novelraw Chapter 256 : Chapter 256
Chapter 256 : Chapter 256
Chapter: The Busy Her Majesty Teresa and the Post-War Attitudes of the Elf Tribes
Everything had ended. With the culprit paying the price he deserved, Ruglian was erased from the map of Kaleburn. The surviving Demon Race was no longer a threat to Teresa, who had awakened her memories of three lifetimes.
Although these Demon Race members were unteachable, they were once a pitiful group. Teresa still decided to leave them a habitat to survive, but it would certainly not be like before, where a few races occupied most of the continent's resources and land.
Elves disliked conflict and aggression, but at the very least, they had to reclaim all of their ancestral lands.
The Demon Race was also quite 'cooperative'. Upon learning of the Elf Tribe's demands, they 'enthusiastically' expressed their 'welcome'. Seeing this, Teresa had no choice but to lead the Gold Elves to accept their 'enthusiastic welcome'. Finally, both sides eagerly exchanged opinions.
After this, the Demon Race became utterly submissive to the Elf Tribe, especially to Teresa. They did whatever they were told, and when instructed to stay in the northern territories and not harass other races from now on, they all bowed and scraped, more obedient than huskies. Initially, they would drool at the sight of Teresa, but now they didn't even dare to look directly at her. After receiving amnesty, they kowtowed in thanks, each scrambling away faster than the last, rolling off to the north with their cronies and defeated soldiers.
The Elf Tribe had reclaimed its ancestral lands; at least the territories around the Sacred Tree were now entirely under their control.
Because Diderlay had 'burst' the Sacred Tree, the sap that flew out splattered across this desolate wilderness where not even birds nested. The barren land transformed into a lush forest within a few days, and the Forest of Sages experienced a second spring.
The story reached its conclusion here.
The golden-haired girl, clad in white gauze and wearing a circlet, stood before the balcony of the Goldenwood palace, casting a soft gaze upon the Gold Elf villagers gathered around the Sacred Tree, holding hands and singing the Swan's Elegy.
Everything had finally settled.
But the tedious matters were just beginning.
Nearly a week had passed since the Diderlay incident. The Forest of Sages was in ruins waiting to be rebuilt, and affairs to be handled piled up like mountains, almost taller than the Sacred Tree itself.
These days, Teresa fights alone, overwhelmed with tasks.
You ask why she was fighting alone?
Because a certain foresighted older sister, having anticipated this situation, quickly resigned from her position as Elf Empress and announced her abdication in favor of her younger sister. After that, she spent her days drinking tea in the courtyard and walking her elk, completely uninterested in official duties.
Regarding this decision, the Gold Elves had no objections. After all, their liberation from imprisonment and the rebuilding of their nation were entirely thanks to Her Royal Highness, the Second Princess. Anyone who dared to oppose the Second Princess would have their dog head bashed in!
Besides, Teresa's work efficiency was evident to all. To date, she has been working continuously for a week without eating or sleeping. The mountain of accumulated documents had visibly shrunk, from several large mountains at first to a small hillock now.
Teresa rubbed her temples. Even for a Gold Elf, such high-intensity work still caused fatigue.
Furthermore, regarding whether Coleman Academy would continue to operate, the Gold Elf side was not concerned. This was a matter for the Moon Elves; they could handle it, and it was not for the Gold Elves to decide.
Although, because of this matter, the Elf King of the Moon Elves immediately wrote a letter to Teresa. The letter was filled with deep apologies, first expressing his recognition and respect for her as the new Elf Empress, stating how much he believed in her, and acknowledging that she was the legitimate Elf Empress, and so on. He then declared that he had no rebellious intentions, and that everything he did was for the public good, etc.
Then came his self-criticism for his oversight. Teresa only glanced at it briefly and didn't want to read further.
There were five pages of the letter. Apart from one page for self-introduction, the remaining four pages were all about remorse and self-criticism.
Although Teresa's physiological age was far less than that of the Elf King of the Moon Elves, her psychological age was something the Elf King of the Moon Elves couldn't possibly catch up to. The Elf King of the Moon Elves seemed to have learned everything from Astrid, and his words of respect were even more profound than Bilodis'.
But Teresa was busy with official duties at the time, barely able to keep up with reports and documents. Even though this Elf King of the Moon Elves had beautiful handwriting, Teresa found his lengthy writing quite tiresome and directly threw it aside to look at the next one.
Get straight to the point if you have something to say, preferably in one sentence. Don't write a bunch of convoluted nonsense to torment people. Can't you see she's busy??
Teresa sighed, casually flipping through a document. It was a decision that required the Elf Empress's seal.
