In the end, Astraea managed to reach the Duke’s Mansion.
Her legs were weak, her body was drained, and she’d made a huge fool of herself—but at least she’d gained a knight as a mount, right?
A fair trade… no way in hell!
Astraea was starting to wonder if she’d given Luo En too much leeway. How dare he bully her so openly? Just now, on the street, he’d even made her, made her…
[This paragraph has been harmonized]
But Astraea knew her own heart. If she and Luo En ever really got together, she’d probably come up with all kinds of… weird ideas.
It was a flaw in her personality. If she had to blame something, it was probably the legacy her birth family left her.
Not her current family, of course. Her two elven parents had basically never paid her any attention.
“Ahem, Teacher Astraea, mind your image.”
Luo En awkwardly patted the little elf’s head. He knew he might have gone a bit too far—reaching his wicked hand into that certain place on the little elf, right out in public.
Astraea shot Luo En a venomous glare, but she knew this wasn’t the time for fooling around.
She took a deep breath, forcing down the restlessness inside her, pulled her little head out of those crimson fantasies, and started thinking about other things.
What did the Duke want with them?
The little elf mused. As the kingdom’s regent, Maximus must be busy every day, right? Why would such a busy man specifically summon them?
It couldn’t just be to catch up, could it?
As she thought, Luo En had already led the little elf before the Duke. Gazing up at Maximus, who was so much taller than her, she decided it was best to just be an invisible elf.
“Oh, you’re here.” Maximus looked up from his desk, then set aside the documents concerning his duchy.
He had been indulging a bit too much lately. Even handling official documents was half a second slower than before. Hmm, he needed to restrain himself.
Maybe just let Aiouwen float once less per day?
Maximus felt proud of his brilliant mind.
Luo En, clad in blue armor, had no idea what the Duke was thinking. He simply wanted to perform well in front of this Duke, who felt like an elder to him.
That stirred a hint of jealousy in Astraea. She was older than Luo En too, yet he’d never been this well-behaved around her…
As if sensing Luo En’s intentions, Maximus, whose face remained youthful despite being over a hundred, smiled warmly. “Heh, don’t be nervous. I didn’t call you here for anything urgent. I just wanted this young elven lady beside you to meet an old acquaintance.”
‘An old acquaintance?’
Astraea was puzzled. She didn’t remember having any acquaintances in the Human Kingdom. If she had to name one, Archbishop Aidan barely counted.
But he was a beastman—there was no way he’d be connected to a human duke.
Maximus looked at the little elf in the green cloak, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
He had asked Aiouwen about her, and Aiouwen said she’d never heard of any elf named Astraea. And given the elves’ pride, they almost never lied about their surnames.
That meant Astraea was born after Aiouwen left the Elven City-State.
‘Tsk tsk, so young and already playing such games. That Luo En kid sure is lucky.’
Maximus kept a straight face, but inwardly he was slyly gossiping about the pair. After years as regent, he’d cultivated the powerful habit of never letting his expression change, no matter what.
“Follow me.”
The Duke stood up. His towering height of nearly nine feet was quite intimidating—at least Astraea didn’t dare trust him completely.
Ultimately, she knew too little about the Duke. She hadn’t been this wary when facing Sister Yisiweila.
Maximus ignored the little elf’s subtle hostility. He simply walked ahead, leading the way, openly exposing his back to Luo En and the little elf.
Even if Astraea attacked him now, he could spin around and block the strike in an instant. He was one of the few great knights in the kingdom, and he had that confidence.
Luo En followed without hesitation, matching Maximus’s pace.
He and Maximus both walked the path of knighthood, and the latter had been famous for years. To a novice knight like Luo En, Maximus was practically a legend. How could he doubt him? Still, as the little elf’s guardian knight, Luo En kept his guard up.
Astraea followed Luo En step by step. When she saw Maximus enter the dungeon beneath the Duke’s Mansion, her hand, which had been holding Luo En’s index finger, instinctively tightened.
“What’s wrong?”
Luo En lowered his head slightly, asking softly.
He didn’t avoid Maximus, and he knew that at such close range, he couldn’t avoid a great knight’s notice anyway, so he simply spoke at a normal volume.
