"This isn't tea, is it?"
It was Leon's turn to become dazed as he did not expect that to be the elven princess's first question. He shook his head with a soft laugh as he could also see that Faelyn had wanted to ask something else. She had a look that could not wait to dig out his secrets.
"That's right, it's not traditional tea. It's called herbal tea." Leon smiled, thinking back to the number of times he had to explain the same thing.
Herbal tea was a concept new to the current world. He was not exactly sure which noble sage came up with it either.
"It's very invigorating." Faelyn found herself really liking the herbal tea. It smells nice, tastes nice, and feels nice. But then she recalled the Mandrake Root-like herb Leon placed in the teapot and she was no longer smiling.
"What herb did you use? It looked like a Mandrake Root. Mandrake Roots might look like a plant, but it also has a life of its own. It's pure evil to kill it for tea." Faelyn admonished.
"Now, now. I believe it is my turn to ask the question. If you find it evil, then stop drinking the herbal tea." Leon chuckled slyly.
Faelyn opened her small mouth dumbfoundedly before closing them with a pouted.
"What do you want to ask?" She asked gloomily as she quietly sipped her tea.
"Wow, someone's not happy." Leon found the princess easy to tease and laughed lightly. "The herb used for herbal tea is called the Achromous Valerian Root. It's not one of those mischievous little plants that like to prank people, so you can rest easy and drink with a piece of mind."
"En."
"My question is how big is your Elven Tribe, Elvengarde?"
"Elvengarde is a mid-rank tribe with a population of 800,000 elves," Faelyn said in a forward manner that even surprised Leon.
It appeared that Faelyn was much easier to talk to than Lilith.
"800,000 elves, huh?" Leon mumbled.
The Capital only holds a population of 50,000 people. If he were to calculate all the people scattered throughout the Crawford Kingdom, it would still only add to a mere 500,000. Yet, a single mid-rank tribe in the Wildlands has a population of 800,000.
It should also be mentioned that elves had low reproductive rates. Their longer lifespans made it harder for female elves to conceive, while male elves were not sexually driven like humans.
"How do you feed such a large population?" Leon could already guess the answer, but he still felt it was important to ask.
Faelyn gave him a dirty look for asking another question. Nevertheless, she still answered with a proud look.
"Any other tribe can go hungry, but our elven tribe will never be."
"I thought as much." Leon nodded. It was not the exact answer he was looking for, but he understood the reason behind it. The elves were highly sustainable at cultivating crops.
If they could incorporate the elves into their kingdom, they would never experience a shortage of food again. Although Lina's parents were doing their best, two wood-users were hardly enough to feed the Capital, not to mention trying to expand it.
"Alright, ask me any two questions."
"How many elements can you control?"
"Now that is an interesting question." Leon smiled. In essence, he had comprehended six elements, but with Divine Will, all the elements were his to control so long as they exist in his surroundings. "It depends on how you view it guess. It can be six or it can be all."
Faelyn's curiosity was drawn.
"What do you mean?"
"Is that what you really want to ask for your second question?"
"Leon, you are being very unfair. You did not answer my question properly!" Faelyn pouted with annoyance. She had been straightforward with her answers. Was it too much to ask for the same?
'Sigh, women.' Leon shrugged his shoulders. Faelyn did not go into details about how her tribe themselves either.
"It's a bit hard to explain. I am not sure if you can understand it. Basically, I have six core elements I can control, but due to a special ability I have awakened, I can control anything, understand?"
"What do you mean?" Faelyn did not understand at all.
"…And that is exactly what I mean." Leon sighed helplessly. Divine Will was still new to him. It was hard to find a precise explanation for something he had yet to fully comprehend the full extent of. The reason he even bothered to mention it at all was due to Faelyn being quite open.
"Exactly what you mean? If you don't want to answer, then just say you don't." Faelyn pouted.
Leon was speechless.
"I'm surprised you haven't asked me about the World Tree yet. Isn't that what you came for?" Leon shook his head and said.
Faelyn did not expect Leon to be the first person to bring it up and her eyes opened wide with surprise.
