---

Chapter 174: Forget-Me-Not

“Oh? There’s such a good thing? Then thank you~”

The Priestess stretched out her hand without hesitation, but Xi Fu Lin did not immediately hand over the item. Instead, she just smiled helplessly.

“It’s not ready yet. Let’s wait until tomorrow. I’ll have Tilysha bring it over to you, so did you come by just to chat or for tea?”

“Well, what do you mean it’s not ready? Didn’t I leave a portal with you before? I plan to head somewhere soon, and I need to come back through here, so I’m just giving you a heads-up to avoid any misunderstandings.”

“I see.”

The girl with the blue eyes nodded and continued fiddling with the stone statue in her hands, leisurely replying, “Do as you wish. I’ve already seen that portal you set up before, it’s quite intricate and poses no safety concerns.”

Of course, it was made by a certain expert in space manipulation.

Not wanting to disturb Tilysha, who was meditating, the Priestess approached a corner of the wooden cabin and gently guided her hand. Soon, a small door, only about a meter long and wide, shimmering with a beautiful silver light, slowly appeared before her.

“Then I’ll be off first~”

After saying her goodbyes, and without waiting for Xi Fu Lin’s response, the black-haired girl dove into the portal, instantly vanishing from sight.

After a few seconds, the Life Goddess turned back to gaze thoughtfully at the dwindling silver door.

“Invisible space portal, huh…”

…

Teleportation using items produced in the game is far more stable than the Winged People’s “Teleportation Gate” tech. Although it also allows for quick movement through spatial gaps, the layer of silver film that automatically adheres to the body when entering the portal greatly reduces the physical burden.

Miss Vilyric had already teleported multiple times in this world, so nothing much was worth noting. About thirty seconds later, she saw a blinding white light rapidly enlarging before her.

That’s the portal exit set in the City of Courage, easily recognizable thanks to the user’s subtle perception.

“Pop!”

The black-haired girl in a white robe leaped out from the lit doorway and landed firmly back in reality.

Vilyric looked around.

This was indeed the room where she had originally set up the portal. It seemed to be the queen’s exclusive dressing room or something?

The surroundings were quiet. While outside the windows was a deep night, the interior of the palace was illuminated by magical lamps, and this rather luxurious dressing room was no exception.

Liliya wasn’t there, and the room was empty. The footsteps outside, either orderly or scattered, likely belonged to palace guards and maids roaming about.

Not intending to cause a stir, the Priestess thought for a moment and donned her “Chameleon Cloak,” sneaking in through a side door.

Next to the dressing room was the Queen’s bedroom, a fact Vilyric was well aware of, as it was one of the reasons they had decided to place the “Invisible Space Portal” there.

Though Vilyric had not visited Liliya’s chamber often, she was quite familiar with the decor. There hadn’t been much change from a few months ago, and the queen herself wasn’t present. She was probably busy with state affairs at this hour.

While it would be easy to find her, it wasn’t necessary. The Priestess removed her invisibility item, found a chair, and casually picked up a document from the table, intending to read while she waited.

At that moment.

“Ah!?”

A cheerful exclamation caught the girl’s attention.

Accompanied by a voice that sounded like a baby learning to talk, a small Fragrant Fruit, only as big as an adult human’s fist but with oddly shaped limbs and visible bite marks on it, leaped from a tiny sleeping basket in the corner, rushing to Vilyric’s feet, then scampering onto the table, bouncing excitedly.

“Hm…? Is that you… Fragrant Fruit?”

“Yay!”

After a brief moment of surprise, Vilyric quickly remembered the little creature’s true identity. When she had infiltrated the territory of the Winged People’s manor back in the City of Courage, she had casually turned a Fragrant Fruit growing on a tree into her guide because she found winding through the maze too troublesome.

Later, because the Fragrant Fruit was only level 5 and extremely fragile, Vilyric couldn’t carry it around everywhere, so she left it in the queen’s care and asked Liliya to look after it.

“It looks like you’re living quite comfortably. Liliya actually prepared such a nice bed for you. Good, you can’t be naughty when you’re with her, okay?~”

“Yay~”

As she reached out to stroke the smooth and shiny skin of the Fragrant Fruit, the little guy flopped down on the table, comfortably allowing its true owner to fuss over it, looking quite relaxed.

The Fragrant Fruit couldn’t speak, and Vilyric also had no way to chat with it to pass the time, so while she petted this long-lost little pet, she continued to flip through the documents she had randomly picked up.

“Eh?”

Before long, the black-haired girl raised her brows in surprise.

Originally just looking for something to pass the time, after flipping through a few submission documents, Miss Vilyric unexpectedly discovered that most of the content discussed recent disputes in the northern region of the United Kingdom, alongside the so-called Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons.

Human trafficking groups caught and punished during illegal hunting; magical beasts clashing with guards as they attacked villages during riots; massive blockades at the southern entrance of the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons preventing merchants from passing, which led to resource shortages and rising prices…

The fact that these matters reached Liliya as the queen indicated that they must belong to particularly troublesome and urgent issues, and besides this, there were surely more minor problems occurring continuously.

The Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, huh… I think Philena mentioned something about problems in the northern part of the kingdom earlier. It seems more severe than I had imagined.

The Priestess felt a bit intrigued and selected a few more documents from the table, but it wasn’t long before she heard the sound of hurried footsteps from outside.

“Just stop here; you don’t need to come in. I’m a bit tired today and want to rest early.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A pair of delicate hands pushed open the side door to the chamber, and a blue-haired girl in a loose sleeping robe stifled a yawn as she slowly walked in.

Then, she locked eyes with the black-haired Priestess sitting at the table, absentmindedly stroking the Fragrant Fruit with one hand while holding half-opened paperwork in the other.

Liliya froze for a moment, while Vilyric smiled and raised her hand in greeting.

“Hi, long time no see. Did you miss me?”

“Wha, Vilyric? Is it really you?!”

The queen hurriedly rubbed her eyes, disbelief flooding her gaze as it scanned Vilyric from head to toe, while the latter drooped her head, acting a tad disappointed.

“Aww, your reaction’s so lame! I thought you would scream or rush over to me. The feelings have faded…”

“Eh? No, no! I’m… no, I’m really delighted! It’s just that there are maids and guards outside. If we acted too excited, it might be mistaken for an attack, causing unnecessary trouble… If, if you want, Vilyric…”

Seeing the queen trying to explain herself with a tired look on her face, Vilyric felt a bit sheepish about continuing to tease her. She raised her hand to cast a small barrier, then stood up and walked over to the blue-haired girl, who seemed a tad flustered.

Gently brushing aside Liliya’s sky-blue locks, the Priestess smiled with a hint of sentiment.

“You’ve grown, Liliya, able to restrain your emotions like this. It seems you’re already a qualified queen.”

“Vilyric…”

Liliya raised her head, her eyes a bit reddened as she gazed into Vilyric’s jewel-like, translucent silver-blue eyes for a long while. In the end, she didn’t say much more, just embraced her silently, trying to sense the warmth from her petite frame, and the familiar fragrance she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

No chaos erupted, nor did they hear whines or spoiled voices. Everything felt warm and beautiful in this peaceful atmosphere.

“Vilyric, I really miss you.”

“I miss you a little too, Liliya.”

“Just a little?”

“Haha, you know my personality, a little is already quite a compliment…”

“Well, that’s true. Um, Vilyric…”

“Hm?”

“You haven’t forgotten me. I’m so happy~”

Volume 3: The Abyss of Sorrow and the White Feathers of Redemption Complete