397 Start Of Insight
Dorothy’s POV:
“We’ve already wasted too much time tonight. Now, let’s restart our original plan.”
Even after I passed through the door, I still felt that tonight’s encounter was really magical.
What was the principle behind this door? Was it some kind of sorcery? But I didn’t sense any magic fluctuations. Or was it some kind of mysterious power exclusive to the elves? Had it always existed? Or was it because of the princess’s sacrifice?
‘Guardian spirit’ was a broad concept, so what kind of existence did the princess have? An eternal soul? Or had it already merged with the palace?
Was she a part of the palace? Or was the palace a part of her?
I might never get an answer to these questions, and the Great Elder obviously wouldn’t tell me such secrets.
The ceiling of the bed chamber was very high, almost twenty meters high. All kinds of plant branches and vines were hovering on the ceiling and in the air. Through the slightly withered branches and leaves, many inconspicuous or colorful birds could be seen hidden among them.
A long veil hung down from the ceiling, forming a mist-like barrier around the wide and soft bed, gently but seriously rejecting the visitors.
Through the mist, I could vaguely see the Elf King’s figure. He lay quietly on the bed. Other than the slight rise and fall of his chest, he was like a wooden man.
The Great Elder apologized in a low voice, pulled open the curtain, and led us to the bed.
To be honest, if I didn’t know about the Elf King’s situation, I would have thought that the handsome man on the bed was taking a nap. His face was ruddy, and his expression was peaceful, as if he had a beautiful dream.
The Great Elder took a step forward and kneeled on one knee on the soft cushion scattered on the side of the bed. He was reporting something to the sleeping Elf King in the elf language. I barely understood what he was saying, so I could barely recognize that he was talking about the current situation of the elf race.
A few minutes later, the Great Elder stood up and gave his seat to my father and me.
“Time is of the essence. I’ll have to trouble the two of you.”
Before I started the ritual, I tried to contact Selma. Her voice was muffled. She had finished her night duty and was resting.
“I’m going to start my inspection of the Elf King,” I said. “The results will probably be out in the morning.”
Selma sounded much more clear-headed now. “I’ll stay with you.”
“No,” I refused. “Have a good rest. You still have to search tomorrow. Besides, I won’t be able to divert my attention to contact you during the journey.”
Selma had no choice but to agree. We cut off contact. I took out the various tools I had prepared long ago and placed them by my side.
I took a deep breath and looked at the moon outside the window. I said, “Let’s start.”
It was a wonderful feeling to establish a connection with one’s family. This feeling was different from the mind-link with Selma or my grandmother. It was as if I had extracted a specific object from my soul to construct a bridge. It was not a good feeling.
My father said he was my family, but we were no different from strangers. It was always contradictory to open up your soul to strangers.
This caused the link between my father and me to be unstable at the beginning.
After trying several times to no avail, under the anxious and puzzled gaze of the Great Elder, my father said, “How about this? Rather than letting me enter your spiritual world, why don’t you enter my spiritual world?”
Thus, this time, he took the initiative to invite me to contact his spiritual world. It went very smoothly and was completed without any obstacles.
My father’s spiritual world was plain and unremarkable. At least, it was not very ‘compatible’ with the mysterious identity he wore in the outside world.
Ordinary forests, lakes, and even the wildflowers on the ground were all typical in the real world. Besides an ordinary wooden house, this place was no different from any other natural scenery I had seen in the Elf Forest.
It seemed that my father really liked his seclusive place.
After the connection structure with the middleman was completed, the next step was to gain insight into the Elf King.
He must have been a powerful King in the past, but now, the power of the past had been sealed with his sleep. Prying into the fate of a King should have caused a great shock to me, but in the face of an unconscious person, this shock was better than nothing.
“Remember your goal, Dorothy,” my father’s voice suddenly rang in my ear. “The lifespan of elves is very long, and their life experiences are much longer than that of werewolves. If you can’t find what you need in time, it will be a waste of time.”
Alright, remember my goal.
The mark of nature...
The Goddess of Nature...
Contact...
I rummaged through my complicated fate for the information I needed. The Elf King’s life flashed before my eyes in a chaotic and fuzzy way. This was because I didn’t have the time to sort them out carefully.
I tried to touch the information I thought was close to the target, but most options were wrong. The rest were tightly bound by a layer of green light. I realized that this was a secret that I shouldn’t be hearing.
“Why do you understand so much about this, to the point that you know what I should and shouldn’t be looking at?” I couldn’t help but ask my father.
My father asked in return, “What do you mean ‘understand’? I haven’t even done anything yet.”