Elven Legacy

Chapter 3: There's Evil Afoot

"How about the name Elif, Empress Maria?" The old Elf replied.

When everyone heard her suggestion, they stopped bowing and said the name several times to see how it rolled off the tongue with their full name.

"Elif August, Elif August, I quite like that name; how do you feel about it, Maria?" The young male Elf answered.

"Elif August, yes, it is quite nice, and it shows the pride of an Elf!" Said Maria, holding her child while looking at him with love and affection.

With the parents now settling on a name for their child, Maria held her child in the air above her head and, smiling in happiness, bestowed the name upon her firstborn child.

"You, my son, shall be named Elif August, the first child of Empress Maria and Emperor Marcus, the Crown Prince of the Immortal Elven Empire!" Said Empress Maria with happiness and pride apparent on her face.

But Maria didn't just tell that to people sitting in the room; she used her profound cultivation base to allow her voice to be heard across the entire Elven Empire that spanned hundreds of trillions of kilometers, which resulted in a colossal sensation happening everywhere in the Elven Empire, especially in Yggdrasil, which is the capital of the Empire and where the Royal Family resides.

It was just another day within Yggdrasil; nothing special was supposed to happen, everyone was content with how good things were already, but while everyone minded their own business, there was suddenly a happy, majestic, and prideful voice that reverberated throughout every inch within Yggdrasil, making sure everyone understood what was just spoken.

"You, my son, shall be named Elif August, the first child of Empress Maria and Emperor Marcus, the Crown Prince of the Immortal Elven Empire!"

When those words were spoken, every Elf across the entire Empire stopped whatever they were doing, whether they were training, fighting for their lives, meditating, relaxing, sleeping, or even having intercourse. Once they stopped all activity they were doing, the only thing in their minds were the words their Empress had just spoken.

'Our Empress has given birth to a child!'

When the Elves had finally comprehended the words that were spoken, almost every Elf yelled in joy and excitement, and even those who didn't outwardly express themselves still had a smile plastered on their face.

"Haha, our Empress has given birth!"

"Haha, today can't get any better!"

"His highness Elif August, It's a splendid name!"

With all the joy and happiness that had erupted within the Elven Empire, there was bound to be a small minority that was dissatisfied with the news of a new member joining the Royal family.

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Within the confines of a small room, an emergency discussion was occurring between a few old Elven men.

"This isn't good news, and to think the Royal Family managed to keep it hidden till he was born." Said the Old Elven man with short silver hair and a scar running across his face.

"Well, it's not like we would be able to do much to Empress Maria; even though we are from an older generation, her strength is nothing to joke about." Replied an Old Elven man with a long beard reaching down to his chest and his long hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Sadly, your right old Al, Empress Maria is quite strong, and even if we did confront her, you think her brother Emperor Marcus would just sit back and watch?" Said the youngest-looking Elf among the three, but he was still old.

"So you guys got any Ideas?" Asked old Al, the Elven man with a ponytail, or as the other man called him.

Before one of them could answer, the door behind them opened, and entering was a middle age looking Elven man, his skin tone relatively light, but so were the three other Elven men, walking forward the man gave a slight bow while pronouncing their names before sitting down on the only chair available.

"Elder Mo, Elder Al, Elder Gi, excuse me for my lateness, I had some important paperwork to fill out once Empress Maria had announced her child, and I only managed to free myself just now." Said the middle age, but when he spoke the words 'Empress Maria,' you could sense slight hostility in his voice.

"It's fine; we understand your troubles; as the current Arch-Duke, you were probably flooded with papers the moment of the Crown Prince's announcement." Replied the Elven elder with the scar across his face, or as the Arch-Duke called him, Elder Mo.

With elder Mo's statement, the middle-aged Elf gave off a slight smile but didn't deny his claim as it was accurate; getting the conversation back to the original topic, the middle-aged man inquired about their ideas.

"So now that I've managed to make it to the meeting, any ideas on what to do about the sudden news?" Asked the Arch-Duke.

"Embarrassingly no, even with the use of three old men, we can't come up with a good idea on what to do; the Royal Elven family is just too powerful and mysterious for us to compete with." Replied Elder Gi while releasing a sad sigh.

When the middle-aged Elf heard that they haven't come up with anything, he smiled before gaining control of his emotions again and pitching his Idea.

"I may have an idea; you see, we are constantly thinking of ways that 'We' can move against the Royal family, but let's face it, we can't compare to them. So instead of trying to have the older generation fight the older generation, let us have the younger generation fight amongst themselves." Said the middle-aged Elf, while sinisterly trailing off at the end of his sentence.

Once the middle-aged men finished talking, the three older men closed their eyes and started thinking about the potential of this idea working, and about ten seconds later, they all simultaneously opened their eyes.

"It's not a bad idea; with some polishing of the plan, it could work." Said elder Mo.

"It's the best idea we've come up with so far." Said elder Al.

"Indeed, if it's the younger generation, the older generation of the Royal family won't be able to make a move, and even if they do, they will lose respect among the other noble families, and if the Crown Prince wins, we won't lose any face as it would be expected of a Royal Elf to defeat everyone else." Said elder Gi with a satisfied expression at the low risk and high reward of the plan.

"So now that we've decided on the plan, we should only pick one among the younger generation and funnel all the resources to them so we can have a better chance, but who will it be?" Asked Elder Gi.

"My third daughter Marley Eve is the best choice among the younger generation; even though she was born from my fourth concubine, she has the highest talent recorded among the younger generation. Her spirit Root is low God, and her physique is a low God tier; she is also four years old, so if by playing our cards right, she will have a small head start in front of the prince." Replied the middle-aged man with slight enthusiasm.

"Low God Spirit Root, and a low God Physique, that is quite the talent; I'm going to agree, you have my support. What about you guys?" Said elder Gi

"Well, we need to make a move eventually, and now is a good time as ever; you have my support as well." Replied elder Mo.

"Now that both of you agreed, I can't just say no; you got my support." Said elder Al, sighing in a defeated tone.

"Hahaha, that's great to hear, and now that we've come to an agreement, I must excuse myself; I still have a lot of papers to sign and check off, and since I've been absent for the past half hour, I'm sure the pile is even bigger than before. Bye, Elders." After bowing and giving the Elders his thanks, the middle-aged man disappeared, from the room, not even using the door.