“You want to know what Lorabel is like in the palace?”
“Yeah, I’m just… a little curious.”
After finding Azalea in the basement playing a one-sided game with Misha, Aurora casually steered the conversation from daily life topics toward the real question on her mind.
“Hmm… let me think.”
Azalea organized her thoughts, then said, “In front of strangers, she always keeps that serious, stiff expression.”
“But with people she knows, she’s surprisingly shy.”
She recalled the scene where Lorabel pinned Aurora down on the sofa doing that kind of thing, then added, “And she’s unexpectedly… very passionate.”
“Passionate? What do you mean?” Aurora asked, confused.
“Ah, it’s nothing, hehe.”
Bringing that up was indeed awkward, so Azalea waved it off.
“By the way, what was Lorabel like as a child?”
“Could it be she also liked to look at people with a serious face back then…?”
“No way! My sister was nothing like that!”
“What exactly was she like? I’m really curious!”
Without spending much time recalling, Aurora spoke up: “She used to be a pretty obedient kid…”
“Oh? Obedient? That’s almost the opposite of how she is now.”
“She was a bit mischievous but very sensible. Although clumsy with her hands, she tried hard to help…”
But when it came to herself, she was unexpectedly stubborn and willful, not even listening to our parents.
“Oh~ it sounds like Miss Aurora really liked the little sister back then.”
“Yeah! I loved her so much!”
“As a kid, she was adorable! Well-behaved and lovely—everyone in town said a little angel had come to our family!”
Once the floodgates opened, Aurora rambled on nonstop until several minutes passed and her mouth was dry before she finally paused.
Misha, who was conducting experiments nearby, listened curiously. After hearing all this and thinking of the current Lorabel, four words popped into her mind: Unbelievable.
Cute? That word hardly fit Lorabel. It was like spreading cream on eggs and bacon—just didn’t go together.
Lorabel was still stunning, to the point the kingdom had people secretly selling her portraits, but that beauty wasn’t cute.
She gave off more of a breathtaking, cold aura.
Misha didn’t really understand what “beautiful” meant, but if she had to score Lorabel’s appearance, she’d use it as the benchmark for perfection.
She kept these thoughts to herself.
“Ah, it’s getting late. I should go prepare dinner.”
Aurora glanced at her pocket watch and got up to head upstairs.
“Oh! I want to eat the pancakes you made before, Miss Aurora!”
“Okay, I’ll make a special batch for Her Highness the Princess.” Aurora smiled in response.
“Yay!”
“You’re too spoiled, Azalea…”
These days, she truly felt the happiness of being Aurora’s little sister.
Every day Aurora cooked for them, remembering their tastes and making a portion for each. The aroma alone could rival the palace’s chefs!
Aurora also washed their clothes.
They always felt bad for troubling her, but whenever it was mentioned, Aurora just said, “It’s just something I instinctively want to do.”
“Miss Aurora, do you need another sister?”
After Aurora left, Azalea suddenly blurted out.
“I advise you not to get any ideas. Lorabel would kill you…” Misha replied mercilessly.
“…”
*****
“That should be about right.”
Aurora looked up at the clock—almost seven o’clock.
She had prepared a lavish dinner, especially making those pancakes for Azalea.
She guessed Azalea would soon come upstairs, drawn by the smell.
Her sister should’ve been back long ago as well, probably busy with work again.
That whole hero business—well, it had nothing to do with her.
After cleaning the grease off her hands, she was about to wake Zoya, who was still asleep upstairs.
Knock knock.
The door suddenly knocked—could her sister have forgotten her keys?
Wiping her damp hands on her apron, Aurora smiled and went to greet her sister.
“Sis, you’re back.”
But as soon as the door opened, her smile froze.
Outside weren’t her sister, but two unfamiliar men.
Their hair was graying, their faces lined like they could crush a fly in a wrinkle. Both eyes held a hint of arrogance and cruelty as they stared at Aurora.
