Chapter Forty-Six: Captured on the First Day of Taking Office

The Dark Forest stretched for thousands of kilometers, an ancient woodland that the night elves had spent two centuries transforming into habitable land. Towering trees, centuries old, could be seen everywhere, their lush canopies blocking out the sunlight, and the roads often hidden in a perpetual mist.

“I can’t believe it—you actually overshot the teleport and landed us in the night elves’ territory!” complained Eve as she ran through the fog, fleeing with her companions from the pursuing night elves. Linley’s wings were simply too eye-catching; the moment they touched down, the night elves had greeted them with enthusiastic hostility—so much so that Linley now had an arrow lodged in his hair.

They had been running for half an hour, but Linley seemed utterly unconcerned. “I teleported us over two thousand kilometers. A deviation of a hundred or two is perfectly normal!”

“Little master,” called the leopard running ahead, coming to a halt. “We don’t need to run anymore. I can’t hear any footsteps; we must have shaken off the night elves.”

Its ears were the sharpest among them. The three stopped to rest, and Eve sat down on a rock, a lantern suddenly appearing in her hand.

“Huh, how did your lantern come back?” Linley asked, curious.

“It’s my magical artifact,” Eve replied, forming a seal with her fingers. The lantern shot a beam of light to the right.

“I’m triangulating… Head right. There’s a camp of ours ninety kilometers away.” Eve frowned; the distance was farther than she’d anticipated. “Can your Great Shift get us there?”

Linley waved dismissively. “No, the Great Shift can only be used once a day.”

He was, of course, lying. In such an intriguing place, there was no way he’d leave so easily.

“I want to go left,” Linley insisted, pointing the opposite way. “About five or six kilometers—there’s treasure there.”

His earring was faintly warm; though the sensation was subtle, Linley knew there was definitely something valuable in that direction. He’d dig up the treasure first and think about the rest later.

“Five or six kilometers?” Eve pulled out a map of the Dark Forest from her bag, her finger gliding across it as she calculated. “Impossible. That might be a night elf city—it’s far too dangerous!”

“Heading back to camp is risky too. Why don’t we hide somewhere first? My lantern can guide us to a safe spot. We’ll wait there until tomorrow, then use your Great Shift—wait, what are you doing, Your Highness?”

While Eve was laying out her plan, she noticed Linley had leapt into a great tree, catching two white owls in his hands.

“I caught a couple of wild birds,” Linley said cheerfully as he landed. “So many wild birds here! Let’s make some bird soup later.”

Eve’s face changed instantly, and she hurriedly stowed the map back in her bag. “We need to run, now!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Those aren’t wild birds—they’re owls the night elves use to scout for enemies!” Eve gritted her teeth. She’d been far too careless. The owls could share sight and hearing with their masters, meaning their entire conversation might have been overheard. If the night elves learned that the infiltrators were the young prince of the forest elves, they’d send their entire army to scour the forest.

Her fears were well-founded. Though Eve had only once uttered the words “little prince,” the night elf commander, June, took it extremely seriously.

June was the lord of Grand City, a vital transportation hub for the night elf kingdom. All supplies bound for the front passed through Grand City—making its defenses tight enough that no forest elf invader could escape.

“Little prince? That woman actually called him that?” June was astonished.

He doubted the young prince of the forest elves would appear in his domain. The legend of the sleeping prince was famous even among the night elves, and June had never heard that the prince had awoken. He was ninety-nine percent sure the report was false, but even the slimmest chance was too great a prize to ignore.

“True or not—mobilize the troops immediately and capture them!” At June’s command, thousands of night elves began scouring the forest for the trio.

Eve soon discovered they were surrounded. Nevertheless, she used her lantern to locate a cave where they could hide, narrowly avoiding the night elves’ search.

She cast a spell to erase their tracks and commanded vines to cover the cave entrance. Stepping inside, she was dumbfounded by the two utterly carefree figures within.

The leopard, as soon as it entered, found a place to sleep, fixated as ever on transforming into a dragon—grabbing every chance for sleep and cultivation. As for Linley…

“These feathers are really tough to pluck…” He was heating water to pluck the birds. That entire afternoon, Eve had watched him catch bird after bird along the way, nearly getting them caught several times by the night elves because of it.

“Your Highness, we can only stay here half an hour,” Eve pleaded. “Can you stop thinking about food for once?”

“What else is there to think about if not food?” Linley replied, busy plucking. “One can survive without dreams, but not without good food. Just sit back and relax—I’ll roast you a couple, and you’ll wonder if life ever made sense before!”

Fuming, Eve sat to watch. The longer she watched, the more despair crept over her. How had it come to this? The young prince of the forest elves, destined for a life of luxury, now roasting birds in a cave! Worse still, he plucked feathers with more skill than she did.

Eve had grown up on the battlefield, with hunting and cooking as second nature, yet she felt dwarfed by Linley’s expertise. He roasted four birds at once, with a pot of bird soup simmering on the side.

“Here, eat while it’s hot!” Linley handed a freshly roasted bird to Eve, bit into another himself, and threaded two more onto skewers.

“Snowy, come eat some meat! Didn’t you love it in my dreams?” he called to the leopard, tossing mushrooms into the soup as he went. Eve took a bite and her face filled with disbelief.

How could it taste so good!

“Mmm… What spices did you use?” Eve devoured the roast bird, feeling every bird she’d ever eaten before was a waste.

“Hmph, that’s a trade secret,” Linley replied smugly. These special seasonings brought back flavors from his previous life, and with such fresh ingredients, he could open a restaurant here and make a fortune—though he’d share food, he’d never become a servant to others.

“Slow down, both of you. Snowy, don’t rush—there’s still soup!” Linley cautioned, even as he hurried to finish the rest of the roast birds himself. Once they were gone, he ladled out two bowls of soup for his companions. “This mushroom stew is my masterpiece—the mushrooms here are tender, and the timing has to be precise!”

The aroma was irresistible. Eve and the leopard drank eagerly.

“It’s delicious!” Eve finished her bowl in one go. “I want more…”

She had barely spoken when she saw Linley raise the pot to his lips and polish off the rest.

“What did you say?” He wiped his mouth, let out a satisfied burp, and looked at Eve inquiringly.

Eve glanced at her bowl, barely a tenth the size of the pot.

Did he not know how to be courteous to a lady?

Yet, half an hour later, Eve was grateful that Linley hadn’t let her eat more.

They had been poisoned. Eve and the leopard had only mild symptoms and managed to hide when the night elves arrived. Linley, however, was so ill he couldn’t walk—left to be trussed up and carried away to Grand City by the night elves.

Thus, the highest commander of the forest elves on the battlefield was captured on his very first day in charge.