The temperature on Eli's body rose up as her consciousness seemed to drift into something far away yet familiar at the same time.
Her vision shot past the palace walls down to the vast outskirts of the capital, onto the luscious plains of the Empire, past to the deep mountain range, then finally, the image in her dream stopped into the familiar view of the center of the Silver Dew Forest.
She found herself back at the center of the Silver Dew Village, where she previously saw visions about the origin of the forest.
It was mystifying and bizarre at the same time because in front of her was the mysterious artifact staff that she had seen in the village being used as part of the renewal of the treaty days before Little Han was born.
"What am I doing here?"
She was standing in the middle, there were no elves or fairies lingering around.
It was only her in her phantom-like state with the staff that was pulsating with a gentle light.
The full moon was above them, lighting up the rest of the surroundings, making almost everything illuminate with a faint light of silver.
Slowly, the moonlight shone directly on the spot where the staff was affixed. That is when Eli felt a strange pulling sensation towards the core of the staff.
"Wha-" However, before she found her consciousness being completely sucked by the mysterious artifact, her eyes opened.
Instantly, she realized that she was already in the Prince's palace and Kayden was at her bedside, nervously calling her name.
'So it was a dream?' She thought to herself.
"Little Sister! You are finally awake!" Kayden finally had a relieved look on his face when he saw that Eli had already awoken from her nightmare.
"Brother Kayden…" Eli seemed to forget that before she was brought into the mysterious dream, her body had no strength and was filled with pain.
However, as she called Kayden, she unconsciously got up with her body, laying her back on the headboard in a sitting position.
"Oh heavens! Why did you get up? Your body will be in so much pain!"
Kayden was yet to recover from the previous shock of seeing Eli struggle in a nightmare so he was unable to stop Eli from shifting into a sitting position.
"I'm alright brother… It was actually mysterious… I do not feel pain when I move my body anymore." Eli stretched out her hands and dazedly moved them around, unable to believe that the extreme pain invading her body earlier instantly disappeared after a dream.
"What? How?" Kayden realized that Eli was indeed not in pain, however, since this phenomenon was already too bizarre for him as a doctor, he moved and immediately checked Eli's body.
"I-indeed… how miraculous…" Kayden sat on the bedside.
One part of his mind was relieved that Eli would not be able to suffer the pain he thought she would suffer because of the injuries, but another part of him was curious about what could have happened to trigger such a speedy recovery.
The next moment, he asked Eli about what happened and she in turn did not hide the mysterious dream she had.
Listening to Eli's story, Kayden thought deeply. Although he was a doctor, he knew that there are things that could not be explained with research alone, for instance, the presence of holy powers and magic.
"This might probably be because the artifact was from a guardian who ceased to exist thousands of years ago… Now that you mentioned it, elder sister Azayn mentioned that there was some bizarre reaction from the artifact recently…" As if they have connected the dots, Kayden looked at Eli with a look of understanding.
Eli also remembered what Azayn had said in her letter, "I think I need to go back to the Silver Dew Village, Brother Kayden…"
"Alright… Let's discuss it with Leon when the morning light arrives. I had him go home to look after Little Han, I'm afraid that he would lose himself out of self-blame because of what happened. Thank heavens, you do not have to suffer that pain…"
Kayden nodded at Eli's suggestion. But it was better for her to discuss it with Leon after all. Whatever would be the decision of the two, Kayden made up his mind to pay a quick trip to the village to also look at the situation back there.
After that Eli also convinced Kayden to finally get some sleep, to which Kayden did not object. Eli slept until the sun was already bright up.
When she fluttered her eyelashes awake, she felt something tender squiggle beside her.
Soon her vision became clearer and was greeted by Little Han's smiling face.
"Good mowning mommi!" Little Han seemed to have awoken in a good mood as he crawled on Eli's side.
His crystal blue eyes shined brightly as he blinked adorably. Adding the carefree grin on his face, flashing his little milk teeth, his cuteness melted Eli's heart.
"Good morning my little bundle of joy!" Eli immediately rolled sideways and scoped Little Han's chubby body. Lifting him up and playfully rubbing his nose to hers.
"Yieeeee!!! Jihihihihi!!" Little Han happily giggled at the ticklish greeting of his mommy. But his laughter was all it takes for Eli to momentarily forget the puzzling situation she was in at the moment.
"Eli… You're finally awake…"
As if he heard the sound of the giggling, Leon suddenly opened the annex room on the bed chamber. He was not clad in his usual princely uniform, but a pair of plain shirts and pants he usually wore when it was his turn to bathe Little Han.
Turns out, he was busy preparing the bath for Little Han.
"Leon…" Eli smiled gently, relieved to see that Leon was back to his usual self.
Even if Kayden did not say anything last night, she knew that Leon blamed himself for what happened.
But seeing him busy himself taking care of Little Han while she was unconscious, Eli thought that Little Han's presence in their lives was even deeper than being their source of joy, but also their emotional anchor during hard times.
"It was bizarre of you to take Little Han in these clothes, to your palace, what's more." Eli opted not to mention what happened last night, and she was also confident that Leon already knew the improvements in her body from Kayden.
"Errr… your son insisted not to bathe until he sees you. I am equally helpless so I decided to have him eat and bathe here while I check your condition too…" Leon answered gently, his tone had a mix of helplessness and relief.
"Ah… you cheeky little boy… you're giving your daddy a hard time?" Eli looked at Little Han and feigned a stern tone as if to reprimand him. It's not that she was actually angry about his attitude, but she was afraid that Little Han might grow up being used to getting what he wanted which would soon affect his character.
"Sooweeee mommi…" Somehow, Little Han knew that he pressured his father to bring him here by throwing a big tantrum earlier, and so seeing that his mommy was not pleased with his behavior, he guiltily replied.
"Little Han, don't do that again to daddy ok? You have to tidy up first before you can go out, so do not give daddy a hard time in the future, ok?" Seeing her son guilty, Eli's tone softened as she continued to teach him how not to throw tantrums in the morning.
"Sowweee Daddi…" Little Han gave a soft nod and looked at his father with his puppy dog eyes.
Just seeing him act pitifully like that, how could Eli and Leon keep being harsh on him after that? But of course, as parents, they kept their faces calm, not too warm nor too fierce. Allowing Little Han to feel at ease at the same time.
Little Han was now more than a year and a half old. Soon, he would be two years old and he would probably start to show the typical signs of an active and willful toddler.
So the two naturally knew that they had to be careful in interacting with Little Han. While they do not want to limit Little Han's childhood, they also do not want Little Han to develop habits that might cause problems for him later on.
"Bye mommi! See you latewwww!" Little Han being pardoned stretched his hand out to embrace Leon's neck as his daddy carried him to the bathroom.
But before he left the bedside, Little Han turned his head around and waved his chubby hand, saying goodbye to his mommy properly.
"See you two later, my loves…" A warm smile bloomed on Eli's face.
The morning sun was gently kissing her seemingly frail figure, yet the smile on her face outshines the brightest light of the day.
It was such a beautiful sight that the father and son were left speechless in a daze.
After a few seconds, Little Han blinked and exclaimed, "Mommi pwetty!!!! Little Han wuv~~~"