The family feast lasted a very long time.
There was none of the elegance and decorum expected of nobility; it was noisy and chaotic, much like the New Year’s family gatherings from her previous life.
People were urging marriages and children, asking about Theodore’s prospects at Windwhisper Fortress, and inquiring about Damian’s academic achievements.
At one point, the conversation even tried to steer toward Winnidith.
Luckily, she had a little one in her arms as a shield.
Whenever the topic turned to her, she would soften her voice and tell Elena stories about the Natural Forest.
The little girl’s smile never faded as a result.
But Elena was, after all, only a three-year-old child.
After two hours of the family feast, she finally couldn’t take it anymore and fell asleep right there in Winnidith’s arms.
Winnidith took this chance to slip away.
She put Elena to bed, then returned to her own bathroom to wash off the smell of various foods and spices.
After changing into some casual clothes, she sat down at her desk and began studying Titus Robert’s notes.
She opened the first page.
It was from the days when Titus had just become Vice-Captain of the Saint-Vienne Empire’s Royal Knights.
He was twenty-two years old at the time, already a Ninth-Tier Warrior, in the prime of his youth and eager to make his mark.
Coincidentally, the Empire had just begun its campaign of unification.
Titus submitted a request to the Captain to be sent to the front lines, but was mercilessly rejected.
He could only go drink with his good friend Roland Trenton at the tavern and complain.
She turned to the second page.
A week had passed.
It recorded the latest battle reports of the Saint-Vienne Empire: the outer defenses of the Orc Tribes had been breached, and the Natural Forest and the Demonic Abyss had joined the battle.
The Empire was now fighting on three fronts.
She flipped a few more pages.
The entries became much more frequent.
Whenever there was new battle news, Titus would jot it down in his notebook.
Through his handwriting, Winnidith could glimpse just how powerful the Empire had been back then: two hundred thousand soldiers with at least some degree of Douqi cultivation, over three thousand high-tier warriors, and a full twenty-one Saint-Realm experts, including the Emperor himself.
Winnidith couldn’t help but click her tongue in amazement.
No wonder the Empire had been able to take on the entire world alone back then.
Even now, this kind of strength would have little trouble sweeping across the world.
Winnidith started flipping pages much more quickly.
These were all descriptions of the war situation at the time, meaningless to her.
But when she reached a certain page, she suddenly found a record of Titus being summoned by the Emperor of Saint-Vienne.
“Titus, I heard from Brandon that you’ve been collecting information on the front lines, is that right?” the Emperor of Saint-Vienne—Augustine Vane—asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I once requested to be sent to the front lines from the Captain, but it was denied. So I’ve just been asking around for battle news to pass the time,” Titus admitted.
He knew his Emperor wouldn’t mind such things.
“Hmm.”
Sure enough, Augustine didn’t say anything more after hearing that.
He simply asked a question in return.
“What do you think of the war situation?”
“Excellent!”
Titus said without hesitation.
“The Empire’s army has nearly wiped out all the armed forces of the Three Races. We’ve even reached the vicinity of their Holy Ground. Once we breach that, the Empire will achieve the feat of unifying the world!”
Augustine nodded.
The thoughts of the entire Empire, from top to bottom, were not much different from Titus’s.
They all felt the Empire was about to unify the world.
But he could sense that four terrifying powers not of this world had already appeared.
Their emergence was very likely to reverse the entire battlefield.
So, he needed to make some preparations.
Thus, in Titus’s eyes at the time, his Majesty gave him an order he couldn’t understand at all.
“Recall all the princes and princesses to Saint-Vienburg. I have matters to discuss with them.”
“Until I show myself again, I want you to protect Saint-Vienburg.”
Huh?
Even after leaving the Imperial Palace, Titus couldn’t understand why his Emperor would give such an order.
But as a vassal, what he needed to do was obey.
After he distributed Augustine’s summons to each prince and princess, he waited eagerly for the good news of the Empire occupying the Three Races’ Holy Ground.
No one expected that when he finally received news of the battle, what he heard was the Empire’s disastrous defeat on the front lines.
One hundred thousand troops, one thousand high-tier warriors, and twelve Saint-Realm experts died on the battlefield that very day.
The Empire’s front lines collapsed instantly.
From the maddened fleeing soldiers, they learned the reason for the defeat.
They said: The gods descended.
From here on, the records told the story of the Saint-Vienne Empire being counterattacked by the Three-Race Alliance.
Winnidith made a bookmark and closed the book.
