Chapter 144 - Nathan, the High Half-Elf

  Nathan Evenhart:

  I had decided to reveal my High Elf elements, fully uanding Aunt Margie's iions in exposing my silver hair and my Special Eyes. She was thinking about the family’s future. My aunt was ed about what y ahead. So, I gave a gentle nudge... I just didn’t expect it to shake the Elven majesties so much.

  The look of sho the king and queen's faces was unmistakable. It seemed like every revetion I made threw them further off bance. First, my hair, and now the pnt and light elements that I so casually showed them.

  All for the sake of my family. What’s the point of power if I end up with aire human kingdom as an enemy? So... I’m seg the support of the Elven kingdom.

  Haiten Rhiannon:

  This went far beyond my expectations.

  The boy standing before me wasn’t just a prodigy; he was breaking boundaries no mage should be able to overe. How was this possible? Nathan was bypassing elemental restris in a way that should be utterly impossible.

  “How? This ’t be real!” Siofna excimed, approag him with evident surprise.

  I sat ba the armchair, trying to process all the options I had.

  Do I take the boy with me? That would solve part of the problem but create others. Nathan Evenhart Rhiannon Nemesia... that would be his name if he were officially reized as a member of the royal family.

  But this was much bigger than I had imagined.

  Nathan isn’t just a distaive. He’s a true high elf, gifted with the powers of the race. This is far beyond what I anticipated. He’s not just a desdant of high elves, he carries the blood of the first elven king. The lihat only stayed within high elves, while I am from the branch of the family that began to mix with on elves over millennia. His lineage pces him above me and any other living elf.

  His silver hair... more than just ahetic trait, it’s a sacred symbol. Even high elves don’t have such a clear tohe white-silver color is exclusive only to the royal high elven family. If this gets out, the chaos would be iable. He is the st of his lineage, and the sacred color of his hair is living proof of his dest from the oldest high elves. I ’t even imagine what would happen if the cil found out.

  And then there’s his magic. His eyes... and now this elemental power. What should I do? His diplomatic situation is plicated. Should I take the boy away?

  I looked at his mother. She was clearly nervous, apprehensive, as if she could feel the weight of my siderations. She and Nathan’s aunt uand what’s at stake. They’ve kept him protected until now, not just because of his eyes, but because of everything he represents.

  I ’t just take him. That would break the trust his family has pced in me and in elven traditions. Moreover, it would be seen as a hostile move, and a feud with the Evenhart family or human nobility would be disastrous. If I remove Nathan from his life here, it could gee enmity that I might never be able to fix. Even with the best of iions, that’s not how they would see it.

  I also ’t ighe danger he faces. The sacred color of his hair, his eyes, his magic... all of it makes him a unique figure.

  He is the st of the inal high elven lineage of the royal family, and any threat to him would be sidered a grave crime in our culture. If the humans did anything to him, the elven kingdom would override any treaty or alliao protect him... they’d even go over my head.

  He belongs to two different noble lines, a unique and incredibly delicate situation. The implications are enormous.

  Now, what should I do to ehan’s safety and avoid an iional crisis?

  I looked at my wife, who observed silently as the boy maniputed rare elements with a disturbing ease, as if breaking elemental restris was trivial.

  He’s a true high elf. The high elves give more importao silver hair than to the pointed ears that we, on elves, also have. White-silver hair is the true symbol of their li’s even hard to know how to cssify him. Would he be sidered a High Half-Elf?

  I observed him for a moment longer and sighed.

  Grandfather... looks like I’ll have to work a little harder, I thought, chug in my mind.

  I’ll have to solve this diplomatic situation without raising suspi. If the human kingdom finds out he’s of the royal family before the right time, it could plicate everything.

  Nathan Evenhart:

  Queen Siofna remained absorbed, her haing a soft green mana glow as she passed it over the flower I had created. It was as if she was searg for something deeper withi.

  “High elf magic…” she murmured, visibly shakeo me, Professor Adrihna adjusted her monocle, also analyzing the flower with great i. The king stayed seated, immersed in his thoughts, clearly trying to process what he had just witnessed.

  “He’s ied a bit of the magic…” my mother erying to ease the tension.

  “A bit?” the queen ughed, barely cealing her shock. “Katherine, you and Kinue were a remarkable find, but what Nathan has do surpasses anything that should be possible.”

  She g the flower as if it were an impossible anomaly. “A pnt... an actual, living pnt,” she said, her gaze shifting bae and my mother, still struggling to prehend it all.

  “Katherine is the first in our people to be a summoner with the pnt element,” she tinued. “The only oh a living mana gem of that element. And now, Nathan... you possess both of the high elves. This is… astonishing.”

  “Nathan, activate yht magic,” Adrihna requested, her voice filled with anticipation.

  With a simple thought, I summoned a golden shield of light in my hand, shining brightly.

  Adrihna seemed a little embarrassed as she noticed the king’s questioning look. “I... trained him over the years,” she expined, as if feeling the o justify what he was seeing.

  The queen, however, was more focused on her own thoughts, running her green light over my shield just as she had doh the flower. She murmured to herself, as if trying to make sense of what it all meant.

  “This is what my eyes have given me,” I said, breaking the silence.

  “You alohe queen spoke, looking directly at me. “You are the only one in the world to possess both elements exclusive to the high elves.”

