793 Leticia Heart
"Err… Sure. Here, you go." said the old grandpa.
Like a little child, Anna unwrapped the candy and gulped it like drinking a medicine tablet.
"Yummy!! It's sweet and tastes weird." said Anna excitedly.
"Anna, that's rude. Brigida." reprimanded Jayna before calling Brigida.
At once, Brigida approaches the old man while taking out a pouch of gold coins.
"I am sorry for this sudden intrusion. I hope this is enough for your inconvenience." said Brigida politely while giving a few gold coins to the old man.
"Haha… Don't worry about it. It's just a few candies. Besides, this is too much for this old man." refused the old man while observing Jayna and Anna's interaction with a warm smile.
"It's been a while since I saw this kind of warm interaction." said the old man.
Hearing this, "Yes. Anna is my lovely daughter." while hugging her." said Jayna.
In response, Anna is snuggling more to Jayna with a happy smile. At this moment, the old man seems to be in a trance for a moment and reminiscing about something.
"You seem to remind me of someone." said the old man.
At once, Jayna and Brigida become vigilant of the old man. Even Angus, in the distance, also puts his stuff and goes towards this direction.
Oblivious to Jayna and Brigida's reaction, "*Sigh* You are really similar to her. She also likes to spoil her kids." said the old man while still reminiscing his old memory.
Hearing this, Jayna and Brigida immediately breathe in relief. It will be too inconvenient to erase this kind of old man just to block the news. However, they are already wary of him since Anna rarely approaches someone.
"Come to think of it, she also has golden blonde hair and blue eyes like you." said the old man.
"Golden blonde hair? Is she a noble?" asked Jayna curiously.
Blonde hair is not rare in the heart kingdom. However, the majority of them are possessed by noble families, especially the Royal Family. It is said that the blonde golden hair is the symbol of the Heart Royal family.
"For me, she is the noblest person I have ever met. Alas, her end is not well." said the old man with a sad smile.
"Sorry." said Jayna.
"Ahh… I am sorry to break the mood. It is just this old man reminiscing about his past. Anyway, you seem to not be from here. Are you from the other villages?" said the old man.
"No, we are traveling merchants. We happen to camp nearby in this forest." replied Jayna.
Before the old man could speak further, "Jayna, Anna!!" called Angus from the side.
"Daddy!!" shouted Anna excitedly before running to Angus.
"Then, we will go first. Please excuse us." said Jayna politely followed by Brigida.
"Sure.. Sure…" said the old man while waving his hand.
In the end, the old man didn't take Jayna's gold coin pouch compensation. As they walk away from the old man, Angus and Jayna communicate silently through their bond.
In fact, Angus arrived at their location long ago when the old man reminisced about the past. Like Jayna, he also finds the old man quite suspicious.
Not only did he not fluster with Jayna and Brigida's noble etiquette like any other civilian, Angus and Jayna also couldn't see through the old man's strength. It is as if the old man is ordinary without any special power.
Yet, this should be impossible. With the help of [Analyze], they could even detect a little bit of combat power in civilians without mana core. This makes Angus and Jayna suspicious of the old man and his true strength.
In the meantime, the old man releases a deep sigh before carrying his firewood and walks toward the outside tundra forest.
"*Sigh* She really resembles you, Leticia. I wonder if you feel glad up there knowing your grandchild is doing fine." muttered the old man.
These words, which seem not heard by anyone, are listened to and perceived by Angus in the distance. At once, he looked at Jayna and communicated silently.
'Jayna, is he the archduke?' said Angus.
'No. I don't think so. Although he hid his strength, he didn't have massive vitality like any seventh-grade or Father.' replied Jayna.
'Did you think it is because of his old age or using some kind of disguise?' asked Angus worriedly.
'I am not sure either. But I think he is not a bad person. His emotions and feelings were sincere during our short conversation. I guess he belongs to one of my grandmother's retainers.' said Jayna.
Leticia Heart is one of the most famous people in the Heart Kingdom history. She is the mother of King Leon and the previous Empress of the Heart Kingdom.
