Alice stayed in Louis's room for a while longer and took the crimson Lover's Dream from him, raising the gem towards the window sill.

The light outside the window shone through the gem, flickering with an indescribable beauty.

"If I lost this thing, I wouldn't know how to explain it to my family."

Louis coughed.

He should have returned the crimson Lover's Dream to Alice earlier, but when he used the artifact to jump back to the ground that day, he simply forgot.

He never thought that this trip to the Shadow Country would confront him with something beyond legendary so early on.

Although he had dealt with a fair number of exemplars, the difference between them and something beyond that was still immense.

If it weren't for the help from the Black Swan, he wouldn't even know if he could successfully bring the little swan out from around the Shadow Country.

Plus, the huge side effects from using time stop twice in a row made him really put this matter out of his mind.

And shortly after returning, he bumped into the Black Swan again.

With his mind in a mess, if it weren't for Alice's reminder, he really didn't know when he would remember this matter.

But just as Alice was about to get up, she noticed something off?

"Hmm, what is this?"

Sensing a slight texture at her fingertips, she instinctively picked up something from Louis's sheets.

It was a strand of gold hair.

Alice was startled for a moment, then looked at the position of the gold hair.

The hair wasn't by the bedside.

"Olivia has been here?"

A look of surprise flashed across Alice's face.

However, considering their good relationship, it's understandable why she'd run into Louis's room.

Alice nonchalantly said:

"Louis, did no one else come to see you these past two days while you've been in your room?"

Without hesitation, Louis said:

"Didn't I tell you all not to disturb me? Of course, no one from the group would come in this situation."

Alice discreetly placed the strand of gold hair into her pocket.

Alright, she wouldn't expose him.

But with a doubt lingering in her mind, Alice wasn't so easy to fool.

She leaned forward slightly, placing her hands on Louis's blanket, and leaned closer, tauntingly saying:

"You've gotten a lot stronger recently, huh? When the eternal training is about done, how about we spar again?"

Louis raised an eyebrow:

"Alice, we're not the same as when we went to Tunisia for assault training, are you sure you want to challenge me under these circumstances?"

Louis implied that although Alice had become an exemplar, her raw combat power might not truly surpass his.

To put it accurately...

Even without relying on Limuru, his combat power should suppress Alice's.

Alice pouted and backed away a little:

"If I don't spar with you more now, it'll be even harder to suppress you in the future."

Louis showed his bright teeth and said:

"Don't worry, I won't give you the chance to catch up to me once I surpass you all."

As a cheat, he had that confidence.

Alice shrugged without saying anything.

But when Louis wasn't paying attention, she stirred up a breeze with her palm.

She sniffed slightly, and then a smile appeared on her lips:

"By the way, Louis, did no one else really come looking for you these past two days?"

"Didn't I already say no?" Louis replied helplessly.

But the next moment, Alice said something that made his expression freeze:

"Your sheets smell a bit strong, find some time to clean them, after all, you might be staying here for another half week!"

As soon as she said this, Alice noticed Louis's expression momentarily stalled.

But he quickly returned to normal and said calmly:

"If you mean my sweaty smell, just say it directly. I can take that hit."

Damn it.

Suddenly, he remembered that the sheets still had traces of the Black Swan's scent.

Alice's sense of smell was incredibly strong!

"Oh?"

Alice elongated her tone.

Finally, she said softly:

"I'll just take it as that then."

She got up and left the room, and as she was about to close the door for Louis, she suddenly said:

"Louis, may you never get taken apart in the future."

The playful expression on her face left Louis with a darkened complexion.

But he couldn't explain it.

As it stood, not many people knew about the existence of the Black Swan.

He couldn't possibly go around saying "Ense's Second Princess has a clone, and it's extremely powerful" or "I was helping her clone recover these past few days," could he?

So he could only say:

"I prefer someone a bit more mature, you don't think Olivia came to my room, do you?"

Louis said seriously

Alice looked at him skeptically, then suddenly laughed:

"You don't need to explain to me."

With that, she closed the door.

Listening to the fading sound of Alice's footsteps, Louis slapped his forehead:

"What a mess!"

...

In the blink of an eye, four days passed.

As time went on, Louis found that the city was becoming more and more "lively."

Especially the assassination squad members, who recently kept coming to ask him for information.

Louis was getting annoyed with them.

However, after some entanglement between various parties, soon a clear order came from the Lokeshi Empire:

"The investigation into the Shadow Country incident is temporarily concluded."

This also signaled that the professionals who came to explore this place and the legion members guarding the surroundings were officially released.

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