Aisna laughed contemptuously. She walked in front of Lan and raised her head, forcing Lan to look directly into her eyes.

It was clearly her who looked up, but in a trance, Lan En felt that he was looking up at the giant.

That was the indescribable aura of a superior, and Esna was already slightly angry.

"I heard that the people of Cintra call you 'Young Lion', but in my eyes you are just a 'young lion'. If you are really a smart person, then you should understand: I know everything. Since I didn't bring up this topic, there is no need to discuss it anymore. Is it because Calanthe dotes on you too much, Lannister? You are so ignorant that you are a little cute.

The little lord of Cintra wants to discuss cooperation with us? If you have listened carefully to the conversation between me and Gwenblade just now, you should understand that I don’t care about the so-called peace between you humans. And there will be no peace between us soon, and you can’t bring your princess back. "

Queen Esna understands everything, or rather, this is what a qualified immortal queen should be like.

She was fully aware of the attitudes of the kings of the surrounding countries, and she also understood clearly what she was doing and what the consequences would be.

But her obsession with Ciri is extraordinary. She is willing to risk going to war with Cintra to make Ciri a member of the dryads.

Lann understood why. This was to maintain the traditions of the Dryads and to introduce the Ancient Blood into the Dryads.

"This is fate's choice. Leave now. The only smart thing you did was not to stubbornly try to take the princess with you. This allowed you to go back alive and prepare for the battle." The tree spirit said, "But I am willing to show mercy and let you see your princess one last time. You and Gwenblade can come to watch the ceremony together tomorrow."

In the eyes of those who cannot predict the future, it seems that Ciri's stay here has become a foregone conclusion. Unless the army of Cintra can drop Duen Canal from the sky within half a day, there will definitely be a new little tree elf in Brokilon tomorrow.

Lane had a different opinion. He knew what would happen tomorrow and the transformation process would fail.

For the dryads who have followed traditions for thousands of years, this is a huge shock that almost shakes their faith, and will deal a huge blow to the Dryad Queen's defenses.

That was when Lann took action. He thought he could use this to plant a seed in the heart of the Dryad Queen, and when the seed sprouted and grew, it would bear his fruit.

In order to maximize the effect, he plans to lay some groundwork.

Here is another point of knowledge: the most complex ideas often only need the simplest way of expression. And to explain your mysterious ideas to the masters of occultism, you often only need simple occult techniques.

Facing the aggressive Dryad Queen, Lann, who had been suppressed and unable to make any expression, suddenly laughed.

He said confidently: "In fact, Ms. Esna, I think it is fate that made me come here. Whether it is to discuss the contract with you or to take Ciri away, I also believe that fate will make the best choice."

Just stop there, it would be impolite to say more.

This statement surprised Esna. She expected the young knight in front of her to have a variety of reactions, just like the reactions of the humans in front of him in the past. Either he would kneel down and beg her to spare the princess, or he would grit his teeth and threaten her with a large army to scare her.

But this was definitely not what she had expected. The human in front of her was actually talking to her about fate. A teenage human talking about fate with a dryad queen who was hundreds of years old?

"Destiny? Lann of Cintra, are you talking to me about destiny?"

Lann continued, "In fact, Ms. Esna, even if you are not counted, there is more than one person in this room who is deeply entangled in fate."

Esna glanced at Geralt, who was standing there expressionless, then turned to look at Lann.

She first stared at the golden hair that was as bright as the sun, then at the shining blue eyes, and then at the sharp smile, from top to bottom, and then from bottom to top.

"Lann Lannister Rhaanlon." Esna chewed on the name and closed her eyes to feel it for a while.

After a long pause, she said meaningfully, "You are special, the young lion of Cintra, but you are not special enough. Fate is a double-edged sword, be careful not to be hurt by it."

After saying that, Esna left with the dryad guards.

She left, but there were still people in the house who couldn't calm down because of her words.

The Baron of Verden realized that something was wrong.

“Geralt?” Freixenet’s face turned pale. “What does that dryad mean? Why did she want Ciri to stay? Even at the cost of going to war with Cintra?”

Geralt sighed, "Esna will turn the princess into a dryad and give her a new name. Then within two or three years, her arrows will shoot into the eyes of her brothers and even her parents - as long as they dare to enter Brokilon."

The demon hunter stepped forward and patted Lann's shoulder, as if to comfort him.

"Damn it!" Freixenet shouted, his face pale. "Evel will be furious. Geralt? Can't he..."

"No," the witcher interrupted him. "Don't even try. Otherwise, you won't get out of Doon Canar alive."

Freixenet murmured, "Are we going to lose that little girl? I actually like her very much..."

…

The next morning, Lann and Geralt were led by the dryads to the residence of the Dryad Queen.

Brian, who led the way, had a blank expression on her face, her lips tightly pursed together.

According to Geralt's introduction last night, Lann knew that the tree spirit in front of him was also transformed from a human girl, but she seemed to still have a little bit of memory of her human days, and it was obvious that her transformation time was not long enough.

This participation in Ciri's transformation seemed to bring back some bad memories for the young dryad.

Lane asked softly, "What was your name before, Brian? You know when I mean."

Brian deadpanned, "Gwenblade asked me the same question, and I gave the same answer: it's not important. Be careful what you say, Lann of Cintra. There is no friendship between us."

Lann shrugged and said nothing more. Geralt's expression was heavy and he had no intention of speaking, so there was no more conversation on the way to the Dryad Queen.

Esna's residence is a huge oak tree. More precisely, it is three oak trees that grow close to each other. They are at least three hundred years old, but the branches are still green and there is no sign of drying up. The trunk is hollow and the interior is quite spacious, with a high conical ceiling. A weak oil lamp illuminates the simple but quite comfortable room.

Aisna knelt on the carpet in the middle of the room, combing Ciri's long hair slowly and carefully, and said something horrifying in a gentle tone:

"This hair is very beautiful, I should be able to keep it later."

Ciri sat cross-legged, motionless in front of Esna. She seemed to have taken a bath, her whole body was pink and clean, her back was straight, and her almond-colored eyes were wide open.

"Come in, everyone, take a seat."

The two men saluted and then sat upright on the ground.

"Have you rested?" she asked, without looking over here or stopping combing her hair. "When do you want to go back? How about tomorrow morning?"

“As you wish, ruler of Brokilon,” Geralt replied coldly. “Just say the word, and I’ll stop being an eyesore in Doon Canar.”