For the next while, Lian could only stand at the doorway, hands at her sides, like a mere decoration.
This Royal Suite seemed prepared for the highest-ranking guests; there was only this one room on the entire floor.
Even if she wanted to talk to someone, she couldn’t find anyone to talk to.
Lian could hear the Prince and his entourage conversing in the room.
She didn’t have a habit of eavesdropping, but right now, she genuinely wanted to know what they were talking about.
Because she realized she actually knew very little about this world sixteen years later.
Back at the Sage’s Tower, she and Sephy had been focused only on testing spells, looking for a way to turn back.
She had only arrived at the Honglian Palace yesterday; there hadn’t even been time to start gathering information.
Lian felt she should have asked Sephy more things last night before she hung up the communication.
Whether it was about her wife and daughter, or about this world where humans and demons could now coexist.
Because, after all, this world was her reality now. She couldn’t always keep running away from Meliya like she used to—that wasn’t the way of a Hero, but the behavior of a coward.
The Prince and Princess in the suite were the children of her former companions, and also the Prince and Princess of Nolan, the oldest human nation.
The content of their conversation was definitely related to current affairs or politics of the continent.
She was almost certain she could glean some useful information from their discussion.
After quietly apologizing to the Prince, Princess, and their father in her heart, Lian used Magic Power Sensory Technique to enhance her hearing, extending her senses toward the room behind her.
Enhancing one’s five senses, including hearing, was a high-level application of the Magic Power Sensory Technique, but it had an obvious limitation—it was highly inefficient.
Even by expending a huge amount of magic power, one could only expand the range of perception by a little.
Thus, this method was generally used quickly, for situations where a moment of information could mean life or death in battle.
But as a Hero, Lian possessed an almost inexhaustible supply of magic power, enough to support her in constantly expanding her senses.
If she went all out, she could even pick up every rustle and whisper across the entire Xīlong Pavilion.
“What’s going on?”
As her senses extended, she could gradually hear more and more clearly the sounds from within the room.
But strangely, only the sounds from the room behind her became increasingly blurry, increasingly faint.
This could mean only one thing—the people inside had set up a Barrier to block magic perception.
“This is bad!”
Lian hurriedly withdrew her magic power, canceling the enhanced senses.
She faced the tightly closed door as if facing a formidable foe, waiting for the people inside to burst out.
Her eavesdropping had likely already been noticed by whoever set the Barrier.
But there was another possibility—that she had pulled back quickly enough, and the Barrier hadn’t had time to react.
Which would it be?
Lian held her breath, tensing. Voices still came from inside the room, but the door remained shut.
It seemed to be the second outcome—Lian finally let out a breath of relief. If they had noticed her eavesdropping, there would be no reason for them not to rush out and confront her.
So as not to complicate things further, Lian made no more attempts to eavesdrop on their conversation.
But that made her all the more curious—just what were they discussing that required setting up a Barrier to prevent leaks?
Perhaps it was because they didn’t trust the people of Xīlong Pavilion…
In any case, Lian kept her guard up toward them.
Time passed slowly and quietly. The shadows cast by statues in the hallway grew shorter and shorter.
Just as Lian was on the verge of dozing off, the door finally swung open with a dull “thud.”
“Ah!”
Lian hurriedly wiped away the drool at the corner of her mouth and straightened up, imitating the dignified posture she’d seen the greeters use earlier.
The one who opened the door was the burly officer named Aoke. His voice was low and succinct: “It’s time for lunch. Lead the way for us.”
That young Blood Demon noble, Vlad Chesterton, also yawned as he stepped out.
Behind him, the Prince of Nolan wore the same expressionless face as in the morning, while the Princess was unchanged as well, looking down her nose at everyone.
“Understood, sir.”
The banquet hall of Xīlong Pavilion was even larger than the Main Hall where Laite had given his speech that morning.
The hall was already bustling; chefs and servers moved back and forth among the long tables, which were arranged in squares to form seating areas for the feast.
The Prince’s group chose an empty table and sat down. The waiting servants immediately spread white tablecloths and set out silver utensils.
“Ho, these humans really know how to serve their guests.”
Even Vlad couldn’t help but praise the exquisite service of Xīlong Pavilion—though the utensils set before him were not the silver that Blood Demons hated, but elaborately carved ceramics.
The air was thick with the aroma of food and wine. Guests from every nation, dressed in their finery, sat in groups of two or three, chatting happily.
Once the Nolan group began their meal, Lian received the Butler’s permission to head to the servants’ seats to eat.
Just as she picked up her meal and was about to sit, a familiar figure deftly wove through the crowd, carrying her own tray and stopping beside her.
“Lian, did you miss me?” Tilly’s face wore a relaxed smile. She gently tugged Lian’s sleeve and led her to a relatively secluded table in a corner, from which they could watch the entire hall.
“Tilly, that wastrel… he didn’t give you trouble, did he? You did stand up for me.” Lian didn’t touch her food yet. She needed to ask if Tilly had been bullied.
Tilly shook her head, “Not at all! Young Master Bert is a regular here. Even if he doesn’t know me, he at least recognizes me a bit. He was pretty mad and didn’t say much on the way, but in the end, he still gave me several ‘Hero notes’ as a tip, just like before!”
Tilly’s voice was almost excited, “How did you deal with him? How did you deal with him? Tell me, I’m really curious!”
She pulled out several bills from her apron, each printed with a half-length portrait labeled “Lian Klauscher,” flashed them quickly in front of Lian, then stuffed them away again.
“I just met him once at the tavern. He tried to force me to drink. And I was a bit tipsy then… Maybe his upbringing isn’t that bad after all?”
Looking at her own portrait on the currency, Lian felt embarrassed enough to die.
But she was also relieved that she hadn’t had to throw that young master from the Walstroom family out.
After all, unless it was really necessary, who liked to solve problems with violence?
It may have been convenient in the past… but now, in this era of peace, it shouldn’t be necessary anymore.
“Mm… If it were me, I’d just have a few drinks with him. His family’s a famous noble house; he wouldn’t dare do anything outrageous in public anyway.” Tilly’s expression was a little regretful on Lian’s behalf.
“You probably don’t know? The Walstroom family controls the biggest gold mines in the entire Central Region—no, all of Yilansiya! Let me tell you a secret: the reason ‘Brave’s Party Banknotes’ can circulate in the Empire is, in large part, thanks to his family.”
“Really?”
Lian was startled. She didn’t know the specific methods, but she understood how hard it was to change a nation’s currency system, passed down for generations—it had taken centuries of reform even in her original world.
Maybe she really should thank that wastrel’s family… But what sort of help and skill did Meliya, the one who truly implemented this, possess?
To Lian, her wife Meliya was becoming more and more of a mystery.
The banquet proceeded in an orderly manner, guests focused on their food and conversation. Lian suddenly realized that now was the perfect time to gather information.
Even better, the person beside her—Tilly—was a Xīlong Pavilion maid who regularly interacted with guests from all over the continent.
“See the third seat to the right of the main table, the old man in red church robes, with white hair and beard?” Tilly gestured for Lian to look at an elderly man chatting animatedly with his neighbor.
“That’s a Red Robe Cardinal from the core church region of Selantu. He’s a close confidant of the current Pope. The one he’s talking to is probably a noble elf from the Darkwood Sea. But I think this is the first time I’ve seen him…”
Just like that, Tilly kept expanding Lian’s knowledge of the current world.
She seemed to know countless nobles and had a strong grasp of the relationships between them and the continent’s political landscape.
Lian listened intently, so much so that she didn’t notice a pair of ghostly violet eyes casting a suspicious look in her direction.