Schubert watched for a while, finding it amusing to see his daughter looking as smug as a victorious little rooster.
He wiped the smile from his face and walked over to pat Moran on the head. "Didn’t you bring some fresh pastries for the Lady? You should hurry and take them to her."
"And don’t take advantage of the Lady’s fondness for you to run all over the place with Lord Hellhound."
"Got it, Dad. I’m going to find the Lady now."
Moran proudly patted the middle head of the three-headed Hellhound. "Three-Three, let’s go find the Lady, shall we?"
The Hellhound’s three heads shifted. It seemed to want to shake off Moran’s hand and appeared extremely dissatisfied with the name, but it still trotted off toward the backyard.
It had been a while since it had seen Tan You, so it was naturally impatient. If Moran hadn’t mentioned bringing pastries for the Lady, it would have returned long ago.
Once Moran left, only Dennis, Danit, Schubert, and Davidson remained. Davidson had already said all he needed to, and was now just there to back Schubert up and prevent the thoughtless-looking Danit from causing any trouble.
Dennis recognized Schubert as well. He had been one of his father Dumont’s guards. To think he was now a key figure at Tan You’s side... one could only say that times had changed.
"Uncle Schubert, it’s been a long time."
Schubert bowed to the two of them. "It has been a long time, Young Master Dennis, Young Master Danit."
"When we left for Kandapes, I was under the impression that the Edmonds family had cut all ties with the Lady. Our departure back then was truly miserable, and the Edmonds family made no attempt to ask us to stay. In fact, they couldn’t wait for us to leave the Imperial City."
Dennis and Danit understood Schubert’s meaning. Over the past few days, they had managed to find out exactly why Tan You had gone to Kandapes and what Lilith had done all those years ago.
The truth will always come out. Ever since Tan You spoke those words in public that day, many people had pieced together what she had suffered back then, with no small amount of help from noble families fanning the flames.
Several great families had worked together to suppress the matter back then, but they weren’t so powerful that their reach was limitless. After all, what family doesn’t have servants? And the servants’ grapevine is remarkably efficient.
Now, with the powerful rise of the Dark Divine Hall and the imminent decline of the Divine Hall of Light, the great families were going to great lengths to curry favor. And at this moment, a core figure in the Dark Divine Hall, the current Dark Saintess—Tan You—had become their primary point of leverage.
For one, Adina herself was a noble lady from the Imperial City; for another, she had been active here in the past. Beyond that, the people from the Dark Divine Hall were a mystery. Aside from Davidson, who had been an undercover agent in the Divine Hall of Light, the rest were complete unknowns.
This group from the Dark Divine Hall was particularly eccentric. The noble families invited them to banquets, to drink, to admire flowers—all to no avail. Not a single one of them ever accepted, leaving the nobles with no "in" whatsoever.
Therefore, Tan You’s former identity was the nobles’ best angle of approach.
"Lilith was young back then, she didn’t expect... she didn’t realize that a moment of malice..." Dennis forced a smile, but his own words trailed off before he could finish.
Schubert sighed. "After Miss Adina returned, she came down with a high fever. As the Marquis’s personal guard, I was at his side the entire time. When Miss Adina was burning up, barely clinging to life, the Marquis and his wife said with their own mouths that if she had just died during the Magic Beast stampede on the Night of the Blood Moon, it would have saved them a lot of trouble."
"His wife stubbornly refused to summon a Priest, wanting to leave the Lady to her fate. If she had died then, it couldn’t have been traced back to Miss Lilith." Recalling the events of that night, Schubert couldn’t help but feel emotional. It had been an incredibly perilous ordeal for Tan You to have pulled through.
"Father did summon a Priest later," Danit blurted out after holding it in for a long time. ’She’s a member of the Edmonds family. They’re her father and mother. Even if... even if our parents truly showed favoritism, can’t she be a little more understanding?’
’Besides, the family raised her. How could she tarnish the family’s reputation like this?’
Schubert caressed the hilt of his sword. "Yes, a Priest was summoned later, but not because the Family Head was concerned for Miss Adina. He did it for his own benefit and reputation. After the Lady recovered, the families of the other young ladies involved, like Karina and Anita, all sent considerable gifts as apology."
"The manors, the shops—those all ended up in the Family Head’s hands. When the Lady left for Kandapes, she only took some magic potions, ores, and magic plants. It was less than a tenth of the compensation the other families offered."
"That illness ruined Miss Adina’s health," Schubert said with a heavy sigh. "The Priest said at the time that if he had arrived sooner, her health wouldn’t have suffered such a severe blow."
"On the road to Kandapes, the Lady could barely even sit up; she spent the entire journey lying in the carriage. What’s more, she was left with a chronic cough that has plagued her on and off for years, never fully healing."
"When I first met the Lady, she was still able to fight Violent Tooth Rats, to run and jump. But after that Night of the Blood Moon, her health took a sharp decline."
"You see that she is a seven-star Mage now, but her body is very frail."
"So, knowing full well her parents have no love for her, how could the Lady possibly return to the family?" Schubert finished saying what he had to say. "You all enjoy the family’s abundant resources and bask in the favoritism of the Family Head and his wife, while the Lady has had nothing."
"She fought and bled, overcoming countless hardships and dangers, to get to where she is today. And now the Family Head and his wife want to so casually share in her glory. I do not believe that is fair to her."
"Young Masters, please leave. The Lady’s intentions are perfectly clear. Things will remain as they have been. We’ve all been apart for so many years; there’s truly no need to force a reunion."
Dennis stared at Schubert for a long time. "Is this Adina’s wish? Uncle Schubert, does what you’re saying truly represent Adina’s own intentions?"
He deliberately emphasized the word "own," clearly intending to pressure Schubert. Schubert just smiled faintly and was about to speak...
"Of course it does," Moran piped up, popping out again. "The Lady knows you’re out here. She specifically sent me with a message: what my father said is exactly what she wanted to express. Please leave, and don’t come back again."
Schubert looked at his daughter. "How is the Lady?"
Moran replied, "The Lady really liked the pastries I brought. She ate two of them and is resting again. She said she has a headache."
Schubert couldn’t hide his concern. "Then I’ll go check on her in a little while."