Reunion with Lola

Just two hourglasses after Chen King's departure, Reilo met his friend in the Eastern Palace.

It was Orn.

"Reilo!"

Orn looked at Reilo in delighted surprise.

Aside from looking a little more mature, Orn had not changed much. He instinctively tried to cross the red line and come over to Reilo, but Pernash stopped him in time.

"Did you forget what I told you? Never cross the warning line."

Orn could no longer suppress his anger.

Looking at this famous academic of the Grand Duchy, he demanded, "Reilo is a national hero! Why are you placing him under house arrest like this?"

"Ahem."

Reilo said solemnly, "Orn, you've misunderstood Master. This isn't house arrest. It's His Majesty's protection."

Hearing Reilo say this only made Orn angrier.

It was obvious that even after all these years, the sense of justice he held to had not wavered in the slightest, just as it had not when he had risked everything to rescue the Elven girl all those years ago.

Orn looked at Pernash with a trace of mockery.

"Protection? Could someone really assassinate you in the imperial palace? Reilo, you're a Profound Meaning Scholar. Is there anyone in this world who could sneak into Saint Grand Fort's imperial palace and assassinate a Profound Meaning Scholar?!"

Uh...

Reilo said helplessly, "Orn, His Majesty isn't protecting me. He's protecting the innocent people around me."

Huh!?

Orn frowned in confusion, not understanding what Reilo meant.

After gesturing for Orn to sit down, Na Yesi poured tea for Reilo. Orn glanced at the Old Witch again, then exhaled the pent-up breath in his chest and asked, "Reilo, what's actually going on?"

After a moment of silence,

"This will take some explaining. In short, you can understand it as me having suffered an extremely terrifying curse that