Chapter 1482

Crack!

Thunder tore across the sky over Tobesisk. The first rain of this spring, which had begun Tuesday evening, continued to fall in a steady drizzle until Wednesday morning without stopping. But this was a good thing; every spring rain was vital for an era where most people still struggled to survive on the poverty line.

At 8:30 on Wednesday morning, raindrops struck the windows with a rhythmic sound. Although the outdoors was somewhat cold and gloomy, the great house of Miss Jia Lin Na's manor remained as warm and dry as usual.

The gas lamps remained lit even during the day, keeping the dim morning scenery confined to the outside. When the witch, having finished washing up, entered the dining room with her maids, she immediately saw Princess Lei Lei Qianya sitting at the dining table, poking at the sugar-glazed pancakes on her plate with a fork.

Miss Jia Lin Na's light steps instinctively paused, then a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. She continued walking into the dining room and sat opposite Princess Lei Lei Qianya.

The Princess, who had arrived early in the morning, also looked up at her. She examined the witch's attire, noting the gorgeous red long dress, the diamond earrings on her ears, and her fair skin with a rosy glow, then said lazily:

"Although I am very unwilling to admit it, you look several years younger."

"Little Lei Lei Qianya, saying that makes it sound as if I were very old to begin with."

The Duchess said this with a smile to her great-niece, as the maids pushed a food cart over to serve her breakfast.

Xia De had left shortly after seven o'clock. Just now, while Miss Miss Difa had helped her with makeup and hair in the bedroom, the witch had naturally noticed that she appeared even younger and more beautiful. Therefore, the time she spent applying makeup in front of the mirror this morning was longer than usual. Even for witches who were peerlessly gorgeous, no one would dislike becoming younger and more beautiful.

Not only her appearance, but she also felt quite proud of her decisions and actions from yesterday, yet she did not know how to express them in a "normal" way. When Miss Miss Difa brought the cup of hot milk to the table, Miss Jia Lin Na finally thought of a question:

"Lei Lei Qianya, why are you appearing here at this time? Is there something urgent?"

Princess Lei Lei Qianya glanced at her; it was a scrutinizing look:

"Yes, someone stole my things. More accurately, I received a letter from Miss Luvia Annette this morning. She told me to come here and take a look. At that moment, I guessed that something had happened here."

Although she did not know exactly what Xia De had experienced yesterday, she had at least asked the manor's maids and found out where Xia De had slept:

"So, how does it feel?"

The Princess asked in a frivolous tone. The witch thought for a moment:

"Don't speak like that, Lei Lei Qianya. Where is the demeanor of Princess Cavendish? But to be honest..."

She tapped her cheek lightly with her finger:

"It's very good."

Raindrops tapped against the glass windows of the dining room. After Miss Jia Lin Na finished speaking and nodded, her smile became even stronger when she looked at Princess Lei Lei Qianya:

"Or rather, quite good."

"Tsk~"

Princess Lei Lei Qianya made an unladylike sound. In fact, just as Miss Jia Lin Na had said to Xia De yesterday, her great-aunt had already contacted her through Dorothy, and both sides had reached an agreement, exchanging certain concessions from the witch for her consent. After all, Xia De had promised Princess Lei Lei Qianya that she would be informed of this matter in advance.

"Of course it's very good. My judgment has never been wrong."

As Princess Lei Lei Qianya spoke, she looked again at the newspaper on the table:

"So, from now on, we are one family."

On the front page of the newspaper, Hou Jue Wolst, the Kingdom's Minister of State, announced this year's fiscal reform and stimulus plan. The side facing outward described the upcoming border negotiations with the Carsonric United Kingdom and the 1854 Tobesisk Equestrian Competition.

"One family..."

Miss Jia Lin Na nodded, but then immediately reacted:

"Lei Lei Qianya Cavendish, were we not one family before?"

"You know what I mean."

Princess Lei Lei Qianya said. Since the matter had already occurred, she would not say anything more, after all, it was uncertain who had suffered the loss in this matter. However, she was curious about something else, so she lowered her voice and asked, poking her head out from behind the newspaper:

"I heard from the maids here that you... entered the room at four o'clock yesterday afternoon, and didn't even have dinner."

This topic made her blush a little too:

"So... you... until midnight?"

A flush rose on the witch's face as well, and the wild memories of last night—fierce, passionate, rough, gentle—came rushing up:

"Of course not. Xia De was just recovering from a serious illness due to the matters in the Randell River Valley; how could I disregard his health? Moreover, that knight of ours was simply too... valiant. Although my level is double his, it seems... he really learned many skills from you there... until midnight, and then he embraced me and we rested together. That feeling was truly warm and reassuring."

"To be able to... without the Leaf of Eternal Youth, is quite remarkable."

Princess Lei Lei Qianya covered her face with the newspaper, not wanting others to see her expression:

"Xia De doesn't know what kind of strange arts he has learned; his physical constitution is truly astonishingly high."

This sentence made the maids present think of the shocking scene of "offering the heart" from yesterday afternoon.

"No wonder you like being with that writer young lady..."

The Duchess muttered.

Princess Lei Lei Qianya then looked at Miss Miss Difa behind Miss Jia Lin Na:

"I thought you would find someone to help. Knights serving the royal family sometimes also need the tenderness of princesses; do not only care for yourself."

The black-haired young lady maid maintained a blank expression, fulfilling her duties as a personal maid.

