Chapter 92 "I heard my uncle begged you last night..."
I sat up abruptly, threw on my coat, and pushed open the door to go outside.
Not far away, a bonfire was burning brightly, and a priest in white robes was jumping around in front of the body of a young boy.
As soon as I squeezed into the circle surrounded by the tribespeople, I heard a loud bang. Something was thrown into the campfire, and it burned even brighter. I took a step back with the tribespeople.
The white-robed priest circled the extremely young body, while the black wolf stood restless, closest to the fire, seemingly unable to bear the heat.
Black Wolf's uncle, the arrogant man with a stubble chin, stood calmly closest to Black Wolf.
I suddenly realized what they were doing—they were trying to return the king inside the black wolf's body to the king's original body.
Slowly, I got closer to the young boy in front of the white-robed priest and saw his face clearly—a face with delicate features, still childlike, at most fifteen or sixteen years old.
I was shocked.
—I always thought that Black Wolf was the Elf King's older brother, because Black Wolf was the son of the first queen. But this extremely young face tells me that Black Wolf is the younger brother, and the Elf King is the older brother.
This suggests that the old king's second wife had been secretly with him before their marriage and gave birth to his eldest son before his first wife. Although the first wife later gave birth to a son, he became the second son.
No wonder Black Wolf and the current Elf King fought tooth and nail for the throne, each believing themselves to be the rightful heir.
—The Black Wolf took the identity of the first wife's son, while the Elf King took the identity of the eldest son.
This is so melodramatic.
The instigator of this whole mess—their old father—kicked off and left behind a whole host of problems for others.
An hour later, the white-robed priest was still dancing around the fire, dancing endlessly, but I was getting tired, and the other tribesmen also showed signs of fatigue.
I yawned, but before I could even finish opening my mouth, I heard several screams. I saw about a dozen men and women being thrown directly into the campfire—yes, thrown directly in. They were bound tightly, like dumplings thrown into a pot. I was terrified and took several steps back.
The flames engulfed them, the screams stopped, and all the tribesmen watched silently. I, however, was so frightened that I fell to the ground.
Human sacrifice was something I had never seen before in my life; it was utterly horrifying.
I sat on the ground for a long time, unable to get up, my mind completely blank.
As the old priest slowly stopped his "jumping rope" dance, the extremely young body moved, and the next second, it opened its eyes. Then, the black wolf fell to the ground, and the young boy, supported by two tribesmen, stood up—he had successfully returned from the wolf's body to his own.
"King Daio! King Daio!"... The people raised their hands and jumped up in cheers, the deafening shouts almost shattering my eardrums...
——
A month later, the tribe's life on the island began to stabilize. They renovated the palace, rebuilt the houses, repaired the wells, managed the fields, orchards, and fishponds, and went hunting in the forest to bring back domesticated livestock such as pheasants, wild boars, wild cattle, wild dogs, and wild goats, which they then tamed and raised in captivity.
I don't know why these wild animals appeared on this remote island. Most likely, the island was once connected to the mainland, so some of the wild animals that are common on the mainland are also here. Later, the earth's crust shifted, the island separated from the mainland, and the island drifted into this barrier, isolated from the world. However, because the living environment has not changed significantly, these wild animals still live and breed here.
"You're here? Lana." A lazy, teasing young boy's voice drifted into my ears. "Sorry, your request has been rejected by my uncle again."
Daio, the boy king who returned to his original form from the body of the black wolf, often talked to me every now and then, perhaps because he had nothing better to do.
This is the third time I have asked to leave the island, but I have been refused again.
I was stunned for a moment before I came to my senses. "Your Majesty, good morning!"
"You don't seem angry at all, why?" the handsome young king, only sixteen years old and with short golden hair, teased.
Having detached himself from the black wolf's body, he became king once more—the Elf King of this island kingdom.
"Because getting angry won't help," I replied.
"Stop thinking about leaving. What's the point of leaving?" the young king suddenly said, surprising everyone. "Why don't you marry me?"
I paused for a moment before laughing and saying, "Your Majesty, are you joking with me? Don't you already have two wives?"
His first wife was the queen he married among the elves. They were later imprisoned together. During the turmoil, or perhaps due to pressure from her family, the queen refused to flee and chose to remain among the elves, even at the cost of her life.
His second wife was a woman from a prominent family who had fled to the island with him. He married her on the tenth day after he arrived on the island and returned to his homeland.
“There’s no other way,” the young king shrugged. “My uncle said I have to have an heir, and it can’t be an illegitimate child. I have to get married as soon as possible.”
“However,” the king added, “my uncle said I can still marry another woman, because the situation is different now, and we need to strengthen our power through various means.”
