How to put it… It wasn’t really that painful, actually.
Luo En, whose body had been strengthened, fell onto the wooden platform with a blank expression, letting out a dull thud.
This startled Astraea. The little elf, lying on the platform, immediately shifted her body and crawled toward Luo En.
“Luo En! Are you okay?”
Luo En, who had left a dent in the platform, took stock of the minor injuries on his body, then turned to look at the two elves ascending the stairs that had naturally grown from the tree. Whether they were sisters or a married couple was hard to say.
Luo En smiled and said, “I’m fine.”
‘I can’t show a cowardly attitude here.’
Still, the knight’s way being so popular among humans wasn’t without merit.
The minor internal injuries Luo En had suffered healed naturally after just a few deep breaths.
“Good to hear.” Astraea relaxed. She peeked at her parents’ position, then shrank back and whispered into Luo En’s ear.
“When my parents come up, just play dead… Actually, forget it. I’m afraid they’ll hit me. Anyway, you have to go along with whatever they say. Don’t argue. Whatever they say is right. Got it?”
The little elf chattered on with her instructions, but since she was now lying on top of Luo En, her warm breath sprayed directly onto his face, making his heart itch.
But the problem was, the little elf’s parents were about to come up!
Once she finished her instructions, Astraea tried to get off Luo En.
Then… “?”
Astraea suddenly realized she was floating in the air. After letting out a confused sound, the little elf struggled to turn her head and look behind her.
“While you were being all lovey-dovey with your little boyfriend.”
“Mm mm!”
“Mom! When did you come up?!”
Astraea turned her head again, only to see Luo En, who had been about to say something, having his mouth stuffed with a rag by her old father.
‘I’m done for.’
The little elf gave up struggling.
Even a proper knight like Luo En was completely helpless against her parents. With her level of skill, she might as well just relax and enjoy it.
‘If only it were Luo En tying me up instead, that would be even better…’
A crisp smack rang out as Astraea’s mother slapped the little elf’s perky bottom.
Hearing that, Luo En twisted with even more vigor.
But the little elf just blushed and revealed an entranced expression.
Her mother froze, staring at the daughter swaying in her grip from the force of the slap, lost in thought.
‘Something’s not right. Hadn’t her daughter always hated getting spanked?’
Then she looked down at the collar around Astraea’s neck, and the elf mother seemed to understand something.
She set down the daughter in her hands, exchanged a look with her husband, and the couple sharpened their blades, ready to carve into Luo En.
“Wait, Mom! It’s not what you think!”
Astraea, suddenly realizing how terrible her reaction had looked, twisted around and blocked her parents’ path.
“Th-This is actually my hobby, okay! It has nothing to do with Luo En!”
“Heh heh heh heh heh…”
“Mom, don’t be like that. I’m scared…”
“Heh heh heh… Hahaha!”
With compassion on her face, she looked at her daughter, who could only lie on the ground yet still insisted on protecting Luo En.
“Don’t worry, dear daughter. Mom and Dad will get revenge for you.”
The old father drew out Luo En’s longsword, while the old mother wore a murderous expression.
“Dad?”
“Die, you lecher!”
In the end, Astraea’s parents didn’t end Luo En’s life right there with a single swing of the sword.
Freed from her restraints, Astraea sat in Luo En’s arms, clinging to him tightly while staring at her parents with a reproachful gaze.
Although she really wanted to run her sword through the knight who had stolen her daughter away, Astraea’s mother still maintained her composure and sat across from Luo En.
Well, that is, if you ignored the bulging veins on her forehead.
“Saienxier.”
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Aya’s mother, Selena.”
The elf mother, whose curves rivaled Astraea’s, said so.
The husband beside her, in a soft, beautiful voice that rivaled his wife’s, introduced himself: “Orion Saienxier.”
“And you? Human.”
After her husband briefly stated his name, Selena fixed her sharp gaze on Luo En.
Luo En immediately felt a powerful pressure emanating from the elven mother across from him, as if she were about to devour him alive.
“Mom!”
Then Lady Selena received her daughter’s dissatisfied complaint.
The respectable elf mother nearly flew into a rage and once again drew her sword to stab Luo En to death.
Then Luo En reached out and gently stroked the little elf’s head, instantly calming the agitated little elf down.
Now Orion was about to bristle as well.
“Luo En Irvan Logan, human knight.”
Luo En only briefly introduced his identity. The rest of his messy titles were useless on the Elven Home Island.
Astraea’s crude Disguise Magic naturally couldn’t fool Selena, who had been steeped in the field of magic for centuries. By now, the elf mother had long seen through Luo En’s race.
‘What a sin…’
She glanced at her daughter, who was obediently shrinking into the human’s arms, then at the dense aura of goddess blessing radiating from that human. Selena helplessly gave up the idea of properly disciplining her daughter.
