Chapter 266: 266 How Would You Respond? (Requesting Monthly Tickets! Requesting Subscriptions!)
At the top of Fransel’s mansion, the office.
When the night was deep and quiet, this office still had a magic lamp burning, dispelling the darkness and illuminating the entire room.
Yuri sat alone at the desk, writing and drawing on a piece of parchment with a quill pen, seemingly still working.
Marilyn was nowhere to be seen beside Yuri; perhaps even Marilyn didn’t know her young mistress was still working.
"Knock knock..."
At that moment, the office door was knocked on.
"Come in."
Yuri paused in her motion, no longer continuing her work, and instead she looked up and called out.
The office door was immediately pushed open, allowing a person to enter.
Seeing the visitor, a light smile appeared on Yuri’s delicate face.
"I knew it was you."
The only person who could make Yuri reveal such a smile upon seeing them was naturally Reiger.
"I saw the light on over here and knew you weren’t asleep," Reiger also smiled at Yuri and said, "How did you know it was me?"
"By the sound of the knock," Yuri put down her quill pen and smiled at Reiger, "After all this time, I can almost recognize the sound you make when you knock."
This response nearly stunned Reiger.
"Is that even possible?"
Recognizing someone by the sound of their knock really stretched the imagination.
"Have a seat," Yuri put away her smile and spoke in a haunting tone, "Opportunities to sit and talk with you like this are not frequent, right?"
Reiger immediately showed an embarrassed expression.
He knew Yuri was blaming him for being obsessed with the challenge arenas.
Since Reiger had become engrossed in daily arena challenges like this, he indeed had failed to make time to sit down for a good chat with Yuri and enjoy a cup of tea together.
"It can’t be helped," Reiger just had to sit opposite Yuri and said, "This is also a rare opportunity for me; naturally, I must seize it."
Opportunities like these, where people challenged him every day and he could harvest them as experience points, were indeed rare in this world.
Moreover, Reiger was able to further develop the new sword style of "Thunder Breath" through this, and directly derive new insights to refine his "Blossom" technique, which made him excited and unable to stop himself.
It was not his fault.
"I really don’t know what you’re up to," Yuri squinted at Reiger, murmured, "All so secretive, I don’t know how you became a Sword Saint."
Reiger just shrugged his shoulders and then changed the topic.
"How about you? Why aren’t you asleep this late?"
Reiger had noticed that Yuri’s light was still on while he was helping Liz tidy up her room, so he decided to stop by and check on her.
Who knew that upon Reiger bringing up this matter, Yuri looked at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
"I am handling some correspondences that require prompt replies," Yuri patted a pile of opened letters on the desk meaningfully, "These are from various Duke and Marquis families after the knighting ceremony."
"Oh," Reiger suddenly lost interest, "Is it about forging good relationships again?"
"Something like that," Yuri said with a half-smile, "and many are also testing the nature of our relationship."
"Testing? Our relationship?" Reiger was stunned and puzzled, "What do you mean?"
Yuri spoke in a mysteriously calm tone.
"Basically, because we appeared very close during the knighting ceremony, many nobles suspect we have become a couple, so they intentionally sent letters to probe the truth."
With that, the entire office fell silent.
Yuri continued to gaze at Reiger with a half-smile.
Reiger, on the other hand, was left speechless, feeling somewhat embarrassed under Yuri’s gaze.
"Is it now necessary to even probe into these matters?" Reiger could only retort, "These nobles must really have nothing better to do."
"Not exactly," Yuri spoke serenely, "In the eyes of those who value social status and influence, if the two of us were to unite, it would indeed form an extremely formidable power; describing it as a strong alliance would hardly do it justice. Such individuals would want to confirm our relationship as soon as possible—quite normal."
"Is that so?" Reiger looked at Yuri who was seriously explaining, said with a bit of annoyance, "Then how did you respond?"
"Need you ask?" Yuri spoke in a too-calm voice, "Of course, I just admitted it."
Reiger immediately looked shocked.
"Just kidding," seeing the astonished look on Reiger’s face, Yuri chuckled and said, "I didn’t have the idle time to explain to these nobles what my private life and personal relationships are like; if these people were not of such high rank, I wouldn’t even bother replying."
"So, I did not directly answer any of these questions, but rather covered them up and skirted around with crafted words."
