Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

◆Elven Princess, Luusien

The Goddess of Wisdom and Victory, Rena-sama, was the most beautiful being in all of heaven.

Her shining golden hair, her deep, star-like blue eyes… Even though Goddess Empress Faeria and Goddess of Beauty Ishtar were equally stunning, the young Rena outshone them both.

How many hundreds of years had it been since I first met her?

High elves would often go to Elios and work as attendants to the heavenly residents, so it was only natural for a princess like me to visit Elios to serve them.

There, in the center of a vast garden above the clouds, stood a shining white palace. The bridges, made of rainbows, connected this heavenly paradise.

Though Arseidia was beautiful in its own right, the paradise of heaven surpassed even that.

And I was fortunate enough to serve Rena-sama.

Her cold, ethereal beauty—always accompanied by her valkyries—was the very definition of celestial grace.

Even the male heavenly beings, not to mention the young Goddesses and female angels, adored her.

Naturally, I too felt the same.

When I worked by her side, every gesture, every word, enchanted me.

I never forgot those days, even after I returned to Arseidia.

And now, that very Rena-sama was standing right behind me.

「Long time no see, Luusien.」

Rena-sama looked at me as if I were nothing more than trash.

Why? Why was Rena-sama here?

This was completely unexpected.

But even more confusing than her presence was the fact that she looked absolutely enraged.

Her beautiful eyebrows furrowed, and the cold glare in her blue eyes sent a chill down my spine.

Why was she looking at me like that? What had I done to deserve such a gaze?

Why was my idol, the one I had once adored, looking at me as if I were nothing?

It felt like my heart might shatter in that instant.

「Aaah.」

As I was about to cry, the person behind me beat me to it.

Kouki was crying.

I turned around.

Kouki stared at Rena-sama with tears welling in his eyes.

「D-DEAR MOTHER!!」

Kouki shouted, rushing toward Rena-sama.

Rena-sama stooped down and caught Kouki in her arms.

Kouki sobbed uncontrollably, clinging to Rena-sama’s bosom.

「DEAR MOTHER!」

「Geez, Kouki, strong children shouldn’t cry so easily. And you know I’m always watching over you. There’s no need to miss me.」

Rena-sama said softly as she gently pulled away from Kouki.

Kouki wiped his tears, still sniffling.

「Y-Yes. Sorry, Dear Mother… I won’t cry anymore. I’ll become strong, like my Dear Father. I’ll become a strong knight, just like him.」

「Fufufu, what a good child you are, Kouki. I know you’ll become a splendid knight.」

Rena-sama smiled kindly, caressing Kouki’s cheek.

I couldn't help but feel like a third wheel in this moment.

And some of her words seemed… out of place.

「E-Excuse me, Rena-sama… um, do you know Kouki? And… "Dear Mother"?」

I asked, still confused.

Rena-sama knew about Kouki, but why did he call her "Dear Mother"?

Was Kouki her child?

I looked at him again. Now that I think about it, he did resemble Rena-sama, but when did this happen?

Who was her partner? Could it be… the Hero?!

He was the most obvious candidate. Despite all the men who courted Rena-sama, only the Hero had ever been rumored to be her lover.

But I never expected they’d already have a child…

Could this be why Kouki had been entrusted to that country?

It was a shocking revelation.

「Well then, Kouki… sleep for a bit. Mother needs to punish this elf mongrel for a while.」

After Rena-sama said this, Kouki's body suddenly went limp.

Rena-sama caught him gently and placed him on the couch.

Then, her eyes locked onto mine again—piercing, cold, filled with danger.

My body froze instinctively.

「Luusien. You discovered my secret and kidnapped Kouki. Now… what should I do with you?」

「HIIIIIIIIIIIII」

Rena-sama approached me with a terrifying smile.

SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY!SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY!SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY!SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! SCARY!

It felt like my very soul was being crushed under the weight of her presence.

If the public learned about this, the gentlemen in the Heavenly Palace would surely throw a fit.

They’d storm the Hero’s country, causing chaos.

No wonder Rena-sama wanted to keep this a secret.

「I-I won’t tell a soul about this! I won’t tell anyone that Rena-sama has a child with the he—Eh?」

I was about to promise, but then I realized something was wrong.

Kouki had said his father was in Nargol.

So, Kouki’s father couldn’t possibly be the Hero.

「Why are you suddenly bringing up Reiji? He's the last person who could be Kouki's father.」

「Eh, then…」

So I was wrong.

Who was Kouki’s father, then?

「Yes, I’ll tell you. But you must not tell anyone. Understand?」

Rena-sama’s right hand began to glow, brimming with magical power.

I could feel the sheer force of it, a reminder of just how vast her strength was, even among the Goddesses of Elios.