Astraea was tense. The Duke’s dungeon gave her an uneasy feeling, especially when she smelled the thick elven odor at the entrance.
Humans might not notice it, but if it was this strong just at the entrance… Astraea didn’t want to imagine what it was like deeper in.
And from the scent, it seemed to come from a single elf. Astraea was sure of it.
Good heavens, what terrible thing had that elf gone through? Astraea’s elven parents had lived in their elven village for over a century without their house smelling this strong!
“I… I’m scared…”
Astraea’s voice trembled, a sight Luo En had never seen before.
Her pale yellow eyes were misty, as if she might cry at any moment.
‘Another episode for the memory bank.’
Luo En silently etched the little elf’s cute expression into his mind, then took the initiative to grasp her hand with his big one.
The warmth from Luo En’s palm steadied Astraea a little, like she’d found an anchor.
‘Damn!’
Watching the little elf’s relieved expression, Luo En gritted his teeth to suppress something.
Who said succubi didn’t exist? Wasn’t one right in front of him?
Walking ahead, Maximus listened impassively to the sounds of the young couple’s intimate interaction. For some reason, a flicker of envy stirred in his heart.
He’d lived over a hundred years, and the last time he’d felt this was when he was young, watching the older girl next door.
The older girl had long since turned to dust, and he was already a hundred-year-old man.
Then another thought crossed his mind, bringing an image of a slim figure.
He was a hundred-year-old man, but there was still a hundred-year-old elf, wasn’t there? A hundred-year-old human geezer and a hundred-year-old elf lady—weren’t they a perfect match?
A bit ridiculous, but Maximus’s powerful expression control could let him repeat a joke ten times without flinching.
After passing through a narrow downward passage—narrow for Maximus, anyway—and opening the door at the end, a thick elven scent hit Astraea’s face.
For a moment, she thought she was back in elven society.
“Hm?”
Hearing the door open, Aiouwen, who had dressed, looked up and immediately spotted Maximus in the lead.
After considering which pose she’d be in today—or maybe all of them again—the chained elven lady finally noticed Astraea, who was hiding behind the tin can Luo En, peeking out with curious eyes.
The special bond between kin let her see through the shy little elf at a glance.
Without hesitation, as if a base code had been triggered, Aiouwen, in her ordinary floral dress, seemed to transform back into the proud elven assassin.
“Whose kid is this?”
“You old geezer!”
Both Aiouwen and Astraea froze, then charged like dragons!
“Who are you calling a geezer?!”
“Who are you calling a kid?!”
Luo En and Maximus exchanged a wordless glance, then simply stood aside and watched the two elves perform.
“You brat, wearing a collar and playing master-slave games at your age! The future of the elves is doomed in your hands!”
“You old hag! Caught by a human and thrown in a dungeon, and you’re not even embarrassed? The future of the elves is doomed in your hands, old lady!”
The two elves traded barbs, neither giving an inch, and the argument escalated.
“You little brat! No respect for your elders! Serves you right, collared and kept as a pet!”
“Old hag! This dungeon reeks of your stench! You must have tried every trick in the book! Disgracing elf kind!”
“I was the most outstanding elven assassin! What do you know, you snot-nosed kid?!”
“Outstanding where? Outstanding in a dungeon? You should’ve died centuries ago!”
Having reached her limit, Aiouwen decided there was no more need to endure. Today, she would teach this little upstart who dared hiss at her the meaning of an elder’s love!
Aiouwen lunged at Astraea. Her heavy shackles didn’t slow her down one bit. Caught off guard, Astraea was pinned to the ground.
“Old hag, no fair! You’re not playing by the rules!”
Astraea was petite and hadn’t trained as long as Aiouwen. How could she resist?
She could only struggle, trying to break free from Aiouwen’s grip.
Seeing the little elf still refusing to submit, Aiouwen finally regained some of her former style. She threw her whole weight on top, firmly pressing Astraea beneath her.
“Do you know your place now, brat? Trying to fight me? You’re still centuries too young!”
Seeing the smug old woman on top of her, Astraea’s anger flared. She let out a “hmph.”
Sure, she wasn’t as strong as that old elf Aiouwen. But she could call for backup.
“Luo En, save me!”