This is Iyue’s residence in Fenglin City.
If Lian were here, she would realize that the Youlin Courtyard in Honglian Palace was indeed designed based on the scenery of this place.
Iyue led her horse into the building, which stood beside a quiet little grove.
The garden landscape here remained exactly as it was sixteen years ago when she left.
Clearly, someone had been regularly maintaining and tidying it.
Iyue held an extra rein in her hand—it was Lian’s horse.
Using the taming skills she had learned from the locals while searching for the relic in the Eastern Sand Sea, she had found the horse at a street corner not far from the slope.
Surprisingly, the horse’s saddlebag was intact.
Though it was locked, someone could have slit the bag open with a sharp tool and taken the contents.
That gave Iyue some relief… Not all of her fellow kin had turned out like those in Jingye Village.
At least those who saw this riderless horse with its bulging saddlebag and still hadn’t given in to greed retained the noble elven qualities she remembered.
But the horse’s owner was nowhere to be found.
She found a place to change back into her earlier attire, then asked a few curious passersby along the streets… Not only did she get no answers, she almost got recognized several times.
Moreover, people on the streets were still searching for her everywhere.
After careful consideration, she decided to first find a place to lie low.
The most suitable place was obviously this home of hers, unknown to the public.
She tied the two horses in the backyard, then pushed open the door with her luggage.
There was no musty smell inside. The sunlight streaming through the windows was exceptionally clean.
The furniture was all properly covered with dust covers… exactly as it was when she left.
Standing inside, the anxiety that had built up from not finding Lian was replaced by another emotion.
She set down her luggage, then lifted the dust cover from the bookshelf.
The few scattered books on the shelf had even been treated with a simple preservation spell, keeping them intact.
She had placed the dust cover herself. But she hadn’t cast any such spell on these books.
In her plans back then, she thought she would never return here again.
She walked out of the house and into the courtyard.
Few people knew about this place.
A few old acquaintances from the Ranger Corps knew, and Laiweiansi knew too… but she wouldn’t have specifically arranged for someone to do this.
Iyue took out the neatly folded anonymous letter from her bosom.
It was this letter that told her the relic she had been searching for had fallen into her family’s hands.
It was already late in the day, with tree shadows swaying in the twilight.
She took a deep breath and spoke to the courtyard:
“You’re here, aren’t you? Come out.”
The breeze rustled the leaves… Then, a young elf in a tailcoat emerged from behind a tree.
He brushed off the leaves and petals stuck to his clothes and stepped forward.
“Lord Iyue.” He bowed to her. “Your return is a bit later than I expected.”
“You’re the one who wrote this letter, aren’t you?” She studied the young man’s attire. “Though you’ve provided me with much information about the relic, this is our first meeting. Judging by your dress… you’re a butler?”
“Indeed. And a butler of the family at that.”
“You maintained my house?”
“Yes. In our correspondence, you mentioned this was your residence in the city. One day I came to visit and found it completely unattended… So I took the liberty of hiring someone to look after it.”
The tailcoated young man looked up and smiled at her. “It would be such a waste to let this house fall into disrepair. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Then I really must thank you. But you still need to show me something to prove your identity.”
“As you wish.”
Seeing Iyue’s hand already on her holster, the tailcoated man took something from his pocket and tossed it to her from a distance.
Iyue caught it… It was another folded letter.
She opened it and recognized it as the previous letter she had sent to this always-anonymous informant.
“I see.”
Iyue removed her hand from the holster, and the tailcoated young man smiled slightly.
“Tell me more. Where is the relic now?”
“In Lady Neftalia’s hands,” the tailcoat answered without hesitation. “She plans to present it as a gift during the audience with Her Majesty the Queen.”
“…Are you sure this information is accurate?”
“Absolutely. If you wish to obtain it, you’ll likely have no choice but to negotiate with your sister. Of course, you could also use other methods to take it… but you must do so before the audience ceremony. Once it enters the royal treasury, it will be very difficult to retrieve.”
“…I understand.”
Iyue tried to keep her expression calm. But the Demon King’s warning from her dream still echoed in her mind—
‘The one you love most… the one you love most.’
Then two figures appeared in her mind: one was Neftalia, seen from afar across the crowd during the triumphant ceremony of old… and the other was Lian, sitting on a big rock this morning, her cheeks puffed with worry.
‘The last magic bullet will pierce the soul of the one you love most…’
Iyue suddenly showed an expression of extreme terror and stumbled backward.
“What’s wrong? Are you unwell?” The tailcoat moved closer in confusion, but Iyue extended a hand to stop him.
“I’m fine!” She breathed heavily. “You don’t need to worry about me… I have other things to ask you.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Since you’re here… that means you’ve been tracking my movements. So you should know what happened today, right?”
“I do.”
The tailcoat didn’t deny it.
“Then help me find my traveling companion… We need to find her before the Ranger Corps does!”
Iyue had also noticed the rangers on the streets who were clearly carrying out some operation… Some were confirming her whereabouts, while others seemed to be searching for someone on the streets.
‘Those must be people arranged by Laiweiansi. I should have known… even though I warned her not to get close to Lian… she wouldn’t listen.’
‘Because that’s just the kind of person she is.’
“That might be a bit difficult,” the tailcoated young man pondered for a moment. “I roughly know what your traveling companion looks like, but in Fenglin City as it is now, finding a human girl based solely on a description is still too hard. Can you give me any leads?”
“A lead…”
Iyue thought for a moment, then suddenly noticed the gun in her holster—
“Right! She’s likely to go find someone from the Clausure Company! Do you know where their office is?”
“Of course.”
“Then lead the way! Let’s go now!”
The two quickly arrived at the Clausure Company’s office in the lower district.
It was already late, and there were no guards at the entrance.
But the lights inside the office were still bright. Without much thought, Iyue pushed the door open—
“Excuse me… Can I help you?”
A female clerk approached, but her face didn’t bear the standard smile of a receptionist… Instead, she looked rather nervous.
“I’m looking for your supervisor.” Iyue got straight to the point, then drew her gun from its holster and handed it to her.
“Show this gun to your supervisor—”
The clerk didn’t take it. She glanced fearfully at the gun, then her gaze unconsciously drifted toward the stairs.
“Are you… Lord Iyue?”
After a moment, she turned her gaze back to Iyue and asked hesitantly.
“You know me? Then this is simple. Did a girl with black hair in a ponytail come here today? Where is she now—”
“She’s in the royal court.”
Before the clerk could respond, footsteps came clattering down the stairs. Iyue turned to see a female elf with a stern expression descending.
She was an elven knight.
She wore a leaf-green cloak and gleaming silver armor, with a longsword at her waist.
Iyue was very familiar with that attire—
Because she had once worn the same outfit, swearing loyalty to the former princess, now the queen.
“You are… Varetina.”
“Royal Guard, Iyue Nairfu.”
Iyue called out the name of her former comrade.
But the knight named Varetina didn’t greet her by name as before, instead reciting her full name and former title.
Iyue saw that she was holding a sealed scroll.
She unrolled it, and her solemn voice echoed through the hall—
“By order of Her Majesty the Queen—you are summoned to attend the audience ceremony three days from now.”