novelraw Chapter 342
Chapter 342
342~ He Yan's Doubts & Curiosity
"Um... Lady Liuli, it really won't bite me, will it?"
Every time she came in to clean before, this great white tiger would glare at her menacingly, as if it couldn't wait to pounce and tear her to shreds. But now it seemed so docile, surely because Lady Liuli was by its side! Now that she was petting this great white tiger's head, wouldn't it hold a grudge against her?!
What if later, when Lady Liuli wasn't around and she came to clean again, wouldn't she be torn to pieces directly?!
She could already imagine herself being torn apart by Xiao Bai.
"It's fine. If it really dares to bite you, then I'll just punish it by making it go hungry for three days!"
"Won't that make Xiao Bai want to tear people apart even more..."
"Don't worry, Xiao Bai is very obedient! Right? Little Xiao Bai?"
The Little Princess kept rubbing Xiao Bai's cheeks with both hands, asking persistently.
"Roar... Meow~"
Xiao Bai nodded, expressing agreement.
Compared to He Yan's fear and worry, the Little Princess seemed completely unconcerned.
Xiao Bai was raised by her own hands, and those little drops of affection couldn't just be casually overlooked. Mere instinct alone couldn't erase the bonds between one person and one tiger.
"Then... alright!"
As if making some kind of resolution, He Yan closed her eyes tightly and placed her other hand on Xiao Bai's head as well.
"Prprprpr..."
Xiao Bai raised its head and gently licked He Yan's palm.
"See? I told you our little Xiao Bai is very obedient, right?"
The Little Princess was somewhat proud. Her little Xiao Bai was so well-behaved, wasn't that all thanks to her loving care and training?
You should know that when she first found Xiao Bai, it was just a newborn cub, just broken out from the amniotic fluid, and Xiao Bai's mother had been taken as a hunting trophy and beheaded. She couldn't bear to see Xiao Bai face the cruel forces of nature right after birth, so she picked it up and raised it.
Of course... she hadn't participated in that hunt herself.
"Xiao Bai!"
"Meow!"
"Be good now. You're not allowed to bully He Yan anymore, okay? And if someone tries to bully He Yan, you have to protect her, alright? As a boy, you should stand tall and protect your friends, right?"
"Roar... Meow!"
"Good boy~"
Watching the interaction between the Little Princess and Xiao Bai, He Yan was somewhat mesmerized.
So this Lady Liuli was just like Princess Mo, equally beloved by this great white tiger Xiao Bai?
It seemed she still needed to learn how to cultivate feelings with Xiao Bai, how to close the distance between one person and one tiger.
After all, this was an order Lady Liuli gave to Xiao Bai to protect her, not a thought arising from the bottom of Xiao Bai's heart to protect a friend.
She must live up to Lady Liuli's expectations, maintain good relations with Xiao Bai, and become friends with this great white tiger!
"...Alright, He Yan, go get some food to feed Xiao Bai. I have some business to attend to and need to leave first. When you have time, just stay here and build a good relationship with Xiao Bai."
"He Yan will absolutely live up to Lady Liuli's expectations!"
He Yan raised her right hand and placed it on her chest, saluting the Little Princess.
"Mm."
...
After the Little Princess left, Xiao Bai glanced at He Yan, its gaze seeming to say, "Why aren't you going to get me food yet?"
"Don't worry! I'll go get you food right away!"
Maid He Yan, fully motivated!
...
...
"Princess Mo, we've been waiting for you."
"Mm, please help me replenish the magic power in the necklace."
The Little Princess casually removed the crystal necklace hanging around her neck and placed it in Cecilia's hand.
Her black hair fell behind her back, and the cat ears and cat tail that had originally been hidden also emerged.
She stretched out her cat tail, straightening it in the air, then curled part of it up following her movements.
"Mm."
Taking the crystal necklace casually, after filling it with magic power, she simply set it aside.
She guessed the Little Princess probably didn't want to keep up the disguise now that she was back in her bedroom.
Just as she thought, the Little Princess directly threw herself onto the bed, hugging a pillow and rolling left and right.
"Princess Mo, there's urgent information from Her Majesty the Empress. Would you like to see it? Her Majesty the Empress wrote it for you."
"Urgent information?"
Cecilia pulled out a small note from somewhere, and when fully unfolded, it was already the size of an A4 sheet. Cecilia placed this paper on the table.
"This is..."
The Empress urging her?
In the letter, the Empress was urging her to finish her business and return quickly, the sooner the better? Had some problem arisen?
"Yes, just as Princess Mo sees, Her Majesty the Empress is very eager for you to return to Scarlet Phoenix Nation quickly, preferably within ten days."
Within ten days... meaning she only had ten days left to change everything?
She must hurry. She had to let the people of Glaze Nation know who truly ruled Glaze Nation, whether it was the Glaze Royal Family or these so-called "officials"?
"I understand. Help me tell Fei I'll resolve this as quickly as possible."
"Mm."
