"Just one of those gifts alone is already impressive, yet not only did they originate from one person, there are still two presents left." Stated Shelia, she and everyone else in the dining hall were somewhat surprised at the quality and quantity of gifts compared to previous ones, though they mainly attributed it to being from an Immortal Hegemony.
"What did I say? The term modest isn't in Prince Elif's vocabulary." Remarked Birger with an awkward smile while Goliath, Shelia, Echo, and Illumia nodded in agreement.
"Hmph, for your information, Birger, I'm usually quite modest; it's just that your definition of modest and modest is different." Said Elif as he glanced at Birger in annoyance while still eating from the large bowl filled with lighting cherries, which was now only about half full.
"I suppose I can't argue with that; we are from different backgrounds, after all. Still, no matter where you are in the OverRealm, gifting five low-God items, two mid-God items, and one high-God item isn't really considered modest by anyone's standards, even if said person originates from an Immortal hegemony like you, Prince Elif." Retorted Birger, to which not only did Goliath, Shelia, Echo, and Illumia nod in agreement, but so did Patriarch, Matriarch, and even Eyvor, who happened to be listening.
"Ho, since everyone seems to agree that my presents are a bit too much, would you like me to take them back, Eyvor? That way, everyone will be happy." Stated Elif with a fake smile while eyeing Eyvor, who quickly shook her head.
"N-Not at all, Prince Elif; I personally think these presents are just right, not too much and not too little." Said Eyvor quickly with a nervous smile while protectively standing in front of the two remaining chests.
"Alright then, since Eyvor doesn't want to give up the presents, let's move past this silly conversation and allow Eyvor to continue opening the presents." Said Elif blandly with a shake of his head while ignoring everyone else.
The second to last chest, which Eyvor was about to open, could hardly be called a chest; it was more appropriate to call it a casket than a chest, considering its large size, but whatever. When she opened the casket, an all-white sexless doll was lying in there, and I noticed its presence somewhat confused Eyvor, which I don't blame; this present could be considered a wildcard, so to speak, even I don't know if it'll be good or bad.
"Um, Prince Elif, could you please explain your thought process behind this present?" Asked Eyvor in confusion while inspecting the doll, wondering if she had overlooked something.
"Yes, I don't mind explaining. You see, as you obviously know, Fairies are born without a physical vessel, so most, if not all, Fairies have never experienced what it's like to live with a physical body. I thought it would be quite a unique gift compared to the norm; however, after giving it some thought, I only recently realized that you probably have access to such artifacts." Explained Elif with a light smile before his expression shifted to a frown toward the end of his explanation.
"Yes, I do indeed have access to these puppet bodies, which I can use to experience what life is with a physical body; in fact, I've even used it a few times before. However, I still appreciate the gift, Prince Elif; it's the thought that counts after all; besides, this casket is very beautiful; I could use it as a decoration." Replied Eyvor with a light smile as she closed the casket and stored it in her dimension ring before preparing to open the final chest.
"Haa, even if that's true, I would've preferred if my gift was actually useful and not a complete waste. Anyways, it's not too bad; the last present will make up for it, hehe, just don't get too shocked." Remarked Elif as he covered the bottom half of his face with his quạt tay while laughing, causing Birger, Illumia, and Eyvor to have a premonition.
"Prince Elif is laughing? Yeah, something is definitely about to happen; be careful when you open that chest, Eyvor!" Stated Birger while eyeing Eyvor.
"I got it, Birger." Replied Eyvor as she focused on the golden chest, feeling incredibly nervous for some reason.
'What is in the golden chest, your Highness?' Asked Illumia curiously via divine sense
'Hehe, something very unique; however, Eyvor is about to open it, so you'll soon find out.' Replied Elif via divine sense while failing to hide his smirk.
With slow and delicate movements, Eyvor opened the golden chest, and the moment she did so, an incredibly potent Qi erupted from the chest, along with a tantalizing aroma, yet its Qi was serene, its presence causing no damage whatsoever. However, when the Qi was released from the chest, everyone in the dining hall instantly stood up with an absolutely shocked expression; even Patriarch and Matriarch couldn't stay seated.
"Haha!" Exclaimed Elif, who couldn't hold his laughter after seeing everyone's reaction.
The entire time I was laughing, no one said anything, they just continued staring at the golden chest with shocked expressions, and while it was enjoyable at first, I eventually regained my composure.
"Alright, could everyone else also regain some composure? Including you, Illumia." Announced Elif calmly as he pressured everyone in the dining hall to break them out of their stupor, which worked, though the more powerful people, like the Patriarch, Matriarch, and the Elders, took a long time.
"My goodness; I-I can hardly formulate words after what just happened." Muttered Birger as he and everyone else sat back in their seats, though their eyes never once left the golden chest.
"Good, it seems like I'm not the only one; I thought I might've been hallucinating this entire time from drinking too much beer." Said Goliath as he grabbed his cup full of beer and downed the entire bottle.
"I'm speechless." Said Shelia while her mouth watered from the heavenly smell the golden chest emitted.
"I-I can't believe something of this caliber can even be considered a gift." Stated Echo, and for the first time in her life, she had no desire to speak about muscles or physique.
"That Qi, that smell; I know it from somewhere." Declared Patriarch with a shocked and thoughtful expression while eyeing the chest.
"I-I lost." Muttered Matriarch quietly with a bitter-sweet expression while shifting her attention between her sack filled with Immortal stones and the golden chest.
"Y-Your Highness; h-how? Their Majesties would never permit you to gift something that precious as a gift." Questioned Illumia in concern and curiosity as she eyed Elif while asking the question on everyone's mind.
"You're not wrong; if I had asked Mother and Father to take that item from the treasury and use it as a gift for Eyvor, they would never approve of it." Stated Elif while nodding his head in agreement, though words didn't little to calm the concerned Illumia.
"T-Then, how did you acquire it? If Their Majesties didn't give you permission to take that item from the treasury, Queen Celeste would never give it to you, not to mention you couldn't sneak past her even if you wanted to." Said Illumia, feeling more confused than worried.
"Ho, you see Illumia, that's your problem right there; what makes you think I ever took that item from the treasury in the first place? You just assumed I did. Who is to say I never had it in my dimension ring, to begin with?" Declared Elif with a sly smirk; this time, his words only deepened Illumia's confusion.
"Your Highness, what do you mean by that?"
"Allow me to explain and clear up your confusion, Illumia. I'm sure you know by now, but twelve years ago, on the day I was born, a unique phenomenon transpired throughout the entire Elven Empire, which caused flowers, trees, plants, and mystical herbs to have accelerated growth." Said Elif, though since he wasn't trying to hide the information, everyone in the dining hall was closely paying attention to his every word.
"Yes, I know about that, your Highness, and although I don't know what exactly caused the phenomenon, I have my suspicions." Replied Illumia while nodding her head and eyeing Elif, to which he smirked in response.
"Well, knowing you, I'm not surprised you've figured out why; you probably just haven't discovered any definitive proof. How about I clear up your suspicion? The phenomenon happened because of me. Shortly after I was born, I let out a melodic laugh that resonated through the entire Elven Empire, which, as I said before, caused nearly all plant life to have accelerated growth for a short period of time." Declared Elif with a small smile, his words surprising everyone in the dining hall; however, it wasn't like this was the first time such occurrences had happened before, so they quickly calmed down.
"You've just cleared up one of my suspicions, your Highness; however, I'm still confused about how you got access to that item." Said Illumia, her words causing Elif to sigh.
"Haa, alright, allow me to spell it out for you. Because the plants underwent an accelerated growth phase, many precious herbs and items were birthed, which includes that seed. When I said nearly all plants underwent an accelerated growth, I meant ALL plants; that includes Divine, God, and of course, Immortal tier plants." Stated Elif with a smirk; this time, though, his words caused everyone to get shocked, almost as shocked when Eyvor opened the golden chest.
"So the reason why I had that seed in my possession is because the Ancestors declared it my property since I caused the Erdtree to birth a seed much, MUCH earlier than it was supposed to. At least, this is what Father said when I asked." Added Elif, though nearly everyone was too shocked to listen.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, also it works this time; I've reset it, again, https://discord.gg/FTH6ms5n
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 148: Comet's Return!/V5 Part Two) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 28: Dungeon Explorer) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 41: Rear Admiral Hina Vs Diddy?) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]