Before long, a soldier dressed in uniform arrived at the front gates of Velis’s palace.
Looking at the tall, thick, and ornate low courtyard walls, the guards at the entrance quickly blocked his path.
“Halt! What’s your business?”
“F-forgive me, sir, this is a letter for the Guardian Knight of the Victoria Family.”
The soldier nervously presented the item in his hands. The guard took it and carefully examined the family crest embossed in the wax seal on the envelope.
“I see. Wait here.”
The guard turned and entered the estate, found where the Guardian Knight Victoria resided, and handed the envelope to her.
Victoria opened the letter and read it, then frowned, asking: “Where did this letter come from?”
The letter contained only a few brief lines, roughly meaning: The family is in trouble, return at once!
Beyond that, there was no other content, but the handwriting was undoubtedly her father’s.
The guard quickly replied: “There’s a man outside claiming to be from your family. He delivered the letter.”
“Let’s go, let’s see.”
Victoria led the guard outside, only to find that the messenger had already disappeared.
She asked another guard and learned that he had left just moments ago.
“I see…” Victoria pondered for a moment, then returned to the estate.
Velis, who was being groomed and made up by Xi’eryou, soon spotted the hurriedly approaching Victoria. Before she even entered, Xi’eryou was also stunned for a moment.
The Grand Princess Xi’eryou, why is she here? And that door…
Suppressing the doubts in her heart, Victoria’s icy gaze fell upon Velis.
“Your Highness, the Second Princess, I would like to temporarily request leave to return home for two days. I hope you can grant it.”
Upon hearing this, Velis hadn’t yet recovered the memories of her past with Victoria when Xi’eryou, who was combing her hair, spoke up.
“You want to go back at this time? Don’t you know that Second Sister is going to the Royal Academy today? How can she go without her Guardian Knight protecting her along the way?”
“But…” Victoria was silent for a few seconds.
Indeed, once a Guardian Knight takes office, they cannot voluntarily leave without particularly special reasons.
That would be a desecration of the knight’s code.
But at that moment, Velis spoke: “Granted. What happened at home? Do you need my help, this princess?”
As soon as Velis spoke, not only Victoria was stunned, but even Xi’eryou, who was grooming her, froze as well.
The silver-haired knight’s brow furrowed slightly, and a trace of speculation involuntarily rose in her mind—Could it be that Her Highness has feelings for me…
Although Velis had treated her Guardian Knight quite indifferently before, by all common sense, Victoria was also a rare beauty…
Having gone through that trauma that day, it was only natural for Velis to develop some thoughts about her…
Could that be why her attitude had become so much softer now?
But Victoria quickly extinguished those thoughts in her mind, her face remaining unchanged: “Thank you, Your Highness, for your approval. I will handle it myself and return as soon as possible.”
“Mm!”
Velis waved her hand, and Victoria went back to pack her things.
Seeing Velis’s behavior this time, Xi’eryou’s hands became gentler, and she felt gratified, believing that her usual teachings had taken effect.
However…
“Is this really okay, little sister? She’s your Guardian Knight. If she leaves, who will take charge of your safety?”
Velis turned to look at Xi’eryou, the lively gleam in her eyes saying it all without words.
“Me?” Xi’eryou pointed at herself in bewilderment.
Velis nodded.
One knight leaves, isn’t there still another one?
Although Xi’eryou was a Magic Swordsman, Guardian Knights were selected from either swordsmen or magic swordsmen—essentially the same role.
“With Big Sister here, I’m sure I’ll be very safe.” Velis stared at herself in the mirror and said with such certainty.
Xi’eryou, on the other hand, was at a loss over this sudden trust, only able to sigh silently.
However, the Royal Academy was located within the bounds of the capital Monseer, so normally there wouldn’t be much danger.
What Xi’eryou worried about was the unexpected situations brought on by Velis’s reputation. After all, there were no shortage of people who wanted her dead or wanted to cause her trouble.
Even the people at the Royal Academy might secretly obstruct her…
With such thoughts in mind, after finishing Velis’s grooming, the two women left the room and came to the carriage that was already prepared outside.
Because of Victoria’s departure, the Imperial Princess’s carriage was now surrounded by only five rows and three columns, totaling fifteen guards.
Although this was the standard for an Imperial Princess’s travel, Xi’eryou always felt that given Velis’s circumstances, it seemed a bit too shabby.
“Shall we go, Big Sister?”
