Chapter 22: Sudden Change in the Royal Court

When Miss Vilyric stepped out of the Invisibility Space Portal set up in Princess Nitira’s bedroom, the day’s light had already brightened the outside world.

“Looks like I really stayed overnight…”

Glancing around the already empty chamber of the princess, the Priestess couldn’t help but feel a little helpless.

After leaving Xi Fu Lin, she had traveled through the Invisibility Space Portal she had previously left in various places during her journey, visiting the City of Angels and the place where Min Chen had stayed in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons. Although her schedule was tight and she hadn’t given prior notice, she managed to let a few people know she was safe.

It was already past one in the morning when she left the Divine Tree of Life that Little Blue had been guarding. Vilyric thought that by the time she reached her planned final stop, the City of Courage in the United Kingdom, Liliya would surely be asleep, so she intended to leave a letter explaining the situation and not disturb her rest…

But to her surprise, as she stepped out of the portal, she found the young queen still awake, burning the midnight oil with paperwork, resulting in a rather awkward encounter with the Priestess.

The scene at that moment was quite… well, in short, to soothe the visibly thinner Liliya, who was clearly worn out from worry and hard work, Vilyric simply stayed by her side, comforting her until the dawn broke, before finally getting up from the queen’s bed and heading back to the distant East Sea Pearl.

Recalling the faint scent lingering on her clothes and the soft feel of the girl’s warm body, the black-haired girl shook her head helplessly.

Though it wasn’t their first time sleeping on the same bed, merely resting together and occasionally hugging in pajamas like normal friends, ever since that experience in the Gate of Humans within the chaotic secret realm, it had become difficult for Vilyric to view these affectionate actions with the same mindset as before.

But a dream is just a dream; it can’t completely be applied to real life. Even at those emotional moments of reunion, Liliya hadn’t done anything out of line, which was already a testament to her stance.

Moreover, perhaps it was Vilyric’s illusion, but since inheriting the memories and powers left by Ming Xi and grasping the Divine Spark of Reincarnation, that indifference she had felt since crossing over, as if she didn’t care much about anything, seemed to have lessened a bit…

Otherwise, she shouldn’t have cared so much about something that hadn’t even involved significant skin contact, like simply hugging and falling asleep as girls do.

After all, her pet had previously done much bolder and adventurous things. Little Dragon Daughter’s looks and build were no less than Liliya’s, and they shared a close companion bond. Yet, the Priestess had always treated it just as innocent playfulness.

Had Liliya thought too much?

Never mind… Although it felt a bit strange, it wasn’t something worth overthinking, so she decided to drop it.

Vilyric shook her head again, dispelling the lingering frivolous thoughts, and got back on track.

After making a round trip to report safety and confirm situations everywhere, she no longer had many worries left. Since she was already overseas, she intended to thoroughly investigate this place before figuring out how to cross the Ghost Sea, set sail from the coast of the Ost Empire, and return to find Little Light.

Based on some myths learned from Xi Fu Lin, the mysteries here were already beginning to reveal themselves, but further verification was still needed.

“Huh?”

As she concealed the portal and was about to leave Nitira’s chamber, Vilyric suddenly frowned and paused.

There was a strange feeling in this room.

Switching to the perspective of her Yin-Yang Eye, the Priestess immediately saw a vague dark aura lingering in the air. If she wasn’t mistaken, it seemed quite similar to the aura she had seen around the treatment room on Parut Island, but with subtle differences.

This should be the residue of some kind of power being unleashed, yet the room had been perfectly normal just before she left.

Moreover… the noise from outside seemed a bit too noisy.

What was going on?

The portal set up here in the bedroom and the royal court had been a private collaboration with the princess. Although the Priestess still didn’t quite understand why Nitira would trust and rely on her so much, even to the extent of keeping it from her mother, the queen, Vilyric was determined not to let any harm come to that little princess.

After pondering for a moment, she put on her Chameleon Cloak and stealthily left the room through the window, heading directly back to Parut Island, to the guest residence where the merchant caravan was temporarily staying.

The Priestess had originally planned to rendezvous with Miss Le Qiao Qiao and the others first, waiting for Nitira to come to them as planned before continuing their rightful investigation. But just as she stepped into the hall on the first floor, she immediately received some shocking news from Ming Lan, who was waiting there for her.

“What did you say… Nitira has disappeared?”

Just stepping out from the shadows and removing her Chameleon Cloak, Vilyric frowned, glancing at the Merman soldiers running back and forth in the hall and corridor, feeling an inexplicable oddness rising within her.

“She was in her room just last night; how could she suddenly vanish this morning? When did this happen?”

With this sudden major incident, Ming Lan’s expression was also somewhat serious, but the calmness brought on by years of experience remained, preventing her from panicking. She explained in a low voice.

“I heard that this morning, when the maid in the royal court went to wake the princess, she knocked on the door for a long time with no response. After waiting for a while with no sign of Her Highness coming out, they had no choice but to use the spare key to unlock the door, only to find the room completely empty with no signs of her having been there.”

“So, the Merman soldiers speculate that the princess might have vanished from her room before going to sleep last night.”

“Vanished…”

That unusual wording made the strange feeling in Vilyric’s heart intensify.

Because to borrow the princess’s room to secretly set up the Invisibility Space Portal, Nitira had sent away the Merman maids who were supposed to attend to her at bedtime last night. Therefore, from when she returned to her room alone until now, the only ones who knew what had happened were her and Vilyric, who had quietly entered through the window—this was indeed the perfect blank period for a disappearance to occur.

Though the Priestess hadn’t explicitly run into the princess’s room, she and Miss Le Qiao Qiao had stayed with Nitira until just before nightfall to investigate the disappearance of King Willipol, and they had nearly been alone together—this almost implied that Nitira’s disappearance was related to them.

Let’s not forget, apart from the aforementioned suspicions, there was an even more key contradiction worth questioning.

Why did the princess choose to disappear, not early nor late, but precisely when these outsiders had landed on the island and had close encounters with her?

Suddenly, four words popped into the girl’s mind.

—Frame and blame.

Was it possible… and who would do it, and what was their purpose?

“Miss, this matter…”

Ming Lan, although aware that Vilyric and the others were investigating certain things for Nitira, had just started acting and wasn’t fully clear on the details—her hesitation was understandable.

The black-haired girl shook her head.

“It wasn’t us, and there’s no way she left on her own—she had neither the reason nor the ability. Although we gathered some information yesterday, it doesn’t explain Nitira’s sudden disappearance.”

The large Deputy Chief naturally believed his lady’s words unconditionally, and based on that premise, began to reason further.

“What you mean is… that princess did not leave voluntarily but was taken by someone? Such a coincidence, could it be that the real culprit already had this intention, only taking action because we arrived?”

“But why would they wait for such an opportunity? We… don’t seem to have any special attributes, and the real culprit couldn’t have known we would come… nothing makes sense.”

“Yup, this matter indeed seems quite strange; I’m even a bit blindsided… And the key issue is, what could the intentions be behind taking Nitira? To obtain something from her or to stop her from doing something?”

The Priestess rested her chin on one hand, with a barely noticeable tint of odd color crossing her silver-blue eyes.

“Or perhaps… all of the above?”

   

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