“This...” Minoga was truly in a difficult position.

Her reason told her not to let Princess Liana go, as it was too dangerous for her. But now, with Princess Liana’s current state and the Tree of Life’s protection, she was somewhat conflicted.

Should she let Princess Liana go or not? If Princess Liana went, what if she encountered danger?

Liana naturally knew that Minoga was doing this for her own good, and that this choice was extremely difficult and torturous for her. If something truly happened to her, Minoga would regret it for a lifetime, and she would be forever resented by Mephilia.

“No.” At this moment, Minoga had to firm up her resolve. She absolutely could not let Princess Liana encounter any accidents.

“Is there really no room for negotiation?”

“None.”

Liana pouted, feeling somewhat helpless with her. “What exactly would it take for me to go in? I’m not a child anymore. I can guarantee my safety. If I encounter danger, I’ll run.”

“Princess Liana is indeed not a child anymore, but on the path of magic, Princess Liana is still a child,” Minoga said.

This was too dangerous. Sephirena’s current illusion magic was likely not under her control, so it would become very unstable and extremely dangerous.

If Princess Liana went in now, it would be far too risky. This was a consequence Minoga couldn’t bear.

“If you don’t trust me, at least trust the Tree of Life then? With the Tree of Life there, I’ll definitely be fine,” Liana said.

“The Tree of Life can understand human speech. She also knows how powerful you are. But she still took the risk of being uprooted by you to stop you and chose to let me go in. There must be a special reason for this,” Liana said. “The Tree of Life believes I can safely bring Sephirena back.”

“...” Minoga had naturally heard the legends of the Tree of Life, the mother of elvenkind, possessing unparalleled power and vitality.

“As a knight of the kingdom, you should be very clear how important the alliance with the Elf Forest is. We cannot lose the Tree of Life or Princess Sephirena. This would deal a massive blow to our alliance,” Liana hadn’t given up hope and continued speaking.

“Moreover, the elf race has told us that in the future, the demonkind might resurge again. At that time, we cannot afford to lose the power of the elves. We need their help.”

“And the most important point is that if I save Sephirena now, the Tree of Life is also preserved, and Sephirena learns illusion magic, she might be willing to return to the Elf Forest. And who gets credit for this achievement? Definitely Mephilia. This would be an absolute gift for Mephilia, who is about to give up her heir status,” Liana said.

“Princess Liana’s tongue is truly formidable,” Minoga sighed helplessly.

“And besides, I now have this,” Liana put on the ring Mephilia had given her. “You should be very clear about what’s contained in this ring, Minoga.”

Minoga reached out and pinched Liana’s cheek. She could naturally see the preciousness of this ring and clearly understood the power it contained. “Princess Mephilia truly dotes on Princess Liana too much. Even Princess Mephilia herself doesn’t have something like this.”

“Of course.” Liana could naturally clearly feel Mephilia’s adoration for her, but what was more important now was, “Since I have multiple layers of protection, let me go in? If I haven’t come out by evening, you can come in and bring me out.”

“...Alright.” Minoga finally couldn’t argue with Liana.

[May magic protect you, Protection.]

Minoga added a protective spell on Liana, allowing her to know Liana’s condition at all times.

Should anything happen to Liana, she would sense it immediately, and all the protective devices on Princess Liana would protect her, buying time for Minoga to rescue her.

“Don’t worry, I know this matter must be kept secret from Mephilia. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t let either of us off,” Liana smiled.

Minoga helplessly spread her hands. So Princess Liana already knew about this.

If Princess Mephilia found out, regardless of the outcome, regardless of whether Princess Liana returned safely in the end, they would definitely get a severe scolding.

“Princess Liana, Princess Mephilia is still waiting for you,” Minoga said.

“I know, I understand clearly, so I’ll definitely return.” Liana had no intention of staying in this illusion. This illusion couldn’t retain her.

Liana looked at the lake surface...

“Can you send me over?” Liana asked.

“...Ah.” Minoga raised her hand, and Liana flew up.

