The last time I went to Swan Lake was in cold winter.

This time when I came to Swan Lake, the weather was the same, even worse.

Dark clouds were hanging low, cold winds were howling, tiny snowflakes were flying everywhere, all the grass and trees by the lake had withered, and the whole world was bleak and gray.

Just like Dora's mood at the moment.

"Time flies so fast. It's already been a year in the blink of an eye."

I vaguely remember that when I was a child, time passed very slowly, so slowly that even a few minutes seemed very hard to endure. But as I grew older and experienced more things, time went faster and faster.

It seemed like just a blink of an eye and a year had passed.

What’s even more amazing is that, although a year has passed, I haven’t changed, and the world doesn’t seem to have changed at all.

It seems as if everything is eternal.

However, this numb mentality, like the stubborn rocks and plants in the mountains, soon dissipated.

She discovered that she herself had not changed, and the capital of the Elven Empire, Atlasen, had not changed much either, but Veran's city of Mondania had undergone tremendous changes.

A year ago, when she came here, she saw construction sites everywhere, as ugly as scars on the earth.

But when she came back a year later, the original scars had basically disappeared, and it was basically turned into a bright and beautiful building, with many things she had never seen before.

But on the edge of the glamorous city, many new "scars" have grown.

Dora sighed with admiration: "Ah~ The short-lived species is really energetic, tossing and turning from morning to night, just like a tireless spinning top."

Some people envy the vitality of short-lived species, but at the same time they also despise their short-sightedness and blindness.

As I was sighing, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in my mind.

"Ms. Dora, I thought you would never leave Atlasen again."

Atlasen is the capital of the Holy Elven Empire, which means the city of eternal life.

Dora was slightly surprised, but then she was relieved: "I didn't hide myself carefully this time, so it's normal for him to find me."

So, she began to locate the other person's soul, thinking about having a conversation with him, and then she found that something was wrong.

"Hey~ How come your strength has increased so much?"

She remembered very clearly that a year ago, the opponent's soul strength was Legend 7, and this was only achieved with a legendary hat, while the main body was only Legend 3.

Not bad, but far worse than her.

But now, she discovered that the other party's soul strength exceeded Legend 12, and was only one step away from her.

To be promoted 5 levels in just one year is like a dream.

"Your power?!"

The voice in my head smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you that I have a divine tool that can see the truth? Why don't you believe it?"

Dora still didn't believe in the idea of ​​a divine weapon. Of course, she also thought that Rosen must have some very powerful things in his hands.

"Where are you now?"

"If you go north, about 20 kilometers, there is a hill with a steep peak. I built a small manor on the top of the mountain specifically for viewing the snow."

Dora thought about it and directly used the infinite phase transfer technique.

In less than ten seconds, she was standing at the door of the manor.

The door was originally closed, but with her arrival, it opened silently and Dora walked in.

After going around the secondary wall that blocks the view, you will see a very quiet courtyard. In the courtyard there is a tall and lush tree, and under the tree there is a pavilion for shelter from the rain.

A circle of faint runes surrounds the pavilion, blocking the cold wind and chill.

Rosen was half lying on a spacious warm chair, with a small stove and a small wooden table beside him. The fire was burning brightly, and the wine pot on top was emitting a rich aroma of wine. On the small wooden table were several fragrant small dishes.

Dora hesitated for a moment, but went in anyway.

The last experience she had with him told her that the emperor of the Natural Empire was a very rational person who could control his desires very well.

Because last time she found out that the other party had had thoughts about her several times, but he held back in the end.

Rosen didn't really react much, he didn't even open his eyes, he just moved to the side and patted the soft chair next to him.

"Come, sit next to me."

Dora has lived for more than 7,000 years and no longer cares about any rules. She is not arrogant when facing the person who once defeated her.

Anyway, there was no one else around, and she had the magical dress on to cover herself, so she did as she was told.

After lying down, she found that she could drink warm wine, taste delicious food, and watch the snow falling in the mountains, which was really comfortable.

"Your Majesty Rosen, you are quite leisurely."

Rosen raised his hand and touched Dora's body, and then he saw through her magic dress, and then he naturally touched the smooth and warm satin.

Dora was startled and tensed up: "What are you doing?"

"Hey~~Don't be nervous, we are old friends, isn't it normal to be close?"

“This is not normal!”

Rosen ignored her and asked, "Madam, you must have something to ask me, just tell me directly."

Seeing that Rosen did not make any further moves, he considered that he was no match for the other party.

