I Became a Cub in the Elven Kingdom

Shu Li, his little face bright red, led Siet back to his flower cradle.

He truly had no words for his own mouth and tongue! He had clearly been thinking ”Siet,” yet the moment he spoke, it came out as ”Floor Mop.”

What crucial step was missing between thinking and speaking? How else could the difference be so enormous?

Shu Li sighed inwardly, flew into his flower cradle, picked up a cocoon, and handed it to Siet.

The most urgent thing was to get his underwear made first!

Siet accepted the cocoon with an amused smile, finally understanding what Sperien wanted his help with. He had promised earlier to help him unwind the silk from the cocoons, but he had not expected the little fellow to be so persistent that he would still remember after an entire morning.

Holding the cocoon, he looked down and asked, ”I can help you process all the cocoons, but may I ask what you intend to make with the silk?”

Shu Li stared blankly at him with his green eyes as he listened to the long string of words.

What did that mean?

Was he complaining that there were too many cocoons and refusing to help?

But judging by his expression, he did not seem impatient.

Could he be... asking what the silk thread was for?

Realization dawned on Shu Li.

Right.

That had to be it.

For a cub who had only recently been born to collect so many cocoons for silk was strange in itself.

But Shu Li had no choice. He desperately wanted a pair of underwear.

Going bare beneath his robe was no different from running around naked!

His gaze involuntarily drifted below Siet’s waist.

Did adult Fairies wear underwear?

Siet’s robe was long and heavily pleated. As long as he did not make any large movements, it was impossible to tell at a glance whether he was wearing anything underneath.

Siet noticed the little cub staring at his lower body and looked down in confusion.

Was something wrong?

Since he had come to the Fairy Nursery to teach the cubs today, he had deliberately changed into new clothes. The robes he wore had been made by Julia, a renowned Fairy master weaver. They were crafted from the finest materials, fashionable in design, highly flexible, capable of expanding or shrinking, and enchanted with advanced magic strong enough to withstand an Archmage’s attack.

They were high-level magical robes.

He could see nothing improper about them.

So why was the cub looking at him so strangely?

Siet smiled. ”Little Sperien, you still have not answered my question.”

Shu Li withdrew his gaze and racked his brain, trying to figure out how to explain his needs clearly to the adult Fairy.

He looked around and spotted a flower blooming on a nearby plant. Its petals were large, thin, and pinkish white, arranged in several layers. Losing one would not diminish its beauty.

Shu Li spread his wings, flew over, and swiftly tore off a petal. Under Siet’s astonished gaze, he returned to his flower cradle, calmly poked two holes through the petal, slid his legs through them, then carefully pinched the edges and pulled it upward—

Perfect. A simple pair of underwear was now in place.

He lifted the hem of his robe and generously displayed it to Siet while holding up the edges of the petal.

Why had he not explained it to Aisha the same way before?

Because Aisha was a girl!

How could a boy do something so embarrassing in front of a girl?

How would that be any different from behaving like a pervert?

Siet was different. He was a male Fairy, the same sex as Shu Li, so there was far less to worry about.

After displaying the underwear, Shu Li looked at Siet with eager expectation.

He understood now, right? He knew what Shu Li wanted, right?

The cub blinked his enormous sparkling eyes, leaving Siet torn between laughter and helplessness.

So the little fellow wanted a pair of underwear?

Newborn Fairy cubs were ignorant and had poor ability to care for themselves, so they were initially given only the lightest, simplest clothing. Things like underwear were omitted whenever possible.

Before today, no cub had ever asked to wear underwear, and the adult Fairies caring for them had never paid special attention to the matter. Thus, when Siet realized that Sperien had gone to such lengths to obtain a pair, he was both shocked and surprised.

He truly was a unique Little Fairy.

Siet gave Shu Li a gentle smile and nodded. ”I will explain your request to Aisha.”

When Shu Li saw him nod, he let out a long breath of relief.

They had finally communicated successfully. That had not been easy!

With a beat of his wings, Siet swiftly flew to the vine table and spoke a few words to Aisha. Aisha looked surprised and turned toward Shu Li’s flower cradle.

