Ch.73Aftermath (4)

“It’s just so fun.”

The Queen of Alfheim, Arwen, gazed at volume 10 of the Biography of Xenon, which she held preciously in both hands. Like an immature girl, her lips protruded noticeably, clearly expressing her dissatisfaction.

If the Senate had seen this, they would have issued pointless warnings about maintaining dignity as a queen, but right now no one was around. There was also no risk of eavesdropping in this audience chamber.

“Elves must be noble, they chirp. We don’t like elves representing pride in books, they grumble. Elf-human romance is nonsense, they whine. They’re not children, what are they doing?”

With no one watching, Arwen harshly criticized the Senate that had been pressuring her until just moments ago.

This time during her duties when no one was around was like rain during a drought for Arwen. It was perfect for releasing all the words she had been suppressing.

Though publicly praised as a loving and kind queen, Arwen possessed an extremely girlish heart.

The Senate nagged that she must maintain her dignity as queen, so she didn’t show this side of herself normally, but she was only 150 years old.

If she were human, someone might object that this was already quite old, but that was by human standards. By elven standards, it was enough to be a functioning member of society, but still considered young.

And Arwen had ascended to the throne at the young age of 50 and had ruled Alfheim ever since. For elves, one’s 50s was when all education ended and one prepared to enter society, but the position of queen was not to be taken lightly.

However, the fact that she had ruled Alfheim for over 100 years without yielding to the Senate’s pressure showed just how outstanding her political skills were.

‘People like the Senate must be why Xenon went on hiatus. I heard humans have places even worse than the Senate—it must be incredibly difficult.’

Arwen looked at the Biography of Xenon in her hands with sympathetic eyes and muttered to herself. She was one of the many fans of the Biography of Xenon.

She was well aware of the powerful influence the Biography of Xenon had on the world, and also recognized how easily it could be exploited politically.

Perhaps it wielded even greater influence than herself, the Queen of Alfheim. Even elves, said to be chosen by the gods, were powerless before the enormous force of “culture.”

That made it all the more regrettable. Despite hiding his identity, the author was suffering mentally, which gave her an idea of the immense pressure he must be under.

‘Still, you should at least write about what happens to the master and the queen before you go, you bad author.’

But that was one thing, and this was another. Arwen was dying of curiosity about how the relationship between the master and the elf queen in the story would develop.

Although the elf queen in the work was a completely fictional character unrelated to herself, she somehow became immersed in the story. In particular, the elf queen in the work was suffering at least as much as herself, if not more.

Not only was she under severe scrutiny from the Senate, but demons were appearing throughout the world, with occasional descriptions suggesting a great crisis approaching Alfheim.

For these reasons, she had virtually no private life. In such circumstances, only the master provided emotional comfort to the elf queen, making their relationship all the more poignant.

‘Xenon’s author is really amazing. How does he know elven mythology in such detail? Myths and history related to elves aren’t well-known to humans. Was he a scholar educated in Alfheim?’

The Biography of Xenon didn’t receive much attention from elves until the Seven Deadly Sins appeared. This was because the protagonist was human—a race that had inflicted great humiliation during the racial war—and until the Seven Deadly Sins appeared, the story took place only in human society.

Even scholars only read it thoroughly for research purposes; among elves, it was just a book read by those who chose to read it. However, it was rarely described as uninteresting.

Uniquely, Arwen was a devoted reader who had consistently read from volume 1. Having always loved books, she naturally came across the Biography of Xenon that had taken the world by storm and was captivated by its excellent writing and immersive quality.

But after the Seven Deadly Sins appeared and the protagonist’s group entered Alfheim, the situation reversed. The fact that one of the demon executives was an elf—and in charge of “Pride” no less—was enough to create various controversies.

The Senate, which had treated the Biography of Xenon as kindling, became fearful once Alfheim appeared in the story. If the author truly knew about the actual conditions and culture of Alfheim, it could cause great damage to them as well.

