Chapter 1208: Chapter 1207: Historical Interleaving

In the northern regions of the Loren Continent, the mountains, cold winds, and the banner of the Wilder Clan together rule the northern parts of the Empire. Although it is still autumn, winter’s breath has already begun to knock at the gates between the mountains—accompanied by the dry and cold air currents that have not ceased since the beginning of autumn, the weather of Bitter Winter County grows colder by the day. Occasionally, winds howl through the mountains, blowing loose snow down to the mid-slopes, leading the mountain dwellers to sometimes suspect that the winter snows have arrived ahead of the cold winds.

Of course, for Bitter Winter Castle perched atop the mountain peaks, wind and snow are commonplace, irrespective of the seasons. Even in midsummer, Bitter Winter Castle could suddenly be enveloped by swirling snowflakes, regardless of the clear skies surrounding the castle. Whenever such snow suddenly appears, the servants know it’s the emotional shift of the "Ice Duchess" residing deep within the castle. However, as for the exact mood of the northern guardian on that day... only the personal maids would know.

At the highest point of Bitter Winter Castle, a tower filled with magical brilliance stands quietly on a stone platform. The swirling snowflakes continuously coalesce from the sky above the tower, dancing around the tower and half the castle. The light streams formed by magic power in the air intertwined with the whirling snow, creating an intoxicating beauty, yet the chill inspires fear—two maids stand in a corridor on the upper level of the tower, nervously watching the heavy snowfall outside. One can’t help but move to the window to check if it is securely closed.

Of course, the window is securely closed. However, looking at the snowfall outside, the maids invariably feel as if the cold wind penetrates the walls and crystal glass, blowing straight onto their faces.

"Is the lady angry?" The maid who checked the window steps back, anxiously whispers to her companion, "It’s been snowy all day—the courtyard is completely covered now."

"There’s no need for us to worry about it," the maid who remains in place seems rather calm. "Even if the lady is angry, she won’t easily vent it at us—and she may not be angry at all; perhaps she’s extraordinarily happy today."

"You seem to know her quite well, huh?"

"Not quite—I have been working in this castle for ten years. The lady is much gentler than you might think, especially now that Miss Maji has returned to the castle. With her by the lady’s side, we certainly don’t need to worry blindly."

"Huh? Miss Maji has returned? How come I didn’t see her?"

"She returned last night and didn’t enter the castle through the main gate—she flew in directly from the terrace," the somewhat older maid smiles as if she had seen it herself, "Don’t forget, Miss Maji is a powerful dragon!"

"...Oh!"

...

The conversation in the corridor is quite low, enough to evade ordinary ears but not the perception of legendary mages and dragons. Standing in the magical meditation room, Victoria opens her eyes from her contemplations. Before she speaks, Maji, who is beside her, takes the initiative to say, "Should I remind the two in the corridor? Their discussion is getting rather lively."

"No need," Victoria shakes her head expressionlessly, "They’re just chatting; I don’t mind."

Maji nods slightly, saying nothing further, while Victoria exhales softly, extinguishing the incense burning in the meditation room. As the magical symbols on the floor go dark one by one, this northern guardian turns her head to glance at her confidant and follower, casually asking, "Did you enjoy your time in Cecil Castle?"

Maji looks at Victoria with a mix of humor and seriousness, "If I said I was so happy, almost forgetting to come back, would you be sad?"

Victoria remains silent, simply returning the gaze with an unchanging expression.

"Your ’expression of knowing I’m not joking yet you still crack a wry smile’ is really obvious; I nearly missed it," Maji sighs helplessly, shrugging with a smile, "Honestly, it was quite enjoyable over in the imperial capital. Rebecca is a good friend, His Majesty is kind and wise, and the work as a flight consultant and instructor is not too burdensome—plus, there are many Dragonborn over there."

"Why did you return earlier then?" Victoria asks curiously, "Isn’t it nice being with your kind?"

