Chapter 91. You Are Family
Inside the study of the lord’s keep in Obsidian Territory, the atmosphere was a little... strange.
Eli sat behind the broad desk, his gaze fixed dead center on it.
There, a plump little marmot was shamelessly occupying his territory as if it owned the place.
The great Lord Gulu was sitting comfortably atop a stack of spread-open parchment scrolls.
Her two short little legs swung back and forth in delight.
Squinting happily, she held a loaf of bread bigger than her own head in both little paws.
She was chomping away with gusto, her cheeks stuffed so full they bulged.
“Mmph... mm... delicious! So delicious!”
As she chewed with all her might, she let out muffled little sounds of satisfaction.
“Eli! You’re the best! You’re way better than Her Highness the Princess! From now on, the great Lord Gulu is going to stick with you!”
“Uh... no. From now on, you should be the one sticking with the great Lord Gulu.”
The corner of Eli’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
He took a deep breath and tried his best to keep his voice calm.
“Great Lord Gulu, instead of accompanying Her Highness the Princess in the sanctuary in Nightsong Forest, you have honored my tiny Obsidian Territory with your presence.
To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Hmph!” The moment Gulu heard the words Her Highness the Princess, she immediately stopped chewing.
Her tiny nose wrinkled in displeasure, and her black-bead eyes filled with grievance and accusation.
“Her Highness the Princess... Her Highness the Princess has another pet now!
She doesn’t like the great Lord Gulu anymore! She despises me now!”
“Oh?” Eli arched a brow, barely restraining the urge to grab the little thing and throw her out.
“Her Highness the Princess... is ignoring you now? Why?”
“Why?!” Gulu suddenly slammed the half-eaten bread onto the desk.
“The great Lord Gulu kindly, painstakingly roasted fish for her!
And what happened?!
She actually spat out the fish the great Lord Gulu roasted with her own paws, full of love and devotion!
She even lied to me and said it tasted good! Waaaah... she’s changed her heart!
She must have another pet outside!”
The more she spoke, the more heartbroken she became. Covering her eyes with her tiny paws, she began to sob in an exaggerated, obviously fake manner.
With a blank expression, Eli pointed out a brutal fact.
“What you made... was it edible?”
“You!” Gulu’s fur practically bristled on the spot. Planting her little paws on her hips, she puffed up in outrage.
“What do you know! The great Lord Gulu is a mighty... a mighty...”
Under Eli’s stare, the kind one used for idiots, her voice gradually weakened.
“...Actually, I guess you do have a point. It did seem... a little disgusting...
Maybe Her Highness the Princess just hates the food I make?
Maybe she doesn’t hate me, the great Lord Gulu?”
“Yes, that is possible.” Eli nodded decisively. He only wanted to send this little plague god away as quickly as possible.
“So, great Lord Gulu, now that you’ve had your fill, shouldn’t you be heading back?
If you leave Her Highness the Princess alone in the sanctuary... won’t she be lonely?”
“Lonely?” Gulu tilted her little head.
The word seemed unfamiliar to her. She scratched her belly with one paw.
“But Her Highness the Princess was always like that before she fell asleep, wasn’t she?
Cultivating alone, watching the stars alone, staring at the lake alone...
She lived like that for hundreds of years. What is there to be lonely about?” she said as if it were perfectly natural.
Hundreds of years... alone...
Something lightly pierced Eli’s heart. A strange emotion surged up without warning.
He seemed to see that solitary figure standing in the vast, cold sanctuary.
Powerful, beautiful, immortal...
And yet like a sculpture forgotten by time.
For beings like the elves, was such a long life a blessing... or a curse?
“No.” Eli’s voice sank.
“Everyone... no, every living thing feels lonely.
Elves are no exception. I believe that, to Irene... to Her Highness Irene, you are far more than just some pet.
You are her companion, her family. In those endless years, you are the only one who has remained by her side.
You are important to her.”
“Fa... family?!”
Gulu’s black-bead eyes instantly lit up like two little stars. All her grievance and sorrow vanished in an instant.
She sprang up from the desk and waved her tiny paws excitedly.
“That’s right! You’re right! Family! The great Lord Gulu is Her Highness the Princess’s family!
Her one and only most important family member! Hehe! Her Highness the Princess must be missing me now!
I have to go back! Right now!”
She immediately made to jump down from the desk.
“Wait!” The sudden urge to see Irene again seized Eli at once.
He needed a high-sounding excuse for this abrupt impulse.
Right. Gold. He needed gold. And while he was at it, he could also thank her for the help she had given him before.
“As it happens, I also have some... matters to discuss with Her Highness the Princess.”
Eli swiftly adjusted his expression. “I’ll go with you.”
“Sure, sure!” Gulu was in such a state of wild excitement that she agreed without a second thought.
“Then... all this tasty food... and whatever other interesting things you have...
Give them all to me... uh, no, give them all to Her Highness the Princess!
Consider it the great Lord Gulu... presenting them to her on your behalf!”
