Chapter 55: Court Mage

Looking at the bustling, prosperous city before her, Ophariel let out a light sigh. She withdrew her gaze, feeling an inexplicable pang in her heart.

The journey so far had been relatively smooth for everyone. After all, Julian was flying his own flag, and anyone with sense wouldn’t choose to provoke these nobles. After a day of travel, they once again arrived at the city where Julian had previously bought and sold maids. From now on, they were officially entering the Zach family’s territory, though the Zach family wasn’t in this border town, but in Star City located in the center of the territory. At their current speed, it would take about three to four days to reach there. Although after entering the city, those people were eager to try to contact the nobles of the old patriarch’s faction here to boost their influence – in their view, what they were doing was absolutely the right thing, and if they could get the support of the old patriarch’s subordinates, there would definitely be a great chance of success. But this idea was forcibly suppressed by Julian. He didn’t believe that in such a situation, anyone would make a decisive decision facing an unknown future. And with these people’s political acumen at an extremely low level, they might draw their swords and shout “traitor” if the other party didn’t agree, possibly turning a potential ally into a clear enemy, which would be all for nothing. Faced with Julian’s orders, although everyone was somewhat dissatisfied, they had to agree. In the end, everyone found a mid-range inn to stay in, with Caster and other attendants responsible for guarding (and monitoring) those brainless fools, while Julian and Ophariel chose to dine outside. After all, although they were on a mission, it felt more like a trip to them. Especially for Ophariel, who now had a clear understanding of Julian’s strength, she naturally wouldn’t be as anxious as before.

However, after seeing the city before her, there was still some sadness deep in Ophariel’s heart.

When she was alive, Ophariel often went out, disguising herself as an ordinary scholar, walking in the city, observing those commoners and nobles. At that time, she was full of ideals and hope, hoping to make this country more prosperous and powerful, to let people live happy lives. Of course, as a princess, Ophariel wouldn’t actively choose to go to places with high danger. She wasn’t like those dreamy noble girls who thought of themselves as angels fallen to the mortal world, going to those places full of sin and darkness to bring them light. She knew very well that given her status, it wasn’t appropriate to venture into such places. After all, she was a princess, and if anything unexpected happened, it would implicate the entire country. Her accurate self-definition and judgment also meant that even when she was traveling alone, she was unlikely to encounter any unexpected dangers. But even so, Ophariel could still keenly grasp those subtle undercurrents hidden beneath the changes in the entire city and make corresponding countermeasures.

Being able to make this country better was once her ideal.

But now, she was dead.

Ophariel withdrew her gaze, no longer looking at the night scene outside. She quietly looked at her own hands. These hands were no different from when she was alive, but they didn’t belong to a living person. She was already dead, with no power and no ability to strive for anything.

“What are you thinking about?” Julian’s voice sounded, pulling Ophariel’s thoughts back.

“Just some boring little things,” Ophariel shook her head, revealing a bitter smile.

“Although I know all this has nothing to do with me anymore, I still think…”

Saying this, Ophariel stopped. She lowered her head and sighed lightly.

Giving up everything is easy to say, but actually doing it isn’t so simple. If she had just stayed in Twilight Forest, that isolated place, it would have been fine. But now, after coming to the outside world, Ophariel found that the things she thought she could put behind her were still deeply buried in her heart.

Is it really going to end like this?

Thinking of this, Ophariel raised her head, quietly looking at Julian sitting in front of her with an ambiguous smile.

“My lord, I have a request.”

“Go ahead.”

“If there’s time, I hope you can allow me to go to the royal city…” At this point, Ophariel paused for a moment. She bit her lower lip, seeming to make a difficult decision. “I want to go see my mother… This is the only thing I want to do now.”

“Of course, no problem.”

Faced with Ophariel’s request, Julian didn’t refuse. With his experience, Ophariel’s thoughts couldn’t escape Julian. Although this princess had performed excellently in Twilight Forest, Julian also knew very well that this was actually just a little girl’s attempt to distract herself through work. Deep in her heart, she still longed for her past life. No one can cleanly separate their past from their present, and Ophariel was no exception.

Just then, the door of the inn was pushed open, followed by several heavy footsteps entering. Among them was the sound of metal clashing, bringing a bit of noise to the originally quiet hall.