"If I wanted to be with my kind, returning to the Sacred Dragon Kingdom would be better, right?" Maji laughs, shaking her head, "No special reason, just that the work over there has wrapped up. The training of the flight unit is now on track, and new Dragonborn have signed up for the technical department. Currently, more manpower is needed here than in the imperial capital—and even if something happens over there, flying over wouldn’t be difficult now."

Victoria nods, saying nothing further, while Maji watches her eyes, listening to the howling wind and snow outside the castle. After a few seconds, she suddenly remarks, "Still can’t calm your mind? I remember the meditation incense is quite effective for you."

"Incense can only help me focus, but can’t stop my mind from thinking," Victoria says with a touch of helplessness, inwardly recalling the intel she received from Amber during earlier communications with the imperial capital. Her brows slowly furrow, no longer maintaining the expressionless demeanor from before, "I finally have a bit of understanding of what Aunt Heidi and Rebecca felt when facing the reborn ancestor at Gawain Cecil’s tomb all those years ago..."

Maji quietly watches her friend, breaking the silence after a while, "Your feelings are different from theirs because the situations you face are entirely different. They were at a dead end; the ’ancestor’ stepping out of the grave was their entire reliance and hope, whereas you confront an open stage where you’re pursuing your ambitions. Thus, under this premise, a suddenly emerging ’ancestor’ might not be a blessing for you."

Victoria exhales lightly, her voice deep, "Maji, you know my concern isn’t about that."

"Yes, I’m aware you’re not someone who craves power and position; your confidence and ability make you hard to shake under any circumstances. Additionally, given the demeanor of Great Adventurer Modir Wilder himself, you truly need not worry about him affecting the order you maintain here... Yet ultimately, an ancestor who departed six hundred years ago has suddenly returned to this world, which might bring tremendous change, wouldn’t it?" Maji remarks with a faint smile, "Even gods cannot control the future, and you’re just a mortal, Victoria—but you dislike the feeling of a future spiraling out of control."

Speaking of this, she paused, then calmly added, "Moreover, the current state of ’Great Adventurer Modir’ is very peculiar. Whether he has resurrected from the grave or has been wandering the world in a dazed state for the past six hundred years, he doesn’t seem like a ’normal living person.’ As a descendant of the Wilder Clan, you can’t just ignore such a family ancestor."

Victoria looked at Maji, and after a long gaze, she sighed helplessly, a slight curve appearing at the corner of her mouth: "You understand me better—other people probably wouldn’t know what I’m thinking even if they pondered beside me for a whole day."

"And what is your decision?" Maji raised her head and calmly asked, "You’ve been sulking here for half a day—although it’s not easy to see, by now you should have made a decision, right?"

"... I have duties to fulfill, many decisions cannot just be made impulsively," Victoria pondered for a moment, speaking softly, "Especially with the northern situation having just stabilized, I can’t devote too much energy to my personal matters..."

"You’re too tense, Victoria, and the matter of Modir Wilder, the old duke, is not your private affair—it’s something that even His Majesty is concerned about, affecting major affairs between the Empire and Talronde," Maji knew her friend had a tendency to overthink, her overly serious nature often being a problem at times like these, but she was used to it, "Sometimes you need to set aside conventions and restraints, and make bold decisions, or at least discuss it with His Majesty... If even His Majesty agrees, then there’s nothing to worry about."

"It seems you now have great faith in our king," Victoria seemed to have suddenly understood something, revealing a slight smile, "You’re right, this is an unconventional matter, and I should make some unconventional decisions... Maji, I decide to personally travel to Talronde, and verify the situation of ’Adventurer Modir’. It’s said that he cannot be stimulated by the surname ’Wilder’, which means he probably can’t come to Bitter Winter Castle, since he can’t come over, I’ll go to him."

...

In the study of Cecil Palace, laid with a blue velvet carpet, Amber stood opposite Gawain’s desk, Gawain slightly nodded his head as he listened to her report.

