Chapter 18 - The Farm in Irttat
Chapter 18: Prisoner of Mirror Lake 04
In the end, Lucita used fifty silver coins to order a set of experimental equipment from Palmer.
Returning to the farm, Lucita wrote a note and sent it to Sophia.
"Dear Sophia,
I saw your sacred lake again in the Peace Forest. There have been some new developments that I can't explain clearly in a moment, but the matter is significant, so I hope to see your high priestess as soon as possible. When exactly can your high priestess arrive here?
Yours, Lucita"
The message feather box lit up almost immediately. When Lucita opened it, she saw Sophia’s reply.
No wonder it was so fast, the note had only one sentence.
"Dear Lucita,
Wait a moment, I'm coming to your house right away.
Yours, Sophia"
Lucita was momentarily speechless.
Her vision had recovered. Next time, she didn't know which sense would be affected.
Lucita planned to take advantage of this temporarily healthy body to build a sheep pen first, making it convenient for raising sheep in the future.
After ordering the experimental equipment, she only had about seventy silver coins left.
She still wanted to earn more money by hunting. When she saved up to over a hundred, she'd buy one ram and two ewes to raise directly in the pen. That would be far more efficient for breeding than keeping only a single ewe.
Fortunately, building a sheep pen didn't cost money. It was just hammering wooden planks formed into fences into the ground, something Lucita could fumble through herself.
The wood cut down when clearing the yard last time was still piled in the corner. Lucita used an axe to split the thicker wood into slightly thinner strips, nailed them together with iron nails, and made several sets of long fences. The long wood strips on both sides of each fence section were left with relatively long ends, deeply hammered into the soil.
Lucita was inexperienced. She barely managed to enclose a small fenced area in the corner of the yard that wasn't very attractive but was quite sturdy. She also left a fence gate held by a wooden latch. The wooden strips forming the fence had only been simply split with an axe, the surface was rough and had nothing to do with polishing. Sometimes when hands touched them, one would get a handful of wood splinters.
But with care, it was still usable.
The only expense for the entire sheep pen was two silver coins for a box of iron nails bought at Irene's general store.
Oh, and also a thin layer of pine oil applied to the axe blade after use, one silver coin for a small bottle. The bottle was ceramic, very delicate, about two fingers in size. This type of fine small ceramic bottle wasn't cheap. Firing it was much more troublesome than bowls and plates. After the pine oil inside was used up, you had to return the bottle to Irene to buy the next bottle. Otherwise, she would either refuse to sell another or charge ten silver coins in compensation.
Sophia had arrived long ago. After helping Lucita finish the second half of the sheep pen, the two nestled in the living room to discuss the main matter.
Lucita poured her a glass of wine.
This bottle of wine was a housewarming gift from Javena at the beginning of January. She couldn't bear to open it even when very poor, and had even fantasized about selling it for money to buy bread instead.
Recent matters had all shown signs of resolution one after another, and she had loosened up considerably. In her happiness, she opened it.
Lucita generally told Sophia about Mirror Lake, things that couldn't be explained clearly in the note, about the relationship between the royal family and Mirror Lake, the truth of Mirror Lake's disappearance. She told Sophia everything.
Perhaps among the elven race, these matters were secrets known only to kings and priestesses. But honestly, of the entire elven race, Sophia was the one Lucita trusted most. As for the other elven king or high priestess, they had no connection to her at all, so their loyalty and treachery were hard to distinguish. She had met the elven king once and was inclined to believe in her, but she had never even seen the high priestess. That made it even harder to judge her character.
Perhaps five hundred years ago, the high priestess of Violet's era was utterly loyal to her, but now the high priestess had been replaced at least twice over. Her contemporaries had long decayed in the earth. The current high priestess had grown up in an era without a king and now stood as the foremost authority among the elves. If a king suddenly appeared, would she really be willing to save the elven king?
Maybe, even if it was true, it would definitely become false.
But for the elven race, if what Violet said was true, they had to save her. Otherwise, without Mirror Lake, the elven race would only continue to decline day after day as they were now.
Therefore, she urgently hoped to see the high priestess. Only after meeting her and assessing her character could she decide whether to reveal everything, and whether to proceed with the rescue.
Of course, she also concealed much from Sophia, including not mentioning her own physical condition at all. She only focused on describing Violet's identity and past.
Finally, Lucita asked her: "Is it difficult to get a portrait of the last elven king?"
"It's both simple and not. I know what she looks like. The portrait of the last elven king, Violet, is in the elven race's history books. Many elves recognize her."
At this point, Sophia shook her head: "But I can't get it for you right away. Irttat doesn't preserve elven history books. I would need to write to mother and ask her to bring it. Mother and the high priestess should already be on the road by now. Should I tell her about this and have her go back to get it?"
"Don't, Sophia." Lucita quickly dissuaded her and hinted: "The high priestess may not want to save a king. We need to handle this matter quietly."
Sophia wasn't stupid either and understood immediately: "But mother and the high priestess should already be on the road by now. If I don't tell her, she definitely won’t delay the sacred lake investigation, to make a return trip for an unimportant book."
