Chapter 84: Arrival at Avros

Chloe pulled back the curtain by the window and gazed into the distance.

Avros was right before her; she could almost see the spires of Sirena Castle.

‘I wonder if Xina and the others are doing well now.’

Chloe took out a bottle containing a dark red liquid—Carloman’s blood.

Although a week had passed, his blood had not coagulated. This might be a special trait of the oldest Progenitor.

Now all she needed was Chloe and Carloman’s blood, along with the elixir Lucia had prepared, to cure the ailment that had plagued Xina for decades.

She hoped it would help Xina escape her father’s shadow.

Chloe was a simple person. If someone gave her a drop of kindness, she would repay it with a gushing spring. But because of this, her sister often teased her for being too honest.

“Ah!”

A scream interrupted Chloe’s reverie. She quickly turned her head.

Anna and Alice were playing a game of chess, but it seemed to have ended. Alice angrily overturned the board and scratched her head in frustration.

“Damn it, I’ve lost six days in a row. Can’t I win just one round?”

“Hehe, angry Alice is cute too.”

Anna rested her chin in her hands, her eyes sparkling.

After finishing her talk with Carl, she and Wuxu had returned to the carriage where Alice and the others were. That carriage was quite spacious, enough to accommodate all seven of them.

With more people, it got noisy. For the past six days, Chloe had hardly slept well.

Anjie and Constantine liked to whisper at night, while Una and Alice both had terrible sleeping postures. Once, Anna accidentally knocked over the campfire, singeing Wuxu’s gold and red robe.

But when Chloe had set out for Jeannagos, there were only four of them. Returning with three more gave her an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.

“Hehe.”

Chloe broke into a genuine smile.

“What are you giggling about?”

Alice frowned and looked at Chloe indignantly, probably thinking Chloe was laughing at her.

“Laughing at myself.”

“Huh?”

“I’m so glad I met all of you.”

Xia Ni had never had many friends since childhood. After starting work, she didn’t socialize outside of work, so she grew up without any friends at all, and being with girls was even more of a fantasy.

She was a pitiful isolated island, the only bridge connecting her to the mainland being her sister.

But as Chloe, she had made so many companions. She felt very fulfilled.

Alice was at a loss for words at Chloe’s remark. Her cheeks flushed crimson.

“What are you suddenly saying?”

“I think the master is homesick.”

Anjie sat cross-legged on the seat, a slight smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

Chloe was a bit surprised. Anjie really had her pinned down.

“Avros?” Constantine said, lacking tact.

“I don’t think there’s anything to miss about Avros. Compared to Jeannagos, this place is too desolate. Birds and beasts far outnumber humans. It would be nice if we came here to hunt,” Wuxu added.

Chloe looked at them helplessly. Their rational comments successfully extinguished the warmth she had kindled.

“From now on, I’ll live with Lady Aloy? Hehe, Una is so happy.”

Una snuggled against Chloe’s shoulder, rubbing her hair.

The soft touch made Chloe’s heart ripple. Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped.

“It seems we’ve arrived.”

Wuxu opened the door, and a fresh scent of rice wafted in.

Following the rice fragrance, Chloe stepped onto the land of Avros again.

The blue sky and white clouds still hung above the firmament, and the farmers were still working hard in the rice paddies. Nothing had changed compared to before—after all, only two weeks had passed.

But for Chloe, these two weeks felt as long as two centuries.

Carl, dragging his robe, hurried over from the front of the convoy. Behind him followed several fully armed guards. Chloe recognized the tallest one as Olga, the betrayed knight commander.

“Too bad. I was planning to invite you to visit Lornia.”

“I still have some matters to attend to. Sorry.”

“No matter. You can come another day. Then, I will officially appoint you as the Governor of Eredis.”

“And the territory,” Wuxu added.

Carl stroked his beard and laughed heartily.

“Of course. Then, we’ll take our leave.”

“Wait.”

Just as Carl was about to leave, Chloe called out to him.

More precisely, to Olga beside him.

“Baron Olga, how does the taste of home feel?”

Olga frowned slightly. He glanced at Carl, as if asking whether he should speak.

Carl nodded in agreement. So Olga turned and said to Chloe, “I’m sorry, Lady Chloe, but I am no longer your vassal.”

“Since we’re on the same boat, I don’t want to make things difficult for you, but I want to know one thing.”

Chloe thought of Miko, her poor maid. After her brother died, she was all alone, but her parents were actually still alive, and their information was in Olga’s hands.

Even if just for Miko’s sake, Chloe had to find out the whereabouts of Miko’s parents.

“Did you save a miller couple in Xili Village? Where are they now?”

Olga was a bit surprised. He thought for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone from Xili Village, but I have settled the survivors on my new earldom. You can visit another day.”

“Baron promoted to count? No wonder you chose to betray,” Alice said caustically.

“I just didn’t want to collude with Ryurik and Bruen, and my family was threatened by Cliff. I had no choice but to flee to Eredis.”

Chloe believed Olga’s explanation, and she sympathized with his situation, but as a lord, she couldn’t show a good face to a betraying vassal.

“Go. From now on, you have nothing to do with Avros.”

Olga lowered his head in acknowledgment. He escorted Carl and walked away, gradually disappearing.

“That big guy seems like a nice person,” Una said.

“If you judge people by appearance alone, then Elisha would be the purest saint in the world.”

Alice was unimpressed. She averted her gaze and pointed to the castle in the distance.

“Instead of this, let’s go to Sirena Castle to rest. After six days of camping, we can finally get a good night’s sleep.”

“Una will sleep with Lady Aloy!”

“Of course the master sleeps with me.”

“Give me a small room, preferably somewhere I can practice asceticism.”

“I need a study.”

Hearing their various requests, Chloe shook her head helplessly and announced, “Everyone gets a single room. Steward Lucia will handle other requests.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. No one objected.

“You’re really becoming more and more like a leader.”

Alice stroked Chloe’s head, her eyes smiling.

“Come on, you need to show me some respect too!”

“Heh, if we started arguing over room assignments, that would be a disaster. Besides, you have something more important to do, right?”

Alice cast a glance at Sirena Castle.

Chloe looked up and tightened her grip on the bottle in her hand.

Xina, I’m coming to save you.

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