The Answer Within Reach

"My lord?" Lilian didn't want to interrupt Nathanos's interest. The Witherer seemed to have found a new interest—a skeleton, which looked like Naga. Was this a new member of the Forsaken? Voss wondered. If so, she looked so frail, as if she might fall apart at any moment.

"Your return unsettles me, Lilian," Nathanos said, his back to her. "Did something happen at Marius Farm?"

The female Undead wanted to reveal everything that had happened, but she simply said, "What you feared has come to pass." That was enough; the Witherer only wanted to hear the outcome.

"She's here?"

"No, not the regent of Quel'Thalas, but your son."

Belorell? Nathanos turned to look at Lilian, who was kneeling, and noticed that one of her daggers was missing.

"So what's your opinion on this?"

"I think he ran away without Ms. Alleria's knowledge, and he doesn't even know you exist."

"We can't hide it any longer!"

Nathanos looked at the shadows in the sky, as if dark clouds were looming over his heart.

"News came from Quel'Thalas a few days ago that Vareesa mobilized everyone to search for my son. Once Belorell returns to his homeland, he will surely face interrogation from his mother."

"But the news that you are alive has always been a secret!" Lilian said. "Belorell may know at most what terrible ordeals you went through, but he will not know... that you are still alive. The same goes for Alleria."

This was exactly what he was worried about. If Belorell knew everything, would he think of him the same way as Alleria? Did he also think that his father, who had become Undead, should go to hell? Nathanos didn't say these words. He just gave Lilian a smile that said, "Indeed."

"There is one more thing I would like to report to you."

"Speak."

"I met a Worgen at Marius Farm, a woman who could switch between human and Worgen forms at will."

"Are you sure?" Now a new discovery has attracted the Witherer.

Lilian nodded affirmatively, then showed Nathanos the sleeve that had been torn by the Worgen. "She seems to be a member of the Argent Crusade as well. She possesses her own consciousness."

"This is not good news, Lilian." Nathanos turned his gaze toward Gilneas. "If the Worgen have learned to control themselves, then it must be the Night Elf who are behind this. Only the Druids and Priestesses know how to use Goldrinn's power. The Alliance's actions... are faster than I expected."

"Should I infiltrate Gilneas?"

"No need, get up," he said, and walked toward Lilian. "Your mission is over, and I happen to have a new mission for you." He approached the female Undead and whispered a few instructions.

A few seconds later, Lilian bowed again and said, "As you command. This mission motivates me even more."

"An assassin should not lose his weapon. Go and retrieve your dagger before heading to Tirisfal Glades."

"Yes, sir."

"That dagger might be poisoned," Jidwen had told Belorell at least five times in the past half hour. The boy ignored him, closing his eyes in thought.

"Alavi?" Fiona called softly. The boy then opened his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you... alright?"

"I'm fine." The boy's smile seemed a little forced, not that he was alright.

"I feel that you are in a predicament, like a scholar encountering a research bottleneck, the kind of heart-wrenching feeling where the answer is right in front of you, but you can't grasp it."

These words sounded harsh, but they were a true reflection of Belorell's inner thoughts. The arrow, in his pocket, seemed to weigh a ton. As a member of the Windrunner family, who didn't recognize the craftsmanship of their family artisans? "Although there's no answer, we now have a clue," the boy sighed. "Thank you for helping me, Fiona."

"If you want to express your gratitude, why don't you give us the dagger? You know it's a dangerous item, and children shouldn't..." Before Jidwen could finish speaking, Fiona glared at him, stopping him in his tracks.

Belorell generously handed Jidwen a dagger worth a thousand gold coins. The Dwarf was overjoyed, looking as if he could drink several barrels of ale.

"Ignore him. All you need to do to forget a near-death experience is give him a drink."

"But Jidwen's performance in battle was admirable, as was Tarenna, and... you." Belorell thought of Fiona's true appearance, and even now he wasn't sure if it was safe to stay with the Worgen.

Fiona looked guilty. "I'm so sorry for hiding this from you before."

"We are all the same." Belorell shook his head. "I think you already know that my name is not Alavi."

The other person nodded. In the end, she didn't ask who Belorell was. For this, the Elf boy was very grateful to Fiona; everyone has their own privacy, and unless someone is a bad person, there's no need to pry.

"So where are you going next?" asked Tarenna, the Blood Elf Paladin who had been sleeping and hadn't woken up yet.

"Go home," Belorell said softly, though he didn't really want to. Quel'Thalas must have gone mad again; at least several hundred people were searching for the missing crown prince. And his mother must have received the news, perhaps waiting for him at the Sunfury Tower. This time, whatever they said was bound to lead to an argument, but Belorell truly hoped that his mother would tell him everything about his father.

Why hide it? What is Mother concealing? And... what exactly happened at Marius Farm?

"Fiona, can you tell me everything about Marius Farm? I want to know."

"All I know is that it's the home of an Alliance hero named Nathanos Marius. The rest... Gilneas was closed off shortly after the war, so I don't know much about the outside world. Do you know?" Fiona turned to ask the Blood Elf and Dwarf sitting in the back of the carriage.

Tarenna thought for a moment and replied regretfully, "I have never heard of this place, much less a person named Nathanos Marius."

His reaction only made Belorell marvel at her mother's ability to suppress information.

"I know a little." The Dwarf was wiping Lilian's dagger, completely forgetting that he had said it might be poisoned. "I've heard that Nathanos had a beautiful High Elf companion."