The leading elf jumped down from the tree and approached Yvanna with a look of disbelief. “Your Highness…” His voice was trembling as if he couldn’t control his emotions.
Yvanna’s face remained cold as she uttered. “Did you not hear my words?”
Sensing the gravity in her tone, the elf immediately realized his mistake. He made a hand signal and shouted. “Lower your weapons! Do you not recognize the princess?!”
The elves were terrified upon hearing his words. They quickly lowered their weapons, jumped down from the trees, and kneeled before her.
“We greet Your Highness!”
Their voice resonated through the forest, startling the birds nearby.
Meanwhile, Alaric and the two old warriors were flabbergasted.
They never would have thought that the elf they had traveled with was actually the princess of the elves.
No wonder she was secretive about her identity. I thought she was just a high elf or something. It turns out she is actually a princess…
Alaric thought as he watched the scene.
At this moment, Yvanna was still reprimanding the elves. “Do you even know that these men saved my life? If it weren’t for them, I would have died in some unknown place! You guys even dare to point your weapons at them!”
She spoke harshly and not one elf dared to even raise their head.
Damn. So fierce!
Alaric couldn’t believe that the shy elf also had this side of her.
“It’s alright, Yvanna. Don’t be too harsh on them. They are only doing their jobs.” He spoke to assuage her anger.
Yvanna glanced at him, her gaze visibly softening. “Fine. Since you have spoken for them, then I will forget this matter.”
She then turned her gaze back to the elven warriors and muttered. “Stand up.”
The elven warriors stood up in unison. They looked very organized and well-trained with no sloppy movements.
“Yvanna,” Alaric called out.
“Mn?” Yvanna stared at her questioningly.
“I have already done as I had promised. Since you have your people now, I think it’s time for us to return.” Alaric smiled faintly.
Hearing this, Yvanna felt a trace of reluctance. She has been with them for a long time so she didn’t want to separate just like that.
“Why don’t you come with us for a while? I will give you a proper compensation for bringing me back home.” She suggested while staring deeply at Alaric’s eyes.
The elven warriors looked visibly shocked by her offer. They had never brought humans to their territory so they found it unbelievable for the princess to invite them.
Alaric shook his head with an apologetic smile. “I would love to go with you, but we must go. I’m sure you already know the reason.”
Yvanna sighed in regret, but she didn’t insist. “I understand, but I can’t let you go unrewarded for your efforts.”
After she uttered those words, she looked at the leader of the elven warriors and spoke to him in elven language.
Alaric didn’t understand anything, but he saw the look of surprise on the elven warrior’s face.
A moment later, the elven warrior barked a command to his subordinates.
“Just wait for a moment, Alaric. This won’t take a lot of time.” Yvanna spoke to him in common language.
“Alright. We will wait for a bit.” Alaric nodded.
“Since we will be bidding farewell later, why don’t we chat while we wait for them to return?” Yvanna suggested with a light smile.
“That’s not a problem, but I think those two won’t be able to talk with you like how they used to.” Alaric chuckled as he pointed at the two old warriors who were staring at her with awkward gazes.
Yvanna laughed when she realized the meaning behind his words.
“I apologize for being harsh on you before, Your Highness. I didn’t know your identity.” Henry squeezed out a smile.
“Me too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you back then.” Arthur added.
Looking at the two apologetic old men, Yvanna shook her head and smiled. “It’s alright. You two are like mentors to me and I found it refreshing to be treated like a normal person despite our racial differences. Besides, I haven’t thank you enough for teaching me a lot of things.”
While they were chatting, the elves were stunned when they saw how comfortable their princess was with the humans.
In their kingdom, she was known as an aloof woman, a high and mighty goddess that no one would even dare to look at.
After about less than an hour of waiting, the elven warriors who had left earlier finally returned. They had brought with them five muscular horses covered with long, silky manes.
Unlike wind horses, these guys looked bigger and more powerful. Additionally, they also possessed mana equivalent to that of a Knight! One of the five stood out in particular.
It was a brown horse with a silky black mane and a striking white blaze running down its face.
This horse’s mana was so dense that Henry who was an Elite Knight felt that he was weaker than it.
“Yvanna, those are…” Alaric could already tell what was about to happen, but he still sent Yvanna an inquisitive look.
Yvanna smiled when she saw his expression. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with those horses. We call them ‘nix equus’ which translates to frost horse in common language. We gave them that name because they procreate during winter.”
She looked embarrassed when she mentioned this.
“Don’t tell me you are planning to give these horses to us…”
“It’s just a small matter compared to what you guys have done for me. Please accept these horses. I won’t feel at ease if you reject them.”
Alaric knew how valuable these horses were. If they were to be auctioned in the empire, they would be worth a lot of money.
Henry and Arthur loved the horses, but they didn’t say anything and just waited for Alaric to make the decision.
After thinking for an entire minute, Alaric smiled bitterly. “This gift is too much, Yvanna.”