CHAPTER 224: CENTRAL RUINS

The wind swept across the land of the Wendell Empire, blowing through a bustling city.

The Imperial Capital, Kestholm, remained unchanged compared to the past.

As the invisible alchemical airship arrived in this prosperous city, Carlotta looked down, seeing familiar streets appear one by one before her eyes. Everything seemed exactly as it was when she left.

"I always feel like a long time has passed, time has flown by, flowers have bloomed and withered, and returning to an old place would bring a different feeling. But here, it’s no different since I left; it’s still the same."

Carlotta said, somewhat lost in thought.

"Perhaps, we haven’t been gone for very long."

Amelia said.

"But I always feel like a long time has passed."

Carlotta sighed.

"That’s because we’ve indeed experienced many things, things that for many people will take a lifetime to experience."

Amelia naturally also felt some emotions in her heart.

Carlotta nodded.

The alchemical airship circled Kestholm again and again.

In the cabin, Amelia glanced at Carlotta, "What are you circling for? You’re already here, are you too embarrassed to go down?"

Carlotta chuckled, "Amelia really understands me. Do you think it’s okay for me to go to the Fenwick family like this?"

"What’s wrong with it? My father won’t hit you."

Amelia said grumpily.

"Can your father beat me?"

As soon as Carlotta asked, she realized her question was inappropriate. Amelia indeed glared at her.

She quickly corrected herself, "Do you think your father knew the truth when I ’abducted’ you from the Wendell Empire? Even if he figured out the truth later, was there ever a moment when he was particularly displeased with me?"

Amelia’s father, Leonard Fenwick, was indeed no match for Carlotta now, but his strength was not the reason Carlotta would worry about him. The mere fact that he was Amelia’s father was enough to give her a headache.

Amelia couldn’t help but want to laugh, "I can’t believe that Carlotta, who slays all foes and looks down on everyone, would actually have moments of panic."

"How could I look down on everyone? I’ve always been very respected by my father-in-law."

Carlotta chuckled.

This address, "father-in-law," came out very smoothly, as if she had called him that countless times in her heart.

Amelia said, "Actually, you don’t need to worry too much. My father is always very kind and definitely won’t do much to you. Hmm, if you were a boy, he might truly be a bit displeased, but you are a girl after all, so he can’t say much."

"What if, and I mean if, there’s a very small chance that the father-in-law expresses displeasure towards me?"

Carlotta asked innocently.

"If that really happens, how about we just leave together?"

Amelia said helplessly.

"Hehe, I also think my father-in-law won’t be fierce with me. I was just saying."

Carlotta was quite happy with Amelia’s reply.

It wasn’t that she had to ask for an answer; it was just that this kind of thing was a first for her, and she really felt a bit flustered about meeting parents.

Amelia smoothed her long hair and said with a laugh: "So, can we go down now?"

Carlotta smiled and nodded, "Of course."

The alchemical airship began to descend, arriving outside the Fenwick family’s mansion. Because it was invisible, it didn’t attract anyone’s attention.

Then Carlotta and Amelia left the alchemical airship and put it away.

As for the High Priestess, she said she wanted to wander around Kestholm alone. She truly couldn’t participate in the upcoming events.

Or rather, the experiences along the way had made the High Priestess extremely uncomfortable.

Carlotta and Amelia were being lovey-dovey, and staying beside them made her feel like she was neither here nor there, an awkward feeling that made her feel like ants were crawling on her.

So the High Priestess decidedly left. She told Carlotta that she would not leave Kestholm, so if they needed her, they just had to make a small commotion.

The Fenwick family mansion was enormous, with ten people standing guard outside the main gate.

When Carlotta and Amelia came hand in hand, the ten guards instantly froze.

As members of the Fenwick family, it was impossible for them not to recognize Amelia. And as for Carlotta, who had recently become famous across the continent, it was also impossible for them to be unfamiliar. There was even a photo of Carlotta on the wanted posters Kestholm had issued for her.

When they saw the two walking over, all ten guards were shocked.

"The Young Miss is back!"

Immediately, someone turned and ran back into the mansion.

Seeing this, Carlotta and Amelia couldn’t help but exchange smiles.

Soon after, the two sat in a room, together, with various exquisite fruit platters on the table in front of them.

Across the table, a middle-aged man with silver-white long hair sat there, his face full of complex emotions.

Leonard Fenwick was initially very happy to see his daughter return, but then he discovered that his daughter had returned hand in hand with Carlotta.

After a brief inquiry, he learned many things.

"So, you two are dating?"

Leonard rubbed his temples, "About you two dating, wasn’t that just a rumor? How did it become true?"

As he spoke, he cast a sidelong glance at Carlotta.

When Amelia went to pay respects to her mother, Carlotta had also accompanied her. Many members of the Fenwick family were present at the time, and Leonard had even spoken to Carlotta, mentioning this rumor.

At that time, he had smiled slightly, not believing the rumor, and Carlotta had seriously told him that it was a rumor caused by various misunderstandings.

So, the question was, why did the rumor become true?

Carlotta saw Leonard looking at her and quickly said, "Amelia and I are truly in love."

Leonard felt an even greater headache.

He looked at Carlotta, then at Amelia, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Compared to the somewhat flustered Carlotta, Amelia appeared much more composed.

She took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly, "Being with Carlotta makes me very happy, and I want to keep this happy feeling going. May I ask, Father, who can no longer defeat me, do you have any questions about our relationship?"

Leonard smiled: "I can’t beat you?"

Clearly, he was more concerned about that question.

