CH 38

The Spring’s Appearance (7)

“Come…”

“Touch me…”

“Touch your own inner thoughts…”

“Touch your hidden thoughts… Touch your memories that you don’t want to recall… Think about your origins and past…”

“Think about your connection to this world… Think about what you obtained here. Think about what you stole from here…”

“Think about where exactly you belong to…”

*Gasp…*

I sat up. I rubbed my head and looked outside. Lucia, who was next to me, gave me a back hug. With a smile, she asked, “What’s the matter, Your Highness? Did you have a nightmare? It’s unlike you to wake up in the middle of the night. You usually sleep deeper than anyone anytime.”

“I’m not that sort of person, am I?”

“You’re not.” Lucia gently pressed me back down onto the bed and stroked my head: “Your Highness, have a good sleep. If you laze around in bed tomorrow, Her Highness will be grumpy again when you don’t have breakfast.”

I had never woken up in the middle of the night before. Perhaps it was because I was feeling relatively tranquil. The dream that woke me up felt unbelievably real. I could vividly remember myself dipping my face into the spring water countless times, where I saw the interior of the water.

I had no idea what was underneath the spring water. However, Mom didn’t want me to see what was there. I was also curious about the reason behind why the spring was so stubborn. Normally speaking, such a thing would be incredibly dangerous. I was certain it’d be the equivalent of opening Pandora’s Box if I looked. It would be a handful to deal with if anything happened. Plus, the spring was the elves’ lifeline, so I didn’t intend to do anything.

Lucia leaned over and gave me a kiss on my forehead. She giggled in a quiet voice and hugged my arm: “Goodnight, Your Highness. Let’s go see the flower garden together tomorrow. Vera enjoyed spending time in the flower garden today. Vera likes the flowers here. I do remember she didn’t like the flowers in the Imperial Palace in the North, however…”

“The flowers there don’t smell that nice.”

“I see…”

“Lucia, we’ll have to send Vera here to Mom in the future to succeed Mom. It’s better to let Mom teach her how to control her mana, and there’s also her mana purity to take into consideration. Else, I think elves won’t take much of a liking to Vera. Whatever the case may be, Vera needs to have the support of all elves.”

Lucia softly laughed and then snuggled up on my chest: “I understand. I’m all right, Your Highness. I might feel lonely if Vera was our only daughter, but Nona will still be with us when Vera comes here. Nona is livelier than Vera…”

I stroked Lucia’s small head and, in an affectionate tone, replied, “As long as you’re not lonely, then it’s fine. Of course, we can come to visit Vera anytime when she’s here.”

“Your Highness, recently I can’t help but feel a faint uneasy feeling. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination. I’m just an ordinary elf. I don’t have Her Highness’ abilities, so I don’t know what exactly you’re thinking. If there’s something worrying you, you can tell me…”

“There’s no way I’d hide anything from you. I am your husband, after all.”

“Yeah, Prince Troy is my husband. The Prince Troy who I’ve always liked is now my husband. This is something I used to only dream of. Your Highness, I’m as happy as if I’m in a dream now… It really is the same as a dream.”

I gently stroked Lucia’s head then embraced her and didn’t say any more. Lucia giggled.

“Are we in a dream…? What can I see in my dream? I rarely have dreams, but these last few dreams have felt so realistic and memorable. There’s the spring around and what I see is past events. Am I in reality right now?” I wondered. I expressed, “Lucia, hold my hand.”

Lucia obediently grabbed hold of my hand. I felt the reassuring warmth and softness from her hand. She was always the adorable Lucia who had always remained by my side and loved me. She had always been the Lucia who deeply loved me.

“Don’t let go.”

Lucia giggled in a quiet voice. She held my hands with both of hers: “I will never let go no matter what, Your Highness. I can hold your hand for as long as you want me to.”

“Keep on holding my hand, then.”

“Hehe… How sudden, Your Highness… Needless to say, I don’t hate it.”

Lucia shifted her hands up to hug my arm. I knew that Lucia didn’t need to sleep. She just wanted to lie there with me. Merely hearing her soft giggle was a blissful experience, nonetheless.

The Spring knew my origins; by that, I meant the past I thought I had forgotten. I fell in love with this place. At least, I found my place and those who loved me whom I love back. I no longer have any plans to return to the world I came from. Plus, how would I return when my corpse was probably gone? If I was going to have to possess someone else’s body, I may as well stay here and live out my days in peace.

I wanted to stay here. I had absolutely no desire to return. As such, I didn’t plan to go to the spring again, either. In saying that, I didn’t plan to put up with the voice and random unrest I felt every night. I needed to consult Mom. Only Mom’s magic could help me.

‘Of course, I’ve thought of something else, too, and that was humanity’s situation. I doubted I’d be able to find any other clues pertaining to the case in the elven lands. If I wanted to find clues, I had to head over to humanity’s lands. It went without saying I didn’t rule out the possibility that the chaotic mana incident the young girl caused might’ve been the reason that so-called holy water came to be. I had to question the young girl about it.

I shut my eyes, hoping I wouldn’t dream of the spring again.

===========

Current time at the elven spring…

“I don’t know who you are, but if you continue clinging to my son, I’ll, personally, kill you even if you’re God!”

“I’ve never met an elf who’d speak so impudently. You’re the first elf to disrespect God. What you’re facing is your ancestor and mana’s source!”

“I don’t care who you are or what you want. If you keep clinging to my son, I promise you death, and I don’t care if I have to sacrifice the entire elven race to do it!!”

“Do you really know your son?”