  I actually possess all the elements, but I’ll keep that to myself for now. If even Adrihna chose not to mention it, trustio reveal it wheime is right, I’ll follow her lead...

  “No one know about this,” the king finally spoke, his deep voice cutting through the air.

  “Don’t worry,” Adrihna said firmly. “I was the only one who khis, aside from the family.”

  The king nodded, but he still seemed lost in his own thoughts, clearly uanding the broader implications of everything that had just been revealed.

  Queen Siofna stepped closer, pg her hand on my shoulder with a sere ed expression.

  “Nathan, you’ve been blessed with the mana of our race, just like your mother and Kinue. However, you’ve surpassed limits we thought were unbreakable, acquiring more than one rare element. When I learned you had the thunder element, I already thought it was extraordinary, since few humans ever awaken it. But now, seeing that you also possess two of our rare elves… this is dangerous, Nathaing people know could attract the wrong kind of attention.”

  She g the king, who nodded and rose again, his expression grave.

  “You ’t tell anyone about these powers,” he said firmly. “Kinue and your mother already draw attention for possessing rare elements, but you… having two high elves would attract far more attention than is safe. It’s better to keep this secret.”

  I looked at my mother and my aunt. It had already been my pn to keep my abilities hidden, but I appreciated their . It was clear they were trying to protect me.

  “Adrihna, I need you to watch over him at the academy,” the king said, pg his trust in the professor.

  “That was already my pn, sire,” Adrihna responded with determination.

  My mother, visibly anxious, stepped forward. “You’re not going to take him away, are you?” she asked, fearing the worst.

  Queen Siofna approached her with a gentle smile. "We wouldn't do that, Katherine. Apsalon is a safe pce, a ral territory. As long as Natha use his elements, he will go unnoticed. As for his hair, although I disagree with the dye solution, it is the best option for now."

  Aunt Margie and my mother both sighed in relief, and I felt more at ease too. At least for now, the pn was to keep things as they were, without any drastiterference.

  "My daughter will also be studying here," the queen tinued, "so he will be protected by the ral territory ws for the five years. Until he graduates, we'll find a diplomatic solution to the issue of Nathan being part of two nobilities in different kingdoms."

  I khe situation was plicated. Officially, my mother was a oner, elevated to nobility only through marriage. She didn’t hold a political title, but I did, which put me in a delicate position, especially given my ties to the high elves.

  "Queen Agnes has been seeking closer ties with our kingdom i years," Siofna added. "She eveiohe possibility of sharing more magical teologies and strengthening bonds. Perhaps, with this growing friendship, we hahan’s situation without sparking a diplomatit."

  The versation was interrupted by a knock at the door. ‘Knock, knock.’

  Adrihna g the door and then at me, signaling that our versation was ing to an end.

  “Unfortunately, the discussion is over for now. It’s best if you step out, Nathan. We have to go over a few more details... and it would be odd to keep you here,” she said softly.

  I got the message. It was time to let the adults hahe political and diplomatitricacies tied to my name. I had enough information to realize that my life had just gotten a little more plicated, but at least I wouldn’t have to deal with it all alone.

  Haiten Rhiannon:

  ‘Knock, knock.’

  The soft sound was the signal that someone roag. The versation had to e to an end.

  "The matter is cluded, unfortunately. Nathan, it's better if you leave now. We o tinue discussing some details... and it would be odd to keep you here," Adrihna said gently.

  The boy seemed to ponder for a moment befreeing. “Alright, I’ll head to the party,” he replied lightly, preparing to leave.

  Just before he crossed the door, Queen Siofna called out to him. “It leasure meeting you, Nathan. May I keep this flower?” She was holding the delicate pnt he had created with his magic.

  Nathan nodded. “Of course, you keep it.”

  I watched him closely. “Nathan, if you need any help, speak with Adrihna. She will always be avaible for you.”

  He smiled faintly. “I’m ting on that, sir.”

  “Just call me Haiten,” I replied, trying to show a more personal approach. He hehe room, the door closing silently behind him.

  As soon as Natha, the atmosphere in the room shifted. Siofna, who had seemed ented by the boy’s abilities, now questiohoughtfully,

  “Why didn’t we tell him that we are his family? You and I, Haiten, we’re like his uncles or cousins. His existence is, indeed, a diplomatic crime... but maybe we should’ve told him.”

  Katherine, Nathan’s mother, opened her mouth to speak, but I already knew what she was going to say. Nathan’s situation was too delicate.

  “For now, until we resolve the diplomatic issues pletely, it’s better to keep it this way,” I expined, looking around the room. “I’ll proceed with my pn to meet with the other kingdoms’ rulers. I’ll o personally expin that Nathan Evenhart isn’t allying with humans to subjugate the demi-human kingdom, nor with elves to subjugate the humans.”

  The diplomatic treaties, the delicate bance of power between the realms—everything had been shaken just by Nathan’s mere existence. And for some time now, we had been in the plicated process to redeem his status and protect his life.

  His very existence breaks the millennia-old pact of the three kingdoms, fed two thousand years ago.

  Duchess Margaery, always observant and cautious, expressed a sense of relief. “I’m gd to know that you elves value family so highly. I was ed about how you would handle all of this.”

  Siofna smiled, her calm demeanor refleg turies of tradition. “Our people believe that if one branch of the tree falls ill, the whole tree suffers. We value family above all else.”