“Geralt.” Esna turned her head slowly. “Please don’t misunderstand me. I understand you and respect you. I know you never hurt dryads, nymphs, goblins, or nymphs. I even often help them. But this can’t change anything.

We are so different, our worlds are so different. I don’t want to and can’t make exceptions for you in the way we do things. I can’t make exceptions for anyone.”

Aisna looked at Lann again and said, "Look, you talked to me about fate yesterday, and now this room is full of people who are entangled with fate."

Indeed, there were only four people in the room now, Geralt, Ciri, Lann and Esna herself.

Aisna pointed at the demon hunter and said as if introducing him:

"Bloquillon is not isolated from the news. I have heard rumors about the witchers. When asking for rewards, the witchers sometimes ask the other party to swear a strange oath: "Give me what you don't know about in your house." "Give me what you already have but don't know about it." Does it sound familiar?

You tried to change the course of fate in this way. You tried to find a boy who would carry on your legacy, to avoid death and oblivion. So why are you surprised by my actions, Geralt? I only care about the fate of the dryads. What's wrong with that? For every dryad killed by the humans, I will take away a young girl. "

Esna was quite dissatisfied with the witcher's behavior of negotiating peace on behalf of the Kingdom of Brugg, and seemed to be very concerned about Geralt's aversion to her transformation into a tree spirit. She even made a special explanation for this, as if trying to convince the witcher to stand on her side.

The demon hunter shook his head: "We follow the law of accidents, but we do not interfere with fate. In fact, our school has not trained demon hunter apprentices for decades - even though our numbers are getting smaller and smaller.

But you are different, Esna. If you do this, it will only arouse hostility and desire for revenge."

Esna buried her nose in Ciri's hair and took a deep breath: "Humanity's hatred...is nothing new. Besides, she is so healthy. There are not many girls like her."

"Not much?"

The dryad turned its silver eyes towards the witcher.

"The men abandoned sick girls in the forests—diphtheria, scarlet fever, laryngitis, and lately even smallpox. They devastated us with epidemics. And we failed them, Geralt. We have something more powerful than immunity. Brokilon will watch over her daughters."

"And now, I finally have the son of the ancient blood." She said, "Yes, Geralt, the son of the ancient blood still exists. And you, you told me that the era has ended... and that we can't continue... I also thank you, Geralt, this is your credit. You failed to give my daughter a child, but in the end you gave me the ancient blood."

Esna finally helped Ciri comb her hair. She turned to look at Lann and Geralt and shouted as if she was taking an oath:

"Today, the blood of the ancients will be added to the blood of the tree spirits. This is the guidance of fate."

Ethna snapped her fingers. Brianne appeared from the night like a ghost and rushed into the room. She held a silver goblet in both hands.

After killing the cat-faction witcher Judd Kaladin, Lann carefully counted all the spoils on him, including the steel sword that was recast as a gift for Ciri, the witcher's unique silver sword, and the most special one for Lann: the cat-faction witcher necklace.

Each school of demon hunters has a necklace with its own unique shape, which is used to help demon hunters explore magical reactions. When there are magical fluctuations around, the necklace will vibrate violently. Lann thought that this prop could help him find the source of magic power.

For example, now.

Lann covered his right chest slightly, a metal cat head was roaring inside. He turned to look at Geralt, whose wolf head necklace was also trembling slightly.

It's all because of the silver goblet that Brian brought in! There's magic in it!

Ethna took the silver cup from Brian's shaking hands and raised it.

"White Wolf, Little Lion. Do you know the ancient runes?"

The demon hunter nodded and said, "I know him."

Every witcher is a senior student of the occult, and only those who have studied in an isolated castle for decades and are familiar with the knowledge will be allowed to go down the mountain alone.

Aisna said, "Then read the words engraved here."

"Duettaeán aef cirrán Cáerme Gleddyv. Yn esseth."

"Do you know what that means?"

"The sword of fate has two blades...you are one of them."

"Son of the Ancient Bloodline." The Dryad's words carried an unquestionable commanding tone, revealing a ruthless will. "Drink it. This is the water of Brokilon."

Ciri raised her head and looked in the direction of Lann, with a question in her eyes: Is this the transformation magic of the tree spirit?

Lan nodded, walked up to her and whispered a few words in her ear, his eyes revealing encouragement.

Geralt bit his lip and looked into Esna's silver eyes. He avoided looking at Ciri, whose lips were already on the cup.

The scene before him brought back scars in his heart. He knew what was going to happen next, he had seen the same scene before: convulsions, hiccups, terrifying cries that were ignored and gradually faded. Then, the eyes would slowly emerge into emptiness, numbness and indifference. He had seen it all.

Geralt even glared at Lann with a hint of anger. He was angry that the princess's guardian knight had done nothing in the process and even fueled the flames. Even though the witcher knew that no effort would be of any use, he felt that the other party should not have the attitude he had now.

Didn’t the young earl know how much Ciri trusted and depended on him?

Ciri took a sip of the water in the cup. Perhaps because of nervousness, her face turned slightly red, and then she began to cough.

“Ahem.”

She seemed to drink a little too quickly and choked.

She did it on purpose, because Lann had just whispered in her ear, "Let me touch that cup later."

She didn't know the reason for doing this, but since Lann said so, she would do it.

It's at this moment! Lan En secretly cheered for the little girl in his heart.

Lann stepped forward quickly, patting Ciri's back while anxiously trying to block the silver cup. The moment his fingers touched the silver cup, the system's prompt sounded:

[Discover the source of magic power, absorb it to gain skill points. ]

Sure enough! Lan En knew what was going on.

He could absorb the magic inside right now, but he controlled himself. If he wanted this glass of water to have the greatest effect, he had to wait a little longer.

On the other side, the Queen of Dryads also reacted upon seeing this.

"That's enough."

Esna took the cup and put it on the ground. She stretched out her hands and stroked the little girl's long gray hair that fell on her shoulders.

"Child of the Ancient Blood," she said. "Choose. Will you stay in Brokilon, or follow the path of your destiny?"

The witcher suddenly widened his eyes, looking at the scene in front of him in disbelief - Ciri's breathing became rapid and her face flushed, but that was all. That was all.

The girl looked directly into the tree spirit's eyes with her human eyes, and her emerald eyes revealed determination: "I will follow the path of destiny and go home!"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was as if a storm swept through the minds of everyone in the room... well, not everyone, but only in the minds of Esna and the witcher.

This is impossible! They both shouted in their hearts at the same time, but their faces remained expressionless.

The Dryad Queen looked at all this in a daze, then looked at Ciri and then at the remaining water of Brokilon in the cup.

The witcher looked at all this in a daze, looked at Ciri, then looked at the Dryad Queen, and seemed to understand something in a trance.

"Thank you, Ms. Esna."

The witcher said sincerely. He thought that the Dryad Queen deliberately changed the water in the cup. This meant that the Dryad Queen also wanted Ciri to go home, so she played the so-called fate and obtained a result that both followed the ancient rituals and guaranteed peace.

Ciri took two tentative steps and found that no one was stopping her, so she trotted over to Lann.