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{Ember Pov}
I looked at the book on the table and placed my hand on its cover.
Flipping it open, I began to read.
The book was written in the language of the Elves, commonly known as Elvish, though it was also sometimes called Alfian, named after the Royal Elven family of Alf itself.
Although every Elf could understand and use it, they rarely employed it when communicating with other races, reserving it strictly for pure-blooded Elves.
The reason was simple: they believed that other races were not worthy of hearing or speaking their mother tongue.
Of course, not every Elf thought that way—some preferred to use Koine, the common tongue spoken almost everywhere, designed to break down language barriers without any motives of discrimination.
I sighed, shaking away the unnecessary thoughts, and focused back on the book.
Time slipped by as I kept turning the pages until I finally reached the end.
"Your Highness! Here you are!" A sudden, familiar voice rang behind me.
I turned and found Remia, the maid personally assigned to me.
[REMIA]
As always, she bowed respectfully, her gaze filled with loyalty and reverence, something that even Elven Nobility showed toward the Royal bloodline.
"Remia, is it time for dinner already?" I asked, my voice still carrying that childish pitch that betrayed my young age.
"Indeed, Your Highness. And although I should not presume to speak out of turn as a mere maid, I must still say this. I know you are considered a genius, but please refrain from overexerting yourself. It is only a humble request from someone who worries for you," she said, her tone filled with both respect and genuine concern.
I didn't mind her words.
I knew she was right.
After all, it was hardly normal for a three-year-old child to sit for hours in silence, reading through books meant for adults.
"I will keep that in mind, Remia. Thank you for your concern," I replied with a small nod.
A smile instantly formed on her lips; she seemed happy and satisfied with my answer.
She bowed again and asked, "Now, if Your Highness would grant me permission…" I gave another small nod to indicate my approval.
She stepped forward, scooped me up gently into her arms, and carried me out.
Eventually, she escorted me to the dining room, where my father, mother, and elder sister were already waiting.
Remia carefully placed me into my chair, then bowed toward my family before retreating.
My eyes immediately went to the table, where a variety of lavish dishes had been laid out. Just looking at them made my mouth water, and I could already feel saliva gathering at the corner of my lips.
I won't lie—half the reason I had been so motivated to spend hours reading in the library was because I knew dinner would be sumptuous.
If there was no reward after all that effort, I doubted I would be as enthusiastic about burying myself in books.
With that thought, I quickly picked up my fork, ready to attack my food, but before I could take the first bite, I was suddenly pulled into a tight hug.
"Ember! I heard you were reading in the library—so cute!" my sister, Riveria Ljos Alf, exclaimed as she sat me on her lap.
[RIVERIA LJOS ALF]
I gritted my teeth and shot her an annoyed look.
"Sister! Let me go! I'm hungry!" I complained, but all that earned me was a gleeful chuckle.
She ignored my words and pressed her cheeks against mine.
"Ahhh, damn! How can anyone be this cute?" she said enthusiastically, rubbing her face against mine with no intention of letting go.
"Riveria," my father's cold, authoritative voice suddenly cut in.
His expression was stoic as ever. "It is unbefitting of royalty to behave like this at the dining table. Put Ember back in his seat."
Riveria pouted, her lips jutting out.
My mother giggled softly and said, "Leave it, Larfal. She is only a child, just having fun with her little brother."
[ADA LJOS ALF]
Father held Riveria in his piercing gaze for a few moments longer before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Fine," he muttered, returning his attention to his food.
Mother, meanwhile, gave my sister a sly grin, and Riveria immediately resumed her antics, continuing to play with me like I was some kind of doll.
Once she had her fill of rubbing, hugging, and sniffing me like a puppy with a new toy, she finally passed me on to our mother.
"Ember, come to Mommy," Mother said with a radiant smile, her arms open.
But I knew exactly what was coming next—she was going to treat me like a doll as well.
I tried to struggle, but my sister's grip was far stronger than anything I could resist at three years old.
In the end, I found myself buried in my mother's warm embrace. If this had been the old me, I might have enjoyed being so close to such a beautiful woman.
But when you're trapped in the body of a toddler, trust me—it feels more troublesome than anything else.
