Petrus (2)

Ares returned to the star observatory and quickly drew a star map. He compared the latest star map with the previous ones several times before summoning another apprentice: "Take this to the 17th Girls' School in Lincheng. Don't ask questions, don't talk, don't say anything, and come back immediately after you've delivered it."

Inside the Derek Gallery, Severus was bowing to His Majesty the King: "Your Majesty, the Queen's Apostle has appeared."

"Who is it?" Derek stood up from his throne.

"Please, Your Majesty, assign me two men. I will bring them before Your Majesty within three days."

“No, don’t bring it in, just deal with it.” Derek circled around twice and then asked, “What did you say the queen’s crown was again?”

“The Queen’s Crown will bring about the extinction of the royal bloodline,” Silver said, his voice cold as he lowered his head. “The Derek bloodline will have no connection to the throne, and the throne of Suncity will be occupied by someone who has no relation to the Derek bloodline.”

“I have a son and a daughter,” Derek said with a sinister expression, staring at Severus and saying each word slowly and deliberately, “I also have four uncles, two brothers, and a bunch of nephews. Tell me, how is Derek’s bloodline going to end?”

“Your Majesty, the person on the throne has not been a descendant of the Derek family since the Queen’s crown, and the star chart foretells this,” Severus asked tentatively. “Or perhaps we could find the Queen’s apostle and keep an eye on him to see who he is colluding with?”

Currently, besides Derek's lineage, the royal family also includes Earl Onardo, also of Derek's royal family. Although his title remains, his bloodline has long since died out. The current Earl Onardo is a commoner nephew adopted from his wife's family by Grand Duke Onardo, which is why Grand Duke Onardo's title has been repeatedly demoted. Back then, Grand Duke Onardo discovered the secret of the Longevity Seeds. He was the first to openly attack them. Everyone witnessed the Longevity Seed, stabbed by Grand Duke Onardo, disappear before their eyes, only to reappear unharmed in its home. Only then did the people of the Flower Kingdom discover the wondrous uses of the Longevity Seed. The Longevity Seed is a divine medicine, and its rarity stems from the fact that it grows on the bodies of Longevity Seeds; only one Longevity Seed exists for every Longevity Seed. Grand Duke Onardo killed too many Longevity Seeds. He married three wives, none of whom could bear him an heir, which is why the throne fell to Derek I. Everyone said this was a curse from the Longevity Seeds upon Grand Duke Onardo.

"Do you think the Long-lived Race knows about this?" Derek thought of the Long-lived Race's curse. "The Queen's apostles must be colluding with those Long-lived Races. Besides the Long-lived Race's curse, what else could cause the royal bloodline to be cut off?"

Derek looked flustered and fearful, staring nervously at Severus, wanting to hear him deny what he had just said. But Severus simply stood quietly to the side, as if he hadn't heard the curse at all.

“Severus finds him, finds the Queen’s Apostle, and then kills him.” Derek’s face twisted as he stared at Severus and said viciously, “Severus, if you can’t kill the Queen’s Apostle, I’ll kill you.”

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will kill the Queen's apostle."

* * *

In the Lord's Mansion of Lincheng 17, Yana was busy in the highest room. The Roger incident had just subsided, and the new Lord Qiu lacked authority, drawing considerable opposition within the city. She had transferred Liz, recently relieved of his duties at the 17th Border Post, to be the captain of the Lincheng 17 city defense force, temporarily stabilizing the situation. Currently, construction work on the outer city of Lincheng 17 was underway, and Qiu was rarely seen. Yana needed to oversee the work at the Lord's Mansion, so she moved the observatory there.

"Yana, do you think it would be good for me to promote Di?" Qiu pushed open the door, her face was haggard, and there were dark circles under her eyes, it was obvious that she hadn't had a proper rest for many days.

"The caravan can't stop. I need to make several more trips to Maicheng to clear the roads between Lincheng 17 and Lincheng 19. Galina and Sol are still waiting for the observation probe."

"No, I can't handle it." Qiu lay down on Yana's small bed and acted spoiled. "You know my physical condition has always been worse than Zara's. If this continues, Lincheng 17 will have a new city lord in a few years."

Yana took out a star map: "Autumn, the Queen's Crown is related to Bertram."

"What did you say?" Qiu stood up in surprise.

“Mi should have arrived in Sun City long ago.” Yana laid out star maps one by one.

"I don't understand any of this. Just tell me directly what it has to do with Beatrice?"

“The people sent by Lincheng 17 weren’t just sending Colin as a hostage, they were also going to bring back Petris.” Yana pinched her brow, the darkness in her eyes no less than Qiu Qing’s. “The delegation sent by Lincheng 17 hasn’t returned yet. I’m worried His Majesty the King will refuse to let Petris come back. He knows what’s going on with Lincheng 17, I thought of that a long time ago. Even if Mi went to Sun City alone, he should have made contact with Petris by now, no matter how slow he was. Queen Star lit up a couple of days ago. Qiu, besides Mi and Petris, I can’t think of any other reason.”

"Petrice is only ten years old this year. Is she going to be a queen?" Qiu looked in the direction of Sun City.

