Chapter 695 - The Rise of Lion Cub (2/2)

If one were to take a closer look at the sentence, it basically said, “Peace could only exist if we fight for it, tolerance would only eliminate peace.” [3]

Francesca was the only Elven Queen across the land, yet her authority was only limited to Dol Blathanna.[4] Like other sorceresses, she loved to dabble with politics, and was never one to shy away from sacrificing others to her ends. Most of the Elves outside Dol Blathanna claimed that Francesca was the thief who stole Scoia’tael’s victory. She had sent Scoia’tael to be slaughtered by humans as a condition for her to be queen and build her own elven kingdom.

Francesca could not believe that Vilgefortz had been slain. Even she did not have the guts to challenge Vilgefortz. She had pure elven blood, but was no good in close combat. Lord Vilgefortz had fought countless battles on his own…

Even the righteous protagonist had been crushed like a bug. Of course, protagonists lead tough lives too.

“Cirilla” had been etched on Francesca’s heart. It kept her awake at night…

During the coup on Thanedd Island, she had used Artefact Compression on Yennefer and spirited her away. Yennefer was like a mother to Cirilla!

Artefact Compression was a powerful spell that some mages used. The spell enclosed the victim in a jade shell and downsized them to the point that they could fit in the palm of their hand.

Only a powerful mage or sorceress could cast this spell. It allowed the caster to take the victim prisoner without worrying about any escape attempts, as well as conveniently stow them away. The trauma was highly dangerous to the victim and could cause organ damage to them. Should the target survive the compression process, they would remain comatose and unaware of their surroundings. When decompressed, victims are typically disoriented, dehydrated and in a weakened state.

In the Thanedd Island coup, Francesca Findabair had cast Artefact Compression on Yennefer and smuggled her off the island to Dol Blathanna.

Francesca had wanted to blackmail Yennefer into joining the Lodge of Sorceresses. Now, she was no longer as sure…

Translation Note:

[1] The Lodge of Sorceresses arose from the ruins of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the incident on Thanedd Island essentially killed the older order among mages. It was a secret organization composed entirely of female mages and even referred to as a sisterhood due to no men being invited, as the sorceresses saw men as too incompetent to handle governing areas of magic.

[2] This sentence was recorded on “Francesca Findabair: Queen of Dol Blathanna”, one of five possible Gwent leader cards for the Scoia’tael deck in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

[3] Words from Mao Zedong “以斗争求和平则和平存,以妥协求和平则和平亡”,

[4] Dol Blathanna known also as the Valley of Flowers in Elder Speech, was a kingdom and now an allod to Aedirn. It is bordered on the north by Kaedwen and the Blue Mountains to the east. It belonged to the elves for ages until humans came and laid claim to the land about one hundred years ago, and the elves fled to the mountains.