Deep beneath the forests of the Elven Kingdom, hidden below roots older than kingdoms themselves, there existed a secret known only to a chosen few.
It was called the Evergreen Machine.
Though many referred to it as an artifact, that word felt too small for what it truly was.
It was not a sword, nor a relic, nor some ancient magical treasure.
It was a machine.
A massive, living mechanism of metal, crystal, and flowing mana—so large that it seemed less like something built by hands and more like a part of the world itself.
It was the silent heart of the Elven Kingdom.
The reason the forests never withered.
The reason the rivers remained full.
The reason the land itself breathed with endless green.
Without it, the kingdom would slowly begin to die.
It had first been discovered centuries ago by the First of the Eight Elders.
Buried deep below the earth, forgotten by time.
Alongside the Eighth Elder, Manan—the one remembered for strange inventions and knowledge beyond his era—the First Elder had studied the machine for years.
Together, they managed to restore it.
They left behind manuals, records, and explanations of its structure.
But time had not been kind to those writings.
The language cryptic, and much of their knowledge felt more like riddles than instruction.
For centuries, the Evergreen Machine continued to function.
Until a few years ago.
That was when the first signs of failure appeared.
The forests did not fade immediately, but subtle changes began. Certain trees stopped blooming. Rivers lost some of their glow.
It was also around that same time that the dwarves began their war.
The kingdom's focus shifted to survival.
Even so, the Queen had brought in the finest blacksmiths, engineers, and mages from across the land. None could solve it.
At best, they delayed the damage.
At worst, they made it worse.
Princess Irene had learned of the problem from her father long ago.
She searched everywhere.
The Royal Library.
The forbidden archives.
Even the vast libraries of Vlad.
But she found no answer.
Then came Henry.
His strange bionic arm had caught her attention long before his reputation did. It looked like something that should not exist in this era.
And after hearing her brother praise him again and again, she decided perhaps he was worth trying.
Which was how things had somehow led to this.
Henry stood beside Queen Diana and Princess Irene in front of the Evergreen Machine.
Even after everything he had seen, he found himself speechless.
The chamber was enormous.
Countless elves guarded the area, while scholars and engineers worked tirelessly around the machine. Crystal pipes ran like veins through the walls. Rotating rings of metal floated slowly around a glowing core beneath a vast lake of suspended light.
It was magnificent.
And terrifying.
The machine still functioned.
But barely.
At most, they estimated it had ten years left.
No more.
The guard at the entrance struck his spear against the floor.
"Her Majesty is here!"
The entire chamber fell silent.
Every worker immediately lowered their head.
Queen Diana raised a hand.
"At ease."
The room slowly returned to motion.
She then stepped forward and introduced Henry.
There were skeptical looks everywhere.
Henry noticed them all.
Finally, he asked the question directly.
"Why do you think I can fix this?"
Irene answered before anyone else.
"Because of your arm."
Henry looked down at the mechanical limb.
"And because of your disappearance," she continued.
His expression changed slightly.
She stepped closer.
"I believe you found the remains of Manan's manor—the Eighth Elder's hidden workshop. No one else could have obtained something like that."
Henry was silent for a moment.
She wasn't entirely wrong.
Finally, he sighed.
"…Fine. I'll try."
And so he began.
Days passed.
Then more days.
Henry buried himself in the old manuals left behind by the First Elder and Manan. Their writings were exhausting—half engineering, half philosophy.
The deeper he read, the clearer one thing became.
The First Elder had not built this machine.
He had repaired it.
The true creator was someone far older.
Someone lost to history.
That realization alone left Henry in awe.
Whoever had built something of this scale… had been beyond extraordinary.
Queen Diana visited often.
Sometimes to check on progress.
Sometimes simply to observe.
Whenever she entered, the room subtly changed. Everyone stood straighter. Conversations became shorter.
She was kind, yes.
But authority followed her like shadow.
During one such visit, a royal guard approached quietly and whispered something to her.
"She is still not found."
Henry heard it.
The Queen's expression changed only for a moment.
Then it vanished.
She simply nodded and continued as though nothing had happened.
Henry noticed.
But said nothing.
A full week passed.
At last—
He found it.
Henry stood before the core of the machine, papers scattered around him.
He had solved it.
The machine gathered mana from the atmosphere and consumed it to sustain itself. But that was only part of its function.
Its true source was Lake Silvedor.
The Evergreen Machine was built directly beneath the sacred lake.
Every river in the Elven Kingdom eventually flowed into Lake Silvedor before draining into the sea. The rivers acted like veins, carrying mana from the entire kingdom toward the lake.
The lake fed the machine.
The machine fed the forest.
It was a perfect cycle.
Until now.
"The mana isn't gone," Henry explained to the gathered engineers.
"It's being redirected."
One of the engineers frowned.
"Does that mean there is no mana left in the kingdom?"
Henry shook his head.
"No. The mana is still there. It's just… gathering somewhere else."
He pointed toward the map.
"Somewhere near Lake Silvedor."
Silence filled the chamber.
Everyone present reacted the same way.
A brief, unreadable expression.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Henry noticed it immediately.
Queen Diana stepped forward.
"Thank you, Henry," she said calmly. "You've done more than enough. I will handle things from here."
Her voice left no room for argument.
Henry was about to offer help—
But Irene quickly pulled him aside.
"The Queen said it's enough."
There was something in her tone.
A warning.
Not to push further.
And so, reluctantly, he stepped back.
That night, Queen Diana arranged a banquet in his honor.
Music filled the palace halls. Nobles laughed softly. Crystal glasses reflected golden light.
It should have felt relaxing.
But Henry's mind remained trapped in that chamber.
It wasn't the Queen's reaction that bothered him.
It was everyone else.
The engineers.
The guards.
The ministers.
They had all shown the same expression.
Like they already knew.
Like this wasn't new information.
Something was hidden.
Something near Lake Silvedor.
And everyone except him seemed aware of it.
Still, he let the thought rest.
For now.
Because Irene pulled him away from the celebration and into a quieter private room.
She leaned against the window, looking strangely serious.
"So," she said softly, "you're leaving."
Henry nodded.
"Yeah."
There was a brief silence before she asked—
"Why haven't you visited your parents?"
The question caught him off guard.
He looked away.
"…Because I don't remember them."
His voice was quieter now.
"I don't have a single memory. Not their faces. Not their names. Nothing."
Even saying it aloud felt strange.
"So going back…" he exhaled, "…I'm not sure what I'm supposed to feel."
Irene listened without interrupting.
"I was hesitant," he admitted. "Because how do you return to people who remember you… when you don't remember them?"
Silence followed.
Then Henry looked at her.
"That package," he said. "Was it really not important?"
Irene smiled immediately.
"Nope."
Henry sighed.
"Then did you really approach me only for the Evergreen Machine?"
She stepped closer.
Close enough that Henry could feel the sudden danger of the moment.
Then, with a faint smile, she said—
"Maybe."
Her voice was playful.
Flirtatious.
Henry swallowed.
She stayed there for a second longer—
Then stepped back as if nothing had happened.
No mention of the Queen.
No mention of Lake Silvedor.
Only silence.
And perhaps something unspoken.
Soon after, Henry said his farewells.
To Queen Diana.
To Irene.
To the strange beauty of the Elven Kingdom.
And finally—
He turned toward the place he had avoided for far too long.
His true destination.
His hometown.
Verna.