"If I ask another friend to make a special trip to deliver it, that also requires a sufficiently important reason, because it really is just an ordinary book. Even if a friend sends it to me, it would take half a month. Our tribe lives very far away now."
No wonder Violet said it so lightly, telling her to "get it and have a look, then you'll know." She likely hadn’t considered that retrieving a portrait would alert figures like the high priestess.
If it were Irttat from ten years ago when the elves were still there, this would indeed be a simple task. But the problem was that the high priestess was about to arrive, while the portrait would take much longer. Too many things could happen in between.
Lucita thought for a moment: "When can the high priestess arrive?"
"Very soon, in about two days."
Lucita was somewhat worried.
Theoretically speaking, since Violet had seen her, she wouldn't call Garcia anymore. The high priestess and the others couldn't follow Garcia to find the sacred lake. Even if they found it, they probably couldn't see Violet.
But one always fears the what-ifs. The elven race had a history for who knows how many years and might have some magical items in hand that could trace Violet’s presence.
If both sides met directly, events could spiral beyond control.
Lucita’s body was still unstable. She cherished Irttat's safe and peaceful life very much, so she was very worried that the elven race's turmoil would spread to Irttat.
Yet she still hesitated to free Violet.
So far, she had heard only Violet's one-sided story. What if she believed the wrong person, and not only didn't she help the elven race but released a villain instead?
Thinking it over, Lucita decided to go ask the person involved for her thoughts tonight.
She didn't delay. After eating dinner, she entered the forest.
Violet seemed very happy to see Lucita: "Are you here to save me?"
"No." Lucita answered mercilessly and sat cross-legged by the lake: "The portrait will take some time to get, but the current high priestess is coming. They know the news about Mirror Lake and want to follow Garcia to find it. Are you afraid?"
Violet never expected things would develop this way.
Obviously, what Lucita could think of, she could as well.
She had a toothache for a while: "The high priestess can communicate with the divine through prayer rituals and perceive the void."
At the end, Violet carefully asked: "What kind of person is she?"
"Not clear. Haven't met her."
Violet sighed and looked to the sky with a headache: "Let me think."
Lucita wasn't in a hurry either. She took out a plate of fish and chips from her newly constructed cufflink space and chewed them one by one, letting Violet think slowly on the side.
Who knew, Violet would say something shocking: "Just kill me."
A fish chip got stuck in her throat. Lucita let out an earth-shattering cough.
She barely managed to swallow that mouthful before saying with difficulty: "What did you say?"
Violet actually made a lot of sense: "If you kill me, Mirror Lake's heart will lose its support and return to the elven race to choose a new king. This way, Mirror Lake can still return to the elven race. Of course, I still hope you'll let me out. This way the result for the elven race is the same. The only difference between the two approaches is whether I can live. I don't have any evidence to prove myself, so I can understand you not believing me. If I were you, I'd also fear releasing some disaster, so killing me should be a choice anyone could accept."
"I only fear that the high priestess, to maintain her own authority, doesn't want a new king to appear in the elven race and still imprisons me here, or moves my prison to another place. The void is so vast, you won't be able to find it then. That would be the worst result." Violet said worriedly: "Although I don't want to think of her so badly either, I really don't want to fall into such a passive situation where everything depends only on her mercy."
Lucita put away the fish and chips, stood up, and took out her hunting knife: "You've convinced me."
She plunged headfirst into the water.
Violet closed her eyes, bit her teeth, turned her head to the side, and tensed her whole body: "Thank you."
After a long silence, she opened her eyes and saw Lucita digging at something in one corner of the lake bottom with her hunting knife.
After digging for a long time, she dug out a small engraved silver mirror covered in green rust, its mirror surface stained with old bloodstains.
Lucita put it away and continued to dig at another corner.
Violet pressed her lips together and finally couldn't help showing a smile.
Buried in the second corner was a bloody elven eye. Five hundred years had passed, but if one ignored the ineradicable resentment in that eye, it was still clear and moving, brilliant with light.
Lucita couldn't help but furrow her brow.
The third, the fourth...
A pitch-black ram's horn, a rusty dagger, a tattered doll, and an inverted silver cup.
When these items were dug up, they were full of dirt, but it couldn't cover the large patches of old bloodstains on them.
After five hundred years of time, one could still feel the malice within them.
Violet's voice was low and hoarse, showing a kind of coldness for the first time: "They're soaked with my kinsmen's blood."
All six seal objects were dug out. The Hexagram seal gradually dissipated, and the chains on Violet also gradually loosened.
At the same time, the wound that pierced her heart also began to seep blood outward. Threads of blood floated up in the lake water.
As the chains gradually disappeared, Violet covered her chest and slowly climbed up.
Mirror Lake also hazily twisted its reflection and finally transformed into uncatchable light and shadow, disappearing from sight.
The surroundings returned to the ordinary forest of the surface world. Violet stood before her covering her wound, looking exceptionally pale: "I sent it back outside the royal court in the tribe."
"May I recuperate at your house, Lucita?"
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