Chapter: 17. Arrival (4K)
Livra felt that Miss Shaya seemed to be in a bad mood today…
She held a lamp lit by a Light Magic Stone in her hand, expressionless, walking in front without saying a word.
Xiya reminded Livra to be careful of the stairs beneath her feet, and in the process, helped her “clear her doubts.”
“Your Highness Livra, we are here… we can’t be frivolous; Shaya must maintain seriousness. You see how she doesn’t smile because the Demon Princess dislikes others being giggly. If it were you locked up here, you would surely feel bad too, right? If others are laughing happily, it would definitely anger her.”
“That’s true…!”
Livra hurriedly put on a serious face like Miss Shaya.
When others walk with a cold face, it seems like someone owes them money.
Their expressions now were as if someone owed them their lives!
Ah… Sorry, Livra.
Your Highness, you cannot be informed about Shaya being in a puppet magical state.
Don’t blame me for scaring you; Xue Fei said, since you came, she has to put some pressure on you.
Tick-tock.
As the sound of Livra’s light blue high heels gently tapping on the solid ground echoed, the originally dim environment suddenly lit up.
It was the candlesticks along both sides of the stone wall, all ignited with flames.
The weak flames illuminated the path beside the stone wall, leading deep into the tranquil stone forest.
Livra swallowed hard, patted her chest to cheer herself up, and then stepped forward to catch up with the two.
It was very quiet, eerily so.
After Xiya’s reminder, Livra didn’t dare to speak much now.
In front of her were only Lord Xiya and Miss Shaya, moving forward with the firelight; the overall environment felt almost suffocatingly oppressive.
The sound of footsteps on the ground was clearly audible, and the not-so-long path was quickly reached.
The firelight illuminated a giant, cold stone door that stood there.
Xiya placed her palm on the groove above the stone door, her expression serious as she turned back.
Livra had rarely seen Lord Xiya looking so grave!
“Your Highness, we have arrived; there’s just a door between us. Inside is the sealed place of Xue Feiya Harlde.”
“Okay… alright.”
“As we discussed before, Shaya and I cannot accompany you inside; otherwise, it would all be in vain. I also have to remind you that although the Demon Princess is sealed, it doesn’t mean it’s completely safe to approach her; please keep your distance. If things get critical, please return and knock on the stone door for help, I will open the door for you as soon as possible, of course, I mean… if you can escape.”
“Is it too late for me to practice sprinting and come back…?”
“It’s too late; you wish for good fortune.”
“Eh! Is there no time to prepare!”
Before Xiya finished speaking, she directly pressed the groove and pushed open the stone door.
Inside the stone door was a light much brighter than the darkened passage outside, causing Livra to squint her eyes uncomfortably.
Xiya couldn’t wait any longer.
Sorry, you should hurry in.
Cooperating with Xue Fei in this act really makes me uneasy; long pain is worse than short pain, so you should hurry.
Xiya, a loyal minister of the kingdom, saw Livra hesitating and extremely nervous, so she simply grasped Livra by the collar and pulled her into the stone door, giving her a push!
In that instant, Livra’s mind went blank, and she even had the illusion that the Hero had turned against her and was plotting to harm her!
She knew all of this would come eventually, just didn’t expect it to come so quickly!
And she hadn’t even walked in herself.
Instinctively, Livra turned back, only to find the stone door rapidly closing, seamlessly sealing shut without any sign of reopening.
I… I’m done for.
Stiffly turning her head back from the stone door…
Livra shrank back, trying to protect herself while observing her surroundings.
Looking around, she didn’t find the Demon Princess.
This place was somewhat larger than the area they had just walked through, with slightly brighter flames and a deeper silence.
But aside from that, there was nothing else… Oh! The flames here are dark purple, scarier than outside!
Livra’s nervous gaze frantically searched the surroundings, hoping to find some clues, but she couldn’t find any trace of the Demon Princess.
“Could it be that Lord Xiya brought me to the wrong place…? That shouldn’t be…”
Livra muttered quietly.
