399 The Thrush
Dorothy’s POV:
When I grabbed the flower, a lustrous green air flow suddenly wrapped around me. It was strong but extremely gentle, like the willow branches dancing in the spring breeze, gently wrapping around me.
I lowered my head to look at the wildflower in my hand. When I raised my head again, the Elf King had disappeared.
As the green light dispersed like fireflies, the birds were silent for a second before they started singing loudly. One by one, they charged down toward me. The moment their sharp beaks touched me, they turned into soft petals and merged into my spiritual world.
I felt something forming in my spiritual world. It was a tree, a flower, or a lake. It did not have any intention of an invasion. Like a restrained and polite guest, it chose an ownerless land with the permission of its master to take root and sprout.
In that instant, I felt more images appear before my eyes. This wasn’t a gift from fate but a different type of broadcast.
I realized this was a ‘connection’ between the Elf King and the Goddess of Nature. It had temporarily been transferred to me, allowing me to know anything that happened in this forest at any time.
After the connection was stabilized, the temporarily subsided fatigue came back like a tide. The sharp pain felt like someone was stirring my brain with a blender. I removed my insight and collapsed to the floor.
My father and the Great Elder quickly came to help me, but I didn’t even have the strength to speak. Fortunately, my father had been sharing my vision. I could vaguely hear him talking to the Great Elder. The Great Elder’s old gaze became more and more energetic as he spoke.
I couldn’t hear the words after that. My heavy eyelids felt like sandbags were tied to them. Without realizing it, I fell asleep.
A bird’s cry woke me up.
I thought I was in the Elf King’s bed chamber for a moment. I reflexively sat up and looked around vigilantly; no father or the Great Elder was there. There was only a tiny bird that looked like a drawing on its brows standing at the head of the bed and looking at me with its small head tilted.
Beside it, my Soul Sparrow was eager to try to greet it, but the thrush was very cold and ignored it.
I realized I was in my bedroom in the embassy, so I relaxed and waved to the two little creatures at the head of the bed. “Come here, little ones.”
The little birds obediently flew to my arm, and I rubbed their furry little heads one by one. The thrush looked at me with her head tilted, and my Soul Sparrow gently pecked me.
My nervousness disappeared under the comfort of the two little cuties.
“Hello, little guy. What’s your name?” I asked the thrush.
It wasn’t a true natural creature. Even though it appeared like a thrush, it was essentially a messenger between nature and me.
My poor Soul Sparrow, its love would stay unrequited.
The thrush didn’t answer me, so I decided to call it ‘Nature’ for the time being. My Soul Sparrow tugged a strand of my hair down with dissatisfaction. It looked angry because I didn’t give it a name.
Due to this, its good impression of the thrush immediately disappeared. It chirped at the bird in all seriousness, trying to drive it out of its territory.
“Hey, hey, calm down. ‘Nature’ can’t be considered a name, okay?” I quickly separated the two birds. This was, at most... Well, an essence? Anyway, you’re not a real thrush, so don’t be so mean to me. Speaking of which, you’re not a little bird yourself!”
My dissuasion was taken as favoritism toward Nature by my Soul Sparrow. It turned its anger toward me and flew around twice before disappearing.
I tried to call out to it, but it was angry and refused to answer me. Was my own soul angry at me?
It sounded like I was a lunatic.
In the blink of an eye, Nature disappeared as well. A few seconds later, the reason for its actions appeared. Someone knocked on the door and entered with my permission.
It was my father and the Great Elder.
“Good afternoon, Miss Dorothy,” the Great Elder said affectionately. I” heard that you were feeling dizzy and unwell. I want to send my regards to you on behalf of the elf race.”
Not feeling well? No, I was still alive and kicking.
The next moment, I understood what the Great Elder and my father meant. I immediately put on a weak expression and said, “Thank you, I think I’m not used to your place. Since I came to the capital, I’ve had some symptoms, and it’s finally erupting. I really need to recuperate for a while, and I’m very sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
“Please don’t say that. It’s our fault for not taking good care of you. If you have any needs, please don’t hesitate to let us know.”
The Great Elder acted as if he was really just here to go through the motions and left after saying some empty words to me. My father didn’t leave with him, so our father-daughter relationship was the most natural excuse for us.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to suffer for a while, Dorothy,” he said. “Trouble is coming. Pretending to be sick is the best choice now.”