Chapter 744: Chapter 348: Furnace Casting Cards
The northern wind howled, and griffins soared in the sky.
Leon maintained the rising magic elements, surrounded by a warm current, helping the girl wrapped like a dumpling behind him, Ines, to keep warm.
When Oran City finally lifted the lockdown and resumed travel, Avalon’s team set off home, and he immediately rode the Death Claw to take Ines to the North.
After two and a half days of full-speed flight, they finally arrived within the borders of West Bay.
Instead of going directly to North County, Ines asked him to first take her back to her residence, “Sea Eagle Port”, so Leon followed his “past” memory and skillfully landed Death Claw in the courtyard of Ines’s estate.
As it stands now, he is even more familiar with West Bay and the North than he is with the surroundings of Glade County and Kosos County.
The vast estate beneath his feet was also his shelter in another destined path.
Death Claw flapped its huge wings and then folded them, while Leon held the fur-coat-wrapped Ines and jumped down from the high saddle.
“Are you going to the Warlock Society by yourself? Do you want me to stay to protect you?”
Leon put the young girl down, feeling a bit uneasy. Even though he knew the ins and outs of the Warlock Society now, after all, in that other timeline, Athias hadn’t infiltrated the Orland Kingdom.
“No need. I plan to send someone to invite Earl Nos to West Bay for a secret meeting. With the Knight Order protecting me, I am safe here.” Ines shook her head and suddenly smiled, raising an eyebrow in jest: “Or is it that~… Mr. Leon is impatient to stay overnight and sleep with me?”
Leon furrowed his brow. Perhaps because he was relaxed in this familiar environment, he directly pinched the cheeks of the little girl and kneaded them.
Now that they were lovers, there was no need for him to pretend to be a gentleman; shouldn’t he retaliate a bit for all the teasing he endured?
“We’ve been sleeping together for more than a month, so what urgency do I still have now?” Leon chuckled, as the girl’s small face indeed felt quite pleasant to touch.
Ines struggled in embarrassment, but her soft strength couldn’t escape his teasing. She finally freed herself with great difficulty, gave him a sidelong glance, feeling that she had underestimated the situation.
Without Miss Olivia beside him as “suppression,” she seemed unable to control this nature-released fellow.
From the marital advice given by her future self three years ahead, it was clear that in private… he was far from the serious persona in front of others.
“Alright, go back to your work. Once I take care of some things in the North, I’ll come look for you when I’m traveling to the southern lands.” Ines rubbed her cheeks, the slight blush unsure if it was from being pinched or from recalling whispered instructions given by her future self.
“Okay, then before you leave…” Leon suddenly reached into his pocket and took out a small box.
“I’ve never found the right opportunity… I hope you can accept this.”
“?” Ines took the box, puzzled.
Opening the box, a delicate light purple hairband lay quietly inside.
The girl smiled slightly, looking up at her lover.
“Just giving it to me won’t do. You should put it on for me, just like you did for Miss Olivia~”
Under the familiar giant tree’s canopy, Leon picked up the hairband and skillfully adorned his beloved girl with the symbolic accessory.
Unlike Olivia’s bun, he gathered the girl’s hair and placed the purple band on the left side of Ines’s head, making her look both cute and elegant.
“I’ll marry you with a grand ceremony. If it doesn’t fit with Orland’s traditions, we can wed in the Sobonitz Domain, as there are no such customs in the Kantadar Kingdom.” Leon spoke, feeling slightly warm in the face.
These words about a potential second marriage indeed felt a bit shameless, but he absolutely didn’t regret the decision to steadfastly hold onto his two wives.
Gently stroking the hairband, Ines looked up at him and lightly hummed: “… Looks like there’s no escaping now~”
She sighed softly: “However, there’s no rush with us; now isn’t the best time. If I were to marry you just , all the lands and armies under me would be taken by my brother.
Especially since the Knight Jousting Tournament got canceled, the plan to have King Caso publicly confer you the title of ‘Duke Andville’ was disrupted, and I have yet to meet Caso. I suppose with my brother recently ascending to the throne, the political situation is unstable; Caso will likely be held in the Royal City for a long time, and I don’t know how to proceed with this deal.”
Having said that, Ines tiptoed, wrapped her arms around Leon’s neck, lightly touched her lips to his, and softly whispered.
“Give me some time to resolve this, will you?”
Leon solemnly nodded, patiently promising: “Of course, no matter how long it takes, I’ll wait for you.”
… With some reluctance, temporarily saying goodbye to Ines with a kiss, Leon mounted the griffin’s high saddle, waved his hand, and ascended the sky, beginning his journey south.
As Ines had said, now that he had a substantial amount of Moonfall Silver, there were indeed many urgent matters he needed to return to Avalon Castle to handle.
The rampant actions of the Athiasians, with their grasp and infiltration, left him with an indescribable sense of crisis.
Though the death of Lydwen III was more a consequence of that ancient magic’s impact,
If not for him preemptively disrupting the siege crossbow’s assassination plan, given the Mage Empire’s level of infiltration in Oran Royal City, they might not have even needed to orchestrate the Night of the Palace; the King could very well have been slain during the public assassination.
What if the enemy targeted Avalon Castle next?
Even if he and Olivia could contend with Athiasian assassins, what about the other close friends around him?
Lost in thought, Leon had Death Claw ascend to the high altitude that Ines couldn’t withstand before, speeding south.
After several days, Avalon Castle finally came into view.
Landing on the open space of the main castle, Leon looked at the surrounding environment, recalling this place’s ruined state in another destiny, feeling nostalgic.
For others, perhaps he had only been in the Royal City for two months, but from his perspective, it had already been four months… or even vaguely six years since he’d last seen this scene.
Jumping back to the ground, he summoned the servants to unload Death Claw’s tack, letting the exhausted Big Fat Bird return to its nest to rest, and Leon saw the approaching Guard Knight, indicating that Lokhak and the others had returned to Avalon before him.
“Where is Olivia?” Leon walked into the main castle, inquiring to the guards.
“Madam stopped by Selva to visit Lord Bryan and old friends; she hasn’t returned yet.” Zabron replied.
Leon knew that Olivia had probably been still shaken by the “nightmare” in that other destiny in Selva and went to the town for some family visit and socializing to calm her nerves.
Moreover, during this journey to the Royal City, she had learned a lot about her blood relatives’ past affairs, and she likely had much to discuss with her foster father.
He went directly to the main castle’s council hall, pushing open the door to enter the spacious central office.
The working Azeryan lifted his head and smiled at his safe-returning dear friend.
“… Back already? I heard from Lokhak that you guys encountered quite a bit of commotion this trip.”
He put down the quill and rubbed the bridge of his nose, exclaiming: “Being able to assassinate the king in the palace, I’ve always heard from Kovis about the terrifying nature of the Athias Empire, but I didn’t expect their actions to be so brazen.”
Leon waved dramatically at him: “The things encountered on this trip are more than Lokhak told you; you probably can’t imagine what I’ve gone through. I’ll explain to you all later, but…”