"You are willing to talk about that?" Faelyn asked with a bit of excitement.
Leon nodded.
"Fire away your questions. I will do my best to answer them. Oh, did I also forget to mention that probably no one else in this kingdom knows more about the World Tree than me?"
"Che! Brag some more." Faelyn curled her lips into a smile. They were of similar age. How much could you possibly know? However, Leon was very mysterious to her so he might actually be stating the truth.
"I personally saw it ascended myself," Leon stated confidently.
"Anyway, that is what you said! You can't go back on your words!" Faelyn said. Her eyes were lit up as she took a deep breath. "How old is the World Tree? How did the World Tree ascend? What happened during its ascension? Is the land there opened? Can my tribe move there? Do we have—"
"Hold it right there!" Leon stopped her from talking further while his mouth twitched unnoticeably. "One question at a time. I can't answer them all at once."
Faelyn realized she was carried away in questioning and blushed.
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Leon waved it off nonchalantly. "Anyway, I cannot give an exact number, but the World Tree is at least 10,000 years old, old enough to witness the destruction of the ancient civilization."
Leon paused and peeked at Faelyn. She was listening very intently.
"As an elf, you should already know that sunlight and adequate water is vital for the survival and growth of a plant. Before the World Tree ascended, it had been buried underground all this time. I played a part in allowing it to receive its first ray of sunlight and push for ascension."
"You did?"
Faelyn's twinkling eyes of admiration made Leon embarrassed. In some sense, he did play a part by ordering the palace guards to dig the tunnel and arrangement of sunlight through mirrors. But if he was asked how much he contributed, the answer was he had put in zero effort.
"Ahem, yes," Leon responded with a dry cough.
"Ehhh, really?"
"Of course."
"Why are you looking away then?"
Faelyn had inched closer to pry for any falsity from his expression.
"Because you're being too close."
"Is that the only reason though?"
"Stop asking."
"Oh, okay," Faelyn said with a smile. She sat back down jovially with a carefree expression like she had just won a victorious battle.
Leon was not sure if this was what her true nature was like or if it was the tea that made her relaxed like this, but she was really enjoying herself, huh?
"How childish. Are you really a royal princess?" Leon doubted.
"I could ask the thing the same about you." Faelyn giggled.
"If I'm a royal princess or not?" Leon joked.
"…"
Faelyn pouted.
"You know what I mean."
"Haha, what can I say? I spent 17 years as a commoner." Leon shrugged his shoulders. "It's not strange for me to be more comfortable speaking informally."
If he did care about formality, he would have never asked Dwight if the old man was an idiot for spending decades without success in alchemy the first time they met.
Of course, he had also taken into account the old man's good nature at that time. Otherwise, any other noble would have swatted him to death.
"You spent 17 years as a commoner?" Faelyn blinked and restudied his features that looked no older than the number of years he had mentioned spending as a commoner. Her eyes widened as she asks with surprise, "Did you get adopted into royalty? Do the King and Queen have trouble conceiving a child?"
"Pft." The maids quickly covered their mouths.
"Ugh…" Leon groaned like he had just suffered critical damage. "How did you even arrive at such a conclusion?"
"Eh, it's not?" Faelyn appeared shocked that she had guessed wrong.
'Why are you so shocked for?!' Leon was between laughter and crying. No, rather he wanted to puke blood from holding back at cursing!
"NO!"
"Uh… Sorry… I didn't mean it." Faelyn awkwardly apologized while fiddling her fingers.
"Forget it."
Leon waved it off grudgingly before rubbing his temples like he was suffering from a migraine.
What a disaster.
If such a serious misunderstanding made their way to the ears of his father and mother… Even with all the love that they have for him, he was afraid that someone would still have a hard time avoid getting their ass flogged, and by someone, he meant himself.
He was an ex-Divine Origin realm practitioner and the son of the Divine Medicine King. He refuses to be subjected to such possible humiliation.
"Not a word of this gets out, understand?"
He glared at the palace maids with a piercing look.. The palace maids nodded meekly like pecking ducks.