Chapter 214: The Note

Li En felt happiness.

Though subtle, he could only find this clichéd word to describe how he felt these past two days.

"A sense of home?"

Li En still lived in his small house in the Nanmen District, but it was no longer empty.

He had a daughter (Laina: Huh?), a girlfriend (Sallyman: Which Sallyman is your girlfriend, clarify), a mechanical maid (Liyah: Master, the living room wall collapsed again—I didn't mean to! Don't fire me!), and a friend (Dimon: I can't stand this slave market or the black police station—when do we revolt?). Haihai, in short, he was no longer alone.

If possible, he wished this life would last forever, to enjoy the happiness found in other reincarnation novels, but

"The thunder overhead will eventually strike."

Li En did not know how far Xiao Li was from him, but as a bird of prey skilled in flight, its speed would never be slow—and he was already deeply entangled in it.

Even though this was his first time having a girlfriend, Li En had little time for tender comforts. Faced with a crisis of lethal magnitude, perhaps only the Heroine Laina's Epic Card could help him survive.

"Just a little more—why can't I push it over?"

Li En, through Dai Niya, Sallyman, the Garrison Commander, and others, tried to find survivors of the events from that time.

Theoretically, there should have been many such people, since some survivors from the old capital still lived, many having relocated to safer regions.

But even when directly questioning them, he received only answers that felt deeply odd.

"Hell. It was hell."

"I'm sorry, sir, I only saw flames and a sea of red."

"It grew dark, then bright again—everywhere was fire and blood. Long after, we heard crying."

"That day was the final day of the Victory Day celebration—and also the wedding. Ha. Looking back now, perhaps that was what they call 'peak followed by decline.'"

"A blood-colored wedding, a blood-colored wedding—you've heard the minstrel's song, right? It refers to this very day."

Ordinary survivors could not provide much information.

The only thing confirmed was that the Dragon Disaster occurred roughly three months after the campaign against the "Demon King," on the final day of the Victory Day celebration, after the army's return.

A few days prior, the royal family unexpectedly advanced the Princess's and the Hero's wedding.

The wedding was grand, yet rushed; the exact date was the final day of the Victory Celebration.

The people did not oppose it—in fact, they were ecstatic.

At that time, the Hero's prestige was at its peak, even overshadowing the royal family; he was seen as the kingdom's symbol, an invincible war god.

His marriage to the Princess was viewed as the cornerstone of the kingdom's stability, and as the pivotal turning point toward its peak, soon to become an empire.

"Uh, Hero Li En… I heard he was very close—very close—to several foreign princesses."

"His personal morality…"

Li En's inquiries did not cause much surprise, as many people over the years had done similar things.

But this seemed to indirectly confirm that Li En was no honest man—rumors had already spread that he intended to leave for other nations; several kingdoms offered him high rewards, and wasn't the Princess used precisely then? Besides, Li En was famously fond of such things.

Thus, his marriage to the Princess that year relieved many.

Entire towns and villages celebrated all night long—for the kingdom and the invincible Hero.

"Kind of a political marriage."

"In truth, the Princess and Lord Li En's relationship had always been strange. The Princess wasn't just a spellcaster—she was a renowned scholar and artist in the kingdom. And Lord Li En… Hehe, he could fall asleep listening to folk songs." The Garrison Commander's words made Li En feel even more uneasy.

The Garrison Commander had even witnessed the two of them argue publicly multiple times; when they announced their wedding, all Royal Knights were stunned.

In their memory, the Princess and the Hero had never gotten along—the Hero publicly mocked the Princess for being so clumsy she tripped on flat ground in the palace, while the Princess retorted that the Hero was a country bumpkin, illiterate.

"For a long time, whenever the Princess mentioned him, she called him 'that country bumpkin.' But the Princess was a gentle person, and the Hero was a good man. On her wedding day, she smiled brightly—truly, sincerely. Everyone believed they would find happiness."

Li En fell silent. Some things, once dug up, were no longer beautiful.

Even though the Garrison Commander had tried to soften it, this sounded more like a political marriage forced by circumstance.

"The King…"

"Unknown. His Majesty fell seriously ill long ago and withdrew partially from power, delegating authority to subordinates. But he did support the wedding—he personally came out of the inner palace."

Li En fell even quieter. In this story, the King seemed the least important person.

But if one considered the existence of the "Second Princess," perhaps the King could not have ignored her—he might well be the key.

To this day, "Truth" had not responded. It seemed these details did not qualify as "Truth" to the Hero.

"Excuse me. Thank you." Both sides tactfully avoided the "Second Princess"—for this might be the royal family's greatest scandal, even regarded as the cause of the nation's fall.

If the Second Princess's existence were truly confirmed, could it be interpreted that the royal family's insistence on preserving her led to the nation's destruction? The moment such news spread, the kingdom's already fragile public morale would collapse entirely.

As Li En took his leave from the Garrison Commander's residence, he unexpectedly heard a curious anecdote.

Over the years, many had sought the truth; several had come to the Garrison Commander. And the most active seeker of truth recently was someone Li En knew well.

"Heroine Laina?"

It seemed Heroine Laina had also sought the truth of this matter—but ultimately found nothing.

And halfway through his inquiries, Li En received a warning, forced to stop.

"Uh, Princess Dai Niya… did she complain to you?"

It seemed Li En had crossed the line Dai Niya could tolerate. She could not accept anyone questioning her parents' relationship.

But Li En suspected the real reason she didn't want him to continue was the earlier mention of "On the wedding day, the Princess announced she was pregnant"—her birth had been forcibly linked to the day of the nation's fall.

Perhaps her advisors feared that if Li En dug further, strange rumors might surface.

But Li En wasn't in a hurry. His goal had already been achieved.

"Often, the act of searching itself brings results."

Li En never believed he could uncover historical truth by recklessly questioning old acquaintances—he only hoped the news that "he was searching for the truth" would spread.

Then, naturally, some Zhiqingzhe would come forward—selling information, exchanging it, or using their strength to target those who harbored doubts or hatred about the events of that time. Many existed, but none had Li En's ability to gain hidden support from the royal family and the Garrison Commander's faction.

And some things arrived faster than anyone expected.

In Li En's mansion's parlor, a note had been placed there—no one knew when.

It bore only a name and an address—but Li En's face turned pale at once.

"The Whisperers' Reading Circle, 21 Sida Street, Devin District."

The Whisperers? That's not the god of apocalypse?!

(End of Chapter)