Chapter 242 The sunlight fell on him, softly...
A month later, as the weather turned cooler, the Elf King actually arrived in the Westerlands with his daughter. Although he had made preparations, he was still somewhat at a loss when he actually saw them.
The Elf King had somehow maintained his appearance over the past few years; his complexion was even better than before. Previously, his complexion was slightly pale, but now it was rosy and radiant. His eyes shone like precious gemstones, his lips were naturally pink and glowing, and his long, pale golden hair flowed down like the dazzling starlight of last night.
He held An Leya's right hand, his long, sharp nails exuding a seductive and alluring charm, covered in gold nail polish.
Anlia looked at me with a slightly wary expression, or rather, she was wary of everyone.
She looks eight or nine years old, but her eyes are mature like a little adult's. When she looks into your eyes, your heart skips a beat—her eyes are so profound.
She may look somewhat like me, but she must resemble her father on the inside.
Her father's eyes were as deep, dark, and serene as hers.
"Long time no see!" The Elf King smiled at me, then said to Anrea, "Why don't you call me Mother?"
An Leya then managed to whisper, "Mother."
She was unwilling. She harbored resentment towards me, her mother. I had never been by her side and had failed in my responsibilities as a mother.
I grabbed An Leya's hand tightly, so she couldn't resist. "Come here, there's a kind of cookie in the Western Region that's really delicious. Try it."
I pulled Anrea to the table and put a small biscuit in her mouth. She glanced at the Elf King, who nodded at her, before she began to chew.
We were on a large terrace surrounded by stone pillars covered in grapevines, and there was a beautiful swing. The table around us was laden with freshly picked grapes, apples, and cucumbers, as well as some freshly made desserts such as egg tarts, sliced bread, and cookies, and of course, black tea and mint liqueur.
It was a lazy afternoon. I chatted casually with the Elf King, but my attention was on Anrea. However, Anrea clearly didn't want to talk to me. She often looked away, avoiding eye contact, and occasionally she would run to the swings to play for a while.
The Elf King just looked at us and smiled, without saying anything more.
They chatted casually like this, and as the afternoon tea was about to end, the Elf King suddenly said, "I can only stay here for about ten days, at most half a month."
I had no idea what he was up to, so I just grunted in response.
The Elf King, having lived in the secluded realm for a long time, is not well-adapted to life outside and usually does not stay for long.
“You might consider having another child with me,” the Elf King said with a smile. “I would give three islands to this child, and your position as prime minister would be secure.”
I paused for a few seconds, then laughed and said, "Are you kidding me? I can barely raise one child, let alone another?"
“That’s because you used to be constantly on the move and couldn’t raise your children. Now that you’ve settled down in one place, it’s very convenient to raise your children.”
"Raising children involves a huge responsibility, which I cannot bear."
I said truthfully, looking at Anleya who was swinging happily on the swing, "Raising children is really difficult."
“It’s not difficult at all,” the Elf King laughed.
"You're a man, so of course you don't find it difficult. All you have to do is leave a seed. But it's different for women. If you don't do a good job as a mother, you'll be scolded by many people and resented by your children."
The Elf King laughed, "You're overthinking it!"
I looked at him with disdain. He didn't care, of course. After all, he wasn't the one who suffered during childbirth, nor was he the one who raised the child. He could simply enjoy the fruits of the child's labor once it was grown up.
"Why do you want to have a child with me?" I asked.
"Because you are a very special mother."
His smile became even more alluring. "I will give you a large sum of money for your upbringing every year. Of course, it would be even better if you were willing to raise us together. We can live together in the secret realm. I will find someone to manage the Great City for you, ensuring your position as prime minister is secure."
“You’d better dream of having a child with me,” I said, standing up and yawning. “You’ve come all this way, you should get some rest.”
She left without even looking at his expression after saying that.
For the next three days, I took the Elf King and Anlea to visit the Great Royal City and the newly built Small Royal City. After touring the streets, shops, markets, and schools, the Elf King asked with a smile, "May I ask why you are so interested in the schools?"
"Improving the cultural literacy of ordinary people will help enhance the strength of the capital city," I said.
The Elf King smiled and shook his head, "Keeping the people ignorant is the best policy."
"That's the selfish mentality of what you call superior people."
"People are born with different levels of intelligence and dullness. If you educate dull people, they may not fully understand what they have learned. With only a superficial understanding, they are easily swayed, which is detrimental to stability."
I fell silent for a moment, then asked, "What you've learned, was it taught to you at school or by the most learned nobles?"
"We have no schools; the Elf Realm only has traditions."
"What kind of inheritance?"
The Elf King didn't answer me, but looked at Anleya and said, "Anleya, tell your mother how you usually study."
