448: Chapter 433 Anti-theft (Text will be updated in a few hours)

The elves gathered before Frederica's private quarters in a massive display of force, yet she easily defused the situation.

Anna's confidant intended to incite them further, but unfortunately, the clanspeople regained their reason and dispersed following their Highness's instructions; he could only leave with the crowd.

On the way, taking advantage of his companions' focus on discussing the matter, he quietly slipped away from the group and returned to Anna's residence to report.

As he recounted the events, he felt very uneasy. Anna had been cold-faced lately, her mood visibly gloomy, and now that the plan had failed, he feared he would be the target of her anger.

Unexpectedly, Anna did not blame him at all. After listening quietly, she waved her hand to signal him to withdraw.

The confidant relaxed and took his leave with a bow.

A moment later, the Third Elder pushed open the door and entered.

"It failed," he said, sitting down at the table.

With only two days left until the competition and the Elf King coming out of seclusion tomorrow, there wasn't much time left to act. Once the King stepped out of the palace and heard the rumors, he would surely launch an investigation. With the King's abilities, it was only a matter of time before he traced it back to the Elders.

At that point, their fate would be utterly miserable.

Anna smiled slightly. "You were merely bystanders. All these events were orchestrated by me alone. If the King investigates, it won't involve you."

The Third Elder was expressionless. "Who do you think the King is? Why is the King the King?"

"With rumors spreading through the entire clan and the clanspeople kneeling at the palace gates for a full day without a single Elder coming forward to explain, do you think the King won't guess that we've joined forces?"

"Would the King really kill all the Elders?"

"I will bear the guilt alone; the King will not make things difficult for you."

The Third Elder sighed deeply. "Since I agreed to join, I no longer care about the punishment afterward."

"Right now, I only want to know: since the plan failed, what do you intend to do?"

"The plan's failure was within my expectations. Heh, a half-true rumor isn't enough to cement a crime against a Crown Prince."

"That rumor..." The Third Elder frowned in deep thought, then suddenly realized, "You want to act before the King leaves the palace..."

A cold sneer curled Anna's lips. "Correct."

The facts were exactly as the Third Elder had deduced.

Anna was an elf skilled at manipulating hearts. She knew very well that resentment must be brewed before it becomes large enough to swallow others.

Unfortunately, time was tight, and there was no leisure for her to proceed steadily. She could only rely on a shortcut—deception.

What do humans hate?

Being deceived.

It is the soil that nurtures hatred, the most fertile kind.

Anna deliberately encouraged the clanspeople to go to the palace and kneel, requesting an audience with the King. To use a secret technique, the King had proactively cut off his connection with the outside world. When the clanspeople's requests went unmet, what would they do?

Question the culprit, Frederica.

The fact that using a secret technique requires prior body adjustment is a secret of the Elf Clan that ordinary clanspeople have no way of knowing, but Frederica, as the Crown Prince, naturally understands it.

She told them the truth, and the clanspeople realized they had misunderstood the King and the Crown Prince. Feeling guilt and the unease of having offended the Crown Prince, they certainly dispersed on the spot.

Furthermore, because Frederica did not blame them, this guilt would only grow more intense.

Just when the clanspeople were feeling immensely ashamed, if Anna were to gather everyone, appearing with a face full of sorrow and determination like a 'lone hero who cannot tolerate darkness,' and reveal: 'Using the secret technique does not require advance preparation.'

"The reason the Elders did not appear is because the Crown Prince gave a death order, strictly forbidding any disclosure."

If Anna did this, what would happen next?

As the Third Elder sorted through the logic, a chill suddenly enveloped his entire body.

"The clanspeople, feeling they have been deceived, will angrily demand the King appear again. But the King can only complete his preparations on the fifth day. The clanspeople, unable to wait for the King..."

"Will ignore any of Frederica's defenses and personally escort her to the base of the life tree to hold a sacrificial ceremony."

The Third Elder looked at Anna's face, which revealed a touch of madness.

They had worked together for centuries, and he thought he knew Anna's character and personality well, but today he realized he didn't know her at all.

The Third Elder looked at this somewhat unfamiliar version of her. "Do you hate Frederica so much just because she wants to rescue a heretic?"

The slightly sickly smile on Anna's face suddenly stiffened, and after a moment, she slowly lowered her head. "No."

"Is there another reason?"

"I am Sinéad's teacher."

"In the struggle for the throne, Sinéad might not necessarily lose to Frederica; in fact, her chances of winning were greater."

