Daniel stared at the same spot for a few seconds after the door closed.
The room had fallen into silence again.
A quiet, pleasant silence, mixed with the distant sound of church bells and the faint whisper of the wind behind the room’s tall windows.
He slowly sat on the edge of the bed. The soft mattress sank under his weight, and everything was calm for a few minutes.
And that made his thoughts drift in a direction he usually avoided.
Evangelin.
Daniel leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.
When he had first met her outside the tower, Evangelin had been almost like a machine. Always calm, always logical, always without the slightest extra reaction, cold and emotionless.
It was very rare for her to even give a faint smile, let alone a genuine one. Of course, he had seen a much kinder and more lively version of this girl inside the tower.
If someone had told Daniel that a day would come when Evangelin would joke, smile, and finally act like a real human being, he wouldn’t have believed it.
He thought that centuries of hardship, witnessing the destruction of the Eternity religion, and the death of most of her loved ones had turned that woman into such an emotionless being.
But now she had changed. Not a lot, not so much that just anyone would notice. But for Daniel, who knew her, the difference was completely clear.
She smiled more, talked more, and most importantly, she was slowly letting her guard down around him.
For a moment, Daniel’s vision blurred. Evangelin’s image appeared in his mind: that moment when she was sitting at her desk, without a veil, without the mask of a saint, just herself.
The small smile she had given when accepting the dinner invitation. No matter how he thought about it, it was a scene he never thought he would see, and more beautiful than anything he could have imagined.
But there was a question. He didn’t know whether Evangelin had generally become better, or if she only let her guard down when she was with him.
Daniel was silent for a few seconds, then sighed.
"Never mind." He shook his head and pushed his thoughts aside. There were more important matters to think about.
He got up from the bed and walked to the window. The holy city lay spread out under the night sky.
Thousands of lights shone in the white streets. The massive church tower stood like a pillar of light in the heart of the city.
Caravans that had arrived late had not yet left the city gates, and the light of their torches looked like small stars in the darkness.
Daniel clasped his hands behind his back and began to review his future plans.
First of all, Serys. He had made a promise to that girl, and Daniel never forgot his promises.
Besides, what was in the Central Magic Tower was of great importance to him. One of the fragments of the fallen god’s heart.
A piece he would have to obtain sooner or later. But that wasn’t the only reason. The problem with Serys and the Lionheart family was directly related to Andreas.
His old friend.
If that matter was resolved, Andreas would effectively become the sole remaining heir of the Lionheart family. And when he took the position of patriarch, the Eternity religion would gain another massive ally.
Daniel smiled faintly. The dragons, Everlight Moon, the Lionheart family, and finally, when Serys achieved her goal, the Central Magic Tower.
The number of his allies was slowly growing. And when he could have all these powers alongside the Eternity religion as friends and allies, no coalition or superpower would be able to do anything against their religion.
But one important piece still remained: the elves. The image of two people appeared in his mind.
Ilaris and Rynor. It had been a long time since those two had returned to the elf lands, but during all that time, they hadn’t made any contact.
Neither Ilaris nor Rynor. Daniel frowned slightly.
"Either they’re very busy..." His gaze fixed on the distance.
"Or they’re doing very well."
He closed his eyes, and at that moment, the connection between him and one of his Fallen, Rynor, was activated. The power of Fallen Vision silently came into effect.
The world around him faded, the lights disappeared, and a few seconds later, a completely different scene appeared before him.
Steam, hot water, natural rocks, and an elf casually lounging in a hot spring.
A few seconds of silence passed. Daniel stared.
"Rynor." Then he said quietly.
At that moment, the elf almost jumped out of the water. Ripples spread across the entire spring. Rynor looked around in panic.
He had just felt his Lord’s voice in his mind!
"My Lord?!"
Daniel looked at him indifferently.
"I thought you were in trouble, not that you were busy bathing."
Rynor immediately sat up straight, his face full of helplessness.
"Your Majesty... it’s not what it looks like."
"Of course it isn’t." Daniel said mockingly.
"I just, for a short while, after a few months finally... actually..." Rynor opened and closed his mouth several times.
Then finally gave up.
"Fine... maybe it’s exactly what it looks like."
Daniel chuckled briefly.
"It doesn’t matter. How are things with you?"
Rynor’s face became a bit more serious.
"Better than before. Much better. But at first, it wasn’t good at all." He sighed.
"When we returned, almost everyone was suspicious of us. We were interrogated, kept under surveillance, and several of the princes did their best to remove Lady Ilaris from the scene."
"And since I was considered her guardian, my situation wasn’t any better."
Daniel listened quietly.
"I wanted to contact you several times, but my lady didn’t allow it. She said she didn’t want you to think she couldn’t handle her own problems."
Daniel nodded slowly. That was exactly like Ilaris. Stubborn, and she didn’t want him to think she was useless.
"And now?"
Rynor suddenly smiled. A smile that hadn’t been there moments before.
"Then everything changed. The World Tree recognized my lady."
"Go on." For the first time, Daniel’s gaze became serious.
"She received the World Tree’s blessing. The World Tree personally acknowledged her. And from that day, everything changed. Now my lady is officially one of the candidates for succession, and the radical elf faction is behind her." Rynor said excitedly.
"Radical elves?" Daniel raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t familiar with the overall structure of the elf lands and didn’t know the ins and outs.
He only knew that the Elf Emperor was the strongest and highest authority.
Rynor nodded.
"The elf lands are now divided into four factions. Two royal factions, each under one of the Emperor’s consorts, and each has their own candidate."
He paused for a few moments.
"The third faction is the populist faction. Its leader is one of the great elf heroes, and their candidate is Princess Lunaryl."
Daniel suddenly fell silent.
"Lunaryl?" The name was familiar. Very familiar. A few seconds later, an image appeared in his mind.
The tower, the first floor, and a clumsy elf.
"That..." Daniel whispered quietly. He hadn’t expected that clumsy elf woman to have become a candidate for succession.
Rynor didn’t notice his change in expression and continued.
"And the last faction is the radical elves. The most ancient elves of the land, the protectors of old traditions, the worshippers of the World Tree."
"Now they support Lady Ilaris because they believe the World Tree’s choice is above any royal command."
A brief silence passed between them. Daniel slowly thought about the information he had heard. Things were going better than he had expected.
Much better. Ilaris was no longer a forgotten, distant elf. She was now one of the main players in the succession competition. And that meant it was time for him to personally enter the game.
Finally, he fixed his gaze on Rynor.
"I want to speak with Ilaris."
On the other side of the connection, Rynor suddenly went stiff.
Because he knew very well that when Daniel personally entered a game, nothing would remain calm afterwards.
Was it too early to feel bad for the elves?