3~Good News
The book wasn’t lost, bad news…
“Tillysha殿下, you…” Aistride looked at Tillysha, who had an air of a refined mistress, with a complex expression.
She hadn’t anticipated their relationship progressing so quickly, but now that it had happened, what was there left for her to say?
At that moment, Aistride suddenly felt as if she had experienced an enlightenment, realizing the helplessness of the main characters in those illustrated book couples being split up by a sudden blond character. She never thought that one day, this sour feeling would befall her too.
Was her feelings towards Dillin indeed something related to an attraction to the opposite s*x?
She had already suspected this, but it was only today that Aistride finally confirmed it.
But at least the couples in those illustrated stories were in established relationships or even married, what was her relationship with Dillin?
They were two people who hadn’t even clarified their feelings for each other or formally established a relationship. If the couples in those illustrations had built a house, her relationship with Dillin hadn’t even laid the foundation.
What was there for her to complain about?
“Tillysha殿下, is this your choice?” Despite Aistride’s rich inner changes, she still showed no outward signs of her emotions.
“My choice?” Tillysha’s eyes flashed with a hint of confusion, not understanding what new antics Aistride was up to upon returning.
Tillysha glanced at Yimi who wanted to say something but held back, nodding slightly in understanding. “Yeah, it counts.”
“…That.” Aistride nodded, pulling her luggage past Tillysha. “Wishing you happiness, Your Highness, and Dillin.”
Smack.
Before Aistride could put on a ‘wishing you happiness’ attitude and leave dejectedly, Tillysha lightly held her shoulder from behind.
“Your Highness?”
“Aistride, forgive my rudeness, but there’s nothing I hate more than people who talk in riddles.”
“So you can’t leave until you’ve made things clear.”
“Hmm, Tillysha, this Miss Moon Elf seems to have misunderstood something.” Yimi said with an expressionless face.
Tillysha??
Hearing Yimi address Tillysha by her name, Aistride was slightly surprised to see Tillysha not react at all.
This, this wasn’t right, was it?
Mother-daughter relationship, why could the daughter address her mother by name? Whether human or elf, that was rather impolite, wasn’t it?
Tillysha’s reaction was also very strange. These two didn’t seem like mother and daughter at all.
Then, could it be possible that they weren’t actually mother and daughter?
At this possibility, Aistride suddenly became hesitant, looking at Yimi, a feeling of awkwardness creeping into her heart, and finally realizing something.
Of course! The vacation was just two months long. Even if they got together the moment they left, there was no way they could have had a child so quickly, let alone one this big! This was simply impossible.
Realizing her mistake, Aistride noticed the increasingly strange looks from the two.
Though Aistride remained calm on the surface, a slight blush of embarrassment was already creeping onto her cheeks.
How could she possibly think of something so ridiculous when none of it made any sense?
Just two months, how could she think there was any possibility these two already had a child? Just thinking logically for a second would’ve made it clear that it wasn’t possible.
Now, thinking about it, Her Highness Tillysha and Dillin weren’t so frivolous people, and the elves’ values were traditionally conservative. There was no way they would allow themselves such premarital actions!
Realizing it was all her own imagination, Aistride lowered her head, maintaining a calm demeanor outwardly, but inside, she was extremely embarrassed and fumbling with her toes.
Embarrassed to the point of imagining herself digging out a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment.
What should she do? What should she do? Her performance just now must have made her seem like a weird person, right?
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I haven’t quite adjusted to the start of school yet.” Aistride only lied unconvincingly.
“Oh, is that so?” Though Tillysha found it strange, since the other person didn’t say more, she could only stop.
She tilted her head, still unable to figure out what Aistride meant with her “Wishing you happiness, and Dillin.” Was it a greeting upon reuniting after school resumed?
Was it a unique greeting from the Moon Elves?
Beside her, Yimi’s expressionless face hid a deep gaze into Aistride’s eyes, as if seeing through everything.
