Meeting

Alice did intend to observe Lin Lei for a moment, but upon noticing that the ones taking him away were people from her cousin Aierlan's household, she felt no concern and let them be.

Lin Lei walked ahead of the guards, turning his head back with every step. Beside him, several maids supported Aierlan. They exited the banquet hall, which was strictly guarded by soldiers, and under the subtle, knowing smiles of passersby, he was ushered into a carriage waiting at the entrance.

This carriage was vastly different from the ones Lin Lei usually used. His were typically drawn by common pack horses, moving at a speed comparable to his own running pace, and usually pulled by only two horses, making for a bumpy ride.

The carriage parked outside, however, was pulled by four magnificent steeds—Cloud Horse, bronze-ranked magical beasts. They possessed scales like a lizard, thick cuticles protecting their hooves, and manes the color and shape of storm clouds, granting them impressive mobility.

Upon entering the carriage, Lin Lei discovered that it was much more spacious inside than it appeared from the outside; the four of them felt no crowding at all.

Lin Lei sat on a cushion made of golden silk and soft cotton, watching the yellow-clad maid and the red-clad maid place Aierlan onto a quilt made of celestial silkworm snow silk. Only then did he stare at her face in earnest.

"Eh, Aierlan and Miss Alice really are cousins. Their eyes are both exceptionally similar and beautiful. If not for their voices being different, I truly would have a hard time distinguishing who is Aierlan and who is Alice."

Lin Lei looked at Aierlan's face with wonder, which made Aierlan, who was pretending to be drunk, feel a jolt of tension.

Has this guy discovered I'm faking it? What do I do, what do I do... No, I absolutely cannot admit it. As long as I don't admit it, he has no proof...

"Clang."

Just as Aierlan was closing her eyes and letting her thoughts run wild, an object resembling a conch fell from her person.

"Oh no, my Sound-Transmitting Conch, it's all over..."

Aierlan felt even more aggrieved; it was as if it were raining on top of a leaking roof.

"What is this?"

The Sound-Transmitting Conch rolled across the carriage floor and stopped right in front of Lin Lei. Curious, he picked it up and began to turn it over in his hands.

"This is a conch from the seaside, right? We must be quite close to the ocean here."

Lin Lei looked toward the red-clad maid who was preparing to reclaim the conch. He swallowed the words he had originally intended to say and replied with feigned composure.

"That's right. Our Flower Territory actually borders the sea on the far west side; it isn't far at all. These conches are specialties of the coastal towns, nothing worth mentioning."

Hearing the maid's reply, Lin Lei nodded and returned the item Aierlan had dropped. After all, it was a girl's personal possession, likely something quite valuable, and he felt embarrassed to keep playing with it for long.

Hearing the sound of Lin Lei returning the item, Aierlan felt her previous anxiety dissipate.

This conch was no ordinary shell; it was a novelty acquired through trade between the human race and the sea tribes. It had been reinforced into a magical conch by sea tribe mages using their own secret techniques.

The magical conch possessed the ability to transmit voices over long distances, up to two kilometers. Human mages had attempted to decipher the spells on these conches, but the resulting replicas could only transmit sound for ten meters—not even as far as a standard sound-transmission spell.

It was precisely this conch that Aierlan had quietly activated at the banquet to summon her separated maids and guards, orchestrating this kidnapping.

Aierlan was rebellious by nature; she had to have whatever caught her eye. Having been spoiled by her father since childhood, her methods were often bizarre.

This time, she had set her sights on Lin Lei. This tall, cool, and handsome man had been love at first sight for her. After speaking with him and realizing he had no intention of paying her any mind, she decided to bring him home first and cultivate their relationship slowly.

The carriage pulled by the four Cloud Horse moved at great speed, cutting the usual travel time in half. Furthermore, the ride lacked the jolts and bumps typical of commoners' carriages.

Stepping out, Lin Lei walked briskly from the carriage and found himself in a vast, landscaped garden. It was only slightly smaller in scale than what he had seen at the Lord's Mansion, filled with exotic flowers, rare plants, and famous paintings and calligraphy.

He glanced at the people around him; they were not the same warriors who had escorted them earlier. These were new faces, suggesting that the number of guards in this estate was unusually high.

"Someone, arrange quarters for Centurion Lin. Take him to De Garden, Room One."

After stepping out of the carriage, the red-clad maid immediately summoned the waiting servants to arrange lodging for the newly arrived Lin Lei. Just like that, in a daze, Lin Lei was settled into Aierlan's home.

Once Lin Lei was far away, the red-clad maid re-entered the carriage to report to Aierlan, who was still pretending to sleep.

"Miss, Young Master Lin has left. You can get up now."

"He really left?"

Aierlan opened her large eyes, sat up, and peeked out the carriage window like a thief, observing whether that guy had truly gone far enough.