"Isn't it true that you can only marry one principal wife here? Can the other one also have a formal status?" I expressed my doubts.
"What do you mean, no?" the king laughed. "My relationship with my first queen is over. She refused to come with me and stayed in the Elven Realm, so it's like we're divorced. That position has been given to my second wife. Next, I will recognize an elder from my mother's family as my godfather, which will give me another wife. This wife will only recognize this elder as her father, respect only him, and will not acknowledge my original father. She will also take care of this elder in his old age and see him off when he dies."
This is somewhat similar to the practice of having multiple sons and wives. In a family with several brothers, only one son can have children, and he is an only child. Through the clan, this only son can inherit the ancestral line of his uncles and marry multiple wives, so that each branch of the family will not die out and the family assets will not flow out.
"Is this elder your uncle?" I asked.
“No, he is my uncle, the only son of my mother’s sister, but this son,” the young king shrugged again, “ruined his body by having too many men in his youth and is now infertile.”
The following evening, at the ceremony of recognizing my adoptive father in the simple palace built by my clan in the past, I met this uncle. If Daio's uncle was the aloof and arrogant type of nobleman, this uncle was the philandering and greasy playboy. He was quite old, but had captivating eyes and slightly upturned lips, more alluring than any beautiful woman. If he were truly gay, he would definitely be a bottom.
Beside his uncle was a burly, bearded man dressed as a knight. The two clinked glasses and chatted intimately.
Just as I was engrossed in watching, my uncle's cool, slightly deep voice rang in my ears, "I have always disagreed with your leaving, and I am even more unwilling for Daio to marry you."
I was slightly taken aback before replying, "Even if I leave, I will not reveal your hiding place. Rest assured, I will not marry your king."
“A woman with such extraordinary abilities as you,” the uncle said meaningfully, “is sought after by people from other kingdoms. I’ve heard that Benot in the East and Manberia in the North are both looking for you.”
The implication was that he wouldn't let a woman with supernatural abilities like me go.
I suppressed my disappointment and pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "Really? This is the first time I've heard anything from the outside world in months. Thank you."
The uncle changed the subject, "I want to reserve the position of Daio's second wife for the woman who can be of the greatest help to him."
"Rest assured," I said, "I have no ambition whatsoever for the king."
“Very good.” The uncle’s deep gray eyes flickered slightly in the light of the campfire.
I stood up from the floor mat. "It's getting late, I'll head back now."
"Don't even think about Bernot in the East or Manberia in the North," he said behind me. "Bernot officially married his fiancée a month ago, who is the Queen Mother's eldest granddaughter, and his chief mistress is the Prime Minister's illegitimate daughter. Manberia, on the other hand, has already married the eldest granddaughter of the largest financial family in the North, and his chief mistress was only confirmed two months ago; she is the illegitimate daughter of the general who holds military power in the North. They're only after your special abilities to make you their mistress."
"Thanks for reminding me!" I prepared to move forward.
“But if you’re interested, I’ll take the loss and marry you, so that Daio won’t keep thinking about you,” he said.
I froze on the spot, almost thinking I had misheard.
After a long while, she slowly turned around, looked into his eyes which were shining even brighter in the light of the campfire, and said slowly, "Please don't suffer any loss, really. I am just a commoner woman, and I never insist on marrying a nobleman. This dream of a sparrow turning into a phoenix is truly terrifying."
Without looking at his expression again, I quickly walked towards my own little house.
——
The next day I got up very early, before dawn, pretending to watch the early risers working, but actually I was observing which side had the fewest people and which side would be the easiest to escape from.
He even used the excuse of taking a walk to go to a more distant beach to see if there was any possibility of escaping by sea.
"I heard my uncle proposed to you last night?" Daio appeared behind me without my noticing.
I was surprised that the news spread so quickly. I looked at him in astonishment. "Yes."
Daio laughed, his golden eyes sparkling. "It's good that you refused. My uncle was afraid that if I married you, I would lose the value of a marriage alliance with the powerful and wealthy, so he proposed to you."
"Oh?" I said.
“My uncle is no good match; he’s been married three times,” Daio continued. “The first time was to a wealthy widow. Two years later, she died in childbirth, along with her unborn child. My uncle became a widower. Six months later, he married the eldest daughter of a general, but the marriage only lasted two years. One day, my uncle suddenly returned from a trip and caught the general’s daughter and her lover in bed. After the marriage ended, the general’s daughter’s father and her lover both paid my uncle a large sum of money.”
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Author's Note: Thank you all for your support! Please continue to follow my works: "Cinderella Wants a Thrilling Novel Script," "All the Male Gods in the World Are in Love with Me," and "A Love of Ice and Fire"~~~
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