Dora could only tolerate this somewhat inappropriate behavior.

"The latest news is that my master has accelerated his pace of return. He will be back in two years at the latest. And he is not coming back alone. He has brought two equally powerful companions with him."

Rosen stroked the warm jade with one hand and picked up the warm wine with the other. He tasted it happily and said with a smile, "Three powerful gods? Interesting."

The powerful gods are not only strong, but also have some extremely powerful things in their hands. Naturally, they should not be underestimated.

But then again, he also has some unique skills, and quite a few of them.

And to his unique skills, there is no difference between one god and three gods.

So he continued to relax.

Dora frowned and said, "What do you mean? This is no small matter!"

She originally still had the confidence to resist, but now she is almost in despair. As a result, this mortal emperor did not take it seriously at all.

The wine was a bit strong, which made Rosen grin. "Would you like to try it? The newly released Mondania ice liquor tastes very good."

Dora was in no mood to drink. Seeing Rosen's hands still touching her body, she became more and more annoyed and grabbed his hand.

"Rosen, stop messing around, I want to talk to you about something serious!"

Rosen finally showed a serious look on his face: "I have a solution, but if you want to know, you have to have a few drinks with me."

Dora was startled and very curious. After a little hesitation, she agreed, took the wine and took a sip.

As soon as it went down her throat, she coughed repeatedly because of the spiciness. Then, she felt a hot current flowing down her throat, turning into a ball of fire flowing throughout her body.

At first she thought it was the effect of the strong liquor, but after a few seconds, Dora felt something was wrong and her face changed color.

"This isn't alcohol! It's medicine! You drugged me!"

"Hahaha~~Yes, it's medicine!"

Rosen laughed loudly, his face full of pride as if his plan had succeeded.

He could actually subdue the Moon Goddess in many ways, but tricking her into drinking was the easiest way, haha.

Dora felt as if there was a strange force drilling around in her body, making her feel sore and weak all over. She even had difficulty gathering her magic power, so she could only collapse powerlessly on the warm chair.

Dora was horrified: "Is this poison? Are you going to kill me?"

Rosen shook his head: "It's not poison, and it's not even entirely medicine, because it's fine for me."

Dora had also discovered it, because Rosen had been drinking and there was nothing abnormal about him. If it weren't for this, she wouldn't have drunk it.

After taking a few sips of wine and a few bites of snacks, Rosen said with a smile: "The effect of the medicine will last for half an hour."

"In half an hour, you will be both an apostle of the Lord of Truth and my apostle at the same time."

"If there is a conflict between the two sides, you will ultimately have to listen to me."

Dora was shocked and immediately thought of a possibility.

She asked repeatedly:

"You have solved the mystery of the Branch of Life, haven't you?"

Rosen did not answer but asked, "Really want to know?"

"Really want to know?"

"think."

Rosen leaned close to her ear and whispered his conditions.

As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of this distinguished upper elf suddenly widened.

"You might as well just kill me!"

Rosen didn't force it, but waited patiently.

About half an hour later, he had a thought, his magic power flowed, and he stated his conditions again using the magic mantra.

Dora found that her body followed the instructions meticulously, as if the body was not her own but Rosen's.

Rosen squinted his eyes, enjoying the clumsy service of the upper elf Moon Goddess, and couldn't help laughing.

"Ms. Dora, you see, you have to listen to me in the end."

With these words, Dora found that she had regained some control of her body. She was angry and surprised: "I don't understand!"

Rosen used the mana mantra again to release his control over the other party, and then said: "I don't like to force people. If you take the initiative to serve me, I will tell you."

Dora shook her head: "No, Druitan has an obsessive-compulsive disorder of pursuing perfection. Once he finds out that I'm not perfect, he will decisively abandon me."

Rosen smiled: "Don't worry, if it breaks, I can fix it, and I can fix it in a way that Druitan can't see."

Dora was speechless and remained silent for a long time before she spoke: "Rosen, you are such a bastard!"

She had misjudged this guy, underestimated his abilities and overestimated his morals.

Now, this guy is not her ally, but her new nightmare! The reason why nightmares are nightmares is because there is no choice.

So she had no choice but to get up and sit on Rosen's lap.

After receiving his diligent service, Rosen was satisfied.

"I have completely cracked the secret of the Branch of Life. I have also completely freed you from Druitan's control."

"Of course, in order to avoid being noticed by Druitan, I still retained his control channel. Therefore, you can still feel Druitan's control intentions, but as long as you don't want to, he can't force you."

