章 98: Chapter 98: Marley's Change
Now then, with the Voids Cloak concealing my presence from almost everyone, I sneaked out through one of my windows before quickly flying out of the royal grounds with my direction being Yggdrasil's main gate. Once I arrived, I landed atop the large archway as I expanded my divine senses to my limit; another thing to note about the Voids Cloak is it also conceals my divine sense, so I don't have to worry about Mother and Father noticing my disappearance; at least for a little bit.
'Now then, Marley, where are you at.' Thought Elif as he scanned every inch his divine sense could cover, yet he still found nothing.
'Hmm, nothing. It seems I'm going to have to explore a little further.' Pondered Elif nervously after finding no traces of Marley, though he wasn't nervous because this would be his first time stepping outside Yggdrasil. He was anxious about the consequences he would face if his parents found out that not only did he leave the royal grounds while still punished, but he also had left Yggdrasil.
Flying through the air, I followed along the path that led to the main gate while constantly scanning the surroundings with my divine sense, looking for any traces of Marley. Yet, even after roughly thirty minutes of flying, I found nothing, much to my dismay.
'How have I not found any traces of her yet? We are quite a distance away from Yggdrasil, but I still have found nothing. Don't tell me she veered off the trail and wandered into the forest. It's going to be very problematic if so.' Thought Elif, while mentally sighing at his haste to find Marley, that he forgot to ask Illumia or Maxim where she was located at.
While the smart thing would be to return home and ask for someone's help in locating Marley, I've been gone for some time, and I'm almost certain Mother and Father have noticed my disappearance, so I'd prefer not to return home unless Marley is with me; at least then, it wouldn't feel like all this was for nothing.
So with a sigh, I headed into the surrounding forest, hoping to find Marley or at least traces of her. While searching for Marley, time continued to pass, and before I knew it, the bright sunny day had already turned dark while several bright dots in the sky illuminated the forest, resulting in the forest looking as beautiful as it was deadly.
'Hmm, it seems something nearby has made the beasts restless, which isn't unusual, but I might as well investigate further; my luck doesn't seem that high right now.' Thought Elif while delving deeper into the forest until he finally found who he was looking for, and it seemed like he'd arrived just in time.
When I finally found Marley, I was ecstatic, but seeing what those four men were doing to her immediately dampened my mood, leaving me sickened. Quickly arriving at the scene and landing on a tree branch, I got to see the sight of three Elves and one Druid attempting to rape Marley, and it only worsened my mood knowing that while Marley deserves to be punished for her past actions, this was far too much; there was no way I was just going to watch this unfold before my very eyes.
"Tch, this is quite the distasteful sight." Said Elif in disgust while simultaneously announcing his presence.
"Hm? Who's there!? Quickly Reveal yourself, or I'll kill the girl!" Declared the man holding Marley by her throat and groping her breasts as he scanned the vicinity while preparing to kill Marley, nervous at the realization that someone had managed to sneak up on four Celestial cultivators undetected.
"You won't win anyways; it's four versus one!" Declared the man who was caressing Marley's butt arrogantly while also scanning the surroundings, the two others doing the same as well.
"This Prince has been searching for Marley for several hours; It would be unwise to kill her now unless you wish to spend the rest of your insignificant lives within the depths of the Royal dungeon." Announced Elif as he revealed himself standing opposite the four men while directing his killing intent at them, a livid expression plastered on his face.
"P-P-Prince Elif!? W-What are you doing all the way out here!?" Asked the man as he unconsciously released Marley while trembling in fear at the situation as he stared at the glowing purple mark on Elif's forehead that symbolizes royalty.
When the man released Marley, I quickly wrapped her in a protective layer of Qi that also blocked the sight of Marley's exposed breasts before bringing her close to my body in case the four men attacked, and I needed to cover the both of us in the Voids Cloak to escape.
"Not only do you peasants stay standing before my presence, but you also dare to question a Prince!?" Declared Elif angrily while eying the four half-naked men as if they were nothing but insignificant insects.
"M-My apologies, Prince Elif!" Said the leading man as he and the other three quickly kowtowed before Elif, trembling in fear.
Ignoring those four, I turned and looked over at Marley, who seemed to have calmed down, and summoned some clothes from my dimension ring before handing it over to her, to which she merely looked at me, her eyes containing an untold number of emotions, before she began putting the clothing over her ruined clothes.
Looking back at the four men, luckily for them, I didn't have the power to kill them; otherwise, I wouldn't have wasted my time talking with them, though in the end, it won't matter as when I return, I'll have Mandy and her guards hunt them down.
"You four, leave and never return. If luck is on your side, you might be able to escape the Empire before my guards hunt you down, though you and I both know that won't happen." Declared Elif in a monotone voice, causing the four to tremble in fear before quickly disappearing from the area, hoping to escape somehow, except for one.
"If I'm going to die, then I'll take the both of you with me!" Declared the leading man angrily as he stood up and swiftly appeared in front of a scared Marley and a calm Elif before attacking them.
Seeing the man attack us, I was pretty calm since deactivating the Voids Cloak wasn't only to display my presence before these buffoons; it was so Mother and Father could protect me in case they decided to attack me since I was just as equally helpless as Marley was against four Celestial cultivators.