Miss Jia Lin Na looked behind her, then shook her head slightly:

"This does not sound like something you would say. I remember you have disliked sharing since you were a child. However, last night I told Xia De that regarding my apprentice and personal maid, as long as he does not take the final step, I do not mind some occasional flirting. Lei Lei Qianya, you are still young; regarding men, you cannot give them whatever they want."

But in reality, the reasons above were lies; doing so was actually to "retaliate" for what the maid and her lover had done in the bedroom during her "business trip" to the Pantanal Great Swamp at the end of last year.

"Just make sure you understand it yourself; I hope you do not regret this decision."

Princess Lei Lei Qianya shook her head; she knew the capabilities of that black-haired young lady maid:

"Also, I am very curious what you made Xia De do before four o'clock yesterday? I heard from Luvia that he cleared his entire day yesterday to prepare to help you, so how did he end up going to your g?"

"I made the knight offer treasures to the Duchess he serves: the endless wine spring, the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone, the King's Crown, and his heart."

Thinking of this matter, the witch's brilliant smile could not be suppressed:

"After night fell, I lay in his arms listening to his heartbeat, listening to him tell the origins of those treasures. You see, fate indeed gave me a sign. No, fate obeyed my thoughts."

"You are truly boring."

Princess Lei Lei Qianya said, then thought of how she herself had left clues step by step last year, letting Xia De and Dorothy search for them, finally meeting in the sea of flowers at her home:

"However, did you really take so many good things from Xia De?"

She asked again, and the witch shook her head quite freely:

"Of course not. I only asked him to find it so I could see it — I never asked him to give it to me. You think I sold myself off? Oh, little Lei Lei Qianya, that's not how a modern woman thinks."

Lei Lei Qianya smiled and went back to reading the newspaper, ignoring her.

Miss Jia Lin Na lowered her head, drew a knife across the fried egg, and said:

"Still, out of the five treasures, I did keep three. The Philosopher's Stone and the Crown I let him take — he said they might be useful to him; the relic 【Bottle of the God of Wine】 I kept, as a memento of the whole affair; the golden Grail he said he could make again, so I kept that too — it bears the ancient rune of 【Youth】, and both the Council's records and Xia De's 【Secret Art of Agelessness】 mention it, so it might let me brew something that counts as an immortality elixir. That's very valuable for research; and finally, the most important one — last night I kept......"

She met Lei Lei Qianya's probing gaze and batted her eyes:

"His heart."

The corner of the Princess's mouth twitched:

"Xia De's gone off to Randle Valley again, has he? Eat up quickly — once you're done, come into town with me."

"He said he'd first go to Limingjiaotang to find his priest friend, then head to Randle Valley to deal with the last matter. You want to ask me into town? What is it — trying to bond with me? Go shopping for clothes together? Or perhaps take in the opera?"

The witch was in a genuinely fine mood today; she glanced at the scenery outside the window:

"Since it's raining out, I suppose we can plan a few more indoor activities."

"Of course it's not about bonding — Luweiya wants to meet with us. Yes, the three of us — Dorothy · Miss Lu Yi Sha can't make it. That purple-eyed diviner is no easy opponent. You stole something that belonged to someone else — have you thought about how you'll handle it?"

"Aren't you in the same boat?"

Jia Lin Na · Cavendish said, though she did feel a touch of unease inside.

Although Luweiya Annat's rank as a ring-mage was far below hers, and her background couldn't compare with the Cavendish girls' either, whenever she faced that diviner, she always felt the woman was definitely not as simple as she appeared.

Moreover, although Xia De hadn't said so, his choice to pursue the Chosen One's saga seemed, at the very beginning, to have something to do with that mysterious diviner.

"I know you're a witch of the Witches' Council. Even if you believe fate allows you to make the decisive choice, what about after... with Xia De — will your identity as a witch be all right?"

Lei Lei Qianya suddenly asked again, and the witch nodded:

"At the very least, I don't feel any problem. Right now, apart from the excellent mood, nothing's different from usual."

Before Xia De left this morning, she had even tried entering the Council together with him again. Of course, at that early hour there was no one in the Council, but the experiment had already proved that taking things further with Xia De wouldn't affect a witch's power.

She had even discussed it with Xia De inside the Council: Xia De was forbidden to reveal to anyone other than Lei Lei Qianya, Dorothy, and Luweiya that their relationship had progressed further, and when meeting the other witches, the two of them had to keep a certain distance.

The surface excuse was to prevent being too intimate and being noticed by the Council Head or some other witch Xia De didn't know. But the real reason was — once Heidi · Aurora, Vanessa · Benanice, or Emma · Sylvia found out that doing so was perfectly fine, she didn't dare imagine what might happen.

"You'd better hide that smile on your face. Once we see Luweiya, who knows what'll happen."

Lei Lei Qianya said, and so the two ends of the table fell quiet for a while. The Cavendishes each ate their own breakfast, with only the maids' occasional footsteps and the rain outside continuing on.

But in the end, the Princess couldn't help her curiosity, looked up and asked:

"Yesterday, did you two try......"

She made a rather complicated gesture with both hands. The witch studied it for a moment before she understood, and asked in some surprise:

"You actually tried that?"

Lei Lei Qianya's face took on a disdainful expression, and she lowered her head to continue her breakfast. The Duchess watched her, then suddenly smiled, feeling that life from now on would only get more and more interesting.