Dora lay limply beside Rosen. The more she listened, the more incredible it seemed to her. She probably knew that the other party was using a method similar to the Elf Fruit.

But how is it used, and why can it break Dritan's control.

She had no idea.

"You are not a mortal, you are a god, right?"

Since she was willing to guess so, Rosen was naturally happy to follow her guess and make up a story.

"Yes, I am the elemental incarnation of the true God in the mortal world. My true self possesses supreme power."

“I love playing games, all kinds of games.”

"What I like most is watching my opponents jumping around in front of me, and then slapping them to the ground when they think they are about to win."

“The transition from ecstasy to despair is very, very interesting.”

This time, Dora believed it completely.

She didn't know how to describe her feelings, which were complicated, but mainly awe.

The desire to resist was completely gone, leaving only obedience.

"Supreme Power. Is it Legend 19?"

Rosen shook his head: "A little higher."

If you want to blow, you have to blow it bigger.

Dora was so shocked that her hair stood on end: "Oh~ You joked with me like this a year ago, right?"

"Yeah, interesting, right?"

Dora thought to herself, "What a joke!" But she didn't dare to say it out loud. She even tried to please him by saying, "Interesting."

Of course Rosen could see that she was not being sincere and couldn't help laughing again.

He thought to himself: "The upper elves are really used to being dogs. After changing masters, they adapted very quickly."

From the perspective of social development, this master-servant relationship is naturally far behind the current era, but for the master, it is very refreshing.

Just think about it, such a beautiful and almost perfect Majesty the Moon Goddess, who is also the most honorable among billions of elves, fawning on him, wagging her tail like a pug. Oh no, it should be wagging her butt to beg for mercy. That feeling is ten times sweeter than the best wine in the world.

'The taste of absolute power is truly fascinating.'

I couldn't help but have an idea: 'Should I do the same as Druitan and turn the Natural Empire into my elves?'

As long as you are willing to put in the time and effort, this is completely doable.

But he dismissed the idea after a moment.

'Power is sweet not because of power itself, but because of the conquest.'

"If I turn all humans into my lapdogs, the world will be meaningless."

But no matter what, conquering the Moon Goddess still made him feel very happy.

One of them got excited and went to His Majesty the Elf to do something, and the other party could only carefully hide his dissatisfaction and try his best to please him.

Afterwards, Rosen lazily lay down and said, "Ms. Dora, I am not like Drittan."

Dora didn't say anything, but her heart was full of resentment: "It's different. You are much worse than him. You almost broke me apart."

Rosen seemed to be unaware of her thoughts and said leisurely, "Dritan treats mortals as tools to be consumed, but I treat mortals as flowers in my garden."

"I will take great care to cultivate each flower. If it grows well, like your majesty, I will love it more. If it doesn't grow well, I won't treat it harshly."

"Because I know very well that there is no such thing as 'perfection' in the world."

“Everything is imperfect, with both advantages and disadvantages.”

"Roses are beautiful, but they are easily destroyed by wind and frost. Wild flowers are inconspicuous, but they have strong vitality."

“If someone pursues perfection, then they are essentially regarding themselves as the supreme creator, using their own aesthetics to determine the direction of the world. In essence, they are still pursuing absolute power.”

"In my opinion, this person is arrogant, ignorant and boring."

"So, if you assist me in managing this beautiful mortal garden with all your heart, I will not only help you, but also help the elves get rid of the so-called Lord of Truth."

Dora listened quietly, casually at first, but gradually more seriously.

She immediately thought of the natural empire created by the other party, from which she could clearly see that the other party was not lying.

This almost completely dissipated the little bit of dissatisfaction in her heart.

"Master, what should I do next?"

"Of course I will return to Atlassen and continue to be the Moon God of the Elves."

"But. But I'm not perfect now."

"Simple."

Rosen restored it to its original state after some operations, and then said: "I will give you a secret channel later, and we can contact each other at any time."

"If you are in danger, you can also call me for help, and I will come to rescue you immediately."

Dora breathed a sigh of relief, no longer feeling any fear.

She naturally began to serve her new master.

"Master, there is one more small matter."

She told him about Osera sending the Golden Warriors to take revenge.

After listening to this, Rosen laughed: "Interesting ~ Really interesting ~ I can have fun again."

Seeing this, Dora couldn't help but think to herself: "The temperament of this great man is somewhat like the witch in the legend."

Rosen learned her thoughts through the secret information channel set up in advance, and laughed in his heart: "That's what I want you to think."

(End of this chapter)