Netherworld rolled over, settling more comfortably in Tan You’s arms. "You just slept for too long."
"I heard that the Divine Hall of Light on the continent has been mostly destroyed. The temples of the Abyss God and several other Divines have also suffered varying degrees of damage..."
Tan You raised an eyebrow. "So things are going well up there?"
"Very smoothly. Although Qi was sealed, he’s been accumulating power all these years," the Dark Unicorn explained. "If you hadn’t appeared, Tan You, Qi would have eventually broken the seal himself. It just would have taken much longer. And during that time, who knows how many more Mages from the dark faction would have been persecuted."
Tan You covered her face. "You make it sound like I’m some kind of savior. It’s not that dramatic, really."
Everyone knew Tan You was modest and couldn’t take a compliment. The Raven loved to banter with her. "To some people, you really are a savior. Take your follower, Sanders, for example. Doesn’t he have a young son with the Dark Element?"
"From now on, he won’t have to worry about his son anymore..."
While Tan You was chatting with the Holy Beasts, the Mages of the Dark Divine Hall ran into the two brothers, Dennis and Danit. The pair were surprisingly well-informed, having tracked them all the way to their main base.
The Great Elder’s brow furrowed slightly. Davidson smiled and said, "Great Elder, let me handle them. You’ve been exhausted lately. You should get some rest."
Fiers grinned cheekily. "Why should you be the one to handle it? I can do it. Adina and I hit it off right away, so her business is my business."
Davidson shook his head. "I’d better do it. The last thing we need is you making things worse."
’With Fiers’s sharp-tongued and unruly personality, Davidson really couldn’t trust him. The man just loved to stir up trouble.’
Fiers shrugged, looking bored. "You’re too straight-laced. Did all those years in the Divine Hall of Light really assimilate you this much? How boring."
The Great Elder cleared his throat. "It’s better to be cautious. If Davidson weren’t so careful, he would have been exposed over there long ago."
Fiers raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I’ll stop talking, okay? It’s a shame. Uncle used to favor me the most. Now, Uncle’s number one is Adina, then Davidson. I don’t even know where I rank anymore."
The Great Elder snorted, and his hand shot out to grab Fiers’s ear, showing none of his previous senility. "I think you’re just itching for a beating! You, come with me!"
The tall and sturdy Fiers could only hunch over as the Great Elder dragged him toward the back courtyard. "Uncle, Uncle, be gentle! Don’t I have a reputation to uphold? At least let me save some face..."
The other Mages snickered, clearly in high spirits at the sight of Fiers getting disciplined.
After the Mages had all left, only Dennis, Danit, and Davidson remained. Danit, the more hot-tempered of the two, opened his mouth to lash out but was stopped by Dennis.
He was, after all, being groomed as the prospective Head of the Edmonds family, so he was naturally more composed and level-headed than Danit.
"Sir Davidson, we would like to see Adina. Is it convenient?" Dennis said, bowing to Davidson. His tone was gentle and his attitude amiable.
Seeing Dennis’s willingness to humble himself, Davidson knew he was mentally much stronger than Dumont. After all, that man hadn’t been seen since Adina’s reappearance.
Davidson smiled. "Her Highness, the Saintess, was awake for a little while but is now resting again. She has exhausted too much of her energy and needs to recuperate in peace. It’s not a convenient time for visitors."
Dennis’s expression remained unchanged. "Then can we just see her from a distance? The family is very concerned, and if we can just see Adina, we’ll have something to report to our elders when we return."
Davidson didn’t budge. "Once Adina has recovered, she will see you of her own accord. I cannot agree to your request. The two of you should return as soon as possible."
Danit was about to erupt, but after a sharp glare from Dennis, he could only suppress his anger and let out a cold snort through his nose.
As if he would care about Danit’s sour expression, Davidson simply smiled. "Her Highness, the Saintess, asked me to relay a message to you both."
Dennis tensed, knowing this was the main event.
Davidson clasped his hands behind his back. "The Saintess said that since you never shared in her suffering, you are not worthy to share in her glory now. Since you’ve always favored Lilith, then you should continue to favor only her."
Dennis understood. Danit understood too, and his explosive temper could no longer be contained. "What does she mean by that? Huh? Is she trying to sever ties with us? On what grounds? She threw the family into chaos, and now she wants to act like nothing ever happened?"
"Lilith was utterly humiliated and can’t even return to the Divine Hall of Light, yet she gets to become the Saintess of the Dark Divine Hall, a Divine Favored no less! Why does she get to have it so easy?"
"The family raised her, and this is how she repays us?"
Davidson gave Danit a strange look and was about to speak when Moran, who had been eavesdropping for a long time, could no longer hide. She charged out, riding the Undead skeleton of a three-headed hellhound. "How dare you say that about our Miss? Raising a child is a parent’s responsibility! Are you going to hold that over our Miss’s head too?"
"Besides, they only raised her until she was six! The effort they spent on her wasn’t even a tenth of what they spent on Lilith, and you still have the gall to stand here and bark?"
"When we were in Kandapes, before the Miss turned ten, the Imperial City would send some things every year, most of which were Lilith’s leftovers. After she turned ten, the Imperial City stopped sending anything at all, leaving us to fend for ourselves."
"You all enjoyed the family’s abundant resources, living such glamorous and respectable lives. Did any of you ever see what kind of life the Miss had in Kandapes? And now, you just flap your gums and demand that our Miss repay the family? Where do you get the nerve?"
"If you really want to haggle over the cost of raising her, just name a price. Our Miss will pay you back double."
Danit couldn’t believe a mere maidservant dared to speak to him like that. He became even more furious. "You dare talk to me like that? I’m going to teach you a lesson today!"
Moran sneered. "As if I’m afraid of you. If you dare lay a single finger on me today, you’ll have hell to pay when the Miss finds out."
"I’m not the Miss’s maidservant. I am her follower." Moran was clearly proud as she said the last sentence. Although she hadn’t seen Tan You many times, the two of them were genuinely on good terms.
Danit’s chest heaved with anger, but deterred by Tan You’s power, he didn’t dare to actually discipline her follower. In this day and age, disciplining someone’s follower was tantamount to provoking the person themselves. And for all his anger, Danit knew he was no match for Tan You.