Minoga sent Liana to the front of the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life didn’t show the same resistance towards Liana as it did to the other two. She very smoothly arrived before the Tree of Life.

Liana looked at the motionless Sephirena, and upon learning that Sephirena had used illusion magic for her sake, she felt somewhat moved.

Liana squatted down and picked up the jade-colored flower from the ground. The flower attached itself to the bracelet given by Princess Avira, the two becoming one.

Liana felt her body filled with power, endless vitality flowing towards her. Liana also sensed mana particles around her, with her mana recovery speed increasing manifold.

“How do I enter Sephirena’s illusion magic?” Liana looked at the Tree of Life and asked.

She knew the Tree of Life could understand what she was saying.

The Tree of Life’s vines wrapped around Liana’s hand, placing it on Sephirena’s hand.

Meanwhile, inside the illusion.

“Sister Tarashil!” A young Sephirena stood before Tarashil.

“Really, Sephirena, didn’t I tell you not to get yourself all dirty like a child anymore?” Tarashil lovingly removed the twigs from Sephirena’s head, tidied her hair, and patted the dust off her body.

“Hehe.” Sephirena laughed a bit embarrassedly. “Thank you, Sister Tarashil.”

Sephirena sat in front of Tarashil, letting her fix her appearance.

“Today, it’s Sephirena’s turn. Be sure to take good care of Mother, okay?” Tarashil said.

“This...” Sephirena seemed troubled.

“What’s wrong? Do you have something tonight?” Tarashil asked.

“I’m feeling a bit unwell. Um... Sister Tarashil, can we switch? Next time! Next time I’ll help Sister Tarashil take care of Mother,” Sephirena said.

“Are you really feeling unwell?” Tarashil seemed to know something but didn’t directly expose Sephirena.

“Really! Look, haven’t I been punctually taking care of Mother before? I’m not who I used to be. I’ve made progress, okay!” Sephirena asserted firmly.

“Okay, okay, I understand.” Tarashil affectionately ruffled Sephirena’s white hair. “Sephirena has really been working hard lately. The old you wouldn’t have had the patience for this.”

“Hehe.” Being praised by her sister was a very happy thing for Sephirena.

After all, her goal was to become as excellent as her sister.

“Then I’ll go prepare now. Sephirena, you should rest well.”

“Mm-hmm, goodbye, Sister Tarashil!” Sephirena waved to Tarashil and returned to her room.

She obediently climbed into bed, preparing to rest.

But was that really the case?

When the night deepened, Sephirena got up from her bed.

At this time, it was a crucial moment for repairing the Tree of Life, and many guards had come to stand watch in front of it.

The more heavily guarded the Tree of Life’s surroundings were, the more relaxed the guards outside became.

This gave Sephirena the opportunity to slip outside.

Sephirena found the gaps in the guards’ patrol and nimbly moved through the jungle.

Unlike other princesses, Sephirena was practically a wild child.

She knew the paths of the Elf Forest like the back of her hand, including many “shortcuts” that even some elves might not know.

She jumped from the edge of a cliff, where not far below, there was a crooked tree to land on.

Finding the right angle, she leaped, her agile figure continuously darting through the forest under the clear moonlight.

Finally, she landed in a lake. Sephirena swam towards the lake bottom, skillfully passing through various caves.

Some caves were barely passable. A few years later, with Sephirena’s current fullness, she would definitely get stuck.

And these ‘shortcuts’ were only known to Sephirena, and only she could traverse them.

Sephirena emerged from the lake, coming to the shore. Lake water dripped from her hair.

[Water spirits, please take away the water elements on my body.]

Sephirena used magic to dry herself.

Now she had reached the outskirts of the Elf Forest. About a hundred kilometers away was a human village.

However, her destination wasn’t the human village, but a place where she had arranged to meet someone.

“Good evening, Princess Sephirena,” an elf girl appeared before Sephirena.

“Let’s skip the unnecessary talk. You should have brought the item right? I’m in a hurry,” Sephirena looked at her.

