Winged Lady of the White Feathers briefly mentioned the weight of each bag, not even bothering to open the rope closures, and nodded with a smile.
“I believe Lady Felina wouldn’t resort to deceit for such a small amount of money. Please take your auction items. I have many more things to attend to, so I won’t keep the three of you any longer. Thank you for your patronage~”
With a meaningful glance at Violet, who had remained mostly silent, Hilda clapped her hands, and the girl named Duoduo politely entered the room.
“Please follow me, the teleportation array is ready.”
“Well then, farewell, Lady Hilda.”
After bidding farewell to the white-haired lady who nodded with a smile, Felina, along with Violet, followed Duoduo into the teleportation array.
Once the footsteps of the three had faded away, Hilda pressed an inconspicuous hidden button, and the wall near the adjacent room naturally split open, revealing a masked white-feathered girl who walked in slowly.
She was the auctioneer Little Mo who had been on the stage earlier, hosting the event.
These two rooms were unexpectedly connected.
“As you can see, they are the ones who bought the Book Without Words.”
Hilda said so, her face still wearing an unfading gentle smile.
“Hmm, did you find anything?”
Facing one of the legendary [Four Wings], Little Mo seemed surprisingly casual, looking at Hilda with an attitude as if they were peers.
“No, don’t forget, Felina Trollope is the head of the Human United Kingdom delegation. If there’s anyone suspicious, it would only be Miss Violet and Miss Xiao Guang, who are clearly associated with her. At least, I can’t discern much about these two.”
Little Mo sighed.
“But the compass also showed no reaction... Was it just a coincidence?... I really don’t know how to report to His Majesty.”
“So, what exactly is that book?”
Little Mo sighed again, her true personality seeming to emerge now, quite different from the optimistic and cheerful appearance she had on stage.
“I have no idea. His Majesty didn’t tell me. He just instructed me on what to do. By the way, how is the situation on this side of the war?”
Hilda’s smile on her face suddenly faded a bit, and a subtle sadness passed through her beautiful eyes.
“It’s not very optimistic. Tomorrow, I plan to go see for myself. We absolutely cannot afford to lose here.”
“Well, both His Majesty and I believe in your abilities. Please take care.”
“Don’t say that, it puts a lot of pressure on me, haha.”
The two beautiful white-feathered winged women laughed simultaneously, but the shadows of their respective concerns and worries lingered deep in their eyes... lingering and unable to be dispelled.
...
On the other side, Violet and her companions, through the teleportation array, returned once again to the surface of the [Fragrant Residence].
The girl at the counter, still the white-feathered signboard girl, seemed to be packing up, preparing to close.
After a brief greeting, without much involvement, the three directly returned to the streets of Spryce City.
It was approaching eleven o’clock at night. The bustling streets that were lively during the day now had few residents moving about. In the quiet and deep night, only the high-rise buildings along the way were emitting faint lights in pairs or threes.
Walking side by side with her pet, Violet casually spoke as if passing the time.
“Miss Felina, you seem quite familiar with Miss Hilda. Have you had any previous interactions?”
“Hmm?”
The short-haired girl with a broad-brimmed hat in the front, after a momentary pause, nodded as if considering the question.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
“Well, since it’s Miss Violet, I don’t mind sharing this with you, but please don’t spread it around.”
As they walked, they continued chatting.
“It’s not I personally who has a close relationship with Lady Hilda, but rather our Trollope family’s ancestor, Lady Edith Melchior, whom I mentioned to you earlier.”
“In fact, Lady Edith is still alive and currently resides in the capital, Courage City. About three hundred years ago, something significant happened in the capital. At that time, Lady Hilda, who was still young, traveled incognito and happened to pass through here, getting involved in a battle and meeting our ancestor, Lady Edith.”
“Lady Edith didn’t have strong prejudices against different races, and both of them clicked due to similar personalities. They quickly formed a strong friendship. After that incident, although Lady Hilda returned to the Azure Sky Kingdom, she occasionally visited Courage City to reunite with Lady Edith whenever she had the chance.”
“Of course, due to her sensitive identity, Lady Edith asked our Trollope family for assistance in coordinating these meetings. That’s how I came to know Lady Hilda, and she even provided me with guidance in various aspects in my early years.”
“I see...”
Although it was said like that, Violet felt that the Royal Family likely knew about this, choosing to turn a blind eye out of respect for Lady Edith. Lilya might have also considered similar reasons when appointing Felina as the head of the delegation to visit the Azure Sky Kingdom.
“By the way, Lady Hilda seems to be particularly interested in you. She rarely shows such obvious interest in someone. Any insights, Miss Violet?”
“Well, about that...”
It must be because of the situation with Leila and Rene, right?
Staring at the androgynous beauty of the delegation head, Violet pondered for a moment.
Felina had already shared many secrets that were not easily known to ordinary people, and as a trusted confidant of Lilya, although she had a serious and earnest personality, she seemed trustworthy.
“Well, actually, it’s because...”
At that moment, the priestess revealed to Felina the fact that Leila and Rene were winged people, and moreover, the rare and powerful white-feathered winged people. This included Hilda’s perception of this, as well as the subtle negotiations between them.
Since they had already arrived in the Azure Sky Kingdom, Violet decided not to hide the identities of the sisters any longer. However, she didn’t go into too much detail, only mentioning that she found them by chance and brought them back. She didn’t mention the possibility of atavism.
“I see.”
After listening to the explanation, Felina frowned slightly but didn’t show excessive surprise or displeasure. It seemed she didn’t have strong prejudices against different races.
This was expected, or else Lilya wouldn’t have sent her to negotiate with the Azure Sky Kingdom.
“The number of white-feathered winged people is rare, especially considering the majority are females. Reproducing offspring becomes more challenging. The proportion of pure-blooded white feathers within the entire winged population has been steadily decreasing year by year. This makes them highly value each member of their race.”
“However, the fact that underage white-feathered winged people are secretly abducted and forced to flee abroad... What exactly is the ‘Wings of Freedom’ busy with? How can they allow such things to happen?”
“Well... who knows?”
The priestess shrugged indifferently.
Felina didn’t dwell too much on this topic. She turned around and asked a question with great seriousness and solemnity.
“Since we’re on this topic... Miss Violet, and Miss Xiao Guang, let me ask, you two are probably not human, are you?”
“......?”
Felina’s tone sounded like a question but seemed more like a statement of a confirmed fact.
Indeed, considering the various magical abilities displayed, the feat of personally subduing the Southern Calamity, the Queen’s ambiguous instructions in the past, and Violet’s indifferent attitude towards various races, it all seemed too illogical for humans. While some of these feats might be achievable by humans individually, having them all together exceeded the limits of what Felina recognized as within the reach of “humans.”
“Is it important to be human? Ants being arrogant because of their own weakness, how laughable.”
After making such a declaration, the golden-haired girl turned her face coldly and remained silent. The priestess shook her head, somewhat resigned but without hesitation.
“I’m not human, and Xiao Guang is the same.”
Although Violet used to be human and occasionally reminisced about her once plain yet fulfilling life, she never avoided or felt lost due to her new identity and life. As the little dragon girl said, is it really important whether one is human or not?
“Is that so...”
A shallow arc formed at the corners of Felina’s mouth, which, for her, was already a fairly sincere smile.
“I understand. Thank you for your trust.”
During the conversation, the three had already reached the outside of the embassy.
Felina proactively extended her left hand to the black-haired girl.
“Miss Violet, it might be a bit late, but I look forward to working with you in the future.”
The priestess hesitated for a moment, then smiled knowingly and shook the other’s slender, strong, and warm hand.
“Sure, I look forward to it.”