The Abducted Princess

After Annie left looking as if she doubted her entire life, Anvis was about to resume drinking tea and reading the newspaper when he suddenly paused.

Following Anvis's movement, Fiona's figure silently appeared before the study's tall arched window.

Today, the Girl wore a layered dark-blue dress with white ruffled lining. Its luxurious fabric shimmered like countless stars, but the hem featured a piece of white fabric resembling an apron, while a black bow ribbon adorned her chest.

Pale golden sunlight streamed through the stone window and enveloped her, casting a hazy, lovely glow over her small body, like a little princess stepped out of a fairy tale.

However, there was a hint of hesitation in the Girl's lake-blue eyes. She seemed troubled by something.

"Dear Lord, what are your orders?"

Glancing at Fiona's hesitant expression, Anvis closed the newspaper and asked considerately.

"Well... is it really alright for us to treat Annie like this?"

Letting out a soft breath, Fiona decided to gather her courage and bring the matter up with Anvis.

In truth, Anvis did not normally have that many documents to handle. Recently, he had merely instructed his subordinates to reduce some of the work and gather together the more troublesome matters requiring attention, handing them over to Annie to "learn" from.

Fiona knew this as well, but since Anvis had arranged it specifically, and she thought there might be some deeper meaning behind it, the Girl had decided to observe for a while first.

But lately, Annie's dazed state during the day had become increasingly severe, and Fiona could not bear to watch any longer.

After all, many things looked simple on the surface but were not easy to handle in practice—for example, renovating and expanding the territory's infrastructure, resolving disputes of interest among the populace,