***Cherwoods, sometime long ago…***

  The Elf Saint, Lady Hinwe Tal-Inwir, had shut herself in her room, telling her maid, Ulve, never to allow anyone in. Though she kept telling all that she was fine by consuming the food brought to her, the holy dy would not resume her duties on the saintly throne. What’s even worse was that it’s been several long sleeps since she did that; the maids and the tree pace officials were concerned about their people's growing anger for her inaction.

  “What’s happening? It’s been long since the Saint has met us!”

  “The sand is devouring our farms! Without her help, our crops will be destroyed!”

  “Don’t hide her from her people! You pace folks are idiots!”

  The only thing that separated the tranquility of the pace from the raging mob was the Life Guards, standing on the walls with their shields up and swords drawn. Nevertheless, the Lady Hinwe had given orders never to let blood and violence in her residence, so the elf warriors could do nothing but watch. Across the courtyard, senior pace officials watched in anxiety, as the tension between the Life Guards and their people never went down.

  “…”

  Meanwhile, across the silent halls of the tree pace were murmurs. Some were harmless, like “Her Holiness must be tired from her travels checking her people…” and there were those who were downright rebellious, as some of the more aggressive officials would say, “If the Lady Hinwe is easily exhausted, then that means she can’t rule as a saint anymore!”

  “…”

  All of these were heard by Lady Ulve, the only one Her Holiness allowed to enter her room. Though she wanted to answer—and correct—the rumors floating around, she remained tight-lipped; the Lady Hinwe asked her to. As such, there were people within the pace scattering stories about her as well, such as, “The Lady Ulve is hiding something behind the door where the saint is holed up,” or “She’s hiding Her Holiness so she can monopolize her!”

  Of course, while she was faithful to her mistress, Ulve was still affected by the snders. Her fellow servants looked at her disdainfully, while the pace officials viewed her suspiciously. Still, the maid dismissed their allegations, though her patience was nearing its end.

  And then…

  “!!!”

  The peaceful silence of the pace dissipated when something stirred outside in the courtyard. Thinking that the angry crowd of elves outside the pace grounds had broken in, Ulve and the other pace officials rushed to check on the situation. To everyone’s surprise, however, what greeted them in the courtyard was not the raging mob of elves. Instead, a hooded figure stood in the middle of a ring of spearheads, pointed at him by the alerted Life Guards.

  “Who are you?” a senior pace official called out from his spot. Everyone was afraid to approach the mysterious man.

  The individual never answered. His lips only drew a smirk as he lifted an arm and pointed towards Ulve’s direction. Of course, everyone’s focus fell on his subject of attention, and the maid was bewildered.

  “Wh-What do you need from me, sire?” Ulve couldn’t keep her voice from shaking.

  “Your mistress,” the man replied. “Take me to her.”

  “Who are you to demand an audience with Her Holiness?” another pace official challenged him.

  “Did I talk to you?” the hooded man countered. “You bunch of long ears are so noisy, I can’t understand what the maid is saying!”

  Then, much to everyone’s shock, they suddenly found themselves unable to open their mouths or produce a sound from their throats. The only one who remained unaffected was Lady Ulve.

  “Wh-Who are you…l-lord?” the maid couldn’t help but kneel before the man as he approached the dais that led to the main door of the tree pace. The Life Guards had no option but to lower their spears, for those suddenly became heavy to bear.

  “You’re Ulve, daughter of Finwir, right?” the man asked, removing his cloak to reveal a familiar face. “Your faith in me and your mistress has rewarded you. It’s not every day you get to see the face of your god.”

  “M-M-Milord…” Ulve couldn’t believe her eyes, “…m-my god, Lord Gaius!”

  The former god smiled before her and said, “Take me to your mistress. We got something to discuss.”

  ----------

  ***The Saint’s Tree Pace, a few ‘long sleeps’ ter***

  “What do you think, Ulve?”

  The maid, who was busy cleaning the room of the Elf Saint, looked at the paper her mistress showed her. On it was an illustration of a familiar elf with a bigger pair of eyes than was real. “This is?” Ulve asked.

  “You don’t know?” Her Holiness replied, checking on the drawing.

  “No, I mean, that’s me, right?” the maid said. “I’m just surprised I got eyes that big.”

  “Oh, I see…” Hinwe nodded. “Well, this is what the Lord Gaius calls ‘anime-style’ drawing. Apparently, this style of illustration focuses on the eyes of the character, to show their emotions through it.”

  “Ah…so that’s why it’s big.”

  “But honestly, what do you think?”

  “Honestly, midy? I think I’m too cute in that drawing.”

  “Hm?” Hinwe grinned, confirming her servant’s feelings when she peeked into Ulve’s mind. “Well, you’re cute, Ulve! You keep on denying it, but I think if you dressed in beautiful clothes, the guys will fall for you.”

  “I decided to serve you, Your Holiness,” the maid countered. “If someone’s going to become my husband, then he must accept that I love you first, then him second.”

  Nevertheless, the Elf Saint was pretty happy with her work. During his visit earlier, Gaius taught her the ability to draw in that style. The former god kept saying that she reminded him of himself after some friends ‘abandoned’ him, so he thought of helping her by introducing her to manga and anime. And so far, Hinwe had been loving her new talent…

  ----------

  Buoyed by the reception of Ulve, the Elf Saint made simir illustrations of the other servants and the pace officials as well. This was for her gratitude for their faithfulness to her through their service in ensuring everything in the pace worked smoothly. So, she kept drawing for a few long sleeps, sometimes even missing to take a break.

  And when the time came to give the drawings to them…

  “…”

  “This is a small appreciation for your hard work,” Hinwe expined to the pace officials and the other maids as she handed down their respective illustrations made in anime-style. “I drew it myself!”

  “…” It took some time for the officials and servants to react. But they were all smiles. Many praised the drawings of their mistress, and some went so far as to decre it their family’s heirloom from that point onwards. A few also came to her and personally expressed their gratitude.

  However…

  “…”

  Hinwe had been reading their thoughts all along. Though they were saying good words to her face, deep inside…

  “What’s this? Cherwoods is full of chaos, and all this saint thinks are drawing weird things?”

  “I thought Her Holiness would give me gold, or silver…but this? How can I use this to buy the thing I want?”

  “This saint is really useless. Instead of solving the problem of her people, all she does is stupid things!”

  At that moment, Hinwe—already hurt by her experiences with the common folk—swore to herself never to bother with anyone else ever again…