With Eyvor officially announcing the banquet's start, everyone present started cheering loudly. At the same time, rows of servants carrying platters entered the dining hall from various entryways as they navigated through the numerous tables and began serving everyone their food.
Seeing the group of servants heading toward our table, I ignored most of them while focusing on one specific servant, as he was carrying a large bowl filled with nothing but lightning cherries; out of instinct, I almost levitated the bowl out of his hands, although I did my manage to stop myself before I did such thing.
Once the servants finished serving all the food, I ignored the concept of moderation and grabbed the entire bowl from off the table and set it on my lap; however, I could hardly see over it with how large the bowl was.
"I'm only going to announce this once, but if you want some lightning cherries, take some right now, as I won't be so generous later." Announced Elif as he glanced at everyone sitting near him while Goliath chuckled at his antics.
"I'd like some lightning cherries; they are definitely one of the most delicious fruits I've tasted; besides, from the records inscribed by the Asura's during the Primordial Epoch, a balanced diet between meat and plants is the best way to increase your muscle mass." Said Echo as she waved her hand at the bowl in Elif's lap, causing numerous lightning cherries to hover toward her plate, which consisted of large amounts of meat and the newly added fruits.
"I'll also take some lightning cherries; I prefer to eat mostly fruits and vegetables." Said Shelia as she also waved her hand in the direction of the bowl filled with lightning cherries, doing the same thing Echo did.
"I must take some as well; you know Dryads and meat don't get along with one another." Remarked Birger as he also copied Shelia and Echo, though he took slightly more than the previous two.
"Tch, why did you three take so much? You're not leaving any for anyone else." Stated Elif with a frown as he scrutinized Echo, Shelia, and Birger's plates.
"Calm down, your highness; even if you combine the total amount those three took, it doesn't exceed one hundred, and considering the bowl contains several thousand lightning cherries, I think you'll be okay. Not to mention if we take into account your personal stash in your dimension ring." Said Illumia as she glanced at Elif with a bland expression before shaking her head and closing her eyes.
"First off, you can't take my stash into account, and besides, why did you assume that I'll be eating the entire bowl by myself?" Questioned Elif as he glanced at Illumia, though his words didn't sound convincing considering he was eating lightning cherries.
"Your Highness, I've seen you devour a barrel twice the size of the bowl in your lap, filled with lightning cherries in a single day. I do not put it past you to empty that bowl by the time the banquet ends." Declared Illumia, her words causing everyone nearby to chuckle lightly, except for Goliath, who was laughing loudly.
"Hmph, I was merely hungry that day, nothing more." Remarked Elif in annoyance as he continued eating lightning cherries.
"Anyway, Prince Elif, I've wanted to ask, what happened to your other two servants? I didn't see them with you earlier, nor did I see them walking around before the banquet started." Asked Eyvor curiously.
"Haa, those two. They are supposed to be adults; however, sometimes, I feel like they're like two children." Said Elif with a sigh while feeling slightly irked with Marley and Idonea.
"They're both currently resting after participating in a deadly fight." Added Elif with a frown, his words surprising Eyvor and arousing interest in everyone else.
"Really!? Who were they fighting?" Asked Eyvor while feeling worried that some Fairies might've attacked Marley and Idonea as revenge against Elif for what he did during the previous banquet.
"Tch, themselves. Those two little girls got into a violent argument early in the morning, and while they are usually quite friendly with each other, they do occasionally argue, though it's usually quickly resolved. However, unlike what normally happens, this particular argument escalated into a deadly battle that destroyed my residence while I was bathing, which is one of the few things I greatly enjoy, so being interrupted greatly irked me." Stated Elif while frowning, though the lightning cherries suppressed most of his annoyance.
"That sounds terrible, Prince Elif, though did you ever find what the argument was about?" Asked Eyvor while releasing a sigh of relief, knowing no Fairies were involved.
"Nope. After I gave those two a serious beating for disturbing my peace, I questioned them about the whole thing, but they refused to tell me what started the argument. At the time, I was too annoyed with them to actually care what started the argument, so I ignored it." Replied Elif, though now that he was calm, his curiosity had been ignited.
'Now that some time has passed since then, I'm honestly surprised they both refused to tell me, especially Idonea; It wouldn't be that shocking if Marley stayed quiet, but Idonea, on the other hand.' Thought Elif while rubbing his chin before shaking his head and deciding to think about it later.
