Chapter : 58

After leaving the tavern, Yan Yunqing had originally intended to walk back to the inn.

He had left Lilian at the inn for too long.

Given Lilian's eating speed, she was probably starving with her chest stuck to her back by now, as the food he left for her was long gone.

But Yan Yunqing still unconsciously walked onto another path, a more secluded path with few people passing by.

There were no streetlights installed by the country on both sides of the roads in this world.

If people wanted to go out at night, they could only carry a lantern themselves, or rely on the moonlight and the dim light from the taverns along the street to see if there were any tripping stones on the ground.

Yan Yunqing's night vision was very good.

Even walking on a nearly deserted path while the moon overhead was hidden in the clouds, he could still walk steadily.

A gentle breeze blew past.

The capital city of Bartovita was in the central region.

For some reason, there were no obvious four seasons here.

Even though it was already October, the climate was still pleasant.

Yan Yunqing walked casually, without a clear destination, just strolling aimlessly.

If a passerby saw him at this moment, they would probably be scared.

Late at night, a dark figure floating on the road, it was scary no matter how you looked at it.

However, Yan Yunqing felt that at this time, no one should be appearing here.

He had just thought this when a crisp voice broke the silence of the moment, and also gave Yan Yunqing a fright.

"You'll fall if you take a walk here, you know?"

Yan Yunqing's heart skipped a beat. He turned his head and saw a familiar face.

She had a single ponytail, was not tall, and was wearing coarse clothes suitable for running.

Her face was round, still with some baby fat that hadn't faded.

It was the Eleventh Princess he had just seen in the morning, Alice.

She was currently sitting cross-legged on a high stone pillar, looking down at Yan Yunqing's direction, and tilted her head curiously, "Weren't you just drinking with that General Sawyer?

How did you suddenly end up here?"

Yan Yunqing was startled, "You've been watching me?"

How come he hadn't noticed at all that someone was watching him?

No, it should be said that he had never met this Alice before, why would Alice pay so much attention to him?

"Hmm? Not really."

Seeing that Yan Yunqing intended to talk to her, Alice jumped down from the stone pillar and clapped the dust off her hands, "We met once at the city gate in the morning, do you remember?"

"I have a very good memory." Alice said, "And your attire is very special, I remembered you at a glance."

"It just so happens that the tavern you and that General Sawyer went to is owned by a friend of mine. I was supposed to go there to help tonight too."

Alice sighed faintly: "But as soon as I got back, my royal father called me over and nagged me for a long time. It was already so late when I finally escaped. I went to the tavern for a look, and it seemed they didn't need my help anymore."

"But I happened to see you and that General Sawyer sitting together." Alice walked around Yan Yunqing in a circle, like a curious tabby cat, tentatively sniffing here and there, "You seem very close, are you friends?"

Yan Yunqing: "...Not really, we just met."

Alice was surprised: "Just met? How come I feel that General Sawyer looks at you very differently?"

Yan Yunqing was strange: "What do you mean?"

"Hmm... this is a long story." Alice pondered, hammering her own neck, "Aiya, you're too tall, let's find another place to sit down and chat!"

Yan Yunqing: ...In all the time he had been here, this was the first time someone had told him he was too tall!

This child really knew how to talk. Then he would go with her and see what this child intended to say.

"Okay." Yan Yunqing nodded, "You lead the way."

"Mm-hmm, of course, follow me!" Alice took the lead and walked at the forefront. Her steps were very light, and it was clear that she had practiced martial arts, unlike an ordinary mage.

Because ordinary mages never practiced martial arts.

They would only wave a magic staff around, muttering incomprehensible incantations, and despised any exercise that would make them lose their composure and sweat.

Alice was more like a nimble little cat.

Yan Yunqing followed behind Alice, turning and twisting, and even climbing over a dilapidated wall, before they arrived at the place Alice had mentioned—in front of a dilapidated bungalow.

"This is?" Yan Yunqing sized up this dilapidated bungalow.

It looked old, but there were recent signs of repairs.

The most obvious was that the heavy wooden door had been cleaned of dust, and the leaky windows had been patched up with new turf.

"This was my former home." Alice took out a key from under a flower pot, opened the wooden door, and pushed it hard.

