Author: M_W Cancer 

Proofreader: M_W Miss Fierce

Soon, Leo and the others arrived at a garden located at the back of the castle. 

Unlike the garden of Commander Vargas at his palace, the garden of the Evergreen royal family's castle doesn't have any buildings or the likes. 

There were only tables and chairs arrange in a circle and in front was the view of the beautiful garden covered with all sorts of different flowers from ordinary to Magic flowers. 

Butterflies and other normal bugs, as well as birds, could be seen flying around the surrounding, making everyone feel the beauty and peacefulness of this place.

Sitting on one of the chairs was a mature and handsome-looking Elf with a somewhat big build dressed in green-colored noble clothing with a green long cape reaching to the ground on the back of his attire. He was currently sipping on some kind of tea while reading a letter on his other hand. His eyes were as calm as the surroundings as he slowly turned to look at Leo and the others who just arrived along with Luke. 

As there was no one aside from this person in this garden, thus it was pretty obvious for Leo and the others to guess that this is King Elfin the Fourth, excluding Elvis of course as he had already recognized him the moment he saw the man.

"Your Majesty! Guild Leader Loki has arrived," Luke announced before one of his knees kneeled on the ground. 

"Your Majesty," Leo, Angel, Elvis, Iasiah, and Nightingale greeted with a slight bow of their heads to show their respect.

"General Luke, you can go now," King Elfin the Fourth motioned his hand for Luke to leave. 

Leo and the others can't help feeling a bit surprised after finding out that Luke is actually a General. They really thought that he was just an ordinary Royal Magical Knight, especially considering his young appearance and the cultivation level of a 6 Star Mage. 

"Yes, your Majesty," Luke said as he then left the garden. 

After seeing Luke leave, King Elfin the Fourth turned to look at Leo and the others as he motioned his hand for them to sit on the chairs in front of him.

"I must have caught Guild Leader Loki really surprised with my sudden invitation here," King Elfin the Fourth said the moment Leo and the others sat on their chairs. 

"Indeed," Leo nodded his head, he then continued, "None of us has really expected your sudden invitation, your Majesty,"

"Though I was also a bit surprised that Elvis would actually come as well. Nice to see you again, my old friend. How have you been?" King Elfin the Fourth smiled at Elvis. 

"Still the same as before. Making maps and collecting information around the Emerald Tree Kingdom," Elvis replied casually. 

"At first, I really thought that you have left the Emerald Tree Kingdom to go somewhere else until I heard from Commander Vargas that you were only living outside the Emerald Forest and is now a member of the Mischievous Lion Guild. So, I'm really curious to know why you have decided to accept Guild Leader Loki's invitation, but rejected mine?" King Elfin the Fourth asked before sipping on his tea. 

"I guess only Fate could give us the answer to that, your Majesty," Elvis replied. Honestly, he also doesn't know the exact reason why he had decided to accept Leo's invitation. The only thing he knows is that he felt like accepting it the moment it was presented in front of him and that's why he accepted it. Even after finding out about the real purpose of the establishment of the Mischievous Lion Guild, he still didn't felt like leaving, rather he even felt like he's going closer to his goal in life. 

"You have changed. In the past, you used to be so defensive whenever someone asks you a question about yourself. But now," King Elfin the Fourth paused as he observes Elvis from head to toe. He continued, "You can finally give an answer without feeling nervous and flustered at all. Great for you,"

"This is what happened after going through many trials and challenges in life," Elvis shook his head to express that his change can't be helped. 

King Elfin the Fourth sip on his tea before finally going to the main topic, "Anyways, I'm not here to catch up with my old friend Elvis. I'm here to discuss something with you, Guild Leader Loki, or should I call you now as Guild Leader Leo?"

Leo's eyes immediately narrowed after hearing King Elfin the Fourth finding out about his real identity. By the side, Angel, Iasiah, and Nightingale also quickly stood up as they took out their weapons. Even Elvis turned solemn as he observes King Elfin the Fourth closely.

Seeing everyone's reaction, King Elfin the Fourth can't help letting out a chuckle, "Calm down, calm down, all of you are really tense. I don't mean any harm,"

"I quite doubt that your Majesty. So, with all due respect, how exactly did you find out my real identity?" Leo asked as he balled his fist and rested his chin on top. 

"Honestly, it wasn't me that have found out about your real identity," King Elfin the Fourth slid the letter he was holding before towards Leo. 

Leo picked up the letter with his other hand and soon began reading the content. A few seconds later, he shook his head helplessly.

It seems like Madam Flores had thoroughly investigated him after their meeting and soon found out about his real identity.

How careless of him...

"Let's not be specially courteous anymore with each other, Guild Leader Leo, especially considering that you're a Prince," King Elfin the Fourth said, he then continued, "Just like what you have read in the letter, Madam Flores wanted you to participate in our secret operation in the upcoming Emerald Elven Battle Competition. Of course, I can't just accept it instantly, that's why I invited you to come here so that I can see for myself what's so special about you."

Sizing up Leo from head to toe, King Elfin the Fourth added, "But base on what I've observed so far, there is actually nothing special about you,"

"Yeah, there's indeed really nothing special about me. So, if it's alright to ask, can we leave now?" Leo stood up from his chair. Since his presence here wasn't appreciated, then why would he bothered to stay. He might as well just leave and use the time he was supposedly going to spend here to train himself in preparation for the Emerald Elven Battle Competition. 

King Elfinthe Fourth didn't mind Leo's action as he continued, "As such, it makes me even more curious as to why exactly did Madam Flores invited you to join," 

"You should have asked Madam Flores to answer your question, instead of inviting me to come here," Leo said as he sat back down on his chair, he quickly continued, "Let's not beat around the bush anymore, your Majesty. How about you tell me now what exactly you want?"

"Aren't you worried that your action here might cause the Evergreen royal family not to accept any business cooperation with the Lionheart Kingdom in the future, that is if ever there is indeed any? Although the distance between two Kingdom territories is far, we are still considered as neighbors," King Elfin the Fourth said. 

"The business of the Lionheart Kingdom and my business are two different matters. The Lionheart Kingdom is the problem of the people living over there, while my own problem is the Mischievous Lion Guild alone. So, I'll kindly ask you a second time, your Majesty, stop beating around the bush and tell me what is it you really want?" 

"Even if this business could possibly destroy the Lionheart Kingdom and kill everyone living over there?" King Elfin the Fourth asked with a smile on his face. 

Leo's face immediately darkens as he finally understood where exactly was King Elfin the Fourth going with their conversation. 

"Is this about the Naughty Elves organization?" Leo asked, though half-knowing already that this should indeed be what King Elfin the Fourth meant with all of his lines. 

"Do you know about them?" King Elfin asked as he poured Leo's cup with some tea. 

Leo picked up the cup as he sipped a bit of the tea, "Good tea,"

"That tea is called Heartland tea which is made using the leaves of a specially cultivated Magic flower in my garden called Heartland Flower. The moment you drink this tea, your heart will start to slowly calm down and your mind will be cleared from unnecessary thoughts, making you think easily, have clear thoughts, and handle any kind of situation to the best of your ability. If you would like, I can give you some of it and also a seed of this Heartland Flower after our conversation so that you can grow some Heartland Flower for yourself and make some tea to enjoy in the future," King Elfin the Fourth smiled in response. 

Realizing that there is no problem anymore between Leo and King Elfin the Fourth, Angel, Elvis, Iasiah, and Nightingale finally calmed down, though they still didn't let down their guard in case something bad would really happen. At that time, they would at least be long prepared already to handle the trouble.