That sentence, however, was like a wedge, deeply driven into Cecilia’s heart. Caesar’s figure had long disappeared from the snowfield, but the words she left behind lingered.
Lita asked cautiously, “Lady Cecilia, what she said…”
“Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s false, but she wouldn’t say such things without reason. Thinking too much about it now will only let her lead us by the nose. Our top priority is to put this aside and head back early.”
Despite saying that, Cecilia never stopped thinking about it. Even on the way back to the Great Wall of Despair, she kept wondering what Caesar’s true intentions were in saying those things.
But in the Everfrost Wasteland these past few days, Cecilia’s mind felt as if frozen by the bitter wind, unable to turn. Perhaps it was the series of shocks that had left her in a poor mental state; still, because Lita was always by her side, it didn’t reach the point where she could only cry alone like in Solus City.
All in all, these days of thinking had not brought Cecilia any useful deductions.
However, the good news was that the two encountered no further danger on the way. After spending the night in place and traveling for nearly a day, the towering ice wall of the Great Wall of Despair once again loomed ahead.
Compared to when they left, the wall now seemed more solemn and silent. Although the Great Wall itself could not change, standing atop the blood and embers from the battle a few days earlier, it appeared to Lita like a giant tombstone, commemorating all the lives lost beyond the Great Wall of Despair.
From the arrow windows on the wall, the sentry soldiers immediately spotted Lita and Cecilia. After a brief confirmation, the four heavy ice gates embedded in the Great Wall opened in sequence. Amid the heavy rumbling, Lita finally breathed the air inside the Great Wall once more.
Although it carried the unique chill of the Northlands, the wind was much less biting than the bone-piercing cold of the Everfrost Wasteland, giving her a feeling of warmth. Lita knew it was an illusion, but the sense of familiarity still welled up.
As the four gates opened one after another, news of their return spread within a certain range. So, as soon as Lita led Cecilia through the city gate, the blue-haired little girl Shirley was the first to rush over, her tense face filled with relief.
“Wow! You’re alive! Thank goodness! Otherwise, big brother would have beaten me to death!”
Shirley pounced over and, under Cecilia’s extremely wary gaze, pulled Lita into a hug, then with a weird hiss, sprang back.
Only then did Lita notice the thick bandages on Shirley’s arm. From the feel of her hug, she could tell it had a thick cast underneath. Moreover, Shirley had a few new scars on her face. It seemed the past few days hadn’t been easy for her either.
“Did you get these fighting the Wild Hunt? These days must have been hard on you.” Lita’s eyes turned earnest.
After all, she had only managed to defeat those Wild Hunt members thanks to her complete restraint, the enemy’s underestimation, and using her crest to heal all her injuries before ambushing them. For Shirley and the others, escaping pursuit would not have been easy.
“Ah, no.” Shirley pointed at her injuries and answered.
“Huh?”
“These were from big brother.”
“Ha?”
Shirley nodded seriously, and said, “Anyway, let’s go warm up and eat something hot. If you hadn’t come back, I really would have been beaten to death.”
Soon after, Cecilia was seated at the cafeteria table. Although she had sat here just a week ago, it gave her an incredibly nostalgic feeling. To ensure the brothers on the Great Wall could eat piping hot meals at any time, the thick soup had been simmering in the pot, and Cecilia and Lita could each have a freshly ladled bowl.
Once seated, Shirley opened up again, “By the way, how did you escape? Back then, our horses were forced forward by the Wild Hunt. After the Wild Hunt left, we turned back to search for a long time, but only found dead horses, traces of battle, and the remains of the Wild Hunt.”
“Well, it’s a long story.” Lita then recounted what happened in detail.
As she spoke, Rosalia and Brownie also hurried into the cafeteria. Soon after, Brandon arrived.
Rosalia still wore a calm expression, exuding a leader’s aura, but her rose-gold eyes sparkled with obvious relief. Brownie, as usual, kept a straight face and nodded slightly to the two. Brandon’s reaction was the most intense, but since Lita was recounting their experiences these past few days, he didn’t rush to say anything.
Lita finished recounting the escape from the Wild Hunt, and Cecilia took over, telling how she brought Lita into the territory of the Baba Bon tribe. Of course, things like Lita’s identity and what they did in the Baba Bone cave were definitely not mentioned.