"So... you think that the northern Violet Kingdom has significant ’suspicion’," he raised his head, looking at the half-elf in front with a serious expression, "You suspect that Modir Wilder’s last adventure back then was in Violet—encountering some disturbance there, causing him to live till today in a strange ’amnesiac’ state?"

"Not necessarily living till today, maybe he also experienced a ’slumber’ similar to yours, waking up only recently due to some reason and climbed out from the coffin—and he himself isn’t aware of this," Amber said as she sorted her thoughts, "I have my suspicions in this regard, but no evidence yet. But think about it, Modir’s disappearance was no minor issue for Anzu, surely the royal family and Wilder Clan launched full efforts to search, even if they didn’t find him, they should have found some clues—but all leads broke off after pointing north...

"Under such relentless search, only the mysterious Violet Kingdom, besides Talronde, could make the clues disappear; and Talronde can basically be excluded..."

Gawain listened to Amber’s serious analysis, nodding lightly: "Additionally, the next step is to look into the specific situation of ’Adventurer Modir’. Talronde hopes we can send someone knowledgeable enough about Modir for contact, Enya also suggested this. Truth be told... I’m quite curious about that ’adventurer’."

"But you can’t leave now," Amber rolled her eyes, "Whether it’s Project 115 or progress at Black Forest, or several major initiatives with Typhon and the Silver Empire, you need to personally attend to each."

Gawain thought about it and could only sigh, "Ah... I understand Heidi’s daily sentiments a bit now."

Amber immediately quipped, "You couldn’t understand—her stress was overwhelming and she could draw herself an impromptu smoky makeup to lighten the mood, while you have no ancestral figure resurrecting to come enlighten you... Oh, I was just casually saying! I wasn’t lying, don’t hit me!"

Gawain glared at this uncensorable disgrace to all creatures, casually tossing the silver seal he had just picked up back onto the desk—he was just joking, definitely not going to actually throw things to hit her, not that he feared injuring her, mainly because once thrown, retrieving it would be a hassle, this Shadow Assault Goose might be lackluster in combat, but if the object’s value exceeds half a pound, she can catch it mid-air unharmed even if fired from a magic cannon, and swiftly escape... a process that even a legendary knight like Gawain couldn’t explain.

And it was at this moment that a buzzing sound abruptly came from the magic web terminal not far from the desk, along with the faint glow as the projection crystal activated, Gawain shifted his attention away from Amber.

The terminal activated, crystal brightened, and the rapidly clarifying holographic projection revealed Heidi’s figure, her expression serious as she spoke: "Ancestor, Silver Empress Belsetia and her delegation have crossed the Dark Mountain Range, estimated to arrive at Pioneer Square in thirty minutes."

"Already arrived then..." Gawain softly acknowledged, then nodded, "I understand, notify the welcoming staff at the square to follow the planned procedures and prepare, I’ll be there shortly."

The visit of the Silver Empire’s delegation was a long-scheduled affair, Gawain had prepared for it long ago, so he felt no surprise at the moment, yet thinking of the delegation’s uniqueness made his expression slightly more solemn.

In the Silver delegation nearing the imperial capital, the highlight was not the Silver Empress, but rather several elves titled "Great Druids" and "Ancient Sages," each of their ages... enough for short-lived humans to view them as "living fossils."

Leading among the silver elves was a figure named "Azmole," an ancient Druid priest who, three thousand years ago before the White Starfall event, was the "Servant of God" second only to the Silver Empress, having received divine blessing directly from the God of Nature, in the data sent by Belsetia, he was acknowledged by half of Silver Empire’s "old Mystic Doctrine" as a "sage," countless secret sects operating in his name.

He was the last to still devoutly believe in Amon in this world, and was once a high priest accepting "divine grace" three thousand years ago.

Gawain stood up from behind the desk, taking a gentle breath, and headed towards the door.

"The last ’anchor point’ of Amon still remaining in the mortal realm has arrived," he said in a deep voice, "Let’s go meet them."

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