The morning light had barely begun to touch the edges of the room when the air in the center of the chamber suddenly curdled and hissed. A circular rift of shimmering, pale-green light tore open with a sharp, magical crackle, casting long, vibrating shadows against the walls. I woke up instantly, my senses snapping to attention, but I couldn't move—Elphyete was still draped across me, her head tucked against my shoulder, and Snowball was a warm, heavy weight against my legs.
Three tall figures stepped out of the portal, their armor clinking softly. They were elves, dressed in intricate, leaf-patterned silver plate that seemed to glow from within. Each of them held a long, crystalline spear and a shield shaped like a broad oak leaf. The elf in the lead, a man with sharp features and hair as white as a blizzard, swept his gaze across the room until his eyes landed on the bed.
"Princess Elphyete," the lead elf barked, his voice vibrating with a mix of authority and shock. "You need to come back to the kingdom immediately. Your father, the High King, demands your presence for the start of the Great Verdant Festival. He will not accept any more delays." He paused, his eyes narrowing as he took in the sight of the two of us under the blankets. "Wait... WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH A FEMALE HUMAN IN BED?!"
The sudden shouting jolted Elphyete awake. She bolted upright, her hair a silver mess, and immediately tried to pull the blankets up to her chin to cover herself. Her face went from pale to a deep, agonizing crimson in a split second. "Claude! GO AWAY!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with pure mortification.
I sat up slowly, my mind racing to keep up with the chaos. My head was spinning with a dozen different questions. First, I was deeply confused as to why this "Claude" person thought I was a girl just because I had longer hair and was half-buried in blankets. Second, my heart was hammering against my ribs from the sheer embarrassment of being caught like this. But third, and most importantly, the words he used were echoing in my ears like a physical blow.
"Wait... Princess Elphyete?" I looked over at her, my jaw practically dropping. "You're a princess?! Like, an actual royal princess? Why didn't you tell me that? I thought we were just... I thought you were just a student!"
Elphyete wouldn't look at me. She kept her eyes fixed on the blankets, her ears trembling. "I asked my father to let me live here in the human kingdom's capital... to just be normal for a while," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the portal. "But I guess the festival is too important. He's tired of waiting." She looked up at the three guards, her expression shifting from embarrassment to a tired sort of resignation. "Fine. I guess I'll go. Just... give me a minute."
I turned my gaze toward Claude, who was still staring at me with a look of disgusted confusion. I cleared my throat, trying to regain some shred of my dignity. "Also, just for the record, I'm not a female," I said, my voice firm despite the blush still burning on my cheeks. "I'm a male human."
The silence that followed was deafening. Claude's eyes widened until I thought they might actually pop out of his head. His grip on his spear tightened so hard the crystal shaft began to hum with a dangerous, sharp energy. The two guards behind him shifted their weight, their shields glowing.
"MALE HUMAN?!" Claude roared, his face twisting into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. "PRINCESS! WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING WITH A MALE HUMAN?! YOU DO KNOW THAT SLEEPING WITH A MALE MEANS YOU L—"
Before he could finish that sentence, Elphyete grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it with surprising force. It caught Claude square in the face, silencing him mid-shout. "SHUT UP!" she screamed, her face so red it looked like she was about to explode.
Claude brushed the pillow aside, his expression darkening into something cold and grim. He didn't look like he was in the mood for games anymore. He stepped forward, the magical pressure in the room rising until the floorboards began to creak.
"You two are coming with us," Claude said, his voice dropping into a low, menacing growl. "Both of you. No more excuses, no more 'minutes' to get ready. Wait until your father hears about this, Princess. Wait until he sees exactly what kind of 'company' you've been keeping in the human lands."
He didn't wait for an answer. Claude waved his hand in a wide, sweeping arc, and the green light of the portal suddenly expanded, rushing toward us like a tidal wave. I felt a sudden, violent tug at the base of my stomach—the sensation of my molecules being stretched and pulled through a pinhole. The bedroom, the smell of breakfast, and the safety of the mansion vanished in a flash of blinding emerald light.
