“Ah, they’re here… Huh?”
Senia’s voice drew the attention of everyone gathered there to the boat appearing on the lake… but she herself wore a puzzled expression as she looked at it.
After their reunion, the group had come to the dock on Lake Heart Island to wait for the vessel.
Following the usual custom, once the Mist Barrier was lifted, boats waiting at the various docks around the lake would carry the participants of the Audience Ceremony to the island.
“Only one boat… and it’s a steam ship? It seems to be one of the Company’s vessels.”
Lian, with her exceptional eyesight, made out the type of vessel and the engravings on its side, while Iyue, using her Magic Enhancement-enhanced vision, saw even further:
“Several elders of the Elder Council are on board. Also the High Priestess, members of the Imperial Guard, the Captain Generals of the Ranger Corps… and His Royal Highness Alvin is there as well.”
“My, your eyesight is still as sharp as ever.”
Senia offered sincere admiration to Iyue, who could make out the passengers on a ship from such a distance.
“…Your Majesty flatters me.”
Iyue couldn’t erase the shame she felt toward her. She gently stroked the cheek of her sister, who still lay unconscious on her lap.
“That’s not the boat they used in previous years.”
Waletidina interjected at that moment, and she immediately hit upon the source of Senia’s confusion.
“Right, in past years they always used sailboats. Why did they switch to this thing this year… I recall the elders quite disliking ships that burn firewood for power, yet not only did they approve it coming down to the lake, they even rode it themselves…”
“I think they were worried about you. From what Iyue said, all the most important figures of the Sea of Trees are on that boat now—they must have come to confirm your safety as quickly as possible.”
“That’s a fair point.” Senia nodded, agreeing with Lian’s reasoning. “Alvin came here with Iyue and the others… but he didn’t break into the Barrier himself. So he must have gone back and reported to the Royal Court and the Assembly, which is why they rushed over.”
“In that case, the Royal Court and the Assembly naturally wouldn’t proceed with the Audience Ceremony as planned, bringing tourists and civilians along—that also explains why there’s only this one boat.”
…
…
“Your Majesty!”
“Queen Sister!”
When the boat docked, reality unfolded exactly as Lian, Senia, and Waletidina had deduced—everyone on board had come to confirm Senia’s safety.
After the Guard Knights formed their ranks, Alvin, accompanied by a host of ministers and elders, descended from the ship and rushed to Senia’s side.
Senia and Waletidina were quickly surrounded by the angry elders and ministers… but before being engulfed, Senia ordered the servants and mages who had arrived on the ship to take Lian and Iyue—those who had been “accidentally” caught up in the Barrier Trial—to the facilities at the center of Lake Heart Island, where preparations and receptions for the ceremony were held, to rest and undergo physical examinations.
“Since my two nieces and the Nelf Family’s guests were caught up in this… let me accompany them and look after them. With family by their side, they should feel more at ease.”
Lai Wei An Se, the Patrol Commander of the Ranger Corps, and Alexis, the Captain of the Jingfeng Forest Region Patrol Brigade, were also among those who had arrived on the ship… They made this request to Senia.
Before Iyue could decline, Senia—who knew nothing of the Nelf Family’s secrets—approved their request.
At the foot of the World Tree lay a considerably dense stretch of forest land.
Though the trees in this area were not as breathtaking as the giant trees of Fenglin City, the size of their trunks and the lushness of their branches far surpassed those of an ordinary forest.
And this entire stretch of forest land was a highly Elf-styled architectural complex—a palace built upon the trees.
Unlike the Crown Giant Tree, where a single tree constituted the entirety of the palace, here all the trees combined together formed the palace.
“Don’t come near her. I’m warning you for the last time.”
Iyue and Lian, along with the others, had been led by the servants into one of the rooms… or rather, one of the tree houses.
After settling her unconscious sister, she stood blocking the door, refusing entry to the two who bore the same surname as her.
“Iyue… what are you doing? She is my niece, just as you are.”
Lai Wei An Se did not immediately lose her temper… she merely seemed puzzled.
“I won’t let any of you near her anymore… You didn’t stop that woman from doing what she did to her. You’re all accomplices to her suffering.”
“That woman…? Suffering…? Iyue Nairfu, what exactly are you talking about—”
“Don’t call me by that name!” Facing Alexis’s bewildered expression, Iyue roared. “I have never once felt so disgusted to share the same surname with any of you as I do now…
…You’re all accomplices!”
“Iyue…?”
Even Lian was startled by her hysterical demeanor.
She tugged at Iyue’s sleeve, and Iyue gave her a gentle look in return… but the moment she turned to the other two, her face immediately twisted back into that of a vengeful demon.
“I don’t know what misunderstanding you have of us, but I have never once done anything to harm that child.”
Her hatred poured out uncontrollably… Lai Wei An Se looked at her like that and spoke quietly.
“You don’t know…?” Iyue stared intently into her eyes, then looked toward Alexis beside her. “You don’t know either? Neither of you know what cruel and mad things that woman… did to my mother and my sister?”
“Cruel and mad… to Iruna and Nefi? Surely you can’t be talking about the Family Head?”
Iyue laughed in sheer fury.
She told the two before her everything she had learned from her sister—the scene she had first witnessed in the Illusion Realm, all of it, that hellish Black Prison.
“The Family Head… did such things?”
Horror gradually crept across Alexis’s face… but Lai Wei An Se’s expression barely changed.
“I didn’t know about any of this. Just like when you asked me where your mother was all those years ago… I didn’t know.”
“How could you not know? Aren’t you the Acting Head of Family appointed by that woman? Your face is exactly the same as it was back then! Even while your own sister was locked in that hell, you still look so calm and indifferent—”
“I didn’t know!” Lai Wei An Se suddenly screamed, stumbling backward two steps.
“Captain General…?”
Alexis and Iyue both looked at her… The two who knew her had never seen her wear such a terrified expression.
“I didn’t know… I didn’t know… Mother never told me she did those things! I knew there were vast spaces beneath the giant tree… but I thought those areas were storage! I knew Mother stored Magic Stones there, using some Spell to prolong her own life… but I never knew Iruna and Nefi were locked away there by her! She was her own daughter and her own granddaughter…!”
She clutched her forehead in anguish and collapsed to the ground.
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