Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.
Accompanied by Luna, Letitia knocked on the door next to Melanie's house.
Hearing the knocking, it wasn't Eriko who came to open the door, but Candice, an old acquaintance of Letitia's.
"Your Majesty's complexion looks good." The moment she saw Letitia, Candice noticed that Miss Demon King's complexion was much better than it had been two days ago.
Before, it was a bloodless paleness, but now there was a faint hint of red, making her look much healthier than before.
"The last two days were a bit tough, but today it's much better." Letitia nodded. "Where's Eriko? Is she here?"
"I'm here. Is there something Miss Ohara wants with me?" Hearing Letitia call her name, Eriko poked her little head out from the dining room.
She must have been eating breakfast.
"Although I can't figure out the situation with the poison in her body, I suspect that conventional treatment methods can still be effective," Candice explained. "I can't cure the poison, but I can help her recover some of the vitality consumed by it."
Having been cared for by Candice for two days, Eriko's complexion also looked much better.
"Alright, you two go out first. I have some things to discuss with Qingyu." Letitia gave Candice a look.
The physician understood the implication immediately. She nodded and followed Luna out of the room, creating a space for just Letitia and Eriko.
Having to talk to Letitia alone so suddenly, Eriko appeared quite flustered. That night, she had gone through a fairly complex psychological struggle just to dare to suggest talking to Letitia alone.
And today, Letitia's sudden visit really caught her off guard.
Panicked, she was truly panicked.
And Letitia's next sentence made Eriko so panicked she almost fainted.
"The Elf Race is looking for you," Letitia said straightforwardly.
She didn't want to mess around with roundabout things with Eriko. Putting Eriko's current situation directly on the table, letting her know how dangerous she was, was the best and fastest method.
"You don't need to explain. I know they're looking for you, and you know they're looking for you. Furthermore, I also know you're carrying something you shouldn't be."
An artifact. If Eriko had fled to the Human World alone, Letitia felt the Elf Race wouldn't care too much about this runaway Half-Elf.
After all, they didn't consider Half-Elves as Elves; who would care whether these lowly people ran away or not?
Secrets? Impossible. Half-Elves couldn't even come into contact with the Elf Race's secrets.
If they ran, they ran. Out of sight, out of mind. The Elf Race would love for these Half-Elves to know their place and get lost on their own.
However, Eriko brought an artifact when she escaped.
Now things were different. That was an artifact, and according to Flora, Eriko could awaken it.
A Half-Elf who could use an artifact had run to the Human World with it—could the Elf Race not be anxious?
If things went south, and this Half-Elf joined the humans and used the Elf Race's artifact to turn around and deal with the Elf Race, wouldn't that be a disaster?
It was no wonder the Elf Race sent people to Central City to search for her so quickly.
"I..." Eriko lowered her head. "I don't want to go back."
As expected, her identity hadn't been able to be hidden from the start.
"I understand, but if you live here, you will undoubtedly put everyone around you in danger." Letitia pressed on Eriko's shoulders, pushing the somewhat restless girl back onto the chair. "In all honesty, I want to kick you out."
Eriko's eyes widened. She had thought Letitia wanted to tell her that she was unwilling to hand her over, but she hadn't expected Letitia to start with, "I want to kick you out."
Kicking her out of here was basically equivalent to letting her face the Elf Race's pursuit alone; for Eriko, this was a desperate situation.
She couldn't possibly escape.
"But, someone disagrees." Letitia sighed, indicating that her own opinion wasn't very important; what was important was someone else's opinion. "You should be glad you met this pair of sisters, otherwise I would have already silenced you."
Killing Eriko and taking her artifact was also a viable option, wasn't it?
Just because Melanie couldn't do such a thing didn't mean Letitia couldn't.
"So, what exactly did you come to find me for today?" Eriko asked, eyes wide. She couldn't understand the meaning of Letitia's words—was she trying to threaten her?
But, why would Letitia want to threaten her?
"Just came to discuss your future whereabouts with you," Letitia said to Eriko. "Actually, helping you stop the Elf Race isn't a difficult matter. That person surnamed York has quite a high status among humans; the Elf Race can't openly conflict with her."
"However, we need a reason—a reason to help you."
"I don't understand."
"You've suffered quite a bit of abuse in the past, haven't you? Even I've heard of the Elf Race's discrimination against Half-Elves. The poison in your body should also have been administered by the Elf Race." Letitia's tone was flat, as if she were stating a fact. "You hate them, don't you?"
Eriko remained silent in response.
This unresponsive attitude really made Letitia a little angry. "Our current plan is to transfer you to another safe location for custody. I hope you can understand."
"I understand." Eriko nodded. So, was she being abandoned after all?
However, this was normal, right? After all, she had only met these few people here by chance; it was impossible for them to oppose the entire Elf Race for her sake.
"Don't make that expression; your safety will still be guaranteed," Letitia noticed Eriko's expression was a bit off. "Besides, if we just kick you out, we won't be able to explain it when Little Lu asks later."
"?"
"I already said it's a safe place. Do you understand the weight of the word'safe' coming from me?" Letitia said, resting her chin on her hand with a helpless expression. "We aren't afraid of the Elf Race; we are afraid that if a fight breaks out, it will hurt Little Lu, or let her know things she shouldn't know."
"Eh?" Discovering that things were a bit different from what she had imagined, Eriko was a little dazed. So, this 'transfer' wasn't just a nicer way of saying 'abandonment'?
Letitia picked up her water cup and took a sip, which also gave Eriko some time to accept reality.
"So, you coming here this time..."
"At someone's request, I'm telling you not to overthink it. They won't abandon you, and they won't hand you over to the Elf Race."
Actually, they weren't going to abandon her?