Despite only being a noblewoman and having a lower standing in politics. She is one of the rare talented geniuses in the kingdom. There are even rumors that the late Empress is why many geniuses are in the current generation.
Like any other Empress before her, the late Empress Leticia does not come from the Heart Royal family but from other high-ranking noble families. To be exact, she comes from the ex-Archduke Dipo family, the Guardian Family.
A/N: Because of the marriage World Contract, the Empress could never come from the royal princess and only from the other high noble families. This is also the major reason why the princess in the Heart Kingdom has a low authority compared to other kingdoms.
Unfortunately, Angus and Jayna didn't know more about the previous Empress Leticia. The book only records her simple biodata and where she is coming from. Since Empress Leticia comes from the Dipo family, they assumed this old man was one of her retainers.
"Anna, what did you think of that old man?" asked Angus to the little gluttony on his arm.
"Who?" asked Anna.
"The previous old grandpa you spoke with before." clarified Angus.
"Old Grandpa… Old Grandpa… Ahh… The old grandpa that gave Anna candy?" asked Anna as if she just remembered the person.
"*Sigh* Yes, it is him. What did you think of him?" asked Angus.
"Hmm…. Old Grandpa is stinky!!" said Anna with a pout.
"Hee??" reacted Angus and Jayna confusedly.
"Anna is big Anna. Old Grandpa only gave a few candies. Hmph!! How can Anna feel stuffed with just a few candies." said Anna.
"*Sigh* Forget about it. Let's go back first. Lilith already prepared some barbeque meat." said Angus.
"Yay!! Meat!!" said Anna excitedly.
In the end, Angus and Jayna couldn't find anything about the mysterious old man. Anna's insight may be great, but she is also a scatterbrain who often thinks with her stomach.
Whenever Angus inquires about something to Anna, he must carefully pick up the clues behind her words. Sometimes, her words didn't mean anything, just her usual nonsense blabbering.
Meanwhile, a vast commotion happens inside the massive Fortress atop the frozen lake. This Fortress is covered with huge snowy ice walls rather than the usual stonewall. It also serves as the headquarters of the Guardian called The Glass Fortress.
Despite having such a particular name, the Glass Fortress is still standing since the Heart Kingdom was founded. Currently, all the guardians inside the Fortress are in preparation for the war with the Gram horde while their superior is gathering at their medical facility.
Not too long ago, they found that one Guardian Captain was returning with heavy injury, and his whole squad was annihilated. At this moment, someone wearing enchanted magic armor came in a hurry towards the medical facility.
"How is he?" asked Captain Dannet, one of the Guardian Captain.
"His condition is getting worse. None of our antidotes are working. It seems we could only prepare for the worst." said Respected Erhan, one of the Respected Ones.
"Tch… Those cunning bastards!! They only know how to use poison." said Captain Thedel from the side.
"Thedel!! Watch your mouth!!" reprimanded Respected Erhan.
"What?! I am not wrong, right? They decide to use this opportunity to attack us rather than fight with honor." said Captain Thedel.
"Thedel is right. We couldn't just stay silent and let this go. This time, we need to retaliate." said Captain Gabel
"Enough!! All of you just focus on the next Gram wave. Leave this matter to us." shouted Respected Havras from the side.
"Respected Havras, are you out of your mind?! This is clearly a provocation. We need to fight back or…" said Captain Thedel with anger.
"Or what?!! Did you know who Miguel fought with?" asked Respected Havras.
"It is probably those cowardly shadow squad." replied Captain Thedel.
"*Sigh* It's the Heart's fourth princess convoy along with Baron Victory." said Respected Simon from the side.
"What?! How come?" exclaimed Captain Thedel in surprise.
"We don't know how they could infiltrate this deep without being detected. If it is not for Captain Miguel's artifact ability, I believe we may never find them." said Respected Simon
"This matter is too complicated. Leave this to us, the Respected Ones and focus on the next Gram wave." said Respected Erhan.
"So, we just do nothing?!! I will not stand idle while ours is stabbed in the back!!" said Captain Thedel angrily.
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