Positive little sun, magical girl, I am awesome

Chapter 543 Dear Fustwin

But Catherine had no idea that Teacher Giselle's greatest gain at this moment was appreciating the royal collection of the Gaia Empire.

The female elf barely adapted to the shimmering pearls everywhere in the room. She slumped down in front of the desk in the middle of the study, which had not been moved away, and held her forehead with her hand. Perhaps because the desk was too heavy, the queen kindly allowed it to stay there.

All the drawers of the desk have been opened, and unexpectedly they are also filled with jewels. Giselle feels despair about the queen she has never met. Is there nothing else in her life except these shiny stones?

The pace of the patrolling footsteps outside had changed in volume; the guards had already changed shifts. The strange sensation of the transfiguration potion flowed beneath her skin, and Giselle twisted her neck uncomfortably. She estimated that in a few hours at most, the potion would become unstable.

She had to prepare to leave... Before that, she had to restore the place to its original state. Giselle bent down and pushed the drawers back one by one.

——Wait, what is that?

The Leila she had transformed into was a short human woman with a low gaze. It was this unexpected height that, as she leaned over to push back the drawer, she caught a peek at a strange reflection on the floor tiles beneath the desk. It was smoother than the rest of the area!

The elf immediately squatted down.

For a person of normal height, this position is completely blocked by the heavy table, but she, a "shorty girl", happened to catch it.

"Interesting..." Giselle stretched out her index finger and tentatively pressed the smooth floor tile.

At first nothing happened, until she increased her strength and suddenly heard an almost inaudible "click". Then, a faint vibration sounded somewhere in the room!

Giselle's heart began to beat violently. She suddenly raised her head and looked around. The tall cabinet filled with gems was shaking slightly, followed by the rustling sound of a pile of clothes falling!

The figure at the desk shot up like an arrow, instantly reaching the west wall, where a mountain of gorgeous clothing was pouring down into the dark corridor that had suddenly opened up. Giselle reacted with astonishing speed, grabbing the heavy clothes hanger below her as if it were about to fall, abruptly stopping the potentially devastating collapse.

A secret compartment she hadn't been able to find before! Looking at the staircase extending down into the darkness, Giselle suddenly smiled with relief. She knew it! How could a palace built by the dwarves not have these things?

Praise the Mother Goddess, praise the short man! —Gissel shouted in her heart.

The passage inside the secret compartment was even darker than the study outside with the curtains drawn. Giselle did not dare to use magic in the palace. She turned around and went to the treasure cabinet to find a piece of luminous stone before holding her breath and going in.

Beneath the faint blue light, a stale smell hit her face. The secret passage that had been sealed for nearly a thousand years was opened. Even though Giselle's footsteps were as light as possible, a lot of dust was still stirred up. She covered her mouth and nose and held up the luminous stone, and did not dare to relax until her feet stepped on the solid ground of the dark room.

A dark room, a dark room belonging exclusively to Lady Zora.

Giselle almost immediately made the judgment that this place looked more like a real study than the ostentatious wardrobe above.

The four walls were lined with heavy, dark bookshelves that hadn't collapsed even after all these years. However, the scattered books and scrolls on them were not so lucky. They were all rotten and would turn to ashes at the slightest touch. Giselle tried several times but failed to successfully open one.

She simply gave up and turned to look at the only long table in the room.

Burnt candle wax still hung on the candlestick, the open ink bottle flattened the parchment on the table, and the quill pen inserted in it was wrapped by impurities grown after the ink deteriorated, spreading to the parchment on the table and then drying up. All objects seemed to be solidified in an unfinished moment, as if the owner was only away for a short time and would be back soon.

But Giselle knew that the owner of this place would never return. Human life was pitifully short. She sighed, moved closer, and blew gently on the dust on the table.

"Dear Fustwyn, greetings to you during the brief spring in Highgarden."

Unexpectedly, the line of handwriting at the top of the parchment was revealed, and the familiar name made Giselle's brows jump.

This is... a letter from the Human King to Lady Fustwin?!

Giselle almost lay down on the table. The parchment was in such a tattered state that she didn't dare to pick it up. She could only blow away the dust on it bit by bit and try to make out the words on it.

"I haven't seen you at the Alliance meeting for several years, my dear comrade. Do you know what a few years means to humans? You ruthless fellow."

Zora's handwriting wasn't pretty. Everyone knew this human king was born a slave, and it wasn't until the Mother Goddess took her to her side that she learned to read. Giselle still remembered someone once complaining to her about the queen's ugly handwriting, but she replied nonchalantly, "It's all good as long as it's understandable. I'm going to be king, and who knows, someday some idiot might mistake my handwriting for calligraphy!"

The Mother Goddess was laughing beside them at the time... Giselle curled her lips in a trance, then immediately lowered them.

Giselle didn't know whether the human king Zora would be praised as a calligrapher in later generations. She only knew that the crappy handwriting made it very difficult for her to read. The worn parchment was covered with impurities grown in the ink, and it was completely impossible to separate them. The handwriting was intermittent and could only be read in jumps.

"...I heard from Elrohir that you drove Zephirion out of the Elven Forest again? Poor little thing, he believed your story that dragons don't live with their own kind. But isn't it too early for a young dragon to build a nest on his own? He's still a child. Of course, I'm just sighing casually. Please don't send him to me!"

It seemed like just a casual exchange between two old friends, but Giselle recalled that in the early days of the Gaia Empire, the relationship between the Alliance and several heroes seemed to be somewhat... strained. And the following content proved Giselle was right.

"...You're dissatisfied with my choice, and I understand. But dear Fustwin, your eternal life has made your perception of time very weak. If nothing happens around you, you might not even notice its passage, right? But it's different for me. Every year, the blooming flowers, the chirping cicadas, and the falling snow are like the urging of time for me... And the old scars that occasionally ache on rainy days are all reminders that time is running out."

"...But I had to do it. I felt I had to do it. Greed? Ambition? Harshness? I think that's what Erenachus said when he announced the departure of the two brothers. Isn't that what everyone feels?

I don't deny that change inevitably brings pain and will inevitably hurt some innocent people, but if I want to create my ideal new world within a limited timeframe, who else can understand my philosophy better than myself? I truly need more time. Until my ideal is achieved, I won't cede power to anyone, anyone.

“…There is no one more trustworthy than myself to carry out my policies.”

"...I believe if Lilith were still here, she would understand the decision I made."

"Dear old friend, are you missing her too?"

"...I sometimes wonder what the true meaning of life is. What remains beyond the pursuit of wealth, population, power, and desire? Then I think of you, of Lilith. I can no longer distinguish whether the kingdom I want to build is my own ideal or the inevitable future Lilith described.

...Fustwin, do you think Lilith has really left?"

A silent clamor exploded in Giselle's heart, vibrating her eardrums.