In considerable confusion, she even tried tentatively to call out, though her voice trembled slightly from fear.
“Um… Princess Xue Feiya, Your Highness…? Are you… hiding? Could you… come out and talk for a bit? Oh, what am I saying…! So foolish!”
Livra knocked on her unhelpful head, really wishing she could be a bit smarter.
She couldn’t find the Demon Princess, right?
In fact, the Demon Princess was currently watching her.
Xue Feiya’s brow twitched wildly.
She sat on a ten-meter stone platform in the center of this space, looking down at Livra as she searched for her, trembling and aimlessly walking.
I say, you…
Why don’t you look up!
Is your world just one flat plane?! Really not considering the possibility of dimensions? Why not look up?!
Originally, she hoped Livra could explore and discover herself, but because she was simply too silly, if left to find it on her own, she might miss dinner time.
Xue Feiya sighed, resting her hands on her knees as she stood, gently waving her small hand downwards.
— Livra felt her hair being lifted lightly by a breeze, sending a shiver down her neck.
Just now… was that wind?
She instinctively covered her neck, holding her breath and stopping in her tracks.
For even Livra could understand.
In such a closed and dark space, it was impossible to have wind.
Since there was wind, it meant…
“It’s rare for someone to come visit me… this lovely little girl down there, are you lost?”
“!”
Her back felt cold!
Even though she was mentally prepared, and the suddenly appearing voice was very pleasant to hear, Livra still felt a chill run down her spine!
She shivered all over, suddenly turning around and then looking up in the direction of the voice.
— She saw the big stone right above her!
Hiss… Foolish Livra, if you took a step back, you would see me; you’re right beneath the platform!
This common sense, Livra still knew.
She tightened her skirt and took a small step back, finding an appropriate angle to look up at the stone platform.
Now, she finally found a perspective to see the true form of the Demon Princess.
At that moment she saw her clearly…
Livra was stunned…
This time it wasn’t out of fear.
But Livra was shocked by the scene before her.
It was like a person who has lived indoors for years suddenly seeing a waterfall at the edge of the earth.
Or like a person who is used to looking down in contemplation suddenly seeing the brilliant moon and flowing stars.
On the high platform, several feet of dim light.
The fire cage was desolate, and the six wings were ominous.
That girl, leaning against the fire and remaining still, stood steadily within the cage. She resembled Princess Belis from before, but Livra had to say… seeing that stunningly beautiful face suddenly in such a dark environment truly felt like looking back and suddenly seeing the stars fall from the ninth heaven.
Like a canary locked in a cage, small and exquisite.
But upon hearing her voice, there was a fear of facing a deep abyss in Livra’s heart.
And the reason Livra suddenly became stunned… was not merely because of that.
Xue Feiya retreated to the other side of the cage, slapping her forehead in a direction Livra couldn’t see.
She really had a headache!
You, seeing me or not seeing me, don’t say a word! My opening line just now was already thought out with great effort; if you don’t speak, do you want me to improvise again?!
As Xue Feiya returned to the stone platform, her gesture changed.
She folded her forefinger and ring finger and lightly flicked them upwards.
Livra felt the ground beneath her feet shake as if an earthquake had occurred, making it difficult for her to stand!
“Ah… what… huh?!”
Swaying left and right, struggling to keep her balance, the ground beneath her seemed alive, rising up from the ground.
In an instant, a cylindrical earth platform formed in mid-air, lifting Livra up to a height relatively close to the fire cage.
The space she could stand on was not large.
Livra looked down… nearly twenty meters high, the distant blurry and swaying ground made her feel dizzy!
“Stand steady, oh? Don’t fall~” In the cage, Xue Feiya folded her wings around herself, showing a mischievous smile like a little devil, “Otherwise… I see you aren’t strong enough; if you fall from here, you might die. Hehe, if you die, it will look very bad, won’t it?”
This was a lie.
Xue Feiya had already covered both sides of the stone pillar Livra stood on with “Floating Wind.”
Even if she lost her balance and fell, she could be gently cradled back to the ground by the soft wind.
