"Good morning, mom…"

My greeting this morning was really awkward. I tried to convince myself that last night’s dream was truly just a mere dream, but the scar on my chest told me it was unarguably real. As such, when I met mom, I almost tripped over.

“Uhm, good morning, my child. I’m glad to see you’ve recovered."

Mom walked up to me and touched my forehead with a smile. She scanned me with her blue eyes filled with love. Then she took a step back and said with a smile: “Don’t worry about attending anything today, just stay in the palace and rest.”

I muttered with my head down: “Okay…”

I only caught a glimpse of mom’s back when she lightly turned around and left. My mom was once again her elegant and dignified self. It was like the mom that was on the border of going crazy last night never existed. Her eyes were blue like a bottomless ocean, while those charming and dangerous red eyes seemed to have disappeared for good.

Mom didn’t mention yesterday’s matter, and I had no way of bringing it up. The whole thing was like a nightmare to me, but it happened without question. At the same time something I couldn’t handle. I now know the origin of elves’ mana is the moon and that my body will be in tonnes of pain on full-moon nights. So will mom transform due to mana?

Mom didn’t kiss me last night. It’s more correct to say that she was crazily sucking my saliva and blood out. I don’t know why she has to do that, but after she sucked out a large amount of my saliva, the sickening feeling in my body dissipated. Perhaps mom sucked my mana out by sucking my saliva out.

If I look at it that way, then mom must've been trying to save me last night.

“What’s wrong? Your highness, you still don’t look too good. Do you want to return to your room to rest?”

Lucia appeared behind me and looked at me with concern. I shook my head, turned around to her and said: “I’m going to make a trip to the library, do you want to come?”

Lucia paused for a moment and then said: “Okay, sure. But if you have anything you’d like to know just ask me directly. I’m not as knowledgeable as a library, but I should know as long as it’s not too tricky. As a bodyguard of the royal family, we have to know a bit about everything.”

"Is that right…?"

I hesitated since I wasn’t sure if I should ask Lucia about it. Logically speaking, I should know what mom did and why she did it, as well as my transformation on full-moon nights. Would it be weird for me to ask Lucia about it now? This should be common knowledge for me, right…?

“Yes…” Lucia looked at me with a hint of hesitation. She then sighed and said: “You go through this every month, so why are you so dispirited this month? You look pale and you’re always in a daze. Was it because her highness didn’t suck out enough…?”

“Every month?!”

“Yes. Other than times when you're with the humans, her highness always sucks away your mana every month.” Lucia looked at me with a confused look as I expected and asked: “Was it more serious than usual last night? Did you forget about this? I think you should have a good rest. You still look low in spirits… Has your mana increased recently to the point where her highness isn’t capable of handling it? That’d be very dangerous…”

Lucia wore a serious look. It didn’t look like she was lying. If my condition continues worsening then I’ll be in danger… Thinking back on the pain I endured when exposed to the moonlight gives me the s.h.i.+vers. I looked at Lucia and asked carefully: “Lucia… I want to know… What will happen if my condition continues worsening?”

Lucia looked at me and spoke casually like she was describing the weather: “Obviously you’ll die when your veins burst one full-moon night when your body can’t handle it.”

Doesn’t that mean I’ll explode?! That’s scary!! Why do you sound so nonchalant about it?! Don’t you love me anymore?! Don’t you care about me anymore?! How are you so carefree when I’m facing such a scary future?!

Perhaps she saw the fear in my eyes. She gave me a pat on the shoulder, then looked at me and proudly said: “Ah, don’t worry. Don’t worry. You have her highness there for you, your highness, so you don’t have to worry. You’ll be fine after she sucks the mana you can’t control out on full-moon nights. That teeny bit of mana of yours is just like a snack for her highness who's a demi-G.o.d, so you don’t have to worry. Her highness is a demi-G.o.d. She’s the got the strongest mana of all royal family members in history. Her highness increases her mana every time your mana goes out of control on full-moon nights as well, so there’s no need to worry about the future.”

"Is there a possibility that she doesn't suck it all out properly?"

Lucia shrugged, and then pointed at me chest to say: “Yes, of course… Mmm… Don’t you already know about this, your highness? Your mana purity levels are so high it’s off the charts. It’s just that you can’t use it. You do have the blood of royalty flowing through your body after all.”

“One's mana determines how difficult it is for them to use magic… Sorry, my mana purity is only level three. But that’s not important. Mana can flow. It continually flows throughout your body through your blood and saliva. In other words, Mana is present in every part of your body that is comprised of some form of liquid. Mana isn’t water. The flow of mana just increases or decreases in terms of concentration. If somebody with a low concentration of mana tries to absorb highly concentrated mana, then the mana in the vessel with lower concentration will go out of control. It's the same logic as trying to fill a water tank with more water than it can hold. If you do that, it’ll inevitably burst. To relate it back, when your mana goes berserk, you need someone with a high concentration of mana to absorb it from you.”

I nodded to indicate I understood. That must be why mom absorbed my saliva and blood. But isn’t sucking my saliva out mouth-to-mouth a bit too s.e.xual…? Can’t she suck my blood instead?

Lucia seemed to see through my thoughts and continued: “Ah… Of course, the amount of mana inside you that goes berserk is ma.s.sive. If it had to be absorbed by sucking your blood, you’d most likely die from loss of blood. It’s precisely because of this very reason that only her highness is capable of absorbing that portion of your mana. I tried once in the past. I just licked your lip and my insides felt like they were being ripped to shreds. I remember I pa.s.sed out from the pain that night.”