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"Don't give me that look, Marley. We are in this situation because of you." Stated Idonea, who was covered in injuries, with a frown as she eyed the angry Marley.
"Tch, but this wouldn't have happened if you didn't try snitching on me!" Exclaimed Marley, who was also covered in injuries, angrily as she stared at Idonea.
"Did you think I was just supposed to stay quiet after I found what was stored in your crystal ball? You should know you could get in serious trouble if those pictures get exposed, Marley, and if anything, I was looking out for you. If I had told Prince Elif, while I'm sure he would've been angry, your punishment would've been severely lessened than what it should've been." Declared Idonea, her words slightly calming down Marley.
"Yes, that's true, but that would've only been if I was caught! Besides, I don't care if I get punished, but if my crystal ball gets exposed, I'll lose everything I have on it, and that is far more important to me." Said Marley with a frown while eyeing Idonea.
"I know; if that crystal ball weren't so important to you, we wouldn't have ended up fighting; you would've just destroyed it as I told you to do in the first place." Retorted Idonea as she laid back on the bed, slightly hissing in pain.
"Hmph, don't try to act all righteous now, Idonea; you had several opportunities to destroy the crystal ball, but instead, you chose to let me do it. Face it, Idonea, the moment you saw what was contained in my crystal ball, you loved it and couldn't bring yourself to destroy it." Said Marley with a confident smirk as she summoned a crystal ball from her dimension ring.
"You and I aren't the same; I'm not nearly as vulgar as you, Marley." Replied Idonea, though when she noticed the crystal ball in Marley's hand, her eyes constantly glanced at it with a hidden desire.
"Ohh, really? If this were when we first met, I would believe you; however, after having known you for some time, I know you're just as vulgar as me. The difference between you and me is that you do a much better job at concealing it; that's all." Remarked Marley with a mischievous smirk while looking at Idonea as she injected Qi into the crystal ball, causing it to glow dimly.
"Marley, stop right now; last time, I allowed you to destroy the crystal ball yourself so you may amend your own mistake, but I won't make the same mistake twice." Stated Idonea as she raised her arm toward the crystal ball, threatening to destroy it; however, even so, Marley didn't seem worried.
"Hehe, go ahead, destroy it; that is if you have resolved yourself to possibly never see the pictures and videos I have stored on here. Here, I'll even let you hold the crystal ball so that you can destroy it easily." Said Marley with an almost evil smile as she tossed the crystal ball toward Idonea, who quickly caught it before closely inspecting it.
"What are you waiting for, Idonea? Destroy it already; you said you were going to do it." Whispered Marley, though her statement had the opposite effect; each word caused Idonea's determination to crumble slowly.
"Ugh! Dammit!" Exclaimed Idonea with gritted teeth as she overfilled the crystal the Qi, causing it to explode.
"There! Are you happy now, Marley!?" Yelled Idonea with apparent anger as she eyed Marley, though when she did, she noticed another crystal ball already in her hand.
"Hehe, after everything that happened, did you think I wouldn't have created backups? As I said before, those images and videos are nearly as important as my own life, so I created several backups just in case." Said Marley with a giant smile as she once again injected Qi into the crystal ball, causing it dimly glow; however, this time, it projected a clear image of a nude person relaxing in a hot bath.
"Also, since I have several backups, you can have one; just don't go and destroy it this time, as I won't give you another one. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have some personal business to attend to." Added Marley as she tossed a different crystal ball over to Idonea before releasing a hiss of pain as she stood up while shuffling toward the door.
"Hehe, since his Highness is at the banquet, I'll have plenty of time to pleasure myself." Muttered Marley quietly in a lustful tone as she exited the room, leaving Idonea with the crystal ball alone.
"That Bitch!" Said Idonea in anger through gritted teeth as she stored the crystal ball in her dimension; any desire to destroy it had vanished when she saw the image Marley displayed.
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"Hmm, you okay, Prince Elif?" Asked Eyvor when she noticed Elif suddenly shiver.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think so, at least." Replied Elif awkwardly as he carefully observed his surroundings, trying to pinpoint the source of his sudden uncomfortableness. However, when he came up empty-handed, he decided to ignore it for now.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, also it works this time; I've reset it, https://discord.gg/eX83nz2q
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 144: Elif's Victory!) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 24: Secret Stash!) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 34: Sebas Visage) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]