Free Web NovelElowen worried immensely for Leliana. It wasn't that he expected his family to be rude. But they could certainly question their relationship. Elf and human. While theirs certainly wasn't a first union of this kind, it certainly wasn't something that was accepted, either among humans or elves.
How would his mother approach this matter? Father likely wouldn't say much. He always believed that each elf is responsible for their fate, while Mother had always been prone to fretting about Elowen. He just hoped that he wouldn't say anything… hurtful to Leliana.
While she was a tough woman who appeared not to be bothered by anything, putting on a pleasant front, she was far from uncaring. Words could hurt her just as they could any person.
"I'd better deal with this quickly and get back," Elowen muttered, striding decisively towards the main tree.
The guards at the entrance greeted him politely, one of them rushing inside to announce his arrival. Apparently, the council was in the middle of a meeting right now, so he might have to wait.
Each minute seemed to stretch into eternity as he worried about Leliana. He chastised himself for worrying over something like that—there were far bigger things at stake. Nonetheless, his mind always returned to Leliana and his mother.
After about half an hour, which might as well have been an eternity in Elowen's mind, he was finally allowed to meet with the council. They greeted him in their usual gathering spot at the glass table, their faces and bodies covered.
"It is my pleasure to greet you, honored council," Elowen said, bowing his head politely.
"It is good to see you, Elowen," the white elder said. "I assume you have returned with news from Sunglow."
"Yes, I have much to tell you," he confirmed.
"Please, take a seat," the yellow elder urged.
Elowen obliged and, without further pleasantries, got straight to the heart of the matter. Normally, elves didn't rush into a conversation in such a manner, preferring to approach serious matters slowly. But when it came to events happening in Sunglow, Elowen believed that being direct was the best approach.
He began by explaining Heiliger's movements over the last few months since she had taken over the Archbishop's seat. The council had apparently heard about that news, and they were not happy. In fact, they prodded Elowen with questions of how exactly things were proceeding.
He explained how Heiliger was pushing her narrative and trying to convince the populace to join her cause to retrieve the Sacred Treasures. However, he also explained that none of the people in Sunglow were accepting this, and most of the populace wasn't exactly jumping to the Church's aid, instead continuing their daily activities.
The council asked what was being done to counter Heiliger, which was when he proceeded to explain their plan of spreading Monster Realm ingredients, starting open trade with the Monster Realm, and employing elves throughout the kingdom.
The council was obviously aware of this last part of the plan, having already sent several elves from Euroa to work at Duke Sinclair's employ. They were thrilled to hear that Monster Realm was being accepted among humans, even if it was at a slow pace.
Finally, Elowen got to the part he believed the council would struggle to accept. He had left it for last.
"We have a strong suspicion that Heiliger will launch a full-scale attack on Sunglow to retrieve the Sacred Treasures that Melina is guarding," he said.
"She shouldn't keep Chalice and the Stone at the same location. They should be split apart," the black elder said firmly.
"Melina believes differently. She… wishes to gather all of the Sacred Treasures together and destroy them," Elowen announced.
There was a moment of silence.
"Destroy… the Sacred Treasures? Isn't that human over her head? We already discussed this. The Sacred Treasures should be preserved. They are an important symbol," the red elder said, their fists clenched.
"Lord Eidranis agrees with Melina. The treasures have never served their true purpose, instead being used to split the realms apart and sow destruction upon both worlds. With them destroyed, it would become effectively impossible to split realms apart, ending the danger and fear altogether," Elowen said firmly.
"Even so… to destroy something so valuable… It's sacrilege," the black elder said.
Part of Elowen understood their apprehension. The Sacred Treasures could be used for a lot of good. They possessed incredible power that could save many lives. But the council never experienced the destroyed world on their own skin. They didn't know how it felt to watch it wither away, slowly but surely each day.
"I'm afraid this isn't something Melina is willing to discuss. I am merely portraying what she intends to do, and honestly, I fully agree with her. Destroying the Treasures is the best course of action to save the world, and I will support her with everything I can," Elowen said.
"You are overstepping, Elowen!" The green elder said warningly.
"Perhaps, but I witnessed the destruction they can bring to the world. I will do everything in my power to prevent that horrible future from repeating itself. Anything and everything," he said firmly.