This little episode passed, and Tillysha introduced Yimi to Aistride.
“This is Yimi Garnorin. As you can see, she’s a Gold Elf, my kin.”
“Who may need to stay with us for a while.”
Aistride, recovering from her confusion, understood Tillysha’s meaning. After realizing it was all a misunderstanding, Aistride was also surprised to find out there were other Gold Elves in Caleburn.
She understood that Tillysha wanted Yimi to stay because she wanted to protect her. After all, people who coveted Gold Elves were not few. Besides the elves who had turned against their own, humans also posed a threat.
“I understand. Nice to meet you, Miss Garnorin, I’m Aistride Orenia, from Wise Woman’s City, the eldest daughter of the current Moon Elf King.” Aistride introduced herself meticulously.
“You can call me Yimi, Miss Aistride.” Yimi shook her head, suppressing the profound meaning in her eyes.
When Tillysha introduced her to her roommate, she said that apart from herself, one of the elves of Brilliant Sun and Moon was the current Princess of the Elf Forest, the eldest daughter of the Moon Elf King, Aistride Oreniam.
Tillysha’s evaluation of her was: as a young elf uncertain about her values, but undoubtedly a kind and pure elf princess, pure like the bright full moon.
Yimi’s first impression of Aistride was pretty good, but after the awkward misunderstanding, Yimi’s attitude towards Aistride had undergone a subtle change.
This white-haired elf might not be as pure as appearances suggest.
Aistride glanced at Tillysha’s unmistakable elf ears, wanting to say something but holding back.
“Miss Aistride, from now on, I don’t plan to be secretive about my identity anymore,” Tillysha said plainly, knowing Aistride’s doubt. “I am who I am, a Gold Elf is a Gold Elf.”
It’s time to tell everyone the truth.
“As for Yimi, it depends on her personal preference.” Tillysha glanced at Yimi beside her.
Aistride nodded, while it still seemed a bit inappropriate, it was Tillysha’s decision, and Aistride respected her personal choices.
Looking at Tillysha’s dazzlingly beautiful face, Aistride quietly shifted her eyes aside.
Just seeing this face she had dreamt of countless times up close, she couldn’t help but recall the recurring strange dreams she had during the holiday.
“Aistride’s room has already been tidied up for you, here’s your room key,” Tillysha handed the key to Aistride.
“Thank you for your trouble, Miss Tillysha.”
“Not at all, it was on the way anyway.” Tillysha smiled.
Fortunately, it was a false alarm.
Aistride sighed in relief.
“Oh, by the way, does Miss Aistride have a habit of getting lost in books, where she puts on her bathrobe but doesn’t actually take a bath?”
“………..” Aistride’s steps faltered.
“So you do have this habit, watch out next time, right? If you want to read, why not do it after you’ve taken a bath?”
“Was I that obvious?”
“Not really,” Tillysha shook her finger. “When I was cleaning your room, I found a book left in the bathroom. You must’ve forgotten it when you left.”
“…………” Aistride’s ears buzzed for a moment, and her expressionless demeanor quickly turned into a look of absolute despair.
Though these two expressions—expressionless and despair—appeared similar on the surface, there was a world of difference, and perhaps only Aistride herself knew how drastically her emotions had been tossed around like a roller coaster.
Elf life, truly filled with highs and lows…………
At this moment, all Aistride wanted was to sit in the courtyard with a cup of tea, seriously contemplating which planet she should choose for her next life’s residence.
She’d heard that every star in the sky represents a world, and she had an uncontrollable urge to take her suitcase and her dormitory and run off to live in another world.
She’d said it, she’d said it……
Why was one of her precious books bought recently in the Coleman black market missing!
It was a book she had carefully picked out, going to great lengths to obtain from the black market. When she returned to the Sage’s Forest, she had searched every corner of her suitcase but couldn’t find it, and Aistride had even felt a bit disheartened about it for a while.
