Chapter 186

Chapter 186: My Light

Chapter 186. My Light

— That land was originally where the elves lived. The difference is that they chose ‘assimilation’ instead of ‘harmony’ for a long time.
Harmony means living while protecting each other’s domains, and assimilation means living together mixed in a single place.
The western elves are those who chose harmony.
— They passed magic on to humans. The release and control of emotions, that is what you know as the ‘Red Circle’.
If you go east, you will surely find a way to govern your emotions and develop even further.
The man who became the Demon King had no one to teach him how to govern his heart, which is why he ended up straying onto the wrong path.
Your Regency, what I have told you so far may sound like a warning that you could become the Demon King, but please do not fear your emotions too much.
Because that, too, is being devoured by your emotions.
That is the content written in the final chapter.
— What is the content?
Erica inquired.
— It says to go east.
— East?
— If I want to use my abilities more, it says to do so.
The eastern land and the Red Circle… It certainly does not lack credibility. There are definitely many Red Circle mages on that side.
Currently, the person who has possessed the Red Circle and lived the longest is Lucy Philias.
There were occasional rumors that she was an eastern mage, but that, too, was nothing more than a rumor.
“What I saw back then was unmistakably of eastern architectural style.”
If I summon her and ask her, would she answer?
I cannot foresee it.
— Is there no information about the eastern land?
— We haven’t been gathering information for a long time. Until then, we thought there was no one who could surpass us.
— What arrogance.
— Ahem, let’s not talk about that. If you’re already done reading, may I read it too?
Erica extended her hand to take the paper.
— You cannot.
Ferda pulled his hand away from hers.
— Say that once more.
A pressure was felt implying that she would use force.
Faced with the atmosphere that she might actually do it, Ferda spoke.
— Then, please answer a question of mine.
— You don’t want to?
— Is it true that the Blue Dragon, Iorga, had a fiancée?
…..
Erica’s expression hardened.
The momentum of threatening vanished in an instant.
— How much did you hear about that?
— I heard that she fell into a trap and died.
— A trap… How typical of that tribe.
Erica despised the elves and threw her body against the backrest.
— It’s fine, you don’t have to show it to me. So bury that. Understand?
— Understood.
Was it a sensitive enough matter to give up on eavesdropping on the topic of conversation?
Thinking that it might be information worth that much, Ferda began to covet it.
— Anyway, going east means there is no other goal to set, just focus. That works out well.
True, it works out well. That is all I need to know.
Ferda thought that and folded the letter carefully.
Erica looked at Rize and gestured with her hand.
— I’m done reading, so give me mine.
— Y-yes!
Rize, who had been waiting, handed the paper over immediately.
— Alright, then let’s see what the content is… Huh?
Erica’s expression, upon receiving the pile of papers, progressively broke down.
— Is this blank paper?
— I-is that so?
— Or are there characters that only elves can read?
— Well… It looks like blank paper to me too…
— Right?
Unlike her formal tone, her teeth biting her lower lip trembled.
Erica waved her hand in the air.
Then the flying carriage turned around and headed back the way it had come.
— E-Erica-nim? Why the turn…?
— I’m doing it for the old man’s comfort.
— What?
— Since he is precarious, rather than living painfully, I will cut off his breath.
— Y-yes!??
She truly had the momentum to do it.
Ferda tried to stop her cautiously.
— Think rationally. Even if you return, you will not see a good spectacle…
— Silence! You are already done with your matter, so don’t speak as if it were someone else’s problem! Or would you like to try translating it yourself right here?!
Erica threw the diary at Ferda and threw a fit of hysteria.
Naturally, he could not translate it, so he was simply perplexed.
— Uh, eh?
Rize looked at the diary and reacted.
— The name written here… Does it read as Linne?
— How do you know that?
Erica was also startled, and her hysteria vanished instantly.
Since the language of the High Elves has unique characters different per individual, no one other than the person themselves can interpret it.
— Did you receive language interpretation along with the inheritance of the Great Chief’s blood?
— It’s not that. I don’t know the characters of the Great Chief, nor the languages of other High Elves.
Two people with an unresolved question.
Ferda set that question aside for later.
— So are you saying you can interpret all the content of this diary?
— What?
At Ferda’s signal with his eyes, Rize finally caught on.
— Ah, yes! I can do what the Great Chief couldn’t!
Rize spoke actively to Erica with a confident face.
Erica looked at him indifferently, but finally turned the flying carriage around.
Ferda obtained his answer, and Erica obtained the interpretation of the diary, and both were able to return having obtained what each wanted.