'Regarding the reclamation of lost territories, although the Elves have reclaimed their ancestral lands, Demon Race and non-Elf foreign races still lurk in the surrounding areas. An army needs to be dispatched to demarcate the borders.'
These issues could not be resolved for the time being. With the current Gold Elf population, and Teresa being unable to spare time, coupled with the need to expend manpower to rebuild villages around the Sacred Tree, the problem of the Forest of Sages not yet being fully cleared remained unaddressed.
Besides these issues, there was also......
'Regarding the Wood Elves rejoining the tribe.'
'Regarding the Sea Elves rejoining the tribe.'
'Regarding the Gray Elves rejoining the tribe.'
'Regarding the Snow Elves rejoining the tribe.'
After the return of the Sacred Tree, almost all Elves sensed it to some extent. It was as if a wilting, rootless seedling had finally reconnected with its roots and received nourishment from them. This tangible feeling was something all Elves could clearly perceive.
After the Sacred Tree returned, these Elves hesitated. At first, they continuously sent rangers to scout, eventually entering the heartland. Upon seeing the towering tree reappear on the earth, and the joyful Gold Elves working beneath it, the rangers suppressed their urge to "reunite" and reported the news back to their respective tribes.
A week later, almost every Elf tribe knew about the return of the Sacred Tree and the Gold Elves, and also knew that the Gold Elves had a new leader, the current Elf War Goddess Teresa Galnorin.
While overjoyed, these Elves also felt immensely ashamed.
Initially, though compelled by circumstances, it could truly be said that they had actively abandoned the Sacred Tree, while only the Gold Elves remained, living and dying with it.
Facts proved that the Gold Elves were right. The Sacred Tree was never an excuse for them to rule the Elf Tribe; instead, it was a responsibility.
When the great army pressed on, only the Gold Elves protected their nation with their lives, fighting for the Sacred Tree until the last moment. In contrast, this made other Elves feel utterly ashamed.
Even so, the various Elf tribes shamelessly, and with a thick skin, secretly dispatched envoys to the Forest of Sages, delivering letters to the Gold Elves, expressing their desire to rejoin the Sacred Tree of the Elves and move their entire tribe back to the Forest of Sages.
The former ruler was the Elf King of the Moon Elves. The Elves had all gathered under the Elf King, but now these envoys were certainly not dispatched with the Moon Elf King's consent.
The reason was simple.
Everyone recognized the Moon Elves as king because the cat was away. Now that the legitimate ruler had returned, bringing the Sacred Tree of the Elves with them, who would still recognize you, the Moon Elves, as king??
As long as the Gold Elves acknowledged them, they would immediately pack up and leave. Isn't going home better? Why stay here with you in this temporary camp, acting like wild Elves without parents??
Almost all Elves, including the proud Snow Elves, thought this way.
No one wanted to follow the Moon Elves anymore.
Just look at what they became by following that guy. Four hundred years wasn't long for Elves, but in just four hundred years, an unprecedented wilting disease broke out.
The Elf King of the Moon Elves said he would solve it, but did he?
No, right?
The wilting disease continued, and as time passed, clear-sighted Elves could see that this was because, having detached from the Sacred Tree, they were like rootless water. Without the supply of nutrients, even the most fragrant flowers would wither.
Soon, within a few hundred years, those who had left the Sacred Tree would show more and more symptoms, such as losing longevity, eternal youth, Divine Authority, and even life itself.
This was no joke. With things like this, who would still follow you, Moon Elves??
The current situation was that the Elves in the Forest of Sages were all eager to pack their bags and go home today, but the letters sent to the Forest of Sages were like stones sinking into the sea. After waiting for a week, they still hadn't received a reply from the Elf Empress.
Teresa had received these letters long ago, but she did not approve them, instead keeping them until the very end.
It wasn't that she was playing games, wanting to torment these Elves who had abandoned the Sacred Tree, but rather that it was genuinely difficult to approve.
You see, within the Forest of Sages, only the area around the Sacred Tree had been cleared and was completely safe. The rest of the area was not yet.
The Forest of Sages was vast, and the Elves had been separated from it for four hundred years. Many areas of the current Forest of Sages were occupied by bandits or some Demon Race members. Teresa had no time to deal with it, and the Gold Elves couldn't spare anyone to clear it, so they had to maintain the status quo.
In addition to these problems, there was also......
Teresa felt that there were still many within the Elf Tribe who did not respect the Sacred Tree, believing it to be a lie used by the Gold Elves to maintain their rule, and harbored hatred towards the Sacred Tree.
They simply couldn't afford such risks.
However, what Teresa didn't know was that after four hundred years of suffering from the plague, all Elves who had such thoughts had come to realize the truth.
When the unruly experienced the harsh realities of society, they now deeply regretted their past actions and wished they could rush to the Sacred Tree now, kowtowing repeatedly, banging their heads in repentance.