Lucia s.h.i.+vered as though the memory of that night still scares her. I think the reason why I still haven’t kissed Lucia to this day is because of that… Every time I close in on her for a kiss, she s.h.i.+vers a bit. Turns out it was because of the memory of that incident.

“Okay, I want know if all elves will undergo some sort of transformation on full-moon nights.”

I looked at Lucia with curiosity. If her answer is a “yes”, then what was Lucia like that night?

“Yes. According to the legends, elves are created by the G.o.d of Creation on full-moon nights. Our ancestors also hunted on full-moon nights. Hunting harvests and the brightness of moonlight are highly correlated. Over the years, this acc.u.mulation causes us elves to transform to some degree on full-moon nights. To be more accurate, our true nature comes out. It’s like our usually suppressed emotions come out… That’s why lots of couples are formed on full-moon nights. To celebrate the forming of lovers, the following day, which is today, we light up a big bonfire. If they dance around the fire, then couples will receive the blessings of Claudia the G.o.ddess of Fire! So let’s go dance tonight, your highness!!”

Lucia suddenly grabbed my hand and looked at me with eyes full of antic.i.p.ation.

“Sure… Ah, wait! How did our topic suddenly change to tonight’s dance?! Wait. Wait. Wait… I mean… Umm… Do we undergo appearance transformations on full-moon nights?”

“Of course not. Elves flesh isn’t created from mana, only our insides are. Since it doesn’t contain mana, it won’t be affected by the moonlight.”

Lucia shrugged and then pointed me to say: “Even someone with mana purity levels as high as you won’t undergo an appearance transformation on a full-moon night. Look at your ears. They’re always human ears regardless. In short, the moon only influences mana, not our bodies.”

What about mom’s eyes then…? I mean I’d believe it if you told me mom was overflowing with love, because she’s a son-con after all. It’d make sense if you said she suddenly got sick yesterday as well. But what’s up with her eyes turning from blue to red? Since mana doesn’t influence our body, her eye colour shouldn’t have changed. So… Who did those red eyes belong to?

Was that mom or not?

“So, if our body doesn’t change, then… But I saw mom last night… Mmm… But she gave me a weird feeling.”

“Oh, you saw her highness last night, right? Sorry, I’ll have to correct myself there. What I said applies if you saw an elf, because an elf’s body doesn’t transform. However, her highness is a demi-G.o.d. Her highness is the only elf who completed the Tower of Heaven. Her body has basically been altered by magic. She’s the elf that’s closest to being a divine deity among all elves. So on full-moon nights, the surge of mana transforms her body into what you saw last night.”

Lucia leisurely continued: “But don’t worry, even if her appearance changes, she’s still her highness. She’s still aware of what she’s doing. It was thanks to her might that we were able to emerge victorious in the previous war.”

“Wait! So you’re saying you’ve seen her transformed look last night before?!”

Lucia looked at me a little upset and said: “Of course I have. I was there guarding you when her highness was sucking your mana out. I do that every month. Haven’t you once noticed my presence in all these months? You told me before that you wouldn’t be in pain if I were there… Was that all a lie…?”

"Ah… Well… Uhh…"

I wish you knew I wasn’t him! My fiancé saw my mom lie on top of me and suck my saliva ou,t mouth-to-mouth. I nearly gave me into my l.u.s.t. I’m so ashamed I want to hole up! Aren’t you jealous?! Doesn’t it make you angry?!

Ah… Getting angry and jealous would be meaningless. Even if I looked full of energy, it’s just a form of treatment after all… Other than her highness, no one can help so Lucia can only watch… But I don’t detect any hatred in Lucia’s eyes.

To test Lucia, I asked her: “Say, Lucia… Aren’t you angry seeing mom and I do something like that…?”

Bewildered, Lucia tilted her head and asked: “Angry? Why would I be angry? Her highness was trying to save you. What should I be angry about?”

“Ah, yeah… Yeah, you’re right…”

Sorry, I just thought of the whole thing in a sick-minded way…

We continued chatting as we walked until we reached the atrium corridor. Outside were flower beds and the sunlight Lucia looked at the flowers in the flower beds and said with a smile: “Look your highness, the flowers are blooming healthily this year.”

“I agree.”

Lucia excitedly ran to the side of the flower bed, bent over and admired each flower. I walked over to her side and joined her. I ran my eyes over the flowers. My eye noticed the small yellow flower that I never wanted to see again. That flower almost killed me… Twice!

Lucia stretched her hand out to pluck a flower, looked at me with a smile and said: “This is fantastic… Your highness will be accompanying me to the dance party.”

“Ah, well, we’re lovers. It’d be great to go to the dance party together and receive the G.o.ddess’s blessings.”

What was that G.o.ddess’s name again? Well, who cares, I don’t believe in divine beings anyway. But is it alright for you to chase blessings from the G.o.ddess of fire when you receive buffs from the wind elves? Oh wait, it’s just a formality, there won’t be an actual G.o.ddess blessing us, right? I a.s.sume it’s like rituals humans conduct.

Lucia lowered her head, leaned on me, placed her hands on my chest, rest her head on my shoulders and said: “Your highness, you'll be leaving tomorrow… I still get sad each time even though it’s a monthly thing. You’re so gentle and kind to me, so each time you leave, I always feel my heart ache.”

I embraced her lightly and then stroked her head as I said: "I'll be back."

She squeezed me tighter and said in a loud voice: “Don’t… Fall for someone else…”

“I know. I know. I won’t fall for someone else because I honestly really like you…”