After listening to the two, Rosalia nodded firmly. Her gaze swept over them, finally resting on Lita’s clothes, which were riddled with holes. Those wounds must have been caused by the Wild Hunt.
“It’s good you’re back. Do you need healing?”
“No need. My crest can heal my wounds, so it’s fine.” Lita shook her head. “What about you, Princess Rosalia? What happened after we parted?”
By then, soldiers had served hot tea to them. Rosalia took a sip, then slowly recounted her experience.
“The Wild Hunt split into two groups. One surrounded you, and the other continued chasing us. We managed to advance a short distance, and Brownie heavily wounded the Wild Hunt commander, so it led the others in a temporary retreat.”
“It wasn’t a heavy wound. Their armor is not their real body; it’s empty inside. At the time, I only rendered it incapable of resistance. Before long, they will recover and come back.” Brownie added.
When Brownie spoke, Lita also noticed the bandages under her clothes. Clearly, they had paid a considerable price to escape the Wild Hunt’s pursuit.
“Then it was just as I said.” Shirley continued, her tone full of frustration and a bit of resentment toward her big brother. “We went back to search, and only found shattered armor, dead horses, and some abandoned supplies. It started snowing, and many tracks were buried. We searched for a long time and found nothing.”
“So,” Rosalia continued, “we returned to the Great Wall. Brandon had already sent out two groups of Rangers to search.”
Rangers are usually in groups of four. A full eight Rangers to search for their traces—Brandon was indeed generous.
“One more thing.” After a few more idle chats, Cecilia suddenly spoke in a grave tone. “We know who the ruler of those Alien Ghosts is.”
“Who?” Brandon finally got a chance to speak.
Shirley reacted just like Lita: “Who’s that?”
“Caesar.” Cecilia said word by word.
Rosalia’s relaxed expression froze on her face. She slowly set down her teacup, but the tea inside trembled violently from her fingers’ light quiver, with a few drops spilling onto the table, seeping into the cracks of the wooden table.
“Caesar Julius?”
“That’s her.” Cecilia nodded.
The air in the room seemed to freeze as well. The fire crackled in the hearth. Outside, a few soldiers returning from duty were shouting loudly, and dog barks rose and fell, but all these sounds seemed to be pulled away from everyone’s ears, leaving only a harsh ringing.
“But that’s impossible. Caesar’s body should be buried in the Royal Mausoleum, sleeping alongside the kings of past generations.” Brandon frowned deeply, breaking the silence first. “Could it be that Your Highness the Fourth Princess mistook someone, or there was illusion magic, or someone is using Caesar’s name to gather influence?”
“Indeed, those possibilities cannot be ruled out.” As Cecilia spoke, she lightly tapped Lita’s instep with her toe, signaling Lita not to speak recklessly.
The appearance of Caesar was indeed a major event, but if revealing Lita’s identity to prove that Caesar was genuine, it would be too great a loss.
“But,” Cecilia looked around the room, “if she truly became an Alien Ghost, then her body should not be in the Royal Mausoleum. The mausoleum is heavily guarded and has barriers set up. Taking a body out of there would be no easy task.”
“If the body isn’t there, then wouldn’t that prove that what the Fourth Princess said is correct?” Shirley raised her hand to ask.
But the problem is that confirming the body in the Royal Mausoleum is itself troublesome. Although the mausoleum belongs to the royal family, even the current king would not dare to open the coffin for an autopsy. Disturbing the spirits of ancestors is not a trivial matter.
Cecilia was suspecting Caesar’s motives, and now everyone had to doubt whether what Cecilia saw was true. By the time this news reaches the Royal Capital, the people there will likely suspect whether these rumors from the Northlands were orchestrated by someone, or if it’s a conspiracy of the Northerners. Especially with the Royal Selection imminent, even if two princesses vouch for it, some will surely think whether the two princesses colluded, or if it’s some scheme for the Royal Selection.
Therefore, even the single act of verifying the body is extremely difficult, not to mention that after confirming the Alien Ghost leader is Caesar herself, what countermeasures the Kingdom should take against them.
“But regardless of whether it’s true or false, verifying this matter doesn’t necessarily have to be done by us, right?” Lita suddenly said.
Seeing everyone’s eyes on her, Lita cleared her throat and continued, “We just need to send this news back to the Royal Capital. Let them decide how to handle it, isn’t that fine?”