Act Four: Wizards, Dragons, and the Empire

Outside the study was a long corridor with a terrace. Moss covered the stone pillars supporting the ceiling at regular intervals, while sunlight filtered through the green shade of the oaks and left flecks of gold across the walls and floor. Several chaffinches chirped on the terrace railing. After giving Roman a thorough lecture, Brando opened the door and walked out. The birds immediately flapped away, and as he watched them, he shut the door behind him with a click. Almost instinctively, he blurted out, "Qian, prepare the carriage. We're going to Gris Port."

But the moment the words left his mouth, Brando froze. In his memories, the girl with the long ponytail was always leaning against her spear beside the corridor's second stone pillar. Sometimes, she would feed the chaffinches with crumbs. He had seen that scene several times. The girl had been quiet, yet beautiful, like a figure in a painting.

Now, the space beside the second pillar was empty. Only mottled sunlight shone over the moss.

Brando sighed.

He could not help giving a bitter smile.

Far away, in the darkness by the spiral staircase at the end of the corridor, Adviser Miss was also holding a stack of parchment documents and quietly sighing. When she saw her lord standing there with a lost expression, she understood. Her knuckles turned pale, and she nearly crumpled the parchments by accident. But these were important documents from the territory, and Lord Brando had not even reviewed them yet. Startled by her own movement, she hurriedly loosened her grip—only to scatter the rolled parchments all over the floor.

Antitina stood there in a daze and bit her lower lip before bending down to pick up the parchments one by one. She absentmindedly touched the necklace beneath her collar. It had