Chapter 216 - The Secret Capital of the Elven Kingdom

  My ret days had been peaceful and calm. With the holidays approag, I was beginning to miss the peculiar, chaotic routine ba my duchy. There, my days were spent w on farms—either in my owory or those surrounding the castle—and by night, I hunted criminals when there were missions to be done. When I wasn't out on a mission, I trained in spells or practiced my swordsmanship.

  But even the routine here at the academy has its own charm...

  “Hahahahaha!” My peace tly interrupted by the boisterous ughter of a wolf-girl.

  ht... I’d fotten that Thyra exists here.

  She couldn’t stop ughing, recalling the earlier css when the professor had drawn a weather map on the board, marking the path of seasonal rain clouds. So far, so normal. The problem was that the drawing... well, you know. The shape he’d drawn looked like, well, let’s just say it resembled a very rge male an. While the rest of us ig, you couldn’t expect that kind of maturity from a wolf-girl.

  “Hahahahahahaha!” She kept ughing, giving me a hearty sp on the back.

  "I got it; it was funny the first 50 times you ughed about it..." I muttered, trying to hold back my own ughter.

  Thyra was reting the story for the umpteenth time while we ate in the dining hall.

  Did she fet that we were in the same css?

  I looked at the wolf-girl in disbelief.

  “Hahahahahahaha!” There she went, ughing untrolbly again.

  She’s just… a little bit of an idiot, isn’t she?

  Thyra ughed so hard that tears streamed down her cheeks, and the worst part was that her iious ughter was actually starting to get to me, making me ugh involuntarily.

  “We’d better ge the subject, or we’ll get stu Thyra’s endless ugh loop…” suggested Syvis.

  We all agreed and tinued eating.

  At the table sat Chloe, Syvis, Edmund, myself, and, of course… Thyra.

  “Are you all heading straight home from the academy, or will you spend a few days in the Capital?” Edmund asked.

  I tried to focus on the versation, ign the wolf-girl, who was still fighting to tain her ughter.

  “Hmm... I think we’re going straight home. It’s a three-day journey by underground transport. You’re lucky your duchy is just a day away,” Chloe replied.

  “I’m going to the Elven Kingdom, but I might stay in your Capital for a day,” Syvis said.

  I’d always had some curiosity about the other kingdoms, and I recalled the research I’d dohe three major kingdoms are located in the tral half of the ti, all bordered by a shared wall. A river ects these kingdoms to the edge of each region, f a crucial trade route. The wild nds that serve as natural borders are far too dangerous for anyone sensible to traverse. The forests are filled with deadly creatures. At the entrao each kingdom, where the river ends, a rge city has risen around the ports.

  “I’ll be taking the underground transport between kingdoms. It’s a five-day trip,” Syvis expined.

  “Are people free to ehe Elven Kingdom?” Edmund asked curiously. “Professor Adrihna doesn’t go into much detail on this. I read in books that people visit, but then some sources say hardly aually gets inside.”

  Syvis smiled; she loved expining the peculiarities of her homend.

  A natural-born queen...

  “Humans or demi-humans oer the border city,” she expined. “It’s a huge trade ter where we receive goods from other kingdoms and anize shipments back through the underground transport system. The rest of the kingdom is restricted—only elves and those with royal permission are allowed beyond that point. Outsiders are strictly prohibited.”

  I'd like to know more about what the elven kingdom is like on the ihe only images we have are from the border city or a few rare glimpses from within the elven kingdom.

  "On our wall, there's a special entment that only allows ao opee," Syvis expined. "Evehe guards don’t let aer without an iion, not even other elves. My people live exclusively within our kingdom, and the farthest they go is to the border city, which is still part of the elven realm. The elves you see outside the kingdom are mostly from Apsalon, desded from noble families with homes both here and in the Elven Kingdom, or who married someone from here and chose to live outside."

  Now things are starting to make sense. Even with the mix of three races in Apsalon, most of the popution is still human. Professor Adrihna was right: elves prefer to live secluded in their own kingdom.

