The silver-haired girl sitting in the tree suddenly opened her eyes. Her pair of pale golden eyes focused on a patch of grass.
That place could also be said to be completely empty…
Estelle was actually spacing out.
After quite a while longer, she finally came back to her senses from her daze.
She wore a soft white dress and drifted down from the tree canopy. The sandals on her feet bent the grass as she walked straight ahead. Before long, she came to the side of a road.
Because carriages and horses had traveled the road so much, the sides of the road were lower than the middle. On the small raised mound in the center grew a tiny wildflower.
Estelle wanted to step forward and pick it, but after her fingers had already pinched the stem, she slowly released her thumb and index finger and stood up from the ground.
Before she could make her next move, the sound of a carriage rushing from the distance reached her.
Estelle moved lightly aside with graceful steps and stepped onto the grass beside her.
Then a carriage swept past her with rolling dust.
The flower was crushed…
Estelle froze for a moment. She wanted to pick up the flower, which was smaller than her little finger, but after reaching out, she stopped again when her hand was about ten centimeters away.
She stood and gazed at the nameless wildflower. After quite a while, she turned and walked toward the North Gate. There was still no expression on Estelle’s face, even though the flower had been senselessly crushed.
The girl was not a sentimental person; she was even someone with few emotions.
Estelle followed this road to the newly built district. The houses here were very short and built with a new material, looking like houses carved from stone.
Young and strong adults laid foundations, moved earth, and carried stones—all heavy labor. Fortunately, it was already the harvest moon, and the temperature had dropped.
They would not be scorched by the sun as in the fire month, when even heatstroke and dehydration were common.
Their dwellings were built by their own hands.
Although they did not look very attractive, these refugees from White Stone City had obtained their own houses and work they did not need to worry about for the time being.
Though they could no longer labor in the fields, they had gained a completely new way to survive.
Yelena had not given them much, and had even taken back some of the benefits granted during Henna’s time, but they were still joyful.
Because the frost moon would soon arrive.
Cold winds, frost and snow, and demon harassment—each was enough to take their lives. But now they could live in the city. It was a good life beyond anything they could have imagined before.
Estelle’s arrival made the elders staying at home hold back the mischievous children, fearing they would displease this girl of extraordinary bearing. Although they did not know what kind of person Estelle was, it was always right to be cautious.
Estelle’s ethereal eyes swept over these people. She sensed caution from them, but could not understand the other type of emotion radiating from them.
After passing through the refugee settlement, she came to a small forest. The forest on the North Gate side had not been completely cut down.
At Yelena’s request, a stretch of woodland 1,000 meters wide had been left to separate the refugees from the North Gate adventurers.
Only after passing through this forest could one reach the North Gate urban district.
Beyond the forest, what came into view was Red Pine City’s enormous airport, a dock used to moor that giant airship. On the streets here, people’s clothing was no longer tattered; each had their own style, and all looked neat.
Estelle’s long silver hair shone faintly in the sunlight. She was undoubtedly the most eye-catching person on the street.
After Red Pine City’s North Gate opened its airport, many adventurers from the West Wind Empire hurried over, preparing to head into the Northern Mountains to seek their fortune.
Unexpectedly, something had happened recently.
Not only were they dragged in to resist the impact of the Monster Tide, they also ran all over outside the city hunting Magical Beasts that had escaped from the mountains.
Though running around was a bit hard, they earned a great deal, so it was inevitable that they would come to the North Gate to play.
Unfortunately, under Yelena’s rule, the casinos, brothels, and the like controlled by the old nobles had all been forcibly shut down.
Because of this, quite a few people cursed Yelena in secret.
Back on the street, a group of adventurers reeking of alcohol walked along the road. They whistled when they saw pretty women by the roadside, and naturally Estelle was no exception.
Estelle gave these strange fellows a confused look, but she still had business to attend to, so she walked straight along the street. She had not gone far when she turned her head to look back at those people.
They were fighting in a tangled brawl with another group, and the guards arrived quickly, arresting both groups.
Estelle tilted her head, very puzzled.
The interlude over, Estelle arrived in front of a residence.
“Estelle?”
A muscular woman guarding the gate rubbed her eyes after seeing Estelle, unable to believe it was Estelle.
“Marpel?”
Estelle looked at her and replied. The strong woman had become even stronger, clearly because the food had improved considerably.
“Haha, it’s me.”
Marpel was the vanguard of Anna’s team and had been Estelle’s companion for half a month. They had risked life and death together in that cave ruin, and Estelle had remembered her name.
Marpel smiled honestly. The strong woman still had few thoughts, and she still treated the current Estelle as the Estelle from back then.
“Mm.”
“You look really good in a dress, just like a princess.”