After much deliberation, Teresa decided to explain the situation to these Elf tribal chiefs and ask them to wait a bit longer.
A few days later, the Elf tribal chiefs, who received a handwritten reply from the Elf Empress, were overjoyed, their hands trembling as they accepted the letter.
This was a handwritten letter from the Elf Empress! A priceless treasure! But when they saw the content of the letter, worry immediately clouded their faces.
Teresa explained the situation to them, but from their perspective, it was not that at all.
They believed that both the Elf Empress and the Sacred Tree had not forgiven them, but out of kinship, had not spoken too harshly, thus subtly rejecting them.
Some Elves even thought that the Gold Elves believed they hadn't sincerely recognized them as Empress, and were still recognizing the Moon Elves as Empress, so they openly declared their intention to break ties with the Moon Elves.
For a time, Elf scholars from various tribes denounced the Moon Elves' 'tyrannical rule,' making various sarcastic remarks about the Moon Elves' attempts to usurp the throne.
Now, the Moon Elves were innocently caught in the crossfire.
To be fair, while their rule had no achievements, it was at least without faults! Was the wilting disease their doing? They didn't want it either, alright!
However, these Elf scholars didn't care. They believed it was the Moon Elves' fault that they couldn't return to the Forest of Sages, and kept blaming the Moon Elves.
These literary masters almost controlled the pulse of public opinion. Once the scholars exerted their influence, the common people were also affected.
Why was my luck so bad today? It must be the Moon Elves' doing!
Why is my toilet clogged? It must be the Moon Elves' doing!
Why is the weather so bad today? It must be the Moon Elves' doing!
Why am I sneezing? It must be a Moon Elf talking bad about me behind my back!
The wilting disease? This must be a conspiracy by the Moon Elves, trying to usurp the throne!
The rumors became increasingly outrageous. In the end, even the Demon Race invasion of the Forest of Sages was attributed to the Moon Elves.
Although this was somewhat true in a sense, most Moon Elves were innocent, weren't they? They were also speechless that they had suddenly become the primary targets of attack for their fellow kin.
The Moon Elves, once noble High Elves, now found that people would detour when they saw them on the street.
The Elf King of the Moon Elves was also anxious. As soon as the Gold Elves appeared, their approval rating plummeted. All Elves hoped to return home and were flattering the Gold Elves, constantly attacking the Moon Elves, little did they know that he was the one who wanted to go home the most.
To ensure the early return of the Gold Elves, he had even found a way to contact the Elf Empress before the Diderlay incident, and had always obeyed the Elf Empress.
He knew that the relationship between the Gold Elves and Moon Elves would certainly not be the same as before, so he had been trying to find ways to mend it. Upon hearing of the Gold Elves' return, he was the first to write to Teresa, hoping to return, and also the only one whose letter Teresa did not reply to.
Other Elf tribes were fine; although they were rejected, they still received a personal reply from the Elf Empress. He, however, received nothing, not even a single word!
What he didn't know was that precisely because he was too respectful, Teresa found his lengthy, rambling writing annoying and threw his letter away without even reading it.
Now, all the Elf tribes were eagerly hoping to return home, but the prospect was distant. This resentment naturally had to be directed somewhere. It couldn't be directed at the Elf Empress, nor at the Gold Elves, as they had always done the right thing. So, it could only be directed at the Moon Elves, who had chosen to abandon the Sacred Tree and were now the vested interests.
Seeing the conflict grow sharper, finally, the Elf King of the Moon Elves could no longer sit still.
"Astrid, did you deliver the letter I asked you to take to Her Majesty Teresa a few days ago?"
"Father, you've asked me that at least five times now." Astrid, elegantly dressed, crossed her long, lustrous black-stockinged legs, holding a cup of tea, and took a calm sip.
"The Elf Empress has her own judgment. Patience has always been a virtue of our Elf Tribe. You just need to wait," Astrid added indifferently.
The Elf King of the Moon Elves was very helpless. He always felt that after this journey, his daughter was no longer close to him, and every word she spoke sided with Teresa, clearly favoring her.
The Elf King of the Moon Elves didn't know if Astrid was his daughter or Teresa's daughter anymore.
"Is it that the sincerity in my previous letter wasn't enough? Not enough for the Elf Empress to forgive our past actions?" The situation in the Forest of Sages had already become very serious.
The Elf Tribe had always been patient and good-tempered, but their inability to return home to the Sacred Tree they relied on created immense resentment. This led to the Moon Elves' status being almost equal to that of stray dogs on the street; no one cared to deal with them.
The most crucial thing was that his own daughter was also indifferent to this, acting as if she could do whatever she wanted, and it had nothing to do with her.