They wore white robes embroidered with golden insignias. Aurora recognized the emblem—it was the same gold mark on her sister’s armor. So these two must be…
“You two dropped in uninvited. Who exactly are you looking for?”
Aurora showed no desire to be friendly.
Partly because they selfishly pushed their troubles onto her sister, and partly because they had trespassed beyond the courtyard gates and entered the estate.
The phrase “uninvited” didn’t even cover it—they were outright breaking and entering.
The two men didn’t respond, instead pushing the door wide open.
Aurora, caught off guard, was shoved to the ground, hitting her head on a flowerpot.
“What do you want!”
Clutching the bleeding wound on her head, she quickly got back up.
“What do you mean, ‘what’? We’re here by order of the Elder Hall to inspect whether the Klein Paladin family is hiding any demonic items!”
“Demonic items? How could we possibly have such things in our home!” Aurora shouted back, only to be met with a taunting reply.
“That remains to be seen…”
They glanced at the table full of food, their lips curling into lewd smiles.
“What a fine spread.”
Aurora’s heart sank. She raised her head and stood between the men and the food.
She lowered her voice, feigning severity: “You’re not welcome here. Leave now, or I’ll call for help!”
“A servant meddling in affairs—get out of the way!”
One of the men kicked her in the lower abdomen, sending her flying to the side.
He glanced again at the food and delivered another kick, destroying the lavish meal on the spot.
“You… this is too much!”
She tried to stand, but pain tore through her abdomen—the wound had reopened.
One of the men leered down at Aurora’s painful expression, eyes roaming over her body, then sneered, “Hmph, who would’ve thought a Paladin’s house would hide such a beauty.”
The two men exchanged knowing looks, their malicious intentions obvious.
“We now suspect you might be a concealed succubus and need to take you back for a thorough examination.”
“Cooperate, or else you’ll regret it!”
The man’s vicious words were accompanied by a lecherous grin as he advanced.
“What do you want?!”
She tried to get up and run, but the pain was unbearable.
The men came closer, their drool almost dripping onto the floor.
“Stop! You beasts!!”
Bang.
Suddenly something heavy struck a man’s head.
He clutched his head and growled in pain, glaring toward the source of the voice.
“Damn it, which bastard did that?!”
When his eyes landed on a crown, he froze.
“I hereby command you, in the name of Azalea I Leonnos, First Kingdom’s Princess, to state your name, rank, and who gave you the order!”
*****
Chapter 131: An Angry Princess
“You scoundrels! How dare you, members of the First Kingdom’s royal personnel, commit such acts!”
Azalea’s eyes fell on the blood on Aurora’s head and the footprints on her abdomen. Her anger flared even higher.
“How dare you harm innocent civilians?! This lawlessness is intolerable!”
“Today, I will personally execute you on behalf of the First Kingdom!”
Her rage reaching its peak, she rolled up her sleeves. A fiery red magic circle appeared in her hands.
The two men’s faces paled.
One looked fearfully at the other and whispered, “I thought that powerful one was sent away… so why is there a mage? And a princess at that?!”
The other didn’t dare meet her eyes and quietly said, “Those two old fools tricked us!”
“Enough whining, you’re about to die!”
“Wait! Princess, we’re not from the First Kingdom!”
Both men dropped to their knees, pleading.
Flames surged from the magic circle, aiming to engulf them, but suddenly halted.
Azalea sensed something was off and demanded loudly, “You wear robes of the Elder Hall, yet claim not to be from the First Kingdom?”
“These were given to us by two adults, said to be handling matters for them!”
“Yeah, and they told us to take care of some business!”
“Bastards…” Azalea clenched her fists and cursed under her breath.
Then she shouted, “Where exactly are you from? How did you get onto Academy Island?!”
The two men quickly responded, “We’re messengers sent from the Third Kingdom to the Academy! You can’t kill us, or it will damage relations between the two kingdoms!”
“Oh? So what!”
Boom!
Crimson flames burst from the magic circle.
These flames were no ordinary fire; they twisted like phantoms around the men. Their screams of agony echoed throughout the estate until they were reduced to ashes.
