“Are you referring to Prince Alvin?”
Nai Fei Tali quickly guessed who Milin was referring to, and she smiled knowingly.
“He really is the person most likely to know where Her Majesty the Queen has gone. But didn’t you just scold him a while ago? If you go look for him now…”
“He was the one who hid things from me first, so I scolded him. This time I go to him, I won’t hide anything from him. Besides, this is also for his sister’s safety.”
Milin said matter-of-factly, then asked her friend seriously:
“Nai Fei Tali, you should know him, right? Is he the kind of spoiled brat who would hang his head and lock himself in his house after being scolded?”
“No… not to that extent.” Nai Fei Tali covered her mouth with a light laugh. “But being scolded so harshly by a girl his age is probably a first for him.”
“Why?”
“After all, he has such a handsome face… Most girls would take a liking to him at first sight, right? And with that melancholic aura, those girls would be too tender-hearted to scold him.”
“Uh… I think he’s just average? Are you like that too, Nai Fei Tali? Like those girls you mentioned?”
Seeing Nai Fei Tali’s indifferent attitude, Milin felt a bit surprised.
“No, I’m not to that extent.”
“Then can you accept your fiance flirting with other girls—”
“Cough, cough.” Seeing the two drifting off topic, Iyue had to clear her throat to bring the conversation back on track.
“Let’s talk about these matters later. Let’s get to the main point first—Xiao Milin, you met Prince Alvin not long ago, right?”
“Yeah. After I left his house, I met a girl on the road that I had seen at the dance party. I originally wanted to take you to meet your sister, but she wasn’t home. Then I went shopping with that girl and then came back to find Nai Fei Tali.”
“Hey… you made a new friend that quickly? You even went shopping together.”
“Of course, who do you think I am?”
The two girls exchanged a smile and then high-fived. Watching them, Iyue suddenly remembered a similar scene not long ago.
In Jingzhong Village, the two little girls, the foreman’s daughters, had also done this.
And long before that, in that forest land that had yet to be cut down, the person who was so close to the sister before her eyes was herself…
“Then no time to waste, let’s go find him quickly!”
It was Milin’s energetic announcement that interrupted her thoughts. Iyue nodded at her, and then she happily took Nai Fei Tali’s hand, ready to set off.
“Huh? I’m going too?”
Nai Fei Tali clearly hadn’t expected to be included in the “we.”
“Otherwise? If that prince really was affected by my scolding, then comforting him is your job! He previously lived in that mansion in the city… let’s go there first!”
“You’re impossible.”
Though complaining like this, she still let Milin drag her along. Before leaving, she looked back at her sister’s face. “Let’s go, sister? Just think of it as us going out to have fun together.”
Her sister’s face showed no trace of gloom. Iyue lifted her head and took a deep breath.
“Okay.”
She agreed. And at the same time, she also decided on what she had to do after finding out what happened to Her Majesty the Queen— Family Head… Yiruiweilian… I will never forgive you.
Temporarily suppressing the hatred burning like fire in her heart, Iyue followed.
…
…
“Your Majesty still hasn’t returned?”
After sending Milin off, Lian was standing in the royal bedchamber doing what she had been doing these past days—waiting for news from Meili.
Earlier, when she was with Milin, she had tried to initiate contact from this side… but Meili still hadn’t answered.
“Why are you so worried, Sister Lian? Her Majesty will definitely bring them back, right? I still think nothing will go wrong.”
Compared to Lian’s anxiety, Milin seemed a bit thick-skinned.
“It’s daytime now… Mother and Teacher Seifei might be busy. I’ll call again later.”
Even though she said that, Lian still couldn’t relax.
After sending Milin off, she tried to get the maids to provide magic power to activate the communication pearl, but the maids refused like this:
“Please spare us, Miss Lian. We really cannot do anything that violates the Magic Dao Rules without His Majesty’s permission… even if the consequences are just as you described. If His Majesty found out about this, we would lose our heads.”
Although Lian didn’t think Nai Fei Tali would go that far, this was after all a royal palace, and it must have its own rules.
Moreover, they had been taking such good care of her these days… even if only to repay that, Lian didn’t want to make them feel troubled or put them in danger.
‘—I might as well go talk to Seniya directly. If I explain properly, she should help me.’
After repeated warnings, Lian decided to ask Seniya for help. So she waited idly… but until after dinner when night fell, Seniya still didn’t return.
“Ah-choo… I guess I’ll go sleep first. It looks like she won’t be back today.”
For Lian, who was used to working and resting according to the sun when away from home, this life of having everything done for her made her drowsy.
And if her magic power hadn’t been sealed, she could have used some spells to forcefully lift her spirits. But now, the best way was to honestly get some sleep.
So she sent the maids away as usual, then slowly climbed onto the large bed.
“She probably went straight to the World Tree to prepare for the audience ceremony… Hah.”
Since Lian had visited the Sea of Trees during the one year when the audience ceremony was suspended during the Great War, she only knew that the Sea of Trees had a tradition of expressing gratitude to the World Tree, which possessed the Ancestor Spirit.
Finding out that Queen Seniya had to prepare for this ceremony in advance was something she had learned from the maids taking care of her these past few days… perhaps because her previous request to have them charge her magical tools had made them cautious, so they only briefly introduced this.
Therefore, Lian’s actual understanding of the audience ceremony process was not much more than Milin’s after being enlightened by the two sisters.
Lian slowly closed her eyes. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been asleep for long when hurried footsteps outside the bedchamber dragged her out.
“…What’s going on?”
As soon as Lian got up to investigate, the bedchamber door burst open.
“Get out of my way!”
“Your Majesty… please at least change your clothes first!”
A woman soaked through crashed into her arms. Lian looked closely and found that it was actually Seniya, the one she had been waiting for.
“Get away…! Stay away from me… or else I’ll call Lord Father…!”
Seniya lifted her face… she didn’t seem to recognize Lian.
She pushed Lian away, then picked up a teacup from the table beside her and aimed it at the female officials behind her who were holding clean clothes and trying to persuade her to change—
“Seniya, what’s wrong?”
“Your Majesty…!”
Amid Seniya’s screams, the guard knights stationed around the bedchamber arrived one after another. Hearing the sound of their armor colliding, the expression on Seniya’s face twisted even further—
“No, don’t hurt me… please… don’t hurt me… Lord Father… Hero… where are you? Save me…”
Facing those knights who came to protect her, she panicked and fled toward the balcony of the bedchamber.
In full view of everyone, she frantically tried to climb over the edge of the balcony—
“Not good…!”
Sensing her intention, Lian rushed over.