As for Fen, her goals were frustrated one after another. Even the most humble person should have started to feel frustrated. However, from the perspective of an outsider, Fen only felt envy and surprise about the relationship between Theresa and Yang Hao.
It’s not like the elves haven’t seen love stories in which the parties choose love over national justice.
I have never seen a family friendship where one would choose saving the world over protecting the family.
But people like Theresa, who wanted to restore her country, restore her sect, and keep the man beside her, tried her best to choose the latter in her twisted and painful emotions, and even cursed the gods of her faith in a very weak voice to die quickly so that she would give up completely...
This is the first time I've seen Finn.
It is precisely because of the distortion that a kind of distorted beauty blooms on Theresa at this moment. She is like a statue.
A twisted statue that simultaneously possesses a variety of emotions including "hope", "disappointment in oneself", "pain", "desire", and finally "stubbornness" and "tenderness".
Fragile, but beautiful. Vulnerable, but strong…
And the person who made her become like this was also the man she had always hoped to take Caparia away from.
This is really...
“I don’t know how to put it better.”
Finn couldn't help but sigh. After she said that, she realized Theresa had attracted her attention.
Fen thought about it for a while, but she still didn't give up, so she just took advantage of this sudden situation to continue sighing:
"It's clearly prophesied that the last Purple Princess will rebuild Bayerjans... But Princess Purple, judging from your thoughts, you don't seem to be planning to do that, right?"
"After all, prophecies are lies."
"Perhaps the prophecy you heard is different from the one kept by the elves?"
"Then tell me what kind of prophecy you have preserved? From what I heard from my parents who have been dead for who knows how many years, they only said that I would make a big fuss in November this year and cause the underground citizens to babble - they even said that I would spend my life with a successful man and become the Caesar and emperor of the new empire."
"Perhaps what you heard was wrong?"
Finn blinked, then began to tell the story.
It turns out that this was a prophecy made by Constantine XII, the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire, before he personally dragged the core of the plague and his country into the ground, and before the city sank, before he and the demon that ruled the plague perished together.
In the story, the Emperor of Bayezid denounced the shamelessness of the betrayers and the filthiness and depravity of the false gods.
He spoke bluntly and used all kinds of dirty words to insult the traitors who stabbed the empire in the back and the bastards who seized the power of light.
In the prophecy, he swore in the name of blood that the empire of the betrayer would be divided in unity, and would perish once again after the division -
And that filthy false god will disappear completely in war after war, and in the end not even the shrine and the final tomb will be left, and any trace of its existence in the world will be completely lost.
At the same time, Constantine XII also predicted that the last purple princess would regain the power of light, use a dazzling beam of light to announce her ascension to the throne, and rebuild the great empire with the last citizens. But the words of the prophecy are not complete...
"My parents seem to have an incomplete second half - just like what I just said, they also said that I would spend my life with a successful man."
"Excuse me..."
"I'm not a successful man. I'm just a poor little dog. We share the same suffering. How can I be considered a Caesar or an emperor?"
At this point, Theresa shrugged.
"In Bayezids, let's not talk about the "Emperor" for now. The "Caesar" is the second most important person in the empire who holds military power, leads the progress of the empire and has almost equal rights with the emperor...
The only thing about me that has something to do with being an "emperor" is that besides being the "last princess", I am also the last nun of the Church of Light - this is barely related, but do you think it counts?"
"I think you're escaping reality, Princess Purple."
"This is reality. As the last nun and princess, I have to pretend to convert to Christianity to survive. If I didn't have a monastery at home, I would probably live like a caveman.
A former regent who was betrayed and humiliated, reduced to the point where he had to chop wood with me in a dilapidated monastery and fill the leaks with wooden boards. His previous identity was still a woodcutter of unknown origin. Without the secret protection of you elves, I'm afraid he would not have been able to return to our village alive.
Tell me who is a successful person? Who has anything to do with prophecy? So prophecies are all lies.
Although it sounds like an interesting story, in the end it never happened.
That pillar of light is even more ridiculous. I almost use up half of my divine power just casting the "Tranquility Spell" on him every day. And you tell me that I have the ability to release a pillar of light that reaches the sky
It would be better to just tell me directly. I will find that bastard God of Light fucking up in the sky one day. He is already disgusting enough anyway, and it seems that there is nothing wrong with making his followers "see the sweet dew from heaven" even more disgusting. "
At this point, the last nun and princess sighed heavily. It was unclear whether they were sighing at their own weakness or sighing at the ridiculousness of the prophecy.