  One of the things Adrihna taught me, which the academy also firmed, is that the Elven Kingdom is a massive forest. But there’s a fasatiail: the trees are gigantic, with a minimum height of 30 meters. Branches and bridges ect the higher parts of the trees where the elves build their homes. Using their mastery over the pnt element, they shape the enviro without harming nature, creating structures that, while simir to human buildings at the base of the trees, are seamlessly ied into the trunks and branches.

  I learhese details from Professor Adrihna, as the academy books barely touched on this aspect. The trees are so tall they be seen from afar when you’re at the border, but only the top opy, f a kind of natural wall that hides the kingdom from view.

  At the ter of this vast forest lies the Capital, located in a rge clearing. From this point on, information bees highly restricted to anyone who isn't an elf. Professor Adrihna could only share these secrets with me and my mother, although Kinue obviously knew as well. Acc to Adrihna, at the heart of the kingdom stands an enormous tree over a chasm, with its bottom filled with water. This tree houses the high-elven society, the on elven nobility, and the royal pace. Even on elves ot cross the bridge to the Capital without permission.

  Professor Adrihna, trusting me because of my elveage, shared these secrets with me and even gave me a house o hers in this secret city. However, I still have no idea how I’d actually get there.

  “Want to do something together before the holidays? Alice suggested we all go out to eat somewhere,” Edmund said.

  “Sounds good, but what day?” Syvis asked.

  Edmund thought for a moment.

  “The st day of school. It’s the Day of Chocote, so things might get busy at the academy. We could go out to lunch at a restaurant,” he suggested.

  “Ch-chocote Day…” urmured.

  ht… that day.

  Iy, there's the cultural tradition of Pink Chocote Day, when women give chocotes to their friends, and Blue Chocote Day, when meurn the favor. I heard that, at the academy, some people evehe day to fess their feelings.

  I’ve ried this so-called chocote… wonder if it’s any good?

  ***

  My cousin was in the apartment’s living room, studying. When I saw her, I decided to slip past quietly ao the kit for something to eat.

  "Nate," I heard her call my name.

  "Do you need something?" I asked, opening the et. Everything erfectly anized.

  Kinue is way tanized, I thought. Everything was separated by type, even by color.

  "It’s not that. I want to know if you’re okay."

  "Of course, I am. After all this time thinking some assassin was going to get me, I think he’s finally given up," I said, refleg on the past months.

  I’ve wahrough this city so much I’m almost sick of going downtown. But at least it’s worth it when I o order hair dye or pick up a delivery.

  "I’m not talking about that... I mean you. Lately, you’ve seemed a bit off, kind of distant."

  I thought about how I’d been ag tely, and she was right. I really haven’t been myself retly, to the point that even Athena stopped teasing me. My mind’s been a mess, pgued by my own thoughts, and I think even that troublemaker noticed.

  "Don’t worry. Whatever was b me is starting to pass."

  "You know you always t on me," Chloe said, giving me a smile.

  It felt good to hear that.

  "You’re free to have your secrets," she tinued, " but if you're hiding the fact that you're seeing some girl... I'll be upset.

  "What?!" That caught me off guard.

  She got up from her chair and came closer, squinting at me.

  "I swear I’m not seeing anyone."

  Cyl watches me every time I leave the academy and go downtown… there's no way I could be doing something like that.

  "What girl? What are you talking about?" Kinue emerged from the bedroom, curious.

  "Wait! You heard?" Chloe asked, surprised.

  This is getting weird.

  "Of course I heard; my ears are excellent. I’m keeping a in case aries to make a move on Nathan. There are way too many pretty girls in this dorm," Kinue said.

  Good thing I always seal my room with a wind barrier so she doesn’t overhear.

  "Wait, make a move on me doing what?" I asked, pletely lost.

  "NOTHING!" both of them answered in unison.

  I sighed, still clueless about what was going on.

  "Why are they talking about irls with you?" Cyl appeared, rushing out of the bedroom and staring at me.

  What’s happening? Why are all three of them looking at me like I did something wrong?