Another moment of heavy silence descended upon the hall. But Elowen held his head high and kept his gaze firm.
After a few minutes, the white elder finally said. "Elves of Euroa will send help to Sunglow when Heiliger attacks. But we will not assist in the destruction of the Sacred Treasures."
Elowen nodded. "That is most kind of you."
The red elder let out a heavy sigh. "I don't like this at all. That human girl thinks herself too important. But we certainly can't let the crazy archbishop destroy Sunglow. Many elves live there."
"When is she expected to attack?" the blue elder asked.
"Likely as soon as the snow melts," he said.
"That's not much time at all…" the blue elder noted.
"We should prepare our forces at once," the black elder said. "Although I wish you to relay to Melina that we do not agree with the destruction of the Sacred Treasures."
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"I shall convey it," Elowen nodded.
But he was already certain that the destruction of the Treasures was the right path, no matter how much the council didn't like it. Elowen would do anything it takes to assist Melina.
With the meeting concluded, Elowen hurried back to his home. At first, he tried to walk slowly, with dignity. But before long, his feet were moving faster and faster until he was leaping through the treetops with astounding agility, all to reach his home as quickly as possible.
He dearly hoped that Leliana was alright.
In less than five minutes, Elowen had already reached his home and, with some trepidation, pushed the door open. To his surprise, he found his mother and Leliana chatting amicably while sipping some tea.
"Welcome back, son!" Mother greeted him with a smile.
"Welcome back," Leliana added. "How did it go?"
"It… went well," Elowen said, stunned. The atmosphere in the house was pleasant, not at all what he expected. Slowly, he closed the door behind himself and walked up to the two women.
"That's wonderful. Come! Join us for some tea. Leliana was telling me all about your life in Sunglow. It was most fascinating," Mother said merrily. "To think that my son would be the first ambassador between races."
"It's not really an official position," Elowen said sheepishly.
"I think it's only a matter of time before Lord Sinclair makes it into an official position. I should ask Melina. I bet she could push for it to happen. We want to spread cooperation between races. An official ambassador might be required," Leliana said thoughtfully.
"Do you think my son might meet with the human king?" Mother said somewhat excitedly.
"Oh! That might be a real possibility. Amazing! You're going to meet His Majesty," Leliana cheered.
"Aren't you two getting too ahead of yourselves…" Elowen sighed.
"No, this will surely happen!" Leliana said excitedly. "Come join us! I was about to tell your mum about all the Monster Realms plants that we were growing this year."
"My, how exciting. Do give me some tips! I'd love to grow some feyfruit in my garden," Mother said.
Elowen couldn't help but shake his head. It appeared that he had worried for nothing.
Sunglow was steadily preparing for the Ice Festival. Ice blocks were being brought into town and set onto the beach, which would turn into the area where artists could make the ice sculptures.
The weather was… cold. Incredibly so. Everyone was cuddled up in thick fur coats. Alistair had made a point of purchasing many new coats for Melina, despite her protests that just one was enough. The man was constantly pushing her limits with more extravagant and expensive gifts.
Melina tried to explain to him time and time again that she felt bad receiving all this luxury from him, but Alistair just replied that it was a return gift for all the tasty pastries she had made for him. It was true that she made a lot of pastries and cakes for him.
At one point, she worried that she was giving him too much, but the man still maintained his rigorous training routine, even during winter. As such, the calories given by her treats were quickly burned away. She did make a point of adding less sugar and fat to his pastries, trying to opt for fruit and natural sugars like honey instead.
Thankfully, even in this cold weather, the Baking Hall was very warm. With many ovens working while her students were experimenting with their new pastries, the room was quickly filled with warmth, making it extremely pleasant. Even Melina's guards looked happy to be assigned to guard her indoors, instead of spending time outdoors.
Although the warmth did make Melina worry about summertime. Would it not be too hot? Perhaps more windows would be required for the summer? But that was a worry for another time. Currently, she has to watch her students and make sure they manage to perfect their recipes in time for the festival.
"This is the third time these cookies have come out this way…" one of her students whined, looking at the odd shape and rather unpleasant color of the cookies.
