In the southern region of the Western Continent, the Silent Forest.
This is a sparsely populated forest.
It is said that humans once lived here in ancient times that cannot be traced back.
Even in that barbaric era when the extraordinary races disappeared and the spark of human civilization began to shine, the earliest human kingdoms were established around the Silent Forest.
However, as several epochs passed, traces of humanity faded from this ancient forest, and eternal tranquility returned to it.
Deep in the Silent Forest, in a dark garden next to a lake.
The girl with black hair and black dress stood quietly by the lake.
Her eyes were covered with a thin layer of night, making them appear vague and hazy, making it difficult to see clearly.
Suddenly, at a certain moment, the thin shadow was penetrated by the red-gold light.
...
...
It penetrates the night and also the shadows.
Then it landed straight in front of her, on the quiet lake and several ruins beside the lake that had been weathered to the point of being almost hollow, with only the outlines of the original buildings vaguely recognizable.
The next moment.
In the scarlet-gold light, shadows surged.
Between illusion and reality, above the weathered and decayed ruins, the faint night gradually interweaves——
Finally, it turned into a series of hazy, fleeting lights and shadows above the ruins.
Augustina just quietly looked at the hazy and illusory light and shadow, with light flowing in her red-gold eyes like flowing lava.
The Shadow Council has bases throughout most of the Western Continent, even in the Lost Kingdom controlled by the cult.
However, few people know that the headquarters of the Shadow Council and the residence of the leader of the council, the Queen of Night, are both located in the sparsely populated silent forest in the southern part of the continent.
Even those few high-ranking members of the Shadow Council who knew the name of the Silent Forest found it difficult to understand Augustina's purpose in setting up the council's headquarters here.
The Shadow Council's status is sufficient to establish its headquarters in any national capital in the Western Continent. Large cities with heavy traffic and many powerful people are also more suitable for the Shadow Council to carry out various intelligence operations.
There is no need to set it up here. To put it nicely, it will not be disturbed. To put it bluntly, it is a remote and cornered place.
However, only Augustina herself knows——
The Silent Forest is her hometown.
The remains of the ancient Dragon King's Court and the last fragments of that once prosperous civilization were buried in the Silent Forest.
And not only that—
Silent Forest.
It was also the place where Augustina and the human boy met for the first time.
And the forest country near the Silent Forest——
It is also the source of the first footprints left by the human boy in the First Age.
…
The faint night sky surged over the desolate ruins.
It was very faint, but it carried a mysterious hint of antiquity and decay, flowing silently over the lake.
After a long time, the night and shadows faded from the ruins.
Along with it, the fleeting light and shadow above the ruins disappeared.
The remaining buildings were no longer shrouded in the night, and suddenly became much dimmer, no longer having their previous luster.
As if the last bit of mystery had been lost, the remnants of the buildings all decayed and turned into scattered chalk dust.
The red-gold color in the eyes of the girl in the black dress, which looked like the majesty of an ancient king, also disappeared, and was once again obscured by the hazy night, making it difficult to see the full picture.
"The prince of the forest kingdom."
"Pushed out by the rebels, a sacrifice to the sleeping dragon in the Silent Forest..."
"I didn't expect that you had such an identity in the First Era."
"Well... after the last prince was sacrificed to the dragon, the forest kingdom collapsed due to internal strife for power."
"And the lines that the rebel general said during the rebellion - "A real man lives between heaven and earth, how can he be depressed and live under others for long?"... This line is very much in your style. ”
"This kind of thing is also in line with your bad taste. It should be related to you."
"But with your current status, you actually still care about a few minions who are not even legends..."
"Considering your current status as the husband of the Empress of the Empire and half-owner of the White Tower, this should be considered pure black history."
A slight smile appeared on Augustina's lips.
"It looks like there will be some more dirty secrets in a certain Prometheus-level file."
There was some joy in her words.
