WTYTIAAN Chapter 69

Chapter 69

The grand palace was empty and desolate. A golden-haired man in a plain white robe knelt beneath the throne. His hands were clasped on his knees, his back straight. His long, curled eyelashes were tightly shut, and his long hair was scattered, a few strands obscuring half of his face, concealing all emotion.

“Still waiting here?” A man appeared at the palace entrance, arms crossed, leaning casually against the doorframe, speaking to the kneeling figure below the throne.

He had a head of fiery red hair, which seemed to flicker like a flame as he moved, complementing his flamboyant and sharp features. He was like a drawn sword, ready to wound anyone who wasn’t careful.

The kneeling man above did not open his eyes, but tilted his head slightly. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I was just passing by and noticed the door was open, so I came in to see which idiot was responsible. Sure enough, it’s you again.” The red-haired man said expressionlessly, “How many years have you been sitting here? Still waiting for that person? He abandoned us long ago. I advise you to give up early. It’s meaningless, Silf.”

Silf was not hurt by his words. He simply said calmly, “If waiting is meaningless, why are you and Theodore searching the world for him? Devik.”

Devik clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Silf raised his head and finally opened his beautiful eyes, his gaze vaguely fixed on the throne, as if recalling the expression on that person’s face as he sat on the throne and looked down on everyone.

“Counting, it’s only been a hundred years since the King left, but it feels like I’ve been waiting for a very, very long time.” Silf’s voice was still calm and unwavering, as if he were still the Elf King who could not be affected by anything.

“So long that I feel like I’m about to forget what the King looks like… but when I think about it carefully, the King’s face is still clearly imprinted in my memory.”

“…”

Devik turned his face away in silence.

A hundred years had passed since the disappearance of the Eternal Lord, and they, as his dependents, had not given up searching for him.

Everyone firmly believed that the Eternal Lord had only left temporarily and would eventually return.

“How long are you going to wait?”

“I made a contract with the King that if he could protect the Elf race in this chaotic world, I would never betray him… Now that the King has not violated his promise, I will continue to wait.”

Silf said, turning his head to look at the once unrestrained and free Dragon Prince, “Speaking of which, your hair seems to have dimmed a lot again. Did you encounter trouble on this trip?”

Devik reacted as if a cat had been stepped on its tail. “How is that possible?!”

Silf sighed and waved his hand, casting a healing spell on Devik. “I smelled the blood on you before you even came in.”

Devik glared fiercely at Silf for exposing him, and cursed, “Are you a dog’s nose? Even Beros’s nose isn’t as sharp as yours.”

Silf: …

Silf turned his eyes away, ignoring Devik’s irritability. “Be careful on your next trip. I may be returning to the forest later and won’t be able to heal you in time.”

Devik was stunned. “…You’re going back? Didn’t you say you were going to wait here forever?”

Silf looked at the top of the palace, where the glass dome shimmered in the sunlight, making the palace even more magnificent. Once upon a time, it had been so lively here, but now it was as desolate as a prison.

Was this the reason the King chose to leave?

Silf did not know.

“The Eternal Lord has been gone for too long, and the world is gradually becoming chaotic. I need to return to the forest to make some arrangements…”

Silf paused. “By the way, I’ll choose the next Elf King.”

“You?!” Devik was shocked. He quickly walked forward, his eyes locked on Silf. “What do you mean? Are you going to die?”

Silf was the first Elf born in the world. He had watched countless Elves be born from the Mother Tree and seen countless Elves die and return to the Mother Tree’s embrace. He naturally became the King of the Elves.

The Elf Mother Tree was like his life-bound tree. As long as the Elf Mother Tree did not die, Silf would not die.

But Silf was about to choose the next King. Did something happen to the Elf Mother Tree?

Silf was helpless. “No, don’t think too much.”

“I just have a premonition… that I may not be able to take care of the Elf race in the future. If that’s the case, it’s better to choose another Elf King to protect them.”

Devik fell silent upon hearing this.

The world was indeed about to become chaotic. Without the Eternal Lord, the alien races were without a leader. They could still rely on Theodore and him to suppress those who were gradually becoming disloyal, but if the time was longer, he and Theodore might not be able to continue suppressing them.

“I understand.”

Silence returned to the palace, and Devik left.

Silf closed his eyes again, quietly listening to his own breathing, one breath after another, long and lonely.

It’s so quiet.

The Eternal Palace without the King is quieter than the forest.

*

Forest.

“King, have you made your decision?” The first few Elves born had now become elders of the Elf race. He looked at Silf with concern.

Silf looked at the still lush Elf Mother Tree. He reached out and gently stroked the traces of time left on the Mother Tree, as if he could recall every Elf born from the Mother Tree.

“I have to do this.” Silf said, “In the High Priest’s prophecy, only by doing this can the Elf race have a chance of survival.”

The Eternal Lord had been gone for five hundred years, and the world had finally become chaotic. The Eternal Tower was about to collapse, and no matter what he did, he could not reverse the tragedy.

Could there be another Eternal Lord who could turn the tide in the coming war?

No… there won’t be.

He would only have one master to whom he submitted.

“I will preserve the memories in the crown and entrust it to the next Elf King.” Silf said, “After each batch of Elves is born, let them undergo a baptism.”

When each Elf died, their former skills and knowledge would turn into fragments of memory and return to the Mother Tree with their lost souls, to be brought out by the next reincarnated Elf.

This was the Elf’s memory inheritance, but the memory inherited in this way was not complete, and it was not known which Elf it came from.

Silf preserved his memories in the crown, so that everything he was good at, everything he knew, would become the newborn Elf’s first knowledge of the world.

The coming turbulent era no longer allowed the newborn Elves to recognize the world themselves and form innocent and romantic personalities.

This was the Elf race’s self-help.

And Silf, who had only retained the memory of the King, would return to the Elf Mother Tree and sacrifice all his power to the Mother Tree, allowing the Mother Tree to have enough energy to protect the Elf race through the next turbulent millennium.

Five hundred years of waiting was really too long.

He could no longer endure this endless silence, and he finally made a choice.

Silf would sleep in the tree, waiting for his master to descend into the world once again, and he would also be at that time—

Reborn on the branches of the tree.

Volume 3: The Underground Kingdom of Mantiper