Chapter 169: Knights

"Midnight snacks, do you want some?"

"Yes, meow~" Pearl sat down beside Ethan, looking around curiously, the commotion from just now seemed like a dream, the campsite was so quiet that only the sounds of Ethan cooking could be heard.

"Listening to what you just said, Irena’s experiences have been pretty rough, meow~"

"What do you mean?"

"Her mother was poisoned to death, meow~"

"Poisoned? Was the murderer caught?"

"It was a maid by the queen’s side, but that maid already committed suicide out of fear of punishment, meow, although there is no evidence, everyone suspects it was Marquis Karloitz’s doing, meow~"

"Why would Marquis Karloitz murder the queen?"

"Because he has a daughter, and he wants his own daughter to become the queen, meow~"

"It works like that?"

"Of course it does, meow, if his daughter became the queen, he could control the entire royal family, meow~"

"And then what? Did his daughter become the queen?"

"Not yet, meow, the king said his daughter had just lost her mother, and finding her a new mother right now would be too cruel to her, meow~"

"Did Irena tell you this?"

"No, the maid told me, meow~" Pearl explained that while Irena was asleep, the maid had poured out her heart’s grievances to her.

Ethan picked up his crystal ball. "Do you want to contact Mr. Leon, meow?"

"Yeah, I want to verify if this is true, I could also ask Elara."

"For this kind of thing, wouldn’t asking Elara be clearer, meow?" Indeed, Leon was stationed at the border year-round, while Elara traveled everywhere for business, her information network should be better than Leon’s.

Ethan immediately contacted Elara, seeing Ethan, Elara happily greeted him, but upon hearing his question, her expression turned grave. "You’re right, Marquis Karloitz has indeed always wanted to monopolize power, if his daughter became the queen, he would become a royal relative, second only to the king... However, there really is no evidence of his involvement."

"I see, then him sending people to kidnap Her Highness..."

"He might have wanted to kill Her Highness, or he might have wanted to save her to win her favor."

"Then I must protect Her Highness even better."

"You plan to escort her to Marquis Ambric’s territory, right? I am also heading there, we can meet and discuss this in detail once you arrive."

Ethan had originally planned to make a side trip to Elara’s territory, but since Elara was also going to Marquis Ambric’s territory, there was no need to make a detour. "Alright, it’s a deal then, I’ve brought some porcelain and Mana Grass, we’ll trade there when the time comes."

"Hehe, I’m looking forward to seeing you~" Elara happily cut the connection.

Mirelle finished disposing of the corpses and returned to Ethan’s side. "Where are we going next?"

"To Eric’s family’s territory, but let’s go to Marquis Ambric’s territory first, and then to the Seed Vault." The glass produced by Eric’s family was quite good, after all.

"That works, speaking of which, that guy really is crazy to want to lay his hands on the Great Forest."

"Simply unreasonable, meow~"

"It’s a big world full of strange things, it’s best if we stay careful."

After the first attack, Ethan and his group encountered a few more ambushes, but with Ethan, Mirelle, and Pearl present, those elves were utterly defenseless.

They arrived at the Seed Vault without a hitch.

"You’re finally here." Seeing Ethan, the elderly man guarding the Seed Vault smiled happily.

"Here are the rice seeds." Ethan handed a bag of rice seeds to the old man.

The old man took the seeds and patted the heavy doors of the Seed Vault. "Do you want to go in now?"

"No, I still have some business to attend to, I’ll come visit you again after some time, is that alright?"

"Of course it is, just let me know what seeds you need, and I’ll prepare them for you."

"I want some barley seeds."

"Barley? Which kind of barley?"

"I want to use it to brew beer."

"Beer... I understand, I will find the right seeds for you, by the way, since you have Her Highness the Princess with you, have you notified the royal family?"

"I’ve already notified the royal family through an elven friend."

"That’s good, however, just in case, I will also notify the royal family." The old man smiled and waved goodbye to Ethan.

Irena poked her head out of the carriage window, seeing her, the old man revealed a kindly smile. Irena paused, feeling that this old gentleman looked somewhat familiar. "That grandpa... I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before..."

"Is that so? Where have you seen him?"

"I... I can’t quite remember..."

"Take your time thinking about it, Pearl, let’s go."

"Got it, meow~" Pearl returned to the carriage, Ethan got onto the flatbed cart and commanded the Blood Jade Beast to continue forward.

Not long after they set out.

"Someone’s coming." Mirelle, who had been lying on the flatbed cart, sat up.

Ethan followed her gaze and saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance, it seemed a group was approaching them.

’Enemies again?’ Ethan gripped the Scythe of Gaia, but it didn’t react at all, it seemed the approaching party harbored no ill intent.

"It should be the army sent by the royal family."

"That’s good, no need to fight." Mirelle smiled and lay back down.

As the group drew closer, Ethan could clearly see their appearance.

"You must be Mr. Ethan, right?" The leading elven knight dismounted and bowed to Ethan, he had a prominent scar on his face.

"I am Edric, Commander of the Second Royal Knight Order."

"Hello, I am Ethan, are you here to escort Her Highness?"

"Yes, how is Her Highness doing?"

Just then, the carriage door opened, hearing the commotion outside, Irena stepped out holding Pearl.

"Edric?" Seeing Edric, a smile of pleasant surprise bloomed on Irena’s face, it seemed they knew each other well.

She happily threw herself into Edric’s arms, and Edric gently hugged her back. "Your Highness, I’m so glad you’re safe, from now on, whenever you leave the palace, you must take me with you."

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry..."

Edric comforted Irena with a few more words, then, he stood up, walked over to Ethan, and knelt on one knee. "Thank you for your grace toward the royal family, please allow us to escort you to Marquis Ambric’s territory."

"Marquis Ambric’s territory? We aren’t returning to the royal capital?" Ethan asked in confusion.

Edric’s expression turned solemn. "We cannot take Her Highness back to the royal capital right now."

"Why?"

"Because Marquis Karloitz’s army has already surrounded the royal capital." Edric sighed helplessly.

"Her Highness is also very afraid of Marquis Karloitz."

Ethan looked at Irena, ever since hearing that Marquis Karloitz had surrounded the capital with his army, she had been trembling.

"Is the royal family incapable of protecting Her Highness’s safety?"

"That’s not it, it’s just that there’s no need to place Her Highness in danger." Edric sighed and picked Irena up, he gently patted her back, his heart filled with mixed emotions, he wished he could charge back to the royal capital right this instant and hack Marquis Karloitz into pieces, but with the royal family’s current strength, they were simply unable to contend with him.