“The Little Fox ended up talking with her Ancestor during the mana resonance. She got curious about her Ancestor’s deeds, so I brought her to have a look.”
“Ancestor, that Jiuyun senior?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m taking the Little Fox to the Core Area.”
“Go ahead. You know the rules. I need to keep reading.”
After receiving Flora’s permission, Serveyia led Liuli toward the Core Area of the Library.
“Serveyia, who exactly is Flora?”
Liuli always felt that Flora was not a simple person. When she faced Serveyia and herself, she didn’t have the kind of respect other students showed.
“Her?”
To be honest, Serveyia’s current expression looked a bit strange to Liuli—a mix of slight disdain and helplessness.
“Flora is a member of the Northern Coldfeather Clan. Her personality is, hmm, utterly intolerant of evil. Although this earned her a lot of prejudice, many people simply liked this side of her, which is why they vouched for her enrollment into Saint Laia Academy. As for their reasons, perhaps only they know.”
“So, you’re saying she approached me with ulterior motives?”
“I don’t know if she has ulterior motives, but the people behind her definitely do. Though, that intention isn’t necessarily directed at you, Little Fox. Still, it’s never wrong to be cautious.”
“In other words, Flora was also treated as a weapon?”
“It’s hard to say otherwise. However, whether Flora herself knows she’s being used as a weapon is debatable. So, my advice to the Little Fox is to be careful when dealing with her. Besides, she actually hid a very crucial point from you.”
“Hid…what?”
“About her father.”
Serveyia paused, then stared deeply at Liuli.
“Her father is not as happy as she claims. Little Fox, do you really think, in such a clearly strategic marriage, her father—used as a pawn—could truly find happiness?”
“But then, what was Flora’s purpose in hiding all this?”
“Maybe she didn’t want to scare you, Little Fox. But who knows?”
“Then, Serveyia, what do you think about Flora’s earlier request?”
“What request? The one about Special Enrollment Students?”
“Mm…”
To Liuli, she didn’t like the Institution either.
She wasn’t sure how much say she actually had, but if possible, she honestly wished the Institution would just disappear.
“I have no strong opinion. To me, I’m neither a beneficiary nor a victim of the Institution, so whether it exists or not doesn’t affect my life. I’d probably abstain from voting.”
“As for how you feel or what you decide, Little Fox, you don’t need to ask me. However, like I said before, until your wings are fully grown, don’t take on things beyond your capacity.”
“Serveyia, when do you think I’ll truly be able to handle such things?”
Liuli’s current state was that of intermittent ambition—it was hard to say how long it would last, but for now, she was willing to keep trying.
“Only when you’ve completely mastered magic and built up a certain network and reputation, can you even attempt to take on such matters.”
Serveyia looked deeply at Liuli.
“But that’s only taking over. Whether you succeed after that is another matter entirely. If, as Flora said, someone wants to restart the Institution, then if you want to stop it, the resistance you’ll face won’t be ordinary. Be prepared for failure.”
“Failure…?”
“That’s right. After all, no one said that everything Princess does must succeed. Honestly, in many cases, failure and regret are the norm.”
As they talked, the two of them reached the Core Area of the Library. Facing the sea of books, Liuli felt a headache coming on.
Where should she even start searching?
However, it seemed Serveyia didn’t have this problem.
She directly took Liuli’s hand and walked past one bookshelf after another, finally stopping in front of one.
“This is it.”
Serveyia casually pulled over a ladder and took down a thick book from the shelf above.
The thickness of it exceeded Liuli’s expectations.
What kind of joke was this?
Did she really have to find her Ancestor’s deeds from this book?
Liuli even wanted to take back her previous boast about being good at reading documents.
Anyone would get a headache at this level of material.
“Serveyia, is it all in this one?”
If it was, Liuli felt she couldn’t finish it even after a whole day without eating or drinking.
“Can I really finish this?”
“There should be an Index. Try searching, Little Fox.”
An Index?
Liuli skeptically opened the table of contents.
Staring at the densely packed entries, she felt dizzy.
To be honest, even with an Index, Liuli didn’t think she could finish reading in a short time.
“Serveyia, could you help me?”
Though she’d boasted at first, now she had to ask for help immediately.
It was a bit embarrassing, but at this point, face didn’t matter much.
“How do you want me to help?”
“Just… help me find the general area.”
“Alright…”
Liuli could clearly sense the helplessness on Serveyia’s face, but in the end, she still helped flip through the Index.
“Here it is.”
Liuli wasn’t sure who deserved the credit, but obviously, two people searching was much faster than one.
Soon, Serveyia helped her locate it.
Good, the first step was done.
Next was to personally see how the ancient records described her Ancestor.
The book’s entries were conservative, spending little space describing this ancestor.
Aside from the name and a few brief deeds, there was nothing else.
There wasn’t even a classic evaluation section.
What exactly had she just read?
She read it again, carefully confirming she hadn’t missed anything, then summarized what she found:
Her Ancestor’s name was Jiuyun Hui, a Nine-tailed Celestial Fox especially fond of fighting.
But she wasn’t a national hero like Holy Maiden Jeanne.
She was more like a pure battle-crazed mercenary.
“Serveyia, what did we just read?”
A sudden urge to deny her own heritage rose in Liuli.
“Is this really my Ancestor?”
“—Logically speaking, it is.”
Looking at the helpless expression on Serveyia’s face, Liuli realized she might also be learning about this side of her Ancestor for the first time.
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