"Father approved my sister's request to travel to Bel Diran with her friends, but if you ask , she's definitely going there to see Williatte."
That was the opinion of Hathaway's younger brother. Before this, Hathaway had never ntioned she was coming to Bel Diran. Jenkins, knowing he was terrible at reading the minds of young won, figured they were probably planning to surprise him.
So he made young Hersha forget the mory and headed to Maidenhaven Road to check on his family. To his surprise, the house was empty. Even for a weekday afternoon, it was strange for no one to be ho.
He eventually learned from a neighbor watching the house that the Williams family had left for a vacation in Bel Diran a few days prior.
"I just got a letter from Robert yesterday," Jenkins thought. "He told to enjoy my ti in Bel Diran and reminded to buy that fountain pen young John has been wanting for ages when I ca back to Nolan... He never said a word about everyone else coming to Bel Diran..."
Having co up empty again, Jenkins decided against returning to Bel Diran just yet. With both the girls and his family gone, he headed back to Fifth Queen's Avenue near the Docklands to check on Papa Oliver.
"Unsurprisingly, Papa Oliver wasn't there either."
Jenkins stood before the antique shop, wrapped in his black robe. The main door was securely locked, and the display windows were boarded up. Posing as a custor, he inquired with Sally, the woman who sold trinkets next door, and learned that Papa Oliver had left for Bel Diran three days ago to pick up a very important shipnt.
"Old Oliver said it's the biggest deal of his life," she explained. "Said he had to go to Bel Diran himself."
Sally explained, then seized the opportunity to push so of her trinkets on Jenkins.
"Why has everyone gone to Bel Diran? I may be dense, but even I can tell sothing isn't right... Strange..."
Completely baffled, Jenkins stood on the street with his cat, unsure of where to go next. He began to walk, lost in thought, and before he knew it, he found himself near the university where the professor worked.
Realizing it had been so ti since his last visit, he hopped the wall onto the university grounds and found the professor in his office.
"It's wonderful to see you! I'm so glad you haven't gone to Bel Diran."
Jenkins exclaid, overjoyed to see Professor Burns.
"Eh? Why would I go to Bel Diran?" the professor asked. "And Jenkins, aren't you supposed to be in Bel Diran yourself? What are you doing back here?"
The professor was delighted to see Jenkins. As it happened, he had no classes that afternoon and was free to chat. When Jenkins ntioned Papa Oliver's sudden trip to Bel Diran, the professor admitted he didn't know the details. He'd heard from Oliver a few days back about taking a long journey for sothing important, but he never imagined he was headed for the royal capital.
"Well, that's not so bad. You might even run into him in Bel Diran."
the professor remarked. Jenkins was sure he would run into him; he had a gut feeling that everyone's trip to Bel Diran was connected to him.
Jenkins set his cat down on the desk to amuse itself, having decided to while away the afternoon in the professor's office. The professor, equally pleased to have the company, chatted with Jenkins about his recent travels and the latest happenings in Nolan.
The conversation drifted on until five o'clock, when it sohow turned to the professor's recent research. He suddenly slapped his forehead, having rembered sothing important:
"That matter you asked to look into has seen a major breakthrough. It was pure coincidence, really. I was collaborating with a woman who goes by the moniker 'Magic Miss' to analyze a set of stone tablets from the ancient elven kingdom. We cross-referenced them with modern noble lineages and discovered sothing quite extraordinary."
Jenkins had asked the professor to investigate many things over the years—worlds beyond the material plane, the "Month of Flowing Fire," the connection between the ancient and modern gods of death. Most of these inquiries had gone unanswered, as they weren't mysteries that could be solved in a matter of weeks. They were topics that a researcher could dedicate a lifeti to, and Jenkins had never expected the professor to find any concrete answers.
"What did you discover?"
Jenkins set down his teacup and asked, his curiosity piqued. Outside, the sun was setting, and its golden light spilled through the window, casting a gilded edge on Jenkins, the professor, and the cat on the desk.
Chocolate, who had been dozing next to Jenkins's cup, cracked open an eye to watch him. It had been waiting for this mont for a long, long ti.
"Long, long ago, there was a period of extensive intermarriage between humans and elves. Through this, the bloodline of the elven royal family entered the human population. The human families who carry this bloodline have survived to this day, becoming the most ancient of our noble houses. But this lineage wasn't just any elven royalty. They were the priests of the legendary World Tree—the noblest of all elves. To be honest, I can't fathom why such a prestigious bloodline would be passed down to humans."
Jenkins sat bolt upright, his eyes shining with an intense light as he stared at the professor. The intensity of his gaze made the professor deeply uncomfortable; it was putting him under imnse pressure.
"What did you discover? Which family na carries this bloodline today?"
The answer he'd been chasing for so long was right here, revealed on a day that had felt utterly mundane, in the fading light of an unremarkable evening. There was no sense of ceremony, none of the struggle he'd anticipated. It felt like a mockery of all his efforts.
Jenkins could feel his breath catching in his throat with anticipation. His stare was making the professor's skin crawl, but he continued nonetheless:
"The lineage of the World Tree priests of the elven royalty is right here among us; we even read about them in the papers every day. Yes, it's the royal family—the Middletons. They are one of the very few families to have preserved their ancient elven blood. In hindsight, it's not entirely surprising. It's quite easy to see, really. The kings of the Fidektri Kingdom have always been remarkably long-lived and rarely fall gravely ill. I believe that is the proof that the elven blood still runs strong in their family... Jenkins, you look... very strange."
Jenkins didn't realize his mouth was agape until a long mont had passed. He closed it, but the professor's words echoed relentlessly in his mind.
It all made sense now. So many things he'd never been able to piece together finally clicked into place. The truthful lies, the concealnts, and the truth that lay beyond the truth...
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