While the man was in the motion of attacking Marley and me, his body suddenly came to a halt, and what happened next was quite a gruesome sight. He started screaming in agony as his body was slowly getting crushed into a tiny ball; not even his soul could escape his body and flee.
Seeing the small tiny red pebble that used to be an Elf fall to the ground, I gulped nervously as I could tell Mother and Father were quite angry, and if anything, it didn't make me want to return home.
'Maybe, spending a few nights in the forest wouldn't be a bad idea? It would give time for Mother and Father to cool off.' Thought Elif while seriously considering the idea.
Now that we're alone with no threats nearby, I was about to focus on Marley, but I was forced to quickly evade an attack from my left. Appearing on one of the tree branches, I looked down toward the attacker, and I didn't know whether to be surprised or not as I saw an enraged Marley staring at me. If it were before I'd learned about her life, I would've been quite annoyed, and while I still am, I can also tell that the anger she's displaying is merely a shield to keep herself from crumbling down, yet one day she will no longer be able to hide her genuine emotions behind that facade of anger, and she'll collapse.
"It's you, Prince Elif! Right here, right now, I'm going to defeat you and show Father that I'm superior to you!" Declared Marley angrily, her eyes seemingly containing madness as she once again attacked Elif.
"You can try all you like, Marley, but stop being delusional; you were never superior to me, and you'll never defeat me again. My defeat during the Noble Tournament was a miracle since it'll only happen once." Stated Elif arrogantly as he evaded her attack before launching a purple palm at her.
Seeing Marley destroy my palm after attacking it several times, I appear behind her while imprisoning her with another palm; all of her attempts at destroying the palm were futile as I had used a good chunk of my power when I manifested that palm; after roughly an entire minute of constant attacking, only then did Marley finally give up and look at me angrily.
"Quite ungrateful attacking me after I had literally just saved you from being raped, don't you think?" Said Elif as he crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Tch, so what? I didn't ask you to save me." Replied Marley, her anger having slightly diminished.
"You're right; you didn't ask me to save you, but you know who did? Sarah. The little sister you used to enjoy playing with until Nordan started manipulating you into becoming his tool." Said Elif as he sat down on a small boulder nearby.
"I'M NOT A TOOL!" Yelled Marley, her voice quivering in pain as she remembered what Nordan told her before banishing her from the Eve family.
"Besides, why would that trash of a sister ever ask for you to save me? I know she hates me." Added Marley, mumbling while looking toward the ground.
"She did, well, at least before she learned the truth about Nordan and how he molded you into the current you. Yes, believe it or not, you're not alone; even after doing all those horrible things to Sarah, she still cares for you." Replied Elif, sensing the shock Marley felt even if her face was hidden behind her hair.
Sensing that she's somewhat calmed down, I dispelled the palm that kept her confined, and seeing how she was not immediately attacking me, I released a sigh of relief and prepared to head back home. However, when I noticed that Marley wasn't following me, I looked back, and when I did, I perceived small tears falling to the ground, so with another sigh, I landed a meter in front of her while thinking of words to help her so we can return to Yggdrasil.
"I suggest you stop trying to bottle up your emotions like you've been doing; you're no longer Marley Eve, the leading figure amongst the younger generation. You're currently a young girl on the verge of descending into an inescapable pit of darkness, so release all your bottled-up emotions; no one will know." Said Elif, doing something he didn't think he would be doing, giving Marley advice.
When I said that, we stood in silence for a bit before she looked at me and allowed me to see her puffy eyes, which were trying their best to hold back her tears and quivering lips. The next thing I knew, Marley appeared in front of me, tightly wrapping her arms around me before resting her head on my chest; then, she let out all the bottled-up emotions she had accumulated for the past years.
"I'M SCARED! I WAS SCARED THOSE MEN WERE GOING TO RAPE ME! I'M SCARED OF BEING ALONE! I'M SCARED OF BEING ABANDONED!" Exclaimed Marley in between her bouts of sobbing as she cried all over Elif's chest, much to his annoyance, though he only sighed and did nothing.
"Use this chance wisely; you're getting the privilege of crying on my chest; not many beings will be given the opportunity." Said Elif as he tried his best to keep the Voids Cloak from getting wet.
"WHY DOESN'T FATHER LOVE ME!? I DID EVERYTHING HE EVER SAID; I LISTENED TO HIS EVERY ORDER! I TRIED MY BEST TO PLEASE HIM, YET HE BANISHED ME FROM MY ONLY HOME! WHY!?" Exclaimed Marley, her sobbing becoming even more intense.
I didn't exactly count, but I'm pretty sure Marley cried for an entire hour before she finally calmed down and let me go; even so, she was still emotionally and mentally frail.
"T-Thank you, Prince Elif." Muttered Marley softly while looking towards the ground, though her words slightly amused Elif.
"I believe that's the first time I've ever heard you address me respectfully." Said Elif, though Marley just silently stood there.
'Now, here comes the hard part.' Thought Elif as he looked up towards the sky and sighed while already imagining how angry Maria and Marcus would be.
クリエイターの想い 
Ozonelayer
Ozonelayer Yolo; two more chapters until the volume ends!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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