"What I desire is absolute certainty." She lifted her head and met the Third Elder's gaze. "You are Frederica's teacher. Are you going to stop me?"

The Third Elder was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"It is a fact that she disregarded the entire clan to rescue a heretic; it is a betrayal of our people."

"Even if the life tree were still healthy and the withering had never happened, such a Crown Prince would not be qualified to be the King of our clan."

"My only worry is... if the withering of the life tree continues even after sacrificing Frederica, where will the future of our clan go?"

"No one can predict that. Perhaps the King can."

"The King..." The Third Elder sighed deeply, stood up, and walked toward the door.

Reaching the door, his steps stopped. "I will not be at the scene tomorrow..."

"It doesn't matter. I alone am enough to control the situation. Also, please inform the other Elders not to come."

The Third Elder knew that Anna intended to bear all responsibility herself. Giving her a deep look, the Third Elder pushed open the door and left.

Anna picked up the fruit tea on the table, which had already gone cold, and took a small sip.

In the remaining day, she didn't need to do anything. From the moment Frederica told the clan the King was in seclusion, the outcome was already determined.

The inevitable end of Frederica's death, the inevitable end of her own death, and the future outcome of Sinéad ascending the throne.

...

Alice and Saldari, who had been performing their respective tasks, returned to Frederica's private quarters late at night.

The two had found nothing. It was only natural; how could the traps meticulously laid by Anna leave behind loopholes that could be discovered by two low-tier Professionals?

Closing the door, the two reported their results to Frederica in turn.

She pondered for a good while before suddenly asking, "I have a rough conclusion as to who the person hiding in the shadows is. The problem is, where did she find out Zhang Mu's name?"

The two looked at each other, unable to answer. The news that Frederica had made a human friend was indeed known to a few individuals, but they could never have known the 'human friend's' name, as the three of them had never revealed it.

Alice held her staff, thinking for a long time without being able to guess the mastermind's identity, and looked at her Highness with blinking eyes. "Tell me who it is first?"

"Elder Anna."

Saldari nodded. "Thinking carefully, only Elder Anna possesses the motive to target you and knows you have a human friend, satisfying both conditions."

"Uh." Alice rubbed the back of her head. "How would she know that your Highness's human friend is Mr. Zhang Mu?"

"Hehe, maybe she guessed it," Frederica said with a laugh.

"This actually isn't important anymore. I'm more puzzled—since you're prepared to sacrifice yourself, your Highness, why..."

"Why investigate the identity of the hidden hand?"

"Yes."

"I can sacrifice myself, but it must be voluntary. I will never allow myself to be forced."

"So what should we do?"

Frederica walked toward the bedroom. "Get some good rest."

"Ah?" The two stared blankly at the closed bedroom door.

...

The next day.

As the sky brightened, the elves responsible for gathering work gradually woke up, gathered in the open space of the residential area, and walked toward the plantations.

The half-grown elf children followed closely behind, running out of their homes to play with their companions in the gardens and on the grass.

The sun gradually climbed high into the sky; the weather was clear, and bright sunlight shone down.

The elves who had finished gathering returned in a line, with Storage Pouchs full of fruit hanging from their waists.

Seeing their own children among the groups of playing kids, they waved them over and led them home for lunch.

Windows on the tree trunks were also pushed open one after another, and adult elves poked their heads out, loudly calling their children home.

Hearing the calls, the children scattered and ran back to their respective homes.

The peaceful atmosphere brought smiles to the faces of the adult elves, but looking closely, one could see the smiles were extremely forced, hiding an underlying anxiety.

The life tree was withering faster and faster.

With the massive loss of vitality, not only was the tree itself slowly perishing—leaves turning yellow and branches drying up as the aura of death continued to spread—but the fruit trees that relied on it for growth and reproduction were equally unable to escape the same fate.

An elf gathering fruit pulled open the drawstring of the Storage Pouch at his waist and glanced inside, his eyes full of worry.

The harvest was decreasing every day. Although it didn't affect their ability to fill their stomachs for now, if the situation continued to worsen, the arrival of hunger wouldn't be too far off.

Adult elves could still manage. Once an elf reached adulthood, they were at least an Apprentice Level Professional; a short period of fasting wouldn't lead to starvation. But the children couldn't.

Elf children urgently needed nutritional supplements every day, not just for their growing bodies, but to maintain their health and life.

Some elves had suggested going out to hunt, but for elves, eating monster meat or vegetables grown by humans could only serve the purpose of sating hunger.

