Duke had always felt that Yala was different from the other Wood Elves, and that feeling became even clearer after arriving here.
The Wood Elves on Barren Island also followed Yala's lead, so there was clearly a reason for it.
Yala answered Duke's question without hiding anything. "I have some Wood Elf royal blood."
That was not really much of a secret. Duke had more or less guessed it already.
Wood Elves with royal blood generally had better talent and more outstanding appearances.
Pure-blooded Wood Elf royalty was now almost nonexistent. Only some former Wood Elf royals still survived, and they were kept in captivity like pigs and dogs.
Yala was descended from royal blood that had ended up outside the kingdom, and she was not pure-blooded either. It had probably been separated by several generations.
Duke also learned from Yala that a large number of Wood Elves still lived on the Wood Elf Plane, but only those of relatively "high quality" were sold elsewhere.
The other Wood Elves, those with ordinary aptitude and average looks, remained on the Wood Elf Plane, doing menial labor day after day until they died.
This was the life of most Wood Elves now. To them, being sold to other planes was instead a good thing.
Even if they were sold as slave creatures and their future was not necessarily bright, at least they would not face such hopelessness stretching endlessly before them.
There was no resisting. Wizards were far more powerful than they were, and the existence of the Wizard Mark cut off any possibility of rebellion.
Yala had been selected from childhood because of her outstanding aptitude. She was then raised alongside a group of equally talented Wood Elves and received all kinds of education.
She could speak Wizard Common Tongue fluently,