The Shadow Council is the largest intelligence organization in the entire Western Continent. This is a fact known and recognized by every extraordinary person in the Western Continent.
But no one knows the original intention of the founder and leader of the Shadow Council when he first established the Shadow Council.
In fact, she just wanted to recruit some people to help her collect intelligence and black material on someone.
Someone appeared like the wind in the First Age and in Augustina's life.
Then, the human boy disappeared like the wind.
He was the first intelligent life that Augustina saw when she was born.
For the dragon clan, the first living being they see after breaking out of the shell is even more significant than their biological parents. It is an existence with irreplaceable special meaning.
However, after that, the human boy disappeared so completely.
No matter how hard Augustina searched in the Western Continent, she could never find any trace of him.
Because of this, Augustina's feelings towards the human boy are extremely complicated.
On the one hand, there is the irrepressible longing that arises in my heart.
On the other hand, even though he knew that the other party was most likely unaware of the situation and did not do it on purpose, he still felt regretful that he had disappeared for two eras.
So when Augustina finally found the young man's whereabouts through the feedback from the parliamentary base in the imperial capital in the Fourth Epoch—
She knew very well that Char didn't recognize her at all and that she shouldn't show up now... but in the end she couldn't control herself and took the initiative to descend on the imperial capital, teasing the then ignorant boy several times.
Looking at Char, who was completely unaware of the situation, facing him cautiously in the Dark Night Garden, cautiously testing and guessing...
In Augustina's heart, the resentment that had been left to play for two epochs also dissipated a lot in an instant.
Including the fact that she has been insisting on collecting information about the other party, and even recorded many embarrassing things about Char's childhood in that Prometheus-level file, it is actually the same principle.
It's just like the extreme fans who turn love into hate and collect negative information about the other party everywhere.
Buzz buzz buzz——
A slight vibration coming from afar interrupted the self-satisfied reverie of the girl in the black dress.
Her expression hardened, and she turned back into the mysterious and unfathomable Queen of the Night.
"explain."
"Yes, Master Chief."
The sound transmission array transmitted the respectful words of the person in charge of the Dark Night Garden at the Shadow Council's base in the imperial capital.
"His Majesty Xia has been to the Dark Night Garden."
"According to your previous instructions, I told him that you are now in seclusion and no one knows where you are."
"And as you instructed, he was given the highest level of access to all Shadow Council inventory and intelligence archives."
As he spoke, the person in charge secretly swallowed his saliva. Most of the powerful people in the Western Continent only know that the Shadow Council is rich.
But I have no specific idea of how rich he is.
As a manager of the Shadow Council, he had been promoted by the leader because of his position as the head of the Imperial Capital Base. He had truly entered the upper echelons of the Council. Only then did he know very clearly...
The Shadow Council has been passed down for thousands of years and has been hoarding wealth all the time as intelligence dealers and arms dealers. How deep is its foundation?
It is no exaggeration to say that if we do not count the powerful and inherited holy relics and strategic-level foundations, the Shadow Council is even enough to compete with any one of the Empire, the Holy Theocracy, and the Alliance of Princes in terms of the total amount of wealth alone.
If Augustina herself was not only keen on collecting intelligence and hoarding gold coins, but had no interest in expanding her power, the Shadow Council could have established its own country and become the fourth pole of the order camp in the Western Continent.
That is a force that is enough to shake the entire situation in the Western Continent.
"However, His Majesty Xia doesn't seem to have mobilized much wealth."
"He simply looked up some information on the Angel of Death related to the First Epoch, and then took two holy relics from the warehouse."
"Moreover... His Majesty Char also clearly stated that the two holy relics were only borrowed temporarily and would be returned later. He also left behind extraordinary resources that were enough to match the value of the two holy relics as the rental fee."
…
"You're not even willing to take the Shadow Council's resources for free, and are only willing to obtain them through trade?"
"Don't you want to owe me a favor?"
"Even the Shadow Council itself was created to find you..."
