The Elvish Test

Wawalde: “The central location?”

Linalia said: “Yes, I’m quite certain…”

She looked towards Sovenia.

‘Sovenia’s heart sank. Did Linalia know the structure of the Demon King’s Palace? Or was she merely probing? Perhaps she didn’t know the exact route…’

She absolutely could not allow Linalia to take the initiative. Sovenia, almost instinctively, immediately retorted:

“You don’t know where we started from, so how can you accuse me of leading you astray?”

“My dear kinswoman, who claims to be a princess,” Linalia’s tone remained gentle, yet it carried the inherent arrogance of royalty, “I am not accusing you of deliberately leading us astray. I merely find it rather peculiar.”

‘Sovenia mused inwardly: Cunning! I’d love to lop off her head with a single sword stroke.’

Though not a single word was an accusation, strung together, they each pushed her closer to the abyss of decapitation.

“I believe…” Linalia raised her face, a visage so beautiful it was heartbreaking, and gazed directly into Sovenia’s eyes, “that you are a demon in disguise.”

“That… that’s impossible.” Wawalde hesitated slightly: “Sovenia was able to read my comrade’s will.”

Despite her inner tension, Sovenia’s face remained habitually impassive, devoid of expression: “Evidence?”

Linalia offered no reply; instead, she abruptly opened her mouth and uttered a string of words in a language Sovenia could not comprehend at all, its syllables flowing with graceful beauty.

The language seemed to carry the essence of forest winds and moonlight. Having spoken, she smiled at Sovenia and asked:

“Do you know what I said in Elvish?”

‘I’m done for.’

Sovenia’s mind went utterly blank.

‘The princess had cornered her. She didn’t understand Elvish at all, and there was no way she could answer such a question.’

‘Admitting ignorance would be tantamount to confessing she was a fraud. Guessing wildly? That would be an even swifter path to ruin.’

‘Damn it, back when she fought the elves, she should have picked up a foreign language or two while interrogating captives, perhaps developed a hobby.’

‘Knowledge is power; the ancients truly didn’t deceive me. Who would have thought that after a lifetime of chopping off heads, her own head would be relocating today, all because of her ignorance of a foreign tongue?’

In that critical moment, a thought flashed through her mind like lightning.

‘She could hear Wawalde’s thoughts.’

‘When in doubt, just listen to his thoughts.’ She abruptly reached out, seizing Wawalde’s hand. The instant their skin made contact, familiar, chaotic thoughts flooded her mind:

“…Princess Linalia is truly so pitiful… She’s so beautiful… and fragile, how rude! You must maintain your knightly decorum…”

Sovenia’s face remained impassive, yet her deer-like eyes almost couldn’t resist rolling.

‘Why is this idiot dog so protective of every princess? Can’t that protectiveness belong solely to me?’

‘Then again, it’s a hundred times better than him being filled with suspicion about me, so I suppose it’s good news.’

She continued to listen to Wawalde’s thoughts:

“…What did she say in Elvish? It sounded so beautiful… Why isn’t Miss Sovenia answering? Could it be… could she really be a demon in disguise? No, impossible! She’s so kind, she cooks for me, stitches my wounds, she’s good-hearted, independent, and strong… She can’t be a demon…”

From the chaotic stream of thoughts, Sovenia grasped the crucial point.

‘He didn’t understand. She was certain he hadn’t understood the Elvish just now.’

Hope instantly surged within Sovenia’s heart; now her head had a chance to remain firmly on her neck. Since this idiot dog didn’t understand either, it meant there was room for maneuver!

“I have amnesia,” she stated calmly, her voice soft, yet clear enough for the other two to hear.

“Amnesia?” Linalia immediately retorted, taking a step forward, her demeanor aggressive, “Even if a person forgets everything, they would never forget their native tongue!”

Wawalde said: “She genuinely has amnesia.”

Linalia’s tone softened then. Standing very close to Wawalde, she lifted her face to him, appearing to gaze with admiration, a gesture that rather pleased a man’s pride.

She said:

“I apologize. Having only just gained my freedom, I dread losing this precious liberty. If she were a demon, I wouldn’t act this way, but from the moment I first saw her, she simply didn’t resemble an elf. Brave Hero, have you ever heard of ‘false humans’?”

“I have,” Wawalde replied. “A type of man-eating demon that strikes fear into many.”

‘Don’t categorize everything as a demon, you idiot dog.’

Linalia said: “Although it’s rude to say, she truly looks like a ‘false elf’.”

Sovenia continued to watch Linalia with an impassive expression, not because she was confident, but due to her habit of maintaining a blank face. Simultaneously, her eyes were calculating the distance between herself and Linalia, assessing the possibility of dispatching her with a single sword stroke.

Linalia shivered, sensing the sharp intensity of Sovenia’s gaze. Like a small animal, she nestled closer to Wawalde’s side, then looked up at him, blinking her eyes.

“May I borrow your body for a moment, Brave Hero? I’m frightened.”

Sovenia observed Wawalde’s body stiffen noticeably.

‘It was easy to imagine how conflicted he must be now.’

‘On one side was “Sovenia,” with whom he had traveled and built trust; on the other, the pitiable and noble “true princess.”‘

‘With the idiot dog caught between them, a silver-haired, golden-eyed elf of unimaginable beauty on each side—one in torn black stockings, the other in knee-high boots. Sovenia, observing his rigid posture, knew he was trapped in a dilemma.’

As Sovenia watched Linalia’s performance, her disgust reached its peak, yet simultaneously, a bold plan finally began to form in her mind.

“Yes, I do remember my native tongue,” Sovenia stated slowly, “because what you just spoke was not Elvish at all.”

Linalia: “What? You… you’re lying! That’s impossible.”

“Whether I’m lying or not, we’ll know by trying,” Sovenia declared, meeting Linalia’s gaze without flinching. “Now, how about I speak a sentence in Elvish, and you reply?”

“Very well!” Linalia lifted her chin slightly.

‘Sovenia prepared to speak a passage in Chinese; as long as her delivery was fluent, Wawalde wouldn’t know if it was Elvish or not.’

Just as she was about to speak, a flaw suddenly occurred to her.

‘Yes, Wawalde didn’t understand Elvish, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t distinguish Elvish syllables.’

‘His former expedition party had included an elven teammate. What if the language she spoke sounded completely different from the Elvish he had heard before? Wouldn’t she be completely exposed?’

But things had come to this point; there was no turning back. She had to say something.

Her brain raced, sifting through the dust-laden fragments deep within her memory.

‘What to do? What to do?’

Under the stress, her mind became a whirlwind. Jimi the Cruel’s past life memories, memories from that blue planet called “Earth,” resurfaced—so ancient that Sovenia had believed them long forgotten.

They surged up uncontrollably.

Sovenia stood blankly for a good while.

Linalia grew impatient: “Can it be that you don’t speak Elvish?”

Though Sovenia was tense inside, her exterior remained icy. Hearing the urging, she subconsciously uttered:

“Hakimi yo nanbei lüdou…”

The moment the words left her lips, Sovenia herself froze, for while the sentence was fluent, even she had no idea what it meant.

The entire luxurious cell plunged into a profound silence.

Sovenia’s scalp tingled instantly, a chill shooting from her tailbone straight to the back of her head.

‘What in the actual hell… did I just say?’