"Phew."

Watching Lin Lei being led to his room by several servants, Aierlan couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. She turned to the maid who was teasing her and asked hurriedly.

"Hong Ling, do you think I'm doing something wrong? What if I get exposed? Will Lin Lei hate me?"

Aierlan, usually so headstrong, now looked like a bashful young woman, devoid of her usual tomboyish bravado.

"How could that be? Miss has gone to such lengths to pursue him; if he finds out, he'll only see your good intentions. How could he bear to be angry at someone as beautiful as you?"

Hong Ling said with a laugh. To think that someone with the strength of a fifth-stage Silver rank would actually be knocked out by a few bottles of wine—she really had come up with quite a plan.

"Really? Really?"

"Of course, don't worry. Young Master Lin will surely be moved by you. Besides, given your status, Miss, saying that a centurion is climbing the social ladder to be with you is a compliment to him."

Under Aierlan's relentless questioning, Hong Ling answered each point, bolstering the confidence of the anxious girl. As someone who had been through it all, Hong Ling knew that a girl with a budding heart lacked nothing more than self-confidence.

Thinking of this, Hong Ling recalled her own youth and couldn't help but let out a low sigh.

On the other side, Lin Lei paced back and forth in his room. His constant steps betrayed his inner anxiety. Looking at the guards outside—who claimed to be protecting him but were in fact monitoring him—he asked them once more.

"Has your Miss woken up yet? I have a very important matter to attend to..."

Lin Lei's words were met only with a silent shake of the head. These guards had received orders to keep a close watch on this man and not allow him to leave. As for his other requests regarding food, drink, or entertainment, they would be satisfied as long as they weren't too excessive.

If Lin Lei were to leave this room, while the guards might not lose their lives, they would certainly be dismissed from their posts. Thus, they were exceptionally vigilant, leaving no room for Lin Lei to attempt an escape under the guise of needing the latrine.

At this very moment, inside the Lord's Mansion, Edward was in conversation with Alice.

"Father, the minions of Kil'jaeden are about to make their move. The banshees of the Shadow Council intend to stage a coup during the spring hunt the day after tomorrow. Shouldn't we make preparations early?"

Edward remained silent. He was well aware of what Alice said; half a year ago, he had already discovered dark minions within his territory. However, due to the conflict with Dalaran at the time, he lacked the energy to deal with these low-level scum. Now, these creatures had achieved a qualitative breakthrough, growing into an organization that even he had to think twice about.

According to the detection during this banquet, eighty percent of the people had been mentally charmed, and forty percent of them were already so deeply entrenched that even killing those banshees would not restore them. If he were to take action, many of his familiar subordinates would leave him, and he hesitated.

"Father, a long pain is worse than a short one. If we continue to turn a blind eye, then there will be no survivors left in our territory, including you and me..."

Alice looked at Edward's still-hesitant expression, knowing he found it difficult to make a painful decision. Edward had grown old, losing the decisiveness he possessed in his youth, and had begun to overthink and waver in his actions.

Alice possessed the decisiveness and courage of youth. Looking at her father, who remained silent, she secretly made a decision in her heart to make the choice for him.

In the evening, Red Fire, having waited in vain for Lin Lei, followed his scent alone to the Viscount Mansion. He found Lin Lei sitting on a stool drinking tea; it was clear that Lin Lei had lost the fiery temper he had at the beginning during the long wait.

He knew Aierlan should have woken up, but he did not understand why she had not let him go. The guards outside his door had been changed three times, yet not a single message had been passed on.

Could it be that they have forgotten there is someone here who was brought back by them, or is it...

With nothing to do, Lin Lei began to let his imagination run wild. Seeing Red Fire suddenly run in, he hugged it with some joy; this was the happiest thing that had happened to him since entering the mansion.

"Young Master Lin, the young lady wants you to come over for dinner."

Just after hugging Red Fire for a moment, a piece of good news came from the mouth of a servant dressed in green.

"Has your young lady proven my innocence? Did she say I could go home? Speak!"

Hearing that there was finally news, Lin Lei asked the arriving servant with some excitement. Unfortunately, the servant knew nothing and did not say another word to Lin Lei, so Lin Lei did not get the information he wanted.

With no other choice, Lin Lei had to take Red Fire and follow behind the green-clad servant, letting him lead the way to where Aierlan was eating so he could ask her in person.

"Sit. See if you like these..."

As soon as Lin Lei arrived, he was greeted warmly by Aierlan.

Looking at the people sitting at the table, there were more than a dozen of them. At the head of the table sat an old man with an imposing air, a smiling old woman, and further down were several middle-aged couples and a few children eating. Besides an empty seat next to Aierlan, there was also a young man, Lin Lei's subordinate, Allen.