The red-cedar-skinned Monarch

Although she was a member of the royal family, Lina didn't have a maid or any servant for the matter, making the very specific preparations rather a chore for her.

She was taking so long, actually, that one of the family servants ended up being sent out to fetch her for breakfast - a semi-formal gathering for the royal family members, mandatory for those staying in the royal castle.

"...let's go…"

Lina nodded at the servant as her eyes stopped for a moment at their ears.

As she followed the servant, the elven woman couldn't help but keep stealing glances.

The servant's ears were long and pointy, but not naturally.

They carried clear signs of being cut to shape and healed up -crudely- so as not to offend the eyes of the royals who had those beautiful features naturally.

And the more she looked, the more details she found that made her expression turn grim.

While it started with the most visible scarred ears, the servant's skin was covered with a thick layer of makeup that had no other purpose than to lighten it.

Elvenkin skin was of a variety of colors.

From as pale as the wood of the whitewood, through the red of cedar, and to as dark as ebony wood.

Those three, white, red, and black, were considered the most aesthetically pleasing in their purest form, with anything in between being considered lesser.

Therefore, the servant whose naturally birchwood-colored skin could be seen when their sleeve moved a bit too far during movement had to resort to covering it up to not… 'hurt the eyes of the royals.'

...just like it was with the ears that had to originally be birch-leaf-shaped or, at most, hazelnut-leaf-shaped...

"..."

Lina's mood dampened even more.

After all, the color of the wood of their nation's Sacred Tree wasn't either white, red, or black! The discrimination on that alone made no sense...!

And even looking past the Sacred Tree alone, the bountiful of nature's colors should be appreciated in full!

...should be...

"Princess Lina."

"Thank you for guiding me."

Alas, the walk ended and the servant bowed their head to the woman who nodded at them with a polite smile.

"..."

"..."

As they stepped away, the servant didn't do a good job of hiding their feelings and Lina noticed their jealous stare when they peeked at her skin.

Lina's feelings on the matter aside, her skin was the shade closest to the whitewood without being the whitewood itself - the pale color of the wood of the holly tree, putting her in an advantageous position…

…or that would be the case if her father didn't run off with a human thirty years ago…

Lina's father, whose skin bore the perfect resemblance to whitewood, with his shameful affair, put quite the shade on the color… although not enough to make others - like the servant staring jealousy at Lina - stop trying to achieve similar shade.

Nonetheless, Lina entered the dining room in silence, with her head lowered politely, and walked to her seat by the long table arching down from the weight of the various types of food.

Officially, the elvenkin diet consisted of the bountiful of nature's vegetation.

And that was the truth for the commoners.

It didn't stop the royals from having a vast range of poultry, meat, and fish readily available for their culinary enjoyment.

"Lina, Princess. We are glad you chose to join us."

As Lina was reaching towards a platter full of mouthwatering vegetables, she was called out to and froze up.

After taking back her hand, she straightened her back and looked around for the first time.

Everyone else besides the cedar-red-skinned dark-green-haired man taking up the seat of honor had their heads lowered, focused on their own plates, careful not to make eye-contact with anyone before being called out.

Lina checking her surroundings was only a formality since only the cedar-red-skinned man could speak out freely and give permission to do the same.

Lina's seat was at the far end of the left side of the long table, and she was one of only three whitewood-adjacent-skinned elvenkin in the room. The other two being a strict-faced light-birchwood-skinned pale-green-haired woman sitting directly to the left of the cedar-red-skinned man, and at most sixty-years-old dark-green-haired child with skin only a single shade darker than Lina's.

"It is us who are grateful for the grace of your presence during a meal, Your Majesty."

After taking at least a glance at everyone else, Lina turned her head towards the man at the seat of honor and nodded at him.

She then broke eye contact with the bark-brown-eyed monarch and glanced at the burnt-umber-skinned woman at his right and a briar-wood-skinned man next to her.

"Since we all know what will take place today, I deem there are no matters of importance to discuss. But is there something you want to say to Haven and Jasper… Lina, Princess?"

The monarch hummed in amusement, following Lina's line of sight, addressing the pair on his right but not in a way that would give them permission to join the conversation.

"Indeed, Your Majesty."

"Then say it."

Lina nodded, receiving almost immediate permission to continue speaking from the monarch.

"I will be the one going."

"...!?"

"!!!"

Lina announced, and although her words were vague, everyone understood what she meant, and many - including her aunt and cousin - flinched and tensed up, but did not dare to raise their heads.

"Fascinating~ You never struck me as one interested in palace games… and I never noticed you reciprocating the hostility those two treated you with… Why the sudden urge to take this opportunity away from them, Lina, Princess?"

The cedar-red-skinned monarch asked, greatly enjoying the situation - especially the sight of Haven and Jasper squirming in agitation, barely holding themselves back from speaking up.

"It has nothing to do with my feelings towards them, Your Majesty. Simply said, I will be the first member of the royal family in three hundred years to be chosen by the Sacred Tree."

"...~"

"!!!"

Lina closed her eyes to stop herself from rolling them at the provocation and answered, now causing everyone at the table, except the amused monarch, to flinch in unison.

"I allow it."

The cedar-red-skinned elf leaned back in his seat and nodded while staring at the ceiling, seemingly barely holding himself back from bursting into a peal of hearty laughter.

"...?"

He also didn't address anyone, withdrawing his permission to speak from Lina, although he didn't do the same for looking around, leaving the holly-skinned woman quite perplexed about his motives.

It left her in a peculiar situation where she could see the rest of the royal family squirming in their seats as if they were live seafood thrown into a scalding-hot pan.