Dargo fixes his sad gaze on Ilina.
"Ilina...dear...I'm sorry. I sincerely thought that once the nobles knew about Mizuki's ability to give you a high elf heir, and that he can't die of old age, they'd change their minds. It's why your mother and I haven't spoken up, but...if Tessa and presumably Jorah still oppose your marriage, I don't know what hope you have of rallying the people to your side.
"You know we want to support you, but we also have an obligation to not throw our kingdom into chaos. Now that you've seen what you're dealing with, is there any compromise we can reach? Perhaps a secret but still royally sanctioned marriage? I just...I can't stand the thought of you actually leaving us..." (Dargo)
To his great confusion, Ilina's grin only grows wider. However, the exchange is quickly interrupted by three people squealing in unison.
"Wait!? You mean all that stuff about Mizuki was true!?" (Darak/Helena/Tessa)
The shock of the interjection stuns Dargo out of his misery, and he stares at the three nobles in bewilderment. At the same time, Tessa glances at Helena and Darak, clearly surprised by their synchronized response. Then, she immediately turns towards me, her voice and expression incredulous.
"How is it possible for you to not age, and to have a high elf child with Ilina?" (Tessa)
Instead of responding, I look to Ilina for direction. As if expecting it, she's already looking at me with an encouraging smile. She nods at me approvingly.
"Mizuki, could you please tell them all the truth about yourself? It will address Tessa's concerns about our marriage and put my dad's mind at ease." (Ilina)
Her comment is enough to draw everyone's attention, even Elira's and Dargo's. Elira narrows her eyes in annoyance.
"Mizuki, when she says the truth, does she mean something that even her father and I don't know? Because I can't think of anything else about you that hasn't been shared yet. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I can handle any more of your surprises today, Ilina." (Elira)
I scratch my cheek nervously while avoiding her gaze.
"Uhm...yes, actually. Sorry, Queen Elira. If you recall, back when you first learned about how strong I am, you asked me the secret behind my strength and I refused to answer you. That secret is the one that Ilina is referring to." (Mizuki)
"It's like he says, Mo-...my Queen. I'm sorry for keeping it from you, but I promise it's the last thing you don't know about him. If it's any consolation, barely anyone knows. First he told Nina, then me, then Alto. Zara and Alara learned about it only recently. Nobody else knows, not even Cara. Also, you'll appreciate this revelation...so no need to worry." (Ilina)
Elira's and Dargo's eyes snap wide open, and Elira's voice becomes a bit friendlier.
"Okay, color me intrigued. What don't we know?" (Elira)
Tessa narrows her eyes at Ilina, her tone clearly skeptical.
"Yes, please enlighten us. I can't imagine anything that would change my mind." (Tessa)
Cara grumbles her assent indignantly, her voice soft and cheeks puffed out in annoyance.
"I second that. I'd like to know what was so important you couldn't trust me with it, Mizuki!" (Cara)
Helena rolls her eyes, her voice impatient.
"Alright, we get it, everyone is curious! Out with the damn news, Mizuki!" (Helena)
I chuckle and rub my forehead in amusement as I throw a glance at Helena, but Ilina chimes in before I can answer.
"Mizuki isn't human. That's why he won't age, why he's so powerful, and why his magic is so...strange. That's also why Tessa's concerns won't be an issue...we have no bad blood with his race." (Ilina)
Everyone's eyes go wide in surprise, and I'm expecting another long silence, but Dargo is surprisingly quick to speak up. His expression is twisted in genuine confusion as he addresses me.
"Mizuki, we explicitly asked you if you were inhuman. I was quite adamant about it, in fact. You insisted that you were, and I honestly believed you. Why would you lie about that?" (Dargo)
His tone hints at him being a touch hurt by the perceived deception, and Elira seems to feel similarly, her tone rich with annoyance.
"Those are my thoughts exactly, dear. Why did you hide this from us, Mizuki? Honestly, you masquerading as a human has only been a hassle within our borders." (Elira)
I can't help but be a bit annoyed and disappointed in their responses. They didn't even hesitate to discard the idea that I was human. No doubt at all. Honestly, I was hoping for more skepticism from them after my friends insisted last night that nobody who knows about my power considers me to be human.
I guess this is just two or more additional examples of that...
