Because of the lack of emotion in his words, Ed's surprise was not very convincing.
Similarly, due to the lack of emotion in his words, Ed's attempts to comfort Nuowa were not very convincing.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ed saw the Short-Eared Elf —no, now he should be called the short-eared pseudo-elf—looking at him with distrustful eyes.
The elven assassin behind Nuowa looked at the fool with increasingly obvious disdain.
"Okay, I think I should act surprised at this point."
Ed looked at Nuowa and said:
"So keep talking. I've heard from the Soul Returner that you're very talkative now."
"OK."
Nuowa straightened his clothes, then stood up and quietly gestured to Liya behind him.
He cleared his throat and spoke in an unprecedentedly formal tone:
Please allow me to formally introduce myself--
The young man spread his arms wide, his face seemingly bathed in a warm, holy light:
"My real name is Nuowa Stral, the Leo VI, the previous emperor of the Starlight Empire — Leo Frederick Stral, and the rightful heir to the Starlight Empire in the southern part of the continent."
"Smack!"
Just as Ed was shocked by the unexpected turn of events, a loud bang suddenly rang out behind Nuowa, and Ed's body instinctively twitched.
Countless colorful confetti burst from Nuowa's head, instantly filling the entire study and transforming the once quiet room into a bustling wedding hall.
"..."
Speechless, Ed tilted his head, his gaze passing over Nuowa's body to see another person obscured by the imposter elf claiming to be a prince—
At this moment, Liya was holding a firework tube as thick as an arm in her arms, from which colorful firework ribbons that filled the entire room were shooting out.
At this moment, the assassin who had been looking at Nuowa with disdain was now expressionlessly spinning the bottom of the firework tube.
With each twist of Liya's hand, the colorful confetti that had scattered in various corners seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, gradually returning to the confetti canister in her hand.
"This is... reusable?"
Ed's attention was clearly not where it should be.
Nuowa paused for a moment, then nodded repeatedly after realizing what the other person was talking about.
"That's right, our finances are a bit tight, so we generally try to save money wherever possible."
"This thing is... inappropriate for this situation, isn't it?"
Ed suppressed a twitching at the corner of his mouth and asked.
"Oh, really? I'll be more careful next time."
Nuowa scratched his head sheepishly upon hearing this.
"Your Highness, I've already mentioned this to you before..."
Liya was behind Nuowa, finally put away all the colored paper strips and then began to criticize him mercilessly from behind.
"..."
An awkward silence fell over the study. Ed, playing at home, clearly realized this and cleared his throat, saying:
So you are... you two are actually human?
"Right."
"Are you a prince of the Starlight Empire, and also the king of the Elves?"
"Right."
Ed's eyes darted around, and he suddenly remembered something he had heard before, so he asked:
"I've heard that the Starlight Empire's royal family possesses two secret treasures, remnants left behind by the first emperor, Stral: the Holy Orb and the Scepter..."
"You're referring to the ' Starlight Orb ' and the ' Emperor's Scepter '."
Nuowa said with certainty:
"That's right, both items are with me."
With that, he flicked his robe, and a long-handled staff adorned with a huge yellow jewel appeared in his hand.
Nuowa looked at the staff in his hand, pondered for a moment, grabbed the orb with one hand and gripped the staff tightly with the other, exerted force with both hands at the same time, and with a "pop", the staff and the orb completely separated.
Nuowa held the golden spherical object horizontally in his left hand and tapped the ground with his pale staff in his right. His expression was solemn and dignified, and his robes fluttered behind him without wind, making him look quite convincing.
"Although you're putting on a convincing act, do I really need to point out what these two items are?"
At this moment, although Ed felt that the person in front of him truly had the air of a king, he still found it difficult to remain composed knowing the inside story.
Ed already knew a lot about Nuowa by synchronizing with the previous intelligence of the Soul Returner.
For example, the source of the materials for his staff, which clearly wasn't ordinary, can be summarized in four words: heart-and-bone dismantling.
Whose heart is being dug out?
Whose bones are being dismantled?
That's a question for those two who have been recuperating and resting in the north for decades...
"Okay, actually it's just a counterfeit."
Nuowa said without batting an eye:
"The genuine product is still in the capital, under the control of the false emperor..."
I feel like this guy's whole demeanor changed after he revealed his identity.
Ed silently grumbled to himself—should he reveal his identity too?
"I don't even know where to begin... Why don't you tell me at your own pace? I think everyone, well, the Soul Returner, is also very curious about what's going on, if you don't need to keep it a secret."
"Okay, I can tell you everything. As for whether it's confidential, that depends on the form of our cooperation later, but I should let you know in any case."
Ed nodded, Nuowa then began to speak:
"This story begins roughly 110 years ago..."
The Son of God in Shock. jpg
"Was that long ago?"
Ignoring Ed's complaints, the counterfeit elf began to tell a story in a tone that was both nostalgic and fairytale-like:
"Once upon a time, there was a Starlight Empire created by humans. In it lived an emperor Leo VI, whose lineage was unknown. The emperor had six sons, the youngest of whom was named Nuowa."
One morning, Nuowa woke up to good news—his father had died...
Nuowa's tone and manner were very strange. Although the stories he told were logical, they always had a third-person, sarcastic feel to them. Perhaps he was using this tone to relieve the heavy sorrow in his heart.
After listening attentively for a long time, Ed finally pieced together the general timeline:
Nuowa is the son of the previous emperor of the Starlight Empire, Leo VI. His father died suddenly in the imperial palace in the capital one day, and the cause of death was unclear.
The eldest prince, Nuowa's elder brother and the rightful heir, discovered something amiss—all the evidence pointed to his younger brother, the second prince, as the prime suspect in the patricide.
After learning the truth, Nuowa's elder brother could have gone through the normal procedures to take over the throne and then initiated the purge.
However, because he was an impatient person to begin with, and was blinded by anger, and most importantly—he had been given a secret drug that made people lose their judgment—the combined effects caused Nuowa's older brother to eventually lose his mind and choose to confront the other party head-on.