Azure Scepter

Page 122

"Is it delicious, Livitt?" Suddenly, Princess Edith's voice brought her back to her senses.

The little girl nodded subconsciously, and after a moment of confusion, she looked down at the princess sitting across the table.

Edith rested her chin on her hands, looking at herself sideways.

"You can only answer yes, or okay, Livette is a good girl, right?"

The little girl nodded quickly, not even having time to wipe the sauce from the corner of her mouth.

"Yes, Levitt is a good girl."

Edith stood up and gently ruffled the little girl's hair, which was styled into a ponytail.

For some reason, the little girl felt that Edith's eyes had changed a lot.

If I were to describe it in terms of emotion, when I first met her, Edith's eyes looked like pure, flawless, almost dazzling crystals, like a paladin who had stepped out of a story; but now, her eyes were like glass covered with a layer of gray mist, completely unfathomable.

"I wonder what Trier said to her that changed her so much," the little girl Livitt thought to herself.

“Levitra, I will be leaving for a while. Granny Lor will continue to teach you how to use magic. Please don’t run around, okay?” Edith asked softly.

The little girl couldn't help but feel a little nervous—Alex had said the same thing before he disappeared.

"What are you going to do?" she asked timidly.

The princess smiled.

“Trier has achieved many victories; he has brought back a large amount of food. Moreover, the entire northwest of Eraf is now open, and I need to cooperate with him to evacuate the excess refugees. During this time, you must never reveal your identity, and even more so, do not remove the pendant around your neck that you use to counter the prophecy, do you understand?”

Edith said as she walked to the window.

The curtains on the window were woven from yellow silk, and the workmanship was extremely exquisite. Livitt's gaze passed over Edith, through the curtains, and looked into the distance.

Golden curtains bathed everything in a golden hue; the clean roads, the gleaming armor, the snorting warhorses adorned with gold and silver, and the vibrant, colorful flags fluttering in the wind—everything in the upper town was exactly as described in the bard's tales.

"What will happen if I take off the pendant?" the little girl asked curiously.

Edith slowly turned her head.

“Then Livitt is not a good girl—bad girls get their heads chopped off,” the princess said with a smile.

The little girl's expression froze instantly. Looking at Edith's smile, she couldn't tell whether the other person was joking or saying it very seriously.

At this moment, under Edith's casual intimidation, she even found the remaining piece of fried bacon and egg bread on her plate unappetizing...

Edith slowly bent down, casually picked up the remaining food, and then stuffed it into her mouth.

Suddenly, Futia pushed open the door and strode in.

"Don't scare her, Edith," Futia complained. "Hurry up, everyone else has already gathered. If we don't leave soon, we'll be late."

"Are you trying to scare me?" the little girl asked cautiously.

Edith still wore a faint smile, but when faced with Levitt's uneasy questions, she neither confirmed nor denied them.

—Appropriate fear can help the other party be more vigilant and reduce the probability of making a foolish mistake.

Since being enlightened by Trier a few weeks ago, she has been using her identity and Trier's support to slowly gather the support of the refugees in the city; at the same time, she has also gained the loyalty of many people in the investigation team. Now, even if Oris really wants to have a final showdown with her, she is confident that she can stand up to him.

Edith knew very well that his control over the investigation team was based on his status as crown prince. If Trier's analysis was correct, it was only a matter of time before he lost that status, and when that time came, the situation would be completely different.

She took a deep breath, pulled back a corner of the curtain on the window, and turned her head to look outside.

The weather outside the window was clear and cloudless. The azure sky seemed to have been cleansed by holy water, so clear that one could see their reflection in it.

The garden was orderly. Since the demon attack a month ago, the soldiers' defenses had been raised to an unprecedented level, and the servants delivering meals were busy moving between the flowerbeds.

Suddenly, Edith raised an eyebrow slightly.

She caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in a thicket.

It was a maid wearing a black and white striped pleated maid's skirt. At this moment, the maid had her arms outstretched, tightly wrapped around the neck of a bearded soldier, and they were kissing passionately. The maid's eyes were closed, and a happy smile played on her lips. The freckles on her face revealed that she was not very old.

As she looked at it, she subconsciously recalled the sweet and unforgettable deep kiss she had shared with Trier a few weeks ago.