The graceful and luxurious Velis had already boarded the carriage, then extended her hand to her with a slight smile.
Xi’eryou reached out and took Velis’s soft, boneless hand, following her momentum up into the carriage and then slipping inside.
With a crack of the driver’s whip, the procession slowly moved forward.
====
In the Okam Empire, the princesses resided within the Imperial City.
The Imperial City was the absolute center of power for the Emperor and the entire Okam Empire.
If the capital Monseer was the political, economic, and cultural center of the Okam Empire, then the Imperial City was the center of that center.
Here lived powerful ministers of high rank, as well as royal relatives, including the Emperor himself and the princesses.
As for why there were no princes…
Sitting on the road leaving the [Douque Imperial Palace], Velis looked back at the palace where she resided.
It was a rather luxurious otherworldly palace, with carved pillars and ornate buildings, resplendent and magnificent, complete with castles and beautiful pavilions.
And she also remembered why the Okam Empire had no princes.
The former Velis might have liked women, but her ambition was no less considerable.
The Vistoria Continent didn’t have a rule that only men could inherit power, but generally speaking, passing the throne to a male heir was the first choice in most people’s minds.
It was a fixed way of thinking, but conversely, even if a woman ascended to a high position, it wasn’t a rare thing in this world.
Therefore, the ambitious Velis, wanting to reach that supreme position, first needed to clear the obstacles in her path.
Those half-brothers, the princes, were her first targets for elimination.
Now it seemed, her track record was quite impressive.
At least everyone knew that the princes of the Okam Empire either died young or met with accidents…
Aside from the three remaining princesses as heirs, the Emperor of the Okam Empire had no other offspring to choose from.
Similarly, her title of Bloody Princess began to be used after the last prince died.
[This is really… ruthless!]
That was the only way she could evaluate her former self. Even though she was now Velis herself, a chill couldn’t help but rise in her heart.
Fortunately, the former Velis was meticulous in her work. Although everyone listed her as the prime suspect in the deaths of the princes, even the Emperor found no evidence to convict her…
Not to mention the ministers who wanted to impeach her, urging the Emperor to strip her of her princess status and demote her to a commoner.
And so, Velis had lived very comfortably up until now.
[But this kind of thing is ultimately a ticking time bomb!] Velis sighed silently in her heart.
“What are you thinking about?”
This was a rather spacious and luxurious carriage. Inside, not only were there facing sofas and a tea table, but incense and fruit were also provided in abundance.
At this moment, the Grand Princess Xi’eryou, sitting across from her, saw her sister staring blankly out the window and couldn’t help but ask.
In the usual interactions between the two sisters, when had Velis ever not tried every means to get close to her?
And she would cunningly use the shameless excuse that a younger sister could act spoiled toward her older sister, constantly rubbing against her.
Whenever that happened, Xi’eryou could clearly feel that the rumors about her younger sister liking women were even more true.
But according to what the servants said, Velis had been acting a bit off since a few days ago.
Looking at her now, there did seem to be something strange.
“Ah, nothing.” Velis, who had been asked, turned back and said flatly.
Her eyes hid some kind of concern.
“Are you worried about the inauguration speech later?” Xi’eryou asked.
Velis was stunned for a moment, then nodded along with her words: “Probably.”
“Probably?” Xi’eryou frowned in confusion, then said: “The speech is at one o’clock in the afternoon. After you arrive at the academy, you’ll still have two hours to prepare.”
“But those people at the academy are all stubborn old fogies. Even with my recommendation, they…”
Xi’eryou paused, considering her words.
No matter how the outside world discussed her younger sister, Xi’eryou had always been someone who was good to her family since childhood…
Even though she was very angry in the Douque Palace just now, Xi’eryou was still concerned about Velis.
Moreover, apart from being clingy, which was annoying, Velis never showed her the sinister and vicious side that the rumors portrayed. So Xi’eryou still didn’t want to hit Velis too hard right now.
“Little sister, you know your reputation isn’t very good, right?”
In the end, Xi’eryou chose to tell the truth.
Perhaps this was the best way for her—that’s what Xi’eryou thought.
She originally expected Velis to get angry, but upon hearing this, Velis just nodded as if she already knew.
“I know.”
“Uh…” Her answer was so straightforward, as if she were talking about someone else.
This momentarily stunned Xi’eryou. She could clearly feel that Velis had changed.
