Chapter 427

427 The Parchment

Selma Payne’s POV:

The world was so big that there were all kinds of strange things. Just as Dorothy had guessed, the moment the vine key was inserted into the lock, the door to the bedroom was quickly wrapped up by the vines that came out of the lock, and in a few seconds, it had completely changed.

“If I’m not wrong, behind this door should be some corner of the palace. This is an invitation from the Great Elder to meet us.” Dorothy then looked at me. “Do you want me to go over?”

I wasn’t sure if I should go. Although Dorothy said that only the Elf King and the Great Elder could use the power of the palace’s guardian, that didn’t mean I trusted the Great Elder completely. But in the end, I still decided to accept this meeting. Perhaps this was an opportunity to break out of this situation.

There was a dark corridor behind the door. The decoration was slightly shabby. I had never seen this place in the palace. At the end of the corridor was a medium-sized stone room. The light was dim, and only the Great Elder was waiting in the dark.

“Good evening, Your Highness.” The Great Elder bowed slightly to me. Even in such a weak light, I could see his tired face. “I’m sorry to disturb you so late, but I don’t think we can wait any longer.”

“Are you talking about the current situation in the Elven Capital CIty? I don’t think I can do anything.” I still insisted on my principle of not getting involved in internal affairs, even though it seemed that this was not something I could achieve with my wishful thinking.

The Great Elder laughed dryly and motioned for us to sit down. He was also sitting on a cold wooden bench and needed to use the walking stick in his hand to support his old body.

Faced with my direct rejection, he didn’t bug me and instead said, “We all know that His Highness the Crown Prince’s rule will not last long, but he seems to be blinded by something and stubbornly thinks that victory is in his hands. Other than a few nobles and mayors who took advantage of the situation, I didn’t find any forces I could name to join him. Then, his strange self-confidence is very strange.”

“Maybe he is such a stupid and arrogant person?” The Great Elder and I looked the same, but I didn’t want to be led into his trap of words. “With all due respect, although I haven’t spent much time with the Crown Prince of the royal family, his arrogance and stupidity – I mean, his fiery character is really impressive.”

“That’s right. The Crown Prince is undoubtedly an idiot. I agree with you on this point. This may be due to his pampered life and young experience. I think His Majesty will correct his shortcomings if he has enough time. However, now is not the time to slowly polish the stone. A ruler with the potential to be muddleheaded like the Crown Prince will be the nightmare of the entire elven race.”

That was not nice, and he shouldn’t say that in front of an outsider like me. As an outsider, it was enough for me to ridicule the Crown Prince’s personality. As for whether or not he could rule over the elven race, that wasn’t for me to judge.

Thus, I disagreed and just looked at the Great Elder quietly.

The Great Elder saw I was unmoved and said with a bitter smile, “You’re so alert. I didn’t mean anything else.”

“I hope you don’t, too. So, why do you want to see me tonight?”

“To be precise, I’m not here to look for you. I’m here for your friend.”

The Great Elder looked at Dorothy, who was beside me.

“My dear Miss Dorothy and that respectable Master Hayley, I’ve come here tonight to seek their help.”

“Me?” Dorothy pointed at herself. “Do you need to borrow the power of nature? Or a prophecy? I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. I can only observe nature’s power, but I’ve spent all my energy on prophecies. I don’t have any more power to pry into fate.”

The Great Elder shook his head and took out a small item wrapped in silk from his wide robe, saying, “That’s not the case. I hope everyone can help me appraise something.” He opened the cloth bag, and inside was a folded parchment. It was a rare item in modern times.

“This is a parchment from the Crown Prince’s safe.” He unfurled the paper slowly. Strange patterns were drawn on it, and the patterns exuded an uncomfortable evil aura. “I hope you can help me confirm the source of the power. Is it from a failed unknown priest or a demon we don’t want to see?”

I suddenly raised my head to look at the Great Elder and coldly replied, “With all due respect, there should be many outstanding masters who are famous thousands of miles away in your land. There is no need to trouble outsiders with this kind of matter, and it is not something that we outsiders should interfere with.

This piece of paper was the key that the Great Elder had used to bring down the Crow Prince – if the patterns on it were indeed from the devil. I’d already decided not to get involved in the elves’ family matters, so how could I easily agree to this?

“I know you won’t agree easily, but I beg you to listen to my difficulties.”

The Great Elder sighed and placed the parchment on the cold stone table.