Chapter 138 : Chapter 138

Chapter 138. Audience at the Sanctuary

Eli looked at Valerian’s enormous dragon head, which seemed to have fallen into confusion.

He worked hard to make his smile appear a little more sincere, attempting to reason with this giant dragon whose thought process seemed somewhat unusual.

“Honorable Valerian, look, could it be that you heard incorrectly?

“Her Highness the Princess is clearly inside the sanctuary. How could she have asked you to say she is not here?

“And look, Gulu has also returned. She is the one who brought me here.”

When Valerian heard this, his enormous dragon head lifted slightly.

Those dragon eyes, like a deep and starry sky, blinked as though he were truly thinking seriously about Eli’s words.

The scene fell into a strange silence, with only the faint sound of rippling lake water.

After a long while, that clear little girl’s voice rang out in Eli’s mind once more.

This time, however, it carried a hint of sudden, enlightened joy.

“Mm! You are right! Maybe... maybe I did not hear clearly just now!

“What Her Highness the Princess said should have been ‘she is here’! Yes, it must be that! I will open the corridor bridge for you right away!”

As soon as the voice fell, Valerian opened his enormous dragon mouth toward the calm lake surface.

The familiar sight appeared once again. The water at the center of the lake began to rotate and descend.

In the end, it formed a transparent tunnel made of flowing water that led to the bottom of the lake.

At this moment, Gulu came running over in a huff.

She put her paws on her waist, raised her head, and shouted loudly at Valerian, whose body was countless times larger than hers.

“Hey! You little foolish dragon! Did I not tell you many times before?

“Only when Lord Gulu calls you are you allowed to come out!

“How could you casually listen to this human’s words?!

“Do you know that this makes Lord Gulu lose a lot of face?”

Eli stared at the scene before him in shock.

A tiny marmot was arrogantly scolding an ancient giant dragon whose head alone was comparable to the size of a house!

What made it even harder for him to believe was that after Valerian was scolded by Gulu, his enormous dragon head actually lowered slightly.

A nearly aggrieved whimper came from his throat, and his dragon eyes even seemed to reveal a few traces of innocence.

Seeing Valerian like this, Gulu became even more pleased with herself.

She crossed her little arms before her chest and burst into loud laughter.

“You know you were wrong now, right? You are not allowed to do this again next time! You have to listen to Lord Gulu!”

After lecturing the “disobedient” gatekeeping dragon, Gulu finally turned around and waved her little paw at Eli.

“Let us go, hateful human. Keep up with Lord Gulu!”

After saying this, she hopped and skipped onto the staircase leading to the bottom of the lake first.

Eli took a deep breath, suppressed all the strange feelings in his heart, and followed closely behind her.

The two of them descended along the wondrous water corridor bridge.

They once again passed through the enormous white-jade gate and entered the elven sanctuary hidden at the bottom of the lake.

As soon as they entered the sanctuary, Gulu sprinted toward the throne deep within the great hall, which radiated a soft glow. As she ran, she shouted excitedly.

“Her Highness the Princess! Her Highness the Princess! You are finally awake! Gulu is back!

“Hehe! I even brought that silly human here for you.”

Eli also walked quickly into the great hall, and his gaze immediately fell upon the familiar and breathtakingly beautiful figure on the throne.

Princess Irene was still dressed in that simple yet noble elven attire.

Her silver-white hair flowed down like a waterfall of moonlight, and no expression could be seen on her delicate face.

But those deep eyes were silently watching him.

Eli did not dare be negligent. He immediately stepped forward a few paces and bowed respectfully.

“Eli Pendragon greets Your Highness Irene.”

The moment his voice fell, he clearly felt an icy gaze sweep back and forth over his body.

Eli’s heart tightened. He maintained his bowing posture, not daring to move carelessly, and even his breathing became lighter.

Meanwhile, Gulu had already climbed up the tall throne on all fours and plunged headfirst into Irene’s arms.

She rubbed her head against Irene affectionately while beginning to accuse Eli of his crimes.

“Her Highness the Princess! Do you know how hateful this human is?

“He actually dared to command the great Lord Gulu! And... and he kicked Lord Gulu’s noble belly with his foot!

“Hurry and punish him! Turn him into a frog!”

Below the dais, the corner of Eli’s mouth kept twitching as he listened.

Was it not just a light kick? I even brought you so many delicious things!

On the throne, Irene gently stroked Gulu’s soft fur.

She took Gulu’s constantly wriggling body off her stomach and placed her on her lap.

Her gaze, however, remained fixed on Eli, and her cold voice broke the silence.

“Enough, Gulu. Be quiet.”

She paused. “Some time ago, you left Obsidian Territory?”

Eli let out a breath of relief. Only then did he dare raise his head and answer, “Yes, Your Highness Irene.

“I was summoned by Lord Lucius La Roche, Governor of the Western Frontier, and had no choice but to make a trip to Thorne City.

“I only returned to the territory today. After handling the territory’s affairs, I immediately came here to have an audience with Your Highness and report to you.”

“Thorne City?” Irene’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. “The La Roche Family?”