The two curiously looked towards the entrance, only to see several warriors in armor walking in. In the middle of them was a middle-aged man wearing a white robe. He walked into the inn with a gloomy and serious face, quickly surveyed the hall, then made a gesture. Upon seeing his gesture, the two warriors in front immediately stepped forward, intercepting the enthusiastic innkeeper who came to greet them, politely but firmly asking him to step aside.

The appearance of these people caused a stir among the crowd in the hall, and most people’s gazes were focused on the hand of the man in the robe. For no other reason than that in his hand, he held a white staff, and at the top of the staff, a magic crystal was quietly floating, slowly rotating, emitting a dim glow.

This was the mark of a mage.

In an instant, this man became the focus of everyone’s attention. It should be known that it’s not easy for ordinary people to see a mage. They mostly stay in the Mage Association or in towers, rarely appearing. In many cases, mages are very mysterious, and many people don’t know what mages can do, but because of this, they are even more afraid – after all, there’s nothing scarier than something you don’t understand.

“Court mage,” After noticing the emblem on the man’s robe, Ophariel frowned. She lowered her hood, covering her face, then whispered to Julian,

“He’s from the royal family.”

“A court mage? What’s he doing here?”

Hearing Ophariel’s words, Julian also became secretly alert. From his perspective, a court mage appearing not far from his territory was obviously not a good thing. However, he didn’t know what this court mage was here for. With so many people protecting him, it obviously wasn’t a tour, more likely some kind of mission, but this had nothing to do with him.

Thinking of this, Julian put his mind at ease and resumed chatting with Ophariel. Ophariel also stopped paying attention to that court mage and focused her attention on Julian in front of her. After all, what they were going to discuss next was the focus of today.

“Hm?”

At this moment, the court mage paused, turning his head puzzledly towards the hall before him. Because he suddenly felt that in this hall, there was a trace of magical aura floating, and it didn’t belong to his own magical aura.

Could there be a colleague here?

With this question, the court mage quickly scanned the hall, but he didn’t see anyone else wearing a mage’s robe. There were no other mages here. But he didn’t relax because of this. As a court mage, he was quite confident in his perception. And now this strange situation immediately aroused the interest of this court mage. The corner of his mouth curled up, revealing a cold smile.

Trying to hide? You’re underestimating me too much.

Although he didn’t know if the other party was coming for him, the court mage didn’t want to have such a hidden opponent lurking around him. Battles between mages have always been cruel and intense, and many factions of mages also don’t see eye to eye with each other. And now, with a hidden mage present here, he naturally had to find them out, to be prepared.

Thinking of this, the court mage immediately secretly condensed his spirit, following the trace of this magical aura. The other party’s concealment technique wasn’t very sophisticated. Soon, the court mage followed the trail and found the source of the aura. But when he tried to confirm with his naked eye, he was stunned. He saw that the source of the aura was a young girl. From her attire, she looked like a scholar traveling around. A black cloak and white dress wrapped this beautiful, slender body, looking no more than twenty years old. Could such a young girl possibly be the target he needed to find?

Thinking of this, the court mage was somewhat puzzled, but his actions didn’t stop. He still continued to advance, while inwardly feeling somewhat smug. After all, this kind of mental probe is very similar to peeping in some ways, and can even penetrate clothing, revealing the inner body to the caster. And now, seeing the wonderful curves of the girl’s body, this court mage had already had some thoughts deep in his heart. Moreover, she had covered her face with a cloak, which further aroused his curiosity, wanting to see what this girl actually looked like.

At this moment, he had already thrown that slightly strange magical aura to the back of his mind.

Meanwhile, Ophariel was completely unaware that she had attracted his attention. She was still speaking in a low voice, explaining her ideas and thoughts to Julian.

“I think…”

But Ophariel didn’t finish this sentence. Because at this moment, she suddenly paused, her whole body involuntarily shuddering. Then, a thin, black mist suddenly burst out from Ophariel’s body, surrounding her.

At the same time, a low, muffled groan sounded. Everyone turned their heads in surprise to see that the originally calm and gloomy court mage was now half-kneeling on the ground, a trickle of blood slowly flowing from the corner of his mouth. He gritted his teeth, gripping his staff, barely supporting himself from falling. When he raised his head again, a fierce expression flashed across his face. Then, he reached out his hand, pointing at Ophariel.

“Seize that woman!”