Chapter 78 [You're finally back, Erika...]
"Antonio, Cairdo, haven't you two found Severi yet?"
Inside the palace, even the most exquisite makeup could not conceal Elia's anger.
Her cold gaze pierced the two men in front of her who bore a three or four resemblance to her, but she felt only disgust in her heart.
She had put so much effort into placing them in such important positions all these years, but in the end it was all for nothing; she couldn't even find one of the children.
Keldo glanced at his silent brother and said with a forced smile, "I've already sent quite a few people to search for the carriage that Seviri was in on the day he disappeared. But the people who kidnapped Seviri are extremely cunning. When our men stopped the carriage, they found it was empty. Seviri had already been taken to another place by them."
Not to mention that after realizing they were about to be captured, those men pulled out daggers hidden in their pockets and committed suicide decisively, determined not to give Keldo's men a chance to interrogate them about Severi's whereabouts.
With the trail broken, there was nothing Keldo could do, no matter how anxious he was. After all, he couldn't possibly dig three feet into the ground and turn the entire kingdom upside down.
Besides, while Keldo was determined to find Severi no matter how hard he tried, the fact that Severi was missing could not be allowed to leak out, as that would only make things worse.
“Give me some more time, Elijah, maybe good news will come in a couple of days—” Keldo said palely.
"How much more time do you need? If this drags on any longer, who will guarantee Severi's safety!" Elijah, impatient with Keldo's excuses, casually knocked over a vase on the table.
With a crisp sound, the vase shattered into pieces, and the flowers that the maid had just cut from the garden that morning fell out of the vase and were mercilessly trampled underfoot by Elijah.
“You all know Duren’s current situation. If he doesn’t make it, Severi will be the only hope for the Jude family. If Severi is gone, do you think you’ll still be able to sit in your positions?”
The thought of it made Elijah grit her teeth; it was all a conspiracy.
Two months ago, Duren, also known as Nurenger IX, suddenly fell ill and never recovered. Elijah consulted many doctors, but none of them could cure Nurenger IX.
There was no other way but to keep Nurengel's situation a secret for now; otherwise, how could Sevier, who was so young, possibly control those ill-intentioned nobles?
It's important to understand that the reason Elijah has been able to act with impunity and even interfere in politics all these years is because King Nurenger IX has been backing her up. If it were Sevier, Elijah and the Jude family's glorious days would be gone forever.
Fortunately, Nurenger IX often found excuses to avoid meeting with his ministers over the years, and Elijah managed to keep his illness a secret for more than a month. However, she was so busy that she inevitably neglected Seviri.
Who would have thought that with such a carelessness, Seviri would be tricked into leaving the palace.
The news of King Nurenger IX's serious illness suddenly spread like wildfire from the palace.
"Don't worry, Elijah. Didn't Furson go looking for it too? Maybe he can find some clues there?" Seeing this, Antonio had no choice but to speak up to share some of Elijah's anger with Keldo.
It was with this in mind that Elijah sent Foussen and Keldo separately to search for Severi, just in case.
In retrospect, she was quite prescient.
Elijah, however, preferred that she not have to place her hopes on an outsider who did not belong to the Jude family.
"Alright, all of you get out of here."
Elijah closed her eyes, really not wanting to see those two stupid faces anymore.
Antonio and Cairdo exchanged a glance and hurriedly left. They didn't want to stay with Elijah any longer, as their cousin had always been frighteningly unpredictable since childhood. No wonder she was able to get together with Duren, who was then the crown prince.
After a while, the door was pushed open again, and Elijah shouted impatiently, "Didn't I tell you to get out? What else is it?"
"It's me, I'm back."
The woman's calm voice rang out, successfully quelling the burning anger in Elia's heart.
She turned around, stared at the woman standing in front of her for a long while, and finally a smile appeared on her lips. "Now that you're back, hurry up and check on Durren's condition, Erica. Luckily, I have the potion you left behind, otherwise I really don't know what to do."
*
"My God, I can't believe that Prince Lex is still alive after all these years of disappearance. It's unbelievable."
"Yes, yes, I think he might have deliberately disappeared back then and been hiding in Furhorst Manor. If His Majesty the King hadn't fallen seriously ill this time and Her Majesty the Queen hadn't planned to appoint a new crown prince, he might have continued to hide."
In the bustling tavern, Lex's name kept echoing in Mela's ears.
It's hard to say whether she and Yuriel were lucky or unlucky.
After they entered the city, Mela learned that no one was allowed to leave the city at night anymore, which meant they had to stay there overnight.
Mela had intended to rest immediately, but on her way to the hostel, she heard Lex's name.
She paused in her steps.
So, under Yuriel's scrutinizing gaze, Mela stepped into the busiest tavern in the city and found a quiet corner to sit down.
Otherwise, Mela wouldn't have known that her pass was no longer valid.
After all, the Furhorst family crest is printed on it.
At this moment, Elia probably hates the Furhorst family the most.
If Mela and the others were to brazenly take this pass to the royal city, they would be as foolish as rabbits running headfirst into tree stumps.
