Chapter 46: 46 An audience
Elyre had to find him. It was the best chance to convince him to think about Wild Wood.
She passed through a few corridors. She went to his room and knocked on the door. A bit worried, but determined. Was this Aristhaeus or Phabian? When she heard his voice, giving her permission to enter, she came in and fell to her knees before him. The skirt of her dress slid over the floor.
No doubt he was surprised to see her so soon in such different circumstances.
Maybe he was even puzzled.
"Your Highness, I would like to speak with you regarding something important. Thank you for allowing me the chance for this audience," Elyre said formally, her heart pounding.
Ever since she entered the room, he never spoke to her. He understood this would be a conversation unlike those they'd had before. He wondered what she wanted to say.
She said,
"I would like to apologize for my rash behavior of spying on you. I have no excuse. I would ask His Highness if he has been angered to punish me personally because what happened was my fault. I should be held responsible for it."
He did not reply and listened calmly, nodding his head ever so slightly. So she continued,
"I have been raised by the Queen of the Wood-nymphs as a princess of Wild Wood, and I come before you now as an official as I have never in my life had the chance to discuss Wild Wood with Your Highness. Wild Wood has suffered a lot and has been withering for decades. We have tried everything to slow down the process. Every single magic or rune we had. However, recently the condition seems to be getting worse and, as you know, this is the reason why I was sent here to search for a cure. Now that the recipe for the cure by Princess Nymphica is present. I and the sylvan dwellers will be extremely grateful to have the opportunity to try it in Wild Wood. But, Your Highness, even if there is a cure, the forest will not bear it if the gathering of digeniche increases or there are any other circumstances that additionally put strain on its already unhealthy state. Therefore, Your Highness, I am here to beg you to provide support for the forest."
He was silent. Startled. In a moment, he said, walking around her in a circle,
"Support? ...I knew you've been telling stories in Wild Wood, but I didn't know you were so eloquent." He came closer and stood just right before her, but she kept her eyes cast down, still sitting on the floor.
He laughed. "Do you find this amusing?" he asked with a contemptuous smile. "A moment ago, you did not want to have anything in common with me. And now you're begging on your knees?"
"Your Highness, as a princess of Wild Wood, it is my duty to protect the well-being of the forest. Wild Wood is one of the seven Allyrian regions, but the sylvan dwellers are not the only people who would suffer if something was to happen to it. It is a large forest, and if it were to disappear, this would lead to climate changes all throughout Allyria and the balance in nature would be disturbed…"
He interrupted her,
"…I do not have the gift of easily manipulating words like you do. As for your request, I cannot make any promises connected with the well-being of the forest. Even if it is only about maintaining the current situation."
He wouldn't like to admit that, but to see her communicate with him in such a formal manner was a bit painful and unusual. He wasn't sure how to react.
He made a sign for her to stand up. Then he walked around her and stood behind her. A few seconds of silence and he said thoughtfully
"Actually, there might be a way for me to support the forest." And whispered in her ear, "Marry me."
She gave him a questioning look.
"What?"
"What?" he answered back at her.
"I don't understand," she said.
"Is it so difficult to understand?" he shrugged.
"Why...?" Elyre stammered. He'd told her so many things which were untrue... about his identity, his past. She was too shocked. "Your Highness, I... Wood-nymphs usually don't marry."
"You aren't a wood-nymph," he stroked her hair. "I know you too well to be unable to guess your thoughts," he said.
"But I don't know you," she said. "You may be my friend, but the people of Wild Wood have reasons to dislike you. I can't marry you. If my name is associated with you, it will be like going against my fellow sylvan dwellers and worse, against my own beliefs, against what I have stood for. In such a difficult moment for the forest, I can't just do what would seem like turning my back on it. ...Moreover, I am just an adopted child, not a noble lady."
"When I help Wild Wood, the sylvan dwellers will start to like me," he smiled thinly. "It will be fine. The question is, do you agree or disagree?"
"I..." Elyre was truly caught by surprise. She thought, ~I truly liked a part of him back when he was Phabian and I was just Elyre. But now I feel like I don't know him.~
"Alright. Of course," she said.
"Of course," he repeated in a satisfied tone. "Then, it's a promise." He bent forward to kiss her but she tried to avoid the kiss.
"We need to seal this in some way," he said. She turned her nose slightly to one side and allowed him to kiss her on the cheek. Annoyed, he also moved to one side and pressed his lips against hers.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone