It was two in the afternoon as Maedhros walked alongside his father, both of them wearing serious expressions. The past few hours had been spent discussing matters of great importance and managing an overwhelming amount of paperwork. These papers contained requests sent by the various noble houses. The main theme of these requests was clear: they all asked for permission to deploy different squads. The intention behind these requests was simple, yet disturbing. The noble houses planned to eradicate all humans found on the outskirts of the kingdom. There were even requests asking for permission to execute humans who had been arrested in the past.
For Maedhros, this was an excellent opportunity. He had already decided that he would abolish the law that prohibited elves from leaving the country and attacking human kingdoms. It was a subject that, sooner or later, he would have to address. As he walked through the halls of the palace, his mind focused on the information that the royal guard had provided him. It was something extremely delicate and difficult to believe.
"There's no way Lia could have done all that," Maedhros said skeptically.
"I agree. She was with us the whole time," Angrod said confidently.
Hours earlier, during a meeting, Naida and Keijo had told them in great detail what they had witnessed in that battle. Maedhros, Angrod and Eru had only listened, but at the end of the story, they all came to the same conclusion: Naida and Keijo were lying. No one believed them. The story was too incredible.
"It had to be the work of that monster," Maedhros declared, convinced.
Angrod fell silent at that statement. He knew it was possible, but the idea that this being could take Lia 's form was terrifying to him. If what the guard had told them was true, then they were facing a terrifying revelation.
"If Naida and Keijo weren't mistaken in what they saw, then that monster can steal other people's appearances," Maedhros said with coldness in his voice. "And without a doubt, the form it shows us is not its true appearance."
Maedhros and Angrod arrived at the luxurious room where Lia was staying . As they crossed the threshold, they were met by Queen Eryn, who greeted them with an expression of surprise and concern. Her eyes reflected a mixture of disbelief and fear, as if what was happening was something she had never imagined.
"D's words have come true," Eryn said quietly, almost as if she feared someone else might hear her. "He told us that within 24 hours we would see the results of opening Lia 's mana channels ."
Maedhros frowned, remembering the words of that monster called D. There was something about him that didn't fit, something that aroused distrust, but at the same time, his knowledge of mana was undeniable. Now, faced with the evidence, Maedhros couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
Lia lay in her bed, surrounded by a bright, pulsating aura. Her normally silver hair seemed to radiate light, and her eyes, closed in deep sleep, glowed faintly beneath her eyelids. The air around her vibrated with energy, as if the mana flowing within her was overflowing, seeking an outlet.
Maedhros approached the bed, looking at his daughter with a mixture of pride and concern. He knew that Lia had extraordinary potential, but now that potential was manifesting itself in ways that even he could not fully understand.
"Their purity of mana is incredible," Maedhros stated as he watched the energy flow throughout the room.
The amount of energy radiated by the little girl was not a big deal; what really caught the attention was the purity of that energy. Something that had caught the king's attention was that Lia still did not let go of the little black cube. She never left it alone, she even slept with it.
"You are absolutely right," Angrod declared, trying to hide his emotion behind a serious expression.
Angrod knew better than anyone that this level of purity was not normal for an elf who had only recently awakened his mana. He knew of the ten grades of mana that existed in this world, with grade 10 being the weakest, or rather, the state where mana is in its most impure form. Typically, all people who awaken their mana start at grade 10. There were rare cases where some would awaken at grade 9 or 8, and these individuals were usually of nobility. But how on earth was he going to explain to everyone that the purity grade of his granddaughter's mana could easily be grade 5?
"She's sweating a lot," Eryn said as she grabbed a white towel and wiped her daughter's tiny body.
Maedhros and Angrod could see the worry on the queen's face. Her hands trembled slightly as she cleaned and dried the child. Maedhros walked over to his wife and hugged her from behind, whispering a few words to her.
"Don't worry about this. It's quite normal. Remember that this happens to all of us," Maedhros said in an attempt to calm his beloved wife.
Eryn quickly noticed that she was worrying the others, so she pulled herself together and tried her best to stop her hands from shaking.
"Thank you, honey. I didn't want to worry you, but I was very surprised to see how your mana purity started at grade 10 and suddenly started jumping to other grades."
The queen's statement left them both stunned. The king quickly asked his wife:
"Wait a minute, what did you say?"
"I said his mana changed grade," Eryn replied, knowing her words were hard to believe.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, honey. I'd never get confused by something like this. Plus, she's been asleep for about two hours, and we're usually only supposed to be unconscious for about 20 minutes. That's why I was worried."
"Wait, our daughter has been unconscious for two hours and you didn't tell me?"
The queen could see her husband getting upset. She could hear it in his voice. It was more than clear that not being informed of his daughter's condition had irritated him deeply. With recent events, Maedhros did not like being kept from important information. Eryn saw him let out a deep sigh. It was obvious that he would scold her later, when they were alone in their room.
"Honey, we'll talk about this later," Maedhros said with a smile, though a hint of mischief was evident in his eyes.
"Understood".
Eryn realized that she wouldn't get much sleep tonight, and she was right. Maedhros wouldn't let her rest in peace. He usually allowed his wife to act freely and make decisions, even if they were a little reckless. After all, he wanted her to feel like the queen she was. He rarely got upset with her, but, given recent events, he couldn't allow himself to let her make these kinds of decisions anymore. He figured it was time to put her in her place. He knew that his wife sometimes made childish decisions that harmed those around her. This situation was a clear example: he hadn't informed her that their daughter had been knocked unconscious and that her mana channels had already absorbed enough energy from the atmosphere. In essence, the little girl was already a full-fledged mage.
"Has there been any news about that cube?" Maedhros asked his wife.
The absence of the white-haired, blue-eyed boy was worrying in many ways. The reason was simple: they had an unconscious dragon in their possession. They didn't know if the dragon's companions would come looking for him, and if by chance they did arrive and found their companion half-dead, they wouldn't know how to explain the situation. It was crucial that the white-haired, blue-eyed boy woke up first, in case such an event occurred.
"No, honey. The cube has not emitted any energy," Eryn replied confidently.
Maedhros trusted his wife's words. When it came to magical perception, she was the best. She was extremely sensitive to the mana around her and would no doubt notice if the cube emitted any energy.
"I understand. I hope that dragon doesn't wake up before him."
Maedhros couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen once the dragon awoke. Perhaps it would rise up in a fighting mood and seek revenge against D, and it didn't take a fortune teller to predict that all the elves would be drawn into the conflict.
"Don't worry about it. I'll contact someone to take care of the dragon," Angrod said with a sigh and an expression that showed he didn't want to resort to this.
His father's words left Maedhros confused. He immediately confronted him, bombarding him with questions.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I just said. I'm going to call someone to take care of that dragon."
Hearing this, the king could not help but get angry. His father had done something similar to what his wife had done.
"You're telling me you had the means to deal with a dragon, but you're only revealing it now?" Maedhros said, a tone of irritation in his voice. The veins on his forehead stood out visibly.
The king's annoyance was more than justified. After all, during the meetings, everyone had been brainstorming on how to handle the situation, but his father had apparently hidden a letter that could prevent a potential problem with the dragon race.
Noticing the king's irritation, Angrod had no choice but to explain so that his son would not misinterpret the situation.
"Let me explain," Angrod said, raising his right hand to stop his son and give himself a chance to clear things up.
Seeing that his father wanted to speak, Maedhros fell silent and tried to calm himself down as much as he could. Once he gave his father space to speak, Angrod began his explanation. He told him everything about this dragon, who could be considered both an ally and a potential enemy if provoked. The more he explained, the more surprised Maedhros became . After all, he had never been told that such a being had appeared before his father.