Assistance

-----Yui's POV

When I got to the queen with the help of Mai, I was greeted by both her and her daughters. Ona seeing me pop out of nowhere ended up running up to me and hugged me, but Undine had a bleak look on her face as she stuck close to her mother. At first I thought I came at a wrong time, but when Undine soon explained what had happened, I could immediately understand why she'd be like this.

Yui: "You're meeting with the demon queen?"

Cecelia: "If that's what needs to be done, then-"

Undine: "No! You're not going anywhere."

Cecelia: "Like I said, we're still planning things. I'm not going to go all the way to Inasdale only for them to have my head."

From the looks of it, Undine has been at her mother's throat for a while, and Ona seems to have come to an understanding of some sorts as she appears to be a lot more calmer than her older sister.

Cecelia: "Anyways. Yes, I'll be meeting with the demon queen. But I will need to ask Kaede to be there with me, along with some of my men. Could you relay that to her for me?"

Yui: "Yes. Will do."

Since Kaede has fought the demon queen before, I would like to believe that nothing bad would happen if she were to be there.

Cecelia: "So what was it that you came here for?"

Yui: "Oh! Right. I came to report that the crest on Lilith's back has been removed."

Cecelia: "What?! You've already done it?"

Yui: "Y-yeah."

Cecelia: "H-how?!"

Yui: "We uhm... Cut out the crest from her back."

My words caused the three of them to wince as they're likely imagining what I had just described... Believe me, I wish I could un-see it myself. The feeling of my rapier slipping out of my hands due to all that blood... I can still feel that sensation between my fingers even now.

Cecelia: "...Is she alive?"

Yui: "Uhm. I think so. But that's what I came here to talk about."

I then relayed what the current situation is to the queen and her daughters, regarding Lilith's current state with being unable to wake up, along with Rina's involvement keeping her alive.

Cecelia: "So that dark elf plan worked..."

Yui: "Yes."

Undine: "But dark elves... They need sleep, right?"

Looks like Undine picked up on the problem quicker than anyone else had.

Yui: "Yes."

Ona: "Why don't you grab another dark elf?"

Yui: "I'm leaving that to Kaede."

I find it weird that Rina wants to do this all my herself, but seeing her determination does make me feel comfortable in putting my faith in her.

Cecelia: "And I assume you plan to keep Lilith out there until she recovers?"

Yui: "That's the plan."

Cecelia: "...Very well. I'll stop by soon with some men. We'll build a little something where you guys are, if only temporary. I don't like the idea of Lilith being stuck out in the cold."

Yui: "Thank you very much."

I bow to her as she took the words right out of my mouth. But that's not too surprising considering how I've seen how close Lilith and the queen have been up until now.

Ona: "Can we come to?"

Undine: "Mm."

Cecelia: "Sure. Just don't go running out into the wilderness."

Looks as though a family outing has taken place out of this. I guess I could just come with them, but maybe I should let mom know about this as well, maybe even Luna.

Yui: "...When do you plan on going out?"

Cecelia: "After I've gathered some men and supplies in order to build a small shelter. So maybe an hour?"

Yui: "Okay perfect. I won't take long, so can I meet you outside the capital gates?"

Cecelia: "Sounds good. What is it will you be doing?"

Yui: "I just wanted to let some people know about this as well."

Cecelia: "Okay. Then we'll meet you outside in an hour."

Yui: "Mm!"

I think that was the first time I ever spoke to the queen like that. I half expected to be tense, but it was surprising how easy that all was. Maybe it was because of her daughters being there? With that in mind, I step out of the room with Mai before teleporting off once more. Before was my first time, but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

-----Kaede's POV

While Yui is off informing the queen, I made sure the blanket was properly clean of any blood before wrapping another blanket I have from out of my bag around my mom. Of course there needed to be an opening for Rina to be able to continue her magic, but this should at least give some warmth to mom's body.

Rina: "That bag."

Kaede: "Hmm?"

Rina: "How can it hold so much?"

