Prontea, Arcadia.

On the bright sunny day, a few figures were waiting in front of the palace in the capital city of Arcadia.

Although the palace was still under construction because of the attack a few days ago, its grandeur could still be seen even from afar. This was especially the case at the moment, where hundreds of people were waiting for their king to return with good news for them.

“It’s okay, Sister Hererra, don’t be sad! I also didn’t expect my brother to be such a dog! How could he find a female bitch to bang with on every corner of the street!” she cursed

Hearing the girl say such words, the purple-haired sorceress was visibly dumbfounded. She never expected such words to come out of her mouth, especially since it was about her brother.

As if realizing something, Layla flinched as soon as she finished saying those condemning words.

“Ah, of-of course I didn’t mean you, sister! I meant…” she unconsciously waved her hands in front of her while nervously looking at the golden-haired elf in front of her, who was also staring at her awkwardly.

“No no, I didn’t mean you either, Sister Serene! Ahhh!” she held her head in frustration. “You know what I mean, right!”

The girls were part of the group that was standing on top of the stairs waiting for the festivity that just entered the city gate.

As they thought about it, they turned to look in a certain direction as hundreds of dark elf soldiers, marching in formation to enter the capital.

Rows of elven soldiers with dark grey skin and red black armor enter the gate of the city in such a disciplined manner, each of their steps able to make a sound that gives fear to those who watch. 

Almost all of the citizens of Arcadia could not believe their eyes. Never in their entire lives had they ever imagined that such a thing would one day happen. After all, Arcadia had been enemies with the dark elves for as long as they could remember.

As the dark elves marched into the city, the people around would stand in line. Some of them stared with obvious disbelief on their faces while many others were scared. Most of the children present hid behind their parents or siblings, while a few others curiously peeked before being pulled back.

Behind the formation of dark elves, they could also see two conspicuous figures each riding a horse; a male elf with long white hair and a female dark elf.

As soon as the two were in sight, the crowd began to whisper.

“Is that him?!”

“That must be him!”

“So the rumors are true!”

“So young?”

“I can’t believe he’s our new king!”

The further they rode into the city, the more the crowd whispered.

“I heard he single-handedly destroyed the spaceship that attacked us last week!”

“Is it true that he conquered the orcs on the chaotic plains?”

“I heard he was so strong that our previous king voluntarily handed over the title.”

“That’s impossible!”

“Aren’t you exaggerating too much?”

“Can’t you see? Within a few days, he successfully made peace with the dark elves!”

“But is it just me, or does it feel as if we’re being invaded by the dark elves instead…”

“No, no… the only invasion I heard about was our new king invading the chamber of the dark elf princess.”

“Ain’t that too much nonsense? There’s no way.”

“Look there, see for yourself!”

That’s right, the two were Tristan and Illiana, entering the city riding side by side. With their enhanced hearing, the two managed to pick up the topic of the crowd’s noisy whispers.

“It’s more packed than I thought!” Tristan exclaimed while looking around. Although he expected some people to be wary or curious, he did not expect that this many Arcadia citizens would come out to the streets to see them coming. From the looks of it, almost everyone came.

Illiana glanced at Tristan when he heard him. “Isn’t that obvious? This event will be the foundation of the future relationship of our two kingdoms, it’s only right for so many to come,” she confidently stated.

“The gossip they are talking about, some of them are just exaggerations”

Illiana however keep her smile and said “You should know such rumor will be beneficial for you, me, and the kingdoms”

Hearing her words Tristan said, “If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that you were behind all these rumors.”

Illiana did not respond this time, and her silence made Tristan feel a little worried.

The two rode their horses toward the palace. As they kept going, they began to approach the group of the top figures of Arcadia, and among them was also Queen Leena of the Vanyar.

As Tristan and Illiana approached the Queen of Vanyar and her daughter next to her, the two could finally see the two elves riding together.

Seeing the two side by side, Serene unconsciously started to tremble. A chaotic mix of emotions bubbled from the depths of her heart. Surprise, hurt, anger, disappointment, she felt them all. She took a deep breath and tightly grasped the sides of her dress, trying her best to calm down.

The two on their horses were getting closer and she did not want them to notice.

As if knowing how she felt, the queen next to her firmly spoke.

“I already expected this day would come. He is the blood monarch, after all… At least we were fast enough to make you the first.” the queen said with a force smile

Hearing this, Serene felt even more complicated. Afterall the Vanyar did the same thing to him before, so she believed that Tristan would only marry the dark elf princess for a good reason.

With this thought, her emotions slowly subsided.

As Tristan arrived in front of his first wife, an awkward air enveloped everyone around them, including themselves.

Not wanting to make the situation more awkward than it should, Tristan began introducing Illiana to all of them.

To his surprise, the dark elf princess was able to act polite. She greeted them formally without giving a condescending nor submissive impression. She was a very talented woman indeed.

After their brief introduction, Tristan asked his top-ranking officers and companions to enter the hall together.

It had almost been a week since the space knights first descended to attack them, so without wasting any time, Tristan quickly asked about the progress they already prepared for him.

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,