Chapter 149: Klee Was Terrified

——————

Klee’s mother, Eliza, was a high elf from the Elven Forest, which lay on the border between the Kingdom of Elnor and the Kingdom of Karachia. The powerful elven territory brooked no trespass, and the armies of the two kingdoms were generally unable to pass through the Elven Forest.

There had, however, been an exception in history. At the time, relations between Karachia and Elnor were tense, and Karachian slave traders happened to capture the elven princess, who had secretly slipped out of the forest.

When negotiations failed, the elves opened the way for Elnor’s army and dispatched a corps of elven mages to fight alongside them. They nearly conquered the Kingdom of Karachia. In the end, Karachia ceded territory to the Alsis Empire in exchange for assistance and mediation, preventing Elnor from annexing the kingdom. Ever since then, however, both nations had treated the Elven Forest with ever greater caution.

The Kingdom of Elnor made sweeping revisions to its domestic slave laws, greatly raising the status of elves. Their numbers within the kingdom began to increase as well.

Blackstone City was the city closest to the Elven Forest, and its lord, Count Mond, had even married a high elf. While the king was still alive, he had personally granted Eliza the honorary title of countess, equal in rank to Mond, in recognition of the marriage. The elves, in turn, regarded Count Mond as an honored guest of their people.

In a sense, the household of Count Mond was a symbol of peace between the two races. Although Klee was only a half-elf, her importance and symbolic significance were scarcely less than those of the elven princess herself.

And now Mura, the eldest prince and a direct descendant of the royal line, had actually tried to kill Klee, the symbol of peace!

If he truly succeeded, the friendship between Elnor and the elves would be severed forever. With the king of Elnor dead, the kingdom was beset by internal turmoil and its situation was unstable. Meanwhile, Karachia’s army had long been watching the border like a tiger waiting to pounce.

They did not dare demand back the territories they had ceded from the Alsis Empire, nor did they dare seek redress from the powerful elves. They had constantly dreamed of seizing land from Elnor to make up for their losses.

If the elves opened the way for Karachia now—or simply joined the fighting as they had in the past—Elnor would inevitably suffer catastrophic losses.

Confronted by Count Mond and his wife, Mura, having regained his composure, felt somewhat guilty.

Fortunately, he had not killed Klee. The matter was not yet beyond repair.

“Hmph! How dare you! I am the eldest prince. Are you surrounding me in preparation for a rebellion? If I had wanted to kill her, would she still be alive?” The prince refused to admit anything and instead turned the accusation back on them. “And you, Mond—you said your daughter was gravely ill. How is she still so lively?”

“Father! Mother! Sob, sob—Klee was scared!”

At last, Klee broke free of Mura and rushed toward her parents.

This time, the eldest prince did not stop her. His target was now Chu Yun.

Mond was somewhat in the wrong, but as long as his daughter was safe and alive, nothing else mattered much.

“Klee, are you hurt? Did he mistreat you?” Eliza hurriedly examined her daughter. There was a little blood on Klee, but it was Mura’s.

“Klee is fine. That strange uncle started crying for some reason. He looked so pitiful, and he kept cutting his own hand. Klee was terrified.” As she spoke, Klee secretly glanced at Mura.

Mura’s face darkened. He felt utterly humiliated. “That’s nonsense! You’re the one who cried!”

“Waaah, Mother, he’s being mean to me. Klee is scared.” Klee quickly hid behind Eliza and complained pitifully.

“Heh heh. I never imagined that at his age, the eldest prince would still be such a crybaby. Be good, Klee. We’re going home. We won’t play with him.”

Eliza picked up Klee and led the injured Bethreena away with her, paying no further attention to the shouting prince.

Laughter erupted from the surrounding crowd, and the eldest prince was instantly consumed by rage.

“All of you, get out! Drive them all away!”

With an expressionless face, Leotis waved his hand, and the royal knights began dispersing the crowd.

At the orders of the city lord and Hagrid, the Blackstone Knights also withdrew, no longer surrounding the group.

Perhaps because Chu Yun had absorbed the divinity within the holy spear, its influence over the eldest prince was gradually fading. By now, a little of Mura’s reason had returned.

Today’s incident could have been either serious or minor. Neither side wanted to escalate matters, so they each yielded a step and allowed the greater matter to become small and the small matter to disappear.

What the eldest prince did not know was that Bethreena held a grudge. She could temporarily set aside the humiliation she had suffered today for the sake of the greater good, but if she ever had the chance, she would never forgive anyone who had humiliated her, her family, or her friends.

“Your Highness, shall we continue the search?” Leotis asked, his feelings conflicted.

The eldest prince glanced at the neighboring building. The sign by its entrance read: Viscount Carl.

He knew Viscount Carl. If it had not been for that damned man, the second prince might have been murdered by assassins sent by his mother when he was still a child.

“Find that Chu Yun first.” The eldest prince glared unpleasantly at Viscount Carl’s residence. Fortunately, he still had other matters that took priority.

Leotis began assigning tasks. “The First Battalion will continue protecting His Highness. The Second and Third Battalions will conduct a thorough search from here toward the southern and northern gates respectively. The Fourth Battalion will follow me. The Fifth Battalion will search outside the city.”

After giving his orders, Leotis approached Nelson, the president of the Mages’ Guild, who had been among the onlookers.

“Nelson, where is Chu Yun now?” Leotis asked helplessly.

Nelson knew that Leotis was in a difficult position, though he did not know why the eldest prince wanted Chu Yun. Since the holy spear had not reacted to Chu Yun during the trial, Nelson had never suspected anything involving fragments of divinity. Nor did he know that the holy spear had now lost its power.

“Why are you looking for him again? I don’t know where he is.” Nelson frowned.

“I advise you not to get involved with Chu Yun. The eldest prince is capable of anything now. I am His Highness’s guard, and I can only obey his orders. I do not wish to become your enemy,” Leotis warned him quietly.

With that, Leotis led his men toward the Mage Academy, intending to search Chu Yun’s house.

Meanwhile, inside the Mirror World, Chu Yun had just finished collecting all the various drops. The explosion had killed a great many people. After leaving behind the spoils belonging to the Four-Leaf Clover, Chu Yun unceremoniously took all the light spheres belonging to the royal knights, Leotis, and the eldest prince.

Klee had not dropped a fragment of divinity. Chu Yun’s ability to sense divinity had indeed detected a fragment within her, but it was extremely small, and Klee’s compatibility with its divine nature was poor. Although it had merged into her body, it was being absorbed at an exceedingly slow rate.

“They want to search my house? Heh. Let their master try out my new spell first.”

Chu Yun was not worried in the slightest. As soon as he attacked the eldest prince, they would have no time or inclination to continue searching for him.