In fact, the Senate in the work—the political body called the “Council”—was pressuring the elf queen for insignificant reasons. Since this was accurate to reality, Arwen felt both secretly delighted and bitter.

‘By the way, will “Dark Elves” appear next?’

As elves lived several times longer than other races, their recorded history was vast. While the time when humans established civilization was uncertain, elves had precisely established their civilization 3,500 years ago.

Throughout those long years, countless incidents had occurred. There were times when they tried to rule the world using their innate abilities, and times when they fought civil wars among themselves.

About 3,200 years ago, a serious civil war broke out. The reason for the civil war was simple.

Religion.

Elves worship three gods together—Luminus, Mora, and Hirt—but that’s the current situation; in the past, they were busy checking and fighting each other.

Naturally, the gods issued oracles strongly discouraging this, but the elves wouldn’t listen. Ironically, elves, who had longer ears than other races to hear the gods’ voices more clearly, didn’t listen when it was most needed.

Among them, the Church of Mora suffered the greatest damage. Mora wanted compromise rather than conflict, but unfortunately, it was a time when power prevailed over words.

Moreover, from Luminus’s perspective, who worshipped light, Mora was a thorn in their side. So they joined forces with Hirt and exiled them. Using force to suppress them during the exile process was a given.

Those who were exiled here were mostly “Dark Elves” with brown skin, which is also why there are virtually no Dark Elves living in Alfheim. Most Dark Elves worshipped Mora, and they were all driven out, so there was no reason for them to remain.

As a result, Dark Elves developed a revulsion toward being elves and cut their ears in half as a symbol. This custom continues to this day, so when you see a Dark Elf, you can confirm that their ears are all cut in half.

‘Still, to human eyes, they must all look the same. But since he knows history well, will they appear someday? How will they be portrayed? He really makes people curious.’

Two hundred years later, during the Demon War, when elves fell into crisis, they asked for help from the Dark Elves whom they had exiled. But the resentment that had built up over time couldn’t be easily resolved.

Fortunately, they helped their kin to defeat the demons, but they didn’t set foot in Alfheim. This was due to the mutual distrust that had accumulated over 2,000 years.

In particular, the Senate disliked Dark Elves; for those trapped in racial supremacy, Dark Elves who had abandoned the name of their race were truly displeasing. And Dark Elves disliked the stubborn Senate as well.

‘Anyway, the problem is always the old fogies. They don’t even know how strong the others are.’

Arwen criticized the Senate again, which seemed to interfere everywhere. Since her coronation, she had been working to reintegrate Dark Elves.

She believed they were ultimately kin from the same roots, and only with them could the race of “elves” be complete. Besides, only the Senate, which prioritized tradition and law, disliked Dark Elves; enlightened individuals felt sorry for them.

Because of the atrocities committed by their ancestors, they hadn’t been able to set foot in their homeland until now. Arwen felt the same way.

“Ah~ What’s the point of worrying like this? The next volume won’t be out for two years!”

Arwen hugged the book tightly to her chest and whined like a child. Though two years was a very short time for elves, it somehow felt extremely long.

Perhaps the two years waiting for the Biography of Xenon would be the longest two years in the world. She prayed that those two years would pass quickly.

Shaaaa-

“Huh?”

As she was leaning back on the throne, Arwen suddenly sensed a change in the flow of mana. Being naturally sensitive to mana, she knew what this meant.

Someone was using magic. However, in the audience chamber, magic use was prohibited for everyone except the monarch.

Arwen straightened her posture and quickly checked who had intruded. The Senate wouldn’t be crazy enough to use magic in the audience chamber, but you never know.

She activated a detection spell and immediately felt relieved. It was a presence very familiar to her.

“…Stop playing games now.”

As Arwen spoke weakly, someone gradually revealed themselves in front of the empty throne. Whatever magic they had used, they had perfectly blended with the surroundings and were completely invisible.

