Chapter 259: The Golden City Plan
After solving her height problem, Yuliya was over the moon.
Life was suddenly looking up!
From now on, she could challenge anyone who dared to underestimate her; she’d just whip out a photo and say, “Take that!”
She started taking screenshots.
She had the screenshots, but the original photo had to be hidden away.
It was for her eyes only—if anyone else saw it, especially someone who might share the frame, she could be in for a question.
“Is this you?”
“Of course it is! Future’s looking bright!”
“Maria, gather up all the portraits of me in the palace and hand them over!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
They didn’t bother to ask what the princess was up to; it was clearly her own business.
After a little hiatus of observation, they couldn’t shake the feeling that the current princess seemed a bit… spacey.
But they kept their mouths shut.
And they understood; with the way she looked, it was evident that something had gone awry with her plan.
Ideally, upon her return, she should have regained some memory and wouldn’t look so child-like.
But hey, no big deal—she was back, and everything else had already been arranged.
While still admiring her portraits, debating whether to take one back to show her sister, Yuliya suddenly froze, struck by a thought.
She quickly shoved the painting into a small bamboo basket.
“Oh no! I forgot! There are still a lot of people waiting for me outside the Golden City!”
It had already been half an hour since she entered; Isaac must be worrying I got into trouble!
Truth be told, Isaac was starting to feel the impatience bubbling up.
They watched as Yuliya vanished into the dust storm, then heard nothing.
Although the storm seemed to have parted to let her through, no one had a clue what was happening inside after all this time.
Finally, he barked an order: “Everyone, advance!”
Some hesitated, but a glare from Isaac had them snapping back in line.
They moved closer to the dust storm and were just about to charge in when, suddenly, the winds and sands started to slow down.
Before long, the storm completely died down.
They stood there, scratching their heads and furrowing brows, peering ahead.
Finally, as the dust settled, an ancient yet magnificent castle loomed before them.
Everyone was stunned by the towering, dark golden walls and the colossal gates.
Out of nowhere, a tiny figure appeared on the wall—it was Yuliya!
She waved her arms and magically amplified her voice: “Big Brother! I’m fine! Everything’s great!”
“Stop!”
Isaac commanded them to halt, even though they’d already been at a standstill.
After a brief wait, Yuliya sauntered out from the city gates.
As she came closer, Isaac glanced at Yuliya’s hand—her ring was still intact. So, she really was okay.
“Glad to hear it.”
“Sorry for worrying you and everyone else.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Do you guys want to come inside and check it out? It’s really impressive in here!”
Steven piped up: “Is it safe inside?”
Yuliya shook her head. “No worries! The people in here are all very nice… or, well, not quite human.”
“Not human?”
“You’ll find out when you come in!”
If it weren’t for the ghosts being unable to leave the Golden City and not even stepping directly onto the walls, Yuliya would’ve dragged them inside already.
However, the moment they stepped into the city, many soldiers and knights were spooked by the sudden change in atmosphere.
Daylight faded into night, and it turned chilly.
Seeing ghosts made their hearts skip a beat.
Fortunately, this was a magical world, so seeing strange sights wasn’t all that strange.
They quickly adapted.
Yuliya immediately started introducing everyone on either side.
One side was her former subordinates and friends, while the other was her current crew.
Yuliya kept it simple, keeping what she could to herself to avoid any complications.
What Isaac picked up from all this was: Yuliya was clearly set to inherit this castle. Born with a golden key? Pfft! She was born carrying the Golden City on her back!
What Maria gathered was: The princess was still the princess out there. After all, charm and power can’t be hidden!
Both sides sighed in unison: “Truly worthy of Her Highness!”
Once they had a general understanding, Isaac and his troops needed to make tracks home.
They’d been away for over a month, and the border outpost and knight unit still needed his attention.
Yuliya kept only Steven back and handed Isaac a pile of stuff.
“I’ll hang out here for a while; Big Brother can head back. Just remember to set up the teleportation array.”
This was a long-distance cross-dimensional teleportation array, which required top-notch materials and builders.
The Golden City’s teleportation array was easy to assemble since their clan had a natural talent for space magic.
But the Jade Emperor Kingdom would need more effort.
Once the teleportation array was set up, Yuliya could zip back and forth without a hitch.
She set Steven free; she’d noticed he was super interested in how the teleportation array worked and wanted to watch the building process.
Steven, with his own knack for spatial magic, immediately morphed into an inquisitive little detective, firing off questions left and right.
After everyone left, Maria and the others finally seized the chance to approach Yuliya.
They had something serious to discuss.
“Your Highness, were those people who just left from an outside kingdom?”
“Yes, from the Jade Emperor Kingdom.”
“Jade Emperor Kingdom…”
“Do you know about the Jade Emperor Kingdom?”
“Nope.”
Everyone shook their heads.
The captain of the guards, Kane, stepped forward, saying, “I noticed they all had a familiar vibe, especially that dude claiming to be the princess’s brother.”
“My guess is that the Jade Emperor Kingdom was likely established by descendants of the Golden Kingdom.”
“Ah, that makes perfect sense now.”
Then, the chief steward, Andrew, jumped in: “Your Highness, our Golden Kingdom actually had warnings about that disaster long before it hit. Her Majesty the Queen even predicted that such a day would come! Tragically, we still couldn’t prevent it.”
“But conversely, we made plenty of plans and preparations. One of them was to arrange for a branch of the royal family to hide out and keep the flame alive. Perhaps that’s where the Jade Emperor Kingdom came from.”
“Oh? What other plans do we have?”
Yuliya’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Her father and mother had already put plans in place. If I just find these plans, I’ll have a significant advantage!
Indeed, with the Golden Kingdom’s resources, how could it have been wiped out so thoroughly?
“This Golden City is part of Your Highness’s former plan. There are also the Heroic Spirit Project, the Cradle Plan, the Golden Pasture Initiative, among others.”
“Heroic Spirit Project… the Heroic Spirit Tower? That was built by my Golden Kingdom too?”
“Yes.”
“Then what about the Cradle and Golden Pasture plans?”
“Apologies, Your Highness; we’re not sure. We only learned the names of those plans by chance. Each plan is relatively independent; our involvement in the Golden Plan is cutoff from the others.”
“Is it for confidentiality?”
“Exactly. The only ones who might know everything are the two monarchs and you, Your Highness.”
“Me? Alright, let’s focus on the Golden City plan for now. What needs to be done?”
“All we need to do is restore the Golden City.”
