Back in the Palace of Eldinor, Eldra first washed her face in cold water before checking herself in the mirror.
As her Mother always said, appearances were very important. Even though she was just meeting a citizen who claimed to have information which could help the Kingdom of the Elves, there was no reason for her to not wash away the streaks left on her cheeks when the tears ran down them just a few minutes ago.
After ensuring that she looked her usual self, she smiled faintly to herself before forcefully setting her face into a serious expression.
She did not remember the last time she smiled wholeheartedly for reasons other than putting on an amicable front.
Realizing this fact, Eldra wondered just what her life had become.
As she often did in moments like these, Eldra thought back to her childhood which had been the happiest time of her life.
She remembered that she used to live in a normal family with her Father going out to work each day while her Mother took care of her. Back then, although the controlling nature of hers still existed, she remembered that she never minded as she saw love in each and every action.
Daily, she and her mom would cook together while waiting for her Father to come home. After he did, he would raise her up onto his shoulders and listen intently while she talked in length about everything she did during the day.
The only blemish on those memories was that she regularly heard shouting from her parent's room on nights when she couldn't sleep.
From what she had gathered, she knew that her parents had eloped as her mother had fallen in love with an elf who wasn't accepted by her family.
Later, her mother's family had died due to some circumstances. They had been one of the most prominent families in all of Eldinor, yet they had been massacred in a single night for reasons Eldra didn't know.
Although she was the last survivor which made the wealth rightfully hers, her family had set the condition that she could inherit it only if she agreed to annul the marriage.
This news was followed by multiple nights of arguing during which her mother wanted to temporarily annul the marriage so that she could inherit the wealth.
Eldra did not know what happened afterward. The last sight she remembered of her Father was of him coming to her room and kissing her on her forehead with tears in his eyes. Without a word, he had looked at her for a while before leaving.
Since then, no matter how much she asked, she never got an answer regarding his whereabouts. The both of them shifted to her mother's parents' manor, and her mother began her political career with the money that she had inherited.
Hearing a knock on the door, Eldra was pulled out of her memories.
Arranging herself again, she walked out the door and followed an Elf who was waiting for her.
After being led to a small room, she entered and close the door behind her before sitting down in front of the man who had just risen in greeting.
Motioning him to sit, she first poured a glass of wine for herself before taking a long sip and saying, "Tell me what you know using as fewer words as possible. I will decide the reward. If I find you disregarding these instructions, you will be thrown out after being charged for wasting the government's time."
Indeed, Eldinor had a policy of buying information for money. If someone could furnish some information about anything, they would be paid a certain sum depending on whether proof was also available.
If it wasn't, the payment would be put on hold until verification could be done.
Usually, there was a special wing in the palace which handled these things. Yet, with the elections close, her mother had instructed her to take care of these matters.
Noticing that the man had the same sucking up expression like all those looking to make a quick buck, Eldra felt slightly irritated while waiting for him to start talking.
"M-Miss, I overheard my next door neighbor say that a meeting will be happening tomorrow at the Elvish Carnival pub in south Elfaven where someone important will be attending. That was all I could catch."
One sentence. Feeling a bit relieved that he hadn't chosen to disregard her instructions and irritate her further, Eldra called over a guard and said, "Go with this man to his house and check who the neighbor was. Put his payment on hold till then."
It seemed as if hearing that he hadn't been rejected outright had caused the man to become extremely happy. His clothes had already lost all of their original colors, and it was quite apparent that he was low on money.
Seeing him stumble forward with a dumb expression of joy on his face, Eldra frowned slightly before moving back to escape his grubby hands.
Yet, it seemed that the happiness had truly switched off his brain as the man stumbled on the chair and fell, brushing her in the process.
Smelling the nauseating odor of someone who hadn't bathed in probably weeks, Eldra moved back and humphed before immediately leaving the room.
Seeing the daughter of the Queen storm away, the soldiers shrugged before entering the room and escorting the man out.
A guard was assigned to him who would follow Eldra's instructions.
Yet, although the guard walked right beside the man, he didn't spot the expression of achievement on his face which signified a successful mission.
...
Meanwhile, in the Throne Room of the Black Raven Kingdom.
The old man held a long piece of parchment in his hands, reading out a list of happenings in Angaria while the Black Raven King sat on the throne with a drooping expression on his face.
So far, the news had been about Arafell and their troubles in mining an Ether mine which was in their border.
Hearing the topic shift to Lanthanor, the Black Raven King sat up straight which garnered a half-smile on the old man's face.
"Lanthanor testing a product called the 'Network of Angaria'. A select group of people were given communication trinkets for free which broadcast this network which has people reciting the news in Angaria among other matters."
"What is he doing? What about the Echer seeds? Why haven't we seen any movement on his part yet?"
Hearing the Black Raven King bring up the same question which he always asked when he heard news of Lanthanor, the old man let out an exasperated sigh before saying, "Because it is the border, we have multiple spies who are watching around the clock. There is no way for him to do something without us knowing about it. It's possible that he has found a method, but it requires the Echer seeds to be harvested first."
Unsatisfied with the answer, the Black Raven King waved his hand with a deep frown signaling the old man to continue.
A few minutes later, the old man could be seen coming out of the throne room after rolling up the parchment and setting it on fire.
Strangely, the fire burned a unique purple color after which there was no ash left.
Reaching the end of the corridor which contained the Black Raven Throne Room, the old man looked around before entering a secret door in the wall beside him.
Inside were a long line of stairs which he descended before coming upon a vast field filled with earth which had many different types of plants growing inside.
The roof of the field was made of stone.
As he looked up, the old man gazed at the bright spots of light that were placed with equal distance between them.
A few me could be seen tending to the plants. Seeing him enter, they had already nodded to him before resuming their work.
Walking with swift strides, the old man reached a shack.
Opening the door, he first glanced back to see a wide area of barren earth which looked like it had been recently harvested. Here and there, small pieces of Echer leaves could be seen which had been torn off when the plants had been harvested.
Sighing heavily, the old man entered the shack before closing the door and opening a secret passageway in the earth after casting some sort of spell.
Entering, he climbed down for quite a while before coming upon an underground room which held a round chamber whose door he opened and entered.
If Daneel were here, his jaw would definitely be hanging open seeing that the old man had actually entered a Natural Energized Training Chamber which looked almost the same as his except for a few differences.