At this moment, she couldn't help but feel a little thirsty and itchy, as if the tip of a feather was tickling her heart.

She fell into deep thought.

A month ago, when she and Trier had breakfast together for the first time, she had seen the maid and the guard. At that time, the maid was crying because her husband had died, and the bearded guard was comforting her. She never expected that a month later, the two of them would fall in love.

However, if he were to confront Oris, their small but real happiness would vanish in the bloody war.

Edith exhaled softly, then forcibly brought her consciousness back.

Thanks to Trier's efforts, everything is moving in a positive direction. The food crisis in Eraf has now been resolved; as refugees are being transported away, the security crisis will also ease; and as the kingdom's organizational and mobilization efforts continue to increase, there may be a possibility that the entire Blood Plague can be resolved peacefully.

"Edith, what are you thinking about?" Futia asked again.

Through the reflection in the glass, Edith glanced silently at her best friend.

Upon seeing the other person's soft lips, a scene of her kissing Trier flashed through her mind. Then, she recalled the pair of fair and alluring bare feet under Fydea's boots when she was injured.

A strange mix of jealousy, wariness, and longing slowly fermented within her, like mushrooms growing rampant in a damp crypt...

Edith quickly shook her head, dispelling the strange thoughts from her mind.

"Livitt, wait patiently for Granny Lor," she said softly. "Oh, and I'm sorry I ate your breakfast. I'll have a maid bring you another one later."

The little girl, Livitt, nodded obediently, and then quietly watched Edith and Feudia leave the room.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor, then faded into the distance until it disappeared.

Looking at the empty room, Livitt subconsciously felt a little uneasy.

She carefully walked to the bookshelf, stood on tiptoe, picked up a large book with a red cover, and then sat down in the soft chair to read it slowly.

Although she was illiterate, the gentle touch of the book's cover and the rustling sound of her fingers gliding across the paper brought her some comfort.

However, as she flipped through the box, her unease grew stronger. So she sighed and took out a matchbox with a big smiley face painted on it from her pocket.

This box of matches was given to him by the paladin Alex before he disappeared. He told himself that if he felt afraid, he should light a match.

Since Alex disappeared, she has taken out matches from the matchbox and lit them countless times. And each time she lit a match, fear, hunger, and confusion were temporarily dispelled in the warm and brief flame, just as Alex had promised. Every time she stared at the flickering flame, Livitt would see a happy illusion.

Lost in thought, she opened the matchbox—the last match lay there all alone.

There was only one match left.

Levitt quickly put away the matches, then jumped off the chair and went to the window.

Edith and Fythia had already left the upper city with the fully equipped soldiers. At this moment, the beautiful garden was empty—there was no trace of Granny Lor on the garden paths.

She looked up at the sky.

Before we knew it, the once clear sky was now shrouded in thick, gloomy, leaden-gray clouds.

As if blessed, Levitt looked down at the path again.

Several messengers, looking hurried, were walking quickly toward the Star Tower and the other towers. They were dressed differently, but their eyes were filled with vigilance and anxiety.

Subconsciously, Levitt felt that they had brought some kind of message that was closely related to her.

What messages did those messengers bring? She couldn't help but ponder.

"boom."

The door to the room was pushed open, and Granny Lor, with dark circles under her eyes, walked into the room carrying a magic book.

"Good morning, Madam." Livitt gave a slight bow, lifted the hem of her skirt, and performed a standard ladylike curtsy.

“If the Sanctuary spell and the Chain of Accidents spell are combined, it might have the effect of targeted teleportation…” the old court muttered to himself, “This is a brilliant idea. Perhaps I should ask Professor Trier how to achieve this function in practice…”

PS: First update, bonus update today!

Prelude to Chapter 244: Reading, Unease, Fire Dragon

"Granny?" Livitt looked at the court mage who was lost in thought and couldn't help but remind her again.

As if startled awake, Granny Lor suddenly raised her bloodshot eyes. At this moment, she looked less like a learned court mage and more like a ravenous beast ready to devour its prey.

"I'm thinking about this, we'll talk about it later. You should read a book by yourself for now."

“But…but I can’t read,” Livitt said helplessly.