Her head was already dizzy from reading.
If she continued, she might miss some key information, so she decided to rest first before reading further.
But judging by Augustine’s demeanor, it seemed he knew the Four Gods had appeared.
Winnidith stood up and stretched.
After loosening her stiff body, she noticed that outside, the sky had darkened.
She left the room and passed through the hall, only to find the feast had long since ended.
The servants had even cleaned the living room spotlessly.
She’d been reading for quite a while.
She hoped Uncle Nolan was still awake.
Winnidith headed toward Nolan and Ivy’s room.
During those times, it wasn’t just the Roberts who had held Saint-Vienburg; her own ancestor must have left some information as well.
And the person who knew the most would definitely be the current Duke.
Just as she was about to knock, the door was opened from the inside.
The person inside froze when they saw her.
She froze too when she saw them, then immediately realized that it made sense for them to be here.
“Uncle Aaron, my uncle hasn’t been skimping on your pay, has he?”
She clenched a small fist and deliberately raised her voice a little.
“If he dares to hold back, I’ll team up with Aunt Ivy and big brother to ostracize him!”
“Cough, cough, cough, cough!”
Suddenly, someone inside started coughing violently.
Prompted by this, Aaron finally snapped back to reality and laughed heartily.
“Don’t worry, the Duke hasn’t shorted me a single coin I’m owed.”
“Not only that, when the Duke heard I was planning to buy a title, he directly granted me a Viscount position. The estate is within the Trenton Territory, just a few hundred miles from the Duke’s Mansion.”
“That’s wonderful! I hope that when I next go back to visit Grandpa and Grandma, I’ll see an Auntie there~”
“Cough, cough… Miss, you’re saying the same thing the Duke did… Anyway, you two must have important matters to discuss. I won’t disturb you. I’m off.”
“Goodbye, Uncle Aaron~”
Winnidith waved him farewell.
For this uncle who had earned merit on the border in his youth and accompanied her throughout her childhood, she was genuinely happy for him.
The hardest days of his life were over.
Unfortunately, her own hardships were just beginning.
“Sit down. I guessed you’d be coming by tonight.”
Only Nolan and Winnidith, uncle and niece, were left in the living room.
They didn’t beat around the bush.
Nolan told Winnidith right away what she wanted to know.
“The Trenton family’s records on the gods are very scarce, and they all overlap with the royal notes. I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed, Wendy.”
Ah~
Ancestor, why didn’t you write a diary or something?
Winnidith silently grumbled in her heart.
But aside from that, she had another matter to discuss with Nolan.
“Uncle, about me being an Outsider…”
Winnidith began.
Although her elders already knew the truth, she still wanted to say it herself to be sure.
But before she could even finish, Nolan, as if expecting it, raised his hand to stop her.
“Stop, stop, stop. We were worried you’d overthink things, which is why we didn’t tell you. And now here you are, overthinking anyway.”
“Hehe…”
Winnidith gave an awkward laugh.
She was just worried, okay?
What if they thought she had possessed the original Winnidith?
But now it seemed she was being completely paranoid.
“Lucky for you, you said this in front of me. If you’d said it in front of your parents, your mother would definitely make you feel her maternal love.”
“She recently bought a whole bunch of clothes with Ivy and the others. She’s been looking for a model to try them on.”
One sentence instantly brought back Winnidith’s childhood as a dress-up doll.
She couldn’t help but shiver.
Seeing her like this, Nolan chuckled lightly and tapped the table to draw her attention.
“But since you’re so worried, I can tell you one thing:”
“From beginning to end, the Trenton family has had only one precious daughter.”
They had always believed that the baby born from Tina’s womb and the silver-haired girl standing before them now were the same person.
And in fact, they truly were the same person.
A warm current flowed through her heart.
From this moment on, the last trace of estrangement between Winnidith and this world completely vanished.
She was born here, grew up here, and would eventually die here.
There were people here who loved her and people she loved.
Even if only to protect them, she had to guard this world.
Dreams and responsibilities became one at this moment.
The courage she had been missing was finally found.
The uncle and niece chatted for a while longer about everyday matters.
As she was leaving, Winnidith suddenly thought of a question and looked at Nolan with a mischievous grin.
“You said I’m the Trenton family’s only precious daughter.”
“Then what about Elena?”
“Wendy, do you really have to pick a fight with your uncle?”
Nolan’s expression turned awkward.
He watched helplessly as the silver-haired girl flitted away like a butterfly.