Achilles looked at the other party expressionlessly, but said nothing.
Even though he didn't say anything, the Grand Princess let out a sigh of relief and sighed softly: "I'm sorry, Achilles... I didn't mean to target you."
"I understand your feelings," the latter replied lightly, "Princess."
"Thank you."
But Princess Rupert seemed very tired, she just waved weakly: "Leave, Achilles, let me be alone for a moment."
"I want to think carefully..."
Achilles nodded slightly, bowed, and retreated.
However, before leaving the room, he turned around and asked: "Princess, about the preparations...?"
"I understand."
She nodded.
But her heart couldn't help but recall the previous matters regarding Bain.
...
"Who are they?"
The tall Alchemist looked at the group of people and horses entering Kashan Palace from afar and turned to ask Ye Hua beside him.
The Ranger King leaned against his Elf King Bow, crossed his arms, and looked in that direction—the people entering Kashan Palace were evidently not locals of Istania. They wore northern attire, rarely seen in these parts; the North isn't just Kapuka, Rodell, Scepter Coast, those places with only two or three months of summer each year.
In the minds of the Istania People, the North means Colin—while the East means Ishurian; this is a very simple geographical concept.
Those people were from the Colin Kingdom, and not just any people.
"They are from the Colin Royal Family." Ye Hua replied lightly.
As the former Chairman of the Southern Alliance, he had met the envoys of the Colin Royal Family more than once, those proud 'Angels' with their splendid attire often incited anger in the Elfendo Council.
But this arrogance is typical of Northerners, who pride themselves on the Kingdom's legitimacy, especially royal envoys who likely come from some great noble family, making them even more arrogant.
Yet with Istania's growing stability and strength, the scenes of haughty commands are becoming rare on this sand sea; indeed, the Colin Royal Family hadn't sent such a large envoy group here in many years, Ye Hua counted them carefully and there were no less than a hundred.
Among them were many Knights.
Dawn Knights.
"Quite a number of them." The Alchemist also commented.
"Indeed." Ye Hua replied.
The size of this envoy group is unprecedented in Eteliria's history.
"But aren't there too many Knights," the former questioned suspiciously, "It's more like an army than an envoy group."
Ye Hua also felt this way, but he wasn't familiar with the composition of past Colin Ishurian envoy groups, so he could only suppress his doubts: "One hundred forty-two people," he finally counted the last person, "This is similar to what was sent to the Osh Empire; I remember last time it was about the same."
"What are they here for?"
The Alchemist asked.
Ye Hua shook his head, he wouldn't know.
"I sense something significant is about to happen." The Ranger King quietly replied.
"Likewise."
"Speaking of which, I just remembered something," Ye Hua suddenly turned his head and spoke.
The Alchemist looked at him unexpectedly.
But then the former pondered for a moment before saying: "Not long ago, the Colin Royal Family's spies encountered trouble here; it happened in Tansnier... I remember the Grand Princess even protested to the King of Sand about it, and the protest was passed on to Colin Ishurian."
"I know about this too," the Alchemist replied, "I was near Tansnier at the time."
"But it's been almost two months now, hasn't it?"
"Don't forget the sandstorm."
The Alchemist seemed surprised: "They wouldn't come just for that trivial matter, would they?"
Ye Hua shook his head again:
"It's just a conjecture."
...
At the desert's edge, under the sunlight, it appeared like a silver line.
But amidst the rising mist, that silver line subtly twisted, and then transformed into a city wall glimmering faintly, tiny as if a single thread or a necklace scattered across the sky.
The merchant group stopped.
Luo Hao stood in the scorching sand, looking at the faintly visible city wall, almost on the verge of tears—they had been stranded in this endless desert for almost half a month, nearly wiped out completely, and now finally returning to the civilized world, a sense of post-crisis relief filled their hearts.
Behind this rotund soldier from the military, Gita, Luo Yu, Xiangzi, and others were equally excited; the Little Fatty with the Shield of Lufu even knelt down on the ground, almost crying with joy, unable to resist imitating the Natives by kissing the land—the sand, praying to Androma or Marlan, or thanking Lady Roman and All Saints for guiding them out of danger.
Though there were still Starlight and chances of revival, after enduring such an ordeal, everyone felt fortunate.
They had understood, more or less, what adventure truly meant—
It was certainly not just about poetic imagery or treasures hidden in dungeons, but also about peril and hardship, and that meticulous preparation was needed to avoid falling into such dire situations again.
However, Luo Hao turned back to look at the girl standing at the end of the group.
Affia seemed somewhat excited—this Arcanist girl had become much thinner over these days, enduring much hardship, yet still appeared clean and tidy; The Knight of the Sky seemed to possess such strength. Her eyes sparkled, fixing on the city upon the horizon, not because of her rescue.
But because this was her first visit to this legendary Royal Capital, the pearl in the sand sea.
...