Elves inherently possessed long lifespans. As a branch of the elven race, Dark Elves could live for well over a thousand years.
Moreover, Queen Dominica of the Dark Elves was a demigod.
As long as even one believer remained alive, a demigod could never truly perish—her power might wane, but death was impossible.
Unless… she had lost the will to live.
—A lover’s suicide.
*"The underworld divine kingdom shall fade. This is a god’s lover’s suicide."*
Before Dominica launched her war in near-self-destructive fury, no one took that romantic prophecy seriously.
Who could possibly foretell a demigod’s fate?
Especially a Dark Elf demigod.
After all, everyone knew: Dark Elves were the most rebellious, cruel race across the entire Kachibia Continent.
A race that betrayed their own Mother Goddess of Elves without hesitation—stabbing her in the back.
How could such beings love deeply enough to commit lover’s suicide? A foolish act only the Silvermoon Wolf Clan, the Lunar Descendants, might attempt.
Ridiculous.
Licentiousness, cruelty, plunder—*those* defined the Dark Elves.
Devoted love? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Yet it happened.
Evelyn’s mind drifted to the last time she saw her friend—spring, twenty-one years ago.
Dominica had pried open the window of Evelyn’s Mage Tower, a spatial ring brimming with Golden Memory Wine, celebrating ten years since her ascension to demigodhood.
*A human custom*, she’d said.
Humans were troublesome: celebrating one month of courtship, marking the date of the first gift.
The first kiss, the first night together, even the first smile—all worthy of commemoration.
*"What a hassle,"* the Queen of Dark Elves muttered, chugging the wine.
Evelyn, who neither understood nor drank, could only watch.
When thoroughly drunk, Dominica slurred:
*"Evelyn, my most erudite friend—how can humans be so naive?"*
*"Devotion? Who does he think he’s talking to? Have you ever heard of a devoted Dark Elf?"*
Back then, Evelyn was immersed in deciphering an ancient text, utterly uninterested in humans.
She replied firmly: “No.”
The Forest Fey was so certain, so dismissive.
After all, Dominica often asked what Evelyn deemed “boring” questions.
She failed to take it seriously.
It wasn’t until ten years later that Evelyn realized Dominica had vanished.
To her, it was an ordinary decade.
The Golden Forest stood isolated. Forest Fey cherished silence; few ever left, abandoning neither their home nor the Elder Tree of Elves they guarded.
She never knew her only friend had ignited a self-annihilating war just one year after their parting.
The ruler of the underworld, as if maddened, commanded her people—her believers—to abandon their subterranean domain and charge the surface, slaughtering all races.
No one knew why.
The war raged a year and a half. Rivers of blood stained the land. Merely hearing “Dark Elf” ignited undying hatred among surface races.
Only when the last Dark Elf warrior fell did the truth emerge.
*"The god’s beloved is gone."*
*"...Her heart died with him."*
—A lover’s suicide.
Then the surface races remembered the old prophecy circulating Kachibia Continent:
*"The underworld divine kingdom shall fade. This is a god’s lover’s suicide."*
…It was true.
Maur’s consciousness blurred, yet he sensed Evelyn’s unnatural silence.
She seemed lost in thought.
But his body burned. He instinctively reached up, grasping the hand lifting his face.
The searing heat jolted Evelyn from memory. She leaned close, pressing a gentle, soothing kiss to the corner of his mouth.
“I’ll take you away,” she whispered.
*Back then, I missed her pain. I failed to stop her descent.*
Evelyn had carried that regret for years, tirelessly searching for Dominica—her only friend.
With little success.
Now, a new clue demanded action.
But she couldn’t abandon Maur.
She’d carry him to the safety of her Mage Tower first, then return swiftly.
“Teacher Evelyn, time is critical—don’t waste a second~” Mavis chimed. “I heard the Archbishop of the Luminous Temple is already en route.”
“If he arrives first… you’ll get *nothing*~”
After all, the Luminous Temple suffered worst in that war twenty years ago. Once widespread across Kachibia Continent, its temples were nearly erased by the Dark Elves.
If a “Most Hates Dark Elves” ranking existed on Kachibia, the Luminous Temple would top it.
The Archbishop would hoard any clue about Queen Dominica—and unleash fanatical vengeance on the one who shattered their temples and desecrated their god’s glory.
Even Evelyn couldn’t pry secrets from such zealots.
To them, life and death meant nothing. Only divine will mattered.
Evelyn hesitated.
She *had* to go. Before the Archbishop.
Mavis, sharp-eyed, pounced:
“Worried about Maur? He looks awful. He’d only slow you down. Leave him—I’ll care for him as a classmate should~”
*Almost there.*
Just a little more push, and the Forest Fey would abandon him.
Mavis produced a communication crystal before Evelyn’s eyes.
“The headmaster reports: an unsent letter was found at the practical assessment site. Likely penned by Queen Dominica of the Dark Elves herself.”
“Though mostly burned and cursed beyond restoration, fragments confirm it was addressed to her newborn daughter.”
“What if the Luminous Archbishop learns *first*… where the daughter of the Dark Elf queen he despises most… might be?”
Maur felt Evelyn’s arm tighten around his waist.
