Chapter 90: 90

After Mare chased away the assassin, Michelle, she led Anastasia back into the mansion and prepared a bath for her so she could relax. Then, she wanted to go see Michelle, but Nyxaroth and Cold Flame told her that she was asleep, so she decided not to bother her and went to tell Kieran that she had finished her part of the work. That was the last thing Michelle or her contracted beasts were supposed to do. Everything else would be handled by Kieran and Ivona.

Well… Everything. As the daughter of the master of the mansion, Michelle still had to sometimes meet Anastasia, but the moment she introduced Kieran to Anastasia would be the last time she would need to see her.

When Anastasia came out of the bathtub, she asked a maid if she could speak with Michelle, but the maid told her it wasn’t possible because Michelle was asleep after the doctor gave her some medicine. “Is Young Lady Grace sick?” Anastasia asked, confused.

The maid shook her head. “This servant doesn’t know… The Young Lady hasn’t called for the doctor in a long while.”

“Do you know when Young Lady Grace will wake up?” Anastasia continued asking.

But the maid shook her head again. “No one can know that. There are times when the Young Lady wakes up early in the morning, but sometimes she sleeps in. Also, there was one time when she slept for over a month.”

When the maid’s words fell, Anastasia was shocked. She had never heard of someone sleeping for over a month. It sounded absurd and impossible. How could someone even survive that long without waking up to eat?

Sighing, Anastasia sat down. “Please, inform me once Young Lady Grace wakes up! I need to speak with her,” she said.

“Yes, My Lady!” the maid nodded. “I’ll take my leave now,” she said as she turned to leave.

Remaining alone in her room, Anastasia lay down on the bed, as she thought back to when Mare protected her from the assassin, Michelle. From what she had seen, both the assassin and Mare were equally skilled, but Mare’s attacks were more large-scale and unrefined, while the assassin’s attacks were more direct and fatal.

Not wanting to think about the assassination any longer, Anastasia lay down and decided to rest. Though it was still early in the evening, she was quite tired from all that had happened, so resting early was a good choice.

But to her unpleasant surprise, she couldn’t fall asleep, so she just stared at the ceiling emptily.

Unable to sleep, Anastasia was frustrated, but she still remained in bed, hoping for sleep to find her. Unfortunately, sleep never reached her, and she stayed awake the whole night.

In the morning, she felt quite tired and didn’t want to get up, but a maid entered the room and told her some pleasant news. “My Lady, Young Lady Grace is awake and she said she’d like to meet you,” the maid said when she saw that Anastasia was awake.

Hearing that, Anastasia quickly got up and changed her clothes before letting the maid lead her to where Michelle was, to the fountain where she liked to spend her time lately. She was sitting on the side of the fountain lazily, her eyes closed in relaxation. And behind her was standing Kieran Ashford, as she was planning to introduce him to Anastasia so the plan could proceed according to Kieran’s wishes.

“My Lady, I brought Lady Anastasia…” the maid bowed her head as she spoke.

Michelle nodded her head slightly as she opened her purple eyes. “You can go now…” she beckoned to the maid, and she turned to leave.

Then, Michelle looked at Anastasia. “I wanted to speak with you, but I also heard you were looking for me yesterday,” she spoke calmly. “What did you need from me?” she asked with a tilt of her head. “Was it about the assassin from yesterday?” she added.

Anastasia was a bit surprised that Michelle already knew about what happened, but thinking about it, it wasn’t strange since Michelle was the Young Lady of the mansion, so of course, the servants would report something so big to her. “Yes, My Lady…” Anastasia nodded. “Partly…” she added. “After the assassination, I thought about your words, and I want to go investigate the black market myself,” she said, her voice determined.

That made Michelle smile. “As I promised, I’ll send someone to accompany you,” she motioned her hand towards Kieran. “Kieran Ashford is a good friend of mine, and he will be able to protect you.”

Kieran nodded at Anastasia and extended his hand toward her for a handshake. “Nice to meet you! I’m hoping for nice cooperation in the future!”

Anastasia shook Kieran’s hand and smiled politely. “Nice to meet you!” Her eyes raked over Kieran’s to memorize every single detail of his body and face.

Clearly noticing that, Michelle smiled a bit. Anastasia was indeed a smart young woman, and Michelle didn’t even mind the past conflict they had before she wiped Anastasia’s memories. It was just something that amused her a bit. Also, she liked Anastasia’s way of thinking. It was quite different from her own, but still very likeable and complex.

“I’ll leave you to discuss your plans to infiltrate the black market…” Michelle stood up slowly and turned to walk deeper into the garden, stopping in front of the old annex. Entering lazily through the window she had broken open in the past, she went into the room where Nyxaroth found the black Life Stone of a monster with the dark element and sat down next to it, staring at it through the darkness. She was wondering whether she should take it with her, store it away in her spatial ring, or just leave it in the annex.

She thought there had to be a reason why the annex was closed off, but she never bothered to ask the Archduke. The Life Stone might have been the reason for the closure, and if that was the case, she thought she shouldn’t take it out, but there was also the case that the Life Stone was just left there, or placed there by the humanoid creature clad in black. If that was the case, she saw no reason why she shouldn’t take it out of the annex.

Sighing, she walked out of the annex and back into the mansion, wanting to go to the Archduke’s office, but on the way, she met the doctor, who looked especially worried. “My Lady!” he nearly screamed when he saw her. “Why aren’t you resting?!” he exclaimed. “What if something happens to you?!”

Michelle rolled her eyes and spent a good half an hour convincing the doctor that she was fine. Only after examining her did he agree that she was fine, but that also shocked him greatly because he couldn’t understand how a broken rib healed within a day. What he didn’t know was that Michelle’s Spirit Soul Blood gave her exceptional healing abilities, so her rib healed while she slept.

After convincing the doctor that she was fine, Michelle finally went to the Archduke. Telling him that she used to cultivate and spend her free time in the annex, he was a bit surprised. Then, when she asked him about the black life stone, he was even more surprised, saying he knew nothing about it. So Michelle took him into the annex, and lighting her ice fire, she led him to the room where the Life Stone was.

Seeing it, the Archduke was shocked by the sheer size of it. Even in the upper realm where he was from, it was rare to find a monster so huge and powerful that its Life Stone would be so humongous and thick with power. He could also feel the cold spirit energy coming from the Life Stone, making him frown. Unlike Michelle, he didn’t have the ice element spirit energy, so his body wasn’t cold and he didn’t like being in cold places. He had the wind element spirit energy, so though coldness didn’t really harm him, it was quite unpleasant to be in such a cold place.

“Father, can I take the Life Stone with me?” Michelle asked. “It’s quite helpful with my cultivation,” she added.

The Archduke thought about it for a while before speaking: “Go ahead. It seems that someone placed it here deliberately.”

Getting the Archduke’s agreement, Michelle smiled a bit and stored the Life Stone into her spatial ring next to the purple Life Stone she got from Rivenaar in the cave. She had a guess as to who left the Life Stone to her, but she didn’t know what the creature wanted from her. And because of that, she was starting to consider leaving the Land of Exile before Kieran and Ivona, to meet with the creature. After meeting with it, she could return to them and go to the lower realm with them.

The Archduke didn’t know what was going on, but knowing his daughter, he could tell from her expression that she was planning something. “If you want to go ahead earlier, you can, but be careful. I have to stay here for a while longer, so I can’t protect you in the lower realm,” he spoke as he followed Michelle out of the annex.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep