Free Web NovelChapter 1732: Divine Queen Caelira
The golden-haired prince’s voice remained steady, but the weight behind his words grew heavier. "That was when the second faction could no longer remain still. To them, the idea that a half-human child, born far away from the elf race, had inherited a bloodline superior to the queen’s own royal bloodline was something they could not accept. It threatened their pride. It threatened their ideology. More importantly, it threatened their claim over the future of the elf race."
Max’s jaw tightened.
"So they attacked," he said coldly.
The golden-haired prince nodded.
"Yes," he said. "They resorted to an attack, and that attack led to the catastrophe that happened around twenty ago."
The words fell like stones into Max’s heart.
Twenty years ago.
The catastrophe at his home.
His parents being taken away.
His life being torn apart.
All of it had happened because some faction among the elves could not accept his existence.
For a moment, Max said nothing.
His body was still, but the rage inside him was not. It rose slowly, quietly, and more dangerously than before. This was no longer blind anger. This was a cold hatred being sharpened by truth. The second faction had not merely harmed his family by accident.
They had come because of his bloodline. They had come because of his mother’s past. They had come because Max himself had become something they feared, desired, or could not tolerate.
The golden-haired prince seemed to understand what Max was thinking, because he spoke again before Max could sink fully into that rage.
"I am not asking you to forgive the elf race," he said calmly. "I would not forgive them either if I were you."
Max looked at him.
The prince continued, "But you need to understand that the elf race is not united in this matter. The second faction acted, but not all elves supported them, and your mother’s old faction still exists, though it has weakened greatly after her disappearance. There are still many among them who still believe in Divine Queen Caelira and would die fighting for her.
Max’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the golden-haired elven prince speak, and the more he heard, the more complicated the image of his mother became in his mind. He had always remembered Caelira as his mother, as the gentle woman who had lived quietly with his father on a remote planet, the woman whose smile had once made their simple home feel warmer than any palace could ever be.
But now, that same woman was being described as Divine Queen Caelira, the former leader of the elf race, the ruler of the strongest faction, and someone who had once carried the responsibility of guiding an entire race.
To have that kind of position, to possess that kind of bloodline, to stand above countless elves as their queen, and yet still choose to abandon her royal bloodline and give up her identity as an elf just so she could live with her family, was not something Max could accept as a simple romantic decision.
There had to be more to it.
Max could feel it clearly.
His mother’s choice to abandon her race and bloodline could not be as simple as the surface made it seem. A queen did not give up everything without a reason. A woman who once commanded the strongest faction of the elf race would not disappear quietly unless there was something behind that decision, something heavy enough to make her cut away her past, her title, and even the bloodline that had once defined her existence.
Perhaps it was love. Perhaps it was danger. Perhaps it was betrayal. Perhaps it was all of those things together.
The golden-haired prince seemed to understand what Max was thinking, but he did not interrupt his thoughts for long.
"But things are not going well for the faction your mother once belonged to," the prince continued, his voice growing heavier. "After Divine Queen Caelira disappeared, her faction lost its strongest pillar, and although many loyal elders still tried to preserve her influence, the second faction became more aggressive with each passing year."
Max looked at him silently.
The golden-haired prince’s expression darkened slightly. "Recently, they crossed a line. Without holding a proper meeting with our faction, and without receiving any consent from us, the second faction imprisoned nearly every elf belonging to your mother’s old faction. They claimed it was necessary to maintain internal order, but everyone knows that was only an excuse. Their real goal is to weaken her faction completely and make themselves the strongest power within the elf race."
The silver-haired elven woman standing nearby lowered her gaze slightly, and the quiet anger in her eyes showed that even she found the matter shameful.
"Because of this," the golden-haired prince continued, "your mother’s faction has suffered greatly. Their elders are restrained, their resources have been seized, their younger members are watched, and many of their supporters have been forced into silence. Those who once followed Divine Queen Caelira with pride are now treated like criminals in their own home." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Max’s fingers slowly curled into fists. freewebnσvel.cøm
The golden-haired prince glanced at him, then continued in a calm but bitter tone. "Even though my father, the leader of the first faction, wanted to interfere, he is powerless right now. The second faction has somehow managed to gain the support of several ancestors of our race, and because of that, most of our objections during the internal meetings are ignored or suppressed before they can change anything. In a way, even though it is disheartening to admit, our faction has almost become useless in the current political balance."
Max stared at him.
For the first time, he saw something beyond noble calm in the prince’s face.
Frustration.
Shame.
Helplessness.
This golden-haired elf was not speaking like someone who wanted to manipulate him with lies. He sounded like someone who had watched his own faction lose power little by little, while a more ruthless faction grew bold enough to crush the people who had once followed Max’s mother.
"But there is still a chance," the golden-haired prince said.
Max’s gaze sharpened. "A chance for what?"
"A chance for you to contact the members of your mother’s faction right now."
Max’s expression changed.
"What?" he asked, unable to hide his shock. "I can?"