If an elf wanted to keep their life activities from stopping and their body from weakening, they required a certain substance in addition to the energy normally needed by a body.

This substance was only contained in the fruit borne by trees nourished by the life tree.

So once the life tree completely withered—even before that day arrived—the elf children would be the first to die prematurely, followed by low-tier adult elves, then high-tier clanspeople and Elders, and finally, the King.

As for why the Elf Clan had such a fatal weakness, all clanspeople knew it well—it was the shackles bestowed by the gods.

They returned to their homes one after another, and families of three finished their lunch with smiles. The children, full from the meal, ran out to find their playmates, and the smiles on the couples' faces were instantly replaced by sorrow.

The wife loosened the drawstring of the Storage Pouch and looked: "Not much left. If only we had stored more before..."

"Who could have predicted the life tree would wither?" The husband handed his Storage Pouch to his wife and continued, "The fruit trees bore fruit once a day, more than we could ever eat. No one would have thought to store it."

The wife took the Storage Pouch and stuffed it, along with her own, into the bottom drawer of the cabinet.

"Do you think the King can save the life tree?"

"The King definitely—"

"Help! Someone!"

A sharp cry for help came from outside. The two were startled, and snapping back to their senses, they rushed out of the room and ran down the corridor toward the base of the tree.

Running out of the root gate, the couple saw an elf covered in blood lying on the open ground and hurried over. Other clanspeople were arriving from all directions.

The husband cradled the elf's upper body. "Who did this?!"

"Go... find, find Elder Anna..." Having finished speaking intermittently, his head slumped, and he stopped breathing.

Two elves hurriedly lifted him and ran toward the Moon Well, while the rest of the elves stared blankly at their receding backs, thoughts churning in their minds as a trace of panic appeared on their faces.

The clan territory was enveloped by a Magic Array; this was a Magic Array bestowed by the gods, and even a Legendary could not break in through brute force. From this, it could be inferred that the culprit who attacked him must be a clansman.

Why?!

Questions popped up in their minds.

Relying on the protection of the Magic Array, the elf lands had not seen a bloodshed incident for a long time. Furthermore, with abundant resources, there were no conflicts of interest among the clanspeople. Everyone lived in a peaceful environment and had almost forgotten about disputes and combat. Why the sudden bloody attack?

What exactly happened between him and the killer?

Moreover, what was the deal with him telling the clanspeople to find Elder Anna before he died?

The killer was not at the scene, and the victim was no longer there either; clearly, there was no one to answer their questions.

To know the truth, the only way was to ask the person involved.

The elves came to their senses and started walking toward the Moon Well.

moon water is a treasure of the Elf Clan with miraculous effects; not only can it promote the growth of fruit trees, but it can also heal serious injuries.

Even if someone is on the verge of death, as long as they consume moon water before they completely die, there is a chance to live.

Some quick-witted elves remembered the victim's 'last words' and directed the clanspeople to split into two groups: one group to continue to the Moon Well, and the other to go to Elder Anna's residence.

The crowd split into two directions at the intersection.

The garden path on the left led to the Moon Well. The elves responsible for this side quickened their pace and reached the destination half an hour later.

On the grass by the forest, a water well stood quietly. The injured elf lay by the well, and of the two elves who had escorted him there, one was guarding the surroundings while the other was drawing water from the well.

The clanspeople arrived and stepped forward to help, and the moon water was quickly poured into the injured elf's mouth.

"He swallowed!" an elf cried out in surprise, seeing his Adam's apple move up and down.

"Quick, feed him a bit more!"

The moon water began to take effect. His stopped breathing slowly resumed, faint at first, then becoming stronger and more stable as the moon water continued to flow into his body.

Seeing his body regaining vitality enough to withstand the effects of magic, the elves immediately cast healing magic—any magic has magic fluctuations, and healing magic is no exception. Although the fluctuations are very slight, a person in an extremely weakened state cannot withstand them.

After several consecutive healing spells, the injured elf's consciousness quickly recovered, and his eyelids gradually opened.

He blankly scanned the ring of faces around him, and after a moment, he finally became clear-headed and jumped up abruptly: "We have been deceived! Quick, go find Elder Anna!"

This time it was the clanspeople's turn to be confused. Everyone looked at each other; what was he talking about?

An elf asked, "Speak more clearly. What have we been deceived about? Who deceived us?"

"Her Highness!" He still seemed a bit dizzy, staggering toward the residential area. "Her Highness Frederica has deceived us!"