Chapter 534: Act 282 – The Encounter of Destiny
Freya stepped forward. Clad in gleaming silver armor of the Imperial Knights, the golden edges of her armor shimmered softly in the moonlight filtering through the forest, casting a hazy halo around her. After dismounting, her dark red knight’s cloak trailed on the ground, adorned with two silver tassels denoting her rank—she appeared to be the leader of this group of knights. She paused and took a look at the soon-to-be-ruined manor, identifying herself, “We are Princess’s knights. Is there anything we can assist with?”
“N-No, nothing,” the young earl quickly responded, having realized their identity. He didn’t want to complicate matters and hurriedly shook his head.
The knight maiden frowned at this response; after all, she was no longer the naïve country girl she once was. The future Valkyrie raised her head, casting a suspicious glance at the Count of Yan Castle and his entourage—the moonlight danced above the clouds, piercing through the gaps in the roof to illuminate the broken staircase with a cold, silvery glow, revealing the figures of several people. Freya couldn’t help but pause, surprised by how stunningly beautiful the boy was, but her sword-like brows immediately furrowed as she noticed the two figures behind Dierphir, who struck her as decidedly suspicious.
Brendel broke into a cold sweat, quickly averting his gaze. The girl from Buche had become much steadier after studying at the Knight Academy for half a year; she scanned him with a doubtful look that made him feel as though his disguise had been dismantled.
This could turn disastrous if she recognized them. Freya had no idea what they were doing; kidnapping nobles was a capital offense. However, in Charles’ words, if their lord were to hang, it would likely require ten loops of rope around his neck to suffice, but Brendel certainly hoped that his plans wouldn’t be upended.
“My lord, do you think Miss Freya recognized us?” Charles couldn’t help but sweat as he cautiously communicated via mental transmission.
Brendel cursed under his breath. Just then, the Count of Yan Castle finally reacted. The young nobleman from the North seemed reluctant to let the royal knights linger. Dierphir quickly found an excuse, saying, “Lady, please don’t worry. It was just a minor mishap during an experimental spell by one of my subordinates. I’ll have someone handle it immediately—please excuse the disturbance.”
Upon hearing this, both Brendel and Charles heaved a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t unusual for nobles to keep one or two wizards as retainers. However, Freya felt that the noble young man wasn’t entirely truthful. She looked up and scrutinized Brendel and Charles again, musing to herself, “Odd characters.” During this time, Nemeses had crammed her with a wealth of noble knowledge, and while she hadn’t retained every detail, she was at least aware that nobles generally had their secrets, and she understood that she couldn’t linger here among these detestable individuals.
In fact, she had simply come over to check for any unusual occurrences after hearing an explosion. Since the nobles had expressed that they didn’t need their assistance, she considered leaving.
However, just then, the guards who had just been dismissed by Dierphir were brought back. Brendel looked up and groaned, for he hadn’t noticed that another group of knights had arrived at the manor gate. Their armor was similar to Freya’s, but their capes bore additional tassels—these were active royal knights, far more formidable than the cadets at the Knight Academy. He quickly lowered his head again.
“They should be the immediate superiors of those cadets, but I wonder which of the princess’s close guard knights is here at this time—Denden or Dust?” While keeping his head down, Brendel pieced things together; the cadets couldn’t act independently and would definitely be patrolling with official knights alongside them. It seemed that Freya was merely scouting ahead; he quickly recalled the names of the two knights, realizing that during this period, it should be one of those two serving the half-elf princess.
Denden and Dust weren’t particularly famous NPCs in the Amber Sword, but Brendel had taken missions from them as supporters of the royal family. If his memory served him correctly, these two had reached only the peak of silver level, hardly notable figures among the royal faction.
He lowered his head, pondering, but didn’t realize that his usually accurate predictions were off this time. The knights soon approached, and the leading knight’s voice was female: “What happened?”
The voice was deep and calm, imbued with an undeniable seriousness. Upon hearing it, Brendel felt as though he had been struck by lightning, paralyzing him with shock. He raised his head, only to see the female knight’s composed and indifferent expression.
This voice… who is this woman?
He immediately noticed the golden tassels on Nemeses’ cloak—she was the knight commander. Yet Brendel, an experienced player who had overseen nearly all historical changes in Erluin, could swear that over the past decade, there had never been a high-ranking female officer in the royal knighthood, let alone a high-ranking one, as there were hardly any women even among the greater knights.
However, he wouldn’t mistake the voice of the female knight; it was unmistakable, so clear that it felt like a dream. For a moment, he almost uttered the familiar name, but he held back with great effort. Nemeses, born in Siphai, inherited the icy skin of the Siphai people. Her long black hair shone like obsidian against her fair skin, making her a stunning beauty, known as the “cold beauty” among knights.
Yet, while this knight exuded a quality reminiscent of his past senior, Brendel knew they were not the same person.