Putting aside my ancillary concern to focus on Dargo's and Elira's feelings of betrayal, I raise my hands in a conciliatory gesture. My voice becomes a bit higher pitched.
"Woah, woah, it's not like that, I swear! I didn't think I was lying to you at the time. Or at least, not entirely. The humans I've met on Azura all seemed similar to me physically, except for their eyes, lifespan, and lesser magical abilities, so I still thought that I was human...more or less.
"In retrospect, that was probably an oversimplification on my part. After all, if I make your ears less pointy and shorten your lifespan, elves would be indistinguishable from your human ancestors. Eye color and magical power aren't less significant differences, so it's fair to say that your people may be more human than I am." (Mizuki)
My comment is quickly met by several surprised or angry questions around the room, not limited to the nobles. All of them sharing some variation of Tessa's thoughts.
"Perhaps I misunderstood you, Mizuki. But did you just imply that we are somehow related to those despicable humans!?" (Tessa)
Ah fuck...me and my mouth.
I let out a deep sigh and scratch the back of my head thoughtfully, noting that Ilina and Alto are shaking their heads in exasperation at my slip up. I shrug and decide to direct a deadpan expression at Tessa and just respond matter-of-factly.
"I'm sorry if that offends you, but...yes. I'd say that's all but guaranteed. I forgot that your people probably aren't aware of that...Alara, Alto, and Ilina where surprised when I told them as well. Here's the deal..." (Mizuki)
I quickly give them the same justification that I went through with my friends last night at our house. I remind them of the origin of the Elder Dragons, and how the gods have a penchant for tinkering with existing lifeforms. Then, Nina and Zara help me explain to everyone how Elder Dragons and elves can have children with humans, but dwarves and demi-humans cannot.
Finally, Nina and I explain how strangely binary the offspring of elves and humans are, and the implications of that with respect to elves being derived from humans. It's a bit difficult without Earth's knowledge of genetics, but they seem to have a general recognition of inheritance patterns, so we manage to convey our reasoning.
When I'm done explaining my theory about how Nedilir probably created elves from humans on their home world, some are lost in contemplation, like Helena and Dargo, while others are borderline despondent, like Tessa. I'm sure that if Jorah had regained consciousness already, he'd just faint again. Judging by Zakariah's worried glancing at his father after the revelation, I'm guessing he agrees.
"This is...too much. I'm not sure what we should do with this information..." (Dargo)
"I understand what you mean...this would change our entire world view. Is there any way to confirm this?" (Helena)
Helena's question seems to be to everyone, but she's glancing between me, Dargo, and Nina. I've, of course, considered her question before. If I could do whole genome sequencing and alignment for a dozen elves, humans, and wolf-kin, then Nina and myself, we'd have the answer to our question.
However, I don't have the means for that. I can use magic to isolate the DNA samples, and I even have a method in mind to generate sequence information output. However, I have no way to record that absurd amount of information, nor to process it and perform a sequence alignment. For those steps, I'd need photodetectors and high-performance computers from Earth.
Alas, before anyone can answer Helena, or I can have an epiphany on the subject, Ilina interjects.
"I can understand that you all need time to digest this information, but let's put it aside for now. You may recall that we were having an important discussion about Mizuki, and we've gotten off-topic." (Ilina)
Ilina fixes me with an admonishing glare as she says the last part, and I give her a sheepish smile. Thankfully, Darak pipes up and saves me.
"Princess Ilina is right, this discussion can wait. For now, I'm also curious about Mizuki's other comments. Mizuki, I'm actually inclined to agree with your previous assumption. Out of all the races on Azura, humans are most similar to you. So why are you sure that you're not human?
"More importantly, I'm confused how you could be so unsure about your race in the first place. Your race is determined by your parents, regardless of how much of an anomaly you may be compared to them. At the risk of prying into your personal life – do you not know your parents, or at least their races?" (Darak)
I see Elira nod approvingly as Darak continues to study my reaction.
"Agreed. Your alleged confusion over your race makes no sense, Mizuki." (Elira)
I scratch the back of my head as I try to collect my thoughts. It makes sense that they would still assume I'm from Azura. I mean, aside from the few Elder Dragons and Greater Spirits, who are dozens if not hundreds of millennia old, everyone alive on this planet was born here.