"Luna," called an old man with white silver hair and beard that contrasted with his dark skin.
"What is it, Father?" answered a small girl beside him.
The girl had silver hair, but unlike the old man, it wasn't dulled by age, and her equally silver eyes shone with youthful innocence.
When she approached, her father took her hand and placed a strange stone necklace around her neck.
"I want you to have this," he said.
The girl grabbed the necklace and looked at it curiously. "What is this?"
"Do you know the difference between us and normal elves, Luna?"
The girl nodded eagerly, like a student proud to know the answer to her teacher's question.
"Of course, we were blessed by the goddess of the Moon, and they weren't."
"Haha, very good," said her father, placing his hand on her head and patting it with affection and pride.
"When the great war happened, the elves needed help. However, no one on the planet wanted to offer it, so we had no choice but to pray beyond this world. But elves follow the World Tree, the god representing this planet, second only to the god of the Earth. Some thought that asking for help beyond the planet was treason. The elves divided into two factions, those who stayed and those who went ahead with the plan. Even then, they didn't dare truly betray the World Tree. Confused between what they believed was right and what they needed to do, they decided to pray to the closest thing to the Earth there was.
The Moon.
Fortunately, the Moon answered and blessed us. Our appearance changed to fit the night. During the night, dark elves blend into the darkness itself and move like shadows. Thanks to that, the war didn't end in disaster for our race. Even though we had to separate from the elves, we've still managed to prosper. To this day, no one of the royal bloodline has ever regretted that decision."
"Boo, I already know all that, they teach it at school," replied the girl.
"Haha, sorry for the speech of this old father then. But did you know something else? Besides that, there was another blessing from the Moon to her first follower. Do you know what it was?"
The girl shook her small head.
The man lifted his hand and pointed at her while smiling.
"Silver eyes," answered the elven king.
"Like mine?" she asked, surprised and excited.
"That's right," replied her father fondly. "Since the first follower, you're the only one born with silver eyes. You're destined to bring prosperity to our race."
"I'll work hard and help Father," she said with determination.
"Of course you will, but if one day I'm no longer here with you..."
"Daddy's leaving? Like Mommy?" Tears welled in Luna's eyes as she said that.
"Of course not, it's just a thought. But I want you to know that no matter what, I'll always be with you, and above all," he held her necklace, "this is a treasure passed down through generations. Every king of the dark elves has worn it, and as long as you have it, everyone will be with you, supporting you, including me. Do you understand?"
"Yes!... but Daddy won't leave, right?"
"Of course not, Daddy will be with you forever," he said, patting her head.
...
"What's this? Tears? I see, I dreamed of the past again," murmured Luna as she got up.
The moment she stood, a group of maids entered the room. From changing her, dressing her, washing her, and brushing her hair, they did everything in minutes before bowing and leaving.
...
Luna POV
After the maids left, I couldn't help but sit on the bed again, thinking whether I should just go back to sleep, remembering the happy past before everything happened.
Before Father was gone.
"No, what am I thinking?" I said while slapping my cheeks. "I'm Luna of Lunareth, with a name like that, how could I give up? I have to help my people somehow."
{Author's note: I hope I haven't given the Dark Elf kingdom a name before, because if I did, I don't remember it.}
With that thought, I stood up quickly and left my room.
Outside, I met a female knight with black hair who greeted me seriously.
"Your Highness, I hope you slept well."
"Good morning, Vanyssa. Should we get going?"
I spoke to my personal bodyguard, who had accompanied me since childhood along with Sonya.
Unfortunately, because of the current elven king, Sonya had to leave.
"Shouldn't we have breakfast with His Majesty first? He's waiting in the royal dining room."
"There's no need. I said days ago that I'd be leaving, and it was approved. It's his fault for not keeping up."
Vanyssa sighed as if watching a child's mischief before accepting to go with me. She's lucky she's my friend; anyone else acting like that would be severely punished.
Leaving that aside, it didn't take long to reach the nearest teleportation hall.
From there, we went directly to House Shadeward, and from there took another teleportation array that sent us to one of the villages near the outskirts of the Black Forest.
Once we arrived:
"Princess, it's an honor to have you with us," said a dark elf with an arrogant posture and expression.
His gaze made me feel disgust for a moment, but as a princess, I've long since gotten used to those kinds of looks. Honestly, compared to the stares of some who want to use me as a tool and don't even see me as a person, being looked at that way is fairly normal. Of course, that doesn't stop it from being unpleasant.
"Eek," the arrogant young man in front of us almost died of fright when Vanyssa placed her sword against his neck.
"Show more respect in front of Her Highness."
"Y-yes, I'm sorry, it was my mistake," said the young man, kneeling before Vanyssa.
Big mistake, considering Vanyssa's personality.
"Arghhh!"
Yeah, as expected, with one kick, the elf, whose name I never even learned, was completely knocked out.
"Kneeling before a simple guard, what's that if not disrespect to Her Highness?"
"This is going to cause more trouble," I said, covering my face with one hand.
"Ah, sorry," said Vanyssa.
No "ah" here. This will mean hours of diplomatic headaches. If it were before, when I was still a blood princess, it wouldn't matter. But now I'm only a political princess, which means there are plenty of families looking for any excuse to ruin my position.
Unless...
"Vanyssa, how far is the place Sonya mentioned?"
"Just about twenty minutes from here," Vanyssa replied.
"Good, then we're running away."
"Running away? But..."
"No buts, you got us into this mess, so you're getting us out."
Vanyssa went silent at my words. Hearing footsteps approaching, I started running, though not very fast.
Vanyssa grabbed me and began running with me in her arms. Her speed was quite impressive.
"What happened here?" a voice shouted behind us, angry, but I ignored it.
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at some ruins that looked like an ancient temple.
"Is this it?" I asked, surprised.
Though Vanyssa nodded, saying it matched the direction Sonya gave, she's not very good at hiding her expression, so I could tell she was confused.
"Then let's go in."
"Please wait, Your Highness. It might be dangerous, so I'll go first."
Saying that, Vanyssa stepped through the worn-down gate.
To my surprise, the moment she did, she seemed to disappear.
"Vanyssa? Are you alright?"
I followed her quickly and felt the familiar shift of space. When I arrived, I was standing in front of a magnificent-looking city.
"What...? What is this place?" I asked in disbelief.
"This should be Sonya's current residence," said Vanyssa.
"Vanyssa? Are you alright?"
"Yes, it was just a normal space transfer. Judging by the mana and surroundings, at least what isn't that city that completely stands out, we're in the Spirit World."
"The Spirit World?" I asked, even more confused.
No, wasn't the Spirit World supposed to be nothing but trees? Where did that city come from? Isn't it supposed to be impossible for anyone to build here?
Although I heard that Lords don't have that limitation, but judging by that city's scale, there's no way a Lord who appeared just a month ago could have done this. Besides, they'd need permission from the Fairy Queen, who commands hundreds of fairies comparable to level 3 at max. How could a Lord pull something like that off?
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)