Eventually, the person who dispelled the magic was fully revealed, but their face was difficult to see as they wore a robe that covered their head. However, Arwen knew well who this unidentified intruder was.

“…Rain.”

“Hello, Your Majesty!”

When Arwen called the name, the intruder called Rain greeted her cheerfully. Despite her lively greeting, her rather low-toned voice was charming.

Swoosh-

The unidentified woman threw back her robe after greeting. She had faintly reddish wheat-colored hair that contrasted with her tanned skin.

But the most notable feature was her ears. They seemed long like those of other elves, but were cut in the middle. From this, one could predict:

The woman who appeared before Arwen was a “Dark Elf.”

“Looks like the old geezers bothered you again today? Seeing you sprawled on the throne.”

Rain asked Arwen with a bright smile. Arwen cleared her throat upon hearing Rain’s question that openly criticized the Senate.

She didn’t mind criticizing the Senate, but she was more concerned about not maintaining her dignity as queen. No matter how close they were privately, she wanted to maintain what should be maintained.

“Ahem. Ahem. There were just some issues. But why have you come today?”

“I have a gift I want to give to Your Majesty!”

“A gift?”

“Yes!”

Rain often gave gifts to Arwen. Arwen was implementing policies to reintegrate Dark Elves, and Rain was a Dark Elf.

Not just Rain, but Dark Elves as a whole were favorable toward Arwen. That’s why the Dark Elves sent Rain to build rapport.

Though Rain was sent for political purposes, Arwen liked her. There was no reason to dislike Rain, who was like an innocent girl, and she always brought the new volume of the Biography of Xenon whenever it was released.

Some might think she was just a messenger, but Rain moved voluntarily, so there was no problem. Rather, it became a reason for Arwen to like her more.

“A gift from you, I’m curious. What kind of gift is it?”

“You’ll probably love it, Your Majesty. It’s closely related to the Biography of Xenon.”

“Related to the Biography of Xenon? Is that true?”

“Yes!”

When Rain said the gift was related to the Biography of Xenon, Arwen’s silver-gray eyes filled with questions. Rain had already gifted her volume 10 of the Biography of Xenon.

Moreover, the Biography of Xenon had announced a two-year hiatus. It was difficult to guess what kind of gift it could be.

“Ta-da!”

While Arwen was wondering, Rain took out something she had been preciously keeping in her bosom and showed it. Arwen focused her gaze on the gift that came from Rain’s bosom.

At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a bundle of worn-out papers. This only amplified her curiosity.

“Here you go!”

“Thank you.”

When Rain handed over the bundle of papers, Arwen thanked her and checked what the gift was. It wasn’t just a simple bundle of papers but manuscript paper with quite elegant handwriting.

‘Who wrote this? And…’

Arwen couldn’t help but blink as soon as she read the first sentence. With her good memory, the first sentence was very familiar.

As mentioned before, Arwen is one of the devoted readers who has read the Biography of Xenon from volume 1. And devoted readers often re-read from volume 1 to the latest volume.

She quickly began to read the manuscript carefully, wondering if it could be. Each familiar sentence struck Arwen’s brain.

“…Huh?”

Why is this here? Wasn’t it reported stolen? The author is even begging for help to find this one thing?

At the moment when Arwen’s thoughts froze, Rain, unaware of her inner feelings, placed her hands on her waist and proudly explained.

“It’s the original manuscript of volume 1 of the Biography of Xenon! I happened to visit the publisher, and they were displaying the original manuscript? So I secretly took it that night.”

“… …”

Hearing this explanation, one thought floated up in Arwen’s mind.

“I thought Your Majesty would like it since you love the Biography of Xenon. This will be a great help to you, right?”

We’re fucked.

Though she couldn’t believe the reality, she thought again.

“With this, you can meet the author of the Biography of Xenon. If you use the original manuscript as leverage, the author will surely have to come.”

“… …”

“I did well, right? Hehe.”

She couldn’t help but think they were truly fucked.