“I don’t know,” Yana said, looking at Qiu. “You need to stabilize Lincheng 17 as soon as possible. I’ve already arranged for the observation detector to be made. Once the observation detector is installed on Weicheng 20, Jialina will send someone to take over Weicheng 18. At that time, Weicheng 18 will have to be supported by us, Lincheng 19, and Lincheng 20. We can’t touch Sidney for the time being, so we should keep him trapped in Lincheng 18.”

"I know, I'll take care of it right away." Qiu looked at the tall Hopea tree in the city lord's mansion, with a small wooden house hidden among the branches and leaves: "You should also get some rest. We still need to bring Bai Cuisi and her child back."

“I believe in you. Zara was able to put the Queen on the throne back then, and this time we can put the Queen on the throne too.” Yana hugged Qiu from behind, burying her face in her back and whispering, “Qiu, you are the smartest. If even you can’t do it, I don’t know who else we can rely on.”

* * *

As Mi watched Petrus's breathing gradually stabilize and she left the Twin Towers, she paced back and forth in Derek's Palace, trying to find a suitable way to meet with Petrus. Suddenly, Mi stopped in her tracks, as if she were locked in place by some force, unable to move. Under the blue moon, a black figure was stretched out.

Mi, who was immobilized, looked around. This was a secluded garden, and patrolling soldiers would not pass by here. The bushes rustled in the night wind. Mi cautiously extended a thread into the bushes, and green light appeared in the bushes. Mi gathered these green light clusters together and slowly pulled the entire witch's body into the bushes.

Mi's body felt heavier; her witch body was malfunctioning. Hiding in the bushes, Mi tried to figure out what to do. She must be being watched. Who could it be? Mi thought of the Adventurers' Guild, which she hadn't encountered along the way, a place full of extraordinary people.

Mi clung to green shrubs and various plants, using the green light to conceal his tracks, until he left Derek Palace, when the heavy force began to lessen. Mi continued along Derek Avenue, heading towards the darkest alleyway.

Inside King Derek's palace, Severus was walking back with the two men King Derek had given him when he suddenly stopped and stared into the dark void: "You two, start tracking immediately." The two men following behind Severus had exceptionally long noses. They sniffed around the palace as they walked, eventually arriving at the bushes where Mi was hiding.

Severus stared at the dark bushes for a long time. He followed the route Mi had taken, step by step, out of Derek Palace and into the alley opposite Derek Avenue. The two men who had been following him sniffed again, indicating that they had found their way.

"Go find a carriage, one that is well-sealed and soundproof," Siever instructed from the darkness.

A completely black carriage was quickly brought in front of Sifre, and a man also dressed in black leather armor drove the carriage behind Sifre. The narrow alley blocked the carriage's progress.

“Sir, I know the roads here. Please get in the carriage; I can follow the searchers.” The coachman suggested to Severus, who was peering into the alley. The two men who had been following Severus earlier were twitching their noses rapidly, waiting for him to follow them into the alley. Severus, watching the two men who were anxiously trying to run out like hunting dogs, ordered, “Grab him and bring him out, but don’t let him make a sound.”

Siever watched the two men disappear into the alley before climbing into the carriage and instructing, "Take the shortest route and follow them." The carriage turned into a relatively wide alley and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Mi crept through the alley when she suddenly felt a pull again. She stopped. There was no greenery nearby, and no glowing light in the darkness, unless she slipped into a house. Without hesitation, she floated into the air. Soft footsteps echoed in the alley, and two yellow orbs of light approached. Mi lay on the rooftop, watching two soldiers in leather armor approach. They walked and stopped, and as they drew closer, the pulling force grew stronger.

Mi quickly turned around from the rooftop and entered a nearby alley, hiding deep within it. The two yellow orbs of light took two more steps forward, then stopped and turned back towards the alley where Mi was hiding. Mi's heart skipped a beat; this time, she was truly being watched.

The pull grew stronger, and Mi climbed back onto the roof along the corner of the wall. Her mind raced; the two men stopped again. Mi peered out; two men stood under the eaves, staring blankly at the sky. They exchanged a glance, then reached into their pockets for something. Mi's heart tightened. Without thinking, she pulled out a dagger and lunged at them. With one hand, she slit one man's throat, while the other hand tightened around the other's neck. She whispered, "Who sent you?"

The man struggled, his eyes bulging, his face contorted in a grotesque grimace, clutching something he was about to crush. A sharp alarm sounded in Mi's mind; without hesitation, she killed her subordinate again.

Two men collapsed to the ground. Their faces were somewhat peculiar, with unusually long noses and a small hole in one of them. Mi crouched down to examine them more closely. The man behind her was holding a thread. Mi took the thread from him, and the force pulling on it quickly lessened. Just as she was about to continue her examination, footsteps sounded again from the alley entrance. Someone was coming this way, so Mi had to hide again and avoid them.

A carriage was parked in an alley not far from where Mi was hiding. Severus's voice came from inside the carriage: "Why did it take so long?"

The footsteps stopped, and a man stood beside the two corpses. He examined the man's palms, feeling around for a while before standing up. He looked into the depths of the alley for a while, making sure there was no one there, before returning to the carriage to report: "Sir, we failed. Both searchers have been killed, and the assassin has escaped the alley."

"Useless!" Siever snorted and scolded, "Aren't you leaving?" The corpses in the alley were moved onto the carriage, which quickly started and disappeared into the darkness in no time.