Vol 4. Chapter 42: The Elven VIPs Who "Voluntarily" Came to Visit

A short while later, after Miss Yumo had completely returned to her usual self, an extraordinarily sumptuous lunch was laid out before the little ones.

Looking at the dazzling array of delicious dishes on the dining table, each complete with enticing colors, aromas, and flavors, tears unconsciously began flowing from Yuan'er and Limo's mouths.

The children had long been looking forward to Yumo's cooking.

After confirming that their mother had returned to normal and no longer radiated that oppressive feeling from earlier, Yuan'er stopped restraining herself. And so, the little girl cheerfully stabbed a huge piece of fragrant fish with her fork and stuffed it directly into her mouth.

As the food stimulated her taste buds, Little Yuan'er's face instantly blossomed into a smile overflowing with happiness.

Although Yuan'er had received plenty of instruction in dining etiquette back when she lived with the Duke Family, strangely enough, whenever she was in front of Yumo, Yuan'er would always throw all that so-called etiquette completely out of her mind and show her mother her truest self.

With her mouth stuffed full of food, Yuan'er's little cheeks puffed up until she looked just like a hamster. She looked so adorable that one couldn't help feeling the urge to reach out and poke her cheeks.

Of course,

In fact, Miss Yumo did exactly that.

She poked Yuan'er's cheeks while marveling at how adorable her daughter was.

And Limo on the other side?

The rather carefree little white wolf hadn't noticed anything strange about Yumo's condition earlier in the first place. The instant Yumo announced, "Time to eat," the little white wolf unrestrainedly leaped onto the dining table, grabbed an entire roasted chicken, and began wolfing it down.

In an instant, her entire mouth was covered in grease, while the dining table in front of her became an absolute mess.

Compared to Big Sister Limo and Little Sister Yuan'er, Liyu behaved much more elegantly. She leisurely cut the fish on her plate with a knife and fork, gracefully brought it to her mouth, and carefully savored it.

She was an obedient child, after all.

Naturally, she had to eat elegantly as well.

The three children's eating styles could hardly have been more different.

Yet identical expressions of delight appeared on all three of their little faces.

Clearly, the little girls were extremely satisfied with the food Miss Yumo had prepared.

For a time, the dining room was filled with a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

Miss Yumo herself wasn't eating with them at the moment. Instead, she rested her chin in both hands and quietly watched her daughters enjoy their food. Seeing the blissful smiles on their faces, Miss Yumo couldn't help revealing a sweet smile of her own.

Her crimson eyes were filled with affection.

When the children were happy, she was happy too.

"Eat more slowly. There's no need to rush. There's plenty of food."

Looking at the little white wolf eating as though she were a starving ghost reincarnated, the girl couldn't help reminding her.

However,

Just as Miss Yumo was enjoying this feeling of "family happiness," the dining room door slowly opened, and an elderly man with white hair and a monocle gracefully entered the room.

The newcomer was none other than the Black Rose Family's old butler, Saiboke-Baniya.

"Oh? Little Sai, you're here? Want to come over and eat something?"

The black-haired girl habitually waved to the old man.

Although Saiboke looked quite elderly now, in Miss Yumo's eyes, Saiboke was still that silly, crybaby boy from the past.

Faced with Yumo's invitation, Saiboke smiled and shook his head.

"No need, Lady Yumo. I've already eaten."

"Hm? I see. What a shame."

Yumo sighed regretfully.

Then, she looked at the white-haired old man with some confusion.

"By the way, weren't you helping Xiao handle official business today? Why did you suddenly come back? Is there something urgent?"

"Oh, it's nothing urgent. However, there is indeed something."

"Hm?"

"Well... Lady Yumo, the elves have accepted the invitation you extended earlier. They've come to visit you."

Saiboke spoke respectfully.

Hearing this, Miss Yumo froze slightly, a trace of disbelief appearing in her crimson eyes.

"Huh? They actually came over voluntarily?"

They had clearly declined her previous invitations several times,

Coming up with all kinds of excuses?

They had made Yumo wonder whether the elves had some kind of problem with her.

So why,

Had they suddenly agreed to come this time?

...

...

At the same time, inside the Black Rose Family's encampment, a handsome elven man with long emerald-green hair, dressed in an exquisite and luxurious white robe, stepped into Black Rose Family territory accompanied by three elven attendants, his heart filled with anxiety and unease.

This man was none other than Audom, Prince of the Elves, whose status among the elves was second only to one person and above countless others.