The world stabilized as suddenly as it had shifted. The air was different here—thicker, smelling of ancient moss, damp earth, and a sweetness that was almost overwhelming. My boots hit solid white stone with a heavy thud.
I blinked the spots out of my eyes and looked up. We were no longer in our room. We were standing on a massive, sweeping bridge carved from a single piece of iridescent white marble. Below us, a sea of ancient, towering trees stretched as far as the eye could see, their leaves shimmering in hues of gold and silver.
Directly in front of us loomed a castle unlike anything I had ever imagined. It wasn't built of stone and mortar; it looked as though it had been grown. Massive, white-barked trees had been woven together to form soaring spires and arched walkways that reached high into the clouds. Banners of deep green and silver snapped in the wind, and thousands of glowing lanterns hung from the branches like low-hanging stars.
The three guards stood behind us, their spears pointed toward the ground but their eyes locked on me. Elphyete stood beside me, her head bowed and her hands trembling, looking small against the backdrop of her own home. We were at the gates of the Elven Kingdom, and I had a feeling the "Great Danger" the fortune teller mentioned was starting much sooner than I expected.
The massive doors of the throne room, carved from heartwood and inlaid with glowing emeralds, groaned open with a deep, resonant sound. The chamber inside was vast, with a ceiling so high it was lost in a canopy of living leaves. Sunlight filtered through the branches in sharp, golden beams, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air.
At the far end, seated upon a throne that seemed to have grown directly out of the roots of the World Tree, was a man who looked like an older, more imposing version of Elphyete. His hair was long and silver, flowing over his shoulders like a frozen waterfall, and his eyes held the weight of centuries.
The moment he saw us, his stern expression melted into a wide, beaming smile. "My lovely, precious Elphyete!" he boomed, his voice echoing off the high arches. He stood up, his regal robes trailing behind him. "I see you have returned to us at last! And I see you have brought a guest. A female human friend! It is good to see you making connections with the shorter-lived races."
Elphyete looked like she wanted the marble floor to open up and swallow her whole. She didn't get a chance to speak before Claude stepped forward, his armor clanking as he gave a stiff, formal bow.
"Your Majesty," Claude said, his voice dripping with barely suppressed indignation. "This is a male human. And more importantly... we found Princess Elphyete sharing a bed with him in the human capital."
The King's smile didn't just fade; it vanished instantly, replaced by a look of such profound, blank shock that he looked like a statue. The air in the room suddenly grew heavy, the leaves above us rustling as if a storm were brewing inside the palace.
"Father, it's not what it looks like!" Elphyete blurted out, her hands waving frantically in the air. "We're just friends! We... we only share a bed because there's no other extra bedroom in the mansion! It's purely for space! There was no other choice!"
I stood there, feeling the weight of the King's gaze turning toward me. I could feel the sheer pressure of his presence, a power so vast it made the air hum around my ears. I shifted my weight, trying to look respectful but not intimidated, though being called a girl twice in one morning was starting to wear on my nerves.
The King blinked, his silver eyebrows shooting up toward his hairline. He looked at Elphyete, then at me, then back at Elphyete. His mouth hung open for a second before he finally found his voice.
"Wait... WHAT?!!!" he roared, the force of his voice causing the lanterns in the room to flicker wildly. "No extra bedrooms?! In a mansion?! You are a Princess of the High Forest! You could buy an entire city block! And you are telling me you chose to share a sleeping space with a male human because of... logistics?!"
He took a heavy step down from the dais, his eyes locked onto mine. He was tall, looming over me with an aura that felt like an ancient mountain. "You," he said, his voice low and vibrating with a father's protective fury. "Human. Explain yourself before I decide whether to turn you into a decorative shrub for my garden."