No Phoenix, a First-Month Haircut

In Dalaran.

Orendo had no idea that a whim of his would bring disaster upon all the owls around Dalaran.

He had received an invitation.

It had been sent by Solarian, who was both his aunt and one of his mentors. Of course, Solarian was not the one inviting him; their relationship no longer needed to be described by such a somewhat formal word as "invitation."

"Prince Kael'thas, one of the members of the Council of Six, has invited you to visit his mage tower," Solarian told Orendo.

Orendo raised a brow, unable to understand why the elven prince had invited him as a guest. He had never even met Kael'thas.

Orendo was half elf, but because his father was human—and a human knight at that—and because he himself had also been human back on Earth, he personally leaned more toward considering himself part of the human camp.

Though he had an elven mentor, he also had a more powerful human mentor. Besides, over the past year, apart from Aunt Solarian, he had not had much to do with other elves. Those people were far too proud and haughty.

The elves also seemed to be avoiding him, intentionally or otherwise. Meanwhile, he spent all day either in Solarian's mage tower or immersed in his own research, rarely going out and having few friends.

He did not even know what Kael'thas looked like, so he could not understand why Kael'thas had invited him over.

"Why would the elven prince invite me as a guest? I don't think I'm familiar with him," Orendo said hesitantly to his mentor.

Solarian looked at him gently. She seemed to think for a moment before speaking softly. "Orendo, it was precisely because of the elven prince that I became your mentor. At first, I didn't know you had come to Dalaran. At the time, I was in Quel'Thalas. It was His Highness who informed me, and only then did I learn that Lianda's child had come to Dalaran."

This involved his elven mother. To be honest, Orendo had no impression of his elven mother whatsoever. Even now, all he knew was that her name was Lianda and that she and Solarian were cousins.

Seeing the change in Solarian's expression when she spoke of his mother, Orendo felt this was an opportunity—an opportunity to learn about his parents' past.

"Solarian." He tried to make himself look as sincere as possible as he gazed into Solarian's star-like eyes. "There's something I've never been able to figure out. My father was only a minor human noble. How did he meet my mother, marry her, and have me? I've been in Dalaran for so long, yet I haven't seen many elves and humans together."

"My father wasn't a mage, nor was he some great hero. How did he win my mother's heart and actually make an elf willing to bear a human child?"

Orendo was not being self-deprecating. Before coming to Dalaran, he had not felt much about it. But after arriving in Dalaran, he learned that half-elves like him were exceedingly rare.

So far, aside from himself, he had not found another half-elf even in a place like Dalaran, where there were many elves.

Other than Solarian, who regarded him differently because of his bloodline, he had also come to realize that the Quel'Thalas elves in reality were truly, incredibly arrogant.

Forget ordinary human nobles—the elves even seemed to look down somewhat on Dalaran's human mages.

So he truly could not understand what had made his elven mother fall in love with his human father.

The question seemed to hit the mark. Orendo saw Solarian's expression turn strange, and she appeared somewhat uncertain and hesitant to speak.

"It's a long story. It involves the story of your mother and father... Your father has already passed away, but Lianda is still alive. If you truly wish to know, you should ask one of the people involved. I think you should ask your mother this question in the future." Solarian seemed unwilling to answer.

Orendo did not press her. He was merely asking; it was not as though he was deeply interested.

He was already a half-elf, after all. His bloodline and identity were fixed facts. What did it matter how they had come about?

"All right. Then we're back to the original question. Why did Kael'thas suddenly want to invite me over?" Orendo asked softly.

This time, Solarian answered very readily. "I don't know the exact reason. But I suspect it has a great deal to do with Lianda. His Highness has deep ties to your mother. He informed me of your arrival for that reason as well."

"Uh..." Orendo had not expected it to be related to his mother again. He pondered for a moment, then suddenly said something that made Solarian freeze.

"Could it be... my mother was once the prince's first love? Then my father stole her away from him? And now he wants to see me, the child of his rival in love and his first love?"

That kind of melodramatic prime-time soap opera plot from Earth could not possibly be happening to him, right?

"Haha~" Solarian, who rarely laughed, froze for a moment before she could not help laughing. Her voice was crisp, like the faint chime of wind bells in the breeze. Her clear, bright eyes shimmered like stars. The lips whose taste Orendo vaguely knew curved like a tranquil crescent moon; with a smile, the cold beauty became a lovely one.

"All right. I'll just tell you." She smiled. "Your mother's name is Lianda, right?"

Orendo nodded.

Whether it was the original Orendo or the current one, all either of them knew about this elven birth mother was her name. He did not even know her surname.

"Then do you know your mother's surname? High Elves are different from you humans. Every Quel'dorei has a surname, and their ancestors can be traced back tens of thousands of years," Solarian said.

Unlike the long-established elves, many humans still had no surnames even now. The Arathor Empire had only existed for over three thousand years; more than three thousand years ago, humans had still been living in tribal times.

Even at present, aside from nobles, only humans whose ancestors had achieved something remarkable once or twice possessed surnames. Or ordinary humans would take a surname for themselves after making their fortunes, to display their status.

"Lianda Sunstrider! That is your mother Lianda's full name. Lianda is her given name, and Sunstrider is her surname." Solarian finally revealed her cousin's surname.

"Lianda Sunstrider. My mother's surname is Sunstrider? Sunstrider... I'll remember that. Wait? My mother's surname is Sunstrider?!!!" Orendo could not help widening his eyes at his aunt.

"That's right. Lianda Sunstrider is your mother's name. Sunstrider is your mother's surname. Your mother belongs to a collateral branch of the Sunstrider royal family without inheritance rights. Kael'thas Sunstrider is your mother's distant cousin. The Quel'dorei prince is actually your uncle."

Hearing this unexpected information, Orendo was genuinely stunned for a while. Once he came back to himself, he could not help touching his short hair and muttering to himself, "Then can I go ask him for a phoenix? If he refuses, I'll get a haircut in the first lunar month?"

Solarian: "???"