Eli’s heart abruptly sank, and he inwardly cried that this was bad! How could he have forgotten this?

Between the elves and the La Roche Family, there was a blood feud born of betrayal!

He hurriedly tried to explain.

“Yes, Your Highness the Princess. It was precisely that despicable, shameless, and treacherous La Roche Family!

“They relied on their authority and forcibly summoned me to Thorne City.

“I was alone and weak, unable to refuse, so I could only deal with them perfunctorily...”

Irene looked at him and fell silent for a moment. In those eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything, a trace of unreadable light flashed.

Suddenly, she sneered, her tone carrying a hint of amusement.

“Oh? Was it merely a summons you could not refuse?

“Then why... does your body carry a trace of... elven aura?”

The moment these words came out, Eli felt as though he had been struck by lightning and froze in place.

Elven aura? How could there be elven aura on him?

Apart from Princess Irene and Gulu, he definitely had not come into contact with any other elves!

He frantically searched through every suspicious person and experience in his mind, yet he could not find any clue at all.

Sensing that Her Highness the Princess was unconsciously stroking her with more force.

Gulu bared her teeth and endured this “heavy” affection.

When she heard Irene’s words, she took the opportunity to suddenly break free and jump onto the armrest of the throne, her little eyes widening until they were round.

“What?! There are other elves? Where did you see them? Speak quickly!

“Were they pretty? Were they as cute as Lord Gulu?”

Eli was made dizzy by this string of questions. He raised his hand. “Your Highness the Princess, please see clearly!

“I, Eli Pendragon, swear to the heavens that apart from Your noble Highness.

“I truly have not seen or come into contact with any other elves!

“If there truly is elven aura on me, then it must have come from the protection of Your Highness’s radiance!”

When Irene heard these words, which clearly carried flattery and a declaration of loyalty.

For some reason, a faint trace of embarrassed annoyance flashed across her face, but it was soon covered again by coldness.

“If I say there is, then there is! My senses cannot be wrong.”

Eli groaned inwardly, unable to understand why Her Highness the Princess seemed especially irritable today.

He could only follow her words and say, “Yes, yes, Your Highness the Princess naturally cannot be wrong.

“Perhaps... perhaps in some corner of Thorne City, I accidentally picked up the lingering aura of some hidden elf?

“But I can assure you that among all elves, in my heart, I am loyal only to Your Highness the Princess alone!”

Hearing Eli emphasize once again that he was loyal only to her alone.

Irene’s expression seemed to ease a little. She merely gave a soft “mm” and stopped pursuing the matter.

Gulu, however, fell into deep thought at the side. She scratched her head with her little paw, then suddenly seemed to remember something.

“Her Highness the Princess, could the elven aura Eli came into contact with... have come from the west?

“I remember that a very, very long time ago, there seemed to be some of our people who, because of... disagreements.

“Decided to cross the Great Set Desert and migrate westward to seek a new homeland.

“Could it be their descendants?”

Below the dais, Eli’s heart stirred when he heard this.

Across the desert? Westward? Was that not in the direction of the Western Federation Alliance?

Could there be a westward-migrating branch of elves within the Western Federation Alliance?

Irene also revealed a thoughtful expression. A moment later, she nodded slightly.

“Mm... It happened too long ago, and the records are incomplete. That possibility does exist.”

Receiving the princess’s affirmation, Gulu became extremely happy and immediately tossed the previous topic to the back of her mind.

She touched her slightly shriveled little belly and suggested.

“Her Highness the Princess, look, the sky is already getting late. You have slept for so long, so you must be hungry too, right?

“We brought the most delicious pastries and food from Obsidian Territory! Would you like to try some?”

“These were specially chosen for you by Lord Gulu!”

Eli hurriedly opened the bundle he carried with him, took out the various pastries wrapped in clean oil paper, and respectfully offered them with both hands.

However, Irene’s gaze suddenly turned toward Gulu instead.

The corner of her mouth curved into a smile that was not quite a smile. “Gulu, did you say before that your grilled fish was very delicious?”

Gulu was stunned by the question and looked somewhat confused.

But when she met Her Highness the Princess’s meaningful gaze, realization instantly dawned upon her, and she understood!

Her Highness the Princess really does still love me. She actually wants to eat my grilled fish!

Gulu immediately puffed out her little chest and said loudly, “Yes! Her Highness the Princess!

“You understand Gulu so well! Gulu has recently devoted herself to cultivating the water-style grilled fish technique and has gained considerable insight!

“I was just about to ask you to taste the results of Gulu’s cultivation! I guarantee it will be tastier than before!”

At the side, Eli found this scene somewhat amusing.

But he also saw that this was a good opportunity to ease the atmosphere and draw closer to Irene.

He volunteered, “Your Highness the Princess, you have also tasted the grilled fish I made before.

“If you do not mind, why not let me help as well?”

The moment Gulu heard this, she bristled instantly. She jumped in front of Eli, pointed at him with her little paw, and shouted in dissatisfaction.

“Hey! Human! What do you mean by that?

“Are you trying to settle who is superior with the great Lord Gulu and compete to see whose grilled fish skill is better?”