"What does this have to do with the Valenberg family?" Daniel asked curiously.
He wasn’t very familiar with this family, and whatever he did know was from Lana and Serys.
As far as he knew, they were definitely one of the wealthiest families on the continent.
And they had so much influence and power that even Serys didn’t dare harm their daughter — they only restrained her and didn’t even put a scratch on her.
"Well, the Valenberg family loves lending money. It seems they took this opportunity to give loans both to the royal family of the empire and to the duke who rebelled," Jack said with a smirk on his face.
Daniel was taken aback for a moment. He hadn’t expected that — not that it was a bad idea; in fact, it was a brilliant move.
This way, it didn’t matter who ultimately won — the Valenberg family would be the real victor.
Maybe if he became that wealthy one day, he’d do the same thing.
Of course, he had better ideas, but for now he didn’t have the assets to pull something like that off.
"So the royal family is angry about this?" he asked with a laugh.
"To some extent, but the main reason is that they gave the rebel duke a bigger loan."
"Oh? So they believe the rebel has a better chance of winning. I see now." Daniel nodded.
It was obvious the Valenberg family wanted to create the image of being neutral and lending to both sides, but in reality, they had already chosen their side.
"Well, that was the hottest news of the past week. You’ll probably see them go at each other in the auction too. Still, I really want to know what’s in that auction that caught the attention of so many big shots," Jack sighed. Unfortunately, someone like him would never be allowed into such an auction.
Daniel nodded as well. He was curious to know what would end up being sold.
Unlike other auctions, this time the House of Ten Thousand Treasures hadn’t released any list of items.
Still, Daniel was sure that was nonsense. The House of Ten Thousand Treasures had definitely shown something to these continental giants to draw their attention.
Even Andreas had said his father’s attention was caught by this auction.
’The Queen of Spirits said something in this auction is related to dragons, and that’s going to cause huge trouble,’ he thought to himself.
He chatted a little longer with Jack, then after finishing his tea, paid and left the bar.
He wanted to walk around the city a bit, but suddenly his communication talisman began to vibrate.
"Looks like they finally arrived," Daniel smiled as he saw it and answered without hesitation. Of course, it was Andreas, telling him they had finally made it here.
They agreed to meet in the city’s most famous restaurant. Without wasting time, he headed there.
From the inn to the most famous restaurant, called Lamiz, it was about a thirty-minute walk. He didn’t want to waste time, so he took one of the boat taxis.
That cut the time short by about twenty minutes. After arriving, he took a glance at the restaurant and went inside.
It was crowded — almost all the tables were full.
He looked around and spotted a familiar young man waving at him. Daniel smiled and walked over.
"It’s been a long time," he laughed upon seeing Andreas, and they shook hands and even hugged like brothers.
"A long time? It hasn’t been that long, but so much has happened it feels like an eternity," Andreas chuckled.
"It’s been a while, Ilaris," Daniel smiled, then his gaze fell on a beautiful girl wearing a veil that covered half her face.
Ilaris said nothing, simply hugged him directly. He didn’t say anything either and returned the hug. Andreas chuckled from the side.
After greetings, the three of them sat down at the table.
"How have you been? What happened that made you both seem so much more mature in such a short time?" Daniel asked curiously.
"A lot has happened... enough that I think maybe the mountains really are a better place to live," Ilaris sighed.
She no longer seemed shy like before — that aura of innocence had faded, replaced by maturity.
Daniel frowned and looked at Andreas, hoping he’d explain.
"Ah, well, don’t worry. Nothing bad happened to us, we didn’t get beaten up or anything like that," Andreas said with a small laugh, noticing Daniel’s expression.
"Then? Why does it feel like it’s been a thousand years since I last saw you? Well, looking closely, you’re still the same Andreas, just more patient. But Ilaris seems completely different."
"Well, when we got back to my family, I had to explain to my father what happened to my companions — how I was turned into a pawn by the elves, and I told him, with some details censored, what happened in the mountains, about Ilaris’s identity, and how the elves attacked the Erin Free Zone."
"So? Did they make things hard for you? Because it doesn’t seem like they would." Daniel asked.
"They didn’t make things hard for him — they made things hard for me. They wanted to know why the elves would be willing to break the ancient treaty and attack humans just because of me," Ilaris suddenly said.
"I see. Did they find out anything?"
"Well, not much. They just figured out that she is special. But they still didn’t figure out why she’s special. She was imprisoned for a while, and after they finished their investigation, they released her. But you can imagine how hard it must have been for her," Andreas sighed.
Daniel stayed quiet for a moment and looked at Ilaris.
This girl had been a princess her whole life. Naturally, being suddenly imprisoned would be a huge shock to her.
’So that’s why she seems more mature now,’ he sighed.
It was clear she had gone through hardships and now understood that not all humans were trustworthy.
"What about you? What happened to you? Your family didn’t cause you any trouble, right? Did they recognize you as a young master?" Daniel then turned to Andreas and asked.