Chapter 164 – Getting Recognized Again

Late into the night, Alice climbed into her bed and got herself comfy and ready for bed.

She had been incredibly busy throughout her entire visit to the Elven Forest.
She had been studying taboos non-stop for the entire week.
She even had to put on an act with Luna in front of the elves and demons.
However, while her week had been jam-packed with things to do, she had to admit that it was also a very fulfilling week.

Fortunately, other than giving the elves a few scares and knocking Filia unconscious for a few days, nobody else got hurt in the process.
Moreover, Alice had also won the rights to the Fruits of God for the elves as compensation.
This would bring significant benefits to the elven race as a whole.
These benefits were more than enough to make up for the elves' experience these past few days.

Regardless, Alice had now finished everything she had set forth to do in the Elven Forest.
So, she could finally sleep in peace tonight without worrying about waking up to elves surrounding her with weapons in hand.
She could also avoid shouldering the crime of trespassing in the elven village.
Without these worries plaguing her mind, Alice quickly fell asleep after lying down on her bed.

Alice had drunk a warm cup of milk and done 20 minutes of gentle stretching before bed.
If nothing untoward happened, she should be able to sleep until the sun rose the next morning, and her exhaustion and stress would disappear when she woke up.

However, just when Alice was about to enter dreamland, her bed shook slightly, causing a slight frown to form on her peaceful face.

The elves were incredibly sensitive toward mana.
If an earthquake was about to happen, the elves would've definitely alerted the March Academy's students and teachers beforehand.
They would've done so even if it was only a minor earthquake.

However, Alice didn't recall the elves mentioning anything about an earthquake.
In other words, the shaking of her bed just now wasn't caused by an earthquake.

Thinking up to this point, Alice frowned and opened her eyes.
Then, she came face to face with a bright yet stern pair of eyes looking at her.

Alice was initially frightened when she saw this pair of eyes.
However, she quickly calmed down and concentrated her mana to her eyes, strengthening them and giving herself night vision capabilities.
Then, she finally saw the owner of these eyes—Filia.

Alice remembered that the Curse of Delusion she cast on Filia should last a week.
After a quick mental calculation, she realized that Filia should wake up around tonight.
Seeing the gleaming look in Filia's eyes, Alice could tell that the elf didn't come to find her immediately after waking up.
Otherwise, the elf would be incredibly weak right now due to not having eaten anything for a week.
After all, photosynthesis could only provide her with a limited amount of nutrition.
Not to mention, Alice could also smell an apple scent coming from the corners of Filia's mouth, so the other party probably ate some fruits before coming here.

“That… Can you let me get up first before we talk?” Alice asked in a whisper as she looked at Filia's posture.

Currently, Filia had positioned herself above Alice like a tiger, their noses very close to touching each other.
The elf might be trying to put pressure on her using this posture, but Alice didn't feel much pressure from it at all.
She might have grown alert if she didn't know about Filia's identity.
However, since she knew that Filia was Abel's girlfriend, she naturally had no reason to be nervous.

Abel had attached herself to Filia's panties for over a thousand years.
If Filia was a spy, Abel would've long since noticed it.
Since Abel didn't mention anything about Filia being a spy, it meant that Filia was trustworthy.
So, Alice had no reason to be afraid of Filia.

Meanwhile, after glaring at Alice for a while longer and seeing that Alice didn't seem frightened by her, Filia helplessly sat up.
Then, she watched as Alice climbed off the bed and reached for a shirt in the nearby wardrobe.

“Should we go out and talk?” Alice asked.
She wasn't the only person sleeping in this room.
Luna, Lalu, and Zauna were here as well.
Only, Lalu and Zauna were fast asleep, so they didn't notice that an extra person had appeared in the room.

As for Luna… While Filia wasn't noticing, Alice glanced over to Luna and saw Luna's right hand poking out of her blanket and giving her a thumbs-up.

Luna was technically a Demon King, so it was only natural that she had noticed Filia's intrusion with her powerful perception.
However, she had probably refrained from taking immediate action because she didn't sense any malice from the elf.
Otherwise, Filia would probably already be three feet deep underground by now.

Filia didn't seem like she had noticed that Luna was awake.
After looking at Alice's weak and gentle appearance in confusion for a moment, she nodded to Alice's question.

After getting off Alice's bed, Filia quietly walked to the door, opened it, and walked out.
She didn't make even the slightest sound in the process, so it was no wonder Lalu and Zauna remained oblivious of her intrusion.

However, Alice still felt that she needed to train herself more.
After all, Luna had easily noticed Filia's intrusion, whereas she had only noticed the elf after the other party had climbed onto her bed.

Meanwhile, after covering her camisole with her shirt, Alice also walked out of the room.
Then, she saw Filia standing in the corridor outside, waiting for her.

Filia did not start their conversation in the corridor.
Instead, she led Alice to the hotel's rooftop, though it'd be more appropriate to call it a treetop rather than a rooftop.
After all, the hotel was built into a towering tree, so the hotel's roof was naturally the tree's canopy.
Meanwhile, to allow people to walk around the canopy, the elves had strengthened the leaves and branches here.

After arriving at the canopy, Filia finally decided to speak her mind.
While looking at Alice's petite body, she hesitantly asked:

“What is your name?”

“Alice,” Alice answered truthfully.
However, when she considered her current identity, she quickly added, “Alice Ceres, the current Gryffin King's daughter.”

Although Alice found it strange to bear the family name of Ceres, it was Hatter's surname.
Since she was taking on the identity of Hatter's illegitimate daughter right now, she naturally had to attach this surname to her name.

“So it's you.
You're the princess who was asking for a Seed of Nature,” Filia exclaimed, quickly recalling the matter of the Gryffin Kingdom's princess asking the elves for a Seed of Nature.
Though, she honestly didn't expect the little girl before her to be that princess.

Moreover, Filia also knew that the elven council had seemingly agreed to this princess's request.
Although she was very surprised to learn that her people had become more open after she woke up, she supported this change.
She was of the opinion that the elves would only get left behind if they kept isolating themselves from the world.

However, despite knowing that this girl before her was the Gryffin Princess, Filia still felt that she should ask the question that had been plaguing her since a week ago:

“I came to find you because I wanted to ask you something.
Are you…the Hero?”