At last, after Mother and Sister had finished their "bonding time," I was finally allowed back into my seat. 'Damn it! If this were modern times, I'd sue you both for sexual harassment of a minor!' I thought bitterly, though I quickly redirected my frustration into devouring the food in front of me.
I finished my meal at record speed, satisfied at last, and Remia soon came to escort me back to my room.
"Your Highness is truly loved by both your mother and sister," she said with a small giggle.
I clicked my tongue and replied, "I still don't like being treated like a doll, though!"
Remia chuckled softly and said, "Ah, if only I were not just a maid… perhaps I too would have dared to share such a bonding session with Your Highness."
I turned to her with a deadpan stare, my face full of disgust.
She froze the moment she realized what she had just let slip from her mouth.
For a few seconds, she fumbled awkwardly, her hands twitching as if searching for the right words, before falling completely silent.
In the end, she chose not to say anything more and simply escorted me to my room in quiet haste.
After setting me down gently on the floor, she suddenly dropped to her knees, lowering her head deeply.
"Please forgive me, Your Highness!" she begged, her voice trembling with genuine panic.
I smirked at the sight and said, "Should I? What you said really changed my view of you, Remia."
Her face instantly went pale.
'Man, I'm having way too much fun with this', I thought as my lips curved into a grin. Pointing at her dramatically, I declared, "Pervert Elf!"
Her expression turned even more ghostly, her mouth slightly open in disbelief as she stared at me. I nodded in satisfaction, pleased with the reaction I had gotten. But then, all of a sudden, her eyes hardened and turned deadly serious.
"Your Highness… which shameless wretch had the audacity to teach you the word 'pervert'?" she asked in a dangerously calm tone.
That froze me. I realized my slip immediately, but instead of panicking, I forced myself to answer smoothly.
"I remember you calling your husband that once when he came here," I lied casually.
Her hands clenched into fists, her nails digging into her palms.
"I see. So it was his mistake," she muttered with venom.
Just like that, she shifted the entire blame onto her husband.
Poor guy. I did feel a little bad for him, but… well, he would just have to deal with an angry wife on his own.
Sending a silent apology to the unfortunate man in my mind, I dismissed Remia from my room.
Once she left, I climbed onto my bed and shifted my gaze toward the window.
The moonlight spilled into the room, and I let out a long sigh.
"It's already been three years," I murmured to myself.
To be honest, the fact that I had reincarnated as an Elf—a High Elf no less—was still something that occasionally caught me off guard. If that wasn't enough, I was also born into the Royal Elven family.
All things considered, I couldn't complain. I was quite satisfied with the situation.
First off, I had ended up in the world of Danmachi.
At first, I doubted it, even though there were many similarities: the royal family name, the existence of Riveria as my sister who was sixteen years older than me, and several other small details.
But once I learned about the Gods and the concept of Falna, all my doubts vanished.
Honestly, I blame Riveria for misleading me.
Unlike her serious portrayal in the anime, my sister was energetic, curious, and far too doting on me.
If it had been me in my teenage years, I probably would have been grinning ear to ear, shouting something like, "An Elf waifu!" or "Incest is wincest!"
But reality was different.
Once you pass the stage where hormones are constantly hijacking your brain, your thought process changes.
And being stuck in the body of a three-year-old erased whatever lustful nonsense might have been lurking in my head.
Those kinds of fantasies were tossed straight into the trash bin.
For now at least, I had no such dreams.
Anyway, as I said, I'm actually quite content with my current life.
My previous life ended when I was in my thirties, unmarried and single, which honestly turned out better than I'd expected.
My parents had already passed away by then, so I had long since processed their deaths.
I was never particularly close with my other relatives either. I did have friends, and I missed them, but moving on wasn't too hard.
Though, I'll admit, on the very first day of reincarnation, I bawled my eyes out.
As for how exactly I reincarnated?
I have absolutely no clue. I didn't meet some God who accidentally killed me and offered me compensation.
I wasn't approached by a random omnipotent ROB eager to grant me overpowered wishes.
Nor was there a beautiful Goddess waiting in the void who decided to gift me a second chance just because she liked my soul.
If any of those encounters did happen, then I certainly don't remember them.
Maybe it was something like Rudy's situation in Mushoku Tensei—a natural reincarnation without divine meddling.
