The moment the words fell, the nobles throughout the room silently nodded.
The noisy whispers of discussion were harsh and piercing.
“The witch harbors ill intentions! She wants to lift the seal!”
“She should have been imprisoned long ago. The King of the North treated her well, yet she dared to steal the remains!”
“The witch cannot be allowed to remain. The wolf soldiers must be sent to the polar region as quickly as possible to seize both her and the corpse!”
All kinds of accusations crashed down upon the vanished Ailia.
Not a single person was willing to quiet their mind and consider the peculiarities within.
Their heads were filled only with the conclusion that the witch had betrayed the Northern Territory.
The knuckles of Zhe Zilin’s hand gripping the Dragon Slayer suddenly tightened.
The metal hilt was clenched until it made a faint sound.
He knew Ailia far too well.
That girl who stayed alone in the castle and silently protected the Northern Territory—how could she possibly defect to the Ice Demon?
A group of ugly lords.
During the three days the King of the North received blessings, not a single one of them had come to the Northern Territory to attend the funeral.
Only when they learned that the Ice Demon was likely to be released and would head south to slaughter did they hurriedly rush into North City.
They did not seek justice. They simply did not want their own interests harmed.
As for whether Ailia was being wronged, no one cared.
Zhe Zilin disdained arguing with these so-called knights and nobles.
He looked toward Osha. In this place, Osha was the person of highest status and possessed absolute speaking rights.
“Do you also believe that she actively defected to the Ice Demon?”
Zhe Zilin’s voice was pressed very low.
The Dragon Slayer hung at his side, the cold light of the blade sweeping across the faces of one noble after another.
Osha wore a silver-white long dress that remained completely free of dust.
Her slender fingers lightly rested on the edge of the coffin.
“The [Eye of the True God] does not fabricate illusions, Ed. At the end of the canyon lies the eternally frozen polar region—the lair where the Ice Demon has nested for a thousand years. She is carrying the bloodline of the King of the North and heading there alone. In anyone’s eyes, it is defecting to the enemy.”
She slightly tilted her head. Her breath gently brushed past Zhe Zilin’s ear, audible only to the two of them.
“Perhaps it is because she could not compete with me that she chose to fall, wanting to use the Ice Demon’s power to snatch you back.”
These words were like a block of ten-thousand-year cold ice, forcefully blocking the restless heat in Zhe Zilin’s chest.
The chaotic thoughts he had barely suppressed last night in the rear yard by desperately reciting spells surged up once more.
Ailia’s gentle, low voice circled repeatedly through his mind.
In an instant, the girl’s warm eyes at the moment of her sacrifice, along with the countless moments of encouragement and firmness she had given him in desperate situations, surfaced before his eyes.
“She would not.”
Zhe Zilin raised his eyes. His tone was resolute, completely unshaken by this provocation.
“Ailia has guarded the Northern Territory for more than ten years. She would not betray it because of her own private feelings.”
Osha’s brows and eyes were gentle, appearing fair, yet every word of her tone cut straight to the heart.
“Ed, you underestimate your weight in her heart far too much. Without you, she would even lose the desire to continue living. That is why she will spare no cost to snatch you away from my side.”
She stepped forward and spoke softly beside Zhe Zilin’s ear. “If it were me, I would do the same.”
Zhe Zilin did not doubt Ailia’s possessiveness, yet he still did not believe the other party would defect to the demons.
Could it be because of the Love Letter?
At the time he had not had the chance to check its contents and had only hastily handed it to Ailia, hoping the other party would maintain her reason and feel less sorrow.
This had been the best ending he believed he could achieve.
Yet looking at things now, it seemed events had gone against his wishes.
Inside the room, the nobles gradually reached a single voice: send troops to the eternally frozen polar region and prevent the witch from releasing the Ice Demon.
A great battle was about to erupt in the Northern Territory.
These lords’ fear of the Ice Demon seemed innate.
They were extremely afraid and were no longer willing to waste even a single second as they jointly petitioned Osha.
“Princess, right now only you can take charge of the overall situation in the Northern Territory.
