Yelena glanced at Lilith, who was sitting beside her, completely stunned. After hesitating for a moment, she gathered her courage and asked.
“Then, Lady, you…”
“Me?”
Enya looked puzzled for a moment, then smiled and continued.
“As long as she still remembers me, that’s enough.”
Yelena drew in a sharp breath of cold air. She felt that this topic couldn’t be pursued any further, or else who knew what else might come out of it.
Leaving aside everything else, just her own cousin was already struggling to hold up, let alone an even deeper story.
At that moment, Enya asked in return.
“Would you like to hear my story?”
“No, that won’t be necessary, Lady!”
Yelena reached out and patted Lilith’s lower back, who was still dazed, forcing a smile as she changed the subject. Her vermilion eyes shifted, glancing at the drink before her, and after taking a small sip, she said:
“In three days, there will be a grand unveiling ceremony held at the North Gate. I wonder if you would be interested in attending, Lady?”
“Well… that depends on the children’s opinions.”
“Very well. I will prepare seats in the front rows for you, as well as for Rosily and Estelle. I look forward to seeing your beautiful figure at that time.”
“Hehehe, Yelena is much more articulate than your sister.”
Enya laughed. Although what Yelena said was mere courtesy…
Then again, wasn’t she the same?
Conversing like this was truly exhausting. Enya knew how, but she didn’t enjoy it at all.
There was no further meaningful exchange between her and Yelena and Lilith afterward—only ordinary topics among women, along with some shallow, surface-level discussions.
Yelena invited Enya to come with them to the North Gate. After all, the purpose of Enya’s visit here had been revealed during their conversation just now—she was here to welcome her daughters returning from their long journey.
Enya declined, citing that she had already called for a carriage. The main reason, in truth, was that she didn’t want to put Lilith in an even more difficult position.
After all, the partial truths that Enya had just spoken from her own lips had given Lilith yet another sense of disillusionment toward her White Moonlight.
Her White Moonlight and her predecessor White Moonlight had gotten together, had two lovely daughters, and she herself had become even younger than the other woman’s daughters.
There was nothing more capable than this kind of encounter to make a person feel lost about life.
Lilith came out of the shop, got into the carriage, and arrived at the North Gate.
Until the main force finally returned, she remained in a complete daze the entire time, clearly still not recovered from the shock of Enya’s words.
Lilith felt a smack on her head.
She looked up, gazing at her cousin, who was much taller than herself.
Yelena narrowed her eyes and said indignantly:
“Sis, you really checked out there. That’s not like you at all.”
“Heh, as if you know me so well.”
Lilith shot Yelena a glare. Yelena’s ears reddened in embarrassment as she turned her face away, unwilling to admit that she was the one who had said that just now.
Fortunately, after that knock on the head, Lilith recovered from her blue screen state and began operating efficiently once more.
She looked toward the city gates that had already been opened. From the distant forest, a procession emerged.
After watching for a while, Lilith shifted her gaze around the area, searching for Enya’s figure. Sure enough, amidst the crowd not far away, she spotted that graceful silhouette with its brilliant silver hair.
After gazing for a moment, Lilith silently withdrew her gaze.
The return ceremony wasn’t made into anything extravagant, because this wasn’t a triumphant return—it was more like a muddled, bitter victory.
Even though the casualties they had suffered weren’t heavy, there was still an atmosphere of defeat hanging over them.
That atmosphere affected the crowd, dampening the spirits of the welcomers who had initially been somewhat cheerful.
The knight procession passed through the gate, followed by the students escorted in the middle. Because their numbers were small and they were all riding in carriages, they weren’t particularly conspicuous.
The wagons carrying the bodies that followed behind—those blood-stained white cloths—were what truly drew attention.
Enya walked behind many of the parents. After the carriages came to a stop, she accurately located the carriage her daughters were riding in.
“Mom!”
Rosily had sensed her mother’s arrival long before, holding it in until the carriage entered the city, but she couldn’t hold it in until the carriage came to a full stop.
She pushed open the door directly, leaped down from above, and ran toward Enya.
Under the sunlight, the young girl’s light golden long hair radiated a brilliant glow. Rosily wore a simple, clean dress, and her hair flew wildly as she sprinted toward her mother.
This splash of resplendent color shone all the more dazzling amidst the somber atmosphere.
Quite a few gazes turned toward the young girl. And after the girl threw herself into Enya’s embrace, those gazes naturally shifted to Enya—to this equally radiant young mother.
Estelle was a step slower, arriving before Enya. She didn’t hug her like Rosily had. It was only after Enya beckoned that she finally leaned into Enya’s embrace as well.
Similar scenes played out all around. Elqi was being inspected from head to toe by her parents and older brother, as if afraid a piece of her might be missing.
Simona was being cared for by the elders of the church. But there were also many whom no one had come to see, as well as those who had come to claim the bodies of their own children.
Scene after scene unfolded before one’s eyes, making it hard to tell where the main stage truly was.
Enya brought Rosily and Estelle back home, had them wash up properly, took the two girls’ soiled clothes, and washed them while the sun was still out today.
The two sisters were on break, and at home, they didn’t mention what had happened in the mountains, as if they didn’t want their mother to worry about them.
