Huh? Are they all real?.

Following the route he remembered, Moen arrived at the completely deserted Emerald Palace.

This place should have been guarded by many high elves.

But now this place is completely deserted.

This also let Moen know that she was here.

After letting out a long sigh of relief.

Moen pushed open the door in front of him.

In a palace of emerald green and pure white, a beautiful goddess sits with her eyes closed, surrounded by countless green plants.

The sunlight shone through the dome, draping her in a protective cloak.

This made her incredibly beautiful.

“I have arrived, Roselorian Mirror Avalon Shadow.”

It's not Roselorian Shadow, but Roselorian Mirror Avalon Shadow.

This is her full name as the clan leader of the Mirror Clan.

Roselorian Shadow is simply the King's affectionate nickname and abbreviation for her.

The goddess, who had kept her eyes closed, trembled slightly before opening them and looking at the king with a smile:

"You've arrived, Your Majesty."

How did you know I was here?

Moen quietly walked up to her, looked at her, and said:

"Because this is where we first met."

This answer made the goddess lower her head:

"Yes, this is the first time I've met you here."

Not when the sacred tree presented her to its king as a gift.

Rather, it was when the various clans came to pay homage to the new king.

She was just a little girl at the time, and that was the first time she had ever seen the legendary king.

And so, the king, who was so gentle and kind to him, a lower-ranking elf, entered the heart of a mirror elf for the first time.

The king's gaze made the goddess feel extremely uneasy, and her long, pointed ears, which represented her elven identity, drooped down.

At that moment, she was like a child who had made a mistake.

She considered taking on the role of the sacred tree entirely herself.

That's what we planned and prepared for.

But in the final step, when he heard the king call for the true sacred tree...

She realized that she had no intention of deceiving him at all.

She couldn't bring herself to lie about her love.

Even if it means that she will fall far behind in his eyes.

To the goddess's surprise, she heard not reproach or command.

But:

"sorry."

The goddess raised her head in surprise.

What she saw was a king filled with remorse.

In this matter, the only person Moen can blame is himself, who is not allowed to blame anyone.

The king, accustomed to hurting people, finally tasted a small part of the pain he had inflicted on others.

So, where is she?

The goddess lowered her head again:

"I hid her away, hid her away forever."

These words brought the king a great sense of relief, and he then said something that once again astonished the goddess:

"Thank you!"

Fortunately, just as I was able to come back, I still have a chance this time.

Chapter 193 Prelude to the Song of Destruction (3k)

Why did you say thank you to me?

Moen's heartfelt gratitude made Rose Lorian stand up, slightly surprised.

And before Moen could answer, the person who had always stood behind Moen, supporting all his whimsical ideas, directly stated what Moen was thinking.

"Do you think all of this can still be salvaged?"

"No, you want to leave?!"

This seemingly abrupt shift in thinking is, in fact, proof of Rose Lorian's profound understanding of Moen.

From the moment she was given to the Eternal Queen, she stood behind him, understanding his thoughts, interpreting his ideas, and carrying out his will.

The name "Shadow" actually refers more to her being the shadow of a king.

How could a person possibly hide from their own shadow?!

Therefore, at this moment, Moen's thoughts were almost completely exposed to Rose Lorian.

Even if all he said was thank you.

The moment he realized this, countless ways to deal with it flashed through Moen's mind.

Deny, feign ignorance, say nothing, or fly into a rage.

But after quickly going through these methods...

Moen ultimately chose to admit it.

Because it can't be hidden.

The moment the other person realized it, Mo En belatedly realized just how well the goddess in front of him knew him.

“It was I who trampled on the original iron law, it was I who caused all of this, you, and Yggdrasil, I cannot say that you have done anything wrong.”

"Because I chose you. Even knowing the ironclad laws of the God-King!"

Rose Lorian had already walked up to Moen, her emerald eyes fixed on him as she said:

"So, after you realized we were incompatible, you planned to leave?"

"Because this is the only way you can ease tensions between us?"

"By attributing your departure to some terrible enemy, you force us to stand together until we find you?"

"Your Majesty, am I not mistaken?"

It's almost entirely accurate, the only missing element is the process that couldn't be deduced directly from such a small amount of information.

She truly understands herself perfectly.

"Yes, that's exactly what I think."

After Moen said that, both of them fell into a long silence.

As the sun drew near the western mountains.

Of the two who had remained silent until now, Rose Lorian was the first to break the stalemate:

"Perhaps I should try to continue playing the role, just as I initially envisioned."

The Mirror of Pilgrimage has been set up, and she can indeed perfectly play the role of the Sacred Tree.

Even the other elves didn't notice the problem; they prayed to the sacred tree and received a response they hadn't received in a very long time.

But it's only with the most crucial person, her king.

She ultimately failed to deceive him.

So Moen immediately noticed the problem.

That's how things turned out between the two of them.

"You don't need to think that way. You should know that you can't hide anything from me."

Rose Lorian is her own god, and so is the sacred tree.

How could the king not recognize his own god?

Moen's words made the beautiful elf before him smile even more bitterly:

"Even at this point, are you still going to try to comfort me?"

"But the more you do this, the less I can accept this ridiculous situation and my own failure."

Moen also lowered his head:

"sorry."

"Please don't apologize anymore. You know very well that I was the one who went too far in this matter."

"But I was the one who was wrong."

Of the three, the Sacred Tree chose to back down, as long as someone could stand by his side in his place.

Shadow chose to move forward, as long as he could truly stand by his side.

Moen chose to forgive, because it was clear that he was the only one who made a mistake by knowing the ironclad rule yet voluntarily ignoring it.

Silence fell again.

Neither of them knew how to begin.

But as long as time keeps moving forward, the facts will not disappear because of avoidance.

So after yet another long silence, Moen spoke again:

"There's really no possibility of accepting it, right?"

Youying smiled bitterly:

"I don't even know if I can continue to choose to hide instead of killing her outright."

“I can’t accept it. I don’t know if it’s because of the ironclad rule or something else. I just know that I can’t accept any of this.”

“I have been restraining myself ever since I completed the twelve trials.”

"It's a strange feeling. Before I succeeded, I was perfectly clear about my own position, and my faith in her was unwavering. But after I completed the trial and joined the ranks of the same level..."

"That feeling is like a nightmare, deeply rooted in my heart."

"That feeling—no, it was myself—I kept saying to myself, 'Kill her!'"

“But at that time, I was still able to restrain myself because you didn’t come back, and because I didn’t know if I would need her power in the end.”

"But now that you're back, I have no way or reason to control myself anymore."

The shadow's heartfelt lament filled Moen with an indescribable sense of dread.

This was the first time he had experienced what ironclad rules truly meant.

I underestimated all of this before.

That's far too lax and childish.

But what should I do now?

His thoughts had been completely exposed to Shadow.

There's nothing wrong in the short term, but how can the status quo between the Shadow and the Sacred Tree be maintained if this continues for too long?

Outside the Emerald Palace, Trapolis Twilight raised an eyebrow at the sacred tree before him.

He couldn't see anything unusual about the sacred tree, except that it had suddenly stopped responding to his prayers.