I knew I had no chance of resisting her.

「HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!」

All I could do was scream, like a pig being led to slaughter.

◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

The Amber Palace, at the heart of Arseidia, was the residence of the Elven Queen.

Since the best room in the guest house had been taken by the dwarves, we were relocated to a room in the palace itself.

As night fell, the Queen hosted a small party to welcome us.

From my window, I could see the giant golden tree lighting up the city beneath the starlight.

The glowing flowers that dotted the city created a truly fantastical spectacle.

It was a sight befitting of Arseidia's nickname: the Capital of Dreams.

Groups of beautiful children sang and danced before my eyes.

The elves only chose the most attractive children, and each one had a well-ordered face, guaranteed to grow into handsome men.

「Beneath the great golden tree,

Fairies are singing and dancing.

The sweet singing voice of beautiful maidens flows with the tune,

The flowers bloom beautifully.

Beneath it all lies the capital of dreams, Arseidia,

Where the beautiful queen who protects the land is blessed by the gods of heaven.」

The boys sang in soprano voices, wearing nothing but plain white shorts.

It seemed they weren’t wearing underwear, and I couldn’t help but notice the small, moving… things beneath their shorts.

The me from before would have blushed and averted my gaze instantly, but now, after seeing that WMD size, I barely even flinched.

In fact, I had to fight the urge to shout, “That boy over there! Raise your leg even higher!”

「Chiyuki-san… You look like a pervy uncle.」

Nao looked at me while spewing such a rude remark.

「Excuse me Nao-san, may I ask what you mean by that?!」

「I-I didn’t say anything, Chiyuki-san. You must be imagining things. But man, this is quite a rare meal.」

「Trying to change the topic, eh… I'll let you off this time… I agree with you, Nao-san, this is indeed a rare meal that would only be available in the elven country.」

I played along, looking at the food before us. It was indeed a rare feast.

I picked up a breadfruit from the table, a fruit that grew on a tree called the "bread tree." Though the Earth had something similar, this fruit was literally bread.

It tasted just like bread, too.

The next dish was barbecued lamb from Barometz, a lamb born from fruit. Its wool could be used for fabric, and its meat tasted like crab.

The Arseidians were known for their agricultural expertise, and this city boasted some of the rarest ingredients.

I drank a rare golden liqueur made from the fruit of the great golden tree.

This liquor was even considered rare among the Gods of Elios, and yet the Queen had made an exception for us.

It was a warm, generous welcome.

We also received gifts, including fairy silk.

Fairies, though they looked like ugly caterpillars, spun the most beautiful silk, which was highly prized across the world.

The silk glowed and felt incredibly soft—perfect for fine clothing.

I remembered how delighted Rino had been when she received the silk.

I turned to look at her.

She was gazing off to the side, looking confused.

「Uuh, I’m confused… but…」

She muttered, her gaze fixed on the Silver Haired Beauty—none other than the Silver Witch, Kuna.

For some reason, she was receiving the same treatment as us.

Nier had instructed the Queen to treat her respectfully.

But that wasn’t the problem—Rino couldn’t accept the sight of the beautiful boys surrounding Kuna.

There were about 20 boys serving us, and half of them were attending Kuna.

The rest waited on the rest of us.

Rino didn’t like the disparity.

It wasn’t that the Queen had ordered it; it seemed as if the boys were simply drawn to Kuna, like butterflies to a beautiful flower.

Some looked like they were doing it out of duty, while others seemed eager to please her.

Rino, always popular with men, couldn’t understand why they were so enchanted by Kuna.

「So, that’s how she treats Kuroki, huh?」

Shirone looked at Kuna with a complicated expression.

It was true—Kuroki probably gave her the same princess treatment.

But Kuroki wasn’t even here, so I could see the frustration building in Shirone.

「Rino-san, Shirone-san. Please bear with it. We’ve agreed to a truce with her, for now.」

I sighed.

For the moment, Kuna wasn’t our enemy.

I had confirmed this with Nier.

The Demon King wasn’t the only threat to Elios.

In fact, the ones raiding the forest were enemies of both Elios and the Demon King.

Their goal was to unseal the Wicked Beast Ferion sealed in the forest.

That’s why Kuna had come.

I turned my attention back to Kuna.

She didn’t seem interested in the food, drinking only a little.

Her waist was impossibly slim, a contrast to her ample bust.

Her proportions were strikingly similar to Rena’s, which made the boys flock to her.

Though she seemed indifferent, the boys tried desperately to get her attention.

She wasn’t interested in them, of course.

I had plenty of questions for her, but she wasn’t willing to answer.

Looks like I’d need to investigate the Demon King through other means.

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