Using magic to control the ink to write on the paper, she then conjured a Magic Messenger Pigeon out of thin air and folded the paper into a small note, tying it to the Magic Messenger Pigeon's ankle.
"Go."
Cecilia said softly to the Magic Messenger Pigeon.
"Uh... why not just use Folding Space Magic to send the letter back directly?"
The Little Princess asked in confusion.
"Do you think I have abundant magic power? That would be such a waste."
"Ah... you don't?"
Cecilia was rarely at a loss for words. She took out another sheet of paper, drew a few strokes on it, and placed it in front of the Little Princess.
"This is my magic power storage limit. Using Super-Grade Magic as the unit, with my magic reserves completely full, I can release Super-Grade Magic fifteen times."
Then she moved her finger to another diagram.
"This is Her Majesty the Empress's magic power storage limit. With her magic reserves completely full, she can release Super-Grade Magic approximately twenty-three times."
Then she moved her finger to the last diagram:
"The consumption of one Folding Space Magic use. Every 250 kilometers roughly equals one Super-Grade Magic, because it involves Spatial Laws, expanding a spatial passage requires much more magic power, while a Magic Messenger Pigeon only consumes Low-Grade Magic, several orders of magnitude lower than Super-Grade Magic."
"Right now, we also need to guard against that imposter of yours returning. Of course I can't waste magic power carelessly. I must remain vigilant in case that imposter suddenly returns from somewhere."
After hearing the explanation, the Little Princess felt somewhat embarrassed.
"Sorry, I haven't had much contact with magic, so I..."
"It's fine, Princess Mo. You don't need to apologize to me. You don't understand magic to begin with, so not knowing these things is perfectly normal. You are Her Majesty the Empress's Imperial Consort. You don't need to apologize to me. Theoretically, my status is even slightly lower than yours."
The Empress's Imperial Consort and Scarlet Phoenix Nation's Guardian Great Archmage, no matter how you looked at it, the Imperial Consort's status was theoretically higher.
"Mm..."
The conversation between the two ended awkwardly. Cecilia, seeing there was nothing more for her to do, simply left the Little Princess's bedroom directly.
"Princess Mo, please rest well and conserve your strength."
...
"Who are you?"
Cecilia was somewhat speechless. Just as she stepped outside, she bumped into a little maid.
Although her body had undergone magical enhancement, it shouldn't have knocked someone down from just this little contact, right? How frail would that person have to be?
"I'm sorry! I accidentally bumped into you!"
"Who are you?"
"Reporting to my lady, my name is He Yan!"
"He Yan..."
Cecilia searched through her mind but found no related name information.
"What are you doing here?"
She continued to inquire.
"I'm here to clean the Princess's bedroom. It's time for me to clean now."
"Then why didn't I see you come to clean yesterday?"
"Well... that's because the Princess is still here! My duty is to manage everything in the Princess's bedroom when the Princess isn't there!"
"..."
Slightly speechless, she grabbed He Yan and moved away from the Little Princess's bedroom.
"Um? My lady? My lady?"
"You don't need to go. Mo... Liuli is temporarily staying inside."
"Eh? Lady Liuli is in the Princess's bedroom? Why didn't Lady Liuli tell me?"
Could there be something fishy about this?
"Don't overthink it. Liuli is indeed inside. I have no reason to lie to you."
After all, her current identity was that of a distinguished guest from Scarlet Phoenix Nation being received by the Glaze Royal Family. Her authority was quite considerable.
"Alright... but why would Lady Liuli be staying in the Princess's bedroom?"
"Because the two of them have a close relationship. So as soon as Mo left, Liuli moved in."
"Eh? What about you? Didn't you come back from Scarlet Phoenix Nation together with the Princess? The Princess went to Jade City, why didn't you go with her?"
"..."
She didn't even know how to answer this question.
If she said she had other matters to attend to, He Yan might further ask what matters. She couldn't make up anything else either.
So she simply gave up trying, saying:
"As a maid, you shouldn't ask so many questions. How Mo and Liuli conduct themselves is their business. Where I am and what I do is my business. I only follow my duties."
The flaw was quite large, but there really was no other way. She truly didn't know how to continue explaining.
"Ah... I'm sorry, my lady. You're right. I shouldn't have asked so much."
He Yan quickly apologized.
As a maid prying into her master's affairs was indeed overstepping her bounds. She blamed herself somewhat for being so foolish. These were things she clearly shouldn't have asked about!
"It's fine, just be more careful next time."
Cecilia released He Yan, then used magic to clean He Yan's maid dress, which had gotten somewhat dirty from being knocked down earlier.
"I still have business to attend to. You can do whatever you need to do, just don't disturb Liuli's rest."
"Yes, my lady."
He Yan nodded, then saw off Cecilia. Standing alone in the corridor, she soon turned back to look at the Little Princess's bedroom.
She always felt there was something wrong here, as if what Cecilia said didn't quite match reality? But no matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn't figure out where the problem lay.
Should she... slightly push open a crack in the door to take a look? Just to see Lady Liuli resting in the Princess's bedroom? Just one peek?