Fighting off his drowsiness, Shu Li clung nervously to the edge of the flower cradle and watched them.

Hopefully, Siet could persuade Aisha.

He waited and waited until his eyelids were nearly drooping shut. At last, Aisha left, leaving Siet behind in the Fairy Nursery to watch over the cubs.

Siet returned to Shu Li’s flower cradle. Seeing him nodding off, he reached out and stroked his golden hair.

”Be good and sleep. Aisha will take care of your problem.”

Shu Li drowsily bobbed his little head, though it was unclear whether he had understood. His small body slipped forward, collapsed onto the flower’s center, and fell asleep instantly.

Siet’s gaze softened. He snapped his fingers, and the petals automatically folded over the cub.

Then he looked at the pile of cocoons taking up space inside the flower cradle and raised an eyebrow.

Shu Li slept through a long afternoon nap. As his awareness gradually returned, he yawned and sat up, refreshed and full of energy.

Huh?

Why did the flower cradle feel so spacious? Where had the pile of bulky cocoons gone?

He immediately searched and discovered that the cocoons had vanished. In their place were four pure-white balls of silk thread.

Shu Li curiously picked one up, found the loose end, and tugged it. The thread was smooth, resilient, and highly elastic—excellent material for weaving.

Siet had processed the cocoons while he slept.

What an incredibly good person!

In his heart, Shu Li awarded Siet a Good Person Card.

The flower cradles opened, and the Fairy cubs gradually woke. At the same time, the familiar sound of the bell rang out.

It was time to eat again.

Shu Li put down the ball of thread, flapped his wings, and flew toward the vine table.

At the vine table, Siet held his harp and lightly plucked the strings with nimble fingers. A magically infused melody rang out. The cubs froze for a moment when they heard it, then split into two groups.

One group consisted of the female cubs, the other of the male cubs. The girls went to Aisha, while the boys went to Siet.

The two groups stood far apart, with dense branches blocking their view of each other.

Shu Li landed in front of Siet and saw the box by his feet. Excitement rose inside him.

There was underwear in that box, right? Right? Right?

He looked eagerly at Siet, bitterly regretting that he could not speak Elven. Otherwise, he would already have asked.

Amused by his impatient expression, Siet waited until all the male cubs had arrived, then stopped playing and set down the harp.

”Little darlings, look. What is this?” He opened the box and took out a small pair of white boxer shorts.

Shu Li’s eyes lit up, and he screamed inwardly.

Aaaaaah!

Underwear!

It really was underwear!

This was wonderful!

He would not have to run around bare anymore!

The other Fairy cubs shook their heads blankly. None of them knew what the small piece of fabric was.

”These are underwear.” Siet called Shu Li by name. ”Sperien, come here and demonstrate for everyone.”

”Okay!” Shu Li hurried forward, accepted the little boxer shorts from Siet, and put them on briskly in front of the assembled cubs.

They were the perfect size, soft and comfortable, fitting snugly against his skin.

Absolutely flawless.

At that moment, Shu Li finally felt secure.

Redhead and Whitehead always followed Shu Li’s lead. Anything their ”big brother” had, they had to have as well.

The two Fairy cubs crowded around Siet, babbling insistently as they demanded underwear.

Siet smiled. ”There is enough for everyone. Do not rush.”

He opened the box. The underwear had been enchanted and flew out one by one, stopping in front of each Fairy cub.

Before long, every male cub had put on a pair. They lifted their robes, revealing their underwear-covered little bottoms, and curiously showed them off to one another.

The corner of Shu Li’s mouth twitched.

The male cubs chattered noisily while displaying their underwear, while on the other side, Aisha had also finished teaching the female cubs how to put theirs on.

From that day onward, they became the first group of Fairy cubs to wear underwear shortly after birth.

Now that he had underwear, Shu Li could finally play to his heart’s content.

He could run with long strides across the branches without worrying about his robe flying up. He could even fly upside down without fear of exposing himself.

Siet came to the Fairy Nursery every day to teach them Elven, beginning with the most basic words for identifying objects.