Three days later…
In the early morning, before the sun had risen, Enya opened her eyes from her bed. Wearing only a thin nightgown, she walked to the mirror, separated Phil from herself, and then said:
“You take Rosily and Estelle to attend that unveiling ceremony.”
“The way you’re saying that…”
“What?”
“Don’t you think it sounds like you’re having an affair?”
“Oh.”
Enya responded flatly.
She was going to meet Vivienne, so naturally she couldn’t go in Phil’s form. If she wanted to properly discuss matters with this Princess, she’d have to show herself honestly and go in her true body.
Therefore, she left Phil behind to take the children to the opening ceremony. Rosily was very invested in this matter—she’d been looking forward to it for days, clearly very excited.
But Enya was going to see Vivienne. She couldn’t possibly bring them along, so she had to let Phil handle it. After all, the two of them were both herself.
Saying she was going to meet another woman, yet pushing off the outing promised to her daughters onto the other half of herself…
No matter how you looked at it, it was like having an affair. Enya, you truly are an unforgivable woman!
Phil shot Enya a glare, stretched lazily, and sat down on the bed, then looked at Enya with a languid expression.
“What, no desire for me?”
“Hmph…”
Enya clicked her tongue in annoyance, reached out and pinched the soft flesh on Phil’s cheek, earning herself a pair of resentful eyes from Phil.
Enya let out a light snort and said:
“I do. And it’s huge!”
“You have desire for me?”
“I want to overthrow your rule, become an independent individual, put your layer beneath mine, and crush you every single day!”
“Too bad you can’t. Antiros may have severed our connection, but she still locked a chain between us.”
Enya said with a calm expression.
“She’ll unlock that chain at a critical moment. Only then will you truly be you. I wonder if she’s done this before—I always feel like Antiros is very experienced at this.”
Like running an experiment—cutting off a small piece of tissue from the main body, culturing it into a copy. When the experiment fails, turning the copy into the new main body, cycling over and over until success.
She let out a sigh. Although she always tended to think the worst of Antiros, she still felt that Antiros wouldn’t do this to her.
She did have love for her—just like her love for Rosily and Estelle, a kind of inexplicable motherly affection.
Heh, this overflowing maternal instinct of mine…
Enya smiled faintly. Through her dream world power, she instantly arrived at the boundary of the dream world.
Beyond this point, her power over the dream world would be greatly weakened. But that didn’t mean Enya’s strength had diminished.
On the contrary, she would shed many restrictions. What did it matter if she moved mountains and split the earth when she fought? The most frightening version of her was the one with no restraints at all.
At this moment, she wore a form-fitting black dress that hugged every curve of her body, yet unlike mortal women, it didn’t expose her skin—only her pale white hands were revealed.
The silk clinging to her body accentuated her proud figure, and her delicate features appeared even more extraordinary under the play of light and shadow.
Her silver hair and light golden eyes were filled with an air of ascetic restraint, granting Enya a uniquely cool and ethereal temperament.
Not a single emotion showed on her face. Her lovely visage was turned sideways toward the morning light.
Enya stood at the border between Red Pine City and the Zephyr Empire. One more step forward, and she would be in the nation she hadn’t set foot in for an entire year.
She stood atop a grassy hill. The wind, carrying the last traces of chill from the previous night, brushed across her cheeks and stirred her brilliant silver hair.
Enya slowly raised her head, her light golden eyes transforming into gold-crimson vertical pupils, gazing toward the distant sky.
The next moment, a pair of dragon wings unfurled from her back, and she soared into the high sky, flying toward the direction she had set her sights on, without holding back any speed. And in that direction stood a building Enya was very familiar with.
In the Zephyr Empire, there was a super-large city in the north called Teslia. As the core hub of the entire northern part of the empire, its status was of vital importance.
As could be seen from its name, this was an ancient city named after the founding emperor of the Zephyr Empire’s empress.
In the southern part of this city, within a broad area, a castle had been built. This had once been the Empress’s traveling palace, and was now the residence of Her Highness, the Empire’s Third Princess Vivienne.
According to legend, when this city was named Teslia back then, there was also an intention of cold indifference. The name of this city in ancient texts was White Frost.
Because it sat atop a cold vein, as soon as the Dark Season arrived, the ground would easily be covered in white frost, which was how it earned the name White Frost.
It wasn’t until the Zephyr Empire conquered the old masters of this land that it was renamed Teslia.
Within the magnificent castle that occupied a vast area and cost countless gold and silver, there lived only one soft and beautiful woman with pink hair.
She wore a white strappy nightgown, seated before her vanity, allowing her maids to adorn her beauty with their nimble hands.
Dozens of beautiful maids with dignified bearing all attended to Vivienne. But this could hardly be considered extravagant—this was already the minimum standard for a princess of the empire.
Maintaining an air of nobility was what princesses were supposed to do—that was their value. But Vivienne didn’t need it.
Still, she had to put on the act, since she hadn’t completely burned bridges with the old fool at home yet.
“Ugh, so boring.”
Vivienne let out a sigh, then suddenly seemed to remember something and instructed her maids:
“You may all withdraw. Don’t disturb me.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The departure ceremony would have to be postponed. Without Vivienne there, no one dared to make a move.