Chapter 395

395 Showing Weaknesses

Dorothy’s POV:

Once the sun was up, we had to abort the plan. It was not as easy to hide a secret during the day as at night. There were too many people around, and it would be a joke if we were exposed to this mayor or that noble.

After weighing the pros and cons, the group of elders finally helplessly relaxed a little. They vaguely said that they needed to use some external forces to seek communication with the Goddess of Nature.

Their words were vague and had no substantive comments, but everyone present was brilliant and quickly understood what the Council of Elders was trying to do.

No matter what they thought in their hearts, on the surface, they were naturally strongly opposed to it.

The Crown Prince believed that outsiders were not to be trusted easily and that the only way to get close to his father was to step over his dead body. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes again. ‘With such ambition, why didn’t you seek revenge on Azazel’s party that harmed your father to this extent?’ He was quite capable of showing off his power here.

The president was much gentler, but no matter how much more gentle his attitude was, it did not change his determination to mess this up. The reason was still that the safety of the omnipotent Elf King was of utmost importance, and he could not cast unknown sorcery on him at will.

In short, this group didn’t agree, so everyone began to be deadlocked again.

Helplessly, the Council of Elders could only discuss with us. After my father and I agreed, they revealed some of the principles behind ‘synesthesia vision’ and hid the part about the Eye of Insight and only said that my precognitive abilities were slightly stronger than my father’s. This caused the Crown Prince and the president’s gazes to change.

“In other words, would the one who acts as the middleman have the same right as His Majesty to communicate with the goddess?”

“You can’t compare it like that,” the Great Elder said with a frown. “We can only say that we’ve obtained a certain degree of vision, but the right to communicate is still in the hands of His Majesty.”

But now we all knew that such an explanation was no longer useful. The Crown Prince and the president had been tempted by such ‘privileges’.

As expected, a more senior elder immediately said, “I think this plan needs some modifications. Instead of troubling our guests to choose the information for us, why don’t we let our people do this?”

“Unless the middleman is replaced, I will not agree to this plan.” The Crown Prince was much more straightforward. ‘Father has countless confidential information in his mind. Even his best friend can’t read it at will!”

If it had to be ‘someone else’, who would it be?

Of course, he was the most suitable candidate!

Therefore, the fragile, temporary Alliance between the Crown Prince and the president was broken before the Great Elder could say anything.

“Please allow me to recommend myself, everyone.” The president was still watertight. “Of course, to ensure confidentiality, I’m willing to accept any level of monitoring until His Majesty returns to us.”

It was the same as not saying anything. Would he arrange for an enemy force to monitor him? It would be strange if it were useful for one’s own people to monitor themselves.

“I believe in your loyalty and moral character, but I think this has to be done by me.” The Crown Prince stood up proudly. “Who is more suitable than me, my father’s child? One day, I will inherit the throne. I will not bring any harm to my race and compatriots!”

Just like that, the battlefield instantly shifted to the two people who were allies a minute ago.

They argued endlessly, and no one asked for the opinion of the elders, as if the replacement was already set in stone.

However, Selma said to me, “Old ginger is spicier. The Great Elder has lived for so many years.”

“What do you mean?”

“He resolved the local alliance with a few words and even shifted the conflict away from his side. Isn’t this old man terrifying?”

Only then did I discover, much to my surprise, the crisis on our side had been resolved without us even realizing it. And all of this was only because of the Great Elder’s seemingly soft words.

The Great Elder had done this many times. At least, from the moment we came to the Elf Forest, he had constantly been using his seemingly weak appearance to maintain the internal balance.

Selma sighed. This is the reason the Elf King passed the heavy responsibility to the group of elders. These seemingly weak and incompetent little old men are very intelligent! Who said that showing weakness wasn’t a form of survival wisdom? If it wasn’t for the interim government making people feel weak, incompetent, and harmless, would it have been able to exist in peace for so long? However, such a weak and incompetent government shouldered the heavy responsibility of turning the tide and opened up a way for the elves to survive in the internal strife.”

The Crown Prince and the president were at odds with each other, and neither was willing to give in. With the mentality that ‘no one can get what I can’t’, they gradually began to unite against the outsiders and forced the elders to abandon the plan.

What surprised me even more was that the Council of Elders agreed.

Tonight’s result did not satisfy either side. In order not to be taken advantage of by others, the Crown Prince and the president both asked for people to be stationed in the bed chamber of the Elf King to ‘protect the safety of His Majesty’.

The Great Elder refused sternly, “The palace is well-guarded, and there’s no need for Your Highness and the president to worry. Moreover, everyone is loyal and wants to do something to protect His Majesty. Today, I’ll let everyone’s men station in the bed chamber under my watch. Tomorrow, the nobles and mayors will hear the news and come. Should I agree or not?”