“Of course.” The elf girl smiled slightly and took out a leaf.

After confirming it was correct, Sephirena simply stretched her body. “What shall we compete in? You decide. I’ll win either way.”

This was the confidence she should have as an elf princess, and the pride from her years of undefeated record. She wouldn’t lose.

Sephirena indeed wouldn’t lose. She would continue to win, but this time, she would clearly understand the price of victory.

Sephirena had come here specifically to compete with the girl before her, to win her item.

This was a leaf from the Tree of Life’s past, which might contain knowledge on how to heal the Tree of Life. It could also be analyzed to see what differences existed between the current Tree of Life and its past state.

But Sephirena was still very young at that time, and often did whatever she wanted without noticing the trap therein.

She only knew that if she gave this as a gift to Sister Tarashil, she would definitely be happy!

However, Sister Tarashil had already forbidden her from doing such things many times, so Sephirena could only do it secretly, without being discovered by Sister Tarashil.

Sneaking out regularly would also be noticed by Sister Tarashil, so Sephirena thought of this method: exchanging time slots, letting Sister Tarashil repair the Tree of Life, so she wouldn’t have time to pay attention to what Sephirena was doing.

And Sephirena wasn’t being lazy; she would switch back later. After all, this was their Mother, and Sephirena definitely wouldn’t be careless.

But she hadn’t anticipated what consequences this decision would bring, or... she hadn’t realized at all that she had already fallen into someone else’s trap.

Indeed, as Sephirena said, no matter what the competition was, she would win.

Sephirena was also considerate enough to let the other party choose several competition items, but none could match Sephirena. The other competitor was utterly defeated, without any chance of winning.

“Do you want to continue?” Sephirena was on fire; she hadn’t competed with others for a long time.

The elf girl sat on the ground, breathing heavily. What a powerful creature. She had no power to fight back at all. Every competition was a crushing defeat, without even a glimmer of hope for victory.

“Princess Sephirena is truly as terrifying as before,” the elf girl said.

“As before? Have we competed before?” Sephirena didn’t remember ever competing with the girl before her.

“Nothing.” The elf girl shook her head. “Now, this leaf belongs to you.”

The elf girl accepted her loss and gave the leaf to Sephirena.

Sephirena carefully felt the leaf, and indeed, she could sense the differences from the Tree of Life.

“Giving this to Sister Tarashil, she’ll definitely be happy!” This was what Sephirena originally thought.

But an alarm interrupted Sephirena’s thoughts, making her suddenly panicked.

Because this alarm was of the most severe level, indicating that something major had happened in the Elf Forest.

And the events that could trigger this level of alarm, without exception, were all related to the Tree of Life.

“Sister Tarashil?!” And now, the elf repairing the Tree of Life was Tarashil.

Sephirena had no time to think further and didn’t care if she was discovered now. She just wanted to quickly return to the Tree of Life.

What exactly had happened? Sister Tarashil, please don’t let anything happen to you!

But when Sephirena arrived before the Tree of Life, the cold corpse there struck a harsh blow to her heart.

“Sephirena? Where did you go? Wasn’t it supposed to be your turn to repair the Tree of Life today?” Nimeris, the second princess of the Elf Forest, asked.

Sephirena retreated several steps and collapsed weakly to the ground.

It was she who had caused Sister Tarashil’s death. Even though Princess Avira later made excuses for her and comforted her, Sephirena had never emerged from this shadow.

And then the subsequent events happened.

“Today, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ it’s Sephirena’s turn. Be sure to take good care of Mother, okay?” Tarashil said.

Sephirena widened her eyes, hearing the familiar voice and feeling the warmth from Tarashil’s palm.

This was an illusion she had never seen before...

And this segment was very familiar, a scene she had dreamed of countless nights, and what followed completely changed her life.

“...”

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” Tarashil said gently. “If you’re really feeling unwell somewhere, sister can help you.”

“...” The conversation had changed.