Originally, Xue Feiya thought Livra would be terrified by the sudden height change and scream in panic.
But Xue Feiya didn’t expect…
Livra not only didn’t scream in fright, but she also didn’t beg for mercy.
— Instead, she was stunned, contemplating, and after steadying herself, she bravely looked directly at her face again.
Hiss… What did you eat wrong today?
Xue Feiya slightly furrowed her brows, her tone carrying a hint of impatience.
“Does your human race’s etiquette… really like to stare at others during the first meeting? Such a barbaric race.”
“You are… Princess Xue Feiya?”
“Yes.”
Livra not only didn’t retract her gaze due to Xue Feiya’s earlier accusation.
On the contrary, her increasingly tangled and thoughtful expression became even more apparent.
The next question she asked left Xue Feiya momentarily startled.
“Princess, may I ask if we have met somewhere before? I feel like you… look particularly familiar?”
“Huh? Familiar? You must be blind…! Cough, you do have a funny way of speaking; is this how you make small talk?”
“No… I really think… maybe… maybe I’m mistaken? But… it’s strange…?”
According to logic, Livra had never met Princess Xue Feiya.
Since she had never been on the battlefield, she had not seen her true form.
At the previous council meeting, when Livra saw Princess Belis, she felt that her appearance vaguely seemed familiar, but not quite right.
Now, seeing Princess Xue Feiya, who seemed smaller than Princess Belis, the feeling of “having clearly seen before in my memory” became even stronger.
But she just couldn’t remember when she had seen her… All in all, it was a particularly strange feeling.
Xue Feiya surely didn’t remember her at all.
How would she know when she had met Livra before? She had met so many people!
It was like fishing; could she remember the appearance of every big fish she had caught?
The unexpected meeting disrupted the rhythm of their dialogue, and when Livra saw Princess Xue Feiya suddenly impatiently sit down, her fingertips starting to gather flames as blades, she immediately reacted.
Thinking of things she couldn’t remember could wait.
But if she dawdled and didn’t speak now… she might not have the chance to “think of it later”!
To avoid the embarrassment of being killed before speaking, Livra hurriedly performed the princess etiquette, lifting her skirt and slightly curtsying to Xue Feiya as she introduced herself.
“You… hello! Princess Xue Feiya, my name is Livra Aulus, the Third Princess of the Aulus Kingdom.”
“And then?”
“Eh?”
Xue Feiya leaned her arm against her cheek as she sat there.
In her dark purple eyes, there was none of the innocence that matched her youthful appearance.
In that moment, Livra even felt that Princess Xue Feiya might be more difficult to deal with than Princess Belis.
“Confused, are we? I have no interest in hearing your introduction; your human race has kept me locked up here for so long… The Aulus royal family only just shows up now; let me guess… Is the Demon Territory feeling impatient, ready to attack you? Or do you have some inexplicable confidence that you can come and kill me? Hmm… you’re not followed by anyone, huh? Silly thing, you really look dumb.”
“!”
Insulting someone right at first meeting! This Demon Princess is truly terrifying!
Livra took several deep breaths to adjust her emotions.
Her legs had softed, and her mind was buzzing.
She had really been scared… facing this moment with those six pitch-black wings, facing her alone, Livra truly felt hopeless.
But now, actually facing her, Livra’s heart felt much calmer.
The change in her eyes reflected her inner tranquility.
Xue Feiya raised an eyebrow, secretly thinking — this has become interesting.
Because Livra’s expression… finally transformed into the same dignified calm she had during the council.
Since standing so high made her legs weak, and since she was likely to lose balance while trying to maintain it, Livra simply sat down like Xue Feiya, letting her long skirt drape down from the platform.
It looked like a snow lotus blooming at the edge of a fiery lava, growing against the wind, swaying gracefully.
“Princess Xue Feiya, please don’t be angry. As you can see, I came alone; I am very weak and pose no threat to you. So… I hope you can listen to my thoughts, just as entertainment during your boredom, how about it?”