Estelle nodded. Although she was not a princess, she was the daughter of a princess, so rounding up, she was roughly equal to a princess.
Marpel did not understand small talk, so she could only laugh foolishly.
“By the way, how have you been at that Crimson Academy? Has Madam Phil taught you alchemy? And also…”
There were many questions, but Estelle did not answer. Instead, she looked behind Marpel—at the young lady in a black dress, with an elegant bearing and wealthy aura.
Estelle narrowed her eyes and sized up the lady walking over.
“Sister Anna?”
“Miss Estelle, long time no see.”
Anna smiled, then her expression cooled as she scolded Marpel, “What are you doing!”
“Ah?” Marpel was momentarily confused.
Anna’s mouth twitched, and she shouted angrily, “Is your brain filled with water? All day you do nothing but eat and sleep! Miss Estelle has come to visit, and you talk to her through the iron gate? Hurry up and open the door for me!”
“Oh!” Marpel looked as if she had just remembered the door was not open, and hurried to open it. The sight made Anna press her forehead.
Estelle walked in, glanced back at Marpel, who was closing the door, and only then looked at Anna, a trace of confusion showing in her eyes.
Anna wore a look of disgust toward Marpel, but then smiled helplessly. “Sorry you had to see that. That’s just how she is; her head doesn’t turn.”
Estelle nodded. “Mm.”
Although Anna looked like she despised Marpel, they actually got along very well; otherwise she would not have let Marpel take the idle job of guarding the door.
Anna welcomed Estelle into the living room and instructed the maid to arrange tea and snacks.
After the two sat on the sofa, Anna did not hide the curiosity on her face and asked Estelle beside her, “Estelle, what made you think of coming to my place?”
“I walked and walked, and here I was.” Estelle said indifferently.
Anna could not understand that line of thought. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Estelle should be on vacation, right?”
“Mm.”
“It’s normal to go out and have fun during vacation, but I think, given your personality, you wouldn’t spend time coming to find me. Even on vacation, you should be training. Although I haven’t spent that long with you, Estelle, I can tell you’re obsessed with becoming stronger.”
Anna and Estelle had only spent that brief half month together, and afterward they rarely met again. It was mostly one-sided news Anna received—how a silver-haired girl at Crimson Academy was so outstanding, and how unique her temperament was.
Half a month together had been enough for the quick-witted Anna to figure out what kind of person the extremely simple-hearted Estelle was. She was not training, but had come to find her instead?
‘Not normal!’
Yes, she should be training… whether practicing those few sword moves or cultivating her Magic Core, she should have continued working hard after that incident. Yet in Estelle’s heart, there was always one thing she could not let go of.
“I had a dream…” Estelle lowered her head slightly, her gaze gradually becoming distant.
“A dream?” Anna widened her eyes and asked curiously, “What dream?”
“I dreamed of my mother.”
“Huh?”
“She was holding me. I seemed very, very small, just having opened my eyes. A large expanse of white blocked my view, and I could only see a tiny part of my mother’s face. She was smiling at me…”
Rosily had a dream of returning to childhood, or rather a dream that completed her childhood, and Estelle, who likewise had no childhood, was the same.
She dreamed her mother coaxed her with toys and lightly touched her face with her fingers. A gentle smile had remained on her mother’s face, and she seemed to have said something, but Estelle did not remember.
After Anna finished listening to the account, she was first shocked by Estelle’s language ability, and then shocked by the content of the dream.
Anna asked tentatively, “Do you want these very much?”
“I don’t know.” As Estelle spoke, she turned her head away.
Anna blinked and said with a smile, “Mistress Ester, you can lie to me, but never lie to yourself.”
“Sun and Moon Highness, I don’t like it.” Estelle turned her head back and looked at Anna, whose smile was bright.
Anna laughed heartily and continued, “All right, I understand, Your Highness~ Is your mother really the Ordinary-blood Sword Saint, Saint Enya of the Goddess Church?”
“No.” Estelle turned her head away again, which proved she was lying.
Anna smiled as she rose from the sofa. She had originally been the daughter of a merchant family, had been an adventurer for so long, and after retiring became a wealthy woman again. Nourished by money, Anna had blossomed into a second spring.
Before long, Anna brought over a painting.
The painting depicted a holy and beautiful silver-haired woman. She placed it in front of Estelle and said, “She looks exactly like you, Estelle.”
Estelle looked at the silver-haired woman in the frame, hands clasped in prayer.
Her brows were lowered and her pale golden eyes half open, and since the paint used on the canvas was mainly silver, gray, and white, the pale golden eyes appeared especially striking.
The silver-haired woman was painted in a realistic style, while the surrounding area used symbolic patterns to depict the various deeds she had done.
The symbols of these deeds formed a halo around her.