"Finally, we're home…"
Seralyth let out a relieved sigh and smiled contentedly.
Beside her, Allen stared ahead in admiration.
'Is this the elves' village? It's so beautiful! So I really am in a fantasy world!' he muttered in awe.
What he saw was an exquisite elven village.
The village was quite large, but unlike human dwellings, the elves built their homes both on the ground and in the trees.
Elves passed by, going about their activities—working, shopping, and many other things.
The atmosphere felt lively and refreshing, especially with the village nestled deep in the dense forest.
When the young elves noticed Seralyth and Allen, they immediately smiled and approached them.
"Where have you been, Seralyth? Don't you know the queen is looking for you?"
"Seralyth, I heard a lot of Nylith fruits are growing in the northern part of the forest. Want to go look for them together?"
"Wow! Is this the prince? He's so adorable! Can I pinch him?"
Seralyth and Allen were quickly surrounded by the elves, and naturally, the one who drew the most attention was Allen.
The elf girls pinched his cheeks, stroked his head, and some even tried to kiss him.
Fortunately, Seralyth quickly blocked them before they could touch Allen any further.
"Don't touch him!" she scolded, puffing out her chubby cheeks. "Allen is my future husband! Only I'm allowed to touch him."
She gave a proud smile, sticking out her small chest.
Allen rolled his eyes when he heard that. By now, he finally understood that his sister really did see him as her future husband.
They were siblings—there was no way they could marry, right?
"Ehhh! There's no way the prince will marry you," one of the young elves complained with a pout. "You're siblings. And Seralyth, I heard Victor likes you. Shouldn't you be with him?"
When Seralyth heard Victor's name, she smirked dismissively.
Allen: "Little girl, your smirk is kind of creepy!"
"Victor? Hehehe! There's no way between him and me. He's a weak boy, and I like strong ones!" Seralyth declared proudly.
All the young elves froze. Slowly, they turned toward a six-year-old male elf.
He had green hair, round glasses, and a nerdy appearance.
Tears filled his eyes before he turned around and ran away crying.
Seralyth froze and watched the boy run off, her face filled with embarrassment.
"Seralyth, you're so cruel." The elves sighed together.
"It's not like that! I didn't mean it!" Seralyth waved her hands frantically.
She didn't really care that Victor was offended, nor did she feel guilty about hurting him. What she worried about was something else—her brother.
If Allen thought she was cruel, wouldn't that be a disaster?
Quickly, she turned to Allen and pleaded, "Allen, don't misunderstand! I'm not a bad person! I just… I just…"
She looked confused and panicked, not knowing how to explain herself.
After all, Allen had witnessed everything firsthand.
Allen sighed softly and gently rubbed Seralyth's palm.
"I understand, sister. Don't worry."
His words immediately eased Seralyth's panic. She regained her composure and smiled.
"See? This is what love is—understanding each other without needing a long explanation."
Allen: "…"
The elves: "…"
"All right, everyone," Seralyth said as she clasped Allen's right hand tightly and pulled him along. "Allen and I have to get back to the palace as soon as possible. Otherwise, my mother will scold me."
Without waiting for their response, she turned around and continued walking with Allen toward the palace, which stood three hundred meters away from the village.
Watching the two of them leave, the young elves sighed together.
"Did you see that? Seralyth is really annoying," one of them grumbled.
Another replied instantly, "Yes, she's annoying! But if I were her, I'd act arrogant too. I mean, the prince is so handsome and also… adorable!"
The girl beamed happily, remembering Allen's chubby face earlier.
The others nodded in agreement. They really wanted to pinch his cheeks and kiss him.
If it weren't for Seralyth, they would have.
"By the way," the elf girl on the right said, "I heard from my mother that the prince isn't a pure elf but a half-breed."
Once the topic came up, the others immediately became excited.
"Yes, I heard that too! My father said that long ago, the king married the dragon queen from the dragon race. They loved each other and had a child—that child is the prince. But unfortunately, the king died under mysterious circumstances. Since then, the prince has been raised by the king's younger sister, who is now our queen."
"What a touching story! It sounds just like a fairy tale!" Another elf girl said, her eyes sparkling.
The others nodded enthusiastically. However, none of them knew how many secrets lay hidden behind that touching story.
***
Seralyth and Allen finally arrived at the royal palace. The palace looked magnificent and luxurious.
Of course, compared to the palaces in fantasy novels, it was much smaller in scale.
But for Allen, the palace before him was more than enough to amaze him.
Even more astonishing, the palace didn't stand on the ground—it hung from a giant tree.
The tree was so enormous that it made the surrounding trees look tiny.
"Big sister Seralyth, why is this tree so big?" Allen asked hesitantly.
"Eh? Did you forget about the world tree too?" Seralyth stared at him in disbelief.
Allen gave a shy smile and nodded slightly. "Yeah, I… forgot."
At the same time, his heart pounded faster.
'The world tree? Is that the one from the YGGDRASIL legend in Norse mythology? If so, why is this world tree so small?' Allen wondered silently.
As far as he remembered, the world tree in mythology was enormous and held nine worlds that were even larger than Earth.
Although it was just a myth, Allen loved reading things like that, so he had plenty of knowledge about it.
"Hah…" Seralyth let out a long sigh as she rubbed Allen's head. "It seems the impact was quite severe, huh? How about I call the palace doctor?"
"Doctor?" Allen froze and quickly refused. "No, I don't want to. I… I'm scared of doctors!"
"Pfft! So that fear is still there, even though you lost some memories." Seralyth giggled.
Allen felt relieved. He had absolutely no information about the world he was in now.
But judging from everything so far, it felt like a Western fantasy world.
That meant magic probably existed. And if the palace doctor used powerful magic, wouldn't it be easy to expose the fact that he wasn't the original owner of this body?
He didn't want that. He definitely wasn't ready to die.
"Alright," Seralyth said, patting her small chest. "I'll explain it to you. The world tree is…"