The elf just looked at her. After a long while, she shook her head and said, "I... Actually, I have already given you a chance, Princess Purple."
"But I refuse. I know I really want to revive my motherland and restore my Lord to the throne of God... But really, meaningless persistence is unnecessary. Compared to the great but untouchable power, I want three meals a day, firewood, rice, oil and salt, and him more."
"Then I understand."
Has she really made up her mind to stop thinking about restoring her country and bringing light to the world
Finn wasn't sure. She just knew that her deal was a complete failure today—but only today.
It seemed that it was not appropriate to continue discussing this topic now. So she took another sip of the sweet and sour juice and glanced at the exquisite mechanical clock in the reception room.
This clock, gifted by the craftsmen of Bayerjans, has been carefully maintained by the elves and has not been damaged to this day.
It's late at night, and the Regent will be back soon. Let's talk about something lighter now.
With this in mind, Finn asked, "Have you ever guessed about the "betrayer" in our Elven Kingdom?"
"'Traitor'? I remember my dad said that back then, it seemed like everyone was on the front line fighting the demonic scourge... and the empty town behind seemed to be stabbed by the barbarians who were originally protecting it, and St. Petersburg had to sink in advance because of this, but it stopped sinking after less than 50 floors."
Theresa was thoughtful and obviously very interested in this topic, while Finn was just trying to please her. It would be great if they could become friends.
"There are some discrepancies in the details." The elf smiled and shook his head. "We elves have relatively detailed records... But during the war, only one in ten elves survived, and there was a large gap in culture and memory, so I'm not sure this is correct."
"So? What's Japaria's guess?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, the people who betrayed us back then are the barbarians who now make up the Roman Empire."
"Huh?"
Theresa raised her eyebrows: This is really a bit... shocking, right? After all, the traitor who betrayed Bayerzas during the Demonic Disaster War should have gained a lot of technology and wealth and became a hegemon, right
And you told me that they were barbarians? Five years ago, they were still barbarians from the tribe? No way…
Theresa really couldn't believe it - her country had been stabbed in the back by such a barbarian, and the barbarian had regressed to the tribal era again? Are you kidding me
Finn could clearly see the distrust in Theresa's eyes. Finn just smiled bitterly and said, "It is precisely because they don't behave like the betrayers they were back then that we have been guessing because of the memory and cultural gap."
"After all, the elves will not betray their oaths. Back then, Japaria and Bayerzas signed a covenant to fight for the lives of Elucia and fight against the demonic disaster together...
So no matter how much we doubt the Roman Empire, no matter how much we hate them, without "evidence", we will not destroy a country for our own selfish desires - not to mention that the elves are now unable to send troops to any country."
"After all, your population is really small... So what is the reason for the betrayer?"
"St. Petersburg, the holy city of your Church of Light. According to the emperor's prophecy, if nothing unexpected happens, the God of Light is one of the traitors - according to the records of our elves, the God of Light may have been just a mortal before he "became the God of Light"...
The people this mortal had the most contact with in the limited records were the tribesmen in the "southern part of the empire," who were the ones we promised to protect.
As luck would have it, most of the "historical" cities owned by these barbarians now have relics of the former Byzantine Empire.
Take the town of Kagad for example, the portal inside it is the technology of Bayerjans.
Princess Purple... No, Miss Theresa, please think carefully, in the history you have heard, where was the first place to be attacked?"
Theresa frowned.
She tried to recall the stories her parents had told her, and finally she remembered them—some vague words and some sadness:
"It's a plain town far away from the forest battlefield... where a large number of militiamen and baggage have been conscripted."
This... makes sense.
Why, thanks to Yang Hao's efforts, the Roman Empire now has a hub composed of numerous portals. Why is it said that the core cities of the Roman Empire have underground ruins with unknown depths...
Those things... did they once belong to our motherland
The nun blinked, and finally added calmly: "Then they actually regressed to become barbarians?"
"Maybe it's because they are barbarians. They don't know the language and technology. Even if they steal something that belongs to Bayerzas, they can't maintain it."
"And what about St. Petersburg?"
“According to the old elves, all the followers of the Church of Light went out to respond to the call and fight against the demonic disaster, leaving only women, children, and the elderly in St. Petersburg.
But one day, the divine barrier in St. Petersburg was stolen, and the devil appeared in St. Petersburg.