The flames wouldn’t let go—even as souls, the fire would torment them until nothing remained.
“I don’t care if you hit the Third Kingdom’s princess. Who cares about you?”
Azalea clapped her hands and looked down at Aurora.
“Miss Aurora!”
She hurried over and helped her up.
“How are you feeling?”
“I… I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding from your head, but you’re fine?”
Seeing Aurora clutch her belly in pain, her face pale from the agony, Azalea was at a loss.
“I’ll use healing magic on you!”
She began chanting, green magical energy forming around her and slowly entering Aurora’s body.
When Aurora’s expression eased slightly, Azalea relaxed a little.
“What happened?”
Misha, hearing the cries from the basement, rushed upstairs. Seeing the ashes on the floor and Aurora’s bloodied face, she quickly pieced things together.
“Wait a moment.”
She left briefly, then returned with a bottle of green potion.
“This is my latest healing elixir. Give it to her.”
Without hesitation, Azalea took the potion and fed it to Aurora little by little.
“How does it feel?” Misha asked nervously.
“Um… like apples.”
“I didn’t ask about the taste!”
“It feels a lot better, hehe.”
“That’s good…”
This potion was a joint project between her and a certain alchemist named Zhang.
When talking with her, she was intrigued by the strange knowledge in her head and developed this elixir after deeper study.
When it was completed, the alchemist had exclaimed excitedly, “This is the miracle born from the collision of magic and science!” Although Azalea didn’t understand science, she understood the meaning of miracle.
Watching Aurora’s wounds heal steadily, her anxiety finally eased.
After helping Aurora to her room to rest, Azalea and Misha started cleaning up the ruined feast.
Her anger still boiled—she wouldn’t rest until the mastermind was caught.
Seeing the pancakes made especially for her lying on the floor, Azalea completely lost it.
“Those bastards really piss me off!”
She looked at the pancakes, then suddenly sat on the floor, picked one up, and started eating.
“The floor is so dirty, you’ll get sick if you eat that,” Misha warned, though knowing Azalea wouldn’t listen.
“Better to get sick than waste Miss Aurora’s hard work!”
She picked up a chicken leg and took a bite.
Watching her eat so heartily, Misha sighed and put down her broom, sitting on a chair.
She was angry too, but kept it inside.
“This has to be those Elder Hall guys’ doing!” Azalea suddenly said.
“They deliberately sent Lorabel away, then took advantage of her absence to mess with the house!”
That way, even if Lorabel reported this, the Elder Hall would brush it off as an official mission.
Lorabel never got along with those Elder Hall old-timers, who often set traps for her in secret.
This time, it was especially outrageous.
“Why would the Elder Hall want to cause trouble for her?”
“This afternoon, Elder Hall people came looking for some hero. That’s clearly their job, but they insisted Lorabel handle it!”
“Oh.”
“Lorabel kicked them out, probably because they lost face and wanted to stir trouble.”
“Oh, so they’re really no different from thugs.”
“Exactly, a bunch of thugs!”
“When Lorabel comes back, I have to tell her about this!”
“What’s the point? They’re Elder Hall. Lorabel can’t touch them.”
“Better to kill and bury them—no one will know!”
“They carry special magical devices that record everything they see before death and send it to the kingdom. Then Lorabel becomes the target.”
“Then I’ll write to the king personally and have those two beheaded publicly!”
“The king knows your temper, Your Majesty, and will probably think it’s just a momentary outburst. Besides, he trusts those old Elder Hall folks and won’t move against them lightly.”
“Then… then I’ll kill them myself!”
Azalea jumped up, wiping her mouth and rolling up her sleeves, ready to find those two men.
But then Misha gave a cold reply, “If you don’t want to be forcibly sent back to confinement, you’d better not.”
“What else can I do?!”
She plopped back down and picked up another chicken leg to eat.
“Lorabel will definitely take revenge when she finds out, and she’ll be punished. We might all be forcibly sent back.”
“But… I have a plan.”
The magical devices they carried? She invented those.