"Sir Lux, will you be leaving your Guild Headquarters in a day or two?" Valerie asked the Half-Elf with a sad expression on her face.
"Yes," Lux replied. "Actually, I should have left a long time ago. But since my Guild needed to be relocated first, I had to postpone it for the time being. Now that my Guild Headquarters has found a new home, I can leave without any worries."
Valerie was very disappointed after hearing that Lux had to leave, but after thinking about it, she understood that the Half-Elf was a very busy person.
Also, her main agenda had already been achieved, which was to accompany the red-headed teenager on his week-long journey toward the Domain of the Crystal Palace.
Having thought of this, Valerie no longer felt too disappointed.
Besides, she could now use the Teleportation Gate to travel to Lux's Guild Headquarters whenever she wanted to, which meant that she would be able to see the Half-Elf more often, instead of being separated forever.
Now that she was able to get over her disappointment, Valerie became curious about where the red-headed teenager planned to go next.
"Sir Lux, where will you be going?" Valerie asked.
"A place called Agartha," Lux replied. "I don't know if you've heard of it, but it is a very ancient kingdom found deep under the ground. It is located near the Core of Elysium, so very few people can visit it."
"N-Near the Core of Elysium?" Valerie stuttered. "How deep underground is that?"
Lux pondered for a bit before answering Valerie's question.
"At least several thousand meters underground," Lux made a rough estimate.
"T-That deep?!" Valerie's eyes widened in shock, making the Half-Elf chuckle.
"Yes. It's very deep."
"Sir Lux, will you be able to return from such depths? It seems like a nearly impossible task to get there."
Lux smiled before giving Valerie a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry, I already got that covered," Lux stated. "Also, I can return here to my Guild Headquarters anytime I want, so I'll be fine."
Aur, who was secretly paying attention to Lux's and Valerie's discussion, was shocked upon hearing the Half-Elf's revelation.
As someone who had studied history during his spare time, he also knew a thing or two about the Legendary Kingdom of Agartha, which was said to be the protector of the Core of Elysium.
"Sir Lux, if you don't mind me asking, how are you going to travel to Agartha?" Aur had suddenly appeared beside Lux asked, making Valerie almost jump back out of fright due to how sudden his appearance was.
"I'm afraid that I can't tell you how," Lux replied.
For now, he didn't know if there were other means to travel to Agartha aside from the key that he received as a reward inside the Sacred Dungeon.
Since something so precious was in his possession, the less people that knew of it, the better.
Although he and the Crystal Palace were now allies, there were just some things that he couldn't share with them, and the way he'd travel to the Kingdom of Agartha was one of them.
The Half-Elf then excused himself and went to whisper something in Cethus' ear.
"Cethus, can you look after Valerie for a while?" Lux asked. "I need to talk to Emma and Garret for a bit."
"And why would I babysit that Ugly Duckling?" Cethus asked back.
"Because she is your Grandma's subordinate," Lux answered. "Didn't you see how she treated Valerie a while ago? If anything happens to her, you will be held responsible."
The Dragon Born snorted but didn't say anything to deny Lux's statement.
Seeing that Cethus had reluctantly agreed to look after Valerie for a while, Lux asked Garret and Emma to follow him into the conference room for a short meeting.
After being left alone, Valerie looked at the handsome Dragon Prince, who was looking back at her with a calm expression on his face.
A moment later, Aur broke the silence and asked Valerie a question.
"Can I ask you a question, Valerie?" Aur asked.
"Okay," Valerie replied.
Aur then moved closer to Valerie and asked her at a volume that only she could hear.
"Why are you wearing a disguise?" Aur inquired. "Are you hiding something from Sir Lux?"
Contrary to what he expected, Valerie didn't seem to be too surprised that Aur knew that she was using an artifact to hide her true appearance.
"I have my reasons," Valerie replied. "How about you? Do you also have your own reasons?"
Aur smiled after Valerie returned the question to him.
"My apologies," Aur stated. "It is wrong for me to pry into the secrets of others. Since this is your business then I will not say anything. However, know that if you have malicious intentions against Sir Lux, I promise you that I will make you regret it."
Valerie narrowed her eyes after hearing Aur's threat.
She carefully thought about her reason for accompanying Lux on his journey to the Crystal Palace and weighed it with her conscience if what she was doing was malicious.
After thinking for a while, she came to the conclusion that it wasn't malicious, which made her smile.
"Worry not, I have no malicious intentions," Valerie replied. "I am only here because Sir Lux is here. Once he is gone, I will also leave the territory of the Crystal Palace."
"Then before you leave, how about you and I have some tea together?" Aur proposed. "There are questions that I would like to ask you—questions in regard to our two Kingdoms."
"I'm sorry, but I have to decline your offer," Valerie answered in a heartbeat. "I am not a very intelligent person, and I might say words that might offend people. Right now, I am one of Lady Faustina's subordinates. If you want to talk about the state of both our nations, it will be best if you talk to her instead of me."
"I see…" Aur nodded in understanding.
The Dragon Prince then walked away without giving Valerie a second glance.
To be honest, Aur learned a lot from this simple exchange with the plain-looking girl. Based on Valerie's choice of words, Aur understood that although she sounded innocent, she wasn't completely dumb either.
Because of this, the Dragon Prince was very tempted to remove her disguise so that he could see what she really looked like.
However, doing so would be inappropriate.
At the very least, he had to create a situation where Valerie would remove her mask on her own accord.
What Aur didn't know was that, the moment he succeeded with his plan, his opinion of Valerie would change forever.
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