The remaining personnel paid a heavy price to repel the monsters, but the next moment the barbarians broke into the holy city which was in ruins.
It was precisely because everyone in St. Petersburg was slaughtered and the entire city was controlled that the sinking stopped after sinking a part of the city. It is said that the people in the parish also said that the elevators were miracles created by the parish itself. "
"You are indeed a barbarian. If you see something you want, you take it away. If you can't take it away, you destroy it."
"It seems that we have a lot of consensus on this matter, Miss Theresa." Finn nodded with a smile. "You can just call me by my real name-"
"No thanks. "Fen" is a good word, and your real elf name is long and ugly. My father has complained about it more than once. It's more practical to use the abbreviation."
"It's just less than a hundred words?" Fen's face stiffened. It's just less than a hundred words, so you think it's too much trouble
Teresa just looked shocked: How the hell can anyone remember a name with dozens of words?!
No wonder you guys... Eh? Footsteps
The little nun suddenly pricked up her ears, and she heard a familiar sound in her ears—it was the footsteps that belonged only to Yang Hao.
He is back?!
Theresa turned around and looked at the door leading to the corridor with great anticipation. With a pause and a slight sound of footsteps, the door was opened from the outside.
Yang Hao and Qin Na came in from the door. He saluted Fen first, then said apologetically:
"Fen, it's getting late. Even if I have to work, I'd rather start tomorrow. I want to take her home first."
"Oh, come on - I had a great time chatting with Miss Theresa, too. Have you arranged your rooms?"
"Thank you. The room is great and everyone loves the sweet treats."
The man responded with a smile, then took the hand of the nun at the table, who suddenly looked tired, and pulled her out of the reception room.
Watching them disappear out the door, Fen just shook his head and said:
"Alas... A pillar of light reaching the sky, an empire destined to rise again... She actually thought this was a fake story? She is truly a human being..."
"Fin?"
"Nothing, just talking to myself - By the way, Qinna, how long is your real name?"
"124 words? In human terms..."
On the way back, Finn chatted with his loyal servant about the fact that "the name is too long for humans". He was thinking about "how to make the regent sincerely request to stay in Caparia forever", which seemed to be a long-term plan for elves.
On the other side…
On the west side of the Monster Forest, there is an ancient ruin called the "Watchtower" located on a steep cliff.
The remnants of the Byzantine Empire, the lookouts known as "Tower Keepers," are also telling their children stories of the past in ancient language.
"Our queen will lead us back to the ground. So our duty is to guard this last fortress on the ground."
The children holding shields and daggers passed down from their ancestors for who knows how many years seemed to understand what was going on, while the elderly tower keeper was looking forward to the night in the distance.
There was a rustling sound coming from below. He turned around and saw that it was his comrades who were transporting supplies, their faces covered in blood, but there were fewer of them than before.
"Constantinople was attacked again. The petrified demons and lava demons killed many of our people. Fortunately, we killed one of them and avenged the centurion."
One of them muttered, and after placing the box made of demon skin on the ground, he added:
"Eat these dried earthworms and mushrooms sparingly. They were saved by the women and children... The demons have been wreaking havoc recently. Even moss cannot be found near the city."
"What happened to the Eagle Flag Brigade?"
"The 24th Eagle Flag Battalion has become history, but fortunately the equipment has been recovered. At least the 25th Eagle Flag Battalion still has equipment."
"Where are the soldiers?"
"This year, 16-year-olds have been recruited for training. But the demons are not having a good time either. I even saw quite a few larvae that had just hatched...
Normally they wouldn't let the cubs stray too far from the core area. They couldn't hold on any longer. Oh, this is for you. It looks like the weapon your father used. We found it in the stomach of a petrified demon."
The warrior threw an axe to the tower keeper, and the tower keeper's child obediently caught the axe and handed it to his father.
The tower keeper took the axe and pressed the button on the axe with skillful hands, transforming it from a one-handed axe into a special weapon like a harpoon, then he grinned.
After nearly a thousand years of war with demons, the survivors of Bayerjans have also evolved transformable weapons that are suitable for the changing environment underground. This weapon that can shrink or lengthen is very suitable for the current Bayerjans.
I just don’t know what has happened to the humans on earth, nor do I know what kind of life the races that were once protected by them and the elves are living.
After the warriors left, the tower keeper gave the axe to his child.
He is too old to wield such a weapon and fight demons anymore - but his children can.
This is necessary cruelty.