“This is easy.” Laura pinched the bridge of her nose, then took out her spellbook.

As an indistinct magical incantation rang out, a yellow halo emanated from her fingertips and then shot towards the little girl.

“This is a first-circle spell that grants you the ability to understand the common language of mankind,” Granny Lor said softly. “Now you should be able to read the words in the book.”

The little girl picked up the book again and was astonished to find that she could actually understand the distorted characters that looked like simple line drawings.

She sat back down in her chair, flipped the red book back to its cover, and then read aloud the embossed title on the title page, word by word: "The Complete Anti-Heretical Treatise of the Glorious Church (Volume II): Special Ethics - On the Freedom and Necessity of the Will, and How Man Should Be Good."

Below the title, the author's name is written in small black print: Vercingetorius.

Vercingetorius?

Upon seeing the name, Livitt instinctively shuddered—the bishop who had resurrected her and continued to torment her was also named Vercingetorius.

She placed the book on the table and then looked at Granny Lor, who was talking to herself.

“Grandma, was this book written by Bishop Vercingetorius?” Livitt asked timidly.

Granny Lor looked up, but she did not answer her question.

The elderly court monk suddenly stood up, then quickly walked to the window, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

Levitt felt a little annoyed, so she jumped off the chair and went to the window as well.

Along the garden path, a group of soldiers wearing grey cloaks and strange bird-shaped masks were walking quickly toward the Star Tower, led by a knight with an oddly slender figure and a pure white mask.

Livitt froze, instinctively shrinking her neck and hiding behind Granny Lor.

The strangely shaped knight was Sir "Scepter," whom Princess Edith had repeatedly warned herself to be extremely careful of.

She suppressed her unease and tried her best to look further into the distance.

—On the rebuilt Emerald Wheel Staircase, a team of fully armed priests and inquisitors, along with a tall female barbarian, a large goblin, and a black steel golem, were also rapidly approaching the Tower of Stars.

What's even stranger is that, from the direction of the main gate of Dragon Kiss Pass, a group of local nobles carrying black flags are slowly walking towards this place.

Levitt recognized the bald nobleman riding a tall warhorse; it was Sir Nordman.

At this moment, behind Sir Nordman's horse was a stunningly beautiful woman with snow-white skin and fiery red hair like flames. A white and green silk cloak draped over her fair back, the end of which swayed in the wind like the tail feathers of a nightingale.

None of the soldiers stopped Sir Nordman; they seemed quite intimidated by the amiable-looking middle-aged man, and as they advanced, more and more joined Nordman's ranks.

Levitt suddenly remembered the messengers she had just seen, and she instinctively suspected that the messengers were somehow connected to the scene before her.

“Something’s not right.” Granny Lor frowned. “Stay here and don’t move, Livitt.”

As she spoke, she flipped through her magic book, then her lips moved, and she quickly began casting spells.

"Advanced invisibility technique."

The old mage pointed his finger, and Livitt found herself vanishing into nothingness. She reached out her hand, only to find that she couldn't even see her own palm.

"Protection spell".

The old mage pointed his finger again, and a ring of invisible golden light adhered to Livitt's body like a piece of iron.

"Mental barrier".

When the old mage pointed his finger again, Livitt felt as if an iron helmet had pierced her brain, and she felt her will become stronger than ever before.

"Let's try this experimental spell again..." Granny Lor said, chanting the incantation once more.

This time, Levitt was shocked to find that everything around her had become unreal and hazy, as if she had been thrown into the ripples and folds of space.

After doing all this, the old mage breathed a sigh of relief, and then she clapped her hands.

"Clap clap-"

Suddenly, a pure white owl silently flew from a tree branch into the house.

"Old Laur, what do you want me to do?" the owl asked.

Levitt was taken aback; she never imagined that animals could speak human language!

The usually mild-mannered Granny Lor spoke at an extremely rapid pace.

"Inform His Highness Edith: Sir Scepter, Sir Nordman, and Vercingetorie have all sent many men into the Upper City. They may have received word that Levitt is in the Upper City. After informing His Highness Edith, go to the Outer City to find Teacher Trier and tell him this information as well."

“Yes, old Laure,” the owl said, and immediately flapped its wings and flew into the cloud-covered sky.