Ten thousand wolf soldiers have already been assembled. Send the troops to the polar region. We must prevent the seal from being broken.”
The nobles dropped to one knee and all raised their heads to look at Osha.
The moment the other party gave the order, they would immediately charge out of the castle and have the wolf soldiers set out at once to hunt Ailia.
Osha lowered her eyes and looked at the kneeling crowd. Her long eyelashes cast faint shadows.
A smile that was both compassionate and indifferent lingered at the corners of her lips, yet her peripheral vision remained stuck on Zhe Zilin at her side the entire time, not missing even the slightest fluctuation in his emotions.
She raised her hand and lightly pressed it downward.
The kneeling nobles instantly fell silent. Every movement displayed the princess’s authority.
“Sending troops to the polar region is not impossible.”
Osha spoke.
The moment the words fell, joy appeared in the nobles’ eyes. Yet in the next second, she changed the direction of her words, turned her head, and looked at the tense-faced Zhe Zilin at her side.
Her tone was gentle and lingering, carrying her unique obsession. “But I must first ask for Ed’s opinion.”
The entire hall erupted in uproar.
The swamp lord sharply raised his head, his face full of dissatisfaction.
“Princess! This matter concerns the survival of the Northern Territory. How can it be decided by someone who understands nothing?! The witch’s betrayal is certain. We should immediately send troops to hunt her down.”
Osha’s eyes turned cold.
The entire room seemed to enter an ice cellar.
The murderous atmosphere made every person present shiver.
The swamp lord especially felt a chill at his neck. He was so frightened that he shrank his neck, instantly shut his mouth, and hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to speak again.
Only then did the lords realize that Zhe Zilin was not merely the playboy they looked down upon, but also Princess Osha’s fiancé.
No one dared to speak recklessly about Zhe Zilin again.
Dead silence spread through the room. Outside the stone window the cold wind howled, making the atmosphere inside the room even more oppressive.
Everyone thoroughly settled down. Their hearts became clear.
Zhe Zilin lowered his eyes. His fingertips rubbed the icy hilt of the Dragon Slayer. Chaos intertwined in his chest.
He raised his eyes and looked straight into Osha’s gaze that contained possessiveness.
Word by word, he spoke and broke the dead silence.
“Sending troops is fine. But let me lead a small team first to ascertain whether Ailia has truly betrayed the Northern Territory.”
“That will not do!”
The kneeling lord of the Nio family stood up, bowed in salute toward Zhe Zilin, and only then refuted, “Sir Ed, this is inappropriate. If Ailia has truly betrayed the Northern Territory, you alone will not be able to stop her.”
Because of the previous example, even if the lords of the Northern Territory still held contempt in their hearts, they no longer dared to act on it and treated Zhe Zilin with full respect.
“Ten thousand wolf soldiers advancing on the polar region—such a vast and mighty force. Setting aside the time required for the army to march, once a great army presses upon the border, I fear that before Ailia is even found, the battle with the Ice Demon will already annihilate our entire force.”
Zhe Zilin continued.
“If I lead a small team, we will neither awaken the Ice Demon nor fail to quickly catch up to Ailia. If…”
He fell silent for a moment. “If Ailia has truly betrayed the Northern Territory, I will send a signal, do my best to stop her, and wait for your arrival.”
“Sir, that is the World-Ender Witch. How many people do you plan to bring to stop her!?”
A questioning voice rose from within the crowd.
“Myself, and five half-orcs.”
Zhe Zilin answered truthfully.
The noisy conversation among the lords rose once more.
Even under the princess’s intimidating power, there were still people who let out mocking sounds.
“And me.”
The smile at the corners of Osha’s lips deepened. She softly indulged him.
“I will follow you. Whatever you wish to do, I will go along with it.”
This bottomless obedience made the group of nobles’ hearts jump in shock, yet they could only lower their heads and obey.
She slightly turned her body and leaned close to Zhe Zilin’s ear.
Her warm breath brushed past the edge of his ear. Her tone was soft yet pathological.
“Ed, I will make her understand that no one can snatch you away from my side a second time.”