Anleya, who had always been afraid of her father, answered honestly: "I get up at five in the morning, study at five-thirty, eat breakfast at six, go to the hunting grounds for exercise at six-thirty, and start class at eight."
"Where do you go to have class?" I asked.
“Every day, different noble ladies would come to teach me. Some taught me Elvish, some taught me the languages of the east, west, north, and south, and some taught me mathematics. These were all morning classes. In the afternoon, there would be classes in painting, singing, dancing, horseback riding, archery, and so on. I had to go to bed early at night. Basically, after dinner and a bath, I would read a little and then go to sleep.”
Do you have a school?
An Leya shook her head. "That's a place only the most ordinary nobles outside the Secret Realm would go to study. Even the most ordinary nobles within our Secret Realm wouldn't go there."
I looked at the Elf King and laughed, "It's good to be rich."
The Elf King laughed, "Haven't you seen my treasure troves? You don't need to worry about not having enough money to raise our children."
"Why are we talking about children again?" I laughed. He really knows how to beat around the bush; after a while, he brought the topic back to having children.
He smiled faintly and said nothing more.
I don't really know the Elf King, even though I was once his handmaid. He's always been hard to get close to; there's always something between him and people.
The first time I saw him, he was hidden behind a long curtain, so that neither his completely paralyzed body nor his deep, abyss-like eyes could be seen.
When I saw him again, he was sitting in a wheelchair amidst corpses, unfathomable and unable to move, yet inspiring awe in all who beheld him.
Working under him was a nerve-wracking experience, like walking on thin ice, with no room for error.
Even when they were carrying him on their backs during their escape, they dared not neglect him in the slightest.
When he successfully seized power, I was terrified that he would kill me, because I had seen his most despicable side.
He didn't kill me later, but I had a constant sense of crisis that I was about to be killed, which is why I ran away.
I only want to keep my distance from such an unpredictable and malevolent spirit.
At night, I sat by Anleya's bedside and read her stories. She clearly didn't like listening and pretended to sleep with her eyes closed, but I knew she wasn't asleep.
To pique her interest, I told her the story of how I rescued the group of raven princesses from Black Castle, and how I carried her father away from home and helped him regain his health.
She then opened her eyes and commented like a little adult: "No wonder King Bernot of the East and Prime Minister Manboa of the North look at you differently, and Princess Yani of the South is willing to marry you. So that's how it is."
I suppressed a laugh. "You seem to know our story."
"I've heard a little bit, but not all of it," she said, closing her eyes again.
Just as I was about to leave, she suddenly opened her eyes again and said, "No wonder I am an illegitimate child, but others treat me very well, unlike how they treat other illegitimate children."
Who are the people who are good to you?
"My teachers, the maids around me, and my father's mistresses. They were rather cold to my father's illegitimate children, but they were quite polite to me. It turns out that my mother was my father's savior."
"Is the Queen good to you?"
"The Queen cannot get too close to her illegitimate children; we can only see her at festival balls."
After she finished speaking, she felt sleepy and closed her eyes again. I covered her with the blanket and then left quietly.
As dawn broke, after the royal morning assembly, I stepped into the courtyard. The Elf King, clad in a white robe, was already seated at the table, waiting for me to have breakfast.
The table was placed beside a rose bush, and sunlight fell on the Elf King, making his light golden hair shine like gold, like a beautiful painting.
He saw me and smiled slightly.
"Have you been waiting long?" I asked.
“It’s worth waiting for, no matter how long,” he replied, his words carrying a double meaning.
"Where is An Leya?" I saw her at breakfast the past two days, but she's nowhere to be seen today.
"She has to catch up on her missed lessons today; she hasn't been studying much lately."
“You are a responsible father,” I exclaimed. Whether she was genuinely studying or just pretending, or whether her father wanted to talk to me and deliberately sent her away, at least he remembered her lessons and reminded her that she should study.
And over the years, I have never taken care of her.
He smiled brightly, "Thank you! I believe that if you had the chance, you would also be a good mother."
I smiled faintly, didn't reply, but asked the question I'd been wanting to ask all along: "When you killed Artis, did you also intend to kill me?"
There was none of the evasion, avoidance, or ambiguity I expected; he answered directly, "Yes."
I remained frozen in my seat.
"Aren't you afraid that An Leya will seek revenge for killing your mother in the future?" I asked after a long while.
“I’m not afraid,” he replied. “Her mother never raised her and has no feelings for her. Everything she has, including her status, position, and power, comes from her father. Even her future husband won’t dare to bully her because of her king father. How could she kill her father for her mother?”
"People come and go, all for profit." I said softly, then asked, "Has Daio come to settle accounts with you?"
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