No one heard the black-dressed girl's mumbling.
On the surface, she quickly and calmly answered.
"Um."
Augustina nodded slightly.
"Well done, that's all."
She tapped her fingers lightly, as if she wanted to actively cut off the magical communication.
But suddenly, Augustina paused for a moment while about to cut off the call.
"During this period, there shouldn't be any new women around him."
"Given His Majesty Char's current status, as well as his multiple identities as the husband of the new queen and the leader of the Sword Wielders... plus your previous instructions, we naturally dare not conduct a too in-depth investigation."
"We can only guess based on His Majesty Char's behavior when he appears in public in the Imperial Capital."
"From what I can see so far... apart from the Blue Silver Witch who is the Lord of the White Tower and Queen Isadella, His Majesty Char has probably never been in public with any other female companions."
"Yes, there is also the orphan of the Winter Flower family, Aurora Ingulite. His Majesty Shaar visited the Dark Night Garden with her this time. You should have seen her before, Chief."
Augustina's movements froze for a moment, then returned to normal.
"I see."
"After that, you continue to do as I said before."
On the other end of the magic communication, the person in charge hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Master Chief... When Xia Yamian came down, he seemed to want to meet you."
"Since you are so concerned about his news and you haven't really been in seclusion, why do you want me to use the excuse that you are in seclusion to refuse His Majesty Xia..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Augustina's laughter.
"Because, if I met him now."
"Then maybe I will lose to Sylvia and Isadella for the rest of my life..."
Magic communication is cut off.
The Silent Forest returned to peace.
Augustina put away the sound transmission crystal and just stared quietly at the calm lake in front of her.
Those eyes were obscured by the night and were difficult to see clearly.
"Actually, why wouldn't I want to see him?"
"But--"
"A trustworthy and intimate pet..."
"After all, there is still a difference between being with a partner who walks hand in hand and supports each other through thick and thin."
A slight red-gold color flowed in Augustina's eyes.
She knew very well Xia Ya's current mentality. He must be very conflicted about what attitude he should adopt towards herself.
Are they close partners who signed the contract as they did in the beginning?
Or maybe they are simply friends and allies.
Perhaps in Char's heart at this moment, he is not as easy to get along with as the well-behaved young dragon back then.
However, no matter which one Char chose in the end, it was not what Augustina wanted.
No matter how close the relationship between a pet and its master is, a pet can lie on Char's head all day and all night listening to stories and taking naps, but it is still just a companion after all.
When Char took the two relics from the Shadow Council, the rental fees he left behind were irrefutable evidence.
When he took things from the White Tower, why did he use excuses like "borrowed temporarily" and "will definitely return it later"?
But Augustina doesn't want to be just a friend or a companion.
But, go a step further.
Her mind moved slightly.
The next moment, a small and quaint hourglass appeared silently in Augustina's palm.
There are fine grains of sand flowing in it, surrounded by ripples of time.
Holy Relic "Hourglass of Time"
Previously, Augustina used this holy relic to return her consciousness to the end of the Third Age, where she met Char in the city that never sleeps.
And now.
Nearly a year has passed.
This holy relic that carries the Sands of Time has finally completed its charging process and regained its powerful mystery.
"Even in your heart, I may never be as good as the eldest lady of the Winter Flower Family, or your golden elf teacher."
"After all, compared to Aurora and Hathaway, I am indeed too late."
"But, I still don't want to lose to Sylvia and Isadella like this."
Augustina pursed her lips slightly.
She knew very well that there was already room for too many people in Xia Ya's heart, leaving not much space.
After realizing his passiveness in being promiscuous, Char has now consciously avoided attracting many men and is unwilling to irresponsibly provoke others.
Therefore, he wanted to carve out a place that belonged to him alone in Xia Ya's heart, which had already been filled with others.
The only way is to take the initiative.
Create more, new memories together with him.
"So, the First Epoch—"
"Also, the Lost Island..."
"Is it right?"
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