Chapter 142 (2/2)

When Link turned around, he saw a hint of guilt on Prince Phillip’s near-perfect face.

“I’m sorry,” said the prince, “have I disturbed you?”

“Oh, not at all, Your Highness,” answered Link with a smile. “I am an enchantment Magician and I was merely working on my sketches for my next magic gear since I had nothing else to do here. Did you come to see me?”

Phillip nodded and glanced at the sketch in Link’s hand as he approached him. The sketch was elaborate and was full of complicated parts and indecipherable magic runes. He couldn’t understand a thing on the sketch so he turned his gaze back to Link.

“I am deeply indebted to you, sir,” said the prince. “You’ve saved my life.”

“Your Highness,” said Link, “I only did what I should’ve done.” Link had estimated that the High Elf prince must have some important business to come and meet him here himself. Although he was curious to find out what the prince’s motives were, he posed no direct questions to him and opted to wait patiently for the prince to bring it up himself instead.

Sure enough, Prince Philip shook his head in reply to Link’s modest protest and soon revealed his true reason for this meeting.

“Since you’ve done what you should, then I must do what I should as well,” said the prince. “A simple thank you won’t be sufficient in expressing my gratitude to you.”

As he finished his sentence, the High Elf prince then took out a delicate little wooden box with a greenish-brown hue. Its outer layer was carved into beautiful patterns of trees and flowers. The prince then thrust the box into Link’s hands.

“Here,” said Prince Phillip, “it’s my gift to you.”

The wooden box was the work of a famous carving master among the elves, but that was beside the point. What was most important was the contents of the box. He had no idea what use this object had or what its specialty was, but it was what the Prophet had given Prince Phillip.

The Prophet was a mysterious figure who had originated from the human world. He held a lofty position in the High Elf court and was even respected and revered by the Queen of the Isle of Dawn herself.

Prince Phillip remembered the Prophet’s last instruction before he left very clearly.

“The contents of the box are of no use to High Elves,” he said, “but it is of immense value to a human being. I’ll give this box to you now, so you can give it to the right person when you are in the human kingdom.”

“How do I know I’ve met the right person to give this to?” the prince remembered asking the Prophet.

“If you think the person is the right one, then that is the one you give this to,” answered the Prophet. “Just listen to your heart, my prince.”

In fact, besides discussing the alliance between the two kingdoms, Prince Phillip had come to the Norton Kingdom expressly for this purpose. The answer given to his question about the right person was vague and confusing, and the prince wasn’t sure if he fully understood it. He had been carefully observing many people these days yet none of them had struck him as the right person to give the Prophet’s gift to.

If they didn’t even make him feel like they were the right person, Prince Phillip assumed that they must not be the right one. That was why the wooden box stayed with him until this moment.

But right now, the prince felt confident that Link was the most suitable and worthiest person to receive the mysterious gift, which was why he snuck out of his room to meet him.

Link had no idea there was so much meaning behind the gift. He thought nothing of what the contents of the box could be. All he thought was that it was a normal gift given to him as a token of gratitude, which he humbly accepted.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” he said courteously as he received the wooden box with both of his hands.

“I don’t know what else to give you,” said the prince with a friendly smile. “But apart from this wooden box, you will now receive the friendship of the High Elves. You’ll forever be my honored guest on the Isle of Dawn and you’ll always be welcomed there.”

“I shall never forget it,” replied Link.

“I snuck out just to meet you,” said Prince Phillip, “so think it’s time for me to go back now before they realize I’m gone. Farewell, Link.” As he waved his hand, the prince quickly turned around and went out of the room.

The meeting with Prince Phillip had happened so quickly and seemed to be a bolt out of the blue for Link. When the prince was gone, he began to examine the fist-sized wooden box in his hand, eager to find out what was inside it.

Is it jewelry? Or maybe a type of precious magic material? Link was just about to open the box when suddenly, there were footsteps at the door. Link didn’t want anyone else to know of Prince Phillip’s gift to him, so he quickly hid it inside his storage pendant.

Not long afterwards, there was a voice calling for him at the doorway.

“Mr. Link, his majesty would like to meet you.”