He couldn’t help but take a breath, confusion swirling in his heart, but he ultimately returned to his original question—who was this woman? Brendel knew he could not be mistaken. Unless history had changed, there was no way there could be a woman of high rank in the royal faction. He understood that because of his presence as a “butterfly,” changes in history would occur eventually, but he didn’t expect such changes to manifest first in these details.
This seemed utterly illogical.
He heard Freya address the female knight as Nemeses. Brendel swore he had never heard that name before. Although he couldn’t know every detail about every noble and noble maiden in Erluin, he was confident he hadn’t overlooked any notable NPCs. That such a young woman had become a knight commander indicated that she was anything but average, yet no matter how hard he wracked his brain, he couldn’t associate her with anyone he recognized.
Now, there were two possibilities before him. The first was that Nemeses might merely be an alias, hiding a famous figure he was aware of. However, at least thus far, he hadn’t been able to connect the female knight before him with any of those notable names from his memory; she seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
The second possibility was that history had truly changed because of his arrival, and this change might not only affect the future history of Erluin but also earlier events. This kind of change was completely unpredictable, meaning that if this possibility held truth, he would be unsurprised if he discovered the princess was actually an adorable boy.
Brendel furrowed his brow, fixated on the suddenly arriving Nemeses, but the female knight had already turned her head to listen to Freya finish relaying the count’s words. She raised her head, seemingly noticing Brendel’s gaze, and her eyes landed in his direction. The knight possessed deep black eyes, reflecting a faint silver sheen, and their gazes coincided, causing both to pause slightly—Brendel was unsure if she had noticed him, as Nemeses quickly turned away as if nothing had happened; she didn’t even intend to dismount, simply greeting Dierphir from her horse. The Yan Castle family traditionally had no ties to the noble circles of Erluin, so it appeared the royal faction hadn’t set its sights on this ancient family. Nemeses’ etiquette was meticulous, but after doing so, Brendel noticed she cast a strange glance at Dierphir twice, yet ultimately said nothing more and began to lead the knights away.
“What did she notice?” Brendel pondered as he watched.
As the female knight approached the manor gate, she turned her head for the first time, a fleeting glance that Brendel keenly captured. This confirmed his earlier sense; it seemed they both felt something was odd about the other. At this moment, Brendel dismissed the chaotic thoughts he had earlier; he began to worry whether this woman had seen through their identities—after all, she had clearly not taken Dierphir’s words at face value.
She was a challenging opponent. He exhaled but thought to himself that no matter what, she was unlikely to unmask his identity. Disguising himself as a noble delegate to attend a meeting that would decide the future of the kingdom was a bold act that no one would suspect, except himself.
However, much like Brendel’s conjecture, when Nemeses turned around under the thick twilight outside the manor, her confusion was merely regarding Brendel’s odd gaze. She had not risen to prominence in the knight order, known primarily for her swordsmanship. Most only knew her as the princess’s close friend, the top swordsman among the princess’s entourage. However, Nemeses had already reached the initial stage of golden rank and naturally sensed Brendel’s gaze upon her.
She lowered her head, and beside her, Freya immediately noticed her superior’s confusion, unable to help but ask, “What is it, Lady Knight Commander? Did you notice those two suspicious characters?” It seemed the girl had been pondering over Brendel and Charles, especially as she grew more convinced they looked familiar after leaving the manor but couldn’t place Brendel.
After all, how could Brendel possibly be here? Freya subconsciously reached this conclusion.
“Eh?” Nemeses looked at the young lady recently selected as a candidate knight, questioning, “Two?”
“Yes, two. Didn’t you just look that way, Senior?” Freya replied, “I’ve got the feeling they seem familiar. Could they perhaps be fugitive criminals from a wanted list? It’s just I can’t recall. They look so sneaky; I often see people like that sneak across the border when I was in Buche.”
They were the outlaws and fugitives; Madara was a paradise for these individuals.
“Mm.” However, Nemeses only responded affirmatively, “Forget it; better to avoid trouble.”
Freya glanced at her superior, noting the clear desire not to discuss it further, and sighed, falling silent.
……
(PS: “Sigh, a difficult two weeks, but I can finally get back to work. I went on a couple of trips, and my health has barely recovered, though I’m not quite well yet.
Another thing is that I finally confirmed the physical release of the traditional version with Taiwan. It’s supposed to be in July; in any case, you don’t have to worry about this book running out. Well, I can expect some issues with manuscript deadlines.
Finally, today is May 14, eight hours remain until Hell opens its doors again ten years later. Of course, tomorrow I need to go to the hospital first before I can return to battle against the Great Pineapple. Hope the doctor doesn’t take a day off tomorrow…)(To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to recommend it or vote for monthly tickets on Qidian; your support is my greatest motivation.)