Looking at the shameless marmot taking advantage of the situation, Eli let out an amused sigh.
“...Fine.”
He immediately summoned Estor and gave him a few quiet instructions.
Soon, an exquisite wicker food box was brought in, filled with the best pastries, preserved fruits, and dried meat that Obsidian Territory could offer.
Yet Eli still felt that something was missing.
His steps paused, and he turned toward Scholar Avar’s room.
“My lord?” Scholar Avar, who had been preparing lessons, hurriedly rose and bowed when he saw Eli.
“I need to borrow a book.” Eli’s gaze swept quickly across the shelves.
“One about the history of the Kingdom of Orlando, the more detailed the better.
Preferably an early one, involving the elves... or the ancient city-states.” He added the last part almost as an afterthought.
Although Scholar Avar was somewhat surprised that the lord had suddenly taken an interest in history, he quickly pulled out a thick, timeworn volume whose edges were already frayed.
“My lord, this is Annals of the Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Orlando.
It was compiled by an early court scholar of the kingdom, and its records are relatively objective and detailed.
It also contains rather extensive accounts of the period of Roderick La Roche and the years surrounding it.”
“Yes, this one will do.” Eli took the heavy book into his hands.
Would she like history? ...What am I thinking?
He swiftly suppressed that ill-timed thought, then turned and left with the book in hand.
Once everything was ready, Eli set out once more for the depths of Nightsong Forest with Gulu, who had become cheerful again.
Before long, the familiar vast lake came into view once more.
As expected, Valerian’s enormous dark-blue head emerged from the water.
Without saying anything, he simply opened the passage, his movements so practiced that it seemed like routine.
Gulu led the way with practiced ease until they arrived before that enormous jade door.
She reached out one little paw and lightly pressed a subtle rune on the door.
Hummm—
The jade door slid open inward in utter silence.
“Hehe! Her Highness the Princess! Your family has come back!”
Like a bird returning to its nest, Gulu darted inside in a flash.
Her joyful shriek echoed through the spacious sanctuary.
Eli followed right behind her.
Beneath the sanctuary’s soft light, Irene was still seated before the Water-Jade Throne, as if time itself had frozen within this place.
She slowly raised her eyes. Her star-filled gaze swept calmly over the bouncing Gulu.
But when it fell on Eli, a layer of frost instantly gathered within it.
“Didn’t you say,” Irene asked in the same ethereal voice as ever, “that you would never come back?”
Gulu’s charge faltered, and the excitement on her little face froze for a moment.
Then she quickly piled on a fawning smile and pointed one little paw at the food box in Eli’s hand.
“Hehe... well... the great Lord Gulu always keeps her word!
If I said I wasn’t coming back, then I wasn’t coming back!
This is... this is me bringing Eli here to offer Your Highness a little token of goodwill!”
As she spoke, she desperately threw Eli meaningful looks.
Eli clearly caught the strange undertone hidden in Irene’s words.
His heart stirred, but his face gave nothing away.
He stepped forward and set the food box on the table not far from the throne.
“Your Highness, these are a few local products from Obsidian Territory...”
Meanwhile, Gulu impatiently opened the box.
“Your Highness, look! The great Lord Gulu snatched... uh, no.
I carefully picked out so many delicious things for you! I guarantee they’re much better than last time—”
But Irene’s gaze fell directly on the thick hardbound volume in Eli’s other hand.
Something in her eyes seemed to shift ever so slightly.
Immediately understanding, Eli picked up the book and gave a slight bow.
“Also, I heard that Your Highness may have some interest in... the history of Orlando.
This is Annals of the Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Orlando, written by an early court scholar.
It contains fairly detailed records of the early years... especially the era of Roderick La Roche.
Perhaps... it may serve as something for Your Highness to read in your leisure.”
Irene remained silent. Her gaze rested on the weathered cover of the old book for several seconds.
The sanctuary fell into complete stillness, broken only by Gulu’s uneasy fidgeting.
Just when Eli thought she was about to tell him to get lost again—
Irene’s gaze finally shifted away from his face, as though she had tacitly accepted the gift.
Yet the words from her lips were still as brief as ever:
“Mm. Get out.”
She had not refused the gifts, but that was all.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Eli did not hesitate in the slightest, nor did he try to say one word more than necessary.
He cast one final glance at the cold, aloof figure seated upon the throne, then turned decisively and left.
Before long, his figure vanished beyond the jade door.
Silence returned to the sanctuary.
Gulu cautiously shuffled over to the food box and pawed it open.
Like a child offering up a treasure, she held out a delicate slice of honey cake and looked at Irene with eager eyes.
“Your Highness, have a taste? This one definitely—”
Irene accepted the cake and gently patted Gulu’s head.
Then she quietly gazed in the direction where Eli had disappeared. The jade door had long since closed in silence.
There was no expression at all on that flawless face.
Only the faint crease between her brows and the tightness at the corners of her lips betrayed a trace of... irritation.
Her fingers absently worried the smooth fabric of her sleeve, twisting it tighter and tighter.