Thinking of this, Mela silently took a small sip of the wine in her glass.
Yuriel wasn't interested in alcohol; she sat quietly opposite Mela, looking worried.
Mela didn't need to guess what was making her anxious.
The problem is that the travel pass is no longer valid; how can we sneak into the capital city under martial law?
Mela didn't have a good solution either, so she could only take it one step at a time, hoping that the situation might change by then.
"Let's go back and rest first." Mela stood up first, the remaining half glass of dark red wine swirling gently in the glass, reflecting her calm expression.
Yuriel nodded blankly and followed behind her.
As a result, her skirt slipped and accidentally knocked over the remaining half-glass of wine, which dripped onto the table.
Hearing the commotion, someone quickly came over with a rag to clean it up, but Yuriel's face paled instantly.
She looked at Mela anxiously, "You said..."
If it were someone else, they would probably just consider it an accident caused by carelessness.
But for witches, some "accidents" may be a "reminder" that if they don't take action, bad luck may befall them.
"Don't overthink it." Mela shook her head, feeling that Yuriel was being a bit too sensitive. It was just a spilled glass of wine; her dress wasn't even dirty. It was probably just an accident.
Yuriel didn't know how to explain her concern to Mela, so she remained silent.
However, while going upstairs, Yuriel missed a step and almost fell down the stairs.
Fortunately, Mela reacted quickly and grabbed her.
However, they are not far from the ground at the moment, so even if Yuriel falls, she probably won't be seriously injured.
"Do you still think I'm overthinking things?" Yuriel asked with a wry smile.
This time, it was Mela's turn to remain silent.
"Let's rest first," Mela said after a while.
So they parted ways in front of the door.
Mela lay down on the bed. Her silence earlier wasn't because she and Yuriel might encounter any danger, but because they had been together the whole time, yet only Yuriel had been warned. Surely it wasn't just Yuriel who was going to be in trouble?
Perhaps it is not Yuriel who will be in danger, but Erika.
After all, they are blood relatives, and there might be some unseen connection between them.
It's a feeling, an intuition.
Mela thought of the seed that had misled her life.
My thoughts drifted back to that night at Furhorst Manor.
That night, after Mela suggested that Lex didn't need to see her off, Lex's expression visibly turned rather unpleasant.
"Lex, you look terrible."
As a result, Mela recklessly challenged Lex's dwindling patience.
"Cheer up, didn't we say goodbye once? You have to get used to it, Lex."
"No matter how many times it happens, I'll never get used to it." Lex turned his face slightly away, avoiding looking at Mela's nonchalant expression, lest he really lose control of his emotions.
"Oh, what am I supposed to do?" Mela sat down at the stone table, propping her face up with her hand, staring at Lex's sharply defined jawline with a troubled expression.
"Give me a way to find you."
Lex suddenly turned his face back and looked down at Mela.
"A way for me to find you no matter where you are."
"But I can't run away?"
"So you're planning to stay and not leave?" Lex raised an eyebrow like Mela did, but pursed his lips into a straight line.
“I mean after we get back to the Dark Forest.” Mela blinked innocently. Her little cabin, where she had lived for many years, was still there. Where could she possibly go?
"Can you guarantee that you won't suddenly move away with Silas again someday?" Lex pressed on, determined to get a promise from Mela.
"...I just can't do anything with you."
Mela reached into the cloth bag and pulled out the sprouting seed of life.
Although its leaves withered and fell off after Yuriel was rescued, it has come back to life these past few days because Yuriel was seriously ill, and two new green shoots have sprouted.
Mela ruthlessly plucked the two green shoots, bit her fingertip, and dripped her blood onto the seeds while muttering incantations that Lex couldn't understand.
This inspiration came from her discussion with Yuriel about how the Seed of Life was made.
Lex frowned as he watched the unremarkable seed absorb the blood Mela had dripped onto it in an instant, but said nothing.
“Alright, take this. If you want to find me later, just silently say my name in your heart, then put it on the ground and spin it around. The direction it stops in will indicate my location.” Mela placed the seed in Lex’s palm.
Fearing that Lex wouldn't believe her, Mela even stood up and walked a little further away so that he could try it.
Lex reached out and let the seed lie in his palm. He fiddled with it for a bit, and sure enough, it pointed to where Mela was.
"How is it?" Mela walked back, curious to see the seed in Lex's palm.
But Lex closed his hands beforehand, preventing her from seeing.
Mela: "?"
“It seems you weren’t lying to me. I will definitely keep the seeds safe,” Lex said.
"Okay, okay, it's so late, go back to sleep. I'm sleepy even if you're not." Mela yawned and pushed Lex's waist forward.
At that very moment, far away at Furhorst Manor, Lex, bathed in the moonlight streaming through the window, took a plain-looking seed from the enamel box on his bedside table, held it in his palm, and fiddled with it for a moment.
Watching it stop and point in the same direction as the night before, Lex felt a strange sense of peace.
No matter how many times they separate, as long as he knows where Mela is, he will definitely be able to find her again.
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