Your heart beats faster. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Calm down, me.
I breathe in slowly and out slowly. Sadie grabs me by the hem, probably sensing my agitation. This is the moment of truth.
In fact, from the very beginning of my arrival here, I have been simulating what would happen if I were granted an audience with the Elf King. Sandille's opinion that Princess Meek would be killed if she went to the elf village... we've been thinking of ways to prevent that from happening.
Once the audience with the king was over, we would probably be turned away. But it would be dangerous to leave her alone in the castle, and there was no telling what she might do. It would be like going to be killed by force. So, after the audience, we had planned to ask Princess Meek to thank us and take us to her room or to a room where we could be alone. And there, we were going to build a magic circle for Meek's emergency escape.
The shifting magic circle is already an obsolete method, but I got the staff of Latgis after the battle with Hayes. By looking at the magic circle drawn with this staff, May and Sidhi were able to figure out what it was all about. Besides, they had succeeded in developing a much simplified magic circle. I don't understand it at all, but Sadie has mastered it perfectly.
On the other hand, as for the problem of the magic power to activate the magic circle, we were to use "Tippet's Judgment" which Soleil had created. I convinced her mother, Vival, to inject enough magic power to activate the magic circle. All that was left was to align the paper with the magic circle.
By the way, Meek has the "Tippet's Judgment". The ribbon that holds up her hair is the same. All that remains is to draw the magic circle. It only takes five minutes.
This grand scheme was all Sidney's idea. I wondered if I could fool the elves with such a plan, but she assured me that she was absolutely confident in her opinion.
"Think about it. The Elf King wants to meet Princess Meek. We are going out of our way to fulfill that wish. I think they would feel indebted to us, but would not treat us disrespectfully.
"No, but still ....... I hate to say this, but if the Elf King was a scumbag ....... I hate to say this, but if the Elf King was a scumbag, wouldn't he immediately tell us to ...... kill us?"
"That's not very likely either."
"Why not?"
"The Elven King has ruled the Elves for hundreds of years. I have not heard of any rebellion in the Elven Homeland. On the contrary, he has gathered the elves from all over the world to his village. He is a very skilled king, don't you think? Even though he has cut off all contact with the outside world, we do not hear any bad news about the Elven King. Besides, if he were a king without virtue, some elves would flee from his village. However, no one has even seen any elves. I think this is proof that the king is a man of virtue.
"Even if they do, doesn't that mean they'll do what Meek wants?"
No, the most important thing to rule people for a long time is compassion. Of course, other abilities are also necessary, but compassion is the most important. It is unthinkable that such a compassionate king would not thank the benefactor who brought back his daughter. Perhaps his retainers will ask him to send us away as soon as possible, but I am sure they will not take up that suggestion.
Her confident persuasion eventually convinced me to accept her opinion. After that, however, I had to put on a show in front of Meek and the king, so I had to practice a lot. Meek was very happy and excited to do it, but Sidney didn't like the way I delivered my lines. More natural! or "Say it more plainly!" I was reprimanded quite severely. As for me, I thought I had imitated the line delivery of the famous Kabuki actor Ichimura Uzaemon XV, but apparently it was not good enough. I was pretty confident about it. .......
So we practiced several times, but in the end, I could not get Sadie's approval. I don't know how many times I heard her clucking her tongue, and more than once I shed tears of frustration in my heart. The worst part was that even though I was so depressed, Rico and others would ask me, "Why can't you say it more normally?" They were seriously concerned with a straight face. I was just trying to be natural and casual.
This time, I thought I had done it perfectly. As a proof, I did not hear Sidney's tongue lashing. In the rehearsal, we had been told that it was a good thing to stay back and take a rest. We had no idea that the king would tell us that he had something to ask us. Had he caught us in the act? No, that's not true. That's not true at all.
It was a natural process for everyone. If they say "just take them back" or if they don't say that, we say "we'll leave you alone" and try to leave. Meek stops them and says he wants to thank them. He is told that he can do as he likes. We are supposed to be taken to Meek's room or to another room.
I stare at the Elf King. He is a very handsome young man. His hair is emerald green. His age is unknown, but I would believe him if he were twenty years old. He looks that young.
He keeps his eyes fixed on me, not changing his expression at all.
"King Agartha, my king asks if that woman is really your wife.
Ortó opens his mouth. It's a question I hadn't expected. I look at Sidi and we look at each other.
"Yes. The lady who is standing here is my wife, Considine.
Before I could finish, the Elf King stamped his right foot on the ground. What the hell was that?
"......Oh ...... King says, did you take such a child so young as that for your wife?"
Ortó is interpreting for me in a confused and frantic way.
"No ......, my wife may look young, but she is a dwarf. She is the daughter of the Dwarf King. A dwarf may look young on the outside but she has lived forty years.
"...... tch,38 years, 9 months and 10 days."
"My wife has lived for 38 years. She may look young to the Elves, but she has lived longer than I have. Therefore, I did not take a young woman as my wife. I love my wife. I believe that she loves me too. ......, right?"
He looked at Sadie. She had an indescribable expression on her face, but when she noticed my gaze, she blushed and nodded slowly. Then, in a clear voice, she opened her mouth to the Elf King.
I am Considie, wife of the King of Agartha. As my husband has told you, I am the daughter of Niza Duke Aemon, Duke of Niza. When we Dwarves come of age, the men grow beards and the women grow their hair like this to distinguish their appearance. My husband said before that I have lived longer than him, but my age is not so different."
For some reason, Sadie is emphasizing the word "same". I am afraid to say anything more, so I dare not say anything else.
Ortó stares at the Elf King, then exhales slowly and turns to face us with a look of relief on his face.
"The king can't forget what happened in Hayes. When he saw the wife of the king of Agartha, he thought you might be the same as Haze.
"Um, ...... I'd appreciate it if you didn't put us together."
"Mm. I'm sorry. I hope you will forgive me. I have explained this point to the king. The king is ......."
Suddenly, Ortó was crestfallen. He looked over to see the King of the Elves sitting behind him, his left hand raised in a sweeping pose, as if to restrain him. The king stood up slowly and started walking toward us.
Ortó and Leila look at each other. Then they rush to follow behind the king.
tips...... tips...... tips.......
Without changing his expression at all, the elf-king approaches us. It's creepy. Very creepy.
The distance between us is about 5 meters. The king suddenly stops walking. And he stares at us.