Under the night sky, the Griffin carried Troy and Count Wesley into the distance. In the quiet garden, only Vina and Luo Wei remained.

  Vina stood there wiping tears. After two minutes she still hadn't cried enough, exhausting Luo Wei's patience.

  "Keep crying and I'll gouge out your eyeballs and sew your eyelids and mouth shut!" she threatened.

  Vina's crying hitched. Tears hung on her lower eyelids, ready to fall but not falling.

  "Follow me. The carriage is outside," Luo Wei turned and walked out. "The academy's about to close. We need to get back to the castle before the curfew bell."

  Vina sniffled and quickly lifted her skirt to follow.

  Deep into the night, when all the lights had gone out, both Siria Academy and Siria Town fell into slumber.

  Under the wilderness night sky, two people and one Griffin were still traveling hard, flying through the night toward Golu City.

  They reached Golu City at midnight. Not only was Count Wesley exhausted, but the Griffin that had flown three high-speed trips in one day was also worn out. The moment it landed, it flopped on the ground, closed its eyes, and started dozing.

  Seeing this, Troy had no choice but to rest in Golu City for the night. Tomorrow, after getting the magic stones and maps, he could return to Star Luo Residence and report to Luo Wei.

  At 2 AM, dark clouds drifted over Golu City. Strong winds blew out the torches on the walls, plunging the damaged city into darkness.

  The night patrol soldiers crouched by the wall, rummaging through clay jars for fire starters. No one noticed a figure leap over the wall and fly into the lord's castle through the pitch-black night.

  ...

  The next morning, Count Wesley rose early and had his steward copy a map of his territory. After finishing, he gave it to Troy along with the mine map.

  There was also a chest of magic stones, but since it was locked in the underground vault, Count Wesley had to retrieve it personally.

  Below the castle tower, Roman and Rosie were practicing swordplay.

  Sunlight reflected off a blade. Roman's sword stance shifted, and he suddenly turned to look behind him.

  "What are you looking at?" Rosie asked, puzzled.

  Roman frowned. "I just felt dense light elements. Someone's using light magic here."

  "Light magic." Rosie's expression changed. She gripped her sword hilt tightly. "You mean there are Church people here?"

  Anyone who could use light magic was either a high priest or a Holy Knight. What were they doing sneaking in?

  Roman looked at Rosie and lowered his voice. "Be careful. Whatever happens, don't use magic. Let's go find Troy first."

  "You don't need to tell me that." Rosie sheathed her sword and walked toward the main hall.

  With Church people here, she wasn't stupid enough to use dark magic right under their noses.

  "If you ask me, you're the one who should be careful," she said as she walked, glancing sideways at Roman. "Hide your talent, little mouse. Don't let those Church bastards catch you and turn you into their dog."

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  Roman said angrily, "I should let Miss see what you're really like in private. You're naturally evil. That poison you gave the Dougs was rat poison. You tricked Tom into buying you knockout drops, but you were actually worried you'd fail and couldn't escape, so you wanted to use Tom's kindness to take the fall for you."

  Rosie sneered. "Then go tell on me, you unweaned little mouse."

  Roman snorted. "I won't stoop to your level. Miss wants us to get along. No matter how bad our relationship is, we can't let Miss know. That's what we agreed."

  "Yeah, we agreed. But you're the one who's more afraid of Miss hating you, right?" Rosie mocked. "Want me to remind you?"

  "You didn't just get lucky when Miss adopted you. You deliberately caught a puppy and put it outside the bakery to test rich people's kindness, so you could pick who to beg from. Then you picked Miss."

  "After you noticed someone following Miss, you deliberately jumped out to fight the dog for food. You hurt the puppy on purpose to chase it into the alley where that person was hiding. When Miss wanted to go in, that's when you warned her someone was there."

  "You did all that to make Miss think you saved her, didn't you? You act pitiful and innocent, all pure and kind in front of Miss, but actually you're calculating and scheming. You're no better than me."

  Roman's face darkened. "You know all this because Little Monkey and the others told you, right?"

  Rosie admitted it readily. "That's right. Who told you to keep calling them stupid as pigs? They're afraid of you and don't dare talk back, so they badmouth you behind your back instead!"

  Roman said coldly, "I was afraid they'd starve to death, so I kindly taught them how to beg. Instead of thanking me, they betray me behind my back."

  Rosie's lips curved up. A trace of psychologically mature contempt appeared on her childish face.

  "If they were beggars for life, they'd definitely be grateful to you forever. But now they're in the mulberry orchard, they don't worry about food or drink, and maybe they'll even become Knights someday. Why should they thank you?"

  "Roman, when it comes to cleverness, I really can't match you. But when it comes to understanding people's hearts, you can't match me either."

  "Only evil people can survive in this world. Kindness is the most useless thing. Unless you kill everyone in the world, good people are all destined to die early."

  "I don't agree with you," Roman said, looking ahead. "If kindness was useless, neither of us would be standing here today. And..."

  He paused, then said quietly, "Miss also likes kind people."

  "Miss is different!" Rosie's tea-green irises shone brightly.

  "Of course. Miss is different from everyone else in the world." After speaking, Roman lifted his head and quickened his pace.

  The two soon reached the lord castle's main hall but didn't find Troy there.

  After Roman asked a maid, he learned that the kitchen had just prepared a bucket of raw meat for the Griffin, but no one in the kitchen dared approach it to feed it, so they'd asked Troy to go feed it.

  "Sister, is the count here?" Rosie asked the maid.

  The maid answered, "The master seems to have gone to the wine cellar to get wine."

  "Could you help us find the count? We have something very important to report to him."

  The maid said apologetically, "The master treasures his wine and doesn't allow others into the wine cellar. I can't go in."

  Roman said disappointedly, "Forget it, Rosie. Let's just go find Troy."

  "The knight is in the back courtyard. Go out from the hall, walk straight ahead, then turn left and you'll see it," the maid gave them directions.

  "Okay, thank you, sister." The two thanked her and walked in the direction she indicated.

  Just as they left the hall and Roman stepped onto the side door's steps, he suddenly stopped and turned his head sharply.

  "What is it?" Rosie followed his gaze but only saw the empty hall. "What did you sense now?"

  "Dense light elements," Roman looked at the right side of the hall. "Coming from underground. That person used light magic underground again."

  "Underground? They went underground?" Rosie asked, confused.

  Roman ran back into the hall, quickly reaching the corner where the light elements were densest. He crouched down and tapped the floor with his sword hilt, listening to the sound the stone slabs made.

  "It's hollow underground. Probably the wine cellar," After listening for a while, Roman stood up. "We need to tell Count Wesley quickly. If that person is an assassin sent by the Church, Count Wesley might be in danger."

  Rosie frowned. "But that maid just said Count Wesley doesn't allow others into the wine cellar. Why don't we find Troy first and bring him here?"

  Roman's small face was serious. "I'm afraid by the time Troy gets here, it'll be too late."

  Miss worked so hard to save Golu City and the Wesley family. Now that the Sebanli Duchy had already withdrawn, if Count Wesley died now, how could they face all Miss's efforts!

  Rosie grew anxious too. "Then what do we do? The two of us can't handle a light magic user!"

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