The wooden door opened, revealing a pitch-black interior behind it.

"Come in, there aren't many people around here anymore.

Everyone has moved to more prosperous areas in recent years with a little extra money. Only William and I come here occasionally."

Alice skillfully secured the door, at the same time taking out a box of firewood, lighting a candlestick placed by the door, and then lighting all the other candlesticks in the room with it.

Yan Yunqing had already seen the layout of the room as soon as she lit these candlesticks.

Unlike the dilapidated scene outside, the inside of the house was surprisingly cozy.

There was even a hand-woven coarse wool carpet under the table.

All the furniture was in warm colors, and there was even a graffiti painting hanging on the wall.

"But since William and I went to Sigret Academy, even fewer people have come here.

It hasn't been repaired for a long time. William and I were busy for a whole afternoon today to barely tidy it up. You don't mind, do you?"

"...It's okay." Yan Yunqing said honestly, "It's a bit dilapidated on the outside, but the inside doesn't look like it hasn't been lived in for a long time."

Alice was very happy: "Because my little friends occasionally come over to help us clean up.

They are all very enthusiastic people. They probably hope that if William and I suddenly come back, we'll still have a place to stay."

"See, we just came back today. If it weren't for them cleaning up usually, I'm afraid William and I wouldn't have been able to tidy this place up even if we worked all day."

Alice saw Yan Yunqing subtly scanning the room and understood: "You're thinking of William, right? He didn't come back.

He's probably still in the royal palace. Our annoying royal father has grabbed him for a chat again."

Saying this, Alice let out a long sigh, looking a little sad:

"William is the most sentimental person. Even though our royal father has done many annoying things, every time he lowers his attitude, William is tricked into going back."

Yan Yunqing commented:

"Many children who lack love can't help but get closer when an elder shows a little kindness, even if they know it's just a false sense of family affection."

"Wow!" Alice's eyes widened, and she gave Yan Yunqing a thumbs-up, "You're amazing! You haven't even met William, but you can say it so accurately!"

Alice chattered on. At this moment, she was no longer like a little cat, but a cheerful little sparrow, lively and curious.

"Okay, enough about my matters, let's talk about you and that General Sawyer!"

Alice sat on a high chair, her dangling feet swaying, and her little head shaking from side to side, "Did you two really just meet? I noticed the way he looks at you..."

Alice made a gesture, "It's very strange!"

She pinched her chin, pondered for a moment, held up four fingers with one hand, and three fingers with the other:

"There's forty percent attachment, thirty percent nostalgia, twenty percent dawning realization, and ten percent desperation!"

Yan Yunqing: ...Listen to what you're saying. Are you making a pie chart now?

Yan Yunqing was a little amused, "We really just met. He was drinking the whole time, you must have seen wrongly, right? If you must say there's something wrong with the way he looks at me..."

"Then he probably sees me as a sugar daddy."

"Eh?" Alice was stunned, "Sugar daddy?"

Yan Yunqing chuckled, "He seems to be quite poor. He invited me for a drink, but it turned out to be free drinks at the bar downstairs in the inn, so I said I'd treat him to a drink."

Alice said thoughtfully: "That seems to be the case. The Sawyer family has been guarding the City of Skane. That place is indeed not very prosperous, and they are in a state of war all year round, so they probably have no chance to manage their family property."

"I also heard a war report from the front line before, asking my royal father to send a few more batches of supplies over." Alice said, "Although the Sawyer family is also a noble family, they have been in a serious deficit in recent years. Most of their inherited things have been sold for supplies."

When she said these things, Alice's expression was very cold, not at all like a twelve-year-old girl. She looked more shrewd than an adult.

"You even know about these things?" Yan Yunqing was curious.

Alice blinked, resuming her innocent and cute appearance, "These aren't secrets. You can find out just by asking around carefully. Besides, I pay quite a bit of attention to the battle situation at the border."

"Although I'm just a princess with no real power, and it's not my place to worry about this, I'm also a student at Sigret Academy. Every semester, the academy organizes a group of students to head to the battlefields of the Netherworld."

"—This is training, and also protection." Alice imitated a solemn tone, "That's what our dean said. How about it? Quite imposing, right?"