She also couldn’t understand why the Elven Goddess would bless a human.
Weren’t humans their elves’ mortal enemies? As the saying goes: “We were just about to fight to the death, so why has Your Majesty surrendered first?”
“By the way, Mom and Dad, why did you go to the Holy Lake?”
After confirming her parents had no intention of slaughtering Luo En, Astraea curiously asked this question.
Other than her, it was rare for even a single elf to visit the Holy Lake in a decade or two. But how could her parents have appeared there and caught her right on the spot?
“You’re only twenty, and you already dare to bring a man home—a human, at that! You, you, you… You probably have children by now.”
Orion said with a face full of dark lines.
As he spoke, Orion felt another surge of anger. “If we hadn’t gone there, the next time we saw you, we’d probably have grandchildren already.”
Yet his appearance was that of a furious beauty.
“Sigh… You, you!”
“Dad, you…”
“Ahem, it’s not like I didn’t want to come home. Who knew I’d run into…”
“Hm?”
“Nothing. I mean, Dad is wise!”
Forget it. Orion really didn’t want to be aggravated by his own daughter all over again. He immediately got up and ducked into the inner room.
“We went on the goddess’s orders.”
Selena knew her daughter’s temperament well enough that she wasn’t angered. It was just that bringing a man home at twenty was a bit much for her…
For his own safety, and to keep Astraea from getting a few more hits, Luo En promptly reached out and covered the little elf’s mouth.
The little elf truly feared power rather than virtue. This time, even Luo En couldn’t stand it anymore.
‘Ah, it seems what Sister Yisiweila said back then was indeed true.’
“The goddess specifically sent you to corner me and Luo En?!”
“Mm mm!”
Selena suddenly felt that the human youth before her wasn’t bad. Maybe entrusting Astraea into his hands was indeed a good choice. After rolling her eyes at her daughter, Selena continued: “The goddess’s meaning is that traces of corruption have already appeared among the elves.”
“What is corruption?”
Although Astraea’s mouth was covered by Luo En, he could completely feel the little elf’s emotions, so he asked the question she wanted to ask on her behalf.
Of course, Luo En’s wording wasn’t nearly as thunderous as Astraea’s.
“Corruption is… corruption. The goddess didn’t explain. She just told me to go to the Holy Lake.”
Selena tried hard to explain but didn’t know how to describe what corruption was.
Honestly, her own daughter looked pretty corrupt to her.
Also, she didn’t mention that the goddess had sent her to the Holy Lake to welcome the Elf Saintess and the Chosen Warrior.
As for how to tell them apart… That wasn’t a problem. After all, the goddess’s blessing aura radiating from her own daughter wasn’t any weaker than that human’s.
‘What a sin.’
Selena took a deep breath, reached out, and grabbed Astraea’s collar. “Aya, come with me.”
“Send me off? Mom, what are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hit you.”
Astraea was led by her mother into her old room, while Luo En was frozen in place by a glare from his future mother-in-law.
Selena closed the door, then asked her daughter, who was sitting obediently before her, with heartfelt sincerity.
“Aya, have you thought it through? This is a very serious matter.”
Astraea, however, didn’t know her mother’s intention. She just blinked in confusion.
“You and that human named Luo En…”
“Of course! Luo En is wonderful, Mom. I’m telling you, when I tell him to go east, he goes east; when I tell him to go west, he goes west. He even protects me. And he signed a Guardian Knight contract with me!”
Astraea got excited this time, endlessly listing Luo En’s merits. She just didn’t notice her mother’s face growing darker with each word.
She didn’t hear anything about an excellent, noble knight. Instead, she saw a perverted human who had abducted a young elf girl.
“Ahem, anyway, Mom, I know our elves’ traditions…”
Having paused her praise of Luo En, Astraea looked seriously at her mother. “I love him. I understand my own feelings. I will be with him. Forever.”
Only after saying this did Astraea realize what she had said. She shyly buried her head.
But it was indeed her true feelings.
Before, she had never felt anything for others—neither the opposite sex nor the same sex. Only Luo En…
As for the gender of her past life and such, let’s not make Big Sis Aya laugh.
In a few more years, this life’s age would surpass that of her previous life. She was long past being that clumsy electrician. She was Astraea.
“…As long as you understand.”
Selena knew her daughter was different from ordinary elves. She herself hadn’t been as mature at eighty as Astraea was now.
She had always respected her daughter’s choices, so Selena had never interfered too much with the little elf.
She had only come this time because she was worried her daughter might have gotten confused, wanting to offer some guidance. Now it seemed there was no need for guidance at all.
Should one say she’s worthy of being chosen by the goddess?
Selena silently prayed to the goddess in her heart.