Rize exhaled a sigh of relief and checked the contents of his bag once more.
— Huh?
He discovered something remaining in his bag.
— Was there one more sheet left?
— A letter?
— Yes, it is a letter to deliver to the Regent.
Ferda read the content of that letter.
As he said, there was more content on the back.
— If you are reading this page, Rize has probably also boarded the carriage.
He is a purely innocent and bright child to a point where it is scary to put him anywhere.
As much as he feared being abandoned by his clan, he must have also put a lot of heart into this matter.
“No wonder.”
Judging by his actions, he was nothing more than a pure youth, unlike a High Elf.
Such a child has become unable to return to his homeland, so his heart cannot help but feel heavy.
— Regent, I know this is truly selfish.
But if I do not ask like this, there is nowhere I can ask.
Please, I beg you to take care of my last remaining son.
Having read up to the final chapter, Ferda folded the letter.
“…Wait a moment.”
Ferda wondered if he had misread and unfolded it again.
— Please take care of my son.
It was not a misreading.
It said ‘son’.
Seeing that word, he looked at Rize once more.
Long blonde hair with green eyes.
Long eyelashes and demure gestures.
Rize was a perfect woman.
Wondering if he had marked it wrong due to unfamiliarity with the human language, he asked him.
— Secretary Rize?
— Yes.
Rize answered calmly in a high-pitched voice.
— I’m sorry, but may I ask what your gender is?
At Ferda’s question, Erica furrowed her brows.
— What kind of question is that? He is obviously a woman, right?
— W-what!??
Rize grew flustered at Erica’s statement.
— Even if elves hide a lot, this isn’t something to hide, right?
— Ah, no. As you say, it’s not something that needs to be hidden, but…
Rize pointed to himself and answered like this.
— I am a man?
— …Excuse me?
— …?
— …?
Erica turned her head to look at Ferda.
Ferda silently showed her the written content.
Erica’s eyes also clearly saw the word ‘son’.
— …That cannot be.
Erica looked back and forth between the son and Rize with an expression as if the world were crumbling down.
Ferda could not dare to say it, but Erica said it for him.
— There is no way such a cute guy is a man…?

The garden of Valdrova Castle.
A woman with red hair and two pairs of horns, Valdrova, looked endlessly toward the sky.
“Ferda said he went to the World Tree, right?”
Since he went by flying carriage, he will surely return by flying carriage.
Valdrova planned to go out to receive him when he arrived.
“Like lovers…”
Her face flushed.
They had already met several times and held hands, so why did doing this make her heart flutter so much?
Her body did not feel like her own.
Her feet shifted restlessly, wanting to run away, and her hands pressed tightly against her legs to stop them from moving.
After a moment, a black dot or something similar began to become visible in Valdrova’s eyes.
“It’s Ferda!”
The moment Valdrova saw that, she moved following the direction the carriage was heading.
She planned to pretend to go for a walk, greet him, and then walk by his side.
The celestial carriage stopped in an open space inside the castle.
There, Administrator Isabella and Ruri were waiting.
Ruri was fine, but since she was not close to Isabella, she hid behind a pillar for now.
The carriage landed in the open space, and the people inside stepped out.
“Iorga’s son and Ferda…”
They said two people went, so only two should have come out.
But, strangely, that was not the end.
What came out behind Ferda was bright blonde hair with pointed ears.
Behind his head, everything looked pure white as if light were attached to it, with such fair skin.
A girl so beautiful that even Valdrova found him stepping down with an awkward expression.
— Ah?!—
His foot slipped and his body leaned forward.
Ferda, right in front, caught that body by reflex.
— Are you okay?—
— Ah, yes… I’m sorry.—
The girl smiled broadly with a blush on his face.
Thump!—.
A chilling sound echoed from the pillar.
From where Valdrova’s fingers touched, cracks emerged.
It was quite a loud sound, but Valdrova did not even hear it.
So much was she absorbed in distracting thoughts.
“Bringing such a pretty girl…”
Valdrova felt her chest tighten.
“Why does Ferda hang around with so many women…?”
Right now, all the people around Ferda were women.
The mature and intellectual Isabella and Erica.
The small and cute Ruri.
And now even a High Elf girl who seems to emit light.
“Ferda is not someone who would have an affair.”
Valdrova knows how much Ferda loves her.
But, what if?
What if Ferda does not love her that much?
Every time that phrase ‘what if?’ floated in her head, she felt as if she were being slapped several times across the cheek.
“Stop the bad thoughts.”
