NOVEL NEXT Chapter 224: Nisgard City
A few more days passed, and a certain elven carriage finally arrived at its destination: Nisgard City, the capital of the humans.
It was quite different from Etheria, the Elven Capital, which was built on hundred-meter tall trees, with entire portions of the cities built above the ground.
The Human capital was not dense with essence as the danger zone was, but it was also impressive in its own right. It had tall buildings, around 5 storeys high, and the average buildings in the center were at least 3 storeys.
Humans were also known for their fecundity, so the density of the population was nothing the elves had ever seen. Everywhere they looked, dozens of people would be there doing their own thing. They wondered how people could be comfortable with such density, but dismissed it as a race difference.
The main roads were wide and could fit three carriages in each direction. There were also walking paths for pedestrians on the side. All these were packed with people, sounds, scents, and the like. It was frankly quite overwhelming.
It was also fascinating, though Sylwen could see herself looking forward to leaving after exploring for a bit. She had always been fond of calm, serene, and quiet atmospheres. Such a crowded place, drowned in a cacophony of chatters and sounds, quickly lost its appeal.
At this, her mind flew, and a certain redhead appeared in her mind's eye. A gentle smile graced her face. Well, if it was him chattering endlessly, she realized she didn't mind it.
She wished she could stay beside him for longer. Sadly, she did not have a choice.
Her home…was in chaos, and until now, there was much to do.
It had not been too long since the Elves had experienced their first civil war in hundreds of years. It was an incredibly bad omen, though also something that was bound to happen eventually.
The chaos began in the previous generation. The previous Elven King had three children: her older brother, Saoron, her, and her younger brother, Shala.
She and her older brother were born to the queen, while her younger brother was from a mistress.
The elven fertility was quite low, and even after living for so long, the King had only sired three of them, with their father taking in a few mistresses after she was born.
Her mother blamed her for his infidelity, saying that the King was so disgusted with her appearance that he hurriedly tried to make a new progeny.
This was despite the fact that he had been dallying with the other woman long before she was born, but who could reason with a heartbroken, biased woman?
For a while, everyone thought the same because of her. Fortunately, her brother, who was many years older than her and was already mature, was kind to her, but most others were not.
She lived a life of being put at arm's length, as the subject of whispers, all because of her pale hair color and her ominous-colored eyes. The number of times either of her parents had spoken to her while they were alive could be counted on one hand.
In a sense, growing up, she had only ever felt familial love with her older brother, who was thirty years her senior. By extension, she felt the same to the family he built after he got married.
He had been the crown prince since he was born, and he was married to the Grand Elder's only daughter as soon as they came of age. It took them a long time, a lot of herbal treatments, and magic to finally be able to conceive.
When she was in her early twenties, they gave birth to their first—and only—child.
The boy's name was Athisar, her precious nephew, who was now six years old.
Their life as a family was peaceful for the next few years. Even if most of the elves did not want to do much with her, she was happy with her brother, her lovely sister-in-law, and her adorable nephew.
People were still wary of her, but she was respected and lived a peaceful life, simply focusing on her skills and her knowledge. This was especially so when her brother took the crown.
Her father died at the age of 200 when she was only 18 years old, and a few years before Athie was born, and her brother took over the Crown. Things were not bad, and her brother had been progressive. He supported a lot of innovations and encouraged connections with other races.
For the next few years of his reign, everything was good and as it was. But then the next Aphelion Month happened.
A nearby dungeon had weakened greatly—much more than it usually did. Hundreds and hundreds of fortified monsters emerged, not to mention the tens of thousands of toughened and awakened ones.
Strong mobs led by strong monsters spread out, attacking all sides.
The mob on their side was led by an apex monster, even. Her brother naturally led the forces against them, sustaining deep injuries and even losing one of his arms.
This happened to him while protecting the City. But what happened after that?
It was then that her younger brother's family started getting greedy.
They claimed that a King without his dominant hand was a liability. The Aphelion months happened once every few years. How could he manage?
It got worse when he started weakening as well, poisoned, but they could find no clue as to who administered it, even when he was healed after months of suffering.
However, that period of weakness was apparently enough for the other side to spread out their forces, giving them a chance to finally start their plans.
Just a year ago, they started a rebellion that would eventually kill thousands of their brethren.
The conflict reached its peak at the palace a few months ago, and her sister-in-law and her child had to be sent away with several guards, escaping to a faraway land they did not know about.
King and his loyalists—including her—fought against the rebellion, not knowing the tragedy that would befall them.