Fairy cubs were different from human infants. They developed at an astonishing rate, changing every day as their intelligence steadily increased. In only a month, they learned everyday speech and could communicate without much difficulty.

Except for Shu Li.

As the only Little Fairy to receive the Elven King’s blessing, he had the strongest learning ability. He had learned to care for himself early and even knew how to ask the adult Fairies for things.

Yet his talent for languages was deeply concerning. He had to repeat even the simplest pronunciation seven or eight times before he could remember it. He often called the other cubs by the wrong names, jumbled his words, and failed to express what he meant. More often than not, he could finish an entire sentence without a single Fairy understanding him.

It gave Siet no end of headaches.

Sperien was intelligent and hardworking, yet his learning efficiency was inexplicably poor.

In five hundred years of life, Siet had never encountered such a contradictory little cub.

Shu Li sat on his stool with his cheeks puffed out, thoroughly depressed.

From the moment Siet began teaching the cubs Elven, Shu Li had devoted every ounce of effort to it, determined to master the language.

Unfortunately, ambition was one thing and reality another.

In the end, he was still hopeless at languages.

The other Fairy cubs could already carry on simple conversations, while he was still struggling with pronunciation.

It was as though someone had poured an enormous bucket of glue into his head. Every word was hopelessly tangled together. When he repeated them silently, he believed his pronunciation was perfect, but the moment he opened his mouth, everything went off-key.

The other Fairy cubs had mocked him plenty of times over it.

Whenever he spoke, some mischievous Little Fairy would imitate him like a parrot, then clutch their stomach and roar with laughter.

Shu Li pressed his lips together and kept his little face taut, repeatedly consoling himself.

He was an adult. He would not stoop to arguing with children whose teeth had not even fully grown in.

Redhead and Whitehead, on the other hand, always defended him. Anyone who dared laugh at their ”big brother” would be tackled and beaten. Aisha and Siet would hurriedly intervene, separate the cubs tangled in a fight, sternly lecture them, then punish them by making them stand on a branch.

Redhead and Whitehead never showed the slightest remorse. The next time someone dared mock Shu Li, they would beat them again without hesitation.

Shu Li was deeply moved.

They truly were his good brothers!

How could he disappoint them? He had to prove himself and amaze everyone!

The ancestors had said it best: with enough perseverance, even an iron rod could be ground into a needle.

He refused to believe that he could study so diligently and still fail to learn Elven.

Back in his old world, he had always had his family to fall back on. He studied inconsistently and ended up atrocious at English.

Things were different now. After transmigrating to an unfamiliar world, he was all alone and had to depend on himself for everything. No matter how difficult it was, he had to overcome it.

Although Shu Li encouraged himself and mentally prepared for battle every day, his progress remained slow.

Whenever he was on the verge of giving up, one look at the trust in Redhead’s and Whitehead’s eyes reignited his fighting spirit.

To study more effectively, he asked Siet for paper and a writing instrument.

As the saying went, the palest ink was better than the best memory.

Of course, with his limited vocabulary and atrocious command of the language, it took an enormous amount of effort before he finally managed to obtain a blank notebook and a quill that produced ink automatically.

After living in the other world for two months and encountering more of its wonders, he discovered that it was simultaneously backward and advanced. Magic was their version of high technology.

There was the self-inking quill, for example, and the clothes he wore, which resisted dirt and water and even cleaned themselves.

Shu Li wrote down every word Siet taught them, adding Chinese characters that approximated the pronunciation and then a line explaining the meaning. With this little shortcut, he finally stopped getting stuck quite so often.

However, compared with the other Fairy cubs, his efforts produced almost no visible improvement.

At the vine table, the cubs sat on their stools with both hands behind their backs, chests raised and heads held high, singing a catchy nursery rhyme in their childish voices.

Only the blond cub seated in the center of the front row held a quill in his right hand, his head lowered as he scribbled furiously in his notebook.

Shu Li was writing phonetic approximations.

He used similar-sounding Chinese characters in place of the original lyrics.

Who cared what the words meant? First, he would learn how to sing them!