"As for what they think or what they do, that’s their own concern."
Yuri’s smiling words nearly left Reiger breathless.
"You and your jokes; they really are heart-stopping," he said.
Reiger somewhat couldn’t help but both laugh and cry.
"Then it’s my turn to ask you," said Yuri, staring directly at Reiger as she suddenly asked, "If it were you, how would you respond?"
Reiger was at a loss for words.
The direct gaze from Yuri seemed to carry an unusual emotion, making Reiger’s skin crawl.
Fortunately, Reiger’s mental fortitude was not lacking. Regardless of what he thought inside, his face remained as still as an ancient well.
"Of course, just like you, I wouldn’t bother explaining to these so-called nobles what my private life and personal relationships are really like."
Reiger responded with such relaxed ease, very naturally.
This silenced Yuri, and the strange emotion in her gaze shifted, giving Reiger a sense of silent reproach.
"By the way," Reiger, unable to bear her gaze, changed the subject again and asked, "Do you know the place called the ’Hidden Land’?"
Reiger’s question made Yuri roll her eyes at him, but still, she followed his lead and took up the topic.
"The Hidden Land?" Yuri thought for a moment, puzzled, "Is there such a place?"
"Isn’t there?" Reiger responded by asking another question, "You haven’t heard of this place?"
"I haven’t heard of it," Yuri considered carefully again, then confirmed, "At least, there definitely isn’t a place called ’Hidden Land’ within the Kingdom of Ginas."
Although young, Yuri was a prodigy who graduated early from the Spuler Academy. She possessed considerable knowledge not only in magic but also in other areas.
In Yuri’s geographical knowledge, there was no place called ’Hidden Land.’
Especially within the borders of the Kingdom of Ginas, Yuri could confidently tell Reiger that there wasn’t a town or village called ’Hidden Land’ here.
As for other countries, Yuri couldn’t possibly remember the name of every village and hamlet.
"Why are you suddenly looking for such an obscure place?"
Yuri was quite puzzled.
"Because of a matter," Reiger didn’t explain too clearly but simply said, "If possible, I hope you can help me check if there’s a place by that name in the continent of Acacia."
"That’s no problem. Just give the order and it’s an easy task," Yuri first gave her assurance, then asked, "Why? Is this matter very important to you?"
Yuri might have noticed something from Reiger’s demeanor. Her expression gradually grew more serious.
"...Yes." Reiger paused for a moment, then nodded earnestly, "It’s very important."
This was about the biggest secret he held. There was nothing more important than this.
"Understood." Yuri grasped the situation and immediately said, "I’ll have someone look into it thoroughly."
"Thank you," Reiger relaxed his face a bit, then recalled something else and said, "While you’re at it, check on the sword called Moslo that Liz has."
Reiger remembered the beast skin map, the sword held by the queen who led many people to worship at the altar.
The sword, dazzling in gold, both in appearance and aura, closely resembled the Moslo Sword in Liz’s hand.
If he couldn’t find the location of the Hidden Land, perhaps he could start with this Moslo Sword and find some clues.
"Alright."
Yuri, unaware of Reiger’s thoughts, simply nodded, recalling Liz’s sword that felt very wrong to her and agreeing to the request.
She, too, was somewhat curious about the origins of that sword.
However...
"Since you’re here, I also have something to tell you," Yuri took out a letter and handed it to Reiger, "You’d better look at this letter."
Hearing this, Reiger took the letter and looked at the signature.
"Kaliya Liat?"
Seeing this familiar name, Reiger’s brow furrowed immediately.
"Her again?" Reiger tossed the letter aside, "Is there any need to read this letter?"
Kaliya had not mailed a letter for the first time, and after Reiger read her first letter, he hadn’t looked at any others she sent.
Thus, Reiger really could not think of any reason her letters would be worth reading.
"This time is different," Yuri shook her head, "This time she mentioned the third prince in the letter, saying she wants to talk about him with you."
Yuri’s words made Reiger’s eyes narrow slightly.
"That mad dog prince?"
It was indeed worth considering.
Yuri apparently thought so too.
"Discussing matters related to that madman with people who are specifically opposing him isn’t a bad idea," Yuri asked, "What do you think? Want to go?"
Reiger smiled faintly and uttered a single word.
"Go."