In the past, she would probably say something like, “How pitiful the world is, always believing rumors. Maybe sending them to work hard labor in the Big Tunnel would stop them from being fooled by villains”…
“Since you understand, little sister, then it’s easier to say… Those stubborn old men don’t welcome you. I even heard that they’ve conspired to make things difficult for you during your inauguration speech…”
Seeing no change in Velis’s expression, Xi’eryou continued.
“They don’t want you to enter the Royal Academy. They plan to embarrass you during the inauguration speech, then jointly petition the academy and the Empire to revoke your appointment application.”
So that’s it… Velis thought. Letting the Bloody Princess become a professor at the academy? No one with a sound mind would agree to that.
But once she successfully entered the academy, it wouldn’t be so easy to revoke her position.
Entering or not entering were two completely different things.
That’s why those people were trying to stop Velis before she entered the Royal Academy…
According to outside rumors, Princess Velis wanted to take over the Royal Academy to secretly cultivate the next generation of talents and gather forces and elites from all over the world.
If the disappearance of the Okam Empire’s princes was indeed Velis’s doing, then her takeover of the Royal Academy was one of the preparations for her next step toward that supreme position.
Almost everyone who harbored hostility toward Velis thought this way, and they were all desperately trying to stop her actions.
But only the current Velis, who had inherited the memories of her former self, knew her true intentions.
—Because the academy had the most beautiful young girls.
Yeah, it was just that boring of a reason that Velis wanted to go to the Royal Academy, and had Xi’eryou, who was already a sword instructor, recommend her.
There was no other way. To become an instructor at the Royal Academy, one had to have a recommendation from someone inside.
Xi’eryou was the best choice.
Thinking of this, Velis looked at Xi’eryou with a strange expression.
The outside world treated her like a public enemy, but this big sister in front of her was willing to help her, even coming early in the morning to wake her up…
It was just a bit rough in her methods… Did all swordsmen train like that?
“What’s wrong?” Xi’eryou touched her face. “Is there something on my face?”
“No, I was just thinking that their reactions were within my expectations…”
A faint smile curved at the corner of Velis’s mouth.
“But Big Sister, you actually went to eavesdrop?”
Upon hearing this, Xi’eryou quickly waved her hands in denial: “No, no, I wasn’t eavesdropping specifically for you… It’s just that last night before going home, I happened to pass by the instructors’ office…”
“Just happened to?”
“It really was by chance! Who knew they were conspiring to make things difficult for you and didn’t even close the door…”
The more Xi’eryou spoke, the redder her face became. As for the truth, only she knew.
And Velis didn’t press further. She just looked out at the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery, contemplating how to complete the system’s mission.
The carriage passed through the Imperial City, exited the majestic city walls, and then came to the bustling and lively streets outside…
Passersby avoided Velis’s carriage with fearful and panicked expressions. The Sky Piercing Sword emblem representing the royal family on it made people too afraid to even breathe loudly.
Everyone knew whose carriage this was. Velis even saw a child who, a second ago, was happily playing with a toy, and the next second was standing there frozen, shaking all over.
Drops of liquid formed a stream flowing down the child’s pant legs…
It wasn’t until her carriage had driven far away that Velis faintly heard the little boy’s crying.
“This is really…” Velis put down the curtain with some boredom. “Am I that scary?”
Just like that, after the carriage had traveled for half an hour, Velis suddenly noticed that there were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the street.
Even though the surrounding houses and shops were still dazzling and luxurious, lining the streets…
There were no customers, only shopkeepers glancing at her from the corners of their eyes!
[True Eye!]
Velis’s eyes instantly underwent a marvelous change, as if a rainbow of seven colors was swirling within her pupils.
Then, she saw such information.
[A shop and goods specially decorated. These fruits are quite fresh, but the shop owner’s gaze toward you seems unfriendly? Trying to swindle you? If you want to buy apples, it’s recommended to pay three copper dragons per catty!]
[A blacksmith’s shop. The dozen or so weapons hanging outside are all top-quality works, but strangely, the furnace in the shop isn’t lit, and that blacksmith holding a short blade and tapping away seems to be aiming at you?]
“Stop!” Velis sensed something wrong and immediately shouted for the driver to halt.
“What’s wrong, Velis?”
Xi’eryou looked at Velis, who was on high alert, with confusion.
The next second, a sword blade pierced straight through the carriage compartment, sliced cleanly past Xi’eryou’s side, and then thrust toward Velis.