She feared her blood qi would boil.
As she watched with an anxious heart, she ended up making eye contact with Ferda.
The thought that perhaps she had not seen clearly was brief; Ferda locked his gaze in Valdrova’s direction and approached.
This is awkward.
In this mood, I don’t want to meet Ferda…
Valdrova hid behind the pillar.
— Vald…—
Ferda poked his head beyond the pillar behind which she was hiding.
She was not in that place.
Wondering where she had gone, he lowered his head a little and a long tail was swaying along the round wall of the pillar.
When Ferda tried to move to see her, she nimbly slipped away along that wall.
— Vald…—
…..
— Rova…—
…..
— Your Highness!—
— !!…!!—
As Ferda turned sharply to the other side, she almost collided with Ferda.
She jerked her head back, worried about making two more holes in his chest.
That figure seemed to be losing balance and falling backward.
Ferda, unconsciously, put his hand on her waist to support her falling body.
In reality, no weight was felt.
Because she was already supporting her body with her tail.
— I have returned.—
A voice that not only calmed the boiling blood qi, but also reassured the heart.
Normally, she would have been overly happy and responded softly, but Valdrova simply turned her head away.
That action hurt Ferda’s heart.
— Why are you like this?—
— …I don’t know.—
— Even if you say you don’t know, isn’t it because of me?—
— …That’s why I say I don’t know.—
— Please tell me what I did wrong. If there is a misunderstanding, we must resolve it, and if I did something wrong, apologizing is the right thing to do.—
Well, I’m saying I don’t know!
She wanted to push him away and run away.
But looking at that face, the courage did not come.
Better try to say something as Ferda says, it doesn’t seem bad.
— Ferda… because you are with other women… I guess I feel left out and…—
— Is it because of Tower Master Erica?—
She is a beauty with dignity in her own right, but is it something to react so sensitively to now?
— No. I’m talking about that small and cute elf woman.—
— …What?—
At Ferda’s uncomprehending reaction, Valdrova finally exploded with emotion.
— Bringing such a bright and cute girl…!—
…..
— My chest feels tight, and I hate Ferda…!—
She placed her hand over her masked face.
Ferda blinked for a moment and then answered.
— Is that why?—
— Yes!—
Ferda pondered with an expression of not knowing what to do, then answered.
— First, let me tell you… Rize is a man.—
— You even call him by his name, Rize, I really, what?—
Valdrova removing her hand from her face.
— What?
— He is a man.—
— M-man?—
— Yes.—
— Man as in male?—
— Yes.—
— …Of the same gender as Ferda?—
— That’s right.—
She poked her head out with an incredulous expression to examine Rize.
— How can such a cute guy be…?—
Ferda felt like he had heard that phrase somewhere before.
Valdrova’s face turned bright red once more.
— I, I had another absurd misunderstanding…—
Valdrova, embarrassed, genuinely tried to run away.
Ferda did not release her waist, but pulled her closer to himself.
She was the Power Stage, but she could not overcome Ferda’s strength and was firmly trapped in his grasp.
— Did you think I was having an affair?—
— It’s not that, but…—
Her lips trembled.
Looking into those blue eyes, she could not lie.
— …It seems so.—
— There is only Your Highness Valdrova for me.—
— I know. I know, but… I made another mistake.—
— No.—
Ferda stopped her words of self-reproach.
— That is completely natural.—
Ferda spoke in a wet voice.
— Your Highness has always approached me first.—
It was Valdrova who suggested deciding on a nickname.
When that didn’t work, it was Valdrova who asked him to give her a name.
It was also Valdrova who asked to wait a little longer.
— In this relationship, the one who always stepped back was me.—
The one who was afraid was Ferda.
That her purity would be tainted because of him.
That she, like a blank sheet of paper, was so precious.
How wrong he was, he only realized today.
Ironically, the words the High Elf Elder shouted gave him that realization.
She is not immutable.
With a large part called Ferda in her chest, she too will change.
She could become a dragon who suspects those around her like an ugly human, suspects her friends, even suspects the person she loves.
Like Iorga, who killed his fiancée.
What Ferda, facing that cruel truth, had to do, was clear.
— So I decided.—
To reduce hesitation and move forward.
— What did you decide?—
— What you mentioned before…—
— That…?—
— Yes. A name.—
Ferda had answered that he would think of her name.
But, in reality, it was not like that.
From the moment she asked him to decide on a name, it was already decided.
There are many noble words to refer to her, but the appearance of her that only Ferda knows always pointed to a single word.
— Eleanor.—
She was always my light.