous canopy seeming to hold up the entire starry sky.
“I’ll hold my ‘audience’ with you early, Great-Grandmother.”
‘If these feelings are truly just a curse… I need to know their origin.’
‘If these feelings are solely my own heart… then I will never doubt them again.’