Spirit City.
Spirit Hall, Pope's Bedroom, rear garden.
The garden bloomed with brilliant flowers, springlike all year round. Butterflies danced gracefully through the air, while rare beasts with crisp calls and vibrant feathers wandered about.
In the amber water, fish of every variety shimmered in dazzling colors, swimming freely and without a care.
By the shore stood a stunning woman of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, silently gazing ahead.
She was just over one hundred and sixty centimeters tall. Though not tall, her figure was flawlessly curved. Dressed in a long black gown, she had long, straight legs and a slender willow waist that seemed small enough to encircle with one hand.
Though beautiful, her delicate and gentle features held no expression, giving off an icy chill that made others dare not approach casually.
It was as though darkness surrounded her, keeping everything at bay.
She looked petite and fragile, yet anyone who came even slightly close could sense the indescribable majesty and pressure emanating from her.
She quietly watched the fish swimming in the water. No one knew what she was thinking at that moment.
Just then, a tall, slender girl of about seventeen or eighteen slowly appeared, carrying a little blond boy in her arms. Her golden hair draped over her shoulders, and she wore a long golden palace gown.
Her slightly angular face usually gave off a sharp impression, but the moment she saw the lonely figure standing by the lake, that sharpness vanished without a trace.
"Didn't I say that without my permission, no one was allowed to come near—" The woman in black turned around, murderous aura spilling from her body and sending chills down one's spine.
But before she could finish, all sound abruptly ceased when she saw the face she desperately wanted to forget.