His daughter was already in a relationship. As an old father, even if he was a little dissatisfied, he couldn’t say much, especially since the other party was terrifyingly excellent. In that case, as a father, he had even less to say.

However, the fact that the other party was also a girl initially made Leonard feel a bit awkward.

But he imagined if his daughter came back holding hands with a boy instead of a girl... Hmm, indeed, a girl was more acceptable.

Leonard wouldn’t have any objections to this matter.

So when Amelia pointed out that he was not her opponent, Leonard immediately took it to heart.

"Although Amelia, your growth speed is astonishing, and you’ve even become a middle tier Resonator. But, your father, I, am a Weaver."

Leonard said unhurriedly, appearing very calm.

In the Wendell Empire, the number of Weavers was not that great. Among the many nobles, only a very few can reach this stage.

So, although he was a Viscount, he held great power. Many who had higher titles than him had merely inherited a good foundation from their parents, and were far inferior to him in their own right, holding only an empty title with little actual power.

As someone who relied on hard strength, Leonard felt that he absolutely could not let Amelia underestimate him.

Amelia smiled slightly at this, "Let’s go to the training ground."

She just wanted to tell her father that she had grown up, and from now on, no matter what it was, she could make her own decisions.

So, shortly after, the father and daughter arrived at the Fenwick family’s internal training ground.

And Carlotta had the honor of being the sole spectator of this battle.

In fact, more people from the Fenwick family originally wanted to be spectators of this battle, but Amelia refused them all. Leonard naturally didn’t allow any extra people to watch.

The battle between the two sides lasted for quite a while. As for the outcome of the battle, for the people of the Fenwick family, it remained a secret that they couldn’t figure out for a long time.

They only knew that after the battle, when their Lord Viscount reappeared, his steps were a little unsteady, and he had a look of questioning life on his face.

Presumably, the Lord Viscount must have been surprised by his daughter’s growth speed and was pleased with it.

In the eyes of many, Leonard would still not be defeated, and they hadn’t even considered that possibility.

Recently, there have been many rumors about Carlotta, so much so that the spread of rumors about others has slowed down. The news of Amelia killing a Weaver only happened in the Tower of Babel and was seen by a small number of people, so it didn’t spread much. Many people didn’t know that this beautiful girl also possessed incredible strength.

Carlotta stayed in the Fenwick family for several days.

News of her return to Kestholm also spread like wildfire throughout the entire imperial capital.

For a time, people from all over began to discuss Carlotta’s affairs with different moods.

And regarding this, Carlotta didn’t know the unimportant things, and she didn’t miss the more important ones.

Part of it was news Leonard had gathered. His connections in the imperial capital were not bad, and he had many covert methods; perhaps he even had ears and eyes near the Emperor.

Another part was news Carlotta had read directly from intelligence reports.

The intelligence reports from these past few days were quite interesting.

They mentioned the exclamations of certain acquaintances regarding her.

They also mentioned the malice of certain people, known or unknown, towards her.

Even Emperor Alex Lancaster’s apprehension towards her was mentioned in the intelligence reports.

Once upon a time, she was a completely insignificant person in the eyes of this Emperor, but now this Emperor found it difficult to ignore her, and even feared her. This made Carlotta find it amusing to think about.

The intelligence also mentioned that human powerhouse, Elora Thorne!

This name made Carlotta gaze deeply at it. For her, it was a name she had heard many times during her growth. The other party was an Exalted in the Wendell Empire, and her strength was so formidable that no one dared to ignore it.

Elora herself was someone who had walked very, very far on the path of knighthood. The knight path she mastered was called Sun Knight path. Once unleashed, her entire being will transform into a sun, capable of dissolving and melting everything in sight.

This human powerhouse had long stayed in the Central Ruins of the continent. Now, it was only after many requests from Emperor Alex that she returned from the Central Ruins.

Beings like Exalted were completely free in their actions; no one could restrain anyone, not even the Emperor. So, Emperor Alex had to use a requesting attitude when seeking Elora.

"In the Wendell Empire, there are two Exalted."

Amelia informed Carlotta of this.

Carlotta also knew this; the intelligence provided the answer.

One was Elora Thorne, who cultivated the Sun Knight Path.

The other was Aldrich Suarez, who cultivated Word Magic.

Carlotta had encountered this very early on in the Tower of Babel. At that time, when she faced Toby Diamond from the Velmoria Empire, he had used copy magic to replicate Word Magic, causing her some minor damage.

Speaking of which, Aldrich, a practitioner of Word Magic, was from the Wendell Empire, while Toby was from the Velmoria Empire. It was unclear how he managed it, but he had stayed by Aldrich’s side long enough to even replicate Word Magic.

However, this wasn’t entirely impossible. Although the two great empires were still at odds now, in the past, they might have had good relations.

Aldrich was also in the Central Ruins and was currently unreachable; only Elora could be contacted.

Perhaps it was because these powerhouses all liked to be associated with the Central Ruins, Carlotta’s intelligence also contains a bit more information about the Central Ruins.

The first time she heard about the Central Ruins was related to Achilles of the Carlisle family. At that time, Selena asked Achilles by having him accompany her to explore a ruin in the Central Ruins.

In the center of the Northern Continent, countless ruins filled with secrets and dangers exist, isolating communication between east, west, north, and south. Everyone’s movements were like a ring; they had to move along this ring and could not freely traverse the very center.

This place was the Central Ruins, rumored to be where gods had left their traces.

When the High Priestess heard about this place, she made a judgment, believing that some gods might have conducted experiments there in the past, and she also thought about checking out the situation when she had the chance.