As the rankings for the Forest Spirit seats began to be announced, Maggie sat quietly in her seat, watching as seats were assigned to each spirit one by one. She appeared nonchalant, but in reality, she was paying 200% attention.
"I heard from the elves outside that you are still the Holy Maiden of the Temple of Light?"
Suddenly, the elven elder beside her spoke up. His aged voice was kind and gentle, making it easy to lower one's guard. Maggie, however, turned her head slightly, looked at the elder's face, and suddenly smiled.
"It seems Elder Xilin's information is a bit slow. From the first day I arrived at the Azure Forest, I have never concealed my identity as the Holy Maiden. Now you are asking me, is there something you want to say?"
Maggie's words were neither polite nor impolite. Having stayed in the Green Forest for so long, she had naturally gathered most of the information about the high-ranking elves.
However, her bluntness caused Elder Xilin's expression to stiffen noticeably.
Even if things fall apart, it takes time. Maggie's attitude is not the behavior of a respectable person.
Maggie was just tired of this kind of hypocritical socializing, so she figured it was better to be more straightforward.
"So, Your Highness worships the God of Light?"
Elder Xilin only showed a flaw for a second before regaining his composure and continuing to talk to Maggie in a normal manner.
Maggie immediately understood. It seemed they wanted to use her faith as a pretext. The elves here undoubtedly all worshipped the forest god, but her situation was rather special.
But she wasn't an elf; she was a human with the status of a distinguished guest of the elves.
If you think that's all you're doing and you expect her to feel guilty or have other negative feelings, you're really overthinking it.
"So what if it is?"
Maggie didn't mind tearing off this fig leaf. She still smiled and asked Elder Xilin in return, as she was now very curious about the thoughts of these high-ranking elves.
If it was simply a matter of not wanting her to take the Forest Spirit Sacred Fruit, there would have been no need for such a fuss.
"That is indeed... a pity. Since you are the Holy Maiden of the Temple of Light, there must be some differences among us who believe in the God of the Forest."
Elder Xilin remained expressionless, but his voice suddenly grew louder, causing another elder who was announcing the Senling seats to pause and turn his gaze toward Maggie.
Whether it was a genuine interruption or a deliberate attempt to draw all the elves' attention to Maggie remains unknown.
Maggie's eyes narrowed slightly, no longer concealing a chilling coldness in them. Even her voice changed, no longer as gentle as before.
"Oh? Elder Xilin, what kind of disagreement are you referring to? Do you mean that the Forest God will mistake a friend for someone else, or that the Forest God has no objection to my faith in the God of Light, while you privately believe that I will pose a threat to the Elven race?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the entire square fell into a deathly silence. Perhaps no elf would believe that a human would dare to directly invoke the gods.
Even if they use a powerful figurehead to promote themselves, very few believers dare to mention the gods.
However, Maggie's situation is rather special. She has indeed been recognized by the Mother Tree of Elves and is suspected to be a friend of the Forest God.
Elder Xilin, who had prepared a whole speech, couldn't utter a single word. His gaze towards Maggie was filled with anger and shock.
They seem to think Maggie is an incomprehensible human being.
Not only did they not play by the rules, they also made outrageous remarks.
"If neither of those are the case, then what are you referring to?"
Maggie continued with her slow and deliberate questions, showing no intention of ending the conversation.
Her gaze swept across the entire room, observing the various expressions on the faces of the elven high-ranking officials, and she had a vague idea of what was going on.
Even if the gazes were subtle, she could still feel that several eyes were not on her face, but on her wrist.
It seems that the people following her have been frequent during this period of time, and they are all people sent by them.
This suggests that they've determined her strength isn't very high and feel they can easily manipulate her.
As for their purpose... it's all too obvious: the Emerald Grass Ring, a symbol of the Elf Mother Tree's approval. During the Forest Ridge Battle, the Emerald Grass Ring displayed extraordinary power.
Moreover, it appears that the emerald green grass ring can be removed, which holds extraordinary significance for the entire Elven race.
Although she didn't know why these old fogies were so daring and didn't seem to care if the Forest God would punish them, their clear purpose and insatiable greed still made Maggie feel nauseous.
It turns out that even the elves, who are said to be pure, natural, and without desires, have the worst flaw in human nature: insatiable greed.
"Hahaha, Xilin, what you said is really infuriating. Look how you've angered our distinguished guest. It's just a small matter, why make the atmosphere so tense?"
"The seating arrangements haven't been finalized yet. This is an important annual ceremony, and we can't let it stop because of you. Xilin, quickly apologize to our distinguished guests."
Just as the atmosphere of confrontation was becoming increasingly tense, a hearty laugh suddenly came from outside the square. A slightly younger figure walked out from the side of the square. He looked to be close to middle age and, compared to the group of elders with graying temples, exuded a kind of vitality.
However, while he was speaking, his gaze was mostly on Maggie, except when he was looking at Xilin.
It was as if it was reminding Maggie not to cause a scene in this kind of situation, that it was ill-mannered and impolite.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Maggie raised an eyebrow, the coldness in her eyes not fading, but she didn't mind cooperating with this guy who suddenly appeared.
So she turned her head and gave Elder Xilin a forced smile, her voice laced with mockery.
“I also really want to hear Elder Xilin apologize to me. I was offended and I am indeed very unhappy.”
She did it on purpose. Maggie knew the guy was just being polite, but she pretended not to understand. Sometimes playing dumb makes things more interesting.
As expected, Elder Xilin's relieved expression froze on the spot. He had probably never encountered someone as tactless as Maggie before.
He didn't want to apologize.
Maggie knows.
However, at this moment, she had no reason to give the other party a way out.
Time ticked by, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, even worse than before.
The elf who had tried to smooth things over earlier also turned somewhat gloomy, but he didn't interrupt and continued to act as a peacemaker.
Finally, under Maggie's gaze, Xilin forced himself to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth.
"It was my fault for offending our distinguished guest."
Maggie seemed satisfied with the answer, but she knew that this was only the beginning of the Yan Kingdom's map, and these old fogies were about to cause even bigger trouble.
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