She was trying to create feyfruit cookies while incorporating the pleasant pink and violet colors of the feyfruit into them. The result, however, was a darkish purple and brown amalgamation that didn't look appetizing in the slightest. There was also too much feyfruit in the recipe, making it borderline inedible.
"You need to reduce the amount of feyfruit in these cookies. They could cause some weaker people to get ill from mana," Melina instructed.
The woman slumped. "Aww, but how do I get the nice color?" freeweɓnøvel.com
"Why don't you use beetroot juice?" Philip suggested.
"Beetroot juice?" The woman blinked in surprise.
"It does have strong coloring capabilities. Even a little bit should create a potent color without changing the flavor. Bluebellies could also work. But in general, when baking, some discoloration is always expected as the dough caramelizes and becomes darker," Melina said.
The woman looked at her cookies in thought. "Anything would look better than this. I'll try the juice. Shame we don't have any blueberries on hand."
"It is the middle of winter," Melina said apologetically. The fruit choices were indeed limited at the moment.
The woman returned to making a fresh batch, while Melina turned to Philip, curiously watching him work. freewёbnoνel.com
"What are you making, Philip?" Melina asked.
"I want to create something that would impress a noble," he said firmly and dipped elongated cookies into what smelled like coffee.
"Coffee?" She questioned.
"I'm using your opera cakes as inspiration. I believe noble like the flavor of coffee."
Melina nodded. It certainly was a beverage preferred by the nobles, simply due to how expensive it was. Melina didn't have a shortage of Monster Realm coffee, thanks to her deal with Count Speziale, but her students have been shy in touching the rare ingredient.
"I look forward to seeing what you make," Melina nodded, and continued to survey the class, helping out her students wherever she could.
Occasionally, she would stop by Philip's table, glancing at what he was doing. At one point, he was whipping egg whites to which he added sparkleaf. Then she saw whipping egg yolks with sugar, followed by whipping cream together with sugar.
After that, he mixed egg yolks with cream cheese and whipped cream. At the very end, he added egg white, which he carefully folded into the mixture, keeping it nice and airy. Melina was looking at the mixture with curiosity. It looked perfect as filling for a cake or perhaps even as an icing.
Once that was ready, Philip began the assembly. Putting the elongated cookies dipped in coffee at the bottom, then slathering the creamy mass he made, then another layer of cookies, followed by more cream. He made three layers and used leafshade cacao powder on top, giving the whole dish a gentle golden glow.
"I wonder if this will do," Philip pondered.
"Let us check," Melina said, all too eager to try his creation. But first, she used Dish Assessment skill on the creation.
[Monster Realm Tiramisu – Rank B]
[This tiramisu was made using an assortment of Monster Realm ingredients. It has a slightly bitter flavor from the coffee, which harmonizes with slightly zappy sparkleaf cream. Eating it will invigorate the eater.]
[Effect: Mild stamina recovery and a slight boost to electric defense]
Melina was surprised to see that Philip's dish, despite using only Monster Realm ingredients, had still achieved a rather notable effect. It certainly couldn't compete with potions, but it wasn't insignificant.
But the most important thing was obviously the flavor. Philip cut a slice for himself and Melina, and they both took a taste of the tiramisu. The cookies in the middle were as pronounced with coffee flavor as Melina would have liked, and there were a bit too many sparkleaves in the cream. The zappy flavor was overwhelming everything else.
"I think you're close…" Melina said thoughtfully.
Philip nodded in agreement. "It needs a longer while to soak up the flavor and less of the sparkleaf. I had expected the flavor to be more hindered by the cream, but it appears that wasn't the case."
"If done right, I'm sure the nobles will love it," Melina said. "You just need to perfect it before the festival."
"D-Did Miss Anne reply to the invitation?" Philip asked.
"Not yet, but I believe the Duchess only sent them yesterday. It might take a day or two for the replies to arrive," Melina said, then added after seeing his face grow a bit pale. "I'm sure she will come to the festival."
"I… I really hope so," Philip said, and returned his attention to the dessert in front of him.
Melina really hoped that Miss Yernou would indeed attend the Ice Festival. It would be devastating to see Philip's grief-stricken face if she didn't come. But it wasn't like she could push the woman to come. The best Melina could do was make her own preparations for the festival.