For this, dressed in the pristine white dress of the sacred elf maiden knelt praying before the Mother of All Forests’ statue, her subtle friction against the ground had not gone unnoticed.
Of course, these matters were known only to herself. There was no way she would tell anyone that her low spirits were due to losing a less-than-proper book.
Imagine the disgrace: the once-in-a-millennium sacred maiden of the Elven Forest, the eldest daughter of the Elf King, princess of the Sage’s Forest, fretting over a book of dubious content. Not only would this embarrass the Elf King, it would tarnish the reputation of the entire Elven Forest.
Aistride often felt immense guilt and shame about her own absurdities and impurity, extending her prayer time before the Mother of All Forests to confess her sins and express her remorse.
Eventually, Aistride’s prayer sessions evolved into personal confessions and dumping grounds for her own sorrows to the Mother of All Forests.
Day One: ‘Compassionate mother of the elven gods, ruler of all forests, your servant Aistride Oreneim confesses to you, I am deeply self-reproachful for my reckless thoughts and actions. As a holy maiden, I should set an example, cultivating high moral character, and carrying on the legacy of our ancestors. How could I have fallen so low? As a Princess, I am truly sorry.’
Day Three: ‘Compassionate mother of the elven gods, your servant Aistride Oreneim recently lost a book that I cherished very much as an individual, and has since then been in low spirits. I apologize deeply for missing the past prayers… … Here, Aistride confesses her sins to you. I regret allowing my desires to conquer me and purchasing this vulgar and absurd book. More so, regretting to focus so much on its loss. I believe this book’s disappearance was your punishment bestowed upon me… … From now on, I must thoroughly reform myself, and I hope you can witness my growth!’
One Week Later: ‘Compassionate mother of the elven gods, your servant Aistride Oreneim is here again… … Mother, could you please reveal yourself and help your child retrieve the stolen book? Please don’t misunderstand; your child only wishes to burn this book in front of you! And say goodbye to it… …’
Two Weeks Later: ‘Wah wah wah, compassionate mother of the elven gods, Aistride is a bad child, can the punishment be over? Aistride misses that book… …’
The clergy of the Elven Forest were delighted to see their princess so devoted in praying to the mother goddess, but what they didn’t know was that Aistride’s prayers had nothing to do with sacred hymns or blessings.
For Aistride, the mother goddess was the only one she could confide in. This deity, who had created the forests and elves, could encompass all of her without tiring and listen to the secrets she was afraid others would find out.
Regardless of whether the Mother of Forests could hear these or not, what would she even think if she could, perhaps the idea of “elf medicine pills” might pop up in her mind.
Now, the book she had been longing for was found again, but instead of being happy, Aistride felt completely disheartened.
“Aistride?” Seeing Aistride staying silent, Tillysha inquired curiously.
“……Oh, thank you, Princess Tillysha.” Aistride managed a somewhat stiff smile, still holding onto some hope in her heart.
Perhaps, the lost book really was gone, and the one Tillysha found in her room was just a plain and normal book?
Otherwise, why was the other’s expression so calm?
Right, right?
A thought struck Aistride and she glanced at Tillysha, who was currently beaming a radiant smile at her.
This smile overlapped with the image in her dream, where Tillysha was laughing while stepping on her and whipping her.
The more she looked, the more Aistride felt this was a Tillysha who already knew her secrets and was torturing her with that ‘d*ath smile’!
‘Oh my? Pretending to be cold and noble like a high-altitude flower normally, did you secretly collect these kinds of books, interesting…… Did you think I would say that? Phew, Aistride, you’re really an unfathomable weirdo, so disgusting.’ The imagined Tillysha flashed a despicable smile filled with disdain and provocation, and Aistride froze in place, not daring to move.
But……
For some reason, while this imagined Tillysha scene made her deeply disheartened, it also brought an uncontrollable excitement to her heart……
Aistride couldn’t help but wonder if she was going crazy.