Kaede: "Ah. I got this from Fleur. It has some sort of spatial magic on it that allows you to store any amount of items as long as it can fit through the opening."

I've gotten so used to this bag that I forgot how tiresome it was without it, not to mention how it must look to others.

Rina: "I wonder if you can use the same magic on other things."

Kaede: "I don't think that's-"

Mai: "Ahem! You can."

Suddenly, Mai's voice echoes in my head. So even at such a distance, she still listens into what I'm saying?

Kaede: "I swear, you always wait till the last moment to tell me these things."

Mai: "You never asked, hehe."

Yeah, I saw that one coming a mile away.

Rina: "Uhm?"

Oh right! I was talking to Rina.

Kaede: "I think you can, but I have no idea how to do such a thing."

I guess I can ask Mai about that another time. It's a handy device, so I'd like to be able to share something like this with others as well.

Rina: "I wonder if the matriarch knows about this."

She talks in more of a hushed voice, almost like she's talking to herself.

Sicily: "Matriarch?"

Rina: "Ah, mm. She's the current demon queen."

Kaede: "Ilfa?"

Rina: "Yes."

Interesting. I've never heard of a matriarch before. I guess it's something similar like when people call a queen or king "your highness" or "your grace." But If I'm to be friends with Ilfa, then I'd rather stick with using her name.

Kaede: "Do you like working under her?"

Rina: "I suppose. I will admit that our lives are a lot more comfortable with her leading all of us."

Kaede: "You mean she's not like a tyrant?"

Rina: "Tyrant?"

Does she not understand what that means? She looks at me in a questioning manner as if she's clueless to what I said. I guess that's more than enough evidence that Ilfa isn't ruling with tyranny.

Kaede: "Nevermind."

Rina: "Ah, no. Sorry, I didn't understand what you mean by that."

Kaede: "What, tyrant?"

She nods her head to me, but why is she fixated on such a word?

Kaede: "I guess you can call a tyrant being someone who is oppressive? Stomping over others to get what they want."

Rina: "Tyrant... Got it."

She seriously didn't know of the word? I got to give credit to Ilfa then. I'm feeling more comfortable that I made the right call with choosing to be on friendly terms with Ilfa instead of being enemies.

Lillian: "Uhm. Kaede."

Then suddenly, Lillian tapped me on the shoulder, trying to get my attention before I turn around to face her.

Lillian: "Dark elves aren't known to have a deep understanding of the human language."

Kaede: "Really?"

Rina: "Mm. I've actually been studying with Fabian actually."

I guess that's the reason why Fabian was in the same room with Rina. Maybe they were studying together? But to study in the middle of a war... Weird.

Kaede: "Wait. So then do you two also have your own language?"

Sicily: "Of course we do."

Lillian: "αﾚ†h⊕ugh ωε hα∀εη'† šp⊕κεη ï† ïη šuςh α ﾚ⊕ηg †ïmε η⊕ω."

Sicily: "⊕h! αh~ †hïš ßrïηgš ßαςκ mεm⊕rïεš~ hehe"

This is the first time I've heard the two of them speak in a new language. Some of the words sound to be borderline impossible to pronounce.

Kaede: "So could you understand them?"

Rina: "No. High elves have their own language."

Lillian: "Same thing for us. We don't speak the dark elf language either."

Interesting.

Rina: "Oh, but my mother probably knows a bit of your guys' language."

Sicily: "She must be pretty old if that's the case."

Rina: "Mm. She's been around for quite a while now."

I would like to ask how a "while" is for elves, but maybe that might be a breach in some way.

...

We continue to idly chat as we wait for Yui to come back with some assistance. And surprisingly, Rina seems to have gotten better acquainted with Lillian and Sicily. At first they were nearly at each other's throats, but now they're actively chatting between one another. I like to think that with Rina being such a huge help with my mother that Sicily and Lillian have gotten to see Rina, and dark elves for that matter, in a whole different light. That said... I still worry if mom will ever wake up. I still can't get the thought of her staying like this forever out of my mind.