Chapter 156 — King of Knights [12] - Letter

A few hours later, Liora returned to the Black Tulip mansion.

Her visit to the city was over, having had enough fun and having relieved most of her boredom.

She had drunk in the bar, wandered through the city, and even purchased a few sweets from the nearby peddlers to satisfy her inner curiosity.

As she returned to the mansion, the first thing that Liora noticed was the absolute order.

When she left, the news of the death of Alex and Roger had just spread, and panic and chaos had shrouded the mansion.

Yet in just a few hours, this had all disappeared.

As Liora passed by the many buildings, the surrounding servants caught her attention.

They were keeping their mouths shut and doing their jobs attentively, but a flicker of worry could be seen hidden deep within their eyes.

Seeing this, Liora’s eyebrows rose. Still, she made her way towards the central building.

Just when she was about to take a turn and reach her own room, though, a voice sounded behind her, interrupting her actions.

"Lady Liora, have you finally returned? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.", the owner of that voice said.

When Liora turned around, she discovered that the person talking was Eleanor.

She wore her signature blue dress, and her appearance was spotless, but a few drops of sweat could be seen on her forehead.

For a True Knight like her, this should have been impossible. But now it actually happened.

"What’s up? What’s so important that you can’t wait to tell me?", Liora asked, despite already knowing her answer.

After all, her consciousness had long swept across the mansion, and everything in it was clear to her.

She had already seen the many bloody corpses at the back of the mansion, corpses whose identities she could recognize.

They were members of the Black Tulip family, who, if Liora remembered correctly, had stood on the side of Alex during the family’s meeting, opposing Eleanor.

Clearly, the cruel methods of Eleanor had not stopped at just killing Alex and his father.

Taking advantage of the chaos, she had chosen to establish her authority and weed out all the elements of opposition.

"In less than a month, the girl who had once begged for someone to save her family has turned into an almost emotionless killer...", Liora sighed inwardly while waiting for Eleanor to speak.

However, Eleanor’s next words were surprising.

She didn’t mention what had occurred while Liora was away, unknown if she wanted to hide it, but instead reached into her clothes and took a white envelope out.

A purple insignia could be seen engraved on the outer side of the envelope, in the shape of a beautiful flower.

"This letter arrived not long after you left. It’s regarding the changes in the Ancient Beast Wilderness.", Eleanor said as she handed the letter to Liora.

The envelope was already open.

Thus, with a gentle tug of her fingers, the letter hidden inside was revealed.

Quickly, Liora’s eyes went through its contents.

Just like Eleanor said, the letter talked about the changes in the Ancient Beast Wilderness, the changes that the wandering Knights were previously talking about.

Or more accurately, the developments caused by the Ancient Beast Wilderness’ changes.

The letter was addressed directly to Earl Black Tulip, and its sender was a familiar name:

Duchess Lobelia.

It didn’t contain much new information.

The source of the beasts’ riot was only briefly mentioned, with most of the letter’s focus being on their attacks on nearby human settlements.

At the end, the Duchess Lobelia made a request:

It would be for the best if the Black Tulip Earldom sent one True Knight and ten Knight Apprentices to the border, in order to defend against the beasts’ menacing attacks.

It only took a moment for Liora to go through the letter.

Folding the paper and placing it back into the envelope, she raised her head and glanced at Eleanor.

"Are you planning to accept?", she asked casually.

In response, Eleanor immediately nodded her head.

"Nominally, the Black Tulip Earldom is under the jurisdiction of Duchess Lobelia. Just like we can punish Baron Bloodshield when he does something wrong, the Duchess can also punish us."

Of course, higher nobles would refrain from doing so unless it was absolutely necessary.

After all, if Duchess Lobelia prosecuted a noble for no reason, the other nobles under her command would also be alarmed.

If she did something very excessive and unreasonable, these nobles wouldn’t hesitate to rebel to save their lives.

"In fact, the reason I came is to inform you that both my brother and I will be going. I don’t know when we will return."

"The last time a change happened on the border, it took more than half a year for the Empire to suppress the beasts.", Eleanor finally stated her purpose for coming.

Her answer was somewhat outside Liora’s expectations.

She understood why Eleanor had to go to the border.

The letter specifically mentioned the need for a True Knight to go there in the name of the Black Tulip Earl.

As the only True Knight in the fiefdom, Eleanor had to go.

But her brother, the young Earl whose name Liora could not even remember, had no reason to put himself in danger.

But upon further thought, Liora realized what Eleanor was thinking.

"Most likely, she doesn’t believe that I will take care of her brother if she chooses to let him stay in the Black Tulip Earldom."

"If the Necronomicon Sect or the Holy Church chooses to attack, the young Earl will be in more danger than under her protection."

Liora had to admit that Eleanor’s decision was smart.

If something like that happened, she would indeed not care for the life of a young Earl.

In fact, having completed her part of the contract, Liora should not have cared about what Eleanor did either.

She didn’t do so because she had secretly grown a liking for her and wished to help her, but simply because she was curious.

She believed that only by observing Eleanor and her actions could she figure out the truth of this world.

Thinking of this, Liora made a decision.

To her, it didn’t matter where she stayed.

Her current focus was on enhancing her combat strength through the comprehension of Knight skills, while trying her best to reach the peak of the Great Knight rank.

If anything, the border was far more suitable for her.

There, she could more easily obtain resources by visiting the Ancient Beast Wilderness, while the constant fighting would help her comprehend Knight skills more quickly.

Since that was the case, there was no reason to stay in the Black Tulip mansion any longer.

"Okay. I’ll be coming with you, too. I’m actually quite interested in what happened deep in the Ancient Beast Wilderness and caused the beasts to riot."

"Perhaps some great treasure has been unearthed."