Chapter 229: 9.2

Elven Priest Erolith was sitting inside a wooden carriage when he entered the Elven Palace, Myriad Palace. It was a grand palace in the middle of the forest, quite far from the Eleven capital. It was meant to be built near the Sacred Tree, so the Elven King could communicate and also protect the tree.

The carriage stopped in front of the palace courtyard, and a tall and robust man with short hair and pointy ears greeted Priest Erolith. He wore a wood crown, signifying his status, despite him refusing to wear the other King's garment. He wore a high-quality elven tunic instead.

He strode towards the carriage door and opened it personally, "Erolith, it's been a while!" King Elduin said as he hugged Erolith tightly, "I'm sorry I can't invite you here often because I have way too many things to do."

"A—Ah… I have a lot of things to do as well…" Erolith replied meekly.

King Elduin smiled and held Erolith's hand, "Well, we have a lot to talk about. Let's talk in my private garden."

King Elduin pulled Priest Erolith intimately as if they had known each other for a long time. Yunyu was baffled. How could this King, who was rumoured to have slowly descended into madness, looked very kind and stable?

[Pupa, did I miss something here? What is the relationship between Elduin and Erolith?]

[Pupa: Well, Elduin and Erolith are childhood friends. Erolith was Elduin's study mentor because he is five years older than Elduin. In fact, your relationship with him is more like older and little brothers. At some point, Elduin called you Big Ero.]

[Big Ero… Hmmmmmm…]

[Pupa: What?]

[Nope, don't mind me.]

[Anyway, what is the current Breakmeter and Elduin's Fatemeter?]

[Pupa: Breakmeter is 0%, an Elduin's Fatemeter is 40%.]

[40%?! So high!]

[Pupa: Isn't it normal? You are his only close friends after years of studying together.]

King Elduin guided Erolith until they reached the private garden of the King. It was a forbidden section when they were just kids, but now that Elduin was the King, and Erolith was the priest, they could enter this garden freely.

The garden was filled with colourful and fragrant flowers, also many glowing mushrooms for lighting. Elduin and Erolith sat on a long bench made from overgrowing tree vines. Elduin opened the conversation first by asking, "I heard that your sacred sanctuary is now filled with people nowadays. Did they asked for a cure or blessing from you?"

"Well, they asked for both. But most of the times, they asked for a magic cure. Especially after you rationed the Sacred Tree fruits," Priest Erolith stared at King Elduin with concern, "Elduin, what happened? Do you realize that baby elves need to be fed with Sacred Tree fruit once in their lifetime to grow healthy, right?"

"I know that," King Elduin replied. He sighed and continued, "But I cannot because the Sacred Tree is in a bad state right now. It produces fewer fruits, and also, I can feel that the tree is weakening."

"Weakening?" Priest Erolith frowned, "What happened?"

"I don't know either. I've asked the Sacred Tree guardian, and she said there was nothing wrong with the tree. She didn't detect any dark energy either. But the tree produces fewer fruits each month. So I have to ration it, or we might not have enough in a bad situation."

King Elduin looked concerned, and he place said first, "Actually, I've invited you here because I want your opinion about something."

"What is it?" Erolith asked. 

King Elduin opened his mouth and shut it again. He looked genuinely confused about how to utter this. After a while, he suddenly asked something out of the blue, "Erolith, can you check whether there is something wrong inside my head? I have had strange dreams lately, and it inflicts my sleep."

"What kind of dream?" Priest Erolith asked

"… I don't need to tell you, but it does disturb me so much," King Elduin replied. 

Priest Erolith nodded, "Well, I can definitely check whether you have a parasite or dark entity inside your head. It is usually those small demons who tried to make unnecessary mischief and disturb your sleep."

Erolith patted his thigh and said, "Now, lay down and put your head on my lap."

King Elduin paused for a moment, his cheek reddened, like a ripe apple, "I—Is this necessary? Can I just sit?"

"It's better if you are fully relaxed, so I can probe in easier," Erolith said.

King Elduin gulped, and he carefully laid on Erolith's lap. His body was hot all over when his head touched Erolith's lap, but he tried his best to act natural and used his hand to cover the private part, so Erolith would not notice it.

Priest Erolith's index glowed as he was about to touch Elduin's forehead, but Elduin stopped him by holding Erolith's wrist, "Y—You will not be able to see the content of my dream, right?"

Priest Erolith rolled his eyes, "I cannot. I'm not a god. You are worrying too much. What is inside your dream, anyway? You kiss a girl?"

King Elduin gulped and nodded, "Y—Yeah, my dream is quite private." 

King Elduin closed his eyes as Priest Erolith touched the King's forehead with his index finger. Erolith closed his eyes and entered Elduin's consciousness. Joking aside, he could actually pry on Elduin's dreams and imagination, but he respected the private and walked around Elduin's mind.

If there was a mischievous demon, then he should be able to see the demon. But there was nothing wrong with Elduin's mind. Priest Erolith walked around again to check inside Elduin's mind and decided to just use magic to light up the mind.

"Lumos," Erolith chanted. A bright light appeared out of his hand to light up Elduin's mind. He checked everything and saw nothing wrong. Every memory, magic flow, et cetera were in the correct order.

Thus, after staying for more than ten minutes, Priest Erolith was forced to leave Elduin's mind. He opened his eyes at the same time when Elduin opened his.

Elduin sat hurriedly and cleared his throat before asking, "S—So, Erolith, is there something wrong in my head?"

Priest Erolith shook his head, "I see nothing wrong. Everything seems to be in good order. Maybe you are just too tired. You need to take care of yourself better, okay?"

"… nothing is wrong with me, right? My dream is not wrong?"

"Well, since I see no demon, then it's a normal dream," Priest Erolith said.

King Elduin stared at Priest Erolith for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face, "Well then, I'm glad."

[Pupa: Ding! Fatemeter increases to 45%.]

After chatting for a while, Priest Erolith excused himself first and left the King's private garden because he still had other things to do.

"Try to rest more. You are a good king, Elduin. People are relying on you," Priest Erolith said, "If you keep on dreaming about a female elf, then just tell me whenever you are ready. I will be the one who starts the wedding ceremony for you."

Elduin nodded as he escorted Erolith out of the garden until he entered his carriage.

Elduin returned to his private garden, and a wicked whisper resounded again near his ears, "So that is the person in your dream, your Big Ero."

"Yeah…" Elduin replied weakly.

The wicked voice chuckled and tempted Elduin, like a devil whisper, "Oh, how beautiful he is. Imagine if you can do everything you dreamed about him, it would be wonderful, don't you think?"

"..."