He was also the elf who had previously helped "rescue" Miss Yumo.

Faced with their elven friends who had come to visit, the nearby Black Rose soldiers unreservedly displayed innocent, friendly, and benevolent smiles toward the elves. Quite a few even enthusiastically stepped forward to greet them.

In an instant, they offered their foreign friends the most sincere and enthusiastic welcome possible, leaving the elves completely dumbfounded.

???

'What the... What's going on? These fucking bastards... are greeting us??'

The three extremely nervous attendants couldn't help thinking this.

And such thoughts were perfectly understandable.

After all, in the eyes of these elves, the Black Rose Family was practically synonymous with "ferocious beasts." Every time these people came to visit the elves, they turned everything completely upside down. In the elves' memories, members of the Black Rose Family had always looked terrifyingly vicious, their entire bodies overflowing with a murderous aura. Their frightening presence was practically capable of scaring the dead back to life and making them relocate their graves overnight.

If evil men tattooed the Grim Reaper on their backs,

Then the Grim Reaper undoubtedly had the Black Rose Family crest tattooed on his back.

And yet,

These very people, who had always tormented them like murderous gods, had now collectively transformed into pleasant, harmless-looking individuals?

As the saying went, when something suddenly became abnormal, there had to be something sinister behind it.

Seeing the Black Rose Family members behaving so unusually and actually greeting them caused the visiting elves to suck in sharp breaths.

In a certain sense, the elves' fear of the Black Rose Family even far exceeded their fear of the Abyss Demon horde...

'These... These bastards... What the hell are they scheming this time?'

While vigilantly observing their surroundings,

The elven attendants couldn't help gathering magical power within their bodies, preparing themselves for an "attack" that might come at any moment.

Venturing this deeply into the "enemy camp" pushed the terror in the hearts of these elven attendants to an unprecedented level.

In comparison,

Audom, who walked ahead of the elven attendants, was far more composed.

His expression remained perfectly calm, and he showed absolutely no intention of guarding against his surroundings. Seeing this, the attendants behind him couldn't help looking confused.

One of them even hurried over to Audom and anxiously warned him,

"Your Highness! You mustn't lower your guard just because they're acting friendly! They're trying to lull us into complacency! They might have some kind of trick hidden up their sleeves! You have to be careful! Who knows when they might suddenly ambush—"

However,

Audom merely rolled his eyes disdainfully at his subordinate.

Then, in an indifferent tone that sounded as though he had already seen through the meaning of life itself, he said,

"Sigh, Jerome, could you use your brain for a moment?... Do they... really need to play tricks on us...?"

"Huh? Your Highness?"

"Heh. If these guys really wanted to do something to us, we'd already be gone..."

Shaking his head helplessly, Audom stopped paying attention to his subordinate and simply continued walking deeper into the encampment.

The unexpectedly warm hospitality shown by the nearby Black Rose Family members left Audom thoroughly confused and puzzled. He had also considered heightening his vigilance to the absolute maximum and carefully watching everything around him.

However, whenever he remembered the "happy" smile on his elder brother's face—one uglier than crying itself—every time his brother had confronted the Black Rose Family, Audom abandoned any thought of resistance.

'Forget it. I'll just give up...'

Back when these Black Rose bastards had ventured deep into the Elven Forest, the elves had possessed both the numerical and geographical advantage, yet they still hadn't managed to defeat the Black Rose Family.

And now?

The fucking situation was completely reversed?!

Under circumstances like these, if the Black Rose Family really wanted to do something to him, did he fucking have any ability to resist?

If, before these past few days, Audom had still possessed a tiny shred of fighting spirit—a desire to lead the elves in defeating the Black Rose Family and finally freeing themselves from their oppression—

Then now...

Audom had already stuffed that fighting spirit into a safe and sunk it directly into the endless abyss.

In Audom's opinion, if the elves trained diligently and prepared their forces properly, there would always be at least some possibility of defeating the Black Rose Family.

However, if they had to fight the Abyss Demons while simultaneously fighting the Black Rose Family?

Then...

Even ten entire elven races wouldn't be enough for the other side to beat...

Since they weren't capable of resisting,

They might as well accept their fate...

At this thought, Audom suddenly felt strangely relieved. The former toughness disappeared entirely from his handsome face, leaving behind only an expression of complete resignation to fate.

The elven prince, who had always been so forceful and strong-willed in the past, even began humming a cheerful little tune under the incomprehensible gazes of his subordinates~

"La la la la~"