Honestly, that possibility didn't bother me much.
The only real disappointment was the lack of any kind of cheat ability.
Still, it wasn't the end of the world.
There was always a chance that some hidden power or system wouldn't reveal itself until I reached adulthood, or maybe only in the face of mortal danger, or perhaps it would only awaken once I received a Falna, the blessing of a God. But I wasn't exactly eager to gamble on that hope.
Cheats and systems might look appealing in stories, but in reality, they usually come bundled with just as many problems as benefits.
Not having a cheat ability might have been disappointing, but it wasn't something I couldn't live without.
I had already decided that I would simply live my life properly and prepare myself for the future.
I wouldn't completely throw away the possibility of a system or cheat awakening at some point later on, but I also wasn't going to revolve my entire life around waiting for it.
Whether I ended up with one or not, I would do whatever it took to grow stronger in this world.
I let out a small sigh.
Having been an avid novel reader in my past life, my imagination always ran wild when it came to these sorts of scenarios.
Still, when I thought about it seriously, my starting point was nothing short of incredible.
I was born as the only son of Larfal Ljos Alf and Ada Ljos Alf. My name: Ember Ljos Alf.
As the sole male heir of the Royal Family, and considering how rare Elven children were—sometimes taking decades for a single offspring to be born—my position as the future king was practically set in stone.
Of course, that coronation was still a long, long way off.
Elves were blessed with longevity, often living over two hundred years with relative ease.
High Elves like me lived even longer, with lifespans that could surpass five hundred years.
In other words, I had centuries ahead of me before I'd have to shoulder the responsibilities of ruling.
Maybe by the time I finally ascended the throne, I would have already traveled across the majority of the world and experienced countless adventures.
But I didn't want to limit myself to just that.
I had a dream, a true goal.
Getting stronger was just one part of it.
Deep inside, I had always held a thirst for adventure—and yes, maybe even for waifus.
The thing is, if the world of Danmachi existed, then who was to say that other anime worlds, comic universes, or even movie worlds couldn't exist as well?
The possibility was thrilling beyond words. The idea of exploring multiple realities, growing absurdly strong, and maybe gathering a few waifus along the way made my heart race.
Sure, I admitted it—it was childish.
My dream was childish, maybe even naive to the extreme.
But did I care? Not in the slightest. I knew that if I could achieve even part of that dream, I would feel satisfied.
Fulfilled. Content. And that was enough for me.
Realistically, the chances of hopping across different realities without some kind of cheat were very slim. But I wasn't the kind of person who gave up just because something seemed unlikely.
"In simple words: I want to reach the furthest reaches of the Heavens!" I declared aloud, before letting out another sigh.
A lot had already happened in these past three years.
I was proclaimed a prodigy early on, mostly because I had managed to gain a solid grasp of the Elvish language at such a young age.
Beyond that, I hadn't shown any particularly remarkable abilities, and my parents had shrugged it off as simply the natural talent of a Royal Elf.
The rest of the Elves seemed to agree as well.
In truth, the status of Elven Royals was revered to the point of being almost ridiculous.
Many Elves respected the Royal Family even more than the Gods themselves.
The majority treated us as if we were on an entirely different plane of existence. Adventurer Elves who had pledged themselves to a deity were the exception—they tended to side with their Gods. Even then, unless their God was clearly in the wrong against the Royals, they would still show deference.
That was the kind of respect the Alf family commanded.
Of course, my life wasn't without complications.
Even with my clear roadmap for the future, there was still my father's strong disdain for the Gods to contend with. His hatred of them made things more difficult than they had to be.
Still, I couldn't really blame him.
He wasn't entirely wrong—most of the Gods really were assholes.
I mean, they could easily destroy the Dungeon and end the suffering it caused to countless races, but instead, they turned it into a glorified playground just to alleviate their boredom.
"Well, whatever. Ember, you must have a firm will. Stick to your goals!" I muttered to myself.
I chuckled at how often I ended up monologuing like this.
"And with that… it's about time to sleep," I added, yawning slightly as drowsiness began to take over.
My eyelids grew heavy, and I allowed my tired mind to sink into the sweetness of sleep.
There would be plenty of time to worry about the future later.
To be continued…