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Vur, Tafel, and Kim Hajun appeared within the elven grotto residence. Thanks to Vur’s persuasive words, he didn’t need a wooden tablet to teleport from region to region within the tower. All he had to do was ask his root bracelet, and the tower would comply with whatever wishes he had. It made Kim Hajun jealous; even when he was at the peak within his prophetic dream, standing side by side with the lords, he couldn’t control the tower so easily. What did Vur have that Kim Hajun didn’t—other than overwhelming power, a loving wife, and family who cared for him? Exactly, there was practically no difference between them.
Vur and Tafel didn’t notice the bitter expression on Kim Hajun’s face—not that it would’ve mattered if they had. The couple went on ahead to Lindyss’ residential tree. Without bothering to knock, Vur pushed the tree bark that was acting as a door aside and walked in. “We’re back.”
Lindyss turned her head to the side. “Oh, welcome back,” she said. “I got your gift by the way.”
Tafel was about to say something, but her gaze landed on the table where a fairy queen was tied up and gagged. “What are you doing to Erin?”
“Thanks to Vur’s present,” Lindyss said, narrowing her eyes at the fairy queen, “Erin obtained a controlling type of magic. If she gives someone a command, they have to listen. As such, I gagged her.”
Muffled grunts and cries came from the fairy queen as she squirmed on the table, but thanks to the ropes binding her arms and legs, she couldn’t move very far. Vur blinked before walking up to the table. He picked up Erin and pulled the cloth ball out of her mouth, causing the fairy queen to cough and glare at Lindyss.
“Try it on me,” Vur said before Erin could give a command to Lindyss that would’ve been inappropriate for children to hear.
Erin blinked before realization dawned on her face. She polymorphed Vur once, and he learned how to turn into a dragon. If she commanded him with her newly acquired magic, he’d learn it as well. Although she would’ve liked her innate ability to be personal to her, there was something else she wanted more. The fairy queen’s eyes glowed as she nodded at Vur and said, “I command you to punch Lindyss’ shoulder!”
Vur’s eyes glazed over, and Lindyss glared at Erin before taking a few steps back. The cursed elf withdrew a cup from her root bracelet, and with a flick of her wrist, she splashed the contents onto Vur’s face as he approached. His eyes returned to normal, and Lindyss squinted at him, checking to see if the fairy queen’s magic had worn off. Erin couldn’t polymorph Vur for long periods of time because he was a dragon and the mana required was tremendous, so Lindyss assumed the controlling magic would be broken more easily if used on Vur than on someone else. “Vur?”
Vur wiped at his face with his palm and forearm, cleaning up the water droplets. He looked around the hollow tree before his gaze settled onto Kim Hajun, who was standing outside of the door. Vur’s eyes glowed with a dim light as he gave the cloaked man a command. “Make us food.”
Kim Hajun’s eyes glazed over as his body relaxed. “Right away,” he said and turned around, heading to the burnt clearing where the firepit was located.
A furrow appeared on Vur’s brow, and Tafel placed her hand on his arm. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Did it use up a lot of mana?”
Vur shook his head. “I hope he makes something nice.”
Tafel turned to look at Kim Hajun. The cloaked man was taking pots and pans out of his root bracelet. Along with the cookware, he also took out a jug of water and packaged meats. His eyes were unfocused, but Kim Hajun diced garlic and shredded ginger as if he had done it thousands of times before.
Tafel blinked; speaking of garlic and ginger, what happened to those two baby bugs? The demon turned her head to the side and poked Vur’s bicep. “Should we check on Jeffery and the bugs? What if they were hurt by Malvina’s flames?”
“You’re just remembering them now?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow. “That reminds me.” A faint smile appeared on the cursed elf’s lips. “What happened to those two phoenixes you were supposed to be taking care of? You know, your siblings since Minerva imprinted you.”
Tafel shuddered as if someone had stabbed her back with a cold blade. Then, she glared at Lindyss. “They’re with their mother,” the demon said. “You almost gave me a panic attack. For a second, I thought I lost them again.”
“Again?” a sleepy voice asked.
“Yeah, you were there,” Tafel said, turning her head towards Vur, making eye contact with him.
Vur blinked and shook his head. “That wasn’t me,” he said and looked down at his chest. A tiny head with silver hair and golden horns poked out Vur’s skin. Vur blinked and swept his hand forward, causing the tiny figure to tumble out of him and fly into his waiting palm. “Mervin?”
“Mervin!?” Stella shouted, shooting out of Vur’s chest like a lightning bolt. Unintelligible sounds came out of her mouth as she flapped her wings and flitted about in excitement. A second later, Vur’s finger blocked Stella’s nose and mouth.
“Hey!” the fairy queen said as she pushed Vur’s finger away and looked up at him. “What’s the big idea?”
Vur pointed towards his other hand where Mervin, the genie king, was shuddering and covering his ears with his eyes rolled up towards the top of his head, leaving only the whites showing.
“Ah!” Stella’s eyes widened, and she flew towards Mervin, landing on Vur’s palm where the genie was lying down. She squatted and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay, Mervin?”
The genie king stopped shivering, and his eyes returned to normal as he lowered his arms. He sat up, and his gaze landed on the fairy queen. His irises, which were a myriad of colors, shimmered as he stared at her. “Stella?” he asked, his face flushing red. Not even a second later, his expression turned serious as he grabbed the fairy queen’s hand. “Quick, we have to take cover; there’s a banshee around.”
Stella’s face turned red as she withdrew her hand. “Shut up!” she said and turned around. “You’re the banshee!”
Mervin blinked before looking around. Did he do something wrong?