"Yes, very imposing." Yan Yunqing nodded, acknowledging Alice's words.

He had always had a high tolerance for cute little girls like her, probably because his former uncle's family also had a younger sister of this age.

"Why do I feel like you're so quiet?" Alice muttered, "It seems like I've been the one doing all the talking."

Yan Yunqing smiled, "Maybe because I'm a good listener? And you have a nice voice." A chattering little sparrow.

Alice was delighted: "Oh my goodness, you actually complimented my voice!

That guy William only ever complains that I'm noisy!"

Listening to Alice's muttering, Yan Yunqing also felt a trace of confusion. Why did he find Alice's chattering cute, but Adrien's chattering just noisy?

Probably because Alice was much cuter than Adrien.

He looked at the room's decor, his gaze sweeping over a painting.

The brushstrokes on it were very childish, almost like a kindergarten child's drawing, yet it had been preciously framed and hung in the most conspicuous spot on the wall.

One could barely make out from the painting that it was an adult woman holding the hands of two children, a boy and a girl.

"Is this a painting of you and William's mother?" Yan Yunqing suddenly asked.

Alice didn't mind Yan Yunqing interrupting what she was saying and looked in the direction he was pointing, "This? Oh, no, that's William's mom."

"My mom passed away when I was born. It just so happened that William's mom had given birth to William not long before I was born.

Seeing how pitiful I was without a mother, she took me in to raise me as well."

"It wasn't easy for Mom Fannie back then either. Our father, the king... sigh, he didn't care about us at all.

Right after William and I were born, we were driven out by the queen.

Mom Fannie was just a palace maid before, and she didn't have any money, so she could only take William and me and rent this dilapidated house with the money she had saved up."

As she spoke of the past, her face held a warm nostalgia, without a trace of resentment or hatred, "Although we were indeed a bit poor back then, everyone here was very friendly and often helped our family, so we were still very lucky."

"But when William and I turned seven, Mom Fannie fell ill and passed away."

Alice propped her face in her hands, "That was probably the most difficult time for William and me.

Luckily, not long after, both William and I were tested to have talents and went to Sigret Academy, and that father king acknowledged us again."

Listening to this, Yan Yunqing found it a bit strange: "You're just telling me all this? Aren't you worried I might be a bad person?"

Alice stared at Yan Yunqing for a moment.

Just as Yan Yunqing began to feel a little unnatural, she burst out laughing with a pfft, "Nope, I can tell you're a good person."

She swung her feet, humming a song in a good mood.

"I'm not some naive little kid. If I didn't have the ability to tell bad people apart, William would have been sold hundreds of times by now.

It's only because I've always been watching over him."

Yan Yunqing shook his head, "All children like to claim they're not children.

Besides, you'd better not judge a book by its cover. How could bad people have 'bad person' written on their faces?

They're used to disguising themselves as good people."

Alice: "Hmm... but Uncle, you don't look like a good person either, do you?"

Yan Yunqing: ......

A critical hit.

Indeed. He was still in Edward's shell, that gloomy magician who didn't look like a good person no matter how you looked at him.

He might even scare a kid or two into crying.

Seeing Yan Yunqing at a loss for words, Alice laughed even more heartily, unable to contain her amusement.

"...Then you should trust someone who doesn't look like a good person even less."

Yan Yunqing said helplessly, "You already think I don't look like a good person, yet you still brought me home?"

Alice: "Nope, I just said you don't look like a good person, Uncle, but I believe you are a good person."

This constant calling of "Uncle" made Yan Yunqing feel much older, but he had only just come of age this year, hadn't he?

One could only say that Edward's character design looked far too old.

"Oh, right!" Alice looked around and suddenly jumped off her chair, "I forgot that guests need to be served. Uncle, wait a moment, I'll go boil some water."

Yan Yunqing: "No need to trouble yourself..."

However, Alice had already run out with the kettle, who knows where to get water.

Helpless, Yan Yunqing could only close his mouth and stare blankly at the chipped wooden table in front of him.

William's mother was a palace maid, so her status should be very ordinary. And Cornelia had only shown unusual concern for Alice.

Obviously, Cornelia's connection with them couldn't have started after Alice was born.

Alice's birth mother passed away when she was born. And given how Alice poured out her past experiences like spilling beans, she didn't mention her birth mother at all.

It was either because she didn't know much about her birth mother, or her birth mother's identity was rather special.

Would a child not know about their own birth mother? Yan Yunqing didn't think so.

Then wasn't the answer already obvious...? Cornelia and Alice's birth mother must have known each other.

Could it be that Alice's birth mother was Cornelia's sister... That's not right either, is it?

According to what Alice said, her birth mother had passed away twelve years ago. Cornelia was only now coming to look for her sister?

Besides, Alice was clearly not a half-blood mermaid...

Yan Yunqing had a bit of a headache.

He originally didn't want to pry into Cornelia's secrets, but he never expected to run into Alice on the way and hear a load of gossip from her.

This brain of his automatically analyzed information upon receiving it! He couldn't be blamed...

Yan Yunqing sighed faintly. His gaze inadvertently swept over the minimap, and he discovered that a small blue dot had appeared on it.

Yan Yunqing: ?

Yan Yunqing opened the minimap and found that this small blue dot belonged to Cornelia.

Yan Yunqing: ???

Yan Yunqing was first stunned, then after figuring it out, his feelings were hard to describe: Cornelia came to find Alice too?

Then did he disturb Cornelia?

No, he hadn't revealed his identity to Cornelia yet... Cornelia wouldn't really think he was some bad guy, would she?

A drop of cold sweat slowly trickled down Yan Yunqing's back.

Don't tell me that before he even did anything bad, his lady accomplice would treat him as a bad guy and they'd end up fighting each other?

He hoped Cornelia could be more rational, and at least not attack him without another word.

Right now, he wasn't confident he could face a level sixty mermaid head-on without hurting her and still win.

Alice came back skipping, carrying the kettle.

She immediately noticed Yan Yunqing's restlessness.

She placed a cup in front of Yan Yunqing and poured him a glass of water from the kettle, "Are you in a hurry to go back?"

The steam from the cup slowly rose, bubbling and gurgling. Yan Yunqing could sense the residual magic elements in the water.

"You're a fire-type magician?"

"I am, what about it?" Alice said, "I have the highest fire element affinity, so I major in the fire element."

Yan Yunqing was certain. Alice was definitely not a half-blood mermaid.

Mermaids were sea demons; no matter how they mutated, it would be impossible for them to have a greater affinity for the fire element.

Yan Yunqing took a sip of water and calmly said, "I have to go."

Alice was a little regretful: "I thought you could stay and chat with me for a while longer."

"If we keep talking, someone might get anxious." Yan Yunqing made a subtle, passive-aggressive jab, "I'd better leave soon."

Alice: "Someone? Who are you talking about?"

She tilted her head, looking very confused. Yan Yunqing confirmed that she didn't know of Cornelia's existence. It seemed Cornelia hadn't found her yet, and he had met her first.

"It's nothing."

Yan Yunqing shook his head. He would let Cornelia handle her own business with Alice. He politely finished the water in the cup, set it down, and stood up to leave.

Alice saw him to the door.

Before Yan Yunqing left, she couldn't help but remind him: "Don't trust that General Sawyer too much."

Yan Yunqing was puzzled. Why did everyone warn him not to trust others too much?

Did he look like some innocent little white rabbit? Even a child was saying this to him.

He was clearly the Demon King!

"Why do you say that?"

Alice paused, then suggested with great sincerity:

"He's not as simple as he looks on the surface, Uncle... you'd better stay far away from him."

"Trust me, I've always been very accurate at reading people."

Yan Yunqing nodded casually: "Got it."

He hadn't planned on getting too close to that General Sawyer anyway.

But for Alice to think General Sawyer wasn't a good person, could it be because she was affected by the bloody aura on him?

On his way back, Yan Yunqing was constantly on alert, afraid that Cornelia would pop out and hit him with a jump scare attack the moment he turned his head.

Fortunately, Cornelia wasn't that demented. He returned safely to the inn.

What greeted him was Lilian's I'm-so-hungry-I-could-eat-a-person gaze.