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Elven Forest (18)
Mom crouched down. She gently pressed her hand onto the girl’s wound on her abdomen. The girl’s scrunched up face relaxed as the pain eased up. Mom moved her hand. The wound on her abdomen had vanished. Frowning, I asked the girl, “Your mana doesn’t seem to be poor, so why can’t you heal yourself?”
The girl weakly replied, “I
 Frankly, I can’t use healing magic.”
While her wound had been healed, the girl was weakened due to excessive loss of blood.Mommy Vyvyan surveyed the surroundings then coldly said, “The forest has returned to normal, so we’ve shown you the utmost magnanimity. Obediently stay and recover. Once you’ve recovered, leave on your own.”
The young girl tightly clung to my leg and cried, “No
 I
 I can’t leave in this state.”
We were covered in blood as a result of what happened last night. The wolves in the forest had temporarily left, but they might’ve returned at night. The young girl was so weak that she couldn’t budge at the moment. Once night fell, the wolves might mistake her for a corpse at night and eat her. The forest wasn’t a safe place for a wounded elf.
“Please, please take me back
 I won’t do it again. I beg you
 Please save me
 I don’t want to die yet
 Sorry, sorry
 I shouldn’t have done that
 I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die
 I really don’t want to die!”
Her bravado from last night was nowhere to be seen anymore. She was just a kid when it came down to it. After almost being killed by Mom, she developed a fear of death, which was why she cried and pleaded for me to help her when she was abandoned and potentially faced with death.
“I won’t mention it! I won’t! I won’t mention a word of what happened between you two
 Please save me. Your Highness, Your Highness
 Please, please save me!”
Mom indifferently stated, “The dead can’t speak. If I was truly worried about people finding out, it would be best just to kill you now. I don’t believe you will keep a lid on it. However, I know for certain that my son will. Plus, you’re not the only dark elf our tribe has killed. We’ve killed plenty before you.”
“Mom, we should save her.”
“Son, are you sure? She tried to kill you last night and harm the imperial palace. Your wife and children were inside the palace, weren’t they? Moreover, she’s a dark elf. While she does have blue eyes, that’s due to her absorbing the blood of a normal elf. In other words, she has killed before.”
I looked into the girl’s eyes. She looked at me with her pitiful gaze.
To be honest, I wasn’t convinced a young girl so afraid of death killed anyone before. If somebody had killed, they wouldn’t be afraid of death.
Mom waved her hand. Her blue eyes slowly switched to blood red. Her eyes didn’t scare me. To the contrary, they oddly felt nostalgic. When I first came to this world, a girl with the same red eyes helped me. I hadn’t see Mera in a long, long, long time. I even began to forget her appearance.
“Have you killed?”
“I haven’t! I haven’t! I didn’t kill him! He
 He died in the forest! The animals killed him! It wasn’t my fault! I just sucked his blood! Believe me! Please believe me! I haven’t killed anyone!”
Mom looked at the girl without any sympathy in her eyes. Mom was a gentle woman, nonetheless. Perhaps it was because of her tribe that she didn’t have any sympathy for dark elves. In fact, you could say that she was cruel to them. As for me, owing to my time with Mera, I saw dark elves in a positive light. Hence, I was willing to believe her. Mom would know if the girl was lying or not. I didn’t think a child would have such fabulous acting skills.
After I sighed, I pulled the girl up onto my back. She reacted surprised. I shook my back around: “If you don’t want to fall, hold me around my neck. It’s not my problem if you fall.”
“Your Highness
”
“As I said, you’re still a kid. If you’re willing to acknowledge your wrongdoings, I won’t harm you. If you committed a heinous crime, then it’s a different matter, but you’ve just pulled a prank. Rest up. We’ll decide on your punishment once we arrive at the imperial palace.”
Mom bemoaned, “Son, it’d be nice if you could use your kindness less. If I were you, I would never approach a dark elf. Nevertheless, as you have insisted on taking her along, you must remember to not let anyone else see her. If imperial guards or another elf sees you, they’ll want her dead, not me.”
I nodded: “Once we arrive in the palace, remember to cover yourself with your cloak, understood?”
The girl leaned onto my back and softly responded, “Understood
”
The girl didn’t dare to look at Mommy Vyvyan. Maybe it was because I was gentler than Mom.
I really didn’t want to kill the child. If it was a scheme that she planned for a long time, then I’d kill her. Howbeit, I didn’t feel as though the incident was that serious. If Mom didn’t bring the white deer into the palace, it probably wouldn’t have escalated. Further, when I thought about it carefully
 I didn’t think the white deer cuould do much to the imperial guards and Lucia. Since nothing major should’ve happened in the palace, it should’ve been safe to go home.
Mommy Vyvyan noticed that I was ready to head back, so she grabbed hold of my hand. In a soft voice, she said, “Are you ready, Son? Let’s head home now. Perhaps the palace is a mess now thanks to the white deer